There is a set of lesson plans you can buy from CBD.com that is only about $6 which is very helpful for planning Apologia science, IMO. It's basically already laid out. Those combined with the supplies kit means very little planning and no daily prep. Just thought I'd mention it because the first time I used Apologia I didn't realize there were lesson plans I could buy. :glare:

I bought Honey For a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt for the book lists. She has tons of booklists listed by age group.

I'm using it with my 2 boys at the same time. They are only a year and a half apart so it's not terribly difficult to keep them at the same speed. I have a method of using the key cards where I ask one boy and even if he says the answer correctly I ask the other boy and he repeats it. At first I was afraid it would be hard to memorize things this way but they have no problem with it at all. In fact, it might help slightly because even when one has "mastered" something, they keep hearing it a couple times from their brother. The thing I'm not sure about is how you'd use it with younger ones coming up if you're already on, say, Level 3, but you need to start with Level 1 for the younger ones. Pretty sure you have to start at Level 1 with new AAS students, no matter how old they are because they need to know all the key cards and memorize the sounds of the letters in a certain order (and not just "ah" for O... They need to know literally ALL the sounds ("ah," "oh," "ooh," "uh"). I could use some advice on this, too, since I have 5 kids and my daughter is starting K next year. Right now my plan is to keep going with my oldest boys as a AAS pair, and maybe wait until I can start my next 2 as a pair (when they are in 1st & 2nd, perhaps) to minimize doing 3 different levels at one time. I just can't handle that.:tongue_smilie: There is someone on here named "Merry"something who I noticed works for AAS in some fashion. Maybe keep a look out for her or put her name in the title of a thread and see if she has any advice.

I didn't read every single piece of advice you got so this could be redundant or useless, but I would 1) let them (and yourself) take a break for at least a week so the frustration level reaches zero before you try anything new. 2) I also love MUS. However, I think you might want to look at MCP K math until you get over this hump. I've used it in the past and I thought it did a really good job of presenting the concepts clearly and slowly, in logical stages (unlike what you were describing from your current program?). I love the way MCP K introduces addition with pictures. Even though it's on paper, the "problems" start out kind of telling a story... first they make sure the child can count butterflies and circle the right number. Then they have a group of butterflies on one side and another butterfly "fly over" to the group and the child has to circle the number of how many there are "now." You get the idea. The way they change the instructions just slightly every couple of pages, it's like the kids start adding without even realizing what they're doing at first because it's such a logical progression. It's cute, my kids liked the pictures (but it's not so colorful or crazy that it's distracting), and it was an utterly painless way to get the concept of addition. I highly recommend you give this curriculum a go. Don't worry about it being a "K" book. The important part is that they get the concept, right? And MCP isn't too awful expensive (20 bucks?) so I think it would be worth it to save all 3 of you the headache! good luck!

Flashmaster! I just started using it recently and so far it's much more enjoyable than drilling on paper or regular flash cards. They can try to beat their own time, the parent can program in problems, the game will repeat missed problems if you want, etc, etc. Totally worth 50 bucks. If they dislike it you wouldn't be much worse off than annoying them to death with making them do the facts every day anyway, right? And they may do it daily without a fight and actually memorize the darn things. At least that's my plan. lol I'm going to insist on memorization because I remember trying to do long division in 4th grade while not having my multiplication facts memorized... and I also remember counting on my fingers under my desk in 7th grade... and... ok, I'll stop there. :lol:

I vote for All About Reading! I just started it with my daughter and I'm thinking why o why wasn't this around when I was torturing my first child with 100EZ? AAR is so different from 100EZ (and way, way more fun) that I think it would be a good move. OR she could also go right to beginning readers that are like a phonics program in and of themselves because they introduce only one or 2 sounds at a time. This is what the BOB books do, and the Now I'm Reading! books do. In the latter set, the kid puts a sticker in each book they read (and hence each sound you've covered). This might be a welcome change from 100EZ.

