You ladies might have just saved.my.brain. Seriously. My oldest DD is a slow, yet distractible, worker. I must sit with her but don't necessarily need to be immediately involved for independent practice. I believe I'll buy a sudoku book... or break out my long-neglected knitting needles... and I do like to color!

I think Horizons might fit. I think its teacher guide is very parent-friendly. (That said, in full-disclosure, I am not using Horizons but recently purchased two levels to look through.)

I currently store books/curricula in several different places in our house (due to space) & I've already misplaced things/forgotten them when it was time to use them. So I definitely suggest keeping everything in one location if you can!

I'd love to hear an answer if you find out!

Haha, I've never even noticed treasure chests! My oldest DD also loves getting the eggs to open and the weird creatures inside. She also spends her golden eggs like a shopaholic, collecting things to put in her "house."

Thanks. I was thinking it must've been with the older editions...

Thanks for all the feedback on these 2 programs. I believe that I am just going to continue with BJU. DD likes it & it is currently stress-free for us (important since phonics/reading are toughies for DD). Now, for those that have used BJU: I continue to see listings for "Spread your wings" and "Stretch your mind" workbooks on ebay/amazon. Did these go with the older (2nd) edition? I don't see them listed at any e-tailers that sell the curriculum....

Funny you mentioned this... I'd never heard of it (in many, many phonics searches) until someone mentioned on a recent thread I started. I went ahead and ordered the guide & a couple of workbooks at the level DD appears to be near (we're nearing the end of AAR1 and I ordered workbooks 3 & 4 -- which seem to cover the same material as AAR2). I'd love to hear a bit more about it, too! (I figured I'd be a guinea pig & try it out -- why not, I've tried so much other stuff!)

Ha, and at least in my case: my list is considered "best case scenario." In other words, I say we'll try to do it all, but some things (like music or grammar) might get dropped when life happens...

It's funny that there's said to be a backlash against historical fiction lately on these boards -- I haven't seen it. (I guess I've been too busy trying to figure out math & phonics to worry about history!) As I'm thinking, I do like some "historical fiction"-- I enjoyed many WW2/Holocaust-based fiction novels in H.S. So I am not opposed to it; I guess I just consider it literature, things I read for entertainment. I never read them as a part of my official education...

This is interesting... We're using AAR, but there's no writing -- which I am feeling DD needs. I was thinking of adding in Apples & Pears for spelling next year (already have it) and looking through it, I thought: "Wow, I bet this will help DD's reading!" Hmmm.... does anyone know what Apples & Pears and Dancing Bears are (as far as pedagogy -- is that the right word... methods/teaching philosophy?) ETA: I've also had a look at the Recipe for Reading workbooks. They seem to follow a sequence quite similar to AAR (which we are currently using). I wonder if there'd be a benefit of adding written practice from them whenever we introduce a new phonogram with AAR. (I don't know that I want to switch programs entirely, especially since my younger DD seems to be advancing quickly in reading and probably won't need a remedial-type program.) Any thoughts on adding RfR workbooks to AAR?

As I'm looking through my book stash, I realize that I quite dislike most of the historical fiction I've acquired (in anticipation for future years). In fact, I have a bunch in my donate pile... I'm not talking about Little House (which I love & consider classic children's lit) but those Scott O'Dell books, the Golden Goblet, etc, etc. Don't like 'em. (And I am a big reader, love fiction in general!) So I was thinking: I don't want historical fiction to be a main player in our history education. My girls (and I) actually like DK/Usborne-type history books (Medieval world, Last 500 years, etc). Anyone do history without the popular historical fiction? I do imagine I could find 1-2 per time period that I can tolerate ;) but I know I don't want it to be the backbone of our learning. We're more get'er-done in this respect: read the facts, do some timelines, mark some maps, make some crafts (we are craftsy). Hmmm, maybe something like Time Travelers would fit us... Do YOU like historical fiction?

We have a magnetic travel Tangoes set (I think is the name) and my 6 yr old is challenged by it (but enjoys it!)

I'm a switcher. I've given myself this year (1st grade) to play around and try a few programs out. (Oh, all right, I've tried a LOT of programs out!) I'm pretty certain now what I'm going to stick with... no lingering doubts about the ones I never got to try (cause I tried them all, haha)...

Thanks for all the great ideas! We tried PP a little while back. The pages were *so* full of words, though, DD's eyes would glaze over after the first row of words/phrases... That's a good idea! DD's dictation is better than her reading, through she still does reversals. (She spelled "math" the other day as "th-a-m".)

:bigear: Can I tag-along on this thread and ask: is there a list of what'll be covered for Level 3? I'm sure I've seen it somewhere on AAR's site but now I can't find it....

That sounds familiar... maybe Sassoon Primary? Well, my DD (7) has declared this font to be fancy and she likes it. :p So maybe I'll let her switch completely. We haven't been consistent with any penmanship yet, and I really don't care what we use as long as it's legible...

If you use Apples & Pears or Dancing Bears, what do you do about the font? So far, we've used a ZB-like font (though not strict about it) -- but Sound Foundations uses a font similar to D'Nealian (though I can't remember it's proper name right now). Do you continue with your "regular" handwriting? Switch over to all-UK font style? Only use that style when doing Apples & Pears? DD has terrible handwriting (pencil-resistant until just lately), so I wouldn't mind switching completely over to another style and really focusing our handwriting practice. If we use Apples & Pears, I might would use something like D'Nealian for consistency (I did find some printables on Sparklebox for the font Sound Foundations uses....) What do you do? :)

Thanks! I was thinking of adding ETC back in (we were using it alone before we picked up AAR). I think the writing component would help DD...

What reading program have you used with success with a struggling student? My 7 yr old still slowwwly sounds out CVC words ... and is often wrong (mixes letters up or reads the word backwards). I believe we'll soon go in for some sort of evaluation, but in the meanwhile.... what worked for your struggling reader?

This sounds like my oldest. We've really been struggling with reading this year. She'll be 7 mid-June and we're still hanging out in the CVC wasteland. She's frustrated b/c she's tired of reading about "The cat on the mat. The fat rat sits on a hat." Right now we're using AAR and she likes it. It has games, hands-on stuff. I just wish it moved along a bit more quickly, since we're already behind. It'll take 2-3 levels to "catch her up."

We've been using the new edition. Maybe I just need to sit down with the BJU guide again and figure out how to make it work for me...

Glad to hear the new editions are considered current, re: standards.

Arg! Hahaa, that doesn't make my decision any easier. I'm on vacation right now, but I've got 2 levels of Horizons sitting at home, waiting for me to just look-and-look-and-debate.... :) **The more I look at Horizons, the more I really like their teacher guides... I may just have to close my eyes and point to pick.**

We're using AAR and that's enough tiles for me, thankyouverymuch! ;) (We still don't always use them.) We're going to give Apples & Pears a try for spelling for 2nd. It makes sense to me and how I spell, plus my DD is very visual/pattern-oriented (not rule-oriented) so I think it might be good. I hope so! ETA: I also really liked the look of BJU spelling. If A&P doesn't work for us, that's my default.