Thanks for the suggestions! pocjets, is there anything specific you liked about Growing with Grammar? I've been considering it. Colorful pages aren't important. The samples from Abeka were mostly writing assignments and I couldn't see the table of contents. Right now, I'm debating between BJU and Growing with Grammar.

I have a 2nd grader who loves workbooks. At a local store I looked at a BJU 2nd grade grammar workbook and I liked the scope and sequence - how it starts with sentences/ending punctuation, capitalization, then goes on. I looked at the the Voyages in English workbook online and it looked good too, but they only have a few sample pages available. Does anyone have other suggestions or recommendations?

I'm sure this topic has been discussed before, but I can't find it in the archives. I've always heard about how advanced Abeka math is and how its the best program. All of the homeschooling mothers I know use Abeka, and to these mothers, not using Abeka is like declaring that your child is subpar. After a lot of research, I decided I wanted to use a mastery curriculum, and settled on trying Math U See for one child and Math Mammoth for the other. My younger one is using Math U See primer and my older one is just beginning 1st grade, so far I'm happy with both programs. For the most part, I can withstand the social pressure within our homeschool group to use Abeka, but there's still the thought in the back of my mind that wonders if all of those more experienced mothers are right. If anyone who has used both programs has thoughts about how they measure up, I would appreciate hearing about it.

Thank you, Hunter!

I was going to buy a copy of WTM on Amazon and there are two editions, with a big difference in price. Would the older one be just as good, or should I buy the third edition? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393047520/sr=8-2/qid=1428426873/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1428426873&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.com/The-Well-Trained-Mind-Classical-Education/dp/0393067084/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

It looks like this has a backstory that I didn't intend to dig up. I've been trying to compare Singapore and Math Mammoth. Aside from the "conceptual leaps" description I've seen here, I've also seen Math Mammoth generally described as more incremental, step by step. My concern about leaps was because I'm not very mathy and in older grades I don't know if I can handle teaching with too many leaps, but I also think its good for kids to have to figure things out sometimes instead of it being spoon fed. The idea of Singapore having leaps was really holding me back but if that isn't the case, I think I'd like to give it a try. On the other hand, Math Mammoth is much more affordable, its also easily reusable. Price matters to some degree, but it isn't the leading factor. I want something that challenges the kids to think. My son really enjoys the puzzle-like questions in MEP that I've been doing with him, and I like that it makes him think about things differently but there is no way I could do MEP as our spine. I have visual processing issues and the layout of the curriculum won't work for me. I know there have been a number of Singapore vs. Math Mammoth threads but if anyone has anything helpful to add, I'd appreciate it.

Something I've heard frequently in reviews about Singapore math is that there are more "conceptual leaps" than in other programs. That description seems to come up especially in comparisons to Math Mammoth. Can anyone give me an example of this? I'm just looking for some idea about how big the "leaps" are, lol.

Thank you for the input, ladies. Cost is a factor, at the moment -- we're in the process of buying a home and saving toward upcoming expenses. I think everything will settle down and we'll be ready for Jot It Down by autumn. I'll probably hold off on purchasing for now, since the sale is ongoing. It sounds like TWJ is what I'm looking for in the long term and maybe the rest of the curriculum will be a good fit.

The Brave Writer is on sale at the homeschool buyer's co-op. TWJ is on for 50% off -- does this program go on sale often? I don't have experience with HBCO, other than knowing Math Mammoth goes on sale at least twice a year, but I wasn't assuming that's the norm. I'm considering getting The Writer's Jungle, but it isn't exactly a *need* at the moment. If it'll go on sale again, I'll probably defer until then. For curriculum questions... after looking through the samples, I like the philosophy of Brave Writer and from what I understand I can use TWJ as a resource, even if we don't use the writing and grammar curriculums. My son really enjoys workbooks and I was considering using Exercises in English for him. I was also looking at English Lessons Through Literature for my daughter -- combining for my son in some areas as well. I haven't quite developed a teaching philosophy for language arts yet, but I know I want my kids exposed to lots of good literature and fun writing assignments. ELTL seems to fulfill most of my criteria, except for the creative, fun writing aspect. That's where Brave Writer comes in, I think. I'm interested in the Jot It Down book as a beginning program, but I don't think we need to use The Wand. The projects in Jot it Down look like a lot of fun. From what I understand, The Wand is phonics and early grammar? The samples for The Wand only show phonics and I'm not interested in a phonics program. Right now, we are using Phonics Pathways and explode the code workbooks. It's going good. For those of you with older kids, how do you feel about the grammar in The Arrow? ETLT 1 and 2 look good for what we need in the coming year or so, but I haven't looked at the higher levels.

My son is flying through his Math U See Alpha program. During the Primer book we also did Singapore Essentials. I like the Math U See program, it definitely works for my learning style and my son hasn't had any issues with it so far, but I also like having a supplementary program to present math from different perspectives. I could continue with Singapore as well, but I was looking at other programs, mainly for cost reasons. I've looked at Math Mammoth and MEP. I've heard Miquon is really good and doesn't seem too expensive. Cost isn't top priority but its a factor. Mainly I'm looking for something that is a good compliment to the Math U See program and I was wondering if other mamas are doing anything similar?

Thank you! I like the samples I skimmed through for Hake Grammar. I'll keep that one in mind for later grades.

I just looked at samples online and that looks pretty good. I'll have to see if they carry it at the local homeschool store, so I can get a better look. Thank you!

I like the look and formats of the Abeka and BJU workbooks, but I'd prefer something non-religious. Any suggestions on another program with similar layout, minus the religious/biblical references? My oldest is in K, so this is just curriculum research for down the road.

My son loves workbooks. I've been looking for something that has missing letter problems, matching sounds and pictures, etc. I was considering Explode the Code level 1. I haven't had a chance to look at it or other options though. The nearest homeschool store is two hours away... I'm at the end of pregnancy with baby #4 and driving long distances has been very painful because of how low the baby is carrying. Any suggestions or recommendations on good cvc level workbooks would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Thank you both, so much. I'm definitely going to give MUS a try since buying used doesn't seem to be a big deal!

I've been lurking around these boards for a while, trying to make a decision on what math curriculum to start with. I'm very interested in Math U See. I was going to try to buy the Primer instruction materials on ebay, but I haven't found any used student workbooks. I figured I could just buy the workbook new, then I realized that I would mixing editions (ie. a 2009 instruction manual with a current workbook). Should I just buy everything new? Are the editions very different, or is there anything online that shows what changes have been made? I'm a little overwhelmed, sorry if I'm rambling. Any advice would be appreciated!