OM is Oak Meadow. It is the name of a curriculum.

I was having similar concerns about my 7th grader's lit study. I wanted to work through WTM's list for seventh grade early modern but I was not confident that I could provide enough discussion. My compromise was to add a program (I chose CLE 7th because it doesn't take the entire year and uses short stories to teach from but it is not secular) and then read throught WTM list together separately from a lit program. Now I feel like we have the best of both worlds because he is getting the study that he needs of literary elements and reading and enjoying good literature.

Rod and Staff has wonderful, detailed writing instruction but I think that you will need to provide other oportunities "across the curriculum" for them to practice what they studied that week in English. We did this for 2 years and it really did work wonderfully. I just had them practice the writing lesson from R&S when writing in their history and science notebooks. I would just make a little notation on my weekly to-do list as to what to focus on in terms of writing for that week. I only stopped doing things this way because of changing circumstances this year that require something a little more independent for the boys.

Well, I've got Pre-K, 1st, 5th, and 7th and I was having the same problem so I had to make some changes. I do think your library trips, reading, and discussion are a great thing though. I changed to CLE for most of our core subjects because they can be more independent with them and started HO for my 7th grader and KF/SOTW for 5th grader. I am just reading historica fiction and looking at pictures in UILHE with 1st grader. This is working so much better for us and everything is getting done. I just had to accept that I can't teach everything one on one to 4 boys.

My oldest ds is about to turn 13 and is doing 7th grade this year. He is very bright and ahead is many areas but works painfully slow. He is overly meticulous. Anyway, this is how he is spending his time this year. It is a very long day for him but that is really because of his snail's pace. He is not having difficulty understanding the material. CLE Language 7: 1hr 5x week Discovering Mathematics 1: 1hr 5x week First Form Latin: 1 hr 3x week Vocabulary From Classical Roots: 1hr 2x week CLE Reading 7: 1 - 1 1/2hr 3x week Harmony Fine Arts 7: 1 1/2hrs 2x week CLE Bible 7: 1hr 5x week Fallacy Detective: 1/2hr 1x week Typing: 1/2hr 4x week History Odyssey level 2 year 3: 2hrs 3x week Botany Adventure by Kym Wright: 2hrs 2x week He also reads from the WTM literature list at night and plays football. He is working very hard this year to get everything done.

I love the idea of using the teacher's notes as cheat sheets. We have been working through the second half of TOG year 2 and planned to start year 3 U 1+3 this year but it just became too much so I have turned back to straight forward WTM and HO (which is really WTM all spelled out) for my oldest. I love TOG and am sad to let it go but this seems like the perfect compromise. Thank you!

Maybe this is just another reason that I need to break down and buy the new WTM. I am looking through my 2nd edition and it actually gives examples of outlines directly from KF. We are outlining from the red one but I think that I like the idea of using it only to introduce the topics and then outline from the source he chooses. I know this isn't any help for you but thanks for posting this question.

I think it just must be part of parenting to wonder if the choices you have made are the right ones but I feel more pressure because we have chosen to HS the boys. I feel like I have to prove that HS is the best choice for them and lately I have been feeling like I have bitten off more than I can chew. Probably the biggest challenge to HSing is finding the right mix for your family and children. What has worked in the past just isn't working now that we have added a 1st grader and pre-k to the mix. I am feeling better about our new path. Herding Cats, I love your name. My dh and I always joke about herding cats when we take them shopping.

This week I am struggling to make peace with what I can actually get done in our school versus what I wish we could do. I have to work FT but at least is is 3 12hr shifts rather than a more conventional schedule. I am also teaching 4 very different levels. I just need to accept this. I really wanted to be able to continue with TOG but I can't. I know that I don't have to do everything but even deciding what to do and what to omit takes more time than I have. My oldest is also looking for a more checklist type of plan so he knows exactly what his week will look like. I'm sad about this and a bit relieved at the same time to move on to something simpler. My oldest will use HO level 2, 5th grader will do WTM history, and 1st grader will use SOTW. I am trying to reduce the number of teacher intensive programs that we use. I really wanted to be successful with Classical Writing but I just can't teach 2 different levels of this very time consuming program. RightStart math has met the same fate as well as R&S English. We have joined the ranks of CLE for language, reading, and math. We will continue with reading real books for literature as reccommended in WTM but just to make sure they are getting the right amount of literary analysis CLE will have me covered. I will continue with reading aloud, teaching Latin and math and we will all still sit together in the school room. I guess this will be a good compromise between workbooks and real books. I'm sure it will all be fine but I still feel guilty about not being able to stick with what I felt were the best programs. Does anyone else struggle to find a happy medium between what the want to accomplish and what they can? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that hands on stuff never gets done. We are doing ok with Harmony Fine Arts though.:confused:

Thank you for some btdt advice. I do plan to keep downstairs with us so I can buzz around and check on him because he is a day dreamer.

