I have 4 kids all similar ages, i must say it is VERY kind of you to offer to help her out. If she's anything like me, it will be an enormous help to her. Art pretty much doesn't get done around here. Science and geography/history do get done but they are bare bones. If I had to pick three; art, science and geography or history would be my picks.

...could you please tell me what your whole LA program looks like? I keep flip flopping b/n MCT and BW for next year. I thought I was set on MCT until I saw their international shipping charges (ouch!). BraveWriter is coming to my local homeschool expo so I am very curious. If I were to go w/ Brave Writer (I haven't read TWJ yet, but the bits I've seen resonate with me), I would probably order arrow. What else do I need? Grammar? Spelling? TIA!!

Do I need to finish all of C before moving on to D?

My oldest ds is a very hands on learner, workbook loather. We use RightStart math for him and it is a perfect fit. My next oldest ds is a workbook lover. We are using RightStart and it's going fine, but I think he would prefer something where he had to work out of a book daily. I was planning on using RightStart for him again next year since I already have all the materials, but am wondering if we should switch to something more workbook-ish. Would you use different curriculum for these 2 different kids?

My curriculum is all mommy intensive, so when they are doing school I am teaching right along side them.

I wanted to add that I find using a timer is very helpful. I have a set amount of time that I allot for each subject. the student is expected to do their hardest work during that time if they do not I add to the timer. this keep the kids on task and keeps our days short. HTH!

I spend about 2.5-3 hrs 4 days a week w/ my second grader. This includes Bible, LA, math, science and geography. This doesn't include silent reading or any extras like art or poetry tea. Some days it's more some days it's less depending on whats going on in our family.

I know it doesn't cover spelling, but other than that do I really need to supplement?

How often do you use WWE as a supplement?

I'm wondering how much writing is involved with MCT Island level. I am considering using it with my rising 3rd grader for next year. I had planned to use it alongside WWE and a spelling program (likely R&S). I have received some feedback that MCT and WWE could be too much if used all in the same week. I don't want LA overkill. Thoughts?

Phonics Pathways RightStart Math Writing with Ease

I am using the new version and its fine.

I'm using Biology for Grammar stage and am about 10 weeks in to the animal study. So far so good. It's short bite size lessons that get done and the kids enjoy it. I have skipped some experiments b/c some seem a bit unrelated and I've skipped others simply due to lack of time but I'm finding it is flexible that I can get through all the material without having to do science every day.

I agree that it is very gentle, but it is heavy on copywork so if you are already doing a lot of that with the rest of your LA you may find it redundant.

I combined my 4 an 6 year old last year (for things like science etc) but was pretty relaxed in allowing my younger to come and go as he pleased. This year we are spending more time together b/c he is old enough to participate more. My 2.5 year old even participates w/ us in Bible, next year he will also do French with us. He's pretty little so I don't expect much (read: anything) from him in terms of school. :)

I'm using Elemental Science Grammar Biology which starts with a 20 week animal study. It's not a full zoology course (there is some plants and human biology in there), but it is 20 weeks of animals. You only need to purchase a few books and can get the teachers guide and student pages as a download (great for those of us who are not in the US!) :)

If you are not moving on to AAR2, you should see my post about Phonics Pathways. I highly recommend it!!

I admit, it is not the most interesting phonic program on the face of the earth - but it WORKS!! My 5 y/o ds could not read at the start of the year, we struggled with another phonics program then switched to PP in November or December. In only a few short months my son has gone from not reading to reading on a THIRD grade level! Wow!! We only use it for 10 minutes a day, but it works! I'll be using this one to teach the rest of my kids reading!

You only have 7 weeks left, I'd stick it out.

