I listened the audible copy of this in the car with my seventh grade son who loves history. That said there were quite a few parts that were too intense/graphic for him to hear. When we came to those parts we would turn it off until I could listen and find an appropriate place to restart. I would then summarize what we had skipped over. It is very content heavy and retention would definitely be improved with multiple opportunities to listen to it. I did find that being on audio allowed us to not become bogged down and overwhelmed as I feel reading would.

Try the Itch series by Simon Mayo. It's not very well known but every 11 and 12 year old boy we've lent it to has loved it.

I haven't used AG yet, though I intend to begin this year. You would need one copy of the teacher's manual, but two of the student if you are going to use it with both of your children. Then you can decide if you think the DVDs would be helpful to you as well, but they are not required. Hope that helps. Sorry I don't have more first hand experience. I actually settled on AG for very similar reasons. Kaci

We will be using EIW7 for next year. Year 7 has optional grammar. I plan on using EIW for writing, Analytical Grammar for grammar, Figuratively Speaking for literary analysis (along with books), and AbraVocabra or Vocabu-Lit for vocabulary.

When I was in middle school I loved the three and five subject spiral notebooks. They were all I would use. Loose papers that I needed short term were kept in the pockets while notes could be recorded and papers to be turned in could be written and then torn out along the perforations.

I saw a model at staples that could do perforations as well as cuts. It didn't look as heavy duty as a nice guillotine style, but I've longed for perforations quite a few times. I need to look up how well they actually work.

My 6th grader, who came home from public school this past year, has really blossomed with Ellen McHenry's The Elements and Carbon Chemistry and the youtube channel Periodic Table of Videos along with assorted books which could be interlibrary loaned. We focused on Chem this year, but next year I plan on rounding it out with Physics, Biology, and Earth Science followed by high school Chem in eighth grade in preparation for AP Chem. Ellen McHenry's curriculum really brought out a love and hunger for science that he hadn't previously had. Also they are fairly affordable, especially if you don't print out the whole file. You could likely use them for your 4th grader as well.

You might take a look at My Dog Bites The English Teacher. I don't know if it is quite what you are looking for, but Amazon provides an extensive look inside. http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Bites-English-Teacher-Practical/dp/0979488419

The mental dividing of decimals is the only part of MM5 that my son struggled with as well in the same places your daughter is. I did as the previous poster suggested and picked up the Key to Decimals: Division. While I don't feel it focused on the mental aspect that I was hoping for the step by step nature did help cement some things and make it easier for him.

Sounds like a great idea. I'd love to hear others thoughts as well.

I was reading one of the seventh grade threads the other day and I saw, I believe, SilverMoon mention an organization called Civil Air Patrol. Out of curiosity I looked them up and it looks very cool! My 12 year old son is very interested in joining the local squadron. Similar to the ROTC but for the Air Force. The cadet meetings involve aeronautics education among other things and as they get older, and rise in rank, it appears they have the opportunity to compete for scholarships to help them get their pilots license.

Thank you so much! I look forward to exploring the book further.

Thank you very much for describing the program. I appreciate it.

Could you tell me more about Word Wealth and how you use it? I can't find a lot of information about it, but everything I have found gives it glowing reviews. Thank you!

When my 6th grader came home at the beginning of this year we loosely discussed interests and education required for similar careers. I then found which colleges I thought would be a good fit and took their requirements and recommendations combined with state requirements and class perquisites to figure out what classes would need to be taken and approximately where he needs to be each year. The plan is of course open to change.

This is my sixth grade son's first year homeschooling as well. I brought him home because he was falling behind in math. We tried a sample of Fred and he liked it and wanted to get the story from the beginning so we bought Apples to Decimals. For Apples - Farming he did 3 chapters a day because each only took about 5 minutes. Goldfish - Mineshaft is 2 chapters a day because they take about 10 minutes each. Once he hits Fractions I'll slow him to 1 chapter a day for the remaining books. He is currently on Mineshaft. We use Fred as a fun supplement to Math Mammoth. My son is enjoying being caught up on math and really understanding what he is doing. He was becoming so frustrated at school. I think Fred is adding to his enjoyment.

Speed by Highhill is a skip counting/multiplication game that we find fun. It is available on amazon. I think there is a youtube video that shows how to play as well.

Those will be very useful. Thanks!

With my 12 year old he has a schedule and if he finishes his work prior to the alloted time being over he is free to do as he pleases until the next scheduled task. He is, of course, also allowed to move on as desired so he can end school early. This usually works. However, should he not finish within the time set he must continue working until he is done which eats into his next section and potential free time. Occasionally, he has been working until late in the evening, but usually he is quite motivated and finishes well within his time limit. This is what I found works for him.

That is a good point regarding a realistic pandemic possibly being more disturbing. I just hate images of zombies no matter if they are not particularly graphic cartoons. Bleck! That said, I would be open to using Zombie Based Geography. I just wish there was a bit of first hand experience.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any experience with this as well. I think the idea of learning geography by tracking a pandemic and building a society sounds very interesting, though I would prefer a vehicle other than zombies.

Sequential Spelling has worked very well for my oldest son. I have been very impressed with it. I believe that their first book is aimed at second graders.

We enjoy playing the 'I Love You 2' game. Well, that's what we call it. Almost anytime someone says, "I love you" it turns into a counting game of I love you too (2), I love you 3, etc... It can go pretty high. My 12 year old will even occasionally participate still. He loved it as a little kid. Obviously, this only helps with verbal counting.

My favorites are Twelfth Night (1996) and Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

Good to know. He is wanting to attend Cedar Badge.