Since this has been going on for years, it won't change overnight. My recommendation would be to change the way you do math. Instead of having them do their work, then you going over it, and then having them correct it with you, I would just sit right with them from the get-go, watching them as do they each step of each problem. The minute they made the simplest mistake, stop them and have them correct it. You'll actually save yourself time, as you won't have any correcting to do when they're done and you won't have to monitor them correcting their work. As a bonus, this will help them catch their mistakes much earlier and will help math be a more pleasant experience.

Depending on how in depth you want to go, you might also want to take a look at R&S Bible, which starts in 5th grade. It takes my son about 15-20 minutes a day, so it's not overly time-consuming. 5th through 8th grades go through the Bible chronologically and then 9th and 10th cover the nature and character of God, the doctrine of man, man's weakness, and man's need for God.

Your question was nostalgic for me, as I asked a very similar question almost ten years ago, with the same concerns about standardized testing. I received some very helpful responses and ended up switching from Saxon to R&S. Now, all these years later, I can say we definitely made the right decision. My son used all of R&S Math, from grade 1 through grade 8. He has consistently scored very well on both the CAT-E and the IOWA and has always scored above the 90ith percentile in math, with several years being 97 or 98 percentile, so yes, I would say R&S works! He went from R&S 8 to Foerster Algebra and it was a seamless transition. He's now doing Chakerian Geometry and flying through. It is true that the younger years of R&S are more drill based, but as the years progress, it does become very conceptual and truly helps students understand the why and how of math concepts. I've always loved R&S, but appreciated it even more as my son worked through Foerster and I observed him easily working very difficult problems, because of the foundation R&S provided.

My 13yo ds used Apologia General Science, along with the Student Notebook, this year. I started out working with him, but since Module 2, he's done it all independently and it has worked very well for him.

I've not used CLE, but I have used R&S extensively, over the course of seven years. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE R&S. We've used many of their subjects and have been extremely pleased with the outcome. I love the clarity and thoroughness of the TM and have found them very helpful. I love having everything laid out for me, with minimal prep needed. I like how there are not a lot of bells and whistles. It reminds me of an old-fashioned, one-room school house, black and white, no-nonsense type of education. :-) I like how I can be as involved as I wish. Because I only have two children, I tend to be very involved with their learning. However, sometimes life happens and I need them to be more independent. The way the textbooks are set-up, my children know exactly what to do and their education keeps right on going. I like how my children are getting a thorough education, with no gaps, and I like how they love to learn. My children are very different, yet the curriculum works well for both of them. There have been times I've dabbled in other curricula, thinking it will add something, but each time I've returned to R&S and have found it eventually covers the same material. If it matters, for quite a few years now, both of my children have received a composite score in the 99th percentile on their standardized testing. I attribute that to the excellent education they've received through R&S.

Based on your comments, I think you would love Science in the Beginning. I, too, have been very frustrated with science experiments that don't work. I have been impressed with how every single experiment we've done in Science in the Beginning has worked and has only used materials we have around the house, so there is minimal prep on my part. The experiments have been very helpful in explaining the concepts being taught and having an experiment every lesson has helped keep my daughter's interest, thus helping with retention. My daughter is 9 1/2 and, for us, the lessons are just the right length. You can make notebooking as involved as you like and could simply have a 3-ring binder with both white paper and lined paper. I didn't want anything too involved, but I thought it'd be cute for my daughter to have a bit more than plain paper, so we've been using the "Printable Notebook" linked to on the Science in the Beginning page, under downloads. (This is different than the lapbook.) I only use about half the pages, though. If you peruse the notebook, you'll see there are pages interspersed that have three boxes with lines next to them. I'm assuming they're meant for taking notes. I ignore those and only print out the pages that correspond to the questions after each lesson in the textbook. HTH

We've used Rod and Staff Math for grades 1-8 and have found it to do an exceptional job of explaining concepts. Though I am a certified math teacher, there are still times I will read an explanation and think, "Wow! I sure wish I had this explanation when I was learning (or teaching) this."

