I think you're right, not ALL of them are on there. I got a little excited and didn't see that. And interesting on the act of writing words out, but it makes sense. I watched the video intro and somehow missed that, too! Maybe I should stop doing research so late at night!! I really think, in the end, that we will end up going with LOE. Maybe.

Realistically I'm not sure we could get out the tiles EVERY day having a little sister around. I guess I could do AAS during her short nap time or maybe while we let her play with play-doh for a little bit since that keeps her occupied and contained. Him making his own tiles would only last for a few minutes. Which is why I'm making some with the glass stones/gems myself. For those who have used LOE...did you have to do EVERY single lesson? Would it be possible to skip some of the writing out the words in place of something hands on from time to time?

Me again! Help me decide between the two. It wil be for my seven year old who is mostly a kinesthetic learner. I like the idea of both of them. With LOE there are YouTube videos on all the spelling lists. I could have him work on that a little alone while I work with his brother. But I also like the tiles used in AAS. I'm making some alphabet stones from th clear stones/gems from the dollar tree so I could use those as a hands in way to spell words. But AAS has some other tiles that I won't have. I could make them but realisticlly...! Anyone want to help comvince me to to go for either one?

Do you use the teachers key with the reading time line, vocab, and comprehension questions? How do you like it? Pros? Cons?

He would be in level B

I've not bought one before but I'm thinking maybe I might this year. Just wondering how much I'd actually use. So I'll be following this post!

I'm looking at getting RS Math for my seven year old. But I've got a question, which edition is preferred? I see there are two different ones.

Gotcha! I was confused at first with ELTL and LOE. I was afraid that using both would almost be the same thing. Then I wouldn't have to use AAS. I'm making some alphabet stones/gems so we can use those as a hands on way to spell the words in LOE. I think doing AAS would bore him. He knows all the phonograms and sounds the letters make (read at a 4-5th grade level) but spelling stresses him out just because he tends to be a bit of a perfectionist and if he can't get it right on the first try he gets upset. But the lists with LOE look great. It's looking like I might be using ... ~ELTL ~LOE ~SOTW ~Right Start Math ~random stuff for science. Things that the kids show interest in ~weekly journaling ~'literature studies' at least that's what I'm calling it. Picking a classic book for me to read aloud and we do lapbooks, crafts, and activities with. I have two picked out already and will be on the lookout for more. I have a friend who did a Peter and the Wold little study. I might see what all she did and try that one as well. We have a (kind of) local playhouse so I could always see what was coming up and do little studies on that and then go watch the play!

Bump for my questions added in replies/quotes!

He knows how to form all letters properly. It's a matter of writing them properly on the lines. If that makes sense. If the paper we're to have three lines he doesn't pay attention to the height if his lowercase a or make his t go as high as it should or have the g hang down in the 'basement' like he should. He has been learning cursive with Abeka but I think I'm going to stop and work on getting neater handwriting with manuscript. And then approach cursive once that's all straightened up. I'll be looking into Sentence Family. I've not heard of it before. Thanks for letting me know about that one! There are several MSB episodes on Netflix so I should definitely check that out and maybe use it the way you suggest. They love that show and it would def save me some money! Why didn't I think of that!!

I think I'm going to wait on the Apologia as much as I love the way it looks. They love that kind of stuff but they kind of max out after five minutes. The seven year old is a perfectionist and the five year old needs constant supervision (read one-on-one) with stuff like that still! But I LOVE your idea about the little lapbooks to go along books like Charlotte's Web and others. That would be fun. We could be reading the book and work on the lapbooks after the days reading! Will be hitting up Pinterest for lapbook ideas for that! And yes, the more I look into it the more I think y'all are right...copywork for the older dc. HWOT for the five year old!

