Thanks so much for the advice. I will look closely at the scope and sequence. I'll also grab some patience, I'll probably need it!

Thanks so much, I'm gonna think on it. FLL is a great start. I don't think my 3rd grader would mind if we accelerated some of the early noun lessons. So I'm going to do SE4 with older two and either FLL or Shurley combined with the other two. If I go through FLL first, I could start them on SE3 and give myself some time to get settled in with the olders doing SE4. Boy it helps to think outloud! Thanks for the recommendations OhElizabeth! You were very helpful!

Thank you for responding! One of my reasons for looking at Shurley was our use of LFC and their new Writing & Rhetoric curriculum. They use/suggest SE. And it just has so many darn people talking about how well their kids did on standardized testing and into adulthood with grammar. That speaks. I think I'm going to put my older two into Shurley 4. Do you think a bright 1st grader and slow 3rd grader could handle Shurley 2?

I've been looking closely at JAG or Shurley English (recommended by VP). I have: a distractable and all boy 11yo boy (reads fast and well) a lego-maniac details oriented 10yo boy (reads slow and carefully) a slow learning 9yo girl (about a 2.5 grade reading level, she just does everything in her own time KWIM ;) a energetic, social Sue 7yo girl (reading well, trying to read crazy big books, its pretty cute!) So, what levels of Shurley English, would you put this brood in? I'm having the hardest time figuring this out. I think I could do a combo of combining and skipping levels. The older 2 have had regular english for a few years now and my 9yo girl has had none yet. They all just turned their ages in Dec/Jan. I am just getting fustrated with retention and my time. I know SE is pretty teacher intensive. I don't mind spending quality time teaching, if its effective.

Originally used R&S this year, but just. can't. make. it. work. I really wish I could, so I'm just moving on...now my older students are using KISS and have completed the first section. We will continue doing KISS till I figure out the grammar thing. :banghead: For writing my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grader are using CW at different levels, and its going well. So...we need to find a complementary grammar program. I think I would really like AG, but KISS seems mighty similar, just with a crazy confusing website. The printable books are actually pretty logical and clear, we all are liking them. I've been looking at JAG for my 4th and 5th Grader and it looks like it would be a good complement to CW, but if by chance KISS would do the trick, we could continue that too. I really have tried to navigate the KISS site to figure out if they cover the same topics as AG, some I can say for sure, yes, they are covered, and some I'm not seeing it. Grammar terms explained, (KISS: Yes) Parsing, (KISS: Yes) Diagramming, (KISS: NO) Usage (such as s/v agreement, etc.) (KISS: ???) Capitalization and Punctuation Rules/Practice (KISS: Some????) Editing practice (KISS: ???) Any thoughts?

I am loving it!!! I think my kids would really have fun with this too!

Just curious. I'm using MP K with my kinder and liking it very much. I'm more hesitant with my boys to use it though (they are third and fourth grade). :bigear:

:lurk5: I like the looks of them too. Wish I could find more info on those who use Daily Grammar.

:bigear:

Singapore and Rightstart are our main ones. We just received LOF and it's a hit so far. :)

:lurk5:

:iagree: I used Getty-Dubay with mine.

Thanks for chiming in! HOD is one that is at the top of my list. I like how HOD integrates Bible into their plans. That's something they do a little differently than the other programs I'm looking at. Living Books does look good. They have some great books on their list. It seems very similar to HOD for me. Thanks for the suggestion!

I was hoping to hear from those who had the same "likes" and successes as we have. Thanks for chiming in! Getting a lot of TOG responses. :) I'll have to chew on this some more...

Thank you so much for explaining all your plans and thoughts. Sounds like my approach to math, with my kiddos. They are all so different and need different approaches--it's taken 4 years of homeschool to figure this out. :tongue_smilie: It all makes great sense! I've wondered how different kids perform with Omnibus. It is so excellent--I often read it on Google Books at night on my iphone. :) Omnibus also lots of heavy thought and reading, which like you've said may not work in for ALL kids. I've often wondered what it would be like to use TOG, but add in Omnibus as a parent wanted--depending on the child. It could get expensive and a parent would have to have a good grasp of each one--as you do. Can't wait to hear how your year goes! I'll be :bigear:!