At this age I would concentrate on Math, Reading, Handwriting Maybe throw in additional subjects throughout the year by concentrating on one NON-reading/writing/arithmetic subject per month. Science for 1 month (read books from the library, Usborne books, whatever is of interest), health the next month, history the next month, etc. That way you know you treated all of them at some point during the year, but you aren't worrying about doing them all "every day" or concerning yourself with several "lessons" in one day to start out with. Right now it will probably be too much to throw yourself and your child into homeschooling for 4 hours a day, so my advice is to keep it simple while you can. As you get more comfortable you will say, hey, this is going pretty well and I found this really cool program, so I think we will start that. Start simple and build on it. Don't feel pressure just yet to memorize poetry, teach latin, spanish, do a science "curriculum," etc, etc. You have plenty of time for your child to benefit from those things. Even later in the year you might feel up to looking at those things, but generally I try not to start too many *new* things at once. It sounds like that's the boat you're in. Tackle the basics and add in one or two, tops, *new* things at a time. Sometimes better to start out slow than to feel like you have to do so much more (and try it) and bomb or feel like crying every day (yeah, I've done that; It's not fun). Just a thought. Good luck!

LOL! Love the title of this thread. I spent around $300 the first couple yrs of homeschooling, and then I found Sonlight. LOL Then I spent around... I can't remember, $600 on my oldest (and only a token book or two for his younger brother since they share a lot). I could scrimp and buy cheaper programs but I'm all about buying what I think will produce the best results and what will make my life easier. For next year I'm looking at buying the next level of: RFH, AAS, Apologia Sci, SL Reader package, MUS (whole set for oldest & just workbook for younger brother). I also need something for history (might switch from SL), something for health, and I want to start IEW which will be the biggest single-subject expense. But I really think IEW will make my life so much easier and really benefit my boys, so it's worth 240 bucks (...right?!:lol:). I also want to get artistic pursuits and some kind of music program (maybe DVD's or something?). And that's not counting the next level of AAR for dd who will be starting K next year, and a math program for her... Sooo... I don't know.... I predict $700-$1,000 for next year. But I can use a ton of it over again and I have 5 kids so I'll get my money's worth eventually!:tongue_smilie:

I have been attempting to get through the Instructor's Guide but it's tough to finish a "week's worth" in one week. I started skipping some peripheral books I wasn't a huge fan of just to pick up some speed. I'm only using SL's Core B for history and literature... so I have a lot of other things to do (science, math, health, spelling, etc), so I decided I can't spend SO much time on SL just so I can check off my little boxes. This is one reason I'm kinda looking around for something that doesn't have such a heavy schedule and that doesn't do so much book-hopping. I suggest just crossing off some of the peripheral books and reading them later on (like during summer break) to lighten the load, OR just read the books and drop the IG, OR give yourself as much time as you need and don't necessarily expect to get a week's worth done in 1 week. Trying to not worry about my IG today because it's daddy's birthday and I have a cake to make. :tongue_smilie:

LOL! In case anyone is interested. Tim Tebow will be partnering with Book It! and making a webcast of him reading his favorite childhood book, Green Eggs and Ham. http://www.bookitprogram.com/biggeststorytime/ I'm sure my kids will love it and they offer some activities to go with it. I think I'll make green eggs for breakfast tomorrow. And the kids had BETTER eat 'em.:lol:

