We have done code monster which is ok. Lightbot was fun for my 9 yo. Khan Academy also has some good choices.

^ An emphatic yes! Everything Reefgazer mentioned has been our experience too! Right down to this is why we are homeschooling this year!

My son (also a 4th grader who won't turn 10 until June) and I just started our classical journey this year as well! We had to do some remedial math because of some basic arithmetic issues and his spelling, writing, grammar (written) is not great, but we have started where he is and slowly built since August (June really but not intensively). He says history is now his favorite subject but he does not like to write about it much at all. I am lucky to get more than a paragraph or two out of him on anything including narrations. That is ok by me. I choose not to push too hard because I want him to keep the joy. He thinks Latin is fun because we started with Prima Latina and English from the Roots Up. Both are just very straightforward and basic. Latin and root study has helped with spelling and grammar as well believe it or not. He likes making word connections (root endings or hey that's where ambulance came from) and seeing patterns (spelling). We are not in a hurry and we are definitely not on anyone else's time schedule. We are focusing on getting the basics (reading, writing and arithmetic) down and going from there. This works for us. And we take lots of living history and science related field trips for variety. He is a much happier young man! And that is what is important to me! Good luck!

I found that Levels 1 and 2 were quite repetitive so I combined the two (having already bought both) to come up with my own lesson plans. My 4th grader just started homeschooling this fall and had no prior grammar instruction. Given our experience and assuming yours has had little to no grammar instruction, I would start at Level 2. Hope this helps!

Lightbot if you haven't tried it already. Stencyl - I haven't tried this one yet. Code Monster. Just google - sorry for not having links (phone). ^and we did Khan today - pretty fun for my 4th grader.

Having just come from PS and zero grammar training, I had my 4th grader do FLL 1 and 2 with lots of streamlining of lessons bc it is very repetitive. We completed that in just a few months. We are now doing Grammarland and Treasured Conversations to reinforce basic grammar and work on writing skills. It seems to be working really well for us so far. We will probably follow up with FLL 3 and 4 next spring and/or fall probably at a much slower pace than FLL 1 and 2 since we will have by then be caught up in a manner of speaking.

I have an app on my phone called Workout Trainer by Skimble. I can choose cardio, strength or a combination. I can choose the length of time 15 minutes to 60 minutes. We do about 30 minutes every morning before school. I would prefer to run every am in public with my DS but we live in a community where people still look at you suspiciously if you have a kid with you during school hours. So app indoors until the rest of our community learns that there are valid reasons for HSing even in their "awesome" school district :( Oh and the app is free on Google play.

FWIW, I do not think my DS would have done well with SOTW or FLL at 6. At 9.5, he loves SOTW and we flew through FLL 1 and 2 with lots of lesson modifications by me. I don't know what MBtP is, but maybe you could consider revisiting SOTW and FLL when your child is older assuming you still wanted to. Just a thought :)

I am currently working with English from the Roots Up. I rarely use the actual "book". Instead, I chose to spend one lesson per week using the Latin Greek roots flash cards that go with the book. This is working well for us. When we finish working through the flash cards, we have a game called Rummy Roots that supposedly builds on that in a fun way. We just started this so I don't know how it will be in a few months, but so far so good for us. I have a 9.5 yo, and we also do Prima Latina 1x per week. I don't know anything about Vocabulary Vine. Hope that helps in some way!

Absolutely!

My 9 year old ds just came from PS this fall and he writes like a 1st grader. We have daily short copy work to practice printing and we do weekly cursive writing lessons as well. My husband has noticed a vast improvement in my son's penmanship just from these efforts since August. My son told him no one had ever shown him how to hold his pencil/pen until I did!

This is just a thought so feel free to ignore but Life Of Fred books are available at our local library and maybe yours too? I just offer that because I personally find those books wonderful but expensive - especially if you buy every.single.book.

FWIW, I have gone through Singapore 2B without needing the HIG but I did decide to get the HIG for Singapore 3 and above mostly because I found it second hand on a great sale and it does have some great teaching ideas in it. I can't say that I needed it though but I am pretty comfortable with the Singapore method so far. It really depends on your comfort level with the program. :)

My 4th grader just started Prima Latina to go with our SOTW study of the Roman empire. He has loved it! I like Prima because it is simple and covers the some of the same grammar issues we just went over in FLL 1 and 2. I plan to follow up with GSWL after Prima because I really love GSWL and I am hoping it keeps his interest in learning Latin alive!

I have a 9 yo boy who is just as you describe, but he just started hsing this year. Singapore is our math of choice. He is better with it than with the ps math "attitude wise", but I started him way back on 2A just to build confidence and attempt to get him to like math again. Last week, we started Beast Academy 3A and surprise of all surprises, he likes it alot even though it is very different from anything he has done previously. So, get evals as suggested, don't worry about his placement level, but don't be afraid to try different things either. Or maybe it is just something about 9yo boys. Boys often mature more slowly than girls for example including academically from what I have observed and heard anecdotally so ? I do wish you the best because I know exactly what you are going through! Good luck!

This is just in time! We just started our study of Rome today! Thank you!!!!

These are not exactly audio books per se, but they are great resources for free French kids reading/books online (some have audio available): http://www.storyplus.com/ http://www.childrenslibrary.org/ http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/French http://www.thefrenchexperiment.com/stories/ I have Le Petit Prince which I downloaded recently but now I can't find the link. I will post back if I run across it.

My son does this too. I thought it strange at first but it works for him. He is more accurate doing it his way too!

