I'm not familiar with Sing or JA so this isn't a direct answer to your question. Just something to read in the mean time while your waiting for wise people to answer. :) We did MM6 except two chapters and then started AoPS Pre-A. It is going well. I'm glad we went as far as we did in MM6. We were both ready for something different though. We want rigorous but interesting and alittle faster. Some days he just doesn't want to think. We bought Jacobs Alg and it looks thorough, less wordy, and interesting(there is pictures) to him. We will start it in a couple of weeks. We just found out we are moving so I need something more independant than AoPS. We made it to Chapter 4 in Aops and he said he's willing to finish it but I think it's unnecessarily hard for a 8 yr old. I want him to continue to love math and I worry he's getting over it with the challenges in Aops. We will hang on to Aops and come back to it later I think. I learned so much from it.

I could have written your post! I had exactly the same problem with coop this year but with the middle age bracket. We dropped after the first semester. In my case the parent was required to buy the Tiner Physics book for their student. You would think when buying the book you would notice the reading level and content and say "hey my child can't handle this." I had 9 yr olds that were reading Dick and Jane. The three brothers and sister said mom was sending them to bed and then doing their homework herself three times. It was obviously her handwriting. RRRRRR!!! Then the board told me I should help them get caught up by coming in early to coop every friday and work with them. Coop starts at 8:45am! Half the class couldn't handle the material and the other half was gifted students. Big gap for a parent to teach.

We have never used the tests. We use the chapter reviews as tests because they are a larger sample of the chapter. We are on mm6 now and are starting to consider using the tests as a review (spiral) approach. For example, we are finishing mm6 chapter 2 on tuesday so after chapter 3 review I might pull out chapter 1 or 2 test as a quick review. Also, we do a Let's Go Learn Adam test in April every year to make sure he's retaining. Oh, and for full disclosure we are using the non updated mm1-6, before mm7 was published.

I loved it and can't wait for my son to read it next year by himself. The long build up is needed to add to the gravity of the situation that plays out the rest of the book. It has been 4 years since I read it so I can't remember details.

I'm in need of some ideas for next year. I was invited to an Usborne book party tomorrow night and it got me thinking about science for next year. My boys are 8 and 6. We will be starting the cycle again. They have a lot of Wildkrats, Ranger Rick, and Zoobooks memorized from the first time around. They are both good readers. DS 8 reads 6th grade comfortably and DS 6 reads 4th. The boys know and frequently talk about animal characteristics with dad. What I have at home already: Usborne Science Encyclopedia Usborne Complete book of the Human Body McHenry's Botany in 8 lessons (we've done her Elements and LOVED it) ~20 Zoobooks ~20 Ranger Ricks I also have Apologia Zoology 3 but it's so wordy and expensive. We tried reading it on the first round but switched to WildKrats and magizines. (I had a toddler at the time so not much was getting done). If we do Apologia I'd buy the notebooking journals. Open and go is nice. I like the Latin mixed in. I guess the biggest turn off is the price tag. It would get done this time and they would like the journals. Because of my husbands work we have: Michigan Turtles and Lizards Michigan Frogs, Toads, and Salamanders Animal Tracks of the Great Lakes Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Lakes Fishes of the Great Lakes Region Mammals of the Great Lakes Region Where am I going with this? Well I saw the Usborne Animal Encyclopedia and I kind of want it. I'm thinking I don't need it though. I'm set with Botany, I think. The Human Body weeks needs something else. Maybe a coloring book and some topics to memorize. The animal 20 weeks is what I don't feel good about. I guess if I bought the Usborne animal book I'd have the boys read about an animal, map it, and write about it. Is that enough for a 4th grader on the second round? I thought about getting a dissection kit for grandpa to do with them. Goals for next year: I want him to learn classifications better, see the usefulness of his latin studies, and also recognize stuff around our area better. Time: We do science 2 days a week or block schedule a few at a time depending on what else is going on. I also thought one day for the encyclopedia and one day for Michigan wildlife? What wont work? Have you tried any of this? What works the second time around? (I'm also wondering about leaving this to a higher level tv show and just doing the kits, body and botany myself? Buying the National Geographic Ultimate Nature dvd collection and then talking, mapping, and writing about it?) Thanks

What is OUP ? nm I figured it out. Oxford Univ. Press

My boys do soccer together, awana together, coop together, and baseball together. So we are not there yet. I was wondering what happens when they start separating. Right now I'm loving the together stuff. It makes our schedule so easy and affordable.

