I currently have a child in AAR1 and another child working through AAS, and I just use one set of letter tiles for both of them (set up in a mini-office), and have had no problem. As far as a lesson per day in AAR: sometimes we can complstep a step in one day and other times we stretch it out over 2 days, especially on days where there is a long page of fluency reading in addition to the lesson. It's just too much reading for my 5-year-olds eyes to do in one sitting. And then he slows down, which frustrates him, and leads to his attention being shot. So, I just go by how he's doing. The moment I notice him starting to get worn down or frustrated we put it away until the next day.

:iagree: Level 3 is huge. It's almost laughable watching my tiny daughter try to lug it around. I had never thought about having the binding cut off though (not sure why, as that's what I did with the SOTW AG). That would be a lot easier to manage.

Since you also asked for reasons why someone doesn't like TT, and not just positive reviews, I thought I would chime in. My top 3 reasons: 1. The way the lessons are set up. The amount of newly learned problems are very few per lesson. A new concept is introduced each lesson. You and your child watch the lecture which explains the concept. Usually the child enters in some amount of information during the lecture, and then the lesson starts. There are 5 "practice" problems that immediately follow the lecture. Out of these 5 "practice" problems 2 of them relate to the new concept just taught. The other 3 are previously taught concepts. Then there are 22 more questions. Again, only 2 of these questions (out of 22) relate to the newly taught concept. 2. Completely spiral curriculum. I actually like a certain amount of spiral in my curriculum, and my daughter needs it. But I also want my daughter to have a mastery of a concept. TT textbooks jumps from addition, to subtraction, to missing addends, to place value, to line graphs, back to addition, to place value, to fractions, to multiplication, to money, back to subtraction etc. Every single lesson a different concept is being taught, and usually not in a sequential way. The way "mastery" is taught in TT is by having the child answer the same questions over and over again in each lesson. If they don't get it the first time, don't worry. They most certainly are going to circle back around to it again. And again. And again. That terrifies me. 3. TT is behind grade level, and not by a little bit. I'm aware that there are placement tests, but even with the placement test I just could not get the right fit. Since she hadn't yet been exposed to multiplication in her school before I pulled her out, we started with level 3 which introduces multiplication. Holy guacamole. My 5 year-old could do this math! I get that the first couple chapters are easy, for review purposes, but when we are in lesson 23 and still doing 3+5= or lesson 40 with 6+7=? Yikes. I contacted the company and because I had gone past the 30 day guarantee I could not get a refund, but they did let me exchange for level 4. (I have to say, their customer service was beyond excellent.) I know that a lot of people (and their kids) fervently love Teaching Textbooks, and my post in no way is meant to slight anyone's choice. If TT is what works for you and your child best? Great. I just wish I had had more varied feedback before making my decision. Good luck with whatever choice you make, and I hope that the program you choose ends up being the right thing for you and your child!

Another vote for Math Mammoth. We love it!

I am the epitome of Type A. I know exactly what you are talking about. Currently I am doing SOTW 1 with a second grader and a preschooler/very young kindergartener. I just pulled my daughter out of school in March, so we will be in ancients for a long while still (until they are in 3rd/K). I too was worried that I was starting my daughter "off cycle". My plan as of now is to work through the 4 volumes of SOTW and just have my oldest do more narration/workbooking/outlining as she gets older. Originally my thought was that I would do one year combined of ancients up to early modern times (a la Sonlight B + C, but I realized after looking at those materials my kids would miss out on so much as we would really have to move though time quickly. I would much rather take our time and really explore and discover each new people/land/time period we encounter.) I also have to say I was concerned that my youngest was going to be too young to get anything out of it, and I have been amazed at how much he is able to follow along. He truly is getting so more out of it than I ever thought possible. The activity guide is a MUST, not only for the review questions/narrations and maps/activity pages, but the reading list is a gold mine. There are multiple literature options given for each chapter in the book with suggested reading levels so that I can easily find books for my oldest to read independently, find nice picture books for my youngest, and also read-alouds that I can read to both of them. I have changed my mind on almost every single curriculum choice that I had at the beginning, but SOTW is something I have never wavered on. We love it!

Did you start at the very beginning with AAS1? If not, that might be a lot of the problem. A lot of rules are covered in the first 2 levels that are instrumental to spelling. If you have covered levels 1 & 2 already, maybe you moved through them to fast for the rules to really sink in? I would keep a list of all misspelled words throughout the day, and then at the end of the school day go over the list with your daughter and the corresponding spelling rules. Don't just tell her how to spell the word correctly, make sure she understands WHY the word is spelled a certain way. She is also fairly young. Spelling, as with reading & writing, get better with age/practice.

My oldest uses Teaching Textbooks & Life of Fred. My youngest uses Horizons.

Our library system here is awesome. We have 7 branches to borrow from, so it's more than likely that the item I'm looking for is there. You can check out an unlimited number of books, magazines, audio books, DVDs & CDs for 3 weeks. Renew up to 5 times (either online, in person, or over automated phone service). Holds are super easy, can be placed either online, in person, or over phone. It usually only takes 1-2 days to have my holds transferred to the library I wish to pick them up at. The library will hold my holds for up to 5 days, before releasing them. The only fine we have is for overdue books, and that's 10 cents a day (with a maximum of $5 per item). We check out 30-40 books a week. I couldn't imagine having fees for holds, or any additional services. I always go online Thursday or Friday evening and put all the books we will need for the upcoming week on hold, and then Sunday mornings we go pick everything up and the kids pick out any other books they want to read/look at for the week. Also, thanks to Library Elf I've yet to have a late book (knock on wood). It's a must if you check out lots of books.

I finally had to make myself stop reading about the case this morning. I'm beyond heartbroken at this point. I'm furious.

I've been GF (not by choice, but rather necessity) for almost two year now. If you want someone to commiserate with you? I'm your girl. It sucks.

Those are great. Thanks so much for sharing!

:iagree: I'm using HOP with my youngest, and I love it - and he does too! He begs to keep reading! Lots of fun, real, books are included with each level, and we re-read those lots. He also really enjoys Bob Books & Animal Antics.

My second grader is using TT3 this year with no problems. I would have your younger son take the placement test on the website; he more than likely will be able to start right in with TT.

I have no new advice that hasn't already been posted here, just wanted to let you know that you'll be in my thoughts. :grouphug:

Thanks for sharing those videos. Tracey's speech was amazing. My oldest, M, was born at 30 weeks (weighing 2 lbs 8 ozs); so those videos definitely touched a part of my heart.