Thanks for these suggestions! And for others that use this catalog please give your favorites!

Good morning hive! I thought I'd open this morning with a thank you over my morning coffee. I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone here for all that they do helping others on this board. When I started I was so far away from where I am now, and the kids are getting so much more out of our lessons and really loving to learn. And I am more confident in my understanding of the mental processes, what they should be doing, what I should be doing, and most of all not to worry so much about things and be more patient. Having literally no support from family members who just want to see my kids sitting in a large classroom to fulfill a programming they will not see past, you have in a way become my new family. Thanks so much for voicing your opinions about things so gently, and sometimes vehemently! I appreciate you all. :hurray:

I'm looking to add some fun games or something to our curriculum shelves. And have this huge 1400 page RR catalog here and obviously there is more in it than I need to look at!! Holy moly! We are doing 2nd and 3rd grade next year, and I have a K4 also. Would love to hear from those that know these products well and have used them. (We are doing FLL + RS, WWE, SOTW, SM/Miquon, US Geog, Astronomy and Earth Science - plus the Anatomy we missed this year.)

The wire bound hard cover manual I have is a nice have, 250 pages and gives you an overview of how to use each of the 2 workbooks. It lists week by week instruction for each workbook and gives suggestions for discussing the exercises in the workbooks. Additional practise ideas are given, with poems, songs and more discussion questions. There are reproducibles in the back that you can print off - large full page cut and paste puzzles, and other cuts outs, to use as they are mentioned ("to use with whistle stop 13"). I guess it depends how much you want to use it all really. Is it essential, no probably not. But it did add alot I would not have thought about. For me, I like to have all the pieces so I can use them, or have the option to. You can color copy the ferris wheel if you want one and don't have it, or we made one from scratch and the kids helped color it all in to hang on the wall. There are used TM's I've found on Abebooks.com for $10-20 if you want one. The readers I've seen on there for $2-4 a piece as well if you want them. There are only 6 and they are a nice tie in for the workbook pages and they used them often, even by themselves reading alone. Hope that helps!

I don't know about the Pathway Readers so I've no experience there to give. I've read good things about them in other threads. We read aloud 1-2 hours per day and really enjoy that time together. My 6yo son got alot out of Writing with Ease 1 last year, we are doing WW2 next year. While the first 3 weeks were a little slow (and I almost quit it), he picked up thereafter what I wanted from him (narrating and summarizing) and the dictation helped immensely with his spelling. You can take the general idea from the lessons (scripted) and apply them to any subject. Then extend it into all areas you are studying. I'm really glad I stuck with it. We have also enjoyed SOTW 1 and it's led to many interest led units here (we spent 8 weeks on Egypt, and 8 weeks on Greece before moving along - oops! but we read both the Iliad and the Odyssey), and I'm looking forward to the Middle Ages, I may supplement SOTW 2 with Veritas Press History Cards. We bought a Marx Castle on eBay with all the little men, horses and weapons as a bonus item for the unit. We ramp up math a bit here, so we use a couple of programs for that or he gets bored. We do grammar orally and use FLL. But I'll also grab a good sentence from a read aloud, put it up on the whiteboard, and have him pick out the parts of speech. Then the next day I'll have him write it, then the next day I'll dictate it. Thank you SWB! The boys love science so we do it 4 x a week. But we could get away with less. Unit studies with basic spines adding supplements and content readers from the library. On deck this year is Earth Science and Astronomy. Plus a dino unit for fun. I've enjoyed using the library for extra readers each week, which we use for 30 minute quiet reading time each day in the afternoon after we are done with our lessons. He will get more historical/non fiction readers going forward. We will keep up with manuscript and move into cursive writing. Adding a logic unit for him but I haven't picked one yet. We did French last year (because I speak it) but nothing formal. Continue with piano and art lessons. May add IXL Math just for fun and weekly review time. I am fairly new to this method too, but have a good grasp of it now --- I think.

It does feel good to have it done doesn't it! It's so difficult with all the choices out there. I often get lost amid the details of all the wonderful resources available to us (and buy way more than we could ever use!)

Now that's what I'm talking about. Thanks so much! (Now let's hope I can find this bookmarked when I need it :)

Ok everyone is making me want to change up to CLE! :laugh:

We've torn thru Evan Moor's Beginning Geography for K-2 and Daily Geog 1. It was fun but I'd like to continue the skills and have more difficult maps to interpret. Next year we are in 2nd and 3rd. We will be doing US Geography as an emphasis next year if that helps. But I'd buy for both US and World Geography if it's in one curriculum (or even 2 separate really good ones) so we have it.:) I like to have things in advance or as a "go to" if we finish before expected. I would love to hear your recommendations here as I've never really had time to search for this beyond Amazon or Christianbook but there is so much going on there. ! Evan Moor seems pretty complete, but as always I know you'll have better suggestions. Thanks for your input, I look forward to hearing what you've enjoyed using.

