I just got BA for my 9 year old 4th grader who is finishing 5th grade math at a public charter school. Based on this thread, I started back in 3A. In the last week and 1/2 he has gone through all of 3A and is well through 3B. Yes, a lot of the math content is a review of concepts, but BA takes it in such a deeper direction that my son is challenged to think, not just calculate. And he is begging to do math every night! I imagine the pace will slow down drastically if and when the concepts become new- but even then I imagine the challenge of the problems themselves will keep him coming back for more- I hope!

You definitely don't HAVE to. Your homeschool, your rules! That said, I used AAS 1 and now into 2 this year with my first grader (our first year homeschooling ) and I thought it was great not just for learning spelling but for doing basic dictation, handwriting, and reading reminders. It is very phonetically based and so I loved having learned something in reading (double letters at the end of a word or segmenting) and then running into it during our spelling time. We don't do spelling daily and some weeks are better than others, but it really has been a great part of our homeschool year.

PaL Writing suggests AAS but has no other relationship to the program. The writing instruction isn't tied to the spelling at all.

Nora Gaydos readers would work very well! They are controlled text. I would recommend starting on level 2 as level 1 is CVC and CCVC or CVCC. Level 2 introduces long vowels.

I used AAR 2 and now part of 3 for 1st grade. We started AAR right at the beginning. We've used and enjoyed IEW PAL's writing program. It cover's letter formation as the first of 3 units, then simple writing including parts of speech as the 2nd. The 3 unit is longer writing and I don't imagine we'll finish that in first grade. I did feel like it fit well with AAR and easily gets done in our house. It also includes narration and a family journal.

All about Reading and All about Spelling have taught me a lot! I've learned so much about English division rules, it's been great! I only wish someone had taught me how to spell using the system when I was a child!

I used IEW PAL writing for my 1st grader this year. He wasn't great at letter formation at the story-based reintroduction to the letters helped. Now we are moving to writing with more "style". So far he's learned about nouns and verbs and is working on who/which clauses but it is all very gentle and doable. Once handwriting is introduced there is also a few lines of copy work each lesson. I think it pairs well with AAS/AAR. It is not a literature discussion, but narration and copywork are both in there and it's pretty straightforward.

If the children won't be overlapping, then you can definitely use the same box for AAS and AAR for a single child.

I would like to buy a copy of the Wind in the Willows but there appear to be many editions. Which edition do you enjoy. Lovely illustrations would be appreciated.

We are only mid way through book 2 now, but I will say lessons 16 and 17 in 1 were the first challenging ones for us to. We spent a week or so reviewing them but then we moved on and just kept doing a few of the lesson 16 and 17 words as review each day. Eventually it just sunk in. Also, level 2 includes built in review of earlier concepts so if they don't master it now, it's not like they'll be totally lost. The c/k lesson was the first time my son ever felt the need to "take notes" and he every lesson for a couple of weeks would take a corner of his board and write up the letters that make c say "s" after we had reviewed that key card. Eventually it just kicked in!

xtramath.com has been great for us. It only takes 5 minutes a day or so and is completely independent work. It's also free!

I'd get level one and figure that your 8 year old will go through it but very quickly and then be ready for level 2. Level 1 does have some good rules though k/ck, when to double a constant, when c says "s". You'll want AAS 1 for your 6 year old anyway...

I don't know LOE but I'm using AAR 2 and now 3 with my 6 year old. It has worked really well for us. There aren't a lot of physical games, but there are very clear activities to do with each lesson. That said, he was already reading quite well before starting the program so I don't know how it would be for a student new to reading. I have a 3 1/2 year old who is starting to blend so I've thought about getting AAR1 but I don't want to push it...

Thank you!!

Good to hear, thank you! We will be starting AAR3 probably at the end of January. We are on AAR2 now and I think the rules are helping my son solidify words that he may already know but not easily or consistently.

I have the same "problem" too having just finished AAS1 with my 6 year old son. When I realized he didn't know "want" we just talked through the spelling and then I added it to the words that I would dictate to him every day. After a couple of days he had it. I love the rules-based method of AAS but I think some words just don't follow the rules or at least not rules that a 6 year old would learn. I don't see the harm in adding some some memorization to go along with the rule-based spelling...

All about Reading is lovely and has readers that go along with it. I haven't used AAR1 but am using AAR2 and it's great!

I'm interested in this too starting in January but I'm not sure how to go about ordering. Thanks!

I have what appears to be the same version in the hardcover and the photos weren't full color....not sure if maybe it was a slightly different version now. Great story though! I just read it to my 6 1/2 year old and he loved it!

wow, thanks! cost me 62 cents but that's OK with me!

If she has read Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, you might suggest "The Trumpet of the Swan", also by EB White. It is lovely!

We are also loving AAR2. We started it a few weeks ago and are currently on lesson 11. My son could read "frog and toad" type books before hand, but he lacked confidence and a general love of reading. His decoding skills for multiple syllable words were also weak and I didn't know what to tell him. Thus far we've both really enjoyed AAR2. I love that it is all there in one curriculum....lessons, review, activities, and readers. It all goes together and makes sense. There probably are cheaper options, but if you have the $ I think it's a great investment in giving systematic and comprehensive reading instruction.

what is APOS?

I just watched "Everest" the Imax movie on Netflix this morning with my 1st grader. It does deal with the challenges of climbing such a high peak and a decent part of the film is about a group of hikers who die. However it is not overly sensational and the cinamatography is beautiful!

My kids love Planet Earth. It is organized by habitat rather than animal and it is geared for adults, but the cinamatography is beautiful and leads to lots of great "how did that happen" or "animals really do that" kind of inquiry. Your kids might enjoy watching it in order to decide which animal they watn to investigate in more depth. It is also very pleasant viewing as a parent....which can be a nice change from cartoons.