Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You have all given me permission to be a slacker for the holidays!! Woo-hoo! :hurray:

Has anyone made it past the 'honeymoon phase' with MCT Language Arts. It looks beautiful, but is it effective? My girls(7&9) have made it through FLL2, and the eldest has made it through WWE2. So I am trying to decide where to go next with grammar for both and writing for the eldest. They are a little bored with FLL and WWE, but MCT seems a bit pricey. My eldest enjoyed the samples online and wants to give it a try, but I am hesitant. Is this enough practice in grammar and the writing in Sentence Island seems weak. So what I am wanting is advice from someone who is not in love with the newness of this curriculum. Anyone use it long enough for the shiny new curriculum love to wear off?????

Tux of Math Command is a free download. We use it for addition and subtraction facts, but we haven't tried the multiplication yet.

I just wanted to put a word in for Writing Strands. You can pick up used copies for $5 or $6 at the most. Students do all the work on notebook paper, so the books are reusable.

This is completely cracking me up!!!!!

My girls are close in age, and we are almost finished with FLL2. Youngest is 7 and has done FLL1 and FLL2 along with her older sister who is almost 9. We have modified it a bit to compensate for her weaker writing skills, but she has not had much trouble with the definitions and concepts presented thus far. Adverbs trip her up a bit, but I think with a little more time, she will get it. So is she ready to go on to FLL3, or is it too advanced? Any suggestions? Has anyone used this with a younger student? Is there a lot of writing in comparison to FLL2? Thanks for any comments!

I think it has more to do with how your brain is wired. Neither my husband or I was taught this way in school. Back then it was strictly algorithms. But somehow he instinctively does this and always has. He is just more at ease with numbers and the way the base 10 system works. My dd9 is also like this. I generally teach her a couple of different ways to look at a set of problems, and then I let her figure out the best way to do it for herself. MathUsee does horizontal addition just to show the relation to the base ten system. It doesn't confuse her to switch from one to the other because the concept they are trying to get across seems obvious to her.

Also look at Powerdot Math. There is a sample on youtube and the download of all 26 songs is only 12.99.

Thanks to anyone who put in their two cents. I think we will definitely keep it up with the change that Chrysalis Academy mentioned. She may just need more specific instruction. What about the sentence structure? Her sentences seem to be very short or sort of garbled. They do not seem to flow well. Is this normal for this age? She is kinda an all or nothing sort of girl. Either you have to wring sentences out of her, or she starts writing so quickly I can't correct mistakes fast enough! Then she is very upset about having to erase and correct her mistakes. I guess I just need to be patient and do a little more hand holding.

Sorry that should read: My dd8 almost 9 has finished WWE1..... It is early and my coffee is not working yet!!!!

My dd 8 almost has finished WWE1 and is almost finished with WWE2. Quite frankly, she doesn't love it, but tolerates it. I am struggling with whether to continue with it or not. The very structured process appeals to me greatly, and I had always thought I would stick with this program throughout. At the same time......I want her to really enjoy writing, and right now, she views it as a chore. And don't even get me started on narrations! If it is my turn to write, I have to reign her in, or she will ramble on until I have no more room left on the paper. If she has to write it out, it can sometimes sound like a bad Dick and Jane reader. She is not finding a happy medium. Is this just a stage?? If I stay the course will her sentence structure improve? Or do I need to add something?? Or switch programs? Maybe Writing Strands?? Anyone else feel like this at this stage?

We just read Understood Betsy. My girls really liked it. It is the story of how a little girl from the city changes after being sent to the country to live with family she has never met. It is in the public domain as well.

My 9yo dd is currently doing WWE2, and she will finish it some time after Christmas. It is not her favorite subject, but she does seem to be doing well with it and the combination of the FLL2. We add in R&S for spelling and just read w/in history and science. This is basically our LA program. I guess I am leaning toward Bravewriter as more of an all in one solution. What I need to know is how time intensive is the program? What do I need to buy? Will this be all we need for LA? Will this really work alone or should I add it in with all our other LA???? Obviously, I don't have to worry with it right away. Just trying to research a little. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

We are using edeemarie"s earth science and astronomy this year. (BTW thanks for that edeemarie). My girls are really enjoying it. They are just turned 7yo and almost 9yo. I have to do a lot of the writing for the 7 year old. We have also added in some of the science poems and songs from the book used in edeemarie's magic school bus curriculum, (Thanks again edeemarie!) Before deciding on this, I considered elemental science. Cost was definitely a factor. You can't beat free!

