We started this journey with the intention of schooling through high school. Now, I still feel that way, but also feel that we have come too far to back out now. My DS11 turns 12 next month. He is finishing up Pre-Algebra and Physical Science (which counts for HS credit here) and starts Algebra I and Biology in January. What 12yr old would get to take those courses in PS? Even doing what we call Pre-AP here, he wouldn't see it. His Dec. birthday would have put him in 6th this year, but since he was reading at 4, we started K at 4.5. What would have been his 7th grade year, he will take Geometry and Chemistry. By the time his peers are finishing middle school, he will have completed his HS math/science requirements. We had him tested at 6 and the psychologist told us that while he normally recommended public school for kids with ADHD, our son was too advanced and would lose any advantage he had. He told me to keep him challenged and the at he would be able to handle anything I gave him. So far, he has exceeded my wildest expectations and we have done it without medication. My DD8 was completely opposite. She struggled to learn to read and struggles to retain information. Her processing speed is lower than average and she requires more exposure time to material. She is performing a grade behind her peers and we put in a ton of work to get her to where she is. It is the beauty of homeschooling, though! I couldn't imagine her frustration if she were in a PS school setting.

I am using New American Cursive with my DS6 and DD8. DS6 is still on the first book, but DD8 has moved on to the second. The software lets you make more sheets cheaply. It is a simplified cursive, but pretty. We had a developmental therapist suggest that we skip printing with our DS6 and go straight to cursive. So far, so good!

I have a struggling speller with vision problems and below average processing speed. AAS has been the only thing that worked so far. I bought SWR, but I couldn't figure it out. It seemed that everyone that I knew that loved it had taken a course on how to teach it. AAS, while time consuming, gets the job done. I also can do the same lesson over and over until she really gets it. At $40 a level, it is pricey and since you need the cards from previous levels, the only thing you can resell (while still using the program) is the previous teacher's manual. My DS11 wanted to switch to it, but is a natural speller and does great with the cheap R&S spelling. I figured that if we only go through 1 level a year, it is only $40. If we go through two, then $80, but she is #2, so I can reuse it for #3 and #4. I just can't afford to buy all 7 levels at once. :) We have seen a huge improvement, but we won't get to le, al, el, words until several more levels (I think).

Trying to fit in lesson plans is hard with others in school. I always start with good intentions, but until they hit the age of 4, I don't have as good of follow through. At four it seems I panic and try to "get them ready" for school. This year we have on hand the R&S ABC series for Pre-K, AAR Pre-Level 1, and MUS Primer, but DS3 doesn't turn 4 until March, so I have taken it very slowly. I guess after the holidays I need to kick it in gear. :D

Thank you, both! I think I will go ahead and get AAR1 after we finish Pre-Level1! How long does each lesson typically take? I feel like I have to camp out by the whiteboard as it is for AAS with middle two. How close is AAR to AAS?

MY DS11 was using Algebra 1/2 with Saxon and while he was acing the tests, I was spend a couple of hours a day going over math with him. I had turned up my nose at MUS for years, but decided to give it a try when I had to have heart surgery. He is finishing up their Pre-Algebra book before Christmas and will start Algebra I in January. The honors lessons really make the course! He has enjoyed it and even had several "a-ha" moments about stuff he had previously learned. I asked him today which one he liked better and it was MUS hands down. There was one honors problem that took him half the day to solve. I showed it to DH and he spent two hours reasoning it out, even after I showed him how it was 'supposed' to be worked.

What is the consensus on counting it for high school credit?

I am looking for reviews of First Start Reading! What did you love? What annoyed you? After teaching 3 kids to read, I would have thought I had an awesome program, but I don't. My oldest learned using a dry erase board and me covering phonics off the top of my head until we started R&S 1st grade. I tried Phonics Pathways and Alpha Phonics with my daughter and hit a brick wall. She has a processing delay, though, so I know why now. She does better with sight words and in doing fine in R&S. My 3rd child learned to read while I was going through Alpha Phonics with sister. I let a friend borrow Alpha Phonics and it has yet to resurface. I am using AAS with my daughter, so I toyed with the idea of AAR1 for my 4th. He is going through the AAR Pre-Level 1 right now. It is just pricey. Thanks!

Love the Dave Ramsey joke! I am the free spirit that will join you at IKEA (and deal with the fall-out at the next budget committee meeting! ) What colors would you get for the covers? I think the ektorp can mesh well with the traditional. It has the rounded lines. The brown and beige are also neutral enough. What color are the pets? (hair might show easily on the brown, depending) I haven't slept on their sleeper sofa's, but I have tried them in the store. Not too bad! I am wanting to redo my living room but it never seems to be in the budget. Hopefully at tax time my husband will let me splurge a bit!

