Oh my gosh! I thought I was the only one who did this!!! Also yes, we jump ahead when things seem too easy by testing out of levels. My daughter skipped 20 lessons today by passing two mastery tests. She was sooooo happy!

Apples and Pears is not at all independent, so if that's what you are looking for you should definitely consider something else. I've used LoE Foundations and Essentials. I really liked them both and so did my kids. Unfortunately, Essentials didn't work for my oldest. Neither did AAS, which has a similar rule based approach so not really a surprise. We had some success with Sequential Spelling but she saw her sister doing Apples and Pears (after LoE Foundations) and wanted to try it. It's been the best thing for her. She's almost done with C and we will move on to D in just a couple of weeks. We spend about 10 minutes a day doing it. My 2nd grader does one page a day and my 5th grader does two. It's got a lot of writing...a lot. A complete lesson takes about 20 minutes and is 4 pages(ish). On their website you can look inside each book at ALL of the pages. For placement, open up the Teacher's Manual on their website and look for the placement/mastery test that occurs approximately every ten lessons. Follow the directions to administer the test and keep testing until your student doesn't pass. When they don't pass, you know where to start. It's easy as that. It's not a pretty program. I personally like all the color of LoE foundations and the games and cards. I love the spelling tiles from AAS, but those things seemed to be wasted on my students. One or two black and white pages a day and both my kids are better spellers.

I sometimes look at other's plans and feel completely discombobulated and overwhelmed. I tend to plan light and then add things over the course of the year if I feel we have time. That said, my plan for this year for my youngest is nothing at all like what we are actually doing. We completely crashed and burned with Oak Meadow. We have since readjusted and are using, with great success, the things in my signature. Sometimes I feel like I am constantly readjusting. This is my fifth year and I finally feel like I've mostly found my rhythm. Hope I didn't jinx myself just now.

Well for sure, beast. I'm not sure why I didn't say that too. I was thinking traditional program I guess.

If you liked the Singapore approach, but wanted something easier to teach, I would definitely go with Math in Focus. For third grade you wouldn't need the TM most likely. I teach straight out of the text and follow up with the workbook. Easy peasy.

Wow, I must have just checked out with the last copy when you looked for it. I'm sorry. :(

I grabbed Exploding Kittens, Ticket to Ride (Europe), Dixit, Fluxx OZ and Bad Beets. Wow, that was fun but expensive. I know what Santa is bringing us this year. Then I went back and picked up Dominion and an expansion.

Well!!! Put that kid in public school and he can really go crazy!

I'll have a 6th grader next year. So far, I'm thinking: Math: AOPS or Jousting Armadillos. I have both and we'll start one before this school year is out. Science: GHF Story of Science, Newton at the Center English: IEW Continuation Course B or one of their themed units. We will also continue to work our way though Apples and Pears for spelling unless there is a miracle between then and now and the child can finally spell. :huh: Literature to be determined. History: Heck if I know. Fine Arts: Continue to draw, dance and play piano. It seems like it should be more complicated than that, but that is pretty much what we do now and it uses up a fair amount of time.

No, they don't have vending or cafes, but I pay a significant amount in library fines. They've said they are almost finished building my wing of the library. ;) You'd think such a big donor could get a room.

Sadly, both of our local libraries charged significant fees as well. This must be a local phenomenon.

Granted, we aren't coming from Singapore or MM, we will be coming from Beast Academy and we will be coming soon as we are rapidly eating up the BA5A textbook and it was only just published--still, a student who excelled at Singapore/MM should be well prepared for AOPS (having worked through part of the book myself).

I'm glad to hear that your area schools are welcoming community classes for student participation. Two years ago I was a troop leader for Girl Scouts and every public school in the area wanted to charge us to use their space. This wasn't a token expense either, we're talking $100 per meeting. Most of these girls couldn't afford the $2 semi-weekly dues. How were we going to come up with that kind of money to fund an after school program that mostly catered to low income public school kids.