Thanks for all the additional replies. :) I'm leaning towards ZB cursive, and the books look nice and more motivating for the boys than what I have currently (free net printables). But I also admit to curriculum hoarding and overbuying, so I am HAPPY to look at every suggestion. Yes! I'll check out Pen Time this week. I can actually "see" my younger son's mind working as he writes, and I want to give him every opportunity to further those important neural connections. We do alot verbally, and have now begun adding the writing component more to cement things, and it's working well. And OH - about the FB article post - that would be so cool, SWB lurking on my insignifigant little post here. :hurray:

Thanks for your thoughts and experience. This poem sounds wonderful - would you be comfortable sharing it with us? I'd love to see it :)

Thanks for all the great responses. ! I never had plans not to teach cursive, but I wanted to throw the carcass out there for any takers as I enjoy the back and forth I see on the boards on a hot spot topic. :) We may try some cursive work over the summer and see how it goes, but there's no rush I guess and we'll get it done for him. He is a little frustrated right now and that is what bothers me. I hadn't checked really into which products I might want to get for him (or free printable resources etc.). And with my 4 year old daughter I guess now the heat is on so I'll start her with cursive. She has done a few months of printing but nothing too major yet. Thanks for the advice!!!

Why cursive? Is it truly necessary with all the typing we are doing now and very little writing? I go back and forth. Some days I think - yes it's mandatory. Other days, maybe we don't need it. Some public schools are dropping it, and usually for me that's a push for us TO do something. This is the deal. I have a boy who is going to be 7 in June. He has struggled with ball and stick. His printing is just ok, and has shown some improvement with our practise this last year. But I think we've practised alot, certainly WAY more than with his older brother. Now if I switch him up in 2nd grade to cursive, just when he is starting to get the hang of ball stick, how frustrating for a 7 year old! Yes now I see the logic for starting with cursive in the first place - but I cannot go back with him. Is he young enough to switch him out now and just push thru it? I heard on one of SWB's lectures we revert back to what we are taught first. So he will most likely revert back to ball and stick no matter I decide to do here. My writing now is a blend of cursive and ball stick. So if you were in my place, what would you do? Interested to hear your arguments for or against cursive. :) And which style you would choose in this situation and why?

It's a really neat old living book from the 50s or 60s, with sketches of each states terrain (almost Tolkien like), stories from each state and more. I can't remember the blog where I saw the pics . . . (or if we are supposed to link to blogs without permission and such. ) Miers has done many history books in the 50s and 60s. I'm drawn to old books that are this cool, and I know how much it would raise the boys interest too. I'm becoming a collector of old books. I am however in need of more shelving. :)

I'd love to use this for a few months to introduce some US Geog. Anyone have this they would be willing to borrow me or sell? I've read stories online of people saying hey I grabbed this for 5.00 or even 20.00, but that was a few years ago and now it's really up there. I'd take excellent care of it if anyone would borrow it to me, or hey even "rent" it to me for 20.00 for a spell. !

Hi Monica, It's funny you mention this now. :) I had my husband move on long section of desks with side drawers from our office where they were not being used, out to the school room and attach to the wall abutting a 7 ft whiteboard. But you are right, they are facing the wall!! I have 3 stations there, and it's really hard to teach to. I'm going to ask him if there is a way to move them to the center of the room like an island of desks (like the ikea ones I've seen that work really well for this but don't want to spend any more). I also find we get alot done at the 8 ft table we have in the dining room, but then boy is it a pain every day to remove the piles and piles of stuff there once dinner is ready. Then the next day I can't find things easily. I could move our workboxes upstairs for organization but then why have a schoolroom? So now I'm stuck too as to what to do also. Maybe I just need to find a nice 7- 8 foot table at a garage sale and I can add that to our room downstairs. It's super nice to have an eye on what everyone is working on at once. I think the schoolroom is fun for some, it's for sure not necessary, and sometimes is more trouble than it's worth!

This is so nice. Thank you for sharing it! :)

I'll be at a book fair this weekend and hope to check out MP in person. :)

Wow great thanks to all who posted. I'll research these suggestions and see what I can get at the library. I have Living Memory and need to revisit it for the poetry section. Thanks for getting me off the ledge! :hurray:

Ok I'm stuck and need a push. I need a resource for poems for grammar stage (or, ok K-12 in one whole great book with complete analysis built right in -- and hey did you see that pig just fly past my window! He was really up there!) that doesn't include me looking every single one up on the web or searching blogs and wherever else. I read a ton of poetry to them weekly, they really enjoy it mostly from the Random House Book of Poetry for Children or links I've saved on the web. We have done a few from that book but some are so long more like full stories and not dev approp. I almost bought The Harp and Laurel but then read in a few places it's not a good selection. Library didn't have it nor did ILL which was odd. So made me stop. Read a little about Andrew Pudela but don't know enough about the program or what verses are included. Not sure I want to pay for it. I always buy stuff like that and then don't use it. Really like the library or Abebooks or other cheaper avenues. I tagged a few poems in The Book of Virtues by Bennett, like A Child's Prayer and looking for similar. Plus humor. ! Just grabbed a DL of A Childs Garden of Verse from the library-- we had this before I forgot to mark it to get again when I returned it due to another hold. This is a good start but would like to add other authors as well. What/who else? Using FLL so have those and love them. I feel I'm missing the mark and failing them, the boys are just sponges here so please give me your thoughts. I'd like to organize our poetry memory work binders for next year, and burn them onto CD's, and NOT be up late trying to figure this out anymore. :cursing: Hey I'd love to organize it for the next few years if anyone can be so bold as to say - hey - here it is! All of it! Ya IDIOT! (And duck that pig is coming back this way !) (I'll be better tomorrow I promise.)

I had the same questions you had when I started WWE1. I seemed to be saying, what is the point of this and is it enough? I believe it's well worth it to listen to her lecture on Writing in Elementary, where she covers all your questions and then some. It gave me such enthusiasm for doing it "the right way" rather than just guessing what I was doing was correct or enough then feeling the need to do more and having it be inappropriate for his development level. You should have them use this method she desribes in WWE across the curriculum, so once you get it down you can apply to any subject you are studying that day. You simply add that work in as your writing say for science or history. Spelling errors are ok at this level, ideally you want to be there to correct right away or help them sound it out. You want to teach them to do it right the first time and not error. And yes add books to your reading list, but no you don't have to read each book each week. Here's the link to the lecture -- it will seriously simplify your life and answer all your questions! http://peacehillpress.com/audiobooks-lectures/a-plan-for-teaching-writing-focus-on-the-elementary-grades-mp3-download/

Thanks so much for the suggestions. My friend is using SWR and I'm going to check that out when I see her next. Elizabeth you are so right about non sense words. I know they are teaching the sight words to her which I've always despised but never new why (until I researched O-G). I'll check out your recommendations thanks so much! Yes bummer bigtime. But this is her story since birth sadly. The poor girl is gone from 730am until 445pm even tho her Mom works from home at a super laid back job. How they cannot use some of the time she has before and after school is beyond me. Or commit to tutor time. But that is only half the crappy story. But I digress. . . . Thanks so much I'll see if I can get her Mom to work with her and make her a priority. I'll be visiting with them in 2 weeks and see what I can do. I wish they lived closer to us I'd take her after school. The Drill book looks great! I assume they'd need the complete set with the CD and TG. Too many moving pieces and they won't do it. . . Oh - And when I have her for sleepovers this summer (a few days at a time) we will be working Spalding with her I bet. :) Couldn't hurt . . . Thanks I didn't know about this at all and will pass it on to them. I'm not sure they will do anything about the math or not. I doubt they would take on two different programs for her (reading and math) due to committment really.

Oh and yes - please give me thoughts on other choices of course. ! I think it will end up being more of a commitment than a summer course, so I was looking for something comprehensive for her. I'll check this out too thanks!

Just curious what your thoughts are on this one. My niece is finishing up 2nd grade in PS and is in the bottom 1/3 of her class in both math and reading. Whatever they are using just isnt working for her. (Don't know which programs). Which program do you think is easiest for remediation purposes, to use ideally "over the summer" for her to catch her up in reading skills? I have read such great things about Spalding from Ellie, and have just ordered the 4th edition to compare it to what we've done here, and I just can't seem to stop looking at reading curriculum in search of THE one as I have an anxious 4 year old girl quickly moving thru the first few Bob books. Spalding looks really great so I'm excited to see what it contains! I'd love to chart out a path for the parents to use with her over the summer (and into next year most likely), although they are not too involved as parents so we need something open and go for them. I've had this child in our classroom and she is bright and eager. She's just not getting what she needs and I don't want her to fall behind so early on. I need to get a better feel on where she is stuck specifically, I know, but wanted to reach out to get your opinions on the above 2 programs for remediation use and any advice you could give me. I've looked at a few reading tests online to see where she is currently, although I'm sure if I just sat with her I could figure it out as well. . . . Thanks in advance.

Ok thanks for the thoughts and feedback. I had read a few posts recently about some needing to stop Latin to go back and teach grammar concepts, that it was too difficult without them knowing some key things etc. Anyone have experience with LFC?