We use Wordly Wise (2,7, and 9). My kids are always excited to see the words learnt in Wordly Wise in their reading.

Have you looked at this TOG Virtual conferencing live workshops: http://www.lampstandpress.com/conferences/virtual.php#2

Way to go:hurray:

Hi We started out with Writing Strands as per SWB suggestion but it just didn't work for my kids. They were able to follow the lessons but had grave difficulty in writing outside of the lesson. So we switched to WWE. I must say that I find it to be stronger. The copywork, dictation, narration (summarization) are excellent. At the begiining, my dd could not summarize to save her life:confused: but now she can focus in on what's important and what's not. By the way, we're using WWE 2.

Thanks ladies. It's amazing how much clearer things are once you get some feedback. I'm going to complete the text and not get hung up on when we complete the school year. Jan, I'm thinking about using Foerster or Chalkdust for Alg. 2. My hesitation with Foerster would be the 'rigorous' title that is often attached to it by persons on this board. What exactly does that mean? Thanks

After months of struggling through Saxon Algebra I with dd, we have switched to Jacobs Algebra and she seems to be understanding more. So here's the question- Do I need to complete the entire text to count as Algebra I? We are currently in Chap. 7. Is it reasonable to attempt completion by August? Thanks

Last year we used FLL and it worked well for what I was trying to accomplish. Each lesson was about 10-15 minutes which saved me a lot of time. This year we are using Rod and Staff and WWE. This has been a great combination. If you plan on using R&S however you should know that teaching the lesson takes very little time (about 10 minutes) but the written work that the student has to complete can become lengthy as there are no workbooks and most of the work has to be written in complete sentences. There are no filling in the blanks.

If you do not plan to add grammar until a later stage, WWE by itself is perfect for the copy work, dictation and narration. However, in our homeschool my dd begged to do grammar like her older siblings. Hence we use R&S along with WWE. It has worked beautifully.

I guess I'm more classical than not (probably like alot of folks). I come to this forum for one main reasons: The comments and experiences of these persons are invaluable. They can turn a curriculum inside out, upside down, forward/backward ect. I absolutely need this as everything at a homeschool convention looks good to me;)

Has anyone found SWO not to be all that TWTM makes out? We tried it for a year (grade 1) then dropped it and tried Abeka phonics which was a good fit for the past year. However, I think my dd now needs a more challenging spelling program. I looked at AAS but couldn't tell whether it would be a good fit for a good speller. Any suggestions?