I just took a few minutes to look at LOE. It looks great and now I'm adding that to my short list! I'm also worried about the tiles so this is a good option. I'm making alphabet gems/stones tonight so if we need something hands on we can use those or the salt trays like someone suggested. He does know how to form his letters properly, he just needs practice on writing neatly. What would one suggest for copywork? Oh wait, if I go with ELTL that includes copywork so I wouldn't need to worry about putting anything together for him. Would using ELTL and LOE be redundant and overkill? I've not heard of REAL Science Odyssey so I'll have to check that out ;-) What would you suggest for some of the extras you mentioned? To add in as we get in a good groove. I've seen the artist and musician studies that Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler has available. Something like that? Or something else? I need to look at some nature study stuff! Thank you so much for your I out so far!

Im so torn on the phonics for my seven year old. He can read and sound out words like a boss. But he often gets hung up on spelling/phonics rules whole spelling. Which is why I'm not sure about AAS. I love the idea behind it but I wonder if it might be too much since he's reading so we'll. thanks for your I out on AiG. That's the one we'd be going with if we go that route. If I use AiG I can combine them in this subject. I'm afraid I couldn't do that with Apologia just yet.

CL math looks very similar to the Abeka math we are doing right now...which isn't working for us. I could be wrong? Are you saying to not do any grammar yet, even though it's light? What's in FLL isn't in AAS. Again, I could be wrong! School is very stressful right now because he can't handle all the boring/basic work in Abeka. I do my best to make it fun but what we're using right now isn't working. It's a lot harder for me to adjust each lesson (scrapping Abekas plans for that day and finding my own each week/night ahead of time) to fit his learning style than it would be to just use something more geared towards his style that already has the ideas/suggestions/tools right there for me. No, it's not entirely too hard for me yo do that but with two other kids (one who is a very curious 19 month old!) I find that every minute of my downtime goes to lesson planning. I'm exhausted.

Thank you! I really have no idea what writing program to use. I like the looks of Handwriting Without Tears since it's so hands on and visual. Hoping it works for them. I'll probably buy it for the kinder boy and the seven year old. Kinder will start with pre-writing since he still doesn't really have any idea how to form his letters. Not sure which level to go with for the seven year old. He knows how to properly form all letters but he needs work on copying sentences correctly and making sure the letters hit the top, bottom, middle lines correctly. Proper spacing is also something we need to work on. Also trying to figure out what level for All About Spelling. I don't want to bore him (or set him off) with level one but I've heard so many people say to just start out at the beginning and sort of fly through the lessons if necessary! I used to think that the hardest part was picking curriculum choices...but it's totally figuring out what level they need!

The seven year old is reading above his level...I think on a third or fourth grade level. Right now we are using Abeka phonics but I do maybe still need something. Suggestions?

Following!

I have two kinesthetic learners. I figured this out after I spent money on Abeka kindergarten through second grade! I'll be selling those and replacing them with choices that are more hands on, short, (mostly) pain free, and to the point! Here's what I'm thinking but I'm not 100% set and could really use some suggestions/input! --First/second grade (I say that because he would be in second grade in public school but we on,y got halfway theough the first grade last year since we de-schooled the whole first semester and didn't start until January.) ~Right Start Math (trying to decide which level) ~Handwriting without Tears (again, deciding on level since he knows all his letters and can write a little in cursive but we need to work on better/neater handwriting) ~First Language Lessons & Writing With Ease OR English Lessons Through Literature ~All About Spelling (if spelling isn't covered I'm ELTL) ~Story of the World with the activity guide ~Science...no idea yet. Thought about going with Answers in Genesis but I'm just not sure. I'd ideally like something that's done twice a week and on day two we do so,etching hands on. I feel like I'm missing something. I know we could add more but after a somewhat decent first semester of homeschooling for the first time (with Abeka) and a REALLY rough start back after the summer (went to talk to the counselor at the ps to put him back in because dealing with his sensory issues which cause emotional issues and anger it was just too much) I think I'll keep this semester simple. I had to take a couple days and evaluate him and try a different approach. We did the Abeka lessons but I modified to pretty much be all oral and hands on and it was SO much better and we both really enjoyed that! I'm THINKING that with the kinder boy that I might just keep him with the K5 Abeka since we already have it and he's done a few lessons from it (who would buy the workbooks when they are missing a few lessons?). We'll see how the first year goes ams if he seems to fade away from liking it (right now he loves it and responds we'll with it) or seems drawn to his brothers approach more then we might talk about switching. So anyhow. Thoughts? Tips? Suggestions? Anything?!

