My 7yo ds has mastered all his math facts up to 12, should I just continue on with 13, 14, 15, etc..... ? He has them memorized, meaning he doesn't know "why" 12 x 11 = 132, but he just "knows" that that's what it is. He loves math, and all day long will quiz me on my math facts, and he will continually make the questions harder, even though he has no idea what the answer may be. Is there a classic public domain book that focuses on mental math? We are currently working with CLE Math 100, which is fine for helping him understand math, but I can see us skipping a lot of it, as it's not moving fast enough for him. On the other hand, I don't want to move too fast, because I do want to make sure that he's not just memorizing everything, but actually understanding the concepts. Maybe there's a better math program for him? I'm looking forward to your suggestions!

Pam, I understand your dilemma! I'm going through the same thing with my ds. I like the more streamlined approach of RLTL, but can't give up SWR. So, for now, I'm kind of doing a little of both. And, I'm also using the free progressivephonics.com books. My ds really likes the progressive phonics books and I've seen more improvement in his reading with those than with anything else. Honestly, with him, his reading is going "faster" than his spelling, and I'm beginning to change my tune a bit about learning to spell first before reading. I think this is true for adults too - there are a lot of words that we can read, but may not be able to spell if asked. So, I'm more interested in having him read, and I'll take up spelling later. He does love to mark words, aka the SWR way, so that is helpful. Also, I know a homeschooling mom who has never had any of her 8 children use a formal spelling program, and they are all just fine with spelling. What's that saying, "Don't let the curriculum use you." With joy on the journey!

I don't use TT, but all of my children do use Xtra Math - it's free! And, we also use the free, base version of Big Brainz - Timez Attack. My 7yo is already on his division facts! He's mastered all the others with the use of these two free programs.

Not sure. They may be, but I think there may have been a bit of a disagreement with them and the author as of late, or the author just decided to have her own site from which to sell. The authors own site is here: http://jellybeanjar.org/

Here's another site you may want to look at: http://jellybeanjar.org/product-category/math/

I'm with you on Notgrass America the Beautiful. Wanted soooo much to like it because I had done soooo much research to find it in the first place! I just keep looking at the books and thinking, no, not today. Maybe it just seems like too much extraneous information? I'm not sure. We are switching to A Living History of Our World: Americas Stories Vol. 1.

So sorry to hear of your situation with CC. My two older sisters and I homeschool. All of us live in different regions, and all of us have been approached by those sweet, smiley, congenial faces. Fortunately we all researched it (in different times and places), and all decided it was not what we wanted for our homeschooling. I found it odd that the very first week a new family came to our church, and the mother found out that I homeschooled, she came up to me right away and asked if I had every heard of CC, and that she and her family just "loved it," and that I should come to an informational meeting, etc., etc., etc.... When I asked her how much it cost, I got an odd reaction to the tune of, "Oh, I don't know, all I know is that it's well worth whatever we are paying, because it has done such wonders for our children." And, they have all five children enrolled - wow! how much are they paying! The cost alone made me turn away quickly, once I investigated it a bit online, but there were plenty of other reasons too. Such as, I didn't want to spend so much of my time having to be with the children!

They used to sell or still do sell "A Living History of Our World" curriculum series. The author has her own site here: http://jellybeanjar.org/shop/ She also has written a math curriculum. I would recommend the history series, as you can keep it as is, or add whatever you want to it. It is very gentle, but I like that. Isn't the statistic that people only retain 10% of what they've learned? Why fill them up with so much that they can't remember much of anything? Use the curriculum, don't let it use you!

What do CSMP and MEP stand for? I have a similar situation with my 7 year old. He's learned almost all his math facts already - most without any help! He's always asking me math questions throughout the day - I need to keep him challenged.

Can someone please explain to me the differences or similarities between Kate Van Wagenen's books Dictation Day by Day: A Modern Speller and The Modern Speller? I do see that The Modern Speller has two volumes, but there is also one for the sixth year. Does this mean that volume one is for the 1st through 4th years, and that volume two is intended only for the 5th year, with yet another book for the sixth year? As an aside, if you have experience with both, could you please comment on whether you think Kate Van Wagenen's books would be more helpful for a struggling speller than Megawords? We currently use SWR, and while it works well for one of my dd's, it does not for another.

You may want to look into this site. I'm planning on it for next year. experienceastronomy.com

If you've used A Beka elementary science what have you liked, disliked? Are there enough hands-on experiments? Did you pair it with anything? What book did you actually use (i.e. teacher text? tests? answer key?)?

