I gulped at spending $175 for the lab kit etc for Rainbow Science this year. I managed to get the text and the teacher guide used so it brought the total price down from what it would've been, but it was still much more that I'd previously spent on one subject. I rationalized that it has a high resale value if we didn't like it and I still have 2 younger students who could potentially use it (for the price of the consumables). I figure it evens out in the wash since some of my other subjects are so inexpensive (Abeka Spelling was around $8 for the book and GWG I purchased for around $30). I used to compare things to the price of our former private school but somehow that didn't lessen the sting of the science! LOL

Were using the Explorers Bible Study on Bible Prophecy for my 12 yo DD. It's very in-depth. It is definitely challenging her. The jury is out for *me* on how I like it, but she does seem to be getting quicker at doing her daily lesson (and getting the answers correct ;)). I think I would like to do something more "fun" next time though. I mean, I'm glad she's learning and she picked the topic, but it just seems kind of "dry" to me. I don't necessarily think she minds it, but I start to glaze over when I see the tiny black print on the page. LOL OK, I'm not giving it a fabulous review, I realize, but you might want to look into it anyway to see if it suits your needs! Just be sure to order the correct grade level - I went with Quest originally because I thought she's 7th grade and that's "jr high" - ummm, not the way these books work. It was definitely way too difficult for her and had some very mature elements in the study!

I've wondered about this for the future too. We like the magazine and I wondered if the writing curriculum was also good?

We have the reverse situation! I'm Australian and the kids have dual citizenship (we live in the USA). I decided they should know both sides of their heritage. Last year on Australia Day we did a fun unit study - we learned the Anthem (thanks to You Tube for the musical accompaniment!), played with money, did maps, mini-lapbooks including famous landmarks and indigenous animals. It wasn't a comprehensive study by any means, but it made me feel a little happier about incorporating some of my childhood history/educational experiences into their lives. Maybe a July 4th study could be a fun diversion for you, especially since it falls in the dead of winter, LOL! Might be fun for them to learn about July 4th summer celebrations! ;)

Book Adventure (.com) has a similar quiz but they don't have all the titles available in the AR system which can be frustrating at times. Overall we like it though!

I've wondered about this too. Our co op is using it for a debate class but it didn't work for our schedule (and I'd already oredered The Fallacy Detective!). For those who've used this text, would it make sense to do this after we complete The Fallacy Detective + The Thinking Toolbox or would it be repetitious? I'm wanting to delay formal logic until later in HS.

Our line-up (although we're only 2 days in and I've yet to see if this will actually work out time-wise?!) Math: Saxon 8/7 w/teaching CDRom Science: Rainbow Science (1st year so Physics and Chemistry) History: SOTW 2 (read aloud with younger siblings) + Maps etc from the AG . . .and then we're adding in literature studies from Beautiful Feet Medieval History (jr/sr high) and also loosely following the Classical House of Learning lit guide that correlates with our time period. Spelling/Vocab: Abeka 7 Grammar: Easy Grammar Plus + Daily Grams 7 Literature: Historical fiction (organized by time period) to correspond to our history studies (see above) + plenty of classics that she can select from a list I compiled (they have nothing to do with history so she gets a break) - and she loves to read, so she also has a running stack of 'fluffy fiction' from the library next to her bed! ;) Writing/Composition: Apologia's Jump In! + Figuratively Speaking + writing assignments (occasionally) from her history lit guides (I plan to keep these short and sweet - mostly summaries or outlines and sometimes a 1 page essay). We also write a research paper in the fall - last year we did famous people, this year I'm debating letting them select a topic from any field they'd like to research (my 3rd grader will pick weather, for example, and we'll need to narrow it down LOL). Logic: The Fallacy Detective (read and discuss with her 5th gr sibling too) Bible: Discovery Bible Study (she picked the one on Bible Prophecy) French: Finishing up SOS Elementary French (we started 2nd semester last year), then I'm not sure what next? Music: Piano lessons (and she is trying to convince me to let her learn the clarinet and play in a local band program) Art: Whatever we can fit in - I know, it's terrible - we do more crafts than real ART (not my gifting at all) but we do discuss artists in relation to our history studies and I'm planning to let them take an art history class at our local art museum next year, so at some point, she will have formal art instruction! PE: Ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary/lyrical dance + we do a "kids' marathon" in the winter, so there is "training" for that in the fall + plenty of backyard sports. ;)

