I am soooo not familiar with a lot of curriculum out there. I've tried doing a search, but only have so much time to go through soooo many threads! I'll ask you smart people instead. What are some good language arts curriculum that are thorough, but not super teacher intensive? I have a grade 1 and a grade 4. I'm currently using Phonics Road and Excellence in Writing...however I'm not super liking it. My older girls are still doing pretty terrible at spelling, even though they mostly know the rules. Their grammar is pretty much non existent. Their reading is at about 5th or 6th grade, so they're okay in that department. I was looking at Essentials in Writing. Does this cover everything? Is it a good program? What do you do for 4th grade language arts? I feel like I don't know which direction to go in and am soooo confused! Is composition important?? Sorry for such a scatterbrained post...however I really appreciate ALL/ANY advice!! Thanks so much!!

I feel really dumb asking this. This is my 2nd year homeschooling. I always hear about people planning their lessons. What is the point of this? How does it work? For example, my kids do Saxon math. Would I grab a calendar/agenda and everyday write in what lesson they should be working on? What if something happens where they're unable to do math for 1-3 days? Then I have to go and erase and change all the upcoming lessons that I had written in....? So far I haven't "planned" anything. Everyday we just do the next lesson in the book. And we finish, when we finish. Am I missing something. Am I supposed to "plan"? Will writing all their lessons down help in some way? Please forgive me for my ignorance...still new to all this...or at least it still feels new... :/ Thanks!!

This is exactly what I was looking for today, but couldn't find! thank you so much :)

Thank you! I didn't do it with my girls who went into 4th...but I'm totally going to do it with grade 2!

The reason I was thinking about skipping is, I feel she has a strong knowledge of Math 1, and by starting from the beginning of Math 2 we will be doing a month of review...review that's been in every lesson in Math 1. I just feel it's a waste of time to spend her whole lesson doing things she's already mastered. I guess I'll just spend the time and figure out where a new concept is taught in the book and start closer to that. I'm guessing since this curriculum was made for the classroom that they've been made to tailor to a student that had 2 months of no math, so of course they would need a lot of review. However, that is not the case with us... Thanks so much for your responses!

We've only ever done 1 side, unless I felt like she needed extra practice.

Hi all!! My 6 year old just finished Saxon Math 1, so I pulled out Saxon Math 2. However there is quite a lot of stuff at the beginning that we've already covered (review obviously). Did you just skip past most of it, and start on new concepts, or go through it? I think she's pretty strong with what she already knows, so I was hoping that someone has already figured out where the new concepts begin in the 2nd level book. Thanks!!

I tried doing a search, but couldn't find much. Maybe someone can find some previous posts for me...? I'm having trouble figuring out what my goals are for my 2 "4th" grade girls. Kind of like a scope and sequence. I don't know any other homeschoolers to talk to so I thought I would try here :) What do you hope your kids achieve by the end of the year in the core subjects? I feel like I'm hitting a "slump" in our homeschooling journey this year. I'm trying to stay positive and trying to find some encouragement. This is only our 2nd year homeschooling and it only feels slightly, very slightly, better than last year. Why can't this be easy? Why can't there just be 1 perfect curriculum..."follow this, and your kids won't be screwed up"??? Anyway...thanks :)

Thanks Lexi!! I never even thought of just adding things in to "beef" it up a bit for the older girls! It says it comes with butterfly and ladybug larvae coupons...how do these work?

I'm going to order this science program because it seems right up my alley...open and go ;) My kids don't have a lot of science under them and this will be our second year homeschooling. They are 6, 7(almost 8) and 9.5. Which level should we start at? Level one looks like lots of fun. I love learning about the body, and my girls are all animal and bug lovers...so I know we will enjoy level one....however will this be waaaaay too easy for my 7and 9 year old? Thanks so much!

So I've decided to use this curriculum with my kids this year. I'm taking it at a normal pace with my 6 year old and fast tracking it with my almost 8 and 10 year old. Is it really an all inclusive language arts curriculum? They are not great spellers, so I'm hoping this will help that as well.

Well even if you aren't canadian I'll take all the help I can get! I have 2 "4th" graders and a grade 1. I still don't know what to do about social studies. Last year we did SOTW 1...however we didn't get through the book and to be honest they didn't retain much. Probably because I didn't do a whole lot of activities with them. They did loooove listening to the stories, even though I couldnt pronounce pretty much every name in there! That being said. What is out there? Should I do canada this year? Should I do another SOTW? How about studying different countries around the world, maybe continents. I feel sooooo lost! Is there a canadian curriculum that covers everything? Any and ALL help is much appreciated! Thanks!

