We're just getting started with Apples and Pears with our 9yo. He tested into book A, level 40, and we're currently doing a level a day. It is a ton of writing for him, and he really dislikes it, but we're getting through it by doing one page at a time and doing other subjects in between each page. He has only made one or two mistakes in an entire week of assignments, so it just seems like mindless copywork to him. And, really, it just seems too easy. I'm not sure if I should jump him ahead, or just combine lessons and let him skip some sections? The program asks him to write most new material three times - trace, copy, and then write from dictation. But he can already write the sentence perfectly, so it seems terribly tedious to him. Any ideas about where to go from here? Also - when I purchased the program I didn't realize that it was also grammar/punctuation. Is it sufficient for grammar, or should I do a dedicated grammar program alongside?

I really like Phonics Pathways. Simple and effective. Most importantly....lessons are not scripted! For some reason I despise scripted lessons - so this book is just the ticket.

The companion is soooooo colorful and attractive in color. We're very pleased with our hard copy... We're getting everything else as e-books, but the companion is really nice to have in color.

Thank you so much!

We're going to attempt some color coding this year, and I'm tallying up what binders to get for whom. What size would I need for the student pages in the Winter Promise Equine Science program? I'd like to print out the whole thing and pop it into a binder ready to go for the year. Thanks!

We're planning to use BiblioPlan Medieval for our 7th, 6th, 4th, and 3rd graders. LIterature and geography are scheduled in, as well as a selection of optional spines (MOH, SOTW, etc)

Thank you to all of you for the input! We're going to finish out the semester with WWS, which will take us about halfway through. We'll focus on getting the structure down, and maybe do rough draft/final draft sometimes to work on the cringingly terrible choppiness. At that point, the other kids will have finished up at the private school they are still attending. I thought we'd set aside WWS for awhile and let the oldest boys work together through Jump It writing. Eventually, there will come a semester when kiddo #2 needs to work on something else for a semester, and the DS1 can probably finish up WWS then.

Our 7yo is a quick little gal, loves to copy, loves to DO. We're setting up for our first year back to homeschooling, and I know she's going to be sooooo bummed that the older boys have so much more to do than she does. Below is our core curriculum. I'm looking for some extra things to add to her schedule. Workbook stuff, probably - she likes that. Something that is worthwhile, but doesn't require a ton of mom time. Can ya'll hit me with some ideas?? She's a strong reader, and very gutsy. Something colorful with plenty of coloring and DOING. Ideas? Bible – read through Rod and Staff Books Math – Teaching Textbooks 3, CLE for review Writing – WWE History/Literature/Church History/Geography – Biblioplan w/ brothers Keyboarding – Mavis Beacon Spelling – Logos 3 Science – NOEO w/brothers

Our 11yo just began WWS level 1. We call him our Wordsmith, because of his extensive vocabulary and his gift of phrasing things in any free writing. We are on Week 6, and he's learning to write a "Chronological Narrative of a Past Event". There are quite a few instructions in the text. Many examples - do this, don't do that. Be sure to include time order words, be sure to include a quotation. He completed an assignment this morning, and I can see that he's attempted to follow the instructions. However, the narrative is extremely choppy. Little itty bitty sentences. Stilted phrasing, no transition words. Really, it is a big step backward in his writing. I'm really not sure where to go with this. Do I congratulate him on turning out a three paragraph essay, despite the extreme choppiness of it? Do I have him rework the assignment and smooth out his writing? He probably won't understand why it deserves a re-do, because he was trying to follow the extensive instructions. Perhaps this curriculum is not a good fