We don't use SOTW but have both KF and Usborne. I really prefer the Usborne, as do all the kids. The KF feels a bit wordy and advanced for most of the kids, though it might be okay for my 11 y.o. this year.

I just blogged about this! Here's our Olympic Unit.

Wow I had no idea this existed! Just when I thought my planning was complete...:). Thanks!

We're just starting MCT in the fall, so I am by no means an expert, but I am going to start my 9 and 11 y.o. with Town. After reading other threads, I am going to order just the TM for CE, Grammar, and Building Poems. I will get both the TM and workbook for Paragraph Town. But I'll be watching this thread to see if anyone suggests otherwise! We are going to use ideas from The Writer's Jungle (Bravewriter) along with it.

Just short division, no remainders. We've been using Rightstart though and it's been slow going- I think he's "behind" average. We're switching programs in the fall for that reason.

Ours is up. Ds on his morning rounds :)

We're trying something new this year- we're going to use MCT (Town level) with ideas from The Writer's Jungle. I have TWJ but haven't actually read it yet so I am no expert on how to do this-but right now that's my plan. I also got Unjournaling to use once a week for fun.

I agree SL Core B would work great and let you combine all 3 of those things. If you are just looking for history right now though, SOTW 1 is a really fun read- and you can get the project book to go along with it if your 3rd grader wants to dig deeper into any of the topics.

With that level, we just did 20-30 min. and then stopped wherever we were. I stuck a post-it note on the page to keep track of our stopping point. Then if we had time we spent 10 minutes playing one of the games.

We have the DK bible as well and the kids (11 & 9) just read one story per week.

We used WWE for several years but stopped b/c the kids really couldn't stand it. Even while using it though, we would still do writing for other subjects-usually a history or science paper each week. This year my two olders (11 and 9) are going to be using MCT Town level and I am reading through The Writer's Jungle to get more ideas to supplement with. I like the suggestion in TWJ to have the kids do just one research paper per month- so I am considering switching to that approach instead of the weekly papers. I think WWS looks great too though, and plan to use it with dd11 next year.

My kids keep their individual stuff (workbooks, folders, binders) in tote bags. I bought them each a monogrammed tote bag when they started K. Then we just line all the tote bags up on the bookshelf and use the shelves above for the shared stuff and whatever doesn't fit.

I know the feeling, though I haven't even ordered yet! I am seriously considering having the super hot days be "movie-afternoons" and doing the planning then!

Looks good to me. I can't see anything obvious I would add- unless you wanted something for music. We use SL and sometimes feel this way too- it is a lot of books. I have debated slowing the cores up so that we could fit in more read-alouds and other things that aren't related to the core. I may actually try it this way some year, when I can get around to planning it out :)

We usually start some of the combined stuff first. I find this easier b/c if I have them do the basics first, everyone finishes at different times and it's hard to get back together. So we start with our read-aloud and history, and then do math and LA. Then the kids do some independent stuff as they finish and when everyone is ready we go back to more combined stuff. This way we at least have the bulk of the combined stuff finished first and everyone can go their separate ways.

My kids like doing them, but we only fit them in occasionally. What we've done the past few years is to call December lapbook month. Everyone chooses a topic (holiday related or otherwise) and we spend our school time making lapbooks.

We are finishing up 3rd grade and didn't do any more than that (except the addition of WTM style writing in other subjects). In fact we did less, b/c we didn't get to cursive. One thing we did add in is doing Madlibs once or twice a week. The kids love Madlib day.

Math: Saxon 3 (we're a little behind) & Life of Fred Apples and Butterflies LA: MCT Town, Bravewriter Lifestyle/ideas from The Writer's Jungle, Zaner Bloser 3 (for cursive hw), & Madlibs Lit/History/Science: Sonlight Core D (last half) and Core E (first half) Nature Study: The Nature Connection Languages: Lively Latin 1 & Getting Started with Spanish Art/Music: Several different resources-(link in sig. to these and some supplements for other subjects we are using) Typing Instructor for Kids

I wish this were our last week! We've got two weeks or so left. Here's our week.

Cross-posting from the logic stage board in hopes someone can help :). DD11 is finishing up Lively Latin 1 and I am thinking of switching her to LfC. She does pretty well with Latin but her vocab retention isn't terribly strong and she has been having some difficulty with the last couple lessons of LL1. Any advice on what level of LfC to start her in? I was thinking B, but would it be helpful to start her with A for review? Any thoughts on skipping LfC entirely and going into Latin Alive? She is easily frustrated so I don't want something too difficult, which is why I had though starting with one of the LfC levels might be best. Thoughts? TIA!