We've been working through SOS Elementary French and the kids are really enjoying it. I definitely want to add a good bilingual dictionary resource to our classroom but as with everything there are so many reviews for and against each one I consider! I thought a visual or pictorial version might be nice, but I don't want anything too babyish. Anyone own one they'd like to recommend? :)

I've actually come across most of these on Amazon and wondered about them, so it's good to have an additional review to go with it. I ended up ordering the GWG Digging into Diagramming set - I can return it if it doesn't look like what we need, but I like that it contains examples for gr 3 - 8 which means I can use it as a supplement for all of my kiddos.

I thought I'd asked this before but in searching, I can't find my thread! Anyway, this year I'm using Easy Grammar (which doesn't teach diagramming) so I'm planning to teach diagramming to my 5th grade dd from a separate text. I would also like to review diagramming skills with my 7th grade dd. Rex Barks was recommended to me, but I've also heard people say that the print is so tiny, it's a challenge to use the book. I've also looked at Digging into Diagramming since I'm using Growing with Grammar for my 3rd grade ds. It looks like a good, basic program, but I'd ideally like something with the diagramming lines already provided (don't really want to spend time with a ruler having them draw things in etc). Does anyone know of a workbook-style text like this? I also found CLE has a diagramming workbook - I wondered if anyone has tried it?

DG are fun for him - and yes, I like the editing practice. I also like to see him translate the skills learned in one curriculum into another format.

He is so excited about doing DG - his sisters use it and for the whole 5 - 10 minutes it takes them, I love the revision. We have always done grammar 5 days a week, and he's a serious creature of habit. I think it will be confusing to do it some days and not others - I'll probably just call it language arts and we'll spend the time working on whatever we need to for that time (GWG, WWW, Sentence Island or other review).

That site does look interesting! Thanks! :) It seems to offer more "technique" than the books I've been flipping through at the bookstores - which is what I think they should be exposed to (but I don't feel equipped to teach)! ;)

I planned to add in the tests too - so I guess that will take up another day here and there. Forgot about that! ;) We also like to finish early - I suppose the Daily Grams will provide continued practice until the end of the school year and if it's really early (Feb) we'll move ahead! Thanks! :)

Beautiful Feet Books has some literature guides and packages for various subjects (other than history) - including horses, character studies, geography, civics/government and history of music (which I suppose is technically still history, but different). FYI, I had a good laugh when I went to post the link and saw that their tag-line reads "History through Literature" - LOL, I promise it's more than that! ;) For Math, what about Life of Fred? Would she enjoy the story-aspect of that given her love of math? Not sure that counts as a "literature-based" curriculum, but trying to think outside the box!

:bigear: We're planning to do this too! I just ordered a used copy of Sentence Island to do with my 3rd grader. I think we will really enjoy it! I'm using GWG and WWW with him, but if I can find a used copy of Music of the Hemispheres, I'd do that too. It looks like a beautiful way to introduce him to poetics - which can be difficult to do with the younger ones if they need a tangible resource. I did have some great poetry discussions with him last year and we wrote a little too, but I think we'd both enjoy MotH! I also love the idea of the intro to Latin roots but that might be overkill as a "supplement" for us. ;)

We're starting GWG with my 3rd grader this fall. I got my books today and they are only planning for grammar 3 x per week so we'll likely finish our books sometime in 3rd quarter. I'm debating if I'll pace it differently (ie go with the 3 x day schedule and use the extra days to do more writing-based things in WWW or Sentence Island - our supplement text) or do 5 x days and just move up to GWG 4 when we finish GWG 3.