As far as testing goes, I probably will hold off for a while and just try easing up on the reigns a bit with math and reading for Zay and let him go as quickly as he comfortably can through the lessons. I looked over MUS Beta afresh this morning and realized he could definitely skip the next 3 lessons. So even though I didn't ask him to, Zay did all the word problems from those lessons (in about 3 minutes) just to prove he could (mm k? lol) and I made sure he knew what he was doing and told him, fine, we'll move a few lessons down to the material that I think he might not know yet. I think he will catch onto that in about 5 seconds so I decided that instead of holding him up I'm going to dish it out as fast he wants, as long as he's retaining it. I will also add the Ruff book to my list of books to read. I plan to read one on dyslexia first, though.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts! I definitely plan to get Bubs tested for dyslexia whenever we get it figured out with insurance and all. Ana, those are some good suggestions. I definitely want to find Zay the answers he needs to ease his mind about the questions (if anyone knows of a good book, that would be awesome. But I don't want another program to "teach" so much as a book of questions & answers or even DVD's or something -?). The comforting bible verse and prayers are also a really good idea. Maybe we can write some down together that he can keep with him and use in time of need. I bet he would like that. To answer your question about what I'm doing now... I do, thank goodness, have both the boys doing all subjects together except math and reading. So that is very helpful. I do some subjects CM-style like apologia sci so I can simply read to both the boys together. My 2 current challenges are: 1) Adding in DD who is turning 5. I'm doing AAR Pre-1 with her right now and hoping to move to AAR Level 1 in the fall (which will technically be the start of K for her). I'm thinking of focusing on the 3 R's with her and just having her "listen in" on science, history, read alouds, etc. 2) Figuring out what to do for history. This is hard because my family is heavily considering Catholicism so we don't want a curriculum that is subtly (not not so subtly) anti-Catholic, and I would like to use something that I can use with a wide age-range (hopefully even with dd in K next year). I like a lot about SL but I find it's just too much switching gears for me (I cannot take reading more than 1 history book simultaneously for some reason). I like a lot of the books (not all - I think there's some needlessly disturbing stuff in some of the literature choices and that bugs me about SL too). I'm considering Connecting With History but I don't know if following their program (as opposed to just reading the books) would entail all the switching gears, as well. Sometimes I wonder if just reading the books would not provide an adequate education as opposed to all the book-hopping? I would also like to include more hands-on activities in history because I realized Bubs is a Wiggly Willy who LOVES projects and crafts. You can almost see his eyes light up when it's project time... and I love them too as long as they don't put me on a scavenger hunt (I'm a just-buy-the-supply-kit girl) and they actually teach something or help the kids remember something. I've looked at SOTW and find it very appealing (especially the activity stuff) but not sure about the religion issue. *sigh* Aren't you glad you asked? :lol:

I was searching for thoughts on IEW and came across this thread which actually isn't THAT old, but I feel like I'm resurrecting it because this board is so busy! Anyhoo, to answer the OP's question about needing a spelling and grammar program in addition to IEW... I was confused about this, too! So I emailed IEW and asked and Jill Pike (the lady who wrote PAL) emailed me back and said you do NOT need an extra grammar program because it will be overkill. I'm already using All About Spelling (which does cover some grammar; I'm not sure how much because we're not done with Level 1 yet). She basically said IEW plus AAS is perfect. So I'm not sure exactly how SWI covers grammar, but apparently it does. I have heard people say that watching TWSS is a *MUST,* otherwise, you are risking failure using any of IEW's other products (and maybe failure in teaching writing altogether since a lot of people have trouble in this area). Hope that helps. I'm so excited to try IEW! And excited for pay day so I can order it. LOL (I hope :glare:)

Thanks! That is basically what I wanted to know. I wasn't sure if I should expect it to look like a "level before alpha" or if it would be very different in the way it looks or works since it's a pre-1 "level." Thanks for the info. I did find a sample of a primer lesson on MathUSee.com (duh- I'm sure I looked there before) and it looks like what you described.:)

When my boys were younger I used MCP Math for K. Now that my boys have used MUS alpha, beta, & gamma, I'm thinking of trying Primer with my daughter (who is turning 5). But I have the fear of the unknown and haven't found any helpful reviews specifically of Primer. Has anyone used it, or know of some helpful reviews? I'm wondering if it's as bare-bones and pictureless as the rest of the MUS books? If it is, I might do MCP only for K because I don't want to bore dd to death quite yet. :D This will be her FIRST math book, so I want to keep it somewhat visually appealing. Thoughts? Comparisons?

YES, my son is going through this right now (he's 7). I'm trying to figure out what's going on as well. I know it happens to me when I get too tired. I can also get paranoid if I need sleep. I will think "what if someone broke in the house? what would I do?" Then instead of it being a passing thought I will be going through the entire scenario in my head for 10 minutes in detail before I finally realize... uhhhh... I need to go to bed. Going to bed right away almost always solves the problem and then I wake up feeling fine. Teenagers often need a lot of sleep (even though they also often turn into night-owls). Maybe you could try that as Step 1? I don't know your situation, but if he's a night owl and can't get to bed earlier, I'd try letting him sleep as long as he needs to in the morning if you can and see if it clears up. Good luck.

