I just started using the CD-ROM version a couple weeks ago, and I wish I had the printed version. There is SO MUCH back a forth between the two cd's. Lessons are on one, answers on another, and the answers are split up even though it pertains to the same chapter. I am happy with the material covered, just not the hassel of not having a printed TM.

We use Hake and love it! It has reviews in each lesson. My daughter (10) gets compliments about how well she writes and speaks for her age. It is a workbook format too. It has a list of journal topics, dictations, diagramming, and there is also a couple vocab words in each lesson.

My daughter (10) is finishing up a Minecraft Mod computer programming course offered by Youth Digital using JAVA. She has thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot. They have other things like making your own app or creating a 3d game.

My daughter (10) has been doing computer programming with Minecraft. It is offered through Youth Digital, and it is fantastic. She has learned so much. You create your own Minecraft mod. At the end you "package it up" and can invite friends to play in the mod you created. She would have never tried computer programming without the interest in Minecraft. I like the look of these for additonal practice. She would enjoy them because it involves Minecraft.

I understand your frustration. It is not user friendly at all. I will attempt to help though. To find things like the inquiries, answers for text work, and the e-readers, you need to log in as the teacher. Once you do, a screen will come up that says "resources" and will have the grades and then some square "buttons" to choose. Click the Electronic Teacher Edition for 5th grade (I happen to have that one too). You can scroll page by page and it will show you chronologically the lessons and inquiries. For example, Unit 1 ends on page 60, which you can see in the pacing guide. You can type 60 at the bottom of the teacher edition, then scroll over a few pages. You will get to 61A, 61B, until you get to 61 which is the start of Unit 2. In the 61A etc. pages you will find info about the inquiries and the leveled readers that go with Unit 2. After you know what things you want to do, you need to close the window you are in for the teacher edition and click the "button" that says teacher access. If you click the bar that says "Unit 2" on the left hand side, and then click "Grade Level Resources" on the right hand side, it will give you the choices for assigning the leveled readers. Next, you can click on the "Unit Level Resources" and it will give you options for assigning the Unit Test and Professional Development items. Lastly, the "Lesson Level Resources" allows you to assign the lessons and lesson assessments. I only assign what needs to be done 1 week at a time. I think it's easier than having a huge list of to-dos and it automatically fills in the dates for a week when you assign it. HTH!

We are using MM5 and do a lesson a day. We do about 1/2 the problems in each area. On Fridays, after a lesson, we go back and pick up some of the skipped questions for review. Then the week that we are wrapping up the chapter, we go back and pick up a few skipped questions from each lesson for about 5 days in addition to the lesson that she is learning that day.

My extension was for the same child and they said no, so what is the difference? Doesn't make sense to me.

Thank you! I will check into it now that I know where to start.

They will extend the online portion for a year?! I only got through 1 book for 5th grade this past year and I was stressing about it. It would be great if I could just continue it for next year. Do you have to make a request, or is it automatically there?

We used GWG our first year and it was not rigorous enough. It was too obvious how to fill in the blank. I liked theset up of R&S, but wanted something more secular. This year we are using Hake Grammar and I feel it is a great curriculum. It is very thorough and reviews previously learned things in each lesson. It has dictations and journal topics. We are only on lesson 7 in the writing portion so I am not sure how I feel about it. I do know that I am looking for a supplement to the writing or a replacement now though.

My dd used SF this past year and really enjoyed it. She did 3rd grade and she did learn a lot from it. She references thngs she learned in SF very often. I am using it this year too. The teacher side was confusing for me at first, but then it was quite simple when I figured it out. A few simple clicks and you have assigned a lesson. All they have to do is log in and pull it up. I like having online and the workbook PLUS the ereaders based on their reading level. It always got done.

No, I would not bother getting a TM. There is a lot you could do with the program in a ps setting where it tracks students, generates reports etc. You don't need that. When I first started I had a bit of trouble figuring it out. I thought the way to assign lessons was very confusing. Now, I simply sign in, click on the resource tab and view, click on SF Teacher access button, and then all the units with lessons appear on your screen. I assign the lesson, an e-reader, and the assessment. It is quite easy really. The student then signs in and clicks on what you assigned and it pops up. There is no need for you to have any scripted parts. The onilne lesson teaches for you along with the e-readers. The TE online is a good resource for all of the extra things and for giving you the answers for the things in the book. The give you a pacing guide that lists for example: Unit 1 Lesson 1 / Day 1-2 Lesson online Screens 1-13 and/or Book pgs 1-11 / Day 3 Hands-on Inquiry/ Day 4 Review book pgs. 14-15 & Lesson 1 Quiz. The format for the pacing guide is in a chart format so it is very easy to follow. Some inquiries we did and some we didn't. I pretty much did a lesson a week. Once I figured out the easy way to assign things I was very happy with everything. Let me know if you have any other questions. I hope my explanation made sense!

