It sounds like it's probably the same, or at least very similar. He talked about saving your homeschool day by simply discussing literature using a series of three questions, knowing that you've given your child something significant in that. He demonstrated how to analyze the story of Job, and then Peter Rabbit, using the same tools/questions. There was a smattering of a few other things, but that was the bulk of it, and everything was related to that theme. Of course there would be differences, since this was a particular interview, but if you've already heard a talk of his that had the Job analysis in it, I doubt there's enough new content to make it worth a purchase. HTH!

There is no way I would attempt to teach spelling using OPGTR. It is a no-frills program designed to efficiently teach reading, and I think it is excellent for that. But it isn't at all designed for dealing with spelling rules effectively. In some cases there is a direct relationship between reading and spelling rules (like with CVC words), but having gone all the way through OPGTR twice to teach reading (and having taught spelling using another method), I have found that the reading rules as taught in OPGTR just aren't presented in an order or a manner that lends itself to dealing with spelling also. It would cause a lot of unnecessary confusion, imo. If you want to teach reading and spelling at the same time with the same method, I'd ditch OPGTR and go with Spalding, LOE, or SWR, which are designed for that. Otherwise, I agree that you should wait to teach spelling on its own once reading is fluent.

You need the teacher manual, the workbook and the basic phonogram cards. You could do without the workbook, but unless money is extremely tight, I wouldn't advise that. We use the spelling rule cards, which are good to have, as is the quick reference chart. Even though I have all the materials, I can't speak to the value of the rest of them, since I haven't used them, and don't plan to. We may end up using the advanced phonogram cards if we do a second round with those.

Check out Delightful Handwriting by Simply Charlotte Mason. It is available in both print and pdf, and the teacher manual includes instructions for D'Nealian and ZB (I used ZB). The student books are one or the other.

I print them double sided in toner-save mode and proclick them on the top edge. No show-through, and no issues with the spiral getting in the way of writing. It works very well. Since only one page per day is used, it's not bothersome for me to flip the pages from the top (which it might be otherwise). I also read the TM on my tablet.

:iagree:

Looks like the OP has already figured it out, but for others reading this, here's another vote for LWW first, for all the reasons mentioned above. I can't imagine it any other way.

This didn't bother me at all, and I'd probably be considered a pretty conservative Christian. SWB is not exegeting scripture - she is writing history, and she doesn't use the Bible as her only source (nor should she). I don't think it is at all unreasonable for her to make that connection with Abram's cultural heritage and to presume that his family followed the customs and worship of their culture, and to write that into her historical account (which, IIRC, is offset in the book as a "story" and not a factual historical account anyway). There is absolutely nothing in the Bible that indicates that Abram was any different from his ancestors before God spoke to him, and that omission in the biblical account is conspicuous, imo. In fact, drawing attention to the likelihood that he did worship the moon god brings into focus the pagan background from which God called and saved him, on no merit of his own. He was called and saved on the basis of God's grace, just as we all are, and not on the basis of being more righteous than his ancestors. God's revealing himself to Abram out of the blue and changing his life fits perfectly with the way God works in the whole story of redemption. I found SWB's account to be very meaningful and it made me even more in awe of God's grace. I remember the first time I read it - I was moved to tears and DD thought I was crazy. :) That said, if a pastor were to make such an interpretive jump in a sermon during worship and put words in Abram's mouth without explaining that it is extra-biblical, I would have a problem with that. It's important to make the distinction between what can be clearly drawn from scripture and what cannot. The Bible itself is silent on the matter, but for pastors who do their historical background work, it is entirely reasonable for them to come to the same conclusion as SWB in the end, and to say so. Also, I will note that I don't always agree with SWB in her interpretation of biblical events. I was very disappointed that she blamed Jesus' death entirely on the Romans. I'm not sure what the overall historical consensus is, but according to the Bible, the Romans weren't at all threatened by Jesus, and Pilate considered him harmless and wanted to let him go - it was the Jewish leaders who pressured Pilate into condemning him. And it just goes to show that we as parents are responsible for knowing our Bibles and not depending on secular historians to interpret the Bible for us. (SWB is a Christian, but if I understand her correctly, she has acknowledged that she attempts to present a responsible and accurate history without religious bias.) I think SOTW is awesome, despite my (very few) reservations with the biblical narratives. All history is interpretive on some level, and SWB is a great story teller with a worldview that jives with mine, so it's a great fit for our family.

I switched to ELTL about halfway through WWE1 because I thought I would prefer the integrated approach with whole works of literature, and I found the WWE1 narration prompt questions a bit tedious and uninspiring. BUT.... After just a few months of ELTL I switched back and went right into WWE2 because I really like how WWE systematically teaches narration, summarizing and dictation. Those are skills, and if teaching and learning them is a bit boring at times, oh well. I just couldn't get into the CM-style narration process - it's too unstructured for me. DD is thriving in WWE2, btw, and actually enjoys it. Also, we are almost halfway through WWE2, and I don't use the initial comprehension questions anymore - just the summary ones. DD's listening skills are good, and I discovered that the initial questions get in the way of her summary narrations because they cause her to get stuck in the details when she tries to summarize. Also, regarding ELTL, I found that I didn't like the integrated approach after all. I prefer choosing my own poetry selections and read-alouds (which are done for the pure enjoyment of it, and we do that all together on the sofa), and I like that each aspect of LA can go at its own pace and in its own direction without throwing off any of the others. ELTL is a good program that works well for many people, but if you know that WWE works for your family and you already own it, I wouldn't switch.

DH and I were thinking about this exact thing. But we figured that a piece of glass custom-cut to the size of a large world map, plus a decent custom-size frame (which I would consider to be essential, aesthetically), would likely be pretty heavy and probably expensive as well, so we didn't bother looking into it. But if someone else figures out an attractive and not-too-pricey way of doing this, please post!!

I will chime in with a post about what NOT to get, if you want something that looks nice in a living space: a laminated map (no matter how beautifully it's printed) that is attached flat to the wall. Yuck. Maybe you already know that. Anyway, we wanted a map for similar reasons to yours, and here's the process we just went through: We decided we wanted lamination for flexibility of use and durability, so we got the enlarged, laminated world map with bright colors by National Geographic, which I think is a gorgeous map (I love the colors, and they go with our decor) and is perfectly functional for what we wanted. They also have it in regular size. The enlarged one is HUGE. http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/maps/wall-maps/world-maps/world-political-map--bright-colored---enlarged-and-laminated I bought it on Amazon for less than $50, btw. We had intended to put it on the wall in our breakfast/dining room, where we spend a lot of time as a family, and where we do most of our book work for school. We put it up to try it out, but with the lamination, and it being attached flat to the wall, it just didn't have the aesthetic quality that I felt worthy of such a prominent spot in our home. I doubt the non-laminated one would have been much better. Boo. If money were no object, we'd consider springing for a mounted one, but $250-300 is just too much for us to pay for a map. We'll have to use our globe at the table instead and refer to the large hallway map at other times.

Just curious - why did you choose the E6400 model over the E6410? I'm looking at both, though I really want the DVDRW drive, and the 6400 doesn't have it, so that might make my decision for me. I also like that it has the 6MB RAM, and the smaller hard drive is sufficient for what I need. I can afford the 6410 so if it's really worth the extra $90 I'll spring for it. Looks like Blair is a good company. Also, fwiw, I have a Dell Latitude D620 refurb that I've been using for almost 5 years (it was manufactured in 2004). No issues at all, and the reason I'm replacing it now is that it runs XP and I'm not going to upgrade the OS on it. Really good, solid machine, and I'd be happy to buy another Dell refurb if it's going to be as good as this one.

DH's cousin, who is also my best friend, has been a teacher in a classical school for many years. Before we even had kids, she turned us on to classical education, and we decided that's what we wanted for our children someday. I actually had no interest in homeschooling (I wasn't against it, either) but when our oldest was 3 we took a hard look at the direction of our life and DH's career path, and we accepted the reality that we would probably never have the money to pay for private classical school, and even if we did, there was no guarantee that we would live in an area that had one nearby (at the time there wasn't one where we lived). So, if we wanted a classical education I was going to have to do it at home, and I started taking a look at my options. Once DH and I started seriously considering homeschooling - with the help and encouragement of friends who homeschool - we fell in love with the whole idea and never looked back. Now, we can't imagine putting our kids in any school, even an excellent classical one. We would hate to give up all the advantages that homeschooling has for our family.

I switched to ELTL about halfway through WWE1 because I thought I would prefer the integrated approach with whole works of literature. But.... After just a few months of ELTL I switched back and went right into WWE2 primarily for the reason you are having reservations. I really like how WWE systematically teaches narration, summarizing and dictation, and DD is thriving with it. I just couldn't get into the CM-style narration process - too unstructured for me, though I understand that it works well for many. Also, I discovered that I didn't like the integrated approach after all. I prefer choosing my own poetry selections and read-alouds (which are done for the pure enjoyment of it), and I like that each aspect of LA can go at its own pace and in its own direction without throwing off any of the others.

OPGTR Pentime Handwriting WWE workbooks SOTW

To teach RS, you need the lessons (teacher manual), the worksheets (either print or digital), and the manipulatives kit. That's all. Even if you are scribing for your DD, you will need the worksheets. The worksheet material is NOT in the manual and it is essential to the program. The appendix pages are offered as a set, as a convenience so that you don't have to copy everything yourself. Otherwise you would need to make your own copies of the appendix pages from the lesson book, some of which should be on card stock. I didn't get those - I just made my own copes at the library, but it sure would have been nice to have it done for me. If you think the convenience of that is worth $15, get them. You do NOT need anything regarding "Yellow is the Sun". It's just a little song that is done right at the beginning of the program to teach numbers 6-10, and we didn't even do it as a song - just a poem. Skip that. HTH!