Thank you ladies for all of these suggestions!

Thanks--that was helpful! Seems like Easy Classical is a favorite vs. straight VP (maybe even Scholars?). I've looked at EC before, but always hesitated because I can't find a wealth reviews, but I've mostly looked here at the WTM forums. Ok, now I understand the Bible section. I should have looked more closely at their plans. :tongue_smilie: I'm going to check out the resource you listed above too. Thanks again!

Heather, you've been with Omnibus for a long time. May I ask why the change? I know TOG and Omnibus get compared a bit on the HS boards, I think they are a lot a like and a lot different too. Will you still use CW as your writing or try to incorporate TOG's writing? Sorry for the detour question. I like many of the programs you use with your children and wondering about your line of thinking. Thanks for explaining what you'll be using for the younger years--makes sense. I can definitely understand having everything all set up. I like that HOD and EC both have daily plans. I'm just not sure what to do at this point. :glare:

Thanks for this! TOG is still on the table.

We did cross post. :001_smile: Have you used Easy Classical? Anything you really disliked about it? Any need to know info? Are you recommending just History or Bible too?

Rightstart and Singapore in some combination for each child. Just ordered first two LOF elementary books, so next week we might have 3. :D

Yep, TOG looks nice doesn't it? Have looked at Easy Classical too. Only because we did VP OTAE and Genesis-Judges when my oldest was in 2nd. This year we were supposed to do the self-paced classes and then we moved where we can't get the kind of internet connection needed to do those. That was a big bummer for me! I used the Scholars Plans the year we did OTAE, they were nice, but I wanted something less about drilling the info into their heads and more narrative spines. I didn't like doing the worksheet and test each week, which we mostly did orally. Its a very academic program. Easly Classical looks similar to the Scholars lesson plans. Scholars is still slightly on my radar. My husband is pretty firm on wanting to do all or some of Omnibus with the kids when they get to that stage (he's a pastor). So keeping my kids reading about history is definitely important to me, especially with book like VP and Easy Classical uses. Truthquest is a neat resource. Just too arbitrary for *me* to use. LOL.

Extensively! I love that all the kids can be in the same place in history. I think the learning curve does scare me and it seems pricey, especially if I don't use the writing or lit worksheets (we do that through PR). It also seems light in the LG and UG years as far as church history and Bible--PLEASE correct me if I'm misjudging. Its hard to see from the samples and scope and sequence (which focuses mostly on Rhetoric). I do love the books they use and that is a big draw for me. I've bought some of the guides to do just this. Two things hold me back from committing--maybe you can comment on these to help me. One is the amount of writing I am expecting my kids to do when combined with PR/CW--I am not willing to drop PR/CW. Two is the book lists. I'd like to do some more "classical" type books like Children's Homer, etc, but I think I could read those as read alouds or assign them since we won't be doing DITHOR, but will still have our silent reading times during the week. I do love that so much is incorporated into the guides: character, Bible, Literature, Geography, Studies like composers, etc. The notebooking pages are beautiful too. I DO like the daily lesson plans and the progression of skills built in.

I need some advice on subjects of history, literature, geography & maybe Bible. Taking in consideration that some of my favorite programs are Rightstart Math, Phonics Road, (and we also used CW for a semester and loved it too) Nancy Larson Science, I need some advice on finding a history program that are along these lines. I think these are pretty Type-A personality programs, very structured but very "living" too. My preferences are *living spines over encyclopedias (mixture is fine) *more of a classical list vs just good stories (mixture is fine) *Christian worldview is a must (don't want to have to "add in") I'm having the hardest time finding a good fit for our family. I have been looking and pursuing some choices over the last few months, but I just don't have a peace about any of them. My kids are 9yo, 8yo, 7yo, 5yo, and a nearly 3yo, with one due in summer.

:bigear: