:iagree: Come up w/ a few one liners and lay it on them! and :grouphug: And thank you to you and your family for your service and sacrifice.

Well, it varied. IT's written to the student so for the most part he was working on his own. When he was done we'd go over it. Sometimes we read through the material together. I don't really keep track of time honestly. Some days were quick and others a bit longer. I'd say avg 30min, some days 45min. That was for the beta test. We're starting up w/ WWS tomorrow so I can better give you an idea in a week.

Have you listened to SWB's MP3s on Middle Grade writing? That was very helpful for in understanding the breakdown.

From ALL "Assumes no prior grammar knowledge" For a 5th grader, I'd start w/ ALL.

OOh thanks! I have the Art of Styling Sentences I believe. I don't know if it's what you're looking for. I'll try to take a look through it later today.

I'm curious as to why not until January for Image Grammar?

Happy Grace - Oh I had forgotten that! Thanks! My library has it so I can preview it! :001_smile:

Also, do check out SWB's MP3s. They are $4 each....well worth the money. They can be found here http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/audio-products/audio-lectures.html. Welcome!

Well, I think ALL assumes no prior grammar exposure so I'd be inclined to start him in ALL. What about giving him the WWE assessment for year 3 and 4 and see how he does? If he passes the year 3, but not year 4, you could compress year 4. I also like the way narration is taught at the beginning of WWS so I'd buy it, and perhaps that formula might work well for him and he might be able to go from there. Then just keep doing the dictation from whatever level of WWE he's in or pick passages from his reading, science, history or try some Bravewriter Arrows. My 6th grader will be doing ALL and WWS.

Happy Grace, what are you using for the PRimary Sources?

Narrow Gate- thanks for you expressing your thoughts! That's a big difference between the poetry books. W/ MCT poetry, you're not writing your own poetry.

WOW!! AWESOME! What an accomplishment - for both of you!:party::hurray:

Well, if you're only buying CE, it isn't that big of a financial commitment. You only need the teacher book. Try it and see how it goes. I do think several use it alone. I can't make any comments on the poetry as I've not seen CW poetry although I've been curious. I've been thinking more about this. I don't know how much seeing the words in the Practice Books contributes to the retention. It's not a lot. I think the retention comes in from reading quality literature and seeing those words used. I know we see CE1 words in our classic books all the time. So, after further reflection, I'd say give CE1 a try if you like the approach MCT uses.

I had planned on spending the summer doing exactly as 8filltheart describes. But the basement finishing was 3months behind schedule which meant I've spent time moving all of our HS stuff into the basement, 3 floor to ceiling bookcases, furniture hear and there, cleaning up after construction, sorting out the dining room (filled w/ stuff from the basement while it was being finished). I feel like summer is over. I'm actually considering not starting school until Oct 1st so I can get my planning done. We will have 2 weeks of school (by district calendar) and then the boys are away all day for a week at a archaeology camp (definitely history, PE, logic all in one), then we're on vacation for 1.5weeks (cheaper to do it when everyone else is back in school) so there's quite a break there. Maybe starting in October isn't such a bad idea. For about a month???? I've been waking up about 5-6am....for the past few weeks I've pushed it closer to 5am. It's been very nice. I can get my one hour of Insanity in, shower, do house chores all by 7:30am. I used to not get up until 7:30am. My days are running much smoother w/ the earlier wake up. And I'm finding that I still go to bed about the same time although I can't read for about 30min-1hr like I used to. I'm hoping this earlier wake time for me will help us have a smoother year if I can just get my planning done. I started today. My friend took my kids for 3.5hrs so I could focus in the peace and quiet.

:iagree: WE've used it (grammar and logic stage Ancients) and it was clear and easy to implement.