It is a real book. It has the lessons that are the same topic being covered in the online lesson. I preferred the online lesson and then used parts of the book lesson. I also used the book for the review pages on each lesson. So it is the 400+ page real book, plus online lessons, virtual labs, and e-readers that you can choose below, on, or above grade level. I think the sale is on until June 10th. HTH!

This was our first year homeschooling and I have been very pleased with our curriculum choices except grammar & writing. We used the 3rd grade level of GWG & WWW. I have the same complaint as many do. It is too easy to figure out the pattern for answers in GWG. WWW was ok but not great. She continued into GWG 4 just so she wouldn't forget what she has learned and I planned on using it through the summer to keep things fresh. I was looking into Hake but it does not start until the 5th grade level. Do you think it would be ok to start her at that level?

My dd just finished up the 3rd grade level of Science Fusion, and she loved it. It kept her attention and was interactive. We followed the online scope and used the book for reviews. There is a pacing guide so there is no guessing as to what needs to be done. They have online lessons, a 400+ page book, virtual labs, some hands-on experiments, and leveled e-readers that go along with the lesson. You can choose how much, or how little, you would like to do. Right now it is on sale at HSBC. I am planning on using it again because I know it would not get done if I had to pull it all together. :)

We are finishing up MM3 next week for the year and it was not covered. When problems arose that had 2 digit multiplication I showed her how to do it on the fly. I figured it was in MM4, but I have not looked yet.

I do wish it were a little more modern or a little less "Bible teaching". I love the format; but I haven't been able to find something like it that it that is more secular. Is there a more secular version using R&S's format?

Thanks for the input! I looked at the sample of the grade 4 book and I do like the layout so much better than GWG. It would not be so obvious what the answers are supposed to be. I do see where you would need to change up the sentences a bit though. For her, the sentence "Paul and Silas sang and prayed in prison." would be a bit odd. :) The worst that can happen is we don't like it and have to move on to something else. I see that as a great benefit of homeschooling. Kbpaulie, I would love to see the worksheets you created, if you would like to share them!

I do go over the lesson with her before she does the workbook portion; but it still seems like something is missing. What do you love/hate about R&S? This is our first year homeschooling so I do not have a lot to compare it to. We also did MCT Island. Having Practice Island has really helped her remember her parts of speech/sentence etc. I'm not totally set on R&S yet, but I know I would like to change from GWG when we are done with it in Feb. There is SO much out there to consider. Hearing that R&S is dry may be a negative for her. She can glaze over easily. ;)

We are wrapping up GWG for my 3rd grader in February. I am not thrilled with GWG because it seems to be too easy to know how to fill in the answers. I wanted to continue with her grammar instead of stopping for the year. What are your thoughts on R&S 4th grade English? I am also not thrilled with WWW. Is the writing in R&S English sufficient?

We are using Startwrite software. You can choose from print or cursive. You can also choose from many styles of cursive. I like being able to make up my own worksheets. Besides being able to do letters you can make up any sentence you want. It helps here to make up some silly ones. Once they have a hang of the letters, you can make it pertain to something you are studying or bibles verses.

FYI...MM sale has been extended through Sept. 11th!

I wasn't totally crazy! I called and there was some sort of glitch that they have to fix. They tried it on their side and it didn't work either. I was feeling pretty inept before I called them! Thank you though for getting back with me. Can't wait to start planning!

I just started getting into ScienceFusion (3rd grade)that I purchased the last HSBC sale. I've got the teacher/student set up with logins; but I can't figure out how to assign a lesson. So say you want to assign the digital lesson 1; how did you go about doing it? I went through the lesson on the teacher edition and I am very pleased with how everything looks. The worktext is as much as a full textbook in PS. I was going to follow both the digital and parts of the text path. I just need to figure out how to get the assignments to show up. BTW, your schedule looks great!:001_smile:

Yes, that does help. This will be my dd's first year hsing and I know she would love getting these! Thank You!!