If you've used A Beka elementary science what have you liked, disliked? Are there enough hands-on experiments? Did you pair it with anything? What book did you actually use (i.e. teacher text? tests? answer key?)?

I got MM, we use CLE.

You might want to look into Mr. Q Science - can download his elementary life science for FREE! And, I've read that in January he usually has 50% off deals. Or R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey by Pandia Press - 30% off right now with code PANDIA. Or Behold and See by Catholic Heritage Curricula, whether you're Catholic or not. You can also download a middle school chemistry curriculum for FREE: http://www.middleschoolchemistry.com/ Or, if you want something super light and SUPER EASY on you, try the Science Shepherd Introductory Science course. This is what we did last year, and I LOVED it!

When they were in school, the school had a "No screen week" every year. Needless to say, we never made it.

We try real hard not to put the TV on until after 6pm. Unfortunately we got into a very bad habit when two of my dc were small and I had to give them breathing treatments every morning and every night, and sometimes during the day - in order to get them to sit still enough I turned on the TV. Well, that got ingrained into all of us, and now that we don't have to do nearly so many breathing treatments we have to wean ourselves off of TV. My dh grew up with TV as his babysitter, so he's learning along with the rest of us. For computer time, school work must be done first, XtraMath on the computer needs to be done for the day, and chores need to be done. Computer time is 30 minutes/day. Sometimes, however, Mom forgets to turn on the timer and they get lucky with 1 hour. If I have had to deal with whiny behavior or the "I don't care about anything" behavior, or I'm not doing my work behavior, then no computer time for that child that day - sometimes they work themselves into such a tizzy about that one day, that it then becomes two days, etc.... Yes, we've had to go for a whole week with no computer time for a child. I don't download games on my phone, so that they can't play anything when they're out with me. None of them have kindles. None of them have cell phones. None of us have TVs in our rooms. In a perfect world, I would not have any screens! However, that said, I did really like the science we did last year which included a short talk online first before we answered questions in the workbook. AND, I'm going to have my oldest two design their own games with Youth Digital this coming school year - I want them to use their creativity, not just act like zombies in front of someone else's creativity. This will likely become their screen time for the day - they've already asked me about that and how it's going to work. I also just bought a Bible study titled "Taming the Techno-Beast" by Todd Wilson. Not sure when we'll go through this, but we need to do it soon! Before teen years hit.

I'm looking real hard at R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey by Pandia Press. Or, try Mr. Q Science. You can download their entire elementary life science book (teacher and student) for FREE! I've also read that they usually have a 50%off sale in January. It is secular, if that matters to you, but I don't think in their elementary books it's an issue at all. I was looking for something Christian, but found this, and wow, I like the looks of it. Also, you may want to check out Behold and See by Catholic Heritage Curricula.

Love it! Use it with all three children.

I think of my father who emigrated from the Netherlands and immigrated to the U.S.A. (Please teach your children the difference between emigrate and immigrate!) He recently passed away, and I miss hearing his voice. To everyone else he had a strong accent even after living here for over 60 years, I would only hear it when I talked to him on the phone. He had a gorgeous tenor voice, and was always in a choir, but when my children were babes he would sing all his fun Dutch children's songs to them.

Staying with A Beka would be fine, but for something cheaper and a one time buy try Cursive First.

Yes, they liked most of the videos. I don't think there are any videos longer than 5 minutes. Most days you can be done with science in 15 minutes or less. This is a Christian based, young earth creation program. It will be very evident - we like that. Others do not, so I want everyone to know. The only thing I did not like was that the instructor often used the word "stuff" instead of something more descriptive, but that's my only pet peeve.

Check the classifieds. :seeya: Wink...wink...

Wanted to let people know about this. They are currently, but don't know for how long, having a BOGO sale. http://advanced-writing-resources.com/ I'm very interested in purchasing this, and would like to have someone else who is interested in it contact me, so that we could do the buy one get one free deal. I am willing to purchase it, and have another party pay half. It would be $50. Perhaps this post should be in the classifieds? If so, I'm sorry, I will go ahead and post there also.

This echoes my thoughts exactly. My soon to be 7 year old ds wouldn't be able to write long enough to be able to spell anything, yet. We do some words orally, which is fine and plenty for now. I'm more interested in him reading, then maybe start spelling in a year or so. FWIW, my 5th grade dd is finally beginning to spell with more ease, but it took her this long. Remember, you're in this for the long haul - it will work out.