For an 8yo, I'd check out Logic of English Essentials. It's about as open-and-go as you're going to find (everything is totally scripted if you need that), and I think it is enjoyable and interesting to teach. You could easily skip the grammar section (we do), though you might find that you like it, and that it is efficient to combine it with the spelling. There is a long list of materials available, but to easily and effectively teach the program you only need the teacher's manual, a workbook, and the basic phonogram cards.

I'm pretty happy with the way we do it, so I'll try to help. Here's our "system": 1. We work on scripture memory every day as a family, at the breakfast table. It is part of our LIFE, not our homeschool (this distinction is very important to us). 2. I choose a variety of passages that I want my kids to have tucked away (both short and long ones, both OT and NT) and we just work on a bit each day until the passage is memorized by everyone, and then we move on to another one. We review all the memorized passages at different intervals, according to the Simply Charlotte Mason memory system, which I highly recommend. It is awesome, and it's easy and cheap to set up. SCM has quite a few recommended passages, if you need that, but I am comfortable choosing my own. Some of our passages are one verse (like John 3:16) and we have also memorized entire Psalms (most recently Psalm 19, which even my 3yo can recite perfectly!). Currently we are memorizing Colossians 3:12-17. Those are just examples, of course. 3. I use our current scripture memory passage and/or a review one as a springboard for informal discussion, as I feel led, or as they have questions, which they often do since there are many words and concepts they don't understand yet, and their understanding is constantly growing and deepening. We just discuss and discuss as we please. This is such a rich time in our day! (Though of course there are days when they are staring out the window and just mindlessly reciting stuff, or being fidgety or whatever.) 4. We keep it short and simple. I don't overwhelm them with a lot at once so that it feels like too much work and drudgery, and I don't have time-based goals (like a certain number of verses per week or anything). I feel it is more important for them to internalize as much as possible rather than just be scripture memory machines. It's very flexible. 5. I don't underestimate my kids. I have been astounded at how much little ones can memorize when it's done consistently. HTH!

My DD7 is now doing WWE2, and she has always done handwriting practice daily as a separate subject (we use Pentime). WWE is not designed to be handwriting practice. The written work is focused on language mechanics like capitalization, punctuation, etc. though of course using good handwriting is encouraged. As long as your son knows how to form his letters and can write legibly, I would do the handwriting practice as a separate subject in order to focus on improving his letter formation and then not address it in the WWE copywork unless you know he's not even trying and it's way off the mark. So, yes, you can most certainly do handwriting practice and WWE at the same time. It is not overkill at all. HTH! ETA: I should clarify that the WWE copywork should be copied exactly, with no mistakes in the spelling or punctuation. I was just referring to whether or not to address the actual letter formation.

I always buy the one you linked and I've never paid more than $45. I don't know why it's so expensive right now but the price does go up and down a bit. Just keep checking periodically and it will probably go back down again. This toner does go quite a while after it says the toner is low so unless you notice that the print quality is deteriorating it still has quite a bit of life left. Also, set the default to toner save mode! Almost everything we print looks great in that mode, and I can't remember the last time I printed something in regular mode.

I rely heavily on the library. We are on a tight budget, but I would pay $65/year in a heartbeat for a really good library system.

Yes. That is the target student for whom Essentials was originally written. It was designed as a remedial program for older students, and I can see that it is fantastic for that purpose. Any other student will require some level of adaptation (and the manual addresses this and gives guidance on how to do it, but you can't really use the program as written for the typical 6yo). Foundations is more appropriate for the younger age group.

If you easily have the money to spend, I think it's probably worth it IF you use it for the target age (8+) and if you use the program as designed (to teach both reading and spelling, along with grammar, especially for a remedial student). It's an excellent program that is open-and-go, super scripted and very easy to teach. You can effectively and efficiently teach it with the TM, workbook and phonogram cards. You don't need the games. We did the first 10 lessons and never used them. That said, using it for a younger student or using it for spelling only, or not including the grammar portion, or otherwise heavily tweaking it, will make it less worth the cost. I bought it for spelling only (I believe in teaching reading and spelling separately), and though I love how thorough the phonics instruction is, I found that using this multi-faceted program was overkill for my then-6yo fluent reader who was not ready for that level of grammar. I was able to tweak it for her and she was learning, but I got tired of the inefficiency of that and abandoned it for a more streamlined (but very thorough) spelling-only program.

Sorry about previous post - on my tablet and hit post accidentally. I've had this one for years and love it: http://www.amazon.com/Wittner-MT50-Quartz-Metronome/dp/B0002E2YMG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1414289590&sr=8-4&keywords=wittner+metronome Whatever you do, don't get one that beeps. It interferes with pitch and is really grating on the ears. You want one that clicks.

nm