I desperately need some advice. This was/is my first year homeschooling. My older two are 7.5 and 9 and have been doing the same work. At the beginning of the year their L.A skills were pretty good. My 9 year old has always had a problem with spelling, but other than that she was doing pretty well in school in L.A. Fast forward to almost a whole school year of homeschooling and both of their writing is awful. Everything from lining up their writing on their left hand side, any and all punctuation, and spelling is hideous! I started with WWE and FLL...but I found I couldn't stand it, and it took forever. I also tried All about spelling, which got tossed. I switched to Learning language arts through literature (yellow book)..which was alright...but soooooo basic that they really didn't learn much. Ugh I feel like a failure! I was pregnant for the entire school year...so I'll admit, not a whole lot of school got done...and I just didn't put in enough effort! I just don't know what to do. Every time I think about how much I've messed them up I feel like I can't breath! Please help! I know nothing about any other curriculum...I'm not opposed to giving WWE and FLL and All about spelling another try. I just want to get my kids back at the level they were previously at. Oh I also own Excellence in Writing, but haven't used it yet as I thought maybe it was a little too advanced. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated! Also, what should a "grade 3" L.A goals for the year be? What should they know by the end of the year? Thank you so much!

Is what I described called unit studies?

I need some advice!! I have 3 homeschoolers. A kindergartener, and 2 grade 3's. This post is geared towards the grade 3's. Lately we've only been concentrating on Language arts, math, reading and handwriting. That's about it. We haven't done much in social studies or science. I'm finding lately that I want to burn the curriculum that I chose for language arts. My kids are not enjoying it. I am hating it. Some advice that I was given was that at the grade 3 level that I should be concentrating on reading skills, fun story writing, and journal writing that helps with sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, etc. Try to capitalize on interests, whether it be science, fieldtrip experience, life events, etc. She also said to maybe focus more on social studies and work LA into it...fun little writing assignments, after a few months, concentrate more on science with LA worked in. I really like this idea....however I'm not sure what they should be doing for social studies or science at the grade 3 level. What I have chosen is extremely boring and it's in one ear and out the other. Any recommendations on what we should focus on for social, and science? They do love animals...could we do animal studies for science...like learning all about cats, hamsters, etc? or is that not enough? Please be honest with me. This is my 1st year...and I hate the idea that I'm failing :( However I'm not giving up. I want learning to be fun, and enjoyable. Thank you sooooo much. You have no idea how much I appreciate your help!!

Little background info first. This is my first year homeschooling 3 of my kids. I have an 8 year old and an almost 7 year old. The 7 year old is a really strong reader and naturally good at spelling, so I figured I would put them both into AAS level 3. As I'm going through the 1st lesson I'm realizing that my kids don't actually know the rules to spelling. Soft c rules, soft g rules....the list goes on and on. I'm guessing that they just spell things properly because they've memorized the words. Anyway, my question is should I keep them in level 3 and teach them the rules that they don't know, which I think is every rule....or should I go and get the 2nd or 1st level and start from there? Thanks so much!

Thanks everyone for your responses! Out of curiosity, Calming Tea, why would you not recommend Saxon? Why abeka or Horizons? Thanks!

So I've pulled my oldest 3 out of school and have decided to homeschool them! Yay....and OH MY GOODNESS!! I have a child in kindergarten, grade 2 and grade 3. For kindergarten I'm doing Saxon Meath k, Saxon phonics k. What type of curic./program would you recommend for learning to write? I've heard good things about handwriting without tears...but wanted to get your opinions. My grade 2 is advanced in reading. She's actually better than my 3rd grader. She's excellent at spelling, decoding, etc. Where as my 8year old hates to read, and is not a good speller. What do they need to do in this level? Grammar...reading, spelling...? What? I'm clueless when it comes to language arts. I'll probably keep them in the same level... I did the Saxon math placement test...they both are to be in Saxon level 2. Now...History. I like TWTM's Chronilogical set up. Ancients, medieval, etc...however....I've got a k,2,and 3... I'd like to teach history all together...should I start Chronilogically with ancients, or the grade 3 level late renaissance? Wow...I feel like I'm starting to get in over my head!! Also...being a new homeschooler with multiple children ANY and ALL advice is MUCH appreciated!! Thanks!