Ok, take this w/ a grain of salt as I've not done CW Homer. I've seen it. I have CW for Older Beginners which I bought used just to read through and scratch that itch..... but my gut feeling (again not from experience) is to if you're doing CW Homer, just use the poetry that comes with it. Is it intertwined w/ the other CW components? I don't think it'd be worth trying to do Paragraph Town if you're doing Homer. CE is pretty good but you get reinforcement through the other books. THose words show up in the Practice books, along w/ other words using the stems. The CE words also show up in the writing books (Paragraph TOwn and I assume Essay Voyage). I'm not trying to talk you out of using CE, just wanted you to be aware of that. I've always wanted to have a poll and have everyone stack up their writing curriculum and measure the height and see who on this board wins! :lol: I'm really trying to simplify. So that's where I'm coming from w/ my recommendation. It seems like CW covers a lot and if you want the full benefits of it, stick w/ that and do it well. Others who've used CW can feel free to disagree w/ me. :001_smile: It just seems like Homer is a program which requires a lot of time...something scheduled everyday. Doesn't CW cover grammar? You wouldn't do both R&S and CW would you? My current plan is WWS along w/ MCT Paragraph Town (we've done all the other components but needed more work w/ paragraphs before giving PT the attention it deserved....or rather, I needed to learn more about paragraphs in order to guide DS in his writing for PT. The assignments for WWS will work double duty for PT for the most part I think. We'll also do Sentence Composing (finishing elementary and moving to middle grades). I think most of these components are all covered in CW Homer, no?

I've loved the classes we've taken....Just So Stories (The Best! I can't wait to do that again w/ my younger son), KWB, Non-fiction. The non-fiction class was interesting. I had mostly thought of Bravewriter in terms of creative writing but the non-fiction class changed my mind, sort of. We've done several Arrows and Boomerangs and really enjoyed them. I think the price/issue was a good deal when they had the sale. The regular price is a bit steep I think for what you get. BUt probably in the grand scheme of things, it's not that much. But you know how sometimes something just seems to cost a lot for whatever intangible reason? :lol: My goal for the summer was to re-read TWJ and incorporate some of those elements. We do narration, dictation. My boys love Tuesday Tea Time so we definitely need to start that up again. I need to start Friday Freewrites. Both like to write creatively so I think that might be the way to flesh out those ideas. I like her philosophy but I'm not her....I need SWB's practicality and hand-holding to get it all done. I think Julie is moving in that direction with her new The Wand and the next level which is not out yet. It sounds like more hand-holding for a Bravewriter lifestyle than you get w/ TWJ only.

https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/brave-writer/

COngrats on getting your first day off and running!!!!!!!!!!

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree: I was telling a friend about this beautiful passage in Wind in the Willows. She couldn't recall it. She has a beautifully illustrated version of it. It's large, same size as my illustrated version. I spent 30min trying to find that darn passage. It was MISSING! Gone! EVISCERATED! In very fine print, we found were the author stated it was an abridged version. I saw no reason to abridge it b/c the book was the same size as mine w/ similar numbers of pages. But all the beautiful language has been DUMBED down. Seriously, multi-syllable words were missing. Complex sentences has been changed. It was such a shame b/c the illustrations were beautiful. But the book wasn't even a shadow of the original. It just didn't sing....

:iagree: back up, let him get used to the SM method. IF he's absolutely solid on something and can teach it to you, let him do a few problems and move on.

:lol: HOld on to that puppy b/c I want to buy it from you in a year or so! OR at least rent it! Capt Uhura

We did it as a read aloud. My boys were 10yrs and 7yrs. The both LOVED it and were sad when it was over. I think we appreciated more after going MCT Island level. We discussed the descriptive paragraphs, the language, the many extended metaphors, all the simile's, alliteration, the rhythm of the sentences... My boys really enjoyed it. We're now doing the HObbit and they are loving that one as well.

8FilltheHeart - there you go again making me think. :001_smile: That's three times now you've mentioned something being whole to parts and then bells went off in my head. I think DS will like AoPS for the very reasons you mentioned. He hates being given the details. He likes figuring it out for himself after being given the big picture.

YES! I do!! You're not alone......