Thanks for the info, ChrissySC!

ChrissySC, What do you use for a writing program?

I appreciate your help! We are starting R&S 5 now, and it is good to know that it will be hard - at least we are prepared :glare:! Thanks!

OK, I guess that that settles it, thanks so much!

Hi, I just got my Artistic Pursuits curriculum in the mail, and I was under the impression that it would have separate pictures to paste into the book. However, as there are no pics that came with it, I am wondering if I am wrong (maybe that was for some other program I researched), or if they are missing. Thanks for your help!

If you use Rod & Staff for grammar in 5th grade (Following the Plan), do you need to use an outlining book as well? It seems that the TWTM recommends the Note taking and Outlining book in addition to other programs than Rod & Staff, but I want to make sure. I have never used Rod & Staff, so I don't really know what to expect. The Outlining book recommended in TWTM is out of print, so I would need to find something else anyway. Also, if you use Rod & Staff for 5th grade, do you use a separate writing program like Writing Strands, or do you feel Rod & Staff writing instruction is sufficient? Thanks!

That's what I figured... :001_huh:.

Wow, Dawn, that is so nice that you shared your studies. I am sure it represents hours of work! How generous. You would not by any chance have any recommendations for 20th century artists and composers, do you? Thanks!

I am so very sorry for your loss. Much much strength for you and your family. I pray that you may know the Lord's comfort.

I am sorry, but I don't know what PR is! I KNOW what AAS is though, and we love it. I made the switch from SWR to AAS and it has been a good one. The biggest hurdle we faced with SWR (after we learned all the phonograms!) was that there was no logic in how the words were introduced (other than that they were somewhere on the list of most-frequently used words). AAS is so much better in many ways. The phonograms (and everything else) are introduced at a very gentle pace and it is really very well organized and user-friendly. The whole thing is very logical. All you need to do is open the book and continue where you stopped last time. I just bought two more books in the series as we know we will stick with it. I have two friends who also are extremely happy with it. So here are my 2 cents. Not to make your decision more difficult...

You can check it out here: http://www.archive.org/stream/storythirteenco01guergoog#page/n22/mode/1up as you can read the book online, or even download it. I remember printing out the pages that I would need at the beginning of the year. I really like this series, it is well-written.

What a horrible story. I pray that Ben will be OK and that the Lord will give all of you much strength during this time.

We have been using WWE and FLL both and have really liked it. So far we have done WWE 1,2 and 3 and FLL 1/2 and 3. I really did not feel that there was that much overlapping. The only thing that I remember to be similar is that there were some copywork (or dictation) assignments in FLL that maybe could have been skipped. We did not do the optional exercises in FLL. I think FLL is a really excellent program. It is well organized and very easy to use. The only drawback is that the program won't go any further than FLL4. At least that's what the company wrote a few months ago. I encouraged them to write on though! And even so, we will definitely use FLL4 next year!

We have been using WWE 1,2 and 3. I think they work well for reluctant writers. It starts very gently. If your son likes narration, then this might be a good fit for him. Susan Wise Bauer uses excellent excerpts from quality books, and the child narrates back to you. At first he/she does this with the help of answering questions. In book three the child moves to writing part of his narration down. We have had some struggle with the dictation sentences (dictation starts later in the series, the first book begins with copywork) as some are long and some have seemingly above-grade words. I have at times just made the dictation into copywork or left it out (we were covering two bookdays per schoolday anyway to catch up in the series). One great advantage of the series is the fact that it really sparks interest in the books that are being used. He ended up reading a lot of the books. I have not used any of the other programs that you mention, although I also have heard that Writing Strands is more for kids that are strong writers.

Thanks, I will look into those.