I do tend to use every lesson, in order, and according to the schedule I lay out at the beginning of the year. Any time I slip behind it's a real hassle to make up the missed lessons so I try my best to stay on track. I schedule 3 math lessons a week. If I don't stick to that I'll end up not finishing the book by the end of the year. I don't find this to be very hard to do though, and it's worked out. The only thing I've skipped a lesson or two with is Writing Strands (level 2). I don't particularly like the program and it didn't hurt to skip a lesson or two when it was a concept my daughter already had a good handle on...which is pretty much the whole thing anyway.

LATIN FOR CHILDREN gets my vote. Look, I put it in bold and everything! If you asked my daughter (almost 8) she'd tell you that it is, hands down, her favorite subject. It helps to have a strong English grammar foundation (we did FLL 1 and 2, are in 3, and are doing fine), but we find it to be quite engaging.

12 weeks into third grade now. WINNERS NOEO Chemistry. Love the large collection of books to learn from. An improvment over R.E.A.L. Science, which we also loved but the simple black and white pages and bad illutrations were uninspiring. Plus the "preperation time" vs "stuff learned" ratio wasn't good. Saxon 3. Seems to be a lot meatier than Saxon 1 or 2, and it's good to see the foundation laid in the prior years paying off. We've been using Saxon since Kindergarten and she's so used to the style of instruction that she learns new things very very quickly. I'm glad we stuck with one program. Latin for Children. I can't express how much we love this program. The dvds are home-movie quality but we don't much notice or care. The teacher is clear and easy to understand. I get it the first time through and am able to help her through each week's lesson. a good thing as I have no latin experience. My mother, who is learning Latin with a book for adults, just saw what we use and wants it for herself! FLL 3. I can't believe how effortless we're (both) learning what I believe is really hardcore grammar. Thanks to FLL 1 and 2 for laying the foundation. Couldn't make it through FLL 3 without it, I think. LOSERS History Odyssey, early modern. I thought it would be easier to learn history with this program, which lays things out more accordning to geography and doesn't go through chronologically. Big mistake. I find it to be confusing as we jump back and forth between centuries. Chronological learning was so much better. Definitely going back to SOTW order next year. I AM glad, however, than the American Revolution is going to get several, uninterrupted weeks. but that's a subject dear to me so I'm biased. Writing Strands. We're planning on doing level 2 and 3 this year. It seems fairly useless so far, maybe because my daughter seems to have a natural writing ability and doesn't need to be taught the real basics. I'm hoping it gets more useful later on. I don't really like the anti-grammar stance the introduction takes either. That's pretty much it. Hope somebody finds this useful.

Latin For Children A takes us about an hour for the first session and anywhere from 20 minutes on up for a second session later in the day. That sounds like a lot but it's, hands down, her favorite subject and she cheers for it every day. Technically we're in third grade, but her peers will be starting 3rd in the fall, so she's still second grade age.

We're in week 7 of Latin for Children A. It's really fantastic. Great for someone who loves repetition and memory, of which there is a lot. Good for me too, being someone with no Latin experience whatsoever.

Started third grade 7 weeks ago. sticking to the plan as I layed it out at the beginning of the "year". In order of appearance: Latin - Latin for children A History - History Odyssey, early modern Math - Saxon 3 Science - NOEO Science chemistry (awesome awesome science program) break time Latin again - Review the video, do worksheets, flash cards, etc. Latin is complicated stuff and this extra practice time is crucial, I've found. Especially for me! Spelling - Spelling Workout C Grammar - First language Lessons 3 (I love this program! I never had any sort of decent grammar in school and this is all new to me too. I can't imagine jumping into it without the benefit of the solid start of the first two FLL books.) Writing - Writing Strands 2 (Decided to do both 2 and 3 this year, since we didn't do "writing" last year, working at double speed) Handwriting - Nothing specific, just a cursive practice workbook. We're a little late getting into cursive.

I have had the Kingfisher Illustrated book since the beginning but found it more appropriate for much older kids. We barely used it in first or second grade. Now I have the Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia as we arm ourselves for third grade and I really wish I had had it since the start. It's much less cluttered, less wordy, and less intimidating.

Wow, that looks like a very intensive program. My daughter has been very big into science the last two years so it's probably worth the investment. http://www.noeoscience.com/chemI.html Am I right that the set includes everything on this page and this is everything I need for the whole year? That would be great as it was quite a bother coming to lessons in R.E.A.L. Science that required things I didn't have. I fail at reading ahead. I like that each day is clearly planned out. I really like scripted lessons and lessons that I don't have to put a lot of energy into pre-planning. She'll also like that it's a 4-day week. We do a 4 day school week and to do science every single day would be a joy for her. Thanks very much! If my husband will approve the cost I think this will be great.

Hi there. My seven year old daughter is starting third grade in about a month and I'm looking for a science curriculum. For the last two years we've used Pandia Press's R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey and we both absolutely love it. However, there is no release date I can find for the chemistry book other than "2009". Does anyone have any better idea when their chemistry curriculum will be released? Barring that, the method recommended in the Well Trained Mind, using Adventures With Atoms and Molecules and the Usborne First Encyclopedia of Science looks doable. Thank you