Very wise and excellent advice!

The power of Google. Gotta love it. :D I can't wait to sit down and read through this later. Right now I am in the middle of cleaning bathrooms and washing clothes. Of course with the occasional WTM board break thrown in. It makes cleaning bearable. :lol:

You are not alone when it comes to swimming in writing resources, so no need to call yourself names. :001_smile: :lol: Glad to hear you like it as well.

Wow! you can preview the entire text online at the publisher's website here. Thanks for posting about this. Looks like I have some reading to do. :lol:

I returned IEW without any regret, but it wasn't a good fit for our family. :) I think what you really need to decide is will it be a good fit for your family? Do you need the hand-holding that IEW will provide? Is it a style that will work well for you and your children? You say you hate writing. Will it get taught with the other programs you mentioned? We bounced around with writing so much with my DD that I found myself having to cram everything in during high school. Not a good place to be in. Don't let the $$$ be a factor in your decision. I know it would be a nice chunk of change to get back, but if you think it would work well for you, the benefits of keeping it and using it would well outweigh the money you would get back right now. And like the pp mentioned, even if you start using it and it isn't a good fit, you can still get a full refund. Their customer service is amazing. Not to make decisions even harder, but....I have also heard good things about Essentials in Writing.

:lurk5: all ears as well :bigear:

There is a blog, Serendipity, that has plans for using the Ruth Heller books.

Yes, this is me too. I think this is my problem as well.

Reading this thread is just heart breaking. We weren't seeing a lot of coverage on this either. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: and prayers for all those affected by the fires.

There were no blackouts here thank God. I was in the hospital giving birth to my son on Aug 14th of 2003. :001_smile: I do remember it being a very hot summer!

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: Joanne that was a beautiful tribute. You have an amazing husband and you are a wonderful wife. My heart is breaking for you right now. :crying: Praying for you both.

We've just had A LOT of rain. Not sure what to expect for the rest of the week as the path looks like it will be going directly over us now as it crosses the state. Our house is surrounded by water oaks. Praying the trees and all of their limbs stay put!

Yes it is new. You can buy it Rainbow Resource now as well. The price isn't that different, but you could save on shipping. I bought ours straight from Pedia Learning (LOE) and received it very quickly. Their customer service is great. You NEED the Teacher's book and student workbook. You will need the Basic phonogram cards, but could make your own if you have the time and want to. We also purchased the spelling cards, grammar cards, spelling notebook and game book. The game book is great!!! You need 2 sets of game cards to play the games. I had some small blank playing cards already, so I am making my own. They are pretty easy to make.

I bought ours at our local Hobby Lobby store. Printed off the 40% coupon online and it was a great buy!

These look like fun!

Most things don't look that different in price when buying individually - 0.25-0.75. I mentioned it mostly for those that needed to order other things from RR or wanted free shipping. There are a couple of things that don't come up if you just search for LOE. They do carry the grammar cards (search for grammar flash cards) and the cursive handwriting (search for cursive handwriting program). They do not carry (at least I couldn't find them) the Fold Out Reference Chart, Phonogram CD, and the sandpaper letters. I am happy that I ordered straight from LOE, as my set got here really quickly. The last 2 times I ordered from RR they messed up my order and it took longer for shipping.

Just a heads up in case you didn't see the other thread that I started. Rainbow Resource is now carrying LOE. :001_smile:

Anyone looking to purchase LOE, you now can do so at Rainbow Resource. Just saw this tonight while looking for something else. :001_smile:

:iagree: I really like PTIW, and will use it again the latter part of next year. However, dd still needed more "how to" instruction like 4wildberrys said.

Christian Light Education Math The Sentence Family Train Up a Child Publishing character curriculum Mind Benders Logic Safari Map Skills Liberty Kids History Videos Primary Phonics with readers and comprehension workbooks Would have loved to have had Logic of English for this year.

We've used and enjoyed Primary Phonics.

I already own the set as well. We haven't started it yet, but will be in the fall. I really think the way Denise breaks things down for you to teach your dc, will be something that you can emulate on your own once you are through. This teaching style works for me. Working through LOE will be just as much about me learning as it is him. Ok, I MUST get off these boards now and get some work done. :lol:

Of course I am not Hunter and I look forward to her reply as they always contain much insight. :) You are correct in the part I bolded above. The idea is that they master the spelling rules enough to apply them to any word. Denise teaches them how to analyze and mark words, which should help them with other words that are not covered in the book. She does plan on writing a second level to Essentials (not due out for another few years). It's main focus will be on Latin and Greek Roots, morphology (vocabulary development), and punctuation of more complex sentences. It will also include the advanced phonograms, as from what I can gather, they seem to go hand in hand with the roots she will be covering. ETA: looking at the ages of your children, you could easily take your time moving through Essentials. I plan on taking 2 years to go through it with my ds. I know we will probably finish before she has the second book out, but I am just fine with that. I plan to take that time to continue practicing everything he has learned, applying it to words he uses everyday in writing, etc.

:lol: I forgot about this one. Ok, might be waiting on something else too :tongue_smilie:

There have been a few threads over the last several weeks about Climbing to Good English. It looks very thorough and is in a workbook form. Also, very affordable. Let me see if I can find you a few threads. Pathway readers and CGE for older grades Climbing to Good English CGE R&S: Climbing to Good English vs. Building Christian English