I did not like AAR (or AAS for that matter)! I was rather shocked at how much I disliked the program considering how much we love RightStart math, I thought AAS with all it's manipulatives would be such a good fit. It was not. Even my tactile boy did not like it. For AAR specifically, my 5 y/o ds was very eager to learn with it but I did not enjoy it, I found there were many things that I did not like. First of all, the tiles. Oh the tiles... The tiles were a major distraction for my little people. They were too busy blowing them up and not paying attention to lessons so I had to adapt that out. Second, I found the pace way too fast for my Ker. We spent about 2 months trying to use AAR and never got past lesson 6. My ds could not blend to save his life. Couldn't get it. Reading was painful (for me!). Third, I thought all the cut and paste stuff was cute, but un-necessary. Busy work, if you will. I also didn't like how scripted it was. I couldn't get it to work for my child. Maybe he just wasn't developmentally ready for it, I don't know. We dropped it in favour of Phonics Pathways and his reading has taken off. PP is very dry but it's short, sweet and effective. I know I am probably one of the only people who did not like this program, and the fact that it gets such good reviews indicates that it probably will work fine for most families. But it just wasn't for us. The readers are lovely, though.

I'm really enjoying Penny Gardner's Italics for my remedial handwriter (and is what I will be using from 1st grade up for all my kids). You can buy the download which makes repeating lessons really easy. It covers all the levels and is relly affordable. Best of all - it works!!

would you do it? The child in question is in first grade and has some behavioral issues. She has 4 diagnoses according to the school (ADHD, autism, OCD and possibly tourettes). She really isn't as bad as it sounds, but there are definitely issues there. I have a related degree and have worked educating special needs adults so her issues aren't new to me. I am a busy mama w/ 4 little ones (7, 5, 2 and 5 months), but could really use some extra money. Thoughts?

My kids are the same age as yours. I also have a baby and a toddler so finding time is a challenge here too. I'll tell you what works for me and maybe it will help give you some ideas. What I do is I begin our day w/ a morning meeting. We do our Bible and memory work, I do a bit of a read aloud and sometimes I add in one subject that where I combine them together. Right now we're doing health. I spend 30 minutes doing this while I have my morning coffee :) The kids love their morning meeting so it is often extended up to about an hour. After this I break the kids up and each has an assigned time slot w/ me one on one. While I am spending time w/ a child, the other child get's dressed, does their chores, entertains the toddler and does their silent reading or computer time. My Ker get's a 25 minute block w/ me. My 2nd grader gets about an hour. During their one on one time we do our LA and math for the day. We get done as much as our time allows. Usually there is a break in there and the kids play inside or out while I nurse the baby and put her down for a nap. I strive to have all our content work done by lunch, this doesn't alway happen. If it doesn't, then we pick back up after my toddler goes down for his nap at 1:00. Then we join together again for science and geography. This takes us about 30-40 minutes. I've outsourced art lessons and the kids are involved in sports. I schedule these so that my dh can take them. I find setting blocks of time works better for me then aiming to get through x amount of work. It also works better for my kids. They know how long they need to work so they put in more effort knowing that it isn't going to drag on "forever". I've had much fewer battles since starting up this routine.

I am using this program w/ 2 of my children, my 5 y/o for reading and my 7 y/o for spelling. We've only been using it since September but I am really pleased with it. I was previously using AAR and AAS w/ my children but was frustrated w/ all the parts to the program. My oldest ds was blowing through the program too fast (and I didn't want to spend that much $$ just on spelling) and my younger ds was stuck on blending and just couldn't progress. This $20 book got my younger ds over the blending hump and I have a reference for all the spelling rules which is all I needed for my older ds for this year. It can be a bit dry, but my 5 y/o enjoys the games. If there are no games scheduled, I make up my own or we just cuddle on the couch and go through it. No complaints from my kids. I love that I can just grab it and go. I've kept the AAR readers so my 5 y/o is going through those. He's probably aboutt 1/3 of the way through PP and his reading is taking off. Just yesterday I was reading him a story and I changed the word "teacher" to "Mommy", he caught my error and informed me that "THAT word says teacher not Mommy!" (remember this kid couldn't blend to save his life a few short months ago). Yup, I'm impressed!

We are enjoying WWE :) We plan to do that along side MCT Island level next year.