Brimwood Press is new and totally different. I would love a review on these products.

The thought is that you might have notes in the Classic that you may want to refer to again. I am of the opinion that the offer is extremely generous, being one that I have never seen the likes of before. Penny

Who exactly has used this? I've searched the board and overall I think I've seen only 2 users so far (maybe 3). Anyone else planning on using it? Anyone else with opinions? Penny

We are STRONGLY considering it. Penny

Latin Prep is difficult. I am using it with two fourth graders and we spend more than a month on each chapter. Actually, sometimes much longer. However, when we finish a chapter my kids really know the grammar and have overlearned both it and the vocabulary. We began in Sept 2007 and we'll be lucky to finish by August 2008. We do all the book exercises and the workbook exercises. I doing chanting and writing of verb conjugations and noun declensions before each lesson. We do Latin Mon through Thurs for about 45 mins. We may be slow, but Latin Prep is not something that can be breezed through unless you really know conjugations and declensions. Some of the translation is quite difficult. Possibly both myself and my kids are slow learners! Blessings! Penny

I'm looking at the TOG sample Yr 2 Wk 20 and I noticed that for UG the student should read either 10 chapters in Hakim or 6 chapters in SOTW (alternate resource). Are all of the UG history reading assignments so much? This seems like too much. I'm just about ready to purchase (pre-order) Redesigned Yr 3. I think this is my last question. I'm hoping wk 20 is just an unusually difficult week. Blessings, Penny

I understand that abacus example you used! I so fully understand how difficult life is with the non thinking child. People who don't have one often believe that every child just loves to learn if we present it in the right way. And I really don't want to here that I just haven't found the right way to present the material! I've tried just about everything! And, it's not his diet either. I've gone down that route. My child has no problem learning as long as he doesn't have to THINK. For example, he will listen to history stories, other life stories, but he will not analyze anything unless virtually forced to do it. He reads now without too much complaint because it no longer takes great mental effort, but to teach him to read was painful. Maybe it is a LD; I've gone through all kinds of testing and costly intervention measures. The bottom line is that I have to make him think. The thing that works the best is Applied Behavior Analysis. I feel for you; it is a tough life. But if we send them to 'school' I'm sure that at least mine would get nothing out of it. As it is, I can keep my child on grade level and even ahead in some areas. Penny

Pam, You get the graciousness award! You are so very thoughtful and kind in your words! Now I'm going to look at those historical atlases you mentioned. I love your idea of making maps with the transparencies. Penny

Well, I have Uncle Josh's and I want Map Aids! If they are anything like what is on the TOG sample, then they are much better than Uncle Josh's for history lessons. UJ's are not historical, and that makes all the difference in the world. I take it Map Aids corrospond to the lesson being taught, for example when teaching James Town, the map actually has James town. I spend more time looking for just the right map to corrospond with what is being taught! I'm switching to TOG this year and I am sure hoping Map Aids is thorough. Blessings, Penny

Well, since no one else is replying: I recently purchased this along with the Student Activity books for my 4th graders. We don't do it all; I just pick and choose which sheets we will use. For example, I may pick out a character/plot/theme sheet or something of that sort. I may choose to do some of the pre-reading activities. At this time, my kids are doing one of the end of book projects which is just a personal implementation of godly character traits. (They get points for specific work done illustrating a godly character trait for each day for 5 days.) I must say that the ideas given to bring out character traits and apply them personally have been very beneficial. (After all, the main reason we read all these good books is to hopefully inspire great character.) It has been beneficial for me to examine the different genre, be able to talk about it with my kids, see what they have in common, and choose activities to bring out more of the book. Before, I simply handed them a book and said, "Go read". I'm sure I'll be using it more in the future, but probably never in a systematic, day by day way that it may have been intended for. In a hurry and no time to proof read or organize. Please excuse! HTH. Blessings, Penny

I did the Explorers. It is beautifully done and I've read posts from many families who love doing them. For us, it took so much time to put together the finished project that we fell way behind on our history schedule. My kids do not want to do it again, although they did want to finish their lapbooks because they are so nice. I found it difficult to do all the prep work. I guess I'm just not the lapbooking kind of mom. I also found it difficult to bring meaning to the content, ie I had to get books to back up the various explorers and put them in context. The lapbook was about all New World Explorers regardless of their time in history. So, this threw off my chronological history plan. In summary, if you want to do a lapbook, Amy's are so very beautiful. The projects are well thought out. For us, I think we are not the paper kind of family that really learns this way. We would more like to read a good book! I needed to do this project to find that out. Penny

Thank you Regena and Rondabee. I checked out that ealier post from Jean in Wisc and it is very good! I appreciate all your help and the time it takes to give it! Penny

I'm considering biology as outlined in the WTM for 5th grade. Have you done it? Has anyone found a better way? Thanks, Penny