I understand the point of this thread, but if we are getting things off our chest about homeschoolers, I would like to contribute the following: Complaining constantly about public school teachers, policies, common core, etc. I know we all homeschool for our own reasons, and whatever that is, there is probably no need to constantly berate public school kids and their situations to anyone who will listen. I was reading my MIL some of the charming posts off of the "What does your DC want to be when they grow up" thread and she was surprised. She thought the only thing homeschoolers talked about on homeschool forums was about how terrible public schools are because that had been her experience in real life (and she's a retired PS teacher). I tried to explain to her that the forums are not filled with angst about public school but she didn't seem convinced.

If I could like this twice, I would. :lol:

The illustrated copy is beautiful and my DD 7 really enjoyed it. You could still read one a year because they are only releasing one illustrated book a year.

Another vote for normal. I didn't show mine to my parents and would have felt uncomfortable if they had asked. My oldest is only ten and has a big sister at a Christian dance studio. They send notes back and forth to each other and she doesn't like me to read those either. (I know from sneaking peaks before I was told absolutely not to that they are all innocuous. What's your favorite color/candy, etc.?) I think it's just the next step in independence.

IEW is having a 50 percent off clearance items sale.

I think you should go for it. My young second grader will start beast this year too. ;) My oldest zoomed through MIF 1A through 3A before April of her first grade year. She started out loving math and begging for more. By April, she was bored and irritated at how easy it was. Beast Academy published 3A and we immediately switched. Math became her favorite again.

My oldest daughter finished 1A through 3A before April her first grade year. Just to say, it really depends on the kid and some are going to zoom through.

For first grade we did MIF 1A, 1B and part of 2A. We are midway through 2B right now and I think it goes pretty quickly. I'll need 3A by first of February at the latest. When we start that, we will start BA too and that slows things down.

This is very much what my husband does with my daughter. He attends her lessons with her and each practice at home is a mini lesson. There's a lot of good advice here.

My oldest is ten and plays about 20 minutes a day. My youngest is seven, but started when she was 5. Her practice routine hasn't really changed since she started. She actually practices longer than the older. Since she weasels out of practice so frequently, she agrees to practice longer when we finally convince her to drag her instrument out. Both are very motivated to play over FaceTime for grandparents. We've used a sticker chart for my youngest. She also likes to play a song and have you guess what she is playing. Sometimes she makes up random stuff and tries to trick us.

My second grader has a late August birthday so she is on the young side of second grade. If you have a second grader: -How strong of a reader are they? (Eldest is not a great reader. He can read, but we are talking Cat in the Hat level. He would drown if I handed him Magic Tree House.) She's not at the level of reading Magic Tree House yet. She can comfortably read Frog and Toad, Amelia Bedelia, and others along those lines. -What are you using? and could you label what level of independence (teacher intensive the whole time, quick lesson but work done independently, can read the lesson and does it all by themselves, etc) each one is? I read from our science book and a book of short animal stories every morning. She then draws a picture to do with either of these and writes a few sentences for narration. The drawing and writing are independent. I correct for spelling and grammar when she is done. 50% independent. We do science demonstrations and exploration together. 0% independent. Math fact practice is Reflex Math. I log her in and then she's independently involved for 15ish minutes. 100% independent. Math in Focus. I teach the lesson and then sit beside her while she works in the workbook. I help her read the word problems (she can do this herself, but doesn't think she can). I would say she about 30% independent here. ELTL 2 for handwriting, writing, grammar. She does the copywork independently. The rest we do together. I'd call this about 20% independent. Apples and Pears for spelling. 0% independent. Typing is Keyboarding without Tears. 100% independent. She reads to me and I read our history book to her. 0% Most of our work is together. I pretty much expect that. My oldest is in 5th grade this year and she's probably 50% independent. I could probably find more independent work for both of them, but I really like being involved. -And if they had two hours to do whatever they wanted what would they do? (Mine would play video games: Minecraft or Wii U. If I make screen time not an option he'd build something probably with Legos or draw something. She'd spend the entire time watching videos on Youtube Kids or playing games on her iPad. When those are out, she likes to create with stuff out of the recycle. Paint. Play outside. Cartwheel and handstand her way through the living room. Hang upside down from the arms of the couch. Cuddle the pets. Play whatever she can talk her sister into playing.

Well if you have finished WWE, the obvious follow up would seem to me to be WWS. You can download the first few lessons to get a feel for it. I really liked the look of it, but my fifth grader wasn't quite ready for it, so it's on hold.