llllllll

Yep, I'm a newb on this board. :) I find myself in a strange position this year because I have one son (we'll call him Bubs - 8 yrs old) who almost certainly has some degree of dyslexia or something similar... and his younger brother Zay (7 yrs old) who seems to learn very easily, is "reading on a mid-4th grade level" (LOL! I always hated when people said that, but you all understand), and who I've noticed frequently complains about how "easy" and "boring" math is. I also have 3 younger kids and have honestly just been trying to get through school with my head above water and that's about it. For a while Zay has been very interested in reading EVERYthing... not necessarily long books, but emails over my shoulder (lol), signs, headlines, labels, etc, etc. He also spells constantly (I call him "spelling man"). I mean, for instance, "C-a-n I h-a-v-e s-o-m-e c-a-n-d-y?" LOL I say, jokingly, "y-e-s." He says, "N-o-w?" Lol. It's just one of his little "things" he does and I never thought much about it. But I have been thinking more recently about how Zay seems to be bent on improving his own skills just because he enjoys it (spelling like I described, reading everything he sees without my prompting, and he also loves to write notes constantly). And, like I said, I have NOT been pushing with school since I have a lot of stuff on my plate and have just been trying to get through. Zay (and Bubs both) were reading Grade 2 Sonlight Readers. I noticed they were easy for Zay but just thought, eh, we'll finish them and move on to the next when he's done. So to figure out which leveled Reader package to buy next, I had Zay take the quick reading assessment and was like HUH?! It recommended Core E Readers, I believe. I was thinking, "what does that mean?! What happened to 3rd grade?" lol Then I had him take 4 other reading assessments online and they all gave surprisingly consistent results, saying mid-4th grade to beginning 5th grade. Now I don't know if that's really that big of a deal, but I was surprised (AND felt better about Bubs not reading nearly as good as Zay because this meant Zay was NOT reading on a 2nd/3rd grade level and Bubs was *below that*, like I feared). This is turning out really long... doh... anyway, I've also noticed that Zay picks up on math concepts almost effortlessly but previously chalked it up to my teaching the concepts only the year before to his brother, so maybe I was explaining it better. He's not "accelerated" at all because I'm the opposite of pushy and don't want to go too fast / put pressure / probably didn't pay enough attention! The weirdest thing that just makes me wonder lately about giftedness regarding Zay (though honestly I feel a little silly because I could be way off-base!) is that he has been coming to me all upset about SOMETHING every single day. Sometimes he worries that he has a secret he needs to tell me and he is all emotional about it (and usually it's NOT a big deal), and he is constantly asking me deep questions about God and Christianity. (I have GOT to get on the ball and get this kid a book on apologetics or something.) He gets very emotional, seems to constantly be thinking about good and evil, has a super sensitive conscience, and asks me questions that I find a little surprising (e.g. "How do we know we can trust what the Bible says? Who wrote it? etc.). I don't know, is that normal for a 7 year old? The frequency lately is the weirdest thing to me... I'm not saying now and then he asks this stuff, I'm talking every. single. day. Never when daddy is home, of course, so I told him to write down ALL his questions and we will soon go over all of them with daddy to get him the answers to his satisfaction. Zay also has been telling me he gets something in his head (images he finds disturbing) that won't go away sometimes. Again, he gets upset about it, sometimes won't tell me until I pry a little and tell him it's fine, etc. Multiple times a week. ALL of this usually happens in the evening for some reason so I have chalked it up to getting tired and his wheels turning too much. But it's happening so much now I have actually started to worry lately about his mind and whether he's OK. ANYway, now with the new information that he's reading so well despite my not putting any effort into it at ALL, plus he generally learns pretty easily, etc, I have just started to wonder (as in only less than 10 days) whether all his emotional turmoil could have something to do with his mind needing some more "food" and something for his wheels to turn about, otherwise maybe his wheels will turn too much about deep things? I really don't know, he might just be a bright, emotional kid. I don't need testing to enter some program because I would want to continue homeschooling but I just want to know how to understand him and teach him. If he needs to be challenged more, I want to do it. I find myself wondering if I offered him more higher-level books, and let him go a lot faster in math, what he could do. BUBS (8 yrs old), on the other hand, is opposite of his brother in so many ways, though they are BEST buds. I'm looking into getting vision testing for him and a dyslexia evaluation so, again, I can maximize on the way he learns and teach him appropriately. He has a hard time with reading because of the suspected-dyslexia, and seems talented in creative things like visual arts and music (though I haven't given him any formal music, really - I'm such a terrible mother! :001_unsure:). But I don't know about "gifted." Umm, longest post ever. Sorry. :tongue_smilie: If anyone has comments on what I should think / do about Zay (or Bubs), I'm :bigear:. Tara