We're doing Latin Prep Book 1 now (ds and dd both 10 yrs old) and I can't imagine doing this with a 6 yr old. It is not easy, nor is it mostly vocabulary memorization. I think vocab work is much easier, but actually Latin Prep doesn't have that much. The difficulty is in the translation Latin/English and English/Latin. I have a very bright 10 dd and she does do the work well, but still will make declension/conjugation mistakes. Hope this helps. I think maybe for younger children it is wise to stay away from translation until a little more logical thinking skills develop. Translation is grammar on steroids, so if your child doesn't have a strong base in grammar and/or has any difficulty at all understanding parts of speech, then it is best to wait. Blessings, Penny

I've noticed that we are all trying to guess what will motivate your child. There are things that will motivate her, but I suspect they are not the things we are guessing. I would try to find out the core of what motivates her, what she really loves, and then PAIR it with reading. Example: If your child loves attention from you, you could simply sit by her and rub her back while she reads. Or, If your child loves toosie pops, or any other kind of food, offer it only while she reads. We all love certain things only because they were paired with other pleasant events in childhood. Example: One may love bayberry candles because it reminds them of Christmas. The effect of pairing a loved thing with another somewhat unloved thing is that eventuallly the unloved thing becomes rewarding in and of itself. As a child one may not have cared what so ever about bayberry candles or the smell of a Christmas tree. But after pairing it is loved on its own. The key to making this work is consistency, but more importantly, finding what your child loves.

I'm reading The Reb and the Redcoats out loud this week to my kids. All of them (8, 10, and 11) love it. I do too! Do not miss Johnny Tremain and Carry On Mr. Bowditch. Sign of the Beaver was wonderful. I also like A Child's Story of America and all of the Hakim books. Now mind you, I don't have time to do SOTW, CSOA, and Hakim but I love them all. I'm a person who finds it impossible to stay on a history schedule because I just can't miss out on all those wonderful books! Penny

Wow! Is there a sample of the discussion and questions? I'll be ordering Year 3 redesigned (Unit 1 due to be released this month. I wonder if it already has been.) Thanks Jessica. I've read you use it with a LG child. I'll be using it with UG and a LG (who's not too interested right now!) Penny

I'm considering Sonlight again because I'm finding it difficult to both pre-read everything and make a study guide to get my kids really thinking about what they are reading. I'm assuming Sonlight has meaningful questions for discussion. What does TOG offer? I'm also leaning toward Sonlight because I'm finding that the great books are really what sparks my kids interest, and simply following history doesn't seem to be motivating. Am I missing something? Could I get the best of both worlds with TOG? Penny

Saxon is a paper based program. If addition is being taught, the worksheet will show pictures to represent adding. Likewise with other concepts. Saxon has no meaningful manipulatives. I know that it has counting bears, but these do nothing to represent the based 10 system. I spent so many hours with Saxon going over the teacher's manual, counting with the chart, calendar, etc, but my child simply did not get the base 10 system. To him numbers were like the ABC's, one simply memorizes what comes next. And to figure out the next number, he would have to start counting (like reciting the alphabet) until getting to the desired number. Then I bought MUS. It helped most definately. It does have meaningful manipulatives. It is a solid program. However, the best program for teaching numbers to a young child who has difficulty understanding the system is Right Start. I only care for the levels A and B because for my child (not for all children of course) the levels C, D, and E expect too much higher order reasoning. However, level C has a wonderful way to teach multiplication that I desparately needed. Mathy children will get Saxon. Children who just follow the methods and don't think too much about it will get Saxon. But if you have a child who has difficulty learning math concepts, consider a different program. Blessings! Penny

I would at least start teaching your child to count the 'math' way and do some of the number visualizing done by RS. Also, the way evens and odds are taught (everyone has a partner when even!) and the card games that show fingers, dots, etc. The beauty is that you can start teaching math the Right way at the beginning. When you're counting for fun, you can be teaching place value, etc. I wish I would have started so young...not with a 'lesson' but just teaching the Right Start way from the beginning.

I'd like a literature guide with maps to use with this novel. I just finished 'Johnny Tremain' and was disappointed that the Progeny Press guide did not have maps. Experiences??? Thank you, Penny

Reya, What do you recommend for moms like me who must use a 'packaged' program to teach writing? I bought CW Aesop, sold it, and am now considering buying it again. I don't like the program; it takes enormous amounts of time and just seems overdone. However, I'm not sure WHAT I should do to lay a good foundation. Thanks, Penny

Thanks!!! This is fun!!! Penny

Thank you for posting what really works for you. That's how we all learn about great options. Penny

Word Roots A1 CD (Critical Thinking Press) Would you please let us know more about this program? It sounds interesting and I would like to hear from someone who actually uses it. Thanks! Penny