I've been hooked by "GIG" syndrome many times, and it's only our first year! We have been trying to figure out a plan like you describe... how to combine the best of two programs, but not overwhelm anyone. At first I thought the same about Abeka and Singapore, but Abeka is out of the question for us. My son dislikes Abeka enough that he's more interested in doing all four pages of a CLE lesson than in the single front and back of an Abeka lesson, even adding in some SM IP pages. I pulled out the Abeka book today and had him do just ONE front of ONE page (he needed some multiplication practice on a certain type of problem), and you'd have thought I asked him to cross an alligator infested swamp, barefoot. I wondered if it was just me too, but DS willingly does CLE and seems much calmer with it. He's what you'd call a "sensitive" child. ;) Too much visual clutter, like too much noise or too big of a crowd, can overwhelm him without him even knowing what's wrong. Certainly, I'm not trying to talk you into one or the other. They're both solid programs, but that's been our experience. Good luck... it's tough finding just the right fit. Signed, Goldilocks, who continues her search for "just right" :D

Ana, great post. I agree with your angle on this. Nasdaq, I wanted to comment on this... you've made a very succinct explanation of why I find it hard to become what's considered a strictly classical homeschooler. While the arts, languages, and literature have always been important and always will be, there are technologies and intelligences that couldn't have been imagined 2000 years ago. My son finds the former interesting, and I want to give him a base in those and make sure he has a fine appreciation for them. But he lives and breathes math and technology. He's already dabbling in early algebra topics, and he's experimented with several different computer programming languages and applications. I cannot see limiting him to basic arithmetic, and telling him he can get into deeper mathematics later, after he's read Homer. As has been mentioned, I too wonder if I fit in here. I came here knowing that I wasn't going to be firmly in a classical camp, although I do take inspiration from classical methods. Classical education, to me, is more about using tried and true methods, and developing a well rounded person, than about any particular subjects or curriculum. It's wonderful that there are many ways to help our children develop into well-educated adults. :)

Mrs. Twain, thanks, I'll look at that link. I think I remember talking history with you before, because I remember your half and half strategy! Thanks everyone for your ideas. Have a lot of pondering to do...

Would any of these work?? http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/swim/special_sizes/juniors_plus.jsp They seem to have several "separates" options with shorts or a skirt.

Sure... can we come over? I'll bring lemonade... :D

We tried the 4th grade Abeka program this year, but it didn't go over well for the reasons you mentioned. We thought the page was very visually cluttered, plus it was just all over the place... a new concept, a row of addition, a story problem, a row of division... it was frustrating. Abeka is a solid program but it has to be the right style for your child. At this point we're using a combination of CLE and Abeka. I don't know about the years in between, but CLE seems to be pretty much on sequence for the 4th grade program we're using. Hopefully others who have used more years can chime in.

Thanks for the thoughts, everyone. Mandy, I'm kind of thinking along those lines... I'd like to do one overview of history from the beginning, but I don't know that I'm looking for a 4 year cycle. I'm drawn to Mystery of History for middle school years though. Others who've gone this route??

We already read through A-D, and DS is on Edgewood now. He's finishing up 3rd grade. He really enjoys the style of these books and finds them interesting. We usually do a couple chapters once or twice per week.

... what does your plan for upper elementary and beyond look like, or what have you actually done? I'm obsessing just a bit over history this week, LOL. I think I've pretty much decided to do American for 4th grade next year, and I'm strongly leaning toward using Notgrass "America the Beautiful" for our curriculum. So my question is... what next? What has history looked like with your older kids, or what do you plan to do? Do you do American History in a typical 4th, 8th, 11th grade cycle? Do you ever do a 4 year Chronological history, just once? How many times do you cover government and civics? And the million dollar question.... what curricula have you used and loved for it all?? I'm thinking US history in 4th... world history over a couple years somewhere in 5th-7th... civics and government in 8th... then a more traditional high school sequence of geography, world history, US history, and government/economics. This is, of course, subject to change by tomorrow morning! :D I'm just trying to plan ahead a bit. I know that plans are subject to change, and we may not even homeschool all the way through high school. But I'd like to hear ideas, as I'm trying to formulate at least a very loose idea of where we're going. Thoughts appreciated...

I let DS skip the writing on the first four books. Now that he's in Edgewood, he's encountering a few new concepts, so I've had him start keeping a notebook of answers. Perhaps you could do the same... I like bolt's idea of starting him at or after his "grade" which sounds like maybe around the 3rd book. :)

I don't know what we are either. Since this is our first year homeschooling, I think we're still developing our style. I will say that we incorporate some classical thought, but we will never be fully classical here. We're moving away from Latin toward doing root and vocabulary study. I love the ideas of truth and beauty that we've been discussing. My goal is to do what's right for my son, and if that includes "masterly inactivity," classic literature, textbooks, and workbooks all on the same day... that's what we'll do. :)

It might be that they're just not used to it. We used Abeka for Science this year, the 3rd grade book... we did the same as you, just the reading and comprehension questions, no tests. The difference is that my son came home from public school and this was our first year homeschooling, so he was more used to the textbook and questions style of learning... I wanted to use a few "easy" pieces this year that would make for a better transition. He liked it and was able to do the questions. As he gets older, I would expect more thought or depth from the answers (instead of 3-4 words) but he has the system down. We're moving toward other styles of learning for many subjects, but I think these make for easy science courses. Now, I haven't looked at the 4th and 5th grade books... maybe they're tougher. They do appear to follow the same format as the one we're using, though. Would it help if you sat down and went through a chapter with each of them, maybe showing them how to highlight or underline important things, or show them how you'd find the information? (And maybe you've already done that?) Just thinking... I do think it's important, no matter how you homeschool, for kids to have the experience of textbook-like sources occasionally... eventually they'll have to use one, perhaps in college, perhaps for a job. So it's good that you're giving them the opportunity to learn on their own...