I made up our schedule based on logical breaks in the workbook - for example, if there were 2 pages explaining verbs and then 4 worksheet-type pages to practice it, I would schedule the 2 reading/teaching pages + 1 (or 2) practice pages on one day. The next day they might complete 2 more practice pages etc. I tried not to start a new concept while completing the previous one. I did sometimes schedule as little as 1 workbook page but that was only if I needed a logical break because a review section or test was coming up. My general rule is to take the number of pages in the student book and divide it by 170 days (allows for field trips etc) - then round up or down from there. We finished 4th grade with 3 weeks to spare and 6th grade with 1 week. HTH and makes any sense! LOL

I voted 30 but my elementary kids are doing between 20 - 30 depending on their grade. Abeka spelling just has longer lists (I've heard), but they're used to it and they seem to be doing ok and retaining well (when we do reviews and for written work applications etc).

We're planning to use Rainbow Science for 7th and 8th. It's a 2 year curriculum that covers Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Applications of Science over 4 semesters. The lab kits are pricey, but everything imaginable is included, so it really is designed to be open up and go for your middle schooler. I'm praying we love it so I can justify some of the cost by reusing the non-consumable items with my other 2 kids later on!! ;)

For those who use GWG, do you really do grammar just 3 days a week? While I'm sure my ds would love this, I've always done it every day. He will be doing Daily Grams and WWW but I wondered if 3 x a week is the norm (while recommended by the publisher) or if most people do 5 x a week and just move onto the next "level" when the book is complete?

I have looked at a couple - we had a great book we enjoyed last year but it was mostly just crafty stuff - not what I could call "real art" - if that makes sense? I guess I'm wondering about all the "programs" I see mentioned around here. I wonder if we aren't doing something incorporating "proper art techniques" and learning about the masters etc are the kids are missing out? :confused:

We used both DG and EG last year with our oldest 2. I loved the quick review of DG (takes about 10 minutes first thing in the morning) - different to the "teaching" they received from the EG lessons. I didn't feel it was overkill. My 3rd grader is starting DG next year - or was going to, but once his book came in the mail, he couldn't help himself and has been completing pages here and there as part of our summer review times! He loves it! I wondered whether he would come up against a topic he didn't know yet (since he's doing DG 3 and hasn't begun 3rd grade grammar yet) but so far, its reviewing things he's learned or has simple enough instructions that he can follow. Just another opinion! :)

I love the *idea* of art for my kids - but somehow it just never seems to happen more than a couple of times a month. Last year I tied it to our history (SOTW 1 - AG), and picked projects either from the chapter we were studying (or loosely based on those themes but from another crafty project book I have). The kids loved it. They all love art - not that any of us show prodigy tendencies but I think they would love to do it more frequently, and I'd love to introduce them to techniques other than splatter painting, collage with construction paper, and art from dots. LOL ;) Someone recommended The Annotated Mona Lisa book to me and suggested I use in conjunction with Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters. My thought was to use these resources to give the kids a basic understanding of some of the artists that lived/worked during our historical time period this year - which will include some significant ones since we're studying Middle Ages! ;) Has anyone used these resources? Will I be able to implement them with very basic art desire/knowledge? I thought if this was simple enough, I could present the idea, then turn them loose with the project and see how far they get on their own . . . with me supervising (more than participating), if that makes sense? I've reviewed the sample pages and I can see they've provided a guide for which projects are more child-led vs adult prep-time etc but I'm still not sure. FWIW, I did some art in school - charcoal, watercolors, acrylics, mixed media etc but unless I had total supervision, I just wasn't wired to do well. I never *loved* it. It really is the first thing to get booted from the schedule when we run short on time for the "essentials". I want to be sure I'm at least providing an opportunity for the kids to enjoy art and be exposed to more than just 'craft.' I'm not even sure how often we "should" be doing art?! Once a week? :confused: Never? LOL ;)

I looked at Sentence Island as a "reader" for my rising 3rd grader - can you tell me what the teacher manual would be used for? I wasn't sure if MCT included lesson plans based on this book or if it was meant to be a nice addition to the rest of the curriculum. I think my ds would love this and I love the way it talks about sentences!