But I'm beginning to think it depends on your own style. I just had a hard time "seeing" where SM was going with their style of instruction prior to getting the HIG. I'm a very linear thinker, but I want to know "why" SM has me teach things in a different manner from US books. Like using TWTM, I want to see the big pictures so I can feel comfortable with steps we're taking to get to The End. DS is doing good with math, but it is not something that he "gets" on the first try. Because of that, I've needed to reference their additional teaching resources (games) that they'll include in the HIG, we've used their Mental Math pages (something a veteran hsing mom told me she wished she'd used when her kids were young), and I just put little 3M flags in about 4 places and it helps me find answers when I need 'em. I actually wanted to give up on SM many, many times, but once I purchased the HIG, I've been much more comfortable sticking with it through the elementary grades. If they had had the 1A and 1B guides when we were going through those levels, I'm sure I would have been less frustrated with math. I probably should invest in those other SM resources mentioned about to get an idea of the methodology behind SM since I've got many more years of math instruction ahead of me.

..I'd look through the 1st grade stuff and only do the things he doesn't know....grammar definitions, dictation/narration, maybe a poem or two to practice memorization. Maybe spend a month on this or so, then move on to the second grade stuff; the lessons are so short and repetitive that you could probably finish even the second grade material by June or so, if you diligiently worked through it 3 times per week (And I wouldn't worry about not knowing a level 1 poem that is reviewed in level 2). ...But I wouldn't kill myself to get through it. If you think he has been exposed to the concepts enough already, then I'd go for alternative #2: You could bag FLL 1 and 2 altogether, and start with FLL 3 in 3rd grade. They do a nice job of reviewing all the grammar definitions (for those who haven't learned them or forgot them), and they do teach narration/ dication very nicely in the 3rd grade book.

I've got the TM, DVD, Audio CD, and flashcards for sale here. All for $30.

Oh, yes, the Higgins was great! We did a homeschool tour - $5/ per student and well worth it. They even have Japanese samurai armour! They let the kids try on some of the pieces and did a very thorough job of explaining in practical terms the evolution and demise of full body armour and the rise of "party" armour. My little guys loved it, too. After the tour they deposited us in a great hands on room with life sized chess board, lots of armour head gear to try on, dress ups for girls and boys, books and lots more. It was hard to drag everyone out of there at the end of the day.

Hello, My name is Alane and I'm a homeschooling mom. We've homeschooled since dh planted the seed into my brain when ds1 was 18 months old. I decided to research it to prove to him it was a stupid idea for our family.:o We spent preK and K using Sonlight's materials. I had read WTM when ds was preK, and thought we'd switch over and use it when he got to 1st grade. Then TOG came up, and I decided to use that for 1st grade. Then I gave birth to my 3rd son and hormones kicked in and I could barely make a decision about what to feed my family for dinner let alone which books to use and which activities to include in my son's first academic year. So, that Christmas I sold TOG and bought lock, stock and barrel into SOTW and the Activity Guide. We used these resources to flesh out our neo-classical education for 1st and 2nd and the first part of 3rd grade. Now, we're studying US History using Sonlight's Core 3. We'll move onto Core 4 for ds#1's 4th/5th-ish grade. After that I'd planned on returning to TOG for our logic and rhetoric classical rotations. But, who knows what'll happen once I've got two students and a kindergartner to teach. I'm very thankful to all the wonderful people who sponsor this board and those who answer, and for all the support that is here. It is a blessing to my planning and my sanity!

I love that it includes copywork, dictation, grammar, poetry and narration all-in-one. I'm a big fan of all-in-one. It is parent intensive. You'll need to sit with your student while they do the work. The writing isn't bad at all. I actually require more in terms of copywork for our notebooking, so ds thinks the coywork in FLL3 is a breeze. I love the poetry selections this year. A Tragic Story by Willima Makepeace Thakery was hillarious to work on. I've had a love-hate relationship with it for the first part of our year, but now that we've switched a lot of curriculum around (history/ readers/ read aloud), I'm finding that I've got more time to devote to this, and I'm not dreading it as much. I was just freaking out last semester because I felt like I was being pulled in too many directions with too much to do for our school day; With our other changes, I'm feeling much better about the time I devote to FLL 3 and I'm not looking at is as such a drag anymore.:)

I look at our notebook as being a portfolio of my child's work in a subject for the year, so I include lots of different things: ....SOTW maps ....typewritten narrations I've taken of ds's summaries (sometimes one or two sentences, sometimes 6 or more, depends on him) ....handwritten narrations I've taken of ds's summaries ....his copywork of his own narrations ....pictures of projects we've done (building boats, mummifying GI Joe, Lego castles) ....coloring pages from SOTW AG or other resources As for ds's narrations, sometimes I have to walk. him. through. every. step. in. at. a. painstaking. pace. Other times it just "clicks" for him. I'm looking through his history book from earlier this year... Here's what he said about Johannes Gutenberg: Gutenberg was trained to be a goldsmith. He made a printing press out of a wine press. He had to figure out what type of metal to use for the letters. He also had to figure out what kind of ink to use. The first book Gutenberg printed was the Bible. Most of the time, I end up saying a lot of, "What next?" or "Listen to this and tell me if this is good or if you want to add more." SWB's article on narration was very helpful to me (one of those things I need to pull out once and month and review for my own sanity as well as for the benefit of my children.) I just purchased History Scribe for our US colonization studies; They look like nice pages, and I'm hoping it will challenge ds to want to do some more drawing, which is something he doesn't usually like to do. We tend to do 1 notebook page for each of history and science per week. Sometimes we do two if there is somethings super important to write about. We use a separate timeline book to keep track of where we are in history. If you go to my blog to the weekly reports, there are some pictures of work he's done that has been included in our notebooks. HTH

I liked PL -- LOVED the DVDs, in fact. DS was doing well it when we did it consistently, but decided to stop using it and we're going to continue on with Lively Latin instead. The structure of PL was too draining (boring, predictable) for my son, and I could tell we needed a change . But, that is my ds. So, we're starting Lively Latin now, and I think he gets a kick out of the fact that there is a Roman soldier on many pages brandishing his sword (he's all into swords and other male pursuits). And, I know he'll like the fact that there is variety in the lessons and an occasional project. I'm pleased at the tone of the book-- it is like Catherine is talking directly to the student.

We are enjoying Noeo. I like the living books, the exposure to scientists in the field, the notebooking and experiements -- guess I like it all LOL! It uses Super Science Concoctions for experiments, plus the experiments from Young Scientists Club. There is a unit of geology attached to the end. Noeo Science

I've seen very brief descriptions at amazon, and SWB mentioned that she's now working on level 2 of the 3 level program, meant for elementary aged students. Then there is FLL 4 that she is helping to finish up, too. Just curious if anyone has the inside scoop...

I'm with you on that -- definitely one of the best investments I've made, too! :o)

..it was a busy but fun week!