I grew up in a very poor part of America. We moved when I was in high school to a school district that had a Gifted/Talented program. I wanted to take the creative writing class that I had heard a friend talk about, so I petitioned to get into the class. I found out that you had to have over 120 FSIQ, so I had to take the test. I got in but another friend that also wanted in did not get accepted. It was not disclosed to the kids what their number was and my parents didn't really care to petition the school for that information. Sadly, a lot of the kids in the class had an elitist mentality and talked badly about those not in the gifted classes. I would be afraid that Mensa would be filled with these kids (and their parents), so I would not join.

:iagree:

Seriously?! The nesquick, too?! I got a letter the other day about the 30ct variety cereal from Sam's. Apparently the mini-wheats had mesh particles in them. It is a little late with 4 kids! The kids seem fine, though. :D I thought about going to all organic, but my mother-in-law's natural peanut butter was recalled not too long ago. Is nothing processed safe anymore? LOL

:iagree: I tried telling my doctor that I spend my day running after children. I don't understand why that doesn't count.

Wow! I thought I had it bad with my mother-in-law, but never to that extreme. I named my oldest a name that pleased them and while I like the name, it wasn't my first choice and I will always live with that. The second child was also named something that I wasn't overly thrilled with. I wanted Kaylee, my husband wanted Emily (which was the name of my ex-fiance's mother). I call her Mimi, instead. When they protested my 3rd's name, I said that I didn't care who in the family was a horrible person with that name, my kid was having it and they would just have to deal with it. They wanted me to name him Domingo. I went with Dominic Justice (they didn't like Justice, either, but it is a family name). The 4th came and when told of the news, their response was "OH, I had hoped we would have our next grandchild by our other son." I am so sorry I spoiled their plans. They didn't care for his name, either. We were never asked to abort, but my husband was constantly being asked to go "get snipped." When we announced the 5th, they kept their mouths shut. When we lost the 5th, they kept their mouths shut. :D Over all, it impacts my relationship with my mother-in-law. I constantly feel like my kids and I aren't good enough for her. I asked my mother in law with number 4 what she would name her, since she didn't like my names. She told me that she always like Maria LaDora if she had had a girl. That wasn't happening and then the she turned into a he before the next ultrasound. We decided that since she didn't like any of the names we were thinking of, we would wait to tell her the name until he was already named at the hospital. She wanted us to name him George, we went with Eliot. Persephone is a beautiful name. So what if she has to spell it? My name is Suellen and I always have to spell that. My nickname is Suzie and I am asked is that with a "z" or an "s"? And they always stick a "y" on it, instead of the "ie". I finally just went back to Suellen and deal with the spelling/mispronunciations. With all the new ways to spell names, I have to spell all of my kids names for people, even Emily.

Have you looked at the Answer's In Genesis version? We are using the audio drama (hundreds of voices, sound effects, etc) with our older three DS11, DD8, DS6. They listen and follow along with the book and then answer some comprehension questions. I am not sure that the 8 and 6 really get it, but they sit quietly through it. The 11 has loved it. He and the 6 always ask to do another chapter to find out what happens next. My husband doesn't care for the Old English and feels that the book has more hype than deserved. LOL My DS11 has to read it again in high school, so I am am just hoping for exposure at this point. As a neat coincidence... he has had John Bunyan mentioned in his history book and the reading book from R&S so far this year.

We were introduced to them in Sonlight's 6th grade core. Although we decided not to continue with Sonlight (we switched to Notgrass), we decided that we liked those books enough to keep.

If you get GSWL as an ebook, it is a cheap date! I am using it with my DS11, DD8, and DS6. My DS6 has amazed me at how much he has gotten out of it. :) The other day he came running into the schoolroom about Minecraft. They had put "Cogito Ergo Sum!" on the log in screen and he knew what it meant! We love it! I have Prima Latina, Latina Christiana I, Minimus, and LFCA. I returned Latin Alive to the store on Friday and ordered Lingua Latina. I think I found my soul mate! :D

Yes, it really does just click. My oldest picked it up so easily, that I thought I had it figured out... along came little sister. She was 5.5 and still c--a---t. We used alpha phonics and only went 5 pages by Christmas. It didn't matter how many days she saw the SAME words, she still had to painstakingly sound them out. Insert little brother age 4. I had time on my hands and let him sit in on her phonics lesson to keep him out of trouble. His light bulb went off at 4 and he started blending everything together perfectly. Fast forward... DD 6.5 c---a---t. By this time DS5 is reading ahead of her. Fast forward DD7....light bulb! Now at 8.5, she has passed little brother in reading. She has also read 3 sets of American Girl books this year alone! I even took her to a psychologist and had her tested, I was so worried. He told me that it was completely normal, she was fine, and that all kids are different. LOL I did discover that she has a low processing speed compared to other kids her age and especially compared to her brothers, who it was easier for me to measure her against. That combined with a different learning style, I tweaked some things and we have been fine. HTH Suzie