He is pretty particular about planning his time and wanting to know what needs to be done and when. Because I work 3 12hr shifts a week, we plan in terms of a 5 day school week but not necessarily M-F. I have tried printing of the SAPs and reading list for TOG for his binder but he really wants a to-do list and a little more independence. Here is what I have come up with for him. History Odyssey Ealry Modern level 2: this has many of the books I had already planned on for the year and we have them on the shelf already. I like boxes to check off. This is right up his alley. We did actually use this 2 years ago for ancients and he really liked it. I wanted TOG and I really like it but I guess we have to use what works. For grammar and literary analysis (no more TOG SAPs): CLE language and reading. I want him to read mostly real books but the reading is only really a semester and so it will provide the analysis instruction and HO will provide the scheduled real books and some writing assignments. We will continue with Discovering Mathematics (we love it) and First Form Latin together with his younger brother. He is working on his own through Kym Wright's Botany Adventure and he loves it. We are working through Harmony Fine Arts 7, Falacy Detective, and a typing program as well. Does this cover everything? I don't want him educating himself so he will sit at the table with us unless he is reading and we will meet each morning to go over the plan for the day. We are also working through math together. I hate to overhaul the plan in October but he is getting stressed out about what is expected of him and has asked for these changes. How can I ignore his requests. I think it is great that he can talk to me about what is working for him and what isn't. Thank you for reading all of this. I just wanted some feedback before I change all his stuff around.:tongue_smilie:

I am following WTM instruction for outlines by having my 5th do 1 level outlines and my 7th grader do 3 levels but I just don't know how often this should be done. Thanks for the input.:001_smile:

I think you will love Discovering Mathematics. We are now into chapter 3 of book 1A with my 7th grader and he really likes it. It is definitely making him think and I love the length of the problem sets. It seems just right. I like your idea of using LoF with it. Good luck with your new year.

We did Latin 4 days each week for 4th grade last year.

We used Apologia last year for K through 6th with notebooking and experiments. It worked well but then I saw God's Design and fell in love. I am using it this year for 1st and 5th and they both love it. The beginner section is perfect and just the right amount of info for my 1st grader. The short lessons are providing the perfect amount of outlining practice for my 5th grader. He hates history and outlining just wasn't taking but since we moved to science he is doing great. The paragraphs are nicely organized and easy to outline. What a great added bonus.

We are currently beginning our 3rd year of TOG though we did have a short break from it while I was suffering from "the grass is greener syndrome" We are using Y2 U3 right now for 1st, 5th, and 7th grades. We are reading the LG, UG, and D books. We are not doing any of the activities because we are doing Harmony Fine Arts 7th grade with my 5th and 7th graders and R&S Art with my 1st grader. I try very hard not to get too hung up on all the details of TOG because it is not where I want to focus this year. We are doing Classical Writing and WWE, R&S English, Latin, and RS Math. All of these are pretty time consuming. I do love the literature worksheets, the mapping, and the discussion for the D level. So far we are mostly going over the Accountability and Thinking questions orally. This is where I am struggling to make up my mind on what to do. I just feel like it is too much work for him to do CW and written history summaries in addition to writing out the questions so I go back and forth between written summaries and questions. My 1st and 5th graders are each completing a grade-appropriate notebook page each week.

Reading the TWTM truely was the turning point for our HS. I read it from cover to cover during our first year while we were using Abeka. We don't use all of the suggested programs but whole-heartedly embrace the methods described in the book.

We are also starting over with my 1st grader. I have chosen to not start grammar until 3rd grade with Rod and Staff.

My most significant changes are not in curricula choices but in our scheduling. First, I created a grid that really reminds me of the one MFW uses but I added each of the boys names down the left-hand side beneath each subject. Across the top, I left 5 blank boxes where the days of the week might be. I write in the dates and lessons completed in each subject for each child as we complete each collumn. If we don't complete the entire collumn one day, we just pick up where we left off before moving to the next collumn. I printed off 36 of these so when all of the sheets are filled in, we have completed school for the year. Because I work 3 12 hr shifts per week, we sometimes school at unconventional times such as 1/2 a day on the weekend or squeeze in a extra subject in the evening after the little ones are in bed on nights dh is working a late shift. A conventional record keeping system and writing out plans ahead of time always stressed me out because of our irregular schedule.

We are finishing in about 2 hrs. It is amazing how efficient one on one instruction can be. We do 2 pages of ETC 2 followed by a page of Phonics Pathways. I dictate 2 sentences from PP for him to write after the lesson. He then reads one story from the I Can Read books from Sonlight and completes one lesson of WWE 1. All of this language arts takes about an hour. We move quickly through it. I pull out everything we need and stack it on the table next to us. For math we are using RightStart B. At this level it only takes 1/2hr. We finish the day with Tapestry of Grace reading and narration, science, or an activity. I work with him first thing in the morning while the older boys work independently so that he can play with the youngest for the rest of the day.

My 7th grader is at about 35 hrs per week and another hour each night for reading. My 5th grader is closer to 30 hours with the same nightly reading requirement. They do not play an instrument so that is not included and we do R&S Bible orally after dinner about 3x week.

I chose WWE for my first grader this year because we will be able to stick with the same program for 4 years, assuming the rest of the workbooks get finished. We have only completed 2 weeks but my ds loves it so far.

Rod and Staff English. I actually like teaching this and I have suggested it to several friends already who are now using it.

We have just started 7th grade and our 1st year of D level work. We have completed 3 weeks of Y2U3 so far and each week has been different in terms of the number of accountability questions I have him answer. For week 20, he did all of the acc. ques. in his notebook but for week 21 he only did the first 2 because they were quite involved. We discuss the thinking questions orally for now. My tenative plan is to have him answering all of those in writing by the end of 8th grade. I am planning to have do D level for 9th grade so that gives him 3 years to adjust to D level work and prep for R level. I love TOG but I don't want it to consume all of his school time.

We will be completing the 2nd half of Phonics Pathways and continuing with Explode the Code.