We do four weeks on one week off, five days a week. My sons like it because they get a break so often. Four weeks is about all their little brains can handle. We take two weeks off in the summer after each four weeks. It's not quite so perfect in the summer because of all the camps they did this summer though. We worked five and got three weeks off and then worked two and got two weeks off or something. Schools only a half day every day though.

The best choice is the one that gets done. I personally love ellen's elements. My boys did too. They loved the songs and the challenge of memorizing the table for a candy bar. Look at your whole schedule, what would get done?

Each chapter usually has two sections and we cover a chapter a day on history days. We listen to the Sotw audio section one. The younger child tells me the most important point and then the older child gives me two important details supporting that point. I write the important point and the two supporting points as a paragraph for them to copy. We then listen to the second section and repeat. Then they go to the table to do the copywork and talk about the places on the map. I know my oldest can pick out the most important because he's done 2 levels of WWE already. My youngest has done WWE1 wkbk well and has trouble picking out the main point sometimes on Sotw. It's usually just because he can't remember the name of the people group though. I would stop half way through Sotw section one to ask the main point if the child needs smaller chunks.

We did spelling to keep discussing phonics rules. Copywork for cursive handwriting. I started grammar, ELTL 1 in first grade but it is very light in level 1. The author says you can skip level one if the child is reading but we wanted a light start. We loved the story choices in level one. He read most aloud to me except Five little Peppers and It. The librivox recording was really good so I'm glad we just listened. Otherwise we've been just reading history books and whatever other good novels he sees. I just bought lots of comic book unabridged Shakespeare books. I usually don't buy books, I interlibrary loan. These books are very interesting to them though. We did start Song School Latin also in first grade. It was so much singing though that they didn't consider it school. My second son is doing the same route as the first because we are happy with it.

I love the responses but I didn't see my biggest question. "Can I really do this homeschooling thing?" I solved this by listening to what the day looks like for other people and seeing if that was doable for me. WTM book had the schedule part in it that really helped. WTM seemed confusing at first, lots of parts. The Three R's book was a good balance to WTM book. It kept saying relax, you can do this. I still have both books and will keep them as a reminder of my humble beginnings in this journey. Oh, I would tell them: "When in doubt or tired: READ!" The Jim Trelease book The read-aloud handbook is great for this. I feel like as long as reading is done each day you can't really mess up your kids too bad. They then have the skill to advance themselves.

I think CAP Latin now has it's own CAP Grammar to go with it. It makes an even better fit with their latin. Their writing is also very good and to the point, IMO. I am trying to shrink our Language arts down too because LfC a, by CAP, seems to require almost 5 days a week. We have paired it with ELTL in the past because she covers art appreciation, poems, writing (copywork, narration, dictation), literature reading, and grammar. It is working but if we get bored we will switch to the new CAP grammar and their writing.

I want to see Hamilton really bad after watching the 60 minutes episode on him. My son has that intensity but I don't know how to channel it towards learning. If he wants to learn it we are off to the races. If he's bored he is day dreaming and getting no where. It can be expensive to keep up with. Lots of play outside digging is the only thing we've come up with to get it out of his system. Recently, I've had it with the dirt coming in and laundry so we are on edge around here to find something else for him to do. I love how it said in the article that not all gifteds will have public achievements like Hamilton. Some just don't aspire to do that but it doesn't make them anyless gifted.

I meant I would do Alcumus online while doing Jacob's Alg and then Aops. This would be a somewhat independent easy entry into Aops because Jacob's (less depth) would have previously touched on the concepts. I looked into this because I wanted a gentle entry into Aops with a young son. I'm always afraid the next thing will be too much. We ended up not choosing this route last week. We bought Aops PreAlg to do with MM6(old version). We will be letting him choose which book he wants to work in out of those two choices. The topics match but are presented differently. Workbook verses text book. Different order of the topics. This will, I hope, ease him into the text book style Aops.

We started homeschooling because my son was way too out of control to sit in a classroom. He wanted to learn, smart, and well behaved if you didn't restrain him. We knew he wouldn't make it. We set a goal to go to third grade and then send him. Giving him time to grow out of it. We continued to homeschool because he is way ahead in everything. Very curious. Still needs physical labor every day. He has dug two grave size holes in our back yard in a year. I don't want to crush his curiosity and slow his studies. The public school was hit with a big teacher sex with boy scandal last year. Most of the teachers wrote to the judge saying they sided with the teacher. The judge said it made him sick and through out the letters. Most of the community hasn't healed yet because there is no remorse from the school district. Every year our homeschool gets better so we no longer have plans to send them to school.

