We will be using Memoria Press this year. I'm just waiting for it to arrive. Following to see if anyone else has any opinions on it. I plan on using MP 1st grade, but substituting the R&S Math for McRuffy, and adding in SOTW1 with the AG.

Nevermind!

I'm wondering the same thing- following :)

**Edited to adjust our plans. Of course, they have changed!** For my soon to be 6th grader- he is doing a variety of summer camps this summer, along with Teaching Textbooks and continuing with Language Arts as much as we can. He will be starting at a small, private school in the fall. My 1st grade summer plans: McRuffy Math (finishing up K and starting 1st), AAR1 (finish up), FLL1, WWE1, Piano Lessons, and hopefully Aerial/Circus Classes, continue with Occupational Therapy weekly. *FLL & WWE are a bust with her. We are going to start Memoria Press 1st Grade as soon as it arrives.** 1st grade plans for Fall (well, we will begin in August, after all the summer camps and classes are over): Math: McRuffy + Life of Fred Language Arts: Memoria Press 1st Grade + Read Aloud and Enrichment (minus any additional Christian studies) + SWS, GWG, WWW (for when we are at her brother or sister's classes and she wants something extra to do out and about.) Handwriting: New American Cursive 1 (MP) History: SOTW 1 + AG Science: Sassafras Zoology + Anatomy- We will hold off on Sassafras, and probably do that next summer. We are going to concentrate on Nature Studies with MP Science Enrichment. Logic: Lollipop Logic- just whenever she feels like it. Computer: Keyboarding Without Tears + she loves getting on fun educational websites Foreign Language: ASL (at her enrichment class) Extras: Piano Lessons, Aerial classes, Occupational Therapy + one day a week homeschool enrichment program which will include a variety of classes, not sure what will be available yet. For my younger (she will be 3 in September): Preschool 3 days per week. Memoria Press Jr K Beginning Aerial classes or continue ballet Tag along with her sister for science, and a few other things. She needs to constantly be kept busy. They also do little kids workout DVDs for fun and simple exercises, usually during a "break" time.

I am very curious. I am not sure if I will be homeschooling my 6th grader in the fall, but if so I will probably use BookShark (I really wish they had a different name..) I think it offers exactly what I'm looking for.

I like the idea of reading it before bedtime a few times a week. I think that's a great way to do it. My kids enjoy a story together, and then individually, so this would be good to read before their individual stories.

That is awesome :) LOL

I just moved our homeschool room to the room off our kitchen (I guess you would consider it a den?) and I think it will work out great. After I finish getting it together I will post pics. It's not a tiny space though.

We are going to be using it pretty soon. I have a soon to be 1st grader, and my son just finished 5th grade (but he is most likely going to go to a private school next year.) IF he stays home, I will beef this program up for him, and possibly order one of those science nutshell kits for him to do in addition. There are encyclopedia suggestions for the older crowd, and you could definitely ad some more books and online researching options for an older child as well. I think it can be beefed up, but the child would definitely have to be interested in animals. I think my kids will enjoy the activities and little projects that go alone with it. I am looking forward to Sassafras Anatomy more though to be honest.

Thanks for posting. I will be adding this to my list for next year as well.

That's how I kind of feel also. I think to really make it thorough, something need to be added to it. If you could possibly add some specific sections from MM or something similar for more work and practice maybe that would work? I love TT itself though, and I do feel like they DO cover some good stuff, just not as in depth as I personally would like. I know there are others on here that use the program successfully and I am hoping they will chime in and give their experiences as well.

What grade are you using? I used TT5 with my son this year and my just finished K daughter is doing TT3 as a fun supplement to her "regular" math. I know TT works for some as their main curriculum, but I would definitely add in supplements and extra work to solidify the concepts if I were using it as our main curriculum. My son was behind in math, and TT worked for him this year, but he still has a ways to go until he is "caught up." I do think TT runs "behind" other curriculum. I don't know what it would be like to use it all the way through- it might be a solid program if you decide to use it until the end, but I do think there Should be extra practice somewhere.

Thanks! I love the idea of cooking for the different countries and doing the flags. Both of my girls would be into that.