Thanks for the reply! My kinder boy would be the one up and running/walking around, hanging off the couch doing some lessons. The seven year old is the walker, looking off in space, fidgeting with things. They seem to have the same learning style, so far. Which is great for the subjects that I can/do combine. Harder for the core subjects since those involve a little more time and one-on-one guidance. They each have a desk and I've noticed that they prefer to stand vs sit, which is completely fine with me! I'm torn between Math U See and Right Start Math. We are using Abeka right now and for the most part he loves the worksheets but he doesn't like the lessons. He'd rather just do the sheets and be done with it. Today we did the worksheet in a hands on way...actually, he had no idea I had the worksheet and lesson guide outside with me. He thought I was looking at my planner. So we did our math lesson with a few different things and all orally or on our little white board. He was quite shocked when I said he just did his worksheet without having to DO it. ha For English/grammar/language arts I'm trying to decide between FLL along with WWE and English Lessons Through Literature. If I went with ELTL I would probably use it for both (different levels) and then use Reading Lessons Through Literature with the kinder boy that way he's used to it when he moves up and he's not jealous that brother gets to do something and he doesn't. That's where having the same learning style comes in handy! Handwriting, I have no idea....thinking I won't need anything extra for handwriting/copywork if I use either of the two above? Not sure. Thinking about All About Spelling for the first/second grade boy. Maybe even for the kinder boy if I don't go with RLTL. History will be combined. They are close enough in age that I can get away with it. Might have to do some extra explaining to the younger one but I feel he could follow along just fine. So I'm thinking Story of The World. Science, again, no idea. At one point I was thinking about Answers In Genesis. But that's as far as I've gotten. Reading/literature, if I go with English Lessons Through Literature I won't really need anything else except a few library books they kids pick out on their own or slightly mom-guided. But if I go with FLL and WWE I'd like to have something that comes with a list of books and some questions or something? And I think the plan is to keep it simple with the basics at least for the first few grades. Unless something catches our interest. Maybe some child picked unit studies.

Anything and everything. The good, the bad. I can't find any good reviews of it online so I thought I would ask here. We are currently using Abeka for the kinder boy but I think I'd like to change to something a little less...um, intense!?

I'm back again! I went with a curriculum choice that worked for one semester but it's time to switch. Should have never second guessed my original choices! Anyhow, throw some good suggestions my way. I've got a five and a half year old kindergarten boy and a seven year old first/second grader.

I'm considering using English Lessons Through Literature (for the seven year old second grader) and while looking at some reviews I came across Reading Lessons Through Literature. The review looked great but I was wondering if anyone here has any input on RLTL?

Thank you so much!! I was thinking that you read the book along with the lessons but I was just making sure. So the lessons are to be done three times a week...do you also read from the book three times a week or daily? Sorry for all the silly questions!

Glad to have found this post! I'm trying to decide between FLL & WWE and ELTL. I downloaded a free sample of ELTL and I have a question. Where there are poems or parts of stories do you just read those aloud? The copy work is obvious as it says 'copywork.' I'm just confused a little on the other parts. Anyone care to give me a quick rundown on how a typical lesson might go? And those who have used both...which did/do you prefer?

I'm still really new to the hs group here (small town) and am finding it hard to talk curriculum. About a year before I started (was in the thinking/praying stages) while dropping the 2 year old off at a moms day out I noticed a small group of hs moms swapping kids. It's their own little co-op that seems pretty private. I've asked a couple times what they use not for nosy reasons but for guidance, support and sincere inquiry. No answer. Not sure why.