In our area it depends on the moms wage. One friend pays $2 an hour per child. Most jobs here are minimum wage or $10 an hour for this mom. Like substitute teachers, Secretary, or department store. I wouldnt expect more than the mom makes. Your daughter could see it as a good future reference. Maybe the mom figured you take care of your childs needs so this is just extra spending cash and a good reference. Obviously this varies widely by location.

Definitely find a different doctor. In the mean time: When i started gaining weight i realized i was eating three meals a day and i was usually eating six smaller meals. Once i switched back the little weight i gained dropped off. I would also do high intensity training. It doesnt give the body time to settle. Every few weeks it switches up the workouts. You said she loses weight at first and then maintains. This could solve that problem. My husband and i do beachbody 21 day fix extreme and p90x3. I would choose p90x3 because he talks more about healthy living and enjoying life. Not diet and punishing your body. 21 day fix extreme is extreme and not recommended. 21 day fix regular is comparable in rigour to p90x3 and both are doable for life. 21 day fix doesnt require a pull up bar and pull up assist band. Its two sets of dumb bells and lots of squats. It comes with easy color cups for portion control. I dont believe the plate model is even in the ballpark for showing portion control. Beachbody also has a metabolism supplement i heard. The website is full of articles and videos on supporting your goals. I dont personally like jullian michaels. The contestants gain the weight back. I dont think its healthy or sustainable to lose that much that fast either. I couldnt imagine being hungry all the time. Im so sorry she's dealing with this.

This isnt a formal curriculum but I do P90X3. It comes with worksheets to show improvements over three months. It's only a half hour. It's strength with balance and made us learn alot about our bodies. The guide book is thick, interesting, and covers eating and working out. These go hand in hand for results. Its a little easier, imo, then the other P90X workouts which make it ideal for continuous use. Our main goal was to create a pattern of healthy choices for everyday living. This isnt extreme like my 21day fix extreme that after 21 days you need a few days off. Although the regular 21day fix is comparable to P90X3. It focuses more on shredding which I would worry about for young girls. P90X3 pushes healthy living everyday.

After reading that linked article up the thread I'm thinking harder about avoiding supplements. Extra writing with eltl probably isnt needed at this age. Thank you

Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot series are 3rd grade level but comic "ish". There are a lot of classics made into comics now. These currently interest by boys too. We rented a 20,000 leagues, Moby Dick, and the Odyssey from the library. All comic book style.

So Sterling Illustrated Classics are unabridged? Great. Thank you!

Isn't that just wonderful! My sons have been read classics from the get go and I'm so thankful now. They can sit for a good 20000 leagues under the sea. Also, Does anyone know if the Robert Ingpen books are abridged? I keep clicking on them. They look wonderful. I wish we had a good bookstore around to thumb through these.

I don't think the grammar needs supplementing. I'm worried about the writing. I don't know where she's headed since I've only bought through level 3. Do I need to continue WWE4 and WWS or can I drop that now?

I am looking for the best copy of some books. If you have seen some of these would you tell me if they are unabridged and illustrated? If you know a better version please let me know! Most of these are to go with ELTL. I don't own very many books but I do own a house wall size book shelve. I'd like to spend around $10 a piece on 4th grade and up reading level books so they can have quality to pick from. I do have a great library but it would be nice to have some at home too. We need to cover some Shakespeare: I'm thinking of the Classical Comic Plain Text versions here They have Romeo and Juliet, Tempest, and Mid Summer Nights Dream. I've bought Moby-Dick by Walker Illustrated Classics and The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds, both we loved. I was thinking Dr. Dolittle but I wouldn't mind renting this if a good one can't be found. The Wind in the Willows. I've seen so many beautiful covers online only to find them abridged or not illustrated inside. (I like pictures). Jungle book Secret Garden Don Quixote This I don't mind abridged but I don't want it too abridged, if that makes sense. We read some abridged ones from the library and the kids thought he was hilarious. Wizard of Oz My son read this one from the library in ELTL1 and we enjoyed the pictures and bonded so much over it. I regret on buying it. I would also like unabridged: Five little Children and It Pinocchio Alice and Wonderland Peter Pan If you have any favorite copies please share!