Thanks for this thread and all the recommendations. I'm still absorbing everything in the big thread, but it's speaking to me. I do like the very basic idea of adding in things of truth and beauty, and taking out things that detract from either. It speaks volumes in its simplicity.

Rose, that may be true. Even liking the list as a whole, there are a lot of titles I would probably skip. The recent talk on having skipped the "good" books led me to look at all levels of this list... we are of course past the Primary age list, but there are books even on there that I'd like to do as read aloud now. Plus add on other titles from authors on the list... I think one could pull together plenty. And many of the Newbery books and such, while maybe not "classics" yet, would still be good choices, I would think. ETA: Rose, I saw another post you made, and I think we're talking about two different lists. The list that AutumnOak linked above is a LOOONG list of good books on classicalhomeschooling.com. The list you referenced in the other thread (and may still be thinking of?) is for a specific 4th grade literature guide. Are we on the same page? As for that list for the literature guide... yes, I agree, it's not a list I would choose even for a boy. He wouldn't be interested in half of them!!

A resource suggested to me is Liping Ma's book, "Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics." I read through it, and probably need to do so again. :) The book is available on Amazon in book or Kindle version, would be a great place to start. If there are any blogs or websites, I'd love to know about those too!!

I agree, thanks for all these great posts. You have so many great ideas and insights. Andrew, thank you for coming here to share your thoughts... I am sure we can all learn so much from them. For the moment, my head is spinning. I think I need to absorb and re-read this for a while. It's definitely sparked some deep thought for me.

:iagree: Definitely! I am loving this list, I think it will form the basis for our reading from here on out!

That's true, I guess I did hear they have a great return policy. And if it does fit us, it's definitely a worthwhile investment. What about the other piece... do I just stick with WWE based lessons for now? Or is IEW different and enhanced enough that it would be worth doing both now??

Thanks for the opinions. I could see that dragging on for us too... no way could I see us spending months on Egypt, there are too many other things to learn, LOL!!! We could do it faster or skip, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having it all laid out. :) I've posted about this elsewhere, but I'm kind of going back and forth between doing American History this year or starting the ancients. I guess at least that takes me down to one option on the ancients... I think based on this we'll go with MOH if we do that!!

Take this for what it's worth... I am totally a dog person... I've never been without a dog. We had two dogs at home when we brought our son home, and we all managed fine. Over the years my allergies have gotten worse.... so once both of our two older dogs were gone... we got a standard poodle. :D He's very sweet, trained easily, and has turned into a major couch potato! He's loving and is good with children and our neighbors. Now, you do have much smaller children, and it will be harder. So don't call me when your life turns upside down, but I'd never be one to talk you out of it!! ;)

Hmmm.... anyone?? :)

Wondering if some of you can help me think this through!! My DS will be a 4th grader soon and I'm planning our curriculum. We just started homeschooling this year for 3rd grade. My son doesn't have much writing background, and I'd like to change that. He can do creative writing when he feels like it, LOL. (He typed up a short story based on the Warriors series not long ago.) But most of the time he doesn't feel like it! I also need him to have a good base with paragraphs and putting together thoughts, he needs work there. I'm getting started with the WWE method - using the text and doing a shorter length of time through each level. (After I know he has copywork down, I'm moving to level 2 exercises. Once he has narration exercises down, we'll move to level 3, and so on... just not doing a full year/program on each level.) And we'll plan to continue with those style of exercises through the curriculum. I have also been wondering about IEW, it seems like something that we might enjoy. I'd really like to check this out. So I wondered a couple things... 1. Would you stick with WWE for a while, and introduce IEW later, or do you think I can introduce it this coming year? 2. If I try IEW, can I get just the "Structure and Style Overview" DVD and at least get him started with that, or do I really need the whole TWSS DVD set before teaching anything? I hate to shell out the money until I know if it's a good option for us. Your thoughts appreciated...

Thanks, that helps. I was thinking that the SWI was necessary for the student to learn it all before implementing it other places. Even better!! :)

This is all great information. I've been looking at IEW and wondering if I could implement it this way. (I was planning to start off using WWE and implementing through the curriculum, and add IEW later.) However you use IEW, the first step is always to start with the TWSS DVD's... is that correct? Then do you have to do a SWI or can you start with something else with your student?? Love the ideas on how to integrate it with other subjects and make it meaningful!!

Not sure... it would be just right for your 5th grader, but not sure on the 3rd grader. We haven't used it ourselves yet, hopefully someone else can tell you. I was planning to use it with a 4th grader who is a good strong reader, if that helps.