Thanks for your reply Ellie! Here are some of the words my teenage son gets mixed up on. cansled, emergensy, twise, vierus, shareing, corintend, tramalen (trampoline), updateing, pritty, simtons, finlly, acward, suppost, escalated. He's speaks well and has pretty good grammar. He doesn't always want to use it when writing so much so he hates to capitalize and even punctuate. But given a sentence he knows how and understands it well. My 8 yrs old. We started with the flashcards when he was little. SWR flashcards. I didn't teach him the names of letters but sounds. He still struggles with a handful: L, F, Z, X, B, F, H, V. He will also still struggle with I, U sounds when in a word,3-5 letter words. He's got down ee, ck, th, ch, sh, igh. I'm actually embarrassed. I held off pushing him because he was so much more active than my older two boys, who I felt I pushed to early. I also did not want him to hate school but enjoy it. So we didn't do formal school till last year, 7 yrs old. I had planned to use LOE. I used SWR when my older boys were about 9 and I just never could get the hang of it fully (I've taken the 3 day training 2x). I understand it okay. I can do all the words with my older two (but don't feel it seems to help them). And I never did teach it from the beginning. My older two did PAL & Explode the Code, when then once that was over I realized they needed more so that took me to SWR. So I was wanting something more spelled out but with a similar idea I used LOE. Well although I absolutely LOVED that program it was killing my 7 year old. Or at least I felt it was (He did love the word games, like run to the end of the hall and read a word). He gets so bogged down trying to remember all of it when we were doing LOE. We got through A and just the beginning of B. It just seems like so many parts as I looked into the future teacher manuals. So this was probably a huge mistake but I decided to just read with him and keep doing the flash cards. So we work on reading readers and doing the flash cards. I also added in some phonics pages from abeka for practice. I break it into reading a reader twice a day, 2 pages. He freaks out if its more than that. Then the reading is down the tube, he will do it but if he is overwhelmed its like his brain doesn't work as well with sounds. Again Im embarred to say I have had issues with not being diligent with doing everything daily. I do know the repetition would be more helpful for him. But again not really feeling like we found anything that worked well for us. So I realize I need to really get a move on with my 8 yr old reading. Something I can still with that is easy to get done but work decent. I was not against AAS and AAR necessarily all these years but had always thought the SWR, WRTR, LOE were just a bit of a step above from everything I had heard. BUT as of this week I'm considering AAS & AAR. I need something I can do and doesn't overwhelm me or him. Something that fits together. I want something I can stick with and not bounce back and forth like I did with my older two. Then have him in the predicament my oldest is in. Sorry for my lengthy explanation.

Would doing these two together be redundant? I'm not seeing in the samples that AAR has comprehension? I also haven't seen that it has any narration or copywork in AAR? I do know one is for reading and one is for writing, but I see some overlap also. Just trying to make a decision. I want to just go with AAR and AAS... but I don't want to miss something by not doing a program like WWE. One more question I have is would AAR and/or AAS teach anything on grammar mechanics. Just the basics like capitalization. punctuation marks... I plan on doing IEW Fix It Grammar but not for a couple years. I want him to understand how to write a sentence before then and Im not sure it looks like AAS or AAR teach any of that?

Hello, I have a DS 14 yrs old that is still struggling to understand the difference in homophones and also how to spell them. I would love any curriculum ideas that could help him. He is not a strong speller, but does hear phonetically. He knows how they should sound but spells words all sorts of ways. We have spent time in Spell to Write and Read mostly. When he was younger he did a little of phonetic zoo. But mainly has used SWR or LOE. Doesn't seem to help him at all. The rules being taught to all 3 of my DS's doesn't seem to help them? Maybe its me and I just didn't teach it right? They don't seem to want to apply the rules at all. My youngest DS (8 yrs old) has been spending time on the LOE flash cards for about 3 years and still struggles with FC. He can spell (easy 3 letter words) writing cursive on paper better than he can say the flashcards or get any rules memorized. He has about 19 of the alphabet sounds and as far as blends go he sometimes remembers sometimes doesn't. And pretty much does not love learning it as far as phonics and reading goes. Thanks for any help!

