Thank you for all of the information! At what grade do you think the tests and speed drills would no longer be useful? I really am just looking for more practice on the basics, in order to keep them fresh. It seems like if we stray away for too long, he starts to forget. I've tried printing off math-drills before and it just never gets done. I thought that *I* might be more consistent if I just had a workbook to pull a sheet from each day.

He's in the 4th grade. I was thinking of getting review sheets for 1st through 3rd.

We are currently using a mastery based program. I like it and it seems to work for our ds, but I think that he needs a bit more review of topics in order to keep them fresh. I was thinking of getting him some worksheets and having him complete one each day or so in order to keep "old" topics fresh in his mind. The two that I'm considering are R&S and MM review pages--any suggestions for which might be better in this instance?

Today my ds9/almost 10 asked to study wars. Honestly, the thought doesn't really thril me. BUT, this is the first time that he's ever ASKED to study something and so much seems difficult right now that I want to say "yes" if I can. We are currently studying ancient Egypt-are there any resources (preferably online since we live overseas and can't get things easily) for wars during that time frame?

Yes, we are going over it and reteaching it. The way that you explained it about the main course and side really makes sense to me. Thank you! I might have him try writing out the rules on an index card and see if that helps any.

Yes, but he often needs me to go over the rules with him first and go over a few questions orally before doing them on his own. But then he does all of the written exercises. When doing the tests, he gets most right, but when he does the exercises, he seems to get quite a few wrong.

Awhile back, I switched from AAS (we did levels 1-3) to R&S spelling because I needed something a bit more independent for ds9. Now, I am wondering if it was the best choice for him. It took him awhile to figure out how to do the workbook (ie. follow directions), but now he is doing better with that. However, I'm not sure if he is retaining it much. I've been wondering if for awhile, but yesterday's test sort of confirmed it for me. I really don't want to ditch R&S if I can figure out a way to make it work for him. Maybe I'm not doing something correctly? Any ideas on how to adapt it?

I know that this is waaaay old (I hope that it's still okay to reply), I'm just wondering what you ended up doing. I'm in the same boat right now (started with AAS, switched to R&S, and trying to decide if I should go back). :)

Thank you, everyone! I will work on building up his grammar a bit and then letting him self correct first and then go over it together as well. :)

Okbud, The no on mandatory free-writing makes perfect sense. :) I will begin working with him on self correcting his work. Thank you!

Okbud, Thank you so much! I will start correcting him more. I just didn't know if I should be concerned about this and it was normal or if I should look for a new curriculum. Would you suggest doing some free-time writing each day, in addition to doing a reading notebook? And what is the reason for not correcting free-time writing?

Thank you. We are using WWE2 and are on week 15. He can do a decent narration and short dictation. He reads 45 minutes a day and writes a short summary in a notebook. That is where I'm seeing that he's not doing a capitalization or punctuation, but maybe that's okay for now?

My 9 year old son is doing great with WWE when he is going through the program, but it is not crossing over into any other written work. Is this pretty normal? This is his first year doing the program and I'm not sure if I need to just continue on or if I should try something different.

I don't think that he's struggling, though he doesn't particularly like to do it. I think that I'm going to try 1 narration and 1 dictation each day and see how that goes. Thank you, everyone!

I have a 4th grade going through WWE2. I started him in WWE2 because we haven't done much previously and I was concerned that WWE3 would be a bit too challenging (I look it over beforehand). Now I am worried that he's a bit behind. Should I accelerate WW2 (we currently do 1 lesson a day) or is it best to keep plodding along to make sure that it doesn't go too fast for him?

Thank you, everyone for the feedback! It looks like lots of people think that writing is a good one to outsource. Any suggestions on where to?

I am wanting to try an online class (or 2) for 6th grade. If you were to outsource any subject in this way, which subject would it be?

He's definitely struggling with the exercises and not the spelling words. I'm going to give him a "time limit" for awhile and see if that helps stop the lessons from taking so long. Hopefully he'll figure it out after a few weeks. This is a learning curve for both of us. :)

It has definitely turned into a battle over spelling and I don't want that. :( I'm going to give him a "time limit" for a few weeks, and then I might look at cutting some things out as well. Thank you for the suggestion!

He's doing level 4. Yes, I would definitely say that is more the reading and following directions that is the problem. We've only been doing it for about 2 weeks. How long did it take for your kids to figure it out?

We just switched from AAR to R&S spelling. Right now I am having my child to A on Monday, B on Tuesday, C on Wednesday, and the test on Thursday. Each day, it is taking him soooo long! Honestly, I don't think that he is used to a "follow the directions" type of curriculum. :closedeyes: Should I have him do everything for a set time limit? Or just keep going the way we have been and maybe it will get better?

Thank you! About how long did they spend each day? I'm coming from another spelling program and trying to figure out how much time to allot--for my kids and for me.

Callapidder--4th grade is one that I am looking at right now. About how long were you involved each day? How long did your son take each day? Do you just read straight out of the Teacher's Manual to know what to say?

MotherGoose--Right now I am looking at 3rd and 4th grade.