In defense of those PS parents who are concerned about how math is being taught, I can offer my own personal experience having recently been one of them. The lack of communication has been horrendous here where I live. Those who do ask questions are treated in such a condescending manner that it becomes impossible not to walk off in a huff. We are told we just are too old to understand. I regroup mentally and have for as long as I can recall although I do not think it has ever been explicitly taught to me. My son who was taught the common core way can regroup mentally but was greatly relieved when I recently taught him the old fashioned way. For him, it is easier to do this the old way at this stage in his development. Add to that the fact that schools expect parents to teach their child basic addition and subtraction facts AFTER SCHOOL because they still have TIMED fact drills and you have a recipe for disaster. My son, for example, is so busy regrouping mentally that he does his basic facts super slowly because that's how the school wants them to do math. But the timed tests do not play nicely with the regrouping method. I am now homeschooling. We spend 10 minutes every day just cementing our facts. We are doing great with Singapore math. There is a problem with how this math is being taught in some many all public schools. Please do not trivialize it or just assume we hate common core. I am a supporter at least in theory on math. But it absolutely must be well taught and well implemented or it is a disaster.

This thread has helped me tremendously! It helped my son detox from his horrific PS math experience and he is finally starting to enjoy math again thanks to many of the resources listed herein. Especially loved the Marilyn Burns books!

Oh my goodness "YES"!!! I agree in theory with most of Common Core except the exclusion of great literature in favor of questionable nonfiction and "modern" literature that seems determined to expose my 9 YO to issues he is not interested in and does not understand anyway. (Sorry but I do not understand the need to have him read The Giver at 9 years old.) We tried PS from K to 3rd grade. My kid made excellent grades, but he was terribly unhappy and STRESSED. So here we are in our first year of home schooling and loving it so far! I used and will continue to use Common Core in designing my own curriculum. In our area, implementation of CC has not worked for us. Math, for example, was a disaster. Although my son made good grades, he went from loving math to absolutely hating it and thinking he was "stupid" because he didn't do it "fast" enough for the bureaucrats. I could go on for pages with concrete examples but math was the worst. So, yes, in order to implement Common Core in a way that does not cause unnecessary emotional and education harm to my child, we decided to home school.

I was posting when others were so I missed some comments. Just for the record, I totally get the regrouping. The problem is that it takes time. Common core strongly suggests no timed activities when learning this method. Yet, at least at our school, they hang on to them. So I guess my thought is choose a path and follow it. Don't try to blend the two because it just left my DS frustrated and exhausted. I do get it and am not opppsed if it is taught well. :) Thanks!

Yall are wonderful! Thanks for all the good advice. Math fact cafe is something we just started using. I like it alot. The sing alongs might be worth a try :) We did try xtramath back in the summer, but he hated it. We might give it another go now that we have had lots of practice. Really, thanks for the suggestions and encouragement!

Thank you both for your thoughts. Math drill makes my son crazy too so we have tried everything from flashcards to dice to dominoes to practice. I find if I mix it up like that it does not seem so much like drill. I can do this so much easier on a daily basis now as a homeschooler than when we were after schooling only. As for going back to Singapore 2A, my son has no problem with it being "too easy" - I think it actually has taken so much of the PS pressure off of him and he knows we can move on when we wish. We have gone through 2A in just a couple of months so he knows we are making progress. I think that helps as well. The circuitous route that he let me in on yesterday was just so strange, I had to share it to see if anyone else had experienced it. Thanks again for your comments!

Hi! I am new to homeschooling and to this wonderful resource from which I have received tons of information and advice by lurking around. Thank you all! I finally have run into something for which I just don't have an easy answer. My 9 year old DS has had trouble with his basic math facts (especially timed tests) since 1st grade but he has always scored well in math (mostly A's on every report card since K). We did do ALOT of after schooling. My DS has been "labeled" by his former PS gifted program as a visual learner. From reading here and elsewhere, I understand that VSLs do not appreciate/do well on timed tests. Yet, our PS continued to require such things even though they themselves know or should know this fact about VSL learners (or am I being too optimistic?). For many reasons, we decided to begin HSing this year (4th grade). The way math is taught in our district is another HUGE reason we chose to HS. It is just BAD for us. It may work for others but not us. We are using Singapore US now. I love Singapore. He seems to like it (ie, no tears or groans). My DS is and has been slow with basic facts but I may have finally gotten him to explain his thought process to me on these questions. Yesterday, while practicing basic subtraction (we went back to Singapore 2A to rebuild his confidence), he was stopped on 14-6. Usually, I let him take his time but occasionally I ask what he is thinking just to see if I can help. Yesterday, he finally told me how he solves these problems. He deducts 4 from 14 to get to 10. Then subtracts 6 to get to 4. Then adds 4 to get to 8. Wow! I told him he was a genius for being capable of doing that in his head. But, I am thinking how very exhausting for him. Now my question is: is this a product of the multi-step approach that many schools are forced to teach in alignment with Common Core or is this a processing issue/learning disability. Honestly, it never occurred to me that it could be the latter until I started researching this forum and dyscalculia. But how on earth does one tell? He likes math again thanks to homeschooling, revisiting the basics and practicing his math facts daily via games, workbook and Khan Academy. He is even getting faster at fact recall albeit somewhat inconsistently. Am I wrong in believing that not enough time was devoted to basic fact mastery in PS and too much time was devoted to developmentally inappropriate conceptual math (like round to the nearest ten, then subtract then add etc...) or are we just an anomaly? For what it is worth, I am not opposed to Common Core in theory, but the actual implementation of it at least where I am has been less than stellar. Thoughts, please? And is there anything else I can do to fix this other than what we are doing? We have had no testing for learning disabilities or ADD because I honestly do not believe that is what is going on here, but I am open to your thoughts. Thank you!