I'm looking into some different ways to teach math facts for good retention. I would like to hear what worked best for your family. Addition, Subtraction, or Multiplication are all of use to me 🙂

Just hoping some of you who have used the CTC math would be willing to share with me what you thought of it?

Sorry I misunderstood that. I do see what you are saying now 🙂 I think possibly the problem is I don't know what they need to know..... I'm embarrassed to admit that. I felt to scared to jump into bravewriters essay prep classes thinking that I don't want to leave anything out they should be learning from Jr. High. I looked over those other curriculums and things like poetry, short story, book reports, and all the others are things they have never really been taught. Do they need them? I'm not sure? Would skipping them be a bad thing for any reason? I don't feel like they remember much from IEW in elementary. Even though they were doing it... did they really even know what they were doing, we were going so fast in CC and blowing right through it all. Probably only the first level or bottom foundation is what they understood. Right now they are writing a "short story", on their own from when they were doing CC. They are just going for it. They are thinking through parts like the characters and story line. THEY think they know what they are doing and I have shut my mouth and let them write because they are pretty into it. BUT I do know there actual ways to write better and IM sure a ton they are not doing so "right" 🙂 I think Im just confused on what they should do next.

I guess I don't know. I figured it was the step before the Expository Essay so they would need it. But that is a good question.

My boys are in 8th grade. Im looking for a writing program for this next 2-3 months and into next year, 9th. My goal is to get them into Bravewriter's Essay Prep online courses. Background info. *They did IEW in 4th, 5th, 6th (classical conversations). - they did okay *7th we tried WWS (fail- I realized I needed to outsource) this program was not for us at all. Took anything fun out of it for us and it overwhelmed me. NO CLASSICAL CONVERSATIONS this year. *8th we did Challenge B Classical Conversations - We were a year behind in Lost Tools of writing since all the other children had already done it in Challenge A. So I signed them up for an online course of LTW through Circe Institute ($$$$ for the year) which we found out was WAY over their heads. The amount of work they wanted them to each week was way overwhelming for my 2 boys. It was over and above what their regular workbook required. They began to hate writing. We dropped it. bye bye money since Circe would not refund any of it after 6 weeks (pd for the whole year) :( Very disappointed in them. I later on found out this program was more for a HS level age range. But CC just loves to do things that are above level LOL. Anyway.... (fail- again) *second semester 8th - they moved on to short stories through CC which we are doing now. They really like it BUT...………… Even though they are doing what CC asks them there really is NO TEACHING on how to write well or anyone to look over their work. They are enjoying it for now. I pulled them from CC for other reasons (IM so over it after 6 years) and they STILL WANTED TO FINISH their short story :) That makes me happy and shows me they enjoy writing more than they were thinking. So I was going to put them right in to Essay Prep with Bravewriter next year 9th. But after seeing how much they have never really learned or need more help in Im thinking they might need to do a year of just a good overview writing program. I need something that is easy for ME too :( Im not a good writer and personally can not help them to gain strength Love your thoughts please * I will be doing Analytical Grammar with them. They have a decent grasp on grammar.

Anyone like this program in the older years? I don't feel like I hear anyone mention it?

He will be 10

I was wondering if there was a big jump between 4th and 5th grade? When my son finishes Logic of English Essentials grammar I was wondering if I would be missing a bunch by jumping into 5th grade?

Have any of you done both the Middle School American History and also the High School American History? Im wondering if all the information is new, or if it just goes deeper into the same subjects as we read in Middle School? Are they learning a lot more information?

If someone has finished Analytical Grammar what level (book) of knowledge would they be at comparable in Rod and Staff grammar (knowledge wise)? PS I know this is a horrible sentence grammar wise. Can you tell I've done neither yet LOL. I'm hoping it makes sense......

Thank you all for your replies. They are very helpful!

I'm open to any type. I just need it to work well. My son is 7.

