I don't know. Maybe the sale is slow because so many members have already taken advantage of that deal in the past. It comes up quite often Sue

I haven't tried Latin Alive, but I have tried First Form with my dd, who was almost 9 when we started. (She had already had some Latin before.) If I had to do it over again, I would have waited a year or two. The program moves quickly, and there is a lot of writing. Dd was able to learn the vocabulary and the verb forms, but she was overwhelmed by the amount of writing that was required for each lesson. After Lesson 9, I put First Form aside and switched to Lively Latin. I think FF is a good program, but it was too much too soon for my dd. I think it would be fine for someone in fifth grade or older, though. HTH, Sue

I've only used Level B. I think it does a great job of teaching number sense, especially place value. It's fun, but very teacher intensive. I really like the abacus and the other manipulatives. I also like the math games because they help reinforce concepts in a way that's fun for kids. HTH, Sue

I was going to recommend this book, too. It's a goldmine of information. (poetry,Latin, Greek, geography, history, etc.,)for only $20 or so. Sue

What if you just put the phonics book aside for a while and just let him read? You can teach the rules to him on an as-needed basis. This is what happened when my dd was your son's age. Her reading took off, and she no longer needed much direct instruction. HTH, Sue

Phonetic Zoo. There's a placement test on the IEW website.

I have used Right Start and MM and I think of MM as traditional. I liked what others have suggested about using living math books to supplement MM. I have been considering LOF for a while now. My kids loved the samples that I downloaded from the website. Sue

IMO if he is doing the math accurately and he understands why he's carrying, I see no need to write the carried #. If he starts making careless errors then he should start writing the #. Sue

We're using AAS right now and I am thinking of switching to the How to Spell workbooks. Do I really need the manual since I am already familiar with the OG approach? Thanks, Sue

It's a secular version of Angelicum, designed by the same people who founded Angelicum.

Thank you. I just figured out my problem. I only own Level B. I used it with my oldest and I'm trying to use it with my 2nd, but I end up spending an hour because I try to fit in an entire lesson in a day. I don't know why it never occurred to me to set a timer. Sue

I agree. I think RS does an excellent job of teaching place value. Sue

I am wondering how people find the time to do RS with more than 1 or 2 kids. The program is great, but the lessons are very time-consuming. Sue

I can relate. I spent hours last night reading reviews of spelling programs for my9 year old, who is also a very good reader, but just an o.k. speller. It's funny that you mentioned "auto" because just today I asked dd to spell "auto" and she spelled it "otto." I tried Spelling Power 2 years ago, but I didn't like it. Then we switched to AAS. I must admit that I don't get to the lessons often enough. I'm a visual learner and a natural speller. My dd is an auditory learner, so she has trouble remembering silent letters. I will be interested in reading the responses that you get. Sue

We started out using the first grade plans this year, but we've abandoned them. My ds is reading on grade level, but many of the books that MP uses are above grade level. DS read the Little Bear books at the beginning of the school year, but at a slower pace than what was recommended in the lesson plans. He read a couple of the Christmas books that were in the plans, but they were a little hard. Since then, I haven't been using Storytime Treasures at all. Also, I don't like New American Cursive because I prefer programs that introduce letters that are formed the same way together, but NAC introduces the letters in ABC order. We haven't tried Rod and Staff Math, so I can't comment on it. You may want to join the MP forums and ask some question s over there, too. Good luck, Sue Edited to fix a typo.

I'm glad to hear that people thought the ebooks were worth the $$ because I've been thinking about buying them, too, but wondering if I was crazy to consider it. Sue

I second the recommendation of In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. We love this book. It's very well-written and entertaining. We're big baseball fans, so we loved the Jackie Robinson theme, too. Another suggestion is Farmer Boy, which is about Almanzo Wilder at age 9. HTH, Sue

Yes, I know what you mean. I was feeling the same way a couple of weeks ago. It's public school vacation week here, and I have decided to give the kids the rest of the week off. Sue

We tried workboxes, too and liked them for a while, but now I just use plastic drawers and an assignment notebook. Sue

Thanks for the suggestion. I've checked out Time4Learning before, but I'll have to look it again. We started TT5 right after Christmas, because I was getting frustrated with how long it was taking dd to finish her math. We had been using Math Mammoth. So far, so good with TT. I'm still available when she's doing her math, but I don't have to stand over her, which is a relief. Now I actually have time to do RS with my 1st grader while my dd does TT. Also, I've heard of another online program that's really cheap, but I can't think of the name of it. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? You pay a fee and you can get up to 18 (I think) books online at whatever levels you want.

My dd is 9 and very smart, but also a very slow worker. I have to sit with her quite a bit, or she doesn't finish her work. I sometimes use a timer to keep her on task, and that works pretty well, but I really need her to work independently more often, especially when I'm working with my pre-schooler and first grader. Right now we're using mostly MP books, but they take my dd forever to finish because they require a lot of writing. DD loves to read, so I have thought about using the Robinson Curriculum, or something similar, but I can't help wondering if that would be enough. Have any of you tried this approach? What else have you tried that might help my little procrastinator? Thanks, Sue

I used FLL with my oldest and now I'm using it with my 6 year old. We also skip lessons because the book is very repetitive. Still, I like it because the lessons are short, and I need a book with short lessons that get the job done. To the OP: see if you can find a copy of the older version, which has FLL 1&2 in the same book. That way you can start with 1 and if it's too easy, move onto 2 without spending more $. Sue

What are the skills for Book 5? My ds is going to finish 3 this week, so I have to decide now if I want to go to 4 or 5 next. Thanks! To the original poster, My ds is in first grade. He did Book 1 and part of Book 2 last year We took the summer off, and ds finished Book 2 in the fall. Now he's about to finish Book 3. He is reading on grade level. HTH, Sue

I had never heard of it until I kept seeing it on this board, so I checked it out and now I'm overwhelmed. There are so many books at each level. Also, would you say that their grade level recommendations are accurate? How does it compare with FLL and WEE? How teacher-intensive is it? Thanks, Sue

I tried it and ended up selling it. I didn't like the way the lists were organized at all. I didn't think the rules were explained well enough, either. I prefer AAS. Sue