I can only comment on the first edition of LOE Essentials, but I'm hoping this might help. LOE is awesome for spelling, and it would be sufficient grammar instruction for your younger child, but since you're at the point of wanting more grammar for your older child, then you probably do want to use something else for that. I don't think the grammar is a strong component of LOE, though I'm glad they've included it because it helps with spelling. IMO, the primary value of LOE grammar is that it covers the basics while providing extra practice with the spelling words and applied spelling rules. So unless a particular grammar exercise directly involves a spelling rule (eg, suffixes, plurals, possessives, contractions, verb tenses, etc), we usually skip it. I haven't yet used a separate grammar program - besides LOE, my 10yo is learning Latin, and she'll begin formal grammar with IEW's FixIt next year. My 8yo has only had grammar exposure via LOE, and she'll start Latin in the fall. No separate English grammar program for her yet. I seriously considered Well-Ordered Language for DD10 because it looks like a really lovely program, but it would be overkill for us. We absolutely love W&R (we did Fable and part of Narrative 1 this school year for fourth grade). Having chosen that writing program, plus doing Latin, I decided to cover grammar more simply and efficiently. WOL and W&R seem like a lot to me to do together. YMMV, depending on how much grammar you want. But I don't think it would be too much to use LOE and WOL together - you'd just maybe want to skip the non-spelling-rule-related grammar exercises in LOE like I've done. Granted, that takes away some of the usefulness of a very expensive program, but we've been very happy with the spelling instruction, and the grammar is a nice addition when it relates to the spelling rules. HTH!!

Another recommendation for Pentime. It's beautiful, simple, independent, and VERY inexpensive.

:iagree:

I have found Level D to be less teacher intensive. Pretty much every lesson has a worksheet, and often I'm able to teach for just a few minutes and then let DD complete the worksheet on her own. Other days I'm teaching for a lot longer, and/or I have to sit with her for the whole worksheet. It varies by the day/lesson, but there was a noticeable shift in this level with my teaching time in general.

Here's what I've got so far. Math RightStart E Writing – Treasured Conversations + CAP W&R Narrative 1 + 2 Grammar – FixIt Grammar (after section 1 of TC) Spelling – LOE Essentials advanced lists, then How to Teach Spelling Latin – Finish Getting Started with Latin, then Latin Prep History - SOTW 3 Science - Science in the Beginning + zoo membership Fine Arts Ballet, Piano, Art Lessons

I've heard that the second edition has addressed a lot of concerns from the first edition, but I wouldn't know from experience because I haven't used both editions of the same level. I used first edition A and B, and then second edition starting with C. I liked Level C just fine, and I think Level D is fantastic (we're almost at the end of it now). I like D almost as much as B, and that's really saying something! One of the reasons people switch after Level B because they want more independence, which RS doesn't really give at that point. I almost switched about halfway through C for that reason but decided to stick it out, and I'm glad I did. The time investment in RS has been well worth it for our family. No one ever complains about doing math, and I enjoy teaching it.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE RightStart. Don't worry about the negative reviews, unless they speak directly to your own situation and you personally resonate with the experience of the reviewer. RightStart is a fantastic program and many, many children thrive with it. Mine certainly have, and they have different personalities and innate math abilities. Level A is not my fave - wait until you get to Level B - it's wonderful for getting kids to understand how numbers work and it lays an excellent foundation for conceptual math. In fact, with the ages of your children, you might consider starting directly in Level B instead of A. I've only used the first edition of Levels A and B, but as far as I know, Level A is still an optional K-level book for those who want to do K math versus waiting to start until they're a year older (which I did with my second child). If your kids are beyond K age (which it looks like yours are), I'm not sure that doing Level A before B is really going to be all that valuable anyway. But since you have Level A, you could at least do the lessons or portions of lessons that focus on familiarity with the abacus and adding within 10. And place value, if Level A covers that, which I can't remember right now. All of the Level A material will be taught again in Level B (unless that has changed with the 2nd edition - someone correct me if I'm wrong about that). You've got an excellent program in your hands. Go for it, and stick it out long enough to form your own opinion of how it works for you and your kids.

I wasn't crazy about Level A either (I have the first edition - not sure what has changed). The order of the lessons doesn't make sense to me - it feels disjointed. It's an excellent program and I'm a huge fan, but I validate your experience of not feeling the love with Level A. You're not alone, believe me. I did all of Level A with my oldest DD, and then I discovered when we got into Level B that everything is repeated (albeit at a faster pace). So, with my second DD I skipped Level A altogether and went straight into B with her at age 6 and it was just right. Now I'm using Level A again - in a very loose and modified fashion - because my just-turned-5yo DD was begging to do math. So I got her the workbook and we're just playing around with stuff as I see fit. At some point I'll figure out when switch her to Level B. So, all that to say...... Don't give up on RightStart because of Level A. Level B is the bright sparkly jewel of RightStart, imo, and you can just begin in that level and take your time going through it as needed. Both my mathy and non-mathy daughters love RightStart, and it's been fun for me to teach.