We were spending around an hour to two hours with math each day with Saxon in the older grades (sometimes three depending on the day), but we switched this March to MUS. I wasn't fully on board with it until I gave it a try, and have loved the switch. DS11 switched from Algebra 1/2 to Pre-Algebra and while he had an A in Algebra 1/2, I wasn't sure he really "got it." He gets it with MUS and we have went down to an hour or less for Math each day. Switching from Saxon 2-Saxon 3 to MUS also cut our time down. We spend 30 minutes for Math for my DD8 and DS6 and then DS11 takes about 45 (less if he doesn't dawdle). I have an hour on his schedule, though, in case he needs it.

9th-Biology with Algebra I 10th-Chemistry with Algebra II and Geometry 11th-Physics with Trig/Pre-Cal 12th-AP Physics or AP Chemistry with AP Cal Our school district didn't offer eighth grade Algebra, so when we moved in High School, I was automatically ineligible for some classes. They let me take Algebra II and Geometry at the same time in tenth so that I could take AP Cal. It worked great, since neither is a prerequisite for the other.

We tried block scheduling for Science this year and it has worked so far. We use Apologia Monday-Labs/Test for previous module (gives the weekend to study) Tuesday- Read 1st 1/2 of next module and answer On Your Own questions Wednesday- Read 2nd 1/2 of next module and answer On Your Own questions Thursday- Complete Study Guide Friday-Complete Module Summary Homework for weekend: study for test We are on Module 13 right now and will finish the book before Christmas. My little sis and niece are in PS and they do blocks by semester, so they only have 4 classes at a time. The class lasts 9 weeks if it is considered a 1 semester course and 16 weeks if it is a year long course. They love it, but I am afraid we would forget too much Math and English in between. As a bonus, my DS wants to start the next science book in January instead of waiting until next fall. :)

My statistics teacher in college was like that, but he graded on a curve.

I know this is old, but wanted to give my review of GSWL. So far, we are 20 lessons in and my 6yr old can read/translate: "Sumus poētae et estis nautae." and "Nautae nōn sunt agricolae." It may not seem like much, but he actually gets it. My DS11 and DD8 are also going through GSWL and are loving it. The course adds a little as you go and doesn't assume you know the grammar. It talks about nouns and what a noun is before introducing Latin nouns. The student has to identify nouns in English sentences. When it covers plural nouns, you have to go through a series of English sentences to identify whether it is singular or plural. My 6yr old didn't hadn't gotten to direct objects in his grammar book, but he knows what they are because of GSWL. My DS11 finds it very easy right now, but with his current course load, it is perfect. As for LFC, I thought about using it for my DD8 and DS6 after GSWL, but the more I look at it, the more leaning towards not using it. By the 3rd chapter of LFC Primer A, it covers nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative cases. It may be overload for my 6yr old.

I know this post is old, but I wanted to pipe in just in case someone was searching for what they were going to do and stumbled upon it. With DS11, we tried Prima Latina when he was 6. He got it, but didn't really enjoy it. I put Latin on hold for awhile and was determined to pick it back up this year. I have DS11, DD8, and DS6 all doing Getting Started With Latin and they are doing really well. My DS6 has blown me away with what he has learned so far. We aren't even half way through and I was looking for what we were going to use next. I even bought Latin Alive for my DS11 (he is about to be 12), but I wasn't completely sold on it (we use R&S for grammar and they do not diagram in Latin Alive.) While searching through the links on the GSWL site, I found Lingva Latina. I pulled up the sample and was surprised that I could read it/understand it with what little GSWL background I have. Excited, I called my DS11 over to look at it and he said, "Ooh, I think I can translate this! Don't help me." He finished the first page completely without help! That was it. I was sold. LOL Thankfully, I am still within the return period for Latin Alive! Amazon was the cheapest place to order the books for Lingva Latina. Lingva Latina also has an online class for $30 a year. It gives you access to all of the materials you need to complete the course. I tried the demo and while it is good, I like having books to take with me and also reuse with my other children.

Thank you, Dawn! I came here to get reviews and your post told me exactly what I needed. We are currently going through GWSL and have been searching for what to use next year. I bought Latin Alive, but after looking through it, it isn't really what I was wanting. Searching around on the GSWL site pointed me to Lingva Latina. While it looks exactly like what I am looking for, I was thrilled to see someone use it successfully. I pulled up the sample and my DS was able to translate the first page without help and we are only 20 lessons into the GSWL. Yay! I am returning Latin Alive tomorrow! :) Thanks! Suzie