I called up my usual optometrist and asked if he did the tracking tests and all (nope) and he recommended a local ophthalmologist who tests for that stuff. Is there any reason I should look for a "developmental optometrist," or can I make an appointment with this guy? Hope I'm not annoyingly butting into the OP's thread. Carry on.:) Just wondered real quick because I'm trying to figure out the same stuff so I figured why start a new thread on the same topic. Thanks.

I must admit I get the babycenter blogger's general point. I LOL'ed at the sweeping on a 4th grade level bit. :lol: I have been around people who seem to be bragging about their kids' abilities. I don't know if I've ever been around someone whose child was "gifted," but I have heard people say their kid is "advanced" or just generally announce their kids abilities. They might not be prideful in their hearts, but it can definitely come across that way. I often just wonder *why* they even offer the information unless they're asked. To me, affirming a compliment with, "Yeah, Sammy is going really well with reading" is different than saying, "yeah, Sammy is reading on a 4th grade level" or "Yeah, Sammy was identified as gifted in reading." Don't throw eggs at me. :tongue_smilie: Just saying. Bottom line is no matter what kind of parent we are (mom to kid with learning disabilities, gifted kids, kids with physical problems, etc) we have to try to be aware of who we're talking to and how you might make someone feel. We should try to speak humbly and modestly of ourselves and our children. If we're talking to another mom of a gifted child she would probably feel next to no unintentional pressure while most moms of "normal" kids will feel like you're rubbing your kids' genius in their face, or they aren't doing a good job teaching their kids, or their kids aren't smart, or you want to pump yourself up, or what have you. This board is a perfect place to share details and accomplishments. But in real life, I personally only brag to my mom because she is happy for me and there is no possible feeling of "competition."

I suggest buying the Flashmaster game! My kids actually *want* to use it (I tell them "after school," lol, because I want to finish our normal stuff first). It's expensive... 40 or 50 bucks I think, but SO worth it. Day 1 my kids were trying to beat their own time! And if my kids suspect anything is "school," they are usually leery, so that says something. It's made FOR drilling kids in math and it's not colorful and pretty but my boys don't seem to care and what's awesome is the parent can select different levels, different operations, and you can easily set it so that it will keep drilling "missed problems." You can also manually enter problems they need to work on. These features are why I'm SO glad I bought the Flashmaster and not a different, cuter (and less expensive!) version. You can also "see results" of the last 9 activities to see how they're doing. You can do Timed practice, timed test, time limit for each problem, multiplication table (or other table) in order, out of order, etc. a-w-e-s-o-m-e It's very easy to set, too, since they have all the buttons labeled and instructions stuck right on the back of the game. Worst case scenario is she doesn't think it's that fun, but you already know that a lot of other forms of drilling aren't going to be a hit, right? Maybe worth a try. Edited to add: I use Math U See, too. We're on Gamma and what I'm trying to do is when my son starts a new lesson, say, multiplying by 5's, I make sure he understands the concept fully (that 3x5 means three 5's or five 3's and that he can figure it out by counting by 5's, etc.) I then have him do the problems in the student book like this for the A,B,C worksheets (having to figure them out and maybe memorize a few along the way from repetition). Then I will have him use the Flashmaster on days D,E,F and try to memorize all the x5's. So far, it does NOT take long with the flashmaster. I did the x2's as fast as I could enter them on the first day we tried the game because they were saying "mom, do it as fast as you can," and I thought no way is he going to come close to my time... and he equaled it! I couldn't believe it. Anyway, this is to give you an idea of how you might make use of it with MUS since of course you don't want to just hand over the game and have try to have her memorize the whole table at once without having gotten to the x7 lesson or what have you in MUS. That's why flashmaster is awesome, though, that you can enter problems or choose levels so they are drilling exactly what needs to be drilled. HTH :o)