Take a look at RightStart. I think it has everything you're saying you want: --Word-for-word script --Light on written work (in the lower levels especially) --Heavy on mental/oral work --Variety of manipulatives --Games (there's a whole separate games book, but many are done within the lessons) --Strong spiral aspect with integration of topics --Teacher intensive (you said sitting with him wouldn't bother you, so this wouldn't be a negative for you like it is for some people) --An abacus that is fantastic for working with place value (and lots of other concepts, including what you're doing with the Addition and Subtraction Facts that Work) HTH! I'm sure others will chime in with suggestions for you. RS has been a great fit for our family. My kids enjoy it, and I find it very fun to teach as well.

Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown Both are Caldecott Medal Winners, btw.

Another vote for Getting Started with Latin.

DD9 (4th grade) is finishing up W&R Fable now. She absolutely loves it, and is thriving with it. I enjoy it, too. She did WWE2 before this, and it worked really well because it really solidified her narration and dictation skills before going on to more involved writing. W&R is just challenging enough, and it's interesting and fun for her, and I'm glad I waited to start it until this year. Even if she could have done the work last year, I know she wouldn't be thriving like she is now. In any case, I probably wouldn't put the typical 3rd grade/8yo child into W&R straight from WWE1. There's a big gap in skill level/maturity level between those two, imo. Either WWE2 or ELTL would be a good fit for that bridge (and of course there are other options as well). WWE is more efficient, though, if all you want is writing, because ELTL contains read alouds, poetry, picture study and grammar in addition to narration and dictation. I used it for a while but decided I wanted to choose my own poetry, literature and grammar, and we went back to WWE. I understand why some people get bored with WWE - it's a no-frills, get-it-done program, but if you're doing ok with it now, I'd keep going. I thought WWE2 was much better and more interesting than WWE1, by the way. I stopped WWE1 halfway through with my oldest because it bored me to death (DD didn't mind it), and then I put her into WWE2 after a brief detour into ELTL. Anyway, I found WWE1-WWE2-W&R to be a great progression for us and I highly recommend it.

This, exactly.

I can't answer your question about social studies, but I've used Pentime for years and can speak to that. Pentime is a great program, but I'd only suggest starting it once the child knows how to form all the letters correctly (and if your son does, then it would be fine for K level). The reason is that I don't like the order in which it teaches the manuscript letters, because it isn't based on the types of strokes that are used, and it doesn't begin with the easiest letters to form. I wanted something that teaches the strokes and letters in a systematic way, in which the easiest strokes and letters (ie, straight horizontal and vertical lines) are learned first. So, to teach letter formation, I used Simply Charlotte Mason's Delightful Handwriting and then moved to the first Pentime book for practice. We've done all the books in order, and my oldest is now in Book 4 and has gorgeous cursive. Pentime does a great job at teaching the cursive strokes and letters in an order that makes sense - I have no idea why that isn't done for manuscript.

Getting Started with Latin is excellent.

:iagree: I love this program, and so do my kids! The questions at the end of each lesson are great, and even my 5yo tags along and has her own science notebook. We only do one lesson per week and add living books, so we are spreading it out over a couple of years. I am a big fan of BFSU and this is the closest thing I could find that was open-and-go and and easy to get done.

This, except I bought the instructor text and decided not to use it at all (if I had, I'm sure my experience would be exactly as stated above). I knew I'd rather use the workbooks and save my mental energy for other subjects and tasks. The workbooks are well done and are very easy to teach from - totally open-and-go. Unless the flexibility is crucial to you, I'd go with the workbooks. They get it done. The instructor text is good reference, though, for general writing and narration guidelines. I still have mine and refer to it occasionally.

I agree with others that a two-hour drive to Greenville for a day trip to the exhibit hall would probably be well worth it. I live an hour from Greenville and have attended the convention every year since 2011. While it's true that there are a lot of vendors there with Christian-based stuff, there's a ton of stuff that's neutral/secular (I'm a Christian but most of the overtly Christian stuff at the convention doesn't interest me, so I ignore it). And, doing the exhibit hall isn't only about looking at curriculum in person. Just being in that environment and having access to vendors and speakers who know their stuff and are excited about education is inspiring, and it can be very helpful as you're considering options and looking for answers to your questions. I got to chat with SWB for a while the first year (she hasn't been at Greenville since), and I've spent quite a bit of time at the RightStart Math booth over the years, kicking around different topics and ways of teaching things. I leave the convention every year feeling inspired and encouraged - even in the one or two years that I only did the exhibit hall. And I agree with lots of pp's that having someone with me really doesn't matter much (unless it could be DH, who came with me the first year or two and loved it). Last year when my cousin/best friend attended the convention, we only attended two seminars together because our particular interests were different - we both love classical ed, but she teaches older kids than mine, in a classical uni-model school. It was fun to be with her and share some things, but it was also somewhat distracting because I had my own agenda to accomplish apart from her, and vice versa. As I see it, the value of attending with someone else really depends on your goals and personality, and who it is that's going with you. A lot of people like to make it into a fun girls' weekend away, but if you're going primarily to research and learn and be inspired and get your curriculum options sorted out, having someone else along who doesn't share those goals could actually get in the way. Personally, I really enjoy the alone time to think and plan and browse at leisure. But I'm an introvert. YMMV. Regarding the religious issue you mentioned, I will say that for a while GHC was getting very unbalanced with too many non-educational, overtly Christian seminar topics, and I actually chose not to do seminars one year because of that - there just wasn't enough to interest me. But for some reason, the last couple of years have been noticeably better in that regard, and last year and this year I've had multiple seminar options for the same time slot - all of them educational.

