I only have a second....we have done MFW K, 1st and now are on week 10 of Adv. I don't do most of the crafts. We skipped the canoe. ;) I pick and choose a few here and there. We skip many more than we do. *I* don't like crafts and I have 6 kids 7 and under including twin 5 year olds, twin 3 year olds and a turning one tomorrow baby/toddler. It's chaos when we try to do projects. That said, my children have learned a TON from MFW and retained a lot. Mine don't need the crafts...though I admit, when I pull them together, they do enjoy them. Still, we don't do most of them.

I love it! Thanks! ETA - How is it that I can browse and browse and browse Netflix and never see some of these on instant even when I'm looking in the genre they are supposed to be in? I've never heard of Yarki. It looks great! I have looked through all the genres it lists over and over looking for quality shows for my children. It seems like some things never come up in a regular search. You have to know what you are looking for and search directly for it. It is like they are trying to hide things. It's annoying!

We use cards a lot. We do a variation on war. We each turn over 2 cards instead of one. Then, we either add or subtract depending on which version we are doing (we switch during the game to get practice with both ;)). Whoever is higher wins. We also play war to work on number recognition and higher or lower with my younger kids. It works well. Right now, my older son and I play addition/subtraction while my twin 5 year olds play regular next to us. Oh, we make all face cards equal 10 and the ace equal 1. Sometimes I take out a few face cards, but often I don't. I don't mind them being quizzed over and over and over on the 10's. They are very important. But, I also will use 2 decks and take all the face cards out of one and leave them in the other. :) We have done similar games with dice.

I just pasted into the free version to try it. I was able to. In fact, what I pasted was a web address. (I just pasted whatever was the last thing on my clipboard. ;)) I assume since you can do it in the free version, you could do it on the paid version too. :)

We double up and triple up on lessons and skip anything too redundant. I think I've done at least 5 or more lessons in one day before between doing more and skipping some. LOL. We are moving quickly. Mine started FLL1 in the last 1/3 of the year in 1st grade. He is in 2nd now. I like to finish what we start. So, we are finishing before we move to FLL2, but we are moving very fast. I feel like the repetition is good. I really want that solid grammar foundation that knowing these definitions in their sleep gives. I feel like FLL is giving him that even if we are flying though. :)

Beautiful Feet Geography? It looks....beautiful to me. LOL!!

He has an appt for this Friday. It sounds like they don't put much stock in what the optometrist says/did. She outright told me they would probably replace anything my son got from our optometrist. I called my optometrist to see if we can stop the order for the glasses. There is no point in paying for those and using up our insurance allotment if they aren't going to be the right thing for him. So, if nothing else, we can hold off until we find out what eval finds. :)

The thing I find most interesting about what you both said is that "the bright ones" seem to hide it best when they are young. For quite a while, I have noticed a trend in him that I don't think he works to his potential. It isn't because I don't require it of him. It's because what he perceives as hard and gets very frustrated with, I know he can do easily. Meaning, he complained and complained and complained that reading was hard even though he could do it. It took him much longer than I expected and definitely on the later side of normal to really read because he just hated doing it. It was a fight every.single.time I asked him to read anything, no matter how easy for him *I* knew it was. I knew he could do it and he really could. It wasn't a matter of he needs to get better. He could actually do it. Still, he struggled through it constantly telling me how hard it was. Does that make sense? This is what first started me wondering if there was some unseen issue, like vision in particular. He took off with reading just as I probably would have had it checked and I figured I'd been paranoid. Even now, he can read at a higher level than he does. I know he can, but he perceives it as hard. When it comes to math, he just gets it, conceptually. He understood multiplication quite a while before we formally did it. Same with division and fractions. Conceptually, he has been able to add and subtract with much higher numbers than the text is requiring since K. He gets math. It comes very naturally to him. And yet, this frustration. It makes no sense. I don't think my kids are gifted per say, but I do think this child is not working to his potential because of frustrations issues that don't match his ability. Rather than exacerbate his frustration, we've just moved more slowly in these areas than I know he could. The thought that something else is going on makes sense. It would make sense if his vision or something else was making his work difficult even though the actual content is not. I've researched some developmental vision centers and I'll be making him an appt. I hope to call this afternoon. Hopefully, this will really help him reach his full potential. Thank you so much for helping me sort through this and for telling me he needs a full eval. Honestly, I never would have known since our eye dr. didn't tell me. It just didn't occur to me. I am very grateful for the advice you all have offered. I have no clue how long from now the eval will be, but I can update again then, if anyone wants me to. Just let me know. :)

I use the ZB site. I did exactly what you are talking about except I didn't save mine. I don't have the upgraded version of ZB. You could scan the pages in as PDF's to save that way. I printed the pages and bound them into 2 workbooks each 16 wks. It didn't take me long at all so I wasn't worried about saving it. However, I did recently post asking if anyone had subscribed to ZB online and someone posted with a discount code making it $15 instead of $35 or whatever it is. So, that might be worth it. I don't feel like searching for the thread right now, but it's in general ed and it was just a few days ago. If you search Zaner-Bloser, I'm sure it will come up. :)

I just did a search in my area and it came up with 0. LOL!! I widened the search to 50 miles and found some. I love the price of housing here, but I hate that we have nothing around us. I only live about 1.5 from a major metropolitan area. We have everything you could imagine there. It's just usually at least 45 minutes away. With 6 kids 7 and under, that's a long drive. But, it is what it is. We make it work when we have to. :D

Thanks! As I was reading your reply I was thinking, "how do I get an eval?" Then, you answered it. LOL!! Thank you for that information. So, question though, can his tracking problem really be that bad when he is ready pretty well at this point? He reads on a 3rd grade level. He can read at a higher level than the books he chooses though. He loves to read non-fiction. Right now he is reading the science readers from CLE...the name is completely escaping me. He likes a lot of Nat. Geo readers. He still prefers early readers though he can read higher stuff. I wonder if that is because the words are bigger. At any rate, I'm going to check out the website you suggested and look into it. An eval won't hurt even if we find out he's fine. Now, knowing that my instincts were right a year ago and I didn't take him makes me want to make sure I don't miss anything again. I'd rather take him and nothing be wrong than not, KWIM. Thank you everyone!

Why types of books are you trying to read? My oldest is about to turn 8. He is the only one who will ask to be read to from a "read aloud" chapter book. My other kids still would prefer to play. He was at least 6.5, probably 7 before he enjoyed it. My others are twins 5.5 and twins 3 (and an 11 month old). They actually will complain when I get out a chapter book to read. Some kids like chapter books at ages 4, 5, 6, but that isn't always the case. Sometimes they need a little more maturity and it comes with age. I would suggest putting down the chapter books, if that's what you are reading ;) and reading picture books to them. Engage them in the story by reading the page and then asking questions about the illustration. My kids love animals. So, we often point out all the animals and bugs. But, as long as you are engaging them in it, that's what matters. There are a LOT of very good picture books. Even my almost 8 year old still enjoys them a lot. I wouldn't push read alouds if they don't like them. The reason I wouldn't push it is because I think that actually does the opposite of fostering a love for it. I think it brings out the bad attitude even more and ends up solidifying in their mind that they don't like it. I would let them do other things while you read if that is what is easier for them. Read during a meal or let them color or play with play dough or legos while you read. Sometimes the problem is sitting still. Those are the things I would suggest. :)

UPDATE: I took him to the eye doctor today. He needs reading glasses! And, his visual tracking is pretty bad. This could definitely be one of the reason he doesn't like doing math and as the writing work and the equations have gotten longer the problem has become more of a hindrance causing him to dislike math so much. So, we have some exercises to work on tracking and we pick up his glasses next week. I really hope this helps a lot. I suspected he may have an issue when he was struggling to learn to read, but he got it before I ended up taking him to get checked. Honestly, I assumed I was just being paranoid. :blush: Obviously, I should have taken him in a while ago. But, we are here now and getting it corrected. I hope it makes a big difference for him. :D Thanks again everyone! ETA - He is enjoying the math games and even asks to do math. Things are looking up. :hurray:

Both of the above are true at our club. My son was in 1st last year and it was his first year in Sparks. (He had previously done Cubbies and I did AWANA as a child.) He did the book by the Jan and then did the review and extra credit and had nothing left. For 2 or 3 weeks, he just sat there during book time. :( I tried to get him the second book after he completed the first (instead of reviewing and doing extra credit) because I knew he wanted to do all 3 and missed the first year. They thought he was in K and would not let us have the next book. I talked to them in more detail just a couple days ago. When she realized he was in 1st last year, she felt very badly for not letting him move on. She said he can do both this year to get his 3 year book award. He is determined to do both books plus both reviews and both extra credits! Plus, we missed the first 2 weeks of AWANA this year. But, he is determined. We'll see what we can make happen. ;) Anyway, mine often comes home with a verse or two more than what he learned at home. I think its nice they do that, but at the same time, they don't really have it memorized, KWIM. They do most of them again in review though. So, it all works out. Enjoy!!

Exactly. :) I have 6 kids 7 and under. Unless they are all asleep or not here (rarely not here without me), it's not quiet. Though, my kids do love it when I come home with a bunch of "new" library books. The older 3 are generally quiet for a while checking out what I got. It's a nice thing to see. :D

$15! Now that is even more tempting...... Thanks! BTW - It didn't take me that long. Actually, I said I did the whole thing, but I realized that I've actually only done 16wks. I did 16wks and had that bound. I'm going to do the rest in the next week or two and have that bound sepearately. I wanted it to be smaller than the whole thing would allow. So, I made a cover and it says 1 of 2 or something like that on it. And, I left a space on the cover for the dates. :) ETA - We had done several weeks already when I got this bright idea. I had those completed pages bound into the book also. So, it's all together.

Anyone have a subscription to ZB FontsOnline Plus? I think it's like $35 or $39 a year. I print paper from that site all.the.time. I even made an entire spiral bound workbook for WWE1 using that site. I typed in all the copywork with "name, date, W1D1" at the top. The narration pages just have the name, etc. I printed it all out and had it spiral bound. (WWE's lines are way to big for my son.) I can also print it in cursive when he starts that. I love this site! But, I would like to be able to use all the features, like the pages with blank tops for drawings. I'm really considering paying for it because I can also save what I do for future use on the paid version. So, I was wondering if anyone else pays for this and what you think? For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about and is intrigued, here is a link: https://www.zaner-bloser.com/media/zb/zaner-bloser/FontsOnline_Sampler/FontsOnline_Sampler/index.html

Dishes! I hate washing dishes. I have no problem popping a few dishes into the dishwasher, but actually washing pots, pans or whatever else doesn't go in the dishwasher, I truly hate and always have. I have dry skin and my hands hurt for hours afterward even after several applications of lotion. So, often, my husband comes home to find the dishes from the entire day still in the sink. He'll say, "So, you had eggs for breakfast? And, I see you had pasta for lunch." :blush: I don't mind laundry. But, now that we have 6 kids all 7 and under, I just can't get control of the laundry. We have a community clothing area for the entire family's clothing...it's located on my love seat. :lol: (Seriously though, it's a problem!)

I'm getting this feeling it might not carry over. I've noticed that he is super fast at his facts when we aren't doing our math curriculum. We have been playing card games and he is having no trouble quickly coming up with the answers. I threw some subtraction in today and he didn't even bat an eye when I said it. He didn't know the answer quite as fast, but he didn't complain, just figured it out. I wonder if it a pressure thing. There is less pressure when we are playing cards than when he is doing his work. I'm going to keep up the games for this week. I want him to experience some fun in math. What I might do next week is go ahead and add back some simple drills, xtramath or drills on the whiteboard or something. If we do both at the same time, maybe it will cement those facts better. We'll see. I appreciate you bringing that up. Thanks! :D ETA - He did ask me today if we would be doing games and playing cards in math a lot. I told him yes. He response was, "okay, good. Then, math is one of my favorite subjects now." Clearly, I've managed to suck all the fun from math. Like another poster above, I'm not into the bells and whistles. I just like to get it done. We've done games some in the past, but it isn't my thing. But on the other hand, I don't want him to hate it. So, I'm branching out and trying bring the fun back for him. The other kids sat around and partnered with us today. So, we were all playing cards together. It reminded me that I used to LOVE to play cards and used to play all.the.time. So, it wasn't too bad for me. I could stand to have a little more fun too. :lol:

Thank you for all the input! I'm not really trying to keep this thread alive at this point ;), but, I wanted to say thank you for this. I really appreciated reading your thoughts on this and completely agree. The bolded is exactly what I'm aiming for. I feel like I've realized that my child will be significantly more successful with math if he learns his math facts. *I* would have been more successful (and would be IRL situations too) if I knew mine better...hence me doing xtramath too. LOL! The problem is he hates drilling. So, thus far, I have not pushed it, thinking he would pick them up naturally because he seems to be intuitive about math. Alas, that hasn't happened. He can calculate it, but he doesn't like to and he gets annoyed. I need to have him focus on learning the facts. Then, he can move forward less frustrated. So, we have put away the book in favor of learning the math facts. Because he hates to drill, I'm finding games he will enjoy that will "drill" him in a fun way. Yesterday, I asked him to play cards with me, "want to play cards with me? It will be fun." Him, "is it for school?" Me, "well...sort of." Him, "not really then. It will be math." :lol: I got him to play anyway. Halfway through as he was having fun and smiling I said, "This is awful, isn't it? ;) " He admitted it was fun. I was having him do addition, which he is very good at. I think we'll go for addition again today to keep his good attitude up. We'll see what happens in a few days when I want to change to subtraction......

We don't do anything super odd. I have 6 kids 7 and under including twin 5 year olds, twin 3 year olds and a running (literally) 11 month old. So, our school work often gets derailed and not fully completed. To compensate for that, we often school on Saturday. My husband works 6 days a week most weeks anyway. So, it works out well for us. We also don't do a lot of school in the morning. Mornings are rough because of my twin 3 year olds. We often don't start anything till at least 10:30, frequently it's 11. We do most of our work in the afternoon while they are sleeping. So, our school day is more like 10:30/11 - 12:30, break for lunch, 1:30 - 3:30 or even later. It's easier to do when all 3 of the littles are napping...or at least the 3 year olds!

Mondays usually go pretty well for us too. We are ready to get back to the normalcy of school rather than the craziness of the weekend. We struggle more at the end of the week. I'm sorry it's a struggle for you OP. If you have a light day during the week, maybe Friday, maybe you could move it to Mondays. Maybe you should make Sunday and Monday your "weekend" and school Tuesday through Saturday instead. LOL!!

I was thinking writing too. Though, I did mention the LA we do including spelling and grammar and how long it takes and I did not specifically say writing like the poster above did. But, I was more typing it out to count it out. LOL. And, I did say my oldest is only in 2nd. ;) So, if I was confusing in my original reply, I apologize. I was agreeing with those above me and that was the writing portion of LA. :)

Thanks! He is doing WWE1. Our MFW Adv suggests starting light dictation. He is ready for it even though I still have him in WWE1. MFW gives some help on how to do it and I do like and trust MFW. They suggest showing the child the text first and I wasn't doing that. I wanted SWB's way of doing dictation. Hence the question. :) I appreciate you telling me. Now I realize, I really should pull out my WWE2 and read it. That didn't even occur to me. :blush: We are hurrying through WWE1. I've thought about moving him up. He was more than ready for the amount of copywork included, but I feel he needs the narration practice. I'm skipping and doubling up to move him along faster. I'd like him to be in WWE2 by Christmas. Anyway, thank you! I'm going to pull out my WWE2, which I already have ;), and see what she says. :D

My oldest is in 2nd. ;) If it feels light to you, I think it probably is. I agree with the LA's comments. My 2nd grader does at least 30 minutes of LA, probably more, but I don't time it. Mine does spelling, which takes 10 minutes or less, WWE (another 10 minutes or so), grammar, another 10-15, and then most days some sort of other writing, copywork or writing a letter or narration, taking another 10-20 minutes. So, seeing that my son usually does 30-45 minutes of LA a day and he is in 2nd, I would think 30 would be low for a 4th grader.