I'm curious to know how much Spanish the Children know after finishing both books of Spanish for Children? Im planning on beginning with Song School Spanish but hoping to move into Spanish for Children. That's a big investment of time for us so just hoping to get an idea of what that might look like when we are finished. thank you

In the younger elementary years can the children get confused between English grammar and Latin grammar? Anyone experienced this before, good or bad? Im planning on using R&S English next year for my 2nd grader and want to use it as our English grammar curriculum each year. Im looking ahead at Latin for 3rd grade or even next year in 2nd. But as I look at the TOC its seems they are going to be hearing the same words in both and it makes me wonder if they will begin to confuse things or if it would be to much for them. Should they learn one solidly before the next? Or have a good head start? Anyone have advise for this?

If we mostly focused on teaching latin/ latin grammar starting 2nd or 3rd grade would there still be a need for English grammar?

I realized this last week that I need to get a different writing instructor than myself for my boys. I'm turning to Brave Writer. When I go on the site for the online classes it says we should begin with The Writer's Jungle. But when I research a bit about The Writers Jungle it looks like its a class on how I can help my boys while teaching them. They will be going into 8th grade and I'm wanted to have someone else teach them from now on with their online classes. So Do I need that class first? The Writer's Jungle? OR do I skip it for what my goal is?

Has anyone finished LOE or switched in the middle to bravewriter language arts program? I'm not sure if we would finished LOE or not but I know we want to use it in the older grades. Wonder what others have done that worked well?

I have a 6yr old and we are doing LOE foundations A-D. Does anyone have advice or input on when we should begin bravewriter. My goal with that will be to use their online courses. But I know that is a while off since he's not going to be ready for that for a while.

Looking for a possible online class for writing. I need some help teaching this area. We have completed IEW - 3 years in CC. I feel like they are needing more help than I can give them. I really just don't know enough about writing myself. So when they are finishing something up say in WWS, I just am not sure if they are answering correct or not. Anyway, this is sad I know. Im ready to just pay for help. Any suggestions or great experiences?

I have two sons in 7th grade. One of them loves science and so I got BJU with dvds life science. It said they were 30 min a day and I realize that might be the case for some teens but after a 15-20 min DVD each day, then all the reading and questions my boys take much longer than that. The one who loves science is doing okay (still thinks its a lot) but my other guy is so over doing science each day for close to an hour. I don't want to take it down to half speed because it has 180 days of this a year so it will be hard to finish as it is. Is there any recommendations for something similar to BJU that is not done every day? He said he would much rather do 2-3 days a week OR shorter amount each day. I know apologia is good also but I steered away from that for the simple fact Ive heard others say even more wordy than BJU and I don't think my guys would do better with more words. OH yes and he actually does not like experiments. WHA?? I don't understand. He's a super ourdoorsy guy, diligent and hard working. He likes to get in and get stuff done and be done. I'm just not seeing what he needs yet I guess. We have finished all 5 books in the series...... Focus on Middle School (real science 4 kids). He did fine with that. But he's not ready for High School stuff. Anyone have any suggestions please (I posted also in middle school challenges board)

I have two sons in 7th grade. One of them loves science and so I got BJU with dvds life science. It said they were 30 min a day and I realize that might be the case for some teens but after a 15-20 min DVD each day, then all the reading and questions my boys take much longer than that. The one who loves science is doing okay (still thinks its a lot) but my other guy is so over doing science each day for close to an hour. I don't want to take it down to half speed because it has 180 days of this a year so it will be hard to finish as it is. Is there any recommendations for something similar to BJU that is not done every day? He said he would much rather do 2-3 days a week OR shorter amount each day. I know apologia is good also but I steered away from that for the simple fact Ive heard others say even more wordy than BJU and I don't think my guys would do better with more words. OH yes and he actually does not like experiments. WHA?? I don't understand. He's a super ourdoorsy guy, diligent and hard working. He likes to get in and get stuff done and be done. I'm just not seeing what he needs yet I guess. We have finished all 5 books in the series...... Focus on Middle School (real science 4 kids). He did fine with that. But he's not ready for High School stuff. Suggestions please?

Just wondering how much time it will take a day to complete a lesson for BJU physical science? OR an average I guess. We would have the DVD's.