I will buy only buy a book in "good" condition if there is a description of the actual item that says it is clean with no markings or highlighting, and if the description in general is acceptable to me (I usually don't mind minor cosmetic issues or missing dust jackets if the content isn't affected). I've gotten some gems on the cheap by going that route, but otherwise I pay extra for very good.

Sounds like you need the WWE instructor text (I'm assuming you don't already have it). It has all the guidelines for all the levels, for those who want to use their own literature: https://welltrainedmind.com/p/the-complete-writer-writing-with-ease-instructor-text/

I LOVE LOVE LOVE RightStart D (so far). We are on Lesson 80 of 2nd edition - a little more than halfway through - and I like it almost as much as Level B, which is really saying something. The way it relates multiplication, division and fractions is fantastic, and my non-mathy DD9 is really thriving with it. My DH remembers being VERY frustrated by fractions as a child, and he is amazed at how well DD9 understands them, and how they're taught. She has sailed right through this level with very little trouble. I'm thrilled. Level C (2nd ed) is fine - nothing noteworthy - but like a pp above, I thought it should have provided more worksheets for practicing the concepts rather than such a high dependence on games. The games are great, but they are time consuming when you have multiple children, and worksheet practice would have been sufficient for the most part, probably. (Level D is MUCH better in that regard, btw.) The drawing lessons in C seemed daunting before we started, but they were enjoyable and easy to do, and it was an interesting way of reinforcing other concepts as well.

I have both. I used TGS Year 1 for a few lessons when it was first published, and I plan to start OSN within the next month or so. My kids are 9, 7 and 5, btw. Here are my thoughts: In TGS, I like the way Enns introduces Jesus and gets to the heart of the story, but it's light on actual content, and if you're going to start at the beginning of the series, the first volume would probably be too simple for your older kids (it's a leveled program and Year 1 is targeted to first graders). And yes, you could just get the instructor book - the Activity Guide is absolutely not necessary. The instructor guide only includes the Bible passage and Enns' commentary (which could either be read to the child verbatim or paraphrased). No discussion questions, etc. I was also very disappointed that the AG didn't have any "meat" - no discussion questions in there either, no scripture memory or other activities that reinforce the message - mainly just fun games and crafts, etc.. That's in the first level - no idea about later ones. Old Story New goes a lot deeper - each story/scripture passage contains five days' worth of devotionals that shed light on the topic and even pull in other related scripture passages. It is also designed to be used with a wide range of ages (preschool through teens) so you can adapt it to your needs. I am VERY excited about getting started with it, and I have friends who rave about it, too. We also have the story Bible that goes with it and my kids have really enjoyed that for the past couple of years. It's not necessary, though. Have you looked at the sample on Amazon? It is VERY extensive - it includes most of the author's introduction and a few weeks' worth of lessons. HTH!

Use what you have - it's perfectly fine, and Level B is awesome (kids really seem to "get" numbers with RS B). I just finished 1st edition Level B for the second time and loved it just as much as the first time, and I see no reason at all why it would be worth the money to replace it. I used the 1st edition for A and B, and switched to 2nd edition for C. That has worked well for us. One thing I would highly recommend is buying the pdf workbook for that level especially. I had the hard copy workbook, but ended up buying the pdf as well because it allows you to reprint pages if your child needs more practice with the concepts, which both of mine did. I printed some of those workbook pages many, many times (even later on for practice and review and reinforcement) and it was invaluable. And of course you won't have to buy it again when your younger kids get there.

Story of the World is great for what you want.

There is no need to do any writing in the book at all, nor is there space for it. Each student just needs a notebook in which to write the translations (I have DD copy the Latin sentence first, then translate). The book contains the instruction, 10 sentences per lesson to be translated, and the answer key, which is in the back. If you want to teach the lessons (which are very brief) to all of them at once and write the sentences on a white board for them to translate, you'd only need one book. If you want to let them do the lessons independently at different times, you'd only need one book. Otherwise, I'm not sure how you'd manage with only one book shared by three children (and yourself), unless you're doing all of it orally (which I wouldn't recommend). DD9 works mostly independently, and then checks her answers herself with the answer key in the back. She couldn't do that efficiently if she were sharing a book with someone else at the same time. Hope that helps a bit.