Does it cover grammar in addition to the composition? I would love for someone to help me picture how it works and what it covers. Is IEW's Student Writing Intensive for multiple-grade levels? What pre-requisites are there, if any, for SWI Level A? (i.e. do kids need to be able to write paragraphs? Use quotation marks?) Where can I find some benchmarks for grammar/writing skills? My kids need work on forming paragraphs and the whole she-bang. They don't have a good knowledge of commas or quotation marks (at least not enough to actually reliably do it). They are 7 & 8. I'm trying to figure out how to jump on the IEW track and whether grammar is covered. Also, as a precaution, exactly what bases should I be covering in terms of LA? Because I feel like I've really dropped the ball so far with LA and want to make sure I'm covering everything from this point on. I'm playing "catch up." I'm already using Sonlight's Readers for their reading, and All About Spelling which is going well. But I have no grammar or writing and am totally clueless about how to teach it. Thanks!

I assume you get an evaluation? (By who?) What are things to look for? (i.e. What traits merit an evaluation?) Just curious.

Whoa. This is my first post here and I signed up to these forums in order to search and ask about my sons's dyslexia issues. I just wanted to tell you, Jumping In Puddles, that my son sounds strangely similar to yours! I laughed out loud when I read the part about him having a hard time reading the word "will" and his name is Will. LOL! That reminds me so much of my son. It pains ME every day to listen to him read (though I try to hide it, of course). My son doesn't seem to immediately see root words and endings like I do. It seems like the whole word is mushed together and his mind doesn't immediately notice the "ing" on the end. He also will add in other sounds that aren't there at ALL when reading simple, 3-letter words! Yet, he's clearly not a dummy. My son is also 8 - will be 9 in May. Like yours, my son also talked early. He even strummed his toy guitar and sang songs when he was only 3 so well that people were surprised and loved the entertainment. He LOVES art and crafts and music. He picks up on tunes very easily and memorizes parts of movies after watching it once or twice. Weird. And strangely (!!) he has told me the exact same thing your son said about listening to something and watching a movie in his head. He loves audio books and also told me he watches "the movie in his head" in bed at night when his little brother is watching a movie downstairs and he can hear the audio. He is clearly bright, we have done loads of phonics, YET he going to be in 4th grade next year and makes tons of mistakes while reading. He loves books and stories so it makes me feel bad when he's trying to read a book and I correct his mistake yet again and his face gets red and he starts tearing up out of utter despair and frustration. I always tell my husband that reading is like a mental marathon for him. He's trying SO hard and it's SUCH a struggle, yet there's not much progress to show for it. What gives? Anyway, just wanted to share the strange similarities there. I haven't done vision testing but I'm pretty convinced he can SEE fine. I don't know about tracking and all that stuff. I'm very clueless. All I know is he needs to be tested and I need to know how I should be teaching him. I'm pretty convinced he has some degree of dyslexia or something very similar. My does also confuse b's, d's, writes p's backwards, writes numbers backwards all the time (02 instead of 20). Have you had any luck? Are there any legit mail-order tests I can buy? How are you / did you get your son evaluated for dyslexia? Oh, my son is also a pretty bad speller. He wrote this today for his journal: "Frst I got up ubout 6:00. I hrd (heard) Dabby giting Isaiah. Then we at brkfist wall (while) Dabby red a book to us. Then Mamy woc (woke) up. Finally (I told him how to spell that) we bib scol. the end Apparently we bibn't do enough scol. LOL!! just kidding. :lol: Oy, I need to laugh sometimes. Please let me know if you've found any resources (especially a reliable test I can give him at home) that you've found useful. We are in a similar boat! OH, and we are now using All About Spelling and though, as you can see, my son's spelling isn't too stellar, it has improved! And I LOVE how it's laid out and so organized. Plus it's VERY similar to the Barton method or whatever it's called, as you will see. So definitely check out All About Spelling if you haven't yet. Tara