I hope you'll enjoy R&S Math. From someone who has used their math curriculum beginning with grade 1 through just now finishing up grade 8, I cannot say enough good about it! I absolutely love the foundation my son has received and my daughter is currently receiving. If I had the time, I could write paragraphs about the wonderful aspects of R&S Math. :001_smile:

Have you looked into Rod and Staff? Their 6th grade history/geography is "Understanding Latin America." It covers all of South America, as well as Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. It is heavy on geography and has students do mapping for each of the countries studied. You can view the table of contents and samples here: http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-196--/?list=Rod_and_Staff_Grade_6

Just a thought ... R&S Spelling 2 has very short lessons, so if you wanted, you could just have him do a page a day and easily complete both Spelling 2 & Spelling 3 in one year.

R&S is very cheap, so I actually buy each of my children their own textbook and have them write some of the answers in the textbook, if doing so doesn't affect their learning. For instance, on today's assignment, part of it asked the students to copy sentences and then add the correct punctuation. I just had my son add the punctuation to the sentences in the book, as it seemed unnecessary for him to copy them. On another section, he was asked to copy prepositional phrases and then mark the preposition and object in each. I had him circle the phrases and underline the parts in the book, rather than write it all out. On the same assignment, I had him do all of the diagramming in his notebook, as well as a section where he was asked to write original sentences. On average, unless it's a "composition day," the children do about half of each lesson on notebook paper. I can't say enough good about R&S! This is our 8th year using their curriculum and I'm sold! I've never used CLE, so I can't comment on them.

HOD is a complete curriculum, but I've heard of many people that just use it for the history. It's definitely not a workbook, though, but instead is teacher-directed. If you think your dd can handle the work, I'd go ahead and get the R&S "Our Father's World." It's a nice, simple overview of world geography and cultures and can easily be supplemented with living books. If you do one lesson a week, spreading each lesson over two days, spending about a half hour a day, you can complete the workbook, along with supplemental readings, in 30 weeks.

I noticed in the signature that your dd is only five. There is a lot of writing involved in the book, along with small spaces in which to write, so unless you do it orally, you might find your dd overwhelmed. That being said, we've enjoyed the book and its brief overview of world geography. My ds completed it several years ago and my 2nd grade dd is currently working through it, mostly independently. To be honest, if I were in your shoes, I would just focus on the 3 R's with your daughter right now. If she has a strong foundation in them, everything else will be a piece of cake. If you strongly feel the need for a history/social studies curriculum, you might want to consider Heart of Dakota "Little Hearts for His Glory" or even A Beka.

I would stick with R&S, especially since you like it, have researched and found it to be best you've seen, and have been using it for several years. I have found there to be ample review in R&S, if all components are used and if all work is completed, without skipping questions. As others have mentioned, the TM is essential to the program, for the oral and written reviews included. (The lessons notes are pretty much a repeat of the lesson in the book, so we don't use them.) Here's how we use R&S English on a daily basis: 1. We begin by doing the oral (and written, when included) review questions in the TM. In my opinion, they are essential to helping a student retain the material learned in past lessons. 2. We read together and discuss the new lesson in the student's book. 3. We do all of the oral section in the student's book. 4. My children independently complete all of the written sections. We also do all of the supplemental worksheets that are found in a separate workbook. These have been great for helping with retention. I don't always do them with the corresponding lesson, but will often use them at other times, to enhance the review of previously learned material.

If you were going to use the reading workbooks and the teacher's manual, I'd say they'd be a very good Bible study. They are much more in depth than Bible Stories to Read and by the time you'd get through the grades 1-4, your child would have a very good foundation in the Bible. (Beginning in grade 5, they start over with Genesis, but in a much more in-depth manner and with application.) I'm amazed at the knowledge of scripture my son has developed through his years of using R&S. (He's now in grade 7.) If you aren't planning on using them with the workbooks and the discussion questions in the teacher's manual, but only wanted readers, I still think they'd be beneficial, as they gradually increase in reading difficulty and they cover the Bible in a way that is accurate, yet easy for children to understand. (In case it's helpful, I'll mention that we've also had our children read the Bibles recommended in Heart of Dakota's Emerging Readers set, The Early Reader's Bible by V. Gilbert Beer and then The Beginner's Bible by Mission City Press.)