I don't really want to get into the intervention debate except to agree that 5 is young. I've always chosen a love of language and literature as a priority over learning to read. But i do want to encourage you that it may not be difficult in the future! Every child really does learn according to their own schedule and in their own way.

My daughter was almost 8 before the magical "click" happened. She jumped over 4 grade levels in less than a month. I was freaking out! But my frustration definitely made things worse so I kept reassuring myself that my goal was a love of learning and a love of literature. I read to her and we just kept it fun. Easier said than done, I know!

It's been a good fit here too. My kids do best with a spiral approach, but CLE doesn't have as much overkill as Saxon. And the story problems may be the best part of the day. Even my high schooler keeps her ears open to hear the younger kids story problems!

I've had great luck selling on homeschoolclassified.

My daughters sound a lot like yours! We start with a morning basket at breakfast. This has nature readers, geography, picture studies, and literature. Then we pound out a little math and language arts. When it's not their turn to work with me, they get an iPad turn to do educational stuff (15 min.). After that, I release them to art heaven. They can work on whatever they want. I sneak in the Magic School Bus science schedule someone posted and SOTW activities. (We listen to the disc in the car.). They have no idea that this is school work. Magic school bus has been a huge hit here.

We pay $85/mo and have to commit to a year at a time. Unfortunately, over the last year they have dropped from offering 6 classes a week to 3. It makes it hard to get there and not really affordable for once a week.

Here it is. We've actually started this and everyone is loving it. I can be as simple or enthusiastic as the week dictates. https://wateronthefloor.wordpress.com/free-curriculum/magic-school-bus-science/

Amazon Rainbow resource Homeschoolclassified Christianbook Direct from publisher

I'm in!

Bumping this post because I'm looking for the same thing.

Hugs! The baseline is scary. I'm having a glass of wine with you ;)

For my younger crowd, Bilibos have been used constantly. A bunch of kids got them as Easter baskets one year and they get used for everything. From doll cradles to hot lava stepping stones to sleds.

Art is hands down our biggest expense. We probably spend thousands for our 3 kids. But the classes are there favorite social activity and they live and breathe art. We cut expenses elsewhere.

I want to thank you for providing fodder for a wonderful discussion with my 13 year old. Her initial response was that this was not ok because the communication with the parents should be better as a matter of respect for all the hard work we do getting our kids places this is a girl that recognizes that her theater rehearsals are killing me :). When I asked if she had heard of grooming her eyes got wide. Her answer, "Someone needs to speak to his supervisor. I'll bet he's innocent, but he's kinda making himself look guilty!" I loved how her first response wasn't looking for red flags, but she quickly was able to look at the bigger picture.

We are liking Reading Horizons. It works out to around $15/mo for my two girls. I really needed to step back a little from her instruction as neither of us were being patient enough.

It makes the Grandparents happy :). Seriously, I would do it anyway, but this is the linchpin on which they seem to evaluate our ability to homeschool.

She'll be doing a lot of combining with my 1st grader. Here's what I'm thinking so far. Morning basket- poetry, Shakespeare for kids, SCM picture studies, nature reading, Sonlight read alouds A Math- she finishes CLE 1 this week and is a little burnt out on workbooks. I have math on the level so I'll test run that for the rest of the year and then choose for next year. Language arts- Bravewriter and Reading Horizons, HWOT History- Finish SOTW 1 and continue on to 2 Science- either BFSU or the magic school bus video schedule that was posted on here. Art- outside music, art, and piano classes and never ending home projects PE- ballet and Family Time Fitness (this winter was crazy long and my group of preschool-early elementary loved this- we called it wiggle workout)

Thanks for responding! The SWB books are next on my list to check out. I'm definitely finding a lack of comprehensive programs.

I know this is a strange place to post this, but I'm trying to catch Farrar's eye. I'm a mostly lurker that has gotten myself completely overwhelmed by world history for next year. My daughter is going into 9th grade and I was thinking of using Oak Meadow world history, but the Glencoe book seems too busy for my distractable girl. I prefer secular resources and I'm starting to question the feasibility of doing this in a year. Any suggestions for other programs out there? I'm already writing my own lit and biology. I was hoping not to have to create history too.

I need to chime in and agree with Lori D. Attempts to over analyze poetry in middle school is a fabulous way to end up with life long poetry haters. Keep reading and enjoying!

Classical house of learning - and it's free!

Ha! My daughter was reading Lively Art of Writing for fun yesterday. I guess I'm just disappointed. I was hoping for a good stand alone language arts program, but it does seem that the writing guidance is lacking. I was hoping not to have to piece it all together. If I scrap the writing, I have to figure out something else.

We like Lightning lit a lot, but I'm confused about research papers. It appears that they often assign research papers as a writing option, but I can't see where they give any support or guidelines. It seems a little silly to just say, "Write a reasearch paper. You have one day and it doesn't matter how long it is." I see a year of slapdash work without actually learning how to write a research paper. Would it be better to wait and have her do it well next year? What are you doing?

I've been having a terrible time as well. I have called customer service for 3 different issues. On the positive side, they always clear it up easily. I had so much trouble last week with how the program was running that I wrote an email telling them that Keyboarding without Tears was bringing me to tears. They replied that they were down for unscheduled maintainance. Hopefully, they are just getting the kinks worked out.

Hugs to you. My first husband died when my daughter was 3 so I understand how difficult it can be to care for grieving children while still grieving yourself. My daughter is now in the eighth grade. If it was me, the focus of my year would be on good mental health for your son. Keep up with math and encourage reading in all the other subjects. If he is exposed to good literature and exposed to the other subjects (maybe gentle unschooling with good discussions) he will be able to catch back up when he hits high school. Addressing his grief will allow him to avoid a slow downhill spiral.