Thank you so much for our replies......my wheels are spinning now. My DS does not know what he would like to do. He will finish all minimum college prep requirements this year (11th grade), with the exception of English and Math. I am looking for some ideas. The challenge is, he does not know what he wants to do, so I would like to incorporate some career exploration and more exposure beyond academics. I do understand that we are behind in this area. He is our first, we are still growing in parenting/teaching/guiding. Thank you for taking the time to converse...You all have helped me tremendously. I am definitely going to look into the things mentioned in the previous posts. Let's keep the ideas rolling. Thanks! again.

What are you doing with your 11th and 12th graders who have already meet high school graduation requirements?

I am interested. I think I may have found one via the VP_Elementary yahoo group Chonta

I am bumping this questions because I am curious about those using this with multiple children. Is there anyone that has them do it together? Chonta

Bumping this because I want to know as well.

Carrie, You will be surprised how quickly they learn all of the sounds. Most of the letters only have one sound, so they probably know most of them. I would linger for a bit. I taught all the sounds to my 4 children ( ages 4,4,6,7) I downloaded the cd on my laptop and let them practice. They would push the button and repeat. Then after they thought they had it, I let them say the sounds THEN click to see if they were correct. I think it took them a week or so to learn them all. Because you will be reviewing so many different things as the program progresses, it will be nice that they already know all of those phonograms. Be sure to teach all of the vowel sounds when you go through them. I hope I am making sense.

I would probably say E. We were/are in same position. Decided to continue with C this year. If you are CERTAIN that you are going to switch, continue with C. when you get to all of those drawing/geography lessons you could skip ahead to 4digit subtraction

Leap Frog letter Factory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank all for your input. I guess I was thinking I want them to hurry and learn all of the spelling rules/phonograms so that they can continue to apply them. But in reading your comments above, I now see that it is not important that they get through all of them and they stick. I also didn't realize that I didn't realize the spelling level upon completion. I will say that I am REALLY enjoying the program. It is well worth the time. I am learning so many spelling rules that I did not know before and we are just finishing up level one! It turns out that I just had words memorized all these years.

Just thinking ahead...I am currently using AAS with my 1st and 2nd grader. My plan is to complete 2 levels each year. Which means when they are 4th and 5th grade..its on to something else. I have seen others who are going through it quicker...some slower. My questions are If you finish early....say before 5th grade Is anyone using it 1 level a year? If so, do you feel they are learning the rules/phonograms too slowly?

Here is one recommendation I received with using RS the switching to MUS It may help some. As much as possible I take my kids ages 4-7 through Level B Right Start Math. Since I've done Level B before, I don't use the teacher's manual as much anymore and follow it "straight" like I do for SWR. I did follow it straight the first year, but now I use the learning and the concepts and how to present math that I learned from Level B RightStart and apply it in my teaching. RightStart Math is where I got my real education on how to teach early math. All my kids ages 4-7 play the RS math games with me and use the abacus. I've done Level B with all the youngers (didn't have RS Math with the two oldest) and the youngers are very strong in math. The games are great for teaching facts in a fun way and making it stick! I prefer the RS abacus to the blocks of MUS. (No biggie, but I think the abacus works quicker and show concepts better. ALTHOUGH the BLOCKS of MUS work better for OTHER concepts!!) HOWEVER, I like the worksheet format and DVD's of MUS so along with RS math starting at Alpha or Beta (depending on the child), my kids do all the MUS-- but we pull out the abacus with MUS do to the work rather than the blocks. My 3rd son just LOVED the fraction (Epsilon) part of MUS and he is a whiz at fractions. The fraction overlays that come with MUS work great for this! He is better than me and anyone else in the family at fractions. (No one else has done Epsilon yet.) I have a boy who completed MUS Algebra I and is now doing MUS Geometry! We love it and this is the math that will go all the way up for us. BUT, for the youngest introduction of math, I personally think RS Level B is superior to MUS Kindergarten or Alpha (which I did try out for early math, but didn't get as good of results as RS Math Level B). The RS math strategies at this level are stronger and more fun and stick more, in my opinion. If you can afford, Level B RS math, I would consider getting it and doing it all, then moving your child to Beta (2nd grade) MUS when you are done with RS Level B. No need to do Alpha really.... I just have my little girl doing it as she has done most of Level B RS and I am so busy teaching and running my business—and she really wasn't quite ready for Beta (2nd grade MUS). Hope this helps a bit! Britta Here is my review of RS math and some other links: Can Math be FUN? (How I taught 3 boys with Level B RS Math) http://homeschoolblogger.com/MorningStarLearning/62713/ RightStart vs. Other Math Programs http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MorningStarLearning/64538/ Should I start with Level A or Level B RightStart Math? http://homeschoolblogger.com/MorningStarLearning/63742/

Your children are so close together. If you have not started you could have you ker and 1st together. With your child who is now in PreK you can wait until they are in K one that is younger will then be in preK. Start RSA with them both. Even if you Prek does not get it all..not to fear because the first 11 lessons I believe in RSB repeat. Hope this is making sense.

How old are your children. The reason I ask is because I know with level A and B there is alot of overlap at the beginning. If any of your children are just one year apart, you can use the same level. For example I started my 4yo and 5yo on level A together. We are midway through B and it's working out well. The younger is actually catching on quicker than the older. At age 4/5 you are going to spend the time teaching the concept anyway. I say use RS as long as you can, then when it gets to be too much switch. Atleast you will have a good foundation.

My DS 11yo is starting VTA this year. I am now wondering if its too early. My concerns are 1. If it gets too difficult and I have to stop, then what do I got to until he is ready to continue? 2. If he gets throught just fine, will he forget the material by the time he goes to college.

What did you decide to do?

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I posted this on the K-8 Forum and someone suggested that I put it here. We will be using VT this year. There are several options in using it. Can you all tell me how it has worked best for you. (ie do you view a lesson every day, every other day and what about the quizes.) In addition, it seems that the quizes are not cumulative, do you find that the students forget the material by the time they get to the unit test? Thank you for you input.

Thank you, thank you, thank you... These responses have helped me tremendously. I was going to schedule the lessons ahead of time (which would have been a mistake) Now I see that I really need to stay on top of math, grade work everyday. When we used MUS he graded/corrected all of his work, then I graded the test at the end of each week. He only came to me when I got stuck. Doing poorly on his exams indicated that he hadn't been grading/correcting his work, so I'd go back grade it/make him redo it.

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We will be using VT this year. There are sever options. Can you all tell me how it has worked best for you. (ie do you view a lesson every day, every other day and what about the quizes.) In addition, it seems that the quizes are not cumulative, do you find that the students forget the material by the time they get to the unit test? Thank you for you input.

Heather, I also thought about using it for spelling. So do you give them a spelling test at the end of the week?

Thanks Carole, this does help. I am thinking I may not do Wordly Wise....maybe wait another year or wait until the summer.