Thanks! I wish I had done cursive first with her..but I'm thinking we could go ahead and give it a shot and if it's not working out just continue with print. Ok, I could probably start at the beginning and just work through the first part double time like you suggested. Do you think it would be feasible to work on the level A while also finishing up All About Reading Level 1? I'm not sure if you have any experience with AAR, but I do want to finish it up.

I know K is required in TN (where we moved from.) My daughter is just now finishing up K and will be in 1st grade here in CA in the fall when we register here. I have heard talk about the possibility of making K mandatory here in CA, but I haven't looked into it at all. Thanks for posting links here.

Thanks! I think we are going to go with the cursive. I think we will go ahead and finish up AAR1 and then switch over to LOE. I emailed them to see what they thought about which level to go into at that point, so we will see. I really like the cursive aspect, and since she does struggle with fine motor skills I think it will work well for her (I'm hoping?) I'm hoping it won't be too confusing since we have been working on letter formations so much this year? I sent an email to her OT also to get an opinion there. She has been asking to learn cursive as well, so maybe she will like it. I would like to begin my youngest on cursive also, so it will definitely get used as long as we like the program.

That helps a lot to know. I keep going back and forth.. ah decisions decisions :)

Thanks! That's ok, I was just wondering if in level A it was necessary to start at the beginning or if I could skip over all the letter sounds and things she already knows and go from there. I know some programs it's vital to start from the absolute beginning though.

Thanks for sharing! We are using AAR Level 1 right now, so I'm not exactly sure where to place her if we switch to LOE (I know there is a placement page on there..I have a feeling she is between A and B right now from what I have seen on the scope and sequence.) Do you think it would be difficult to start in the middle of LOE A, or is it best to start from the beginning of the level?

Jenna- do you have the cursive version? What is it you don't like about the handwriting? Just curious. It's good to know that you have used both AAR and LOE. Can I ask which level of AAR did you use and which level of LOE you went to? Thanks!

I was thinking that the cursive might be good for her since she (most likely) has dyslexia plus fine motor skill issues, so using the cursive with LOE is a possibility. She has been learning print and working on her letter formations (she is doing much better than she was, but she does have reversals and issues with slanted lines still- she will reverse numbers sometimes also- like write 17 instead of 71 etc.) I am wondering if it would be ok to just go ahead and start cursive with her. I am just undecided. I am probably just over thinking the two programs.

I completely understand. I am still just torn.. I have AAR1 so will finish that, but I also like that LOE is reading, writing, AND spelling in one as opposed to using both AAR2, AAS1, + a handwriting program.

If you want to do less handwriting, I suggest getting the lap book for it instead of the log book. It has everything from the log book in there, but with less writing involved and you do have to cut it out, but it's not a time intensive extravagant thing. It's great for doing Sassafras with younger kids or kids who have issues with writing.

Thanks so much! Yes, we have spent so much time in OT working on her handwriting as well. I do want her to learn cursive, I'm just not sure when? I have heard that learning cursive is actually good for kids with fine motor skill issues/dyslexia/etc, so I was considering it.

My daughter is 6, and is about to begin 1st grade. I have noticed a lot with her this past year of homeschooling, and a lot could be panned off because of her age, etc. She also has sensory processing disorder, so she does weekly occupational therapy. She is struggling with reading- not the concept of reading, she totally gets how to read, but pretty much every dyslexia "sign" there is, she has. I took her to get an evaluation today, and it does look like it's dyslexia, although the therapist couldn't make an "official" diagnosis (I'd have to see someone else for that, but she saw exactly what I see, and there is definitely something going on.) My son had to do vision therapy when he was younger, so our next step will be checking that out as well to see if it might be needed for her. Here is my question- would you prefer AAR or LOE Foundations for a child this age with possible dyslexia, sensory issues, etc? We HAVE AAR1, and we are currently using it. She kind of gets a little crazy with the tiles- I thought she would love them, but she gets distracted with them if that makes sense. The fluency pages are a bit overwhelming to her and she complains of her head hurting. I use the thing to block out the rest of the page so she can only see one word at a time and that does help. I don't know how I am just finding out about LOE Foundations, but I looked at it and think it might be a good fit. I don't want to bounce around with curriculum, but maybe when we finish AAR1 we could start LOE? I *was* planning on doing AAR2 and AAS1, but it seems that LOE combines it all so two separate programs wouldn't be necessary, is that correct? I would love to hear from people that have experiences with one or both programs. Thanks *so* much!