Just to speak to the multiple kids in SL- I am teaching two Cores this year (D and B). Next year I'll have four kids in three Cores, though the youngest will only be K-4. I really hesitated over getting into SL b/c with the ages of my kids I wouldn't be able to combine them and I had pictured all the kids learning happily together. But in reality, it is easier for me to have them separate. It's more work, for me anyway, to try to gear the same subject to multiple reading and comprehension levels than it is to just follow something already laid out that is at the right level already, even if it means two separate histories, sciences, etc.. Plus, with my kids anyway, someone always seems to be uncooperative or dragging their feet, which kind of brings the whole "let's all have fun learning about ancient Egypt (or whatever)" that I had imagined to a screeching halt. Plus, with the different cores, I feel like I can focus more on what each child is doing and learning, and the quieter ones don't get lost in the shuffle. Anyway, my advice would be to just pick what you want to do with your oldest and don't worry about the younger ones until it's time to fold them in. You may find keeping them separate is better after all, and if not, you can always figure out something different when the time comes. I find when I think too far ahead, I get a little freaked out. So now my motto is "one year at a time".

We use SL and really like it. It doesn't include math. You can buy a language arts add-on that will schedule that out for you, but SL LA has pretty mixed reviews and many don't care for it. You can also buy a science package in addition to the core to have the science scheduled out for you. We use SL science and love it. I don't order whole cores from SL- when I order I have three windows open- Rainbow Resource, Amazon, and Sonlight. I choose the cheapest option for each item. The Sonlight website has descriptions for each item in the core so you'll be able to tell which things you may want to skip. We are using it secularly and have no problems doing so. I will also say, none of mine have done SL for first grade- we started it in 2nd or 3rd- but I plan to have dd4 do Core A when she is ready. My others all did: Rightstart A Handwriting Spelling Workout Writing with Ease 1 First Language Lessons 1 SOTW with Activity book and reading suggestions from TWTM and the science suggestions from The Well-Trained Mind

Yes, I think it would be fair to say that if the lessons took less prep I would have more time for games- but with using three different levels for three kids it always seems like someone is needing extra help, or needing six equilateral triangles cut out, or needing oral questions read- it's just a *very* teacher-intensive program and I get pretty frazzled when I have more than one working on it at a time. I loved RS when I had just one doing it and I've tried very hard to put up with it and not switch. My kids do love the games and the program for the most part. It's me that is growing dissatisfied. I don't know anything about the purple book, assuming it is the new version of the math game book- yes there are a few solo games or games that could be played with a younger child or stuffed animal. But just as many if not more, would need adult help. I have trouble understanding the directions for the more complex ones sometimes, but that might just be me. And lots of the games will call for things like "four sets of number cards 1-9" or "the multiples of three from the blue product cards"... and I just dread having to sort and hunt through the cards. However! I do think that used correctly with lots of games RS would be a great program, and I believe it would work well if you have the time and energy to do the games. I just want to get at least two of mine into something more stream-lined with less fuss.

I'm up to three kids right now doing Rightstart and I'm pretty much going nuts:). The manipulatives drive me batty. The other day in Level E I had to skip an entire lesson because it was all based around me having either "8 rulers or 8 12-inch long strips of tagboard"??Who the heck has 8 rulers sitting around? We had cardstock but that's 11 inch not 12. That's not the first time I've had to skip things either. In Level D last week I had to skip around another lesson because I did not have a "1 gallon ice cream pail". Ugh. I hate having to cut stuff out, measure things, make masking tape rectangles on the floor, etc. It didn't bother me with one kid but with three it seems near impossible to keep up with this program. And I have never-ending guilt about not fitting in the games as often as I should! I have been a huge Rightstart fan in the past. I love the mental math aspect, especially with the addition. I find *I* can add in my head much more quickly after learning some new strategies! But my kids never really mastered the multiplication tables and they are so....slow....about doing problems. I'm putting my 11 y.o. in Saxon next year and probably my 9 y.o. as well. I may stick with RS C for my 7 y.o. b/c it makes me feel super guilty to buy so many new math programs when I already own RS! We shall see. I think it's a good program if you aren't teaching more than 2 and just stick with the early levels, but it would definitely make life easier to switch to something more streamlined.

My dd (5th grade) took a grammar break this year because we had planned to use ALL and I never found a replacement. From the grammar that has popped up in her Latin program I can tell she still retains it quite well so I'm not too worried about it. We'll be starting again in 6th though. Most grammar programs start with a good deal of review so I doubt it would be an issue at all.