IMHO go for it! It is not a final decision!!! The world will not stop spinning if you try it, and it doesn't work for you. Believe me. I agonized for two years while my girls were in public school. I am so glad I gave it a whirl. We couldn't be happier---even the extrovert! Don't waste anymore time. And just relax!

I am probably not qualified to give an answer, since this is our first official year of homeschooling. But, personally, I would go with something interest led. Mine are real animal lovers, so it would be a no-brainer to go into that a little deeper by doing a year on zoology. If you have a stargazer, plan a year of just astronomy. Storm chaser? Then hone your future meteorologist. You get the idea. If you think a whole year on just one topic will not hold their interest, divide the year into thirds. Then pick one subtopic from each of the previous years and dig a little deeper.

If your kids are into lapbooking, homeschoolshare has a chicken lapbook for free. We used the book Chicks and Chickens by Gail Gibbons. Even if you don't do the lapbook I would suggest the book. It is a good resource for your younger son We also did a few experiments with eggs. Your ten year old would love the folding egg trick. If you search chicken unit study , you will find delightfullearning.blogspot.com. We used some of these ideas. Good luck with your chicks! We just did this about a month ago. My girls really enjoyed it.

Thanks for the input. It looks like I will have to research some of these other options. I am completely inexperienced in this area. I just want them to have fun with it. I like the look of Lively Latin, but I am also intimidated by the price. Did I mention I'm cheap? Will look into some of the others. Thanks again to all who replied!

Just chiming in to agree with many others. I believe FLL to be a very solid program. I have used it simultaneously with my girls(6yo&8yo) for the past 2 years. My eldest doesn't do workbooks! So a more relaxed conversational style is better for her. The scripted style does not bother us. I mean, who reads it word for word anyway??? I use it as a jumping off point while still trying to get in the main point of each lesson. And the price is right! I get a two for one because the lessons are gentle enough for the youngest as well. Not sure about what to do after FLL2? Will the youngest be prepared for FLL3? She would probably be considered a young second grader @ that point. I guess that will have to be decided on when the time comes. Decisions. Decisions. =)

I am just starting to plan for next year and would like to add Latin. My girls will be 7 and 9 next school year. First, would this be too juvenile for them? I do want something light and fun for them but not to babyish. The last thing I need is eyes rolling in the back of their heads. Second, if I do go with it, which components do I need? TM? CD? workbook? DVD? Any tips?

Ellie, I just want to say thank you for your patience with us and our many questions! My girls and I have done the first 45 phonograms, have started their spelling notebooks, and are reviewing and adding in new phonograms daily. And to tell you the truth, when I first got the manual I almost threw it out the window! I do not know about the other editions but the 5th IS NOT user friendly! Thanks to your encouragement I hung in there. To anyone else who is still unsure, it does get easier once you actually start doing the spelling notebook. Things that didn't make much sense before just kind of click once you are actually putting it into practice. Good luck to all. With plenty of hand holding, I am sure it will all turn out fine. My girls actually said, "Yea, spelling!" this morning. This is a good thing!

Hey, look in left hand corner. There is a flag icon which allows you to learn multiple languages. Hope that helps!

My son has & I have both been using it but we had to use a second email account. We used my gmail account which I hardly ever use for anything else. I am having the same problem because I would like to try my hand at a couple of different languages. Sorry, I am not much help.

I agree! I am loving this thread as well. I have been going over the manual for a few days now. Just when I think I'm okay with it, I freak out about something else. In what order do I do what? Do I have to teach all the phonograms before I start on the list? or just the first 45? After the first 45 are taught when and @ what rate do I teach the remainder? I know I love the concept behind this method, but I do doubt my ability to implement it with success. Oh, and Ellie this is for you. My DDs asked me about the book I was reading. I explained that it would be for our new spelling program. But I didn't stop there. I went on to say that this brilliant and wonderful woman was going to help us with it. I basically told them you were a genius and would be holding Mommy's hand through the whole process.=)

Okay, I have been going over my copy of WRTR, and I have to say YIKES! I mean teaching all the marking required seems tedious. I do not think my ADHD Dd8 will make it through. Can we do this w/out the markings or should we just try something else? I would like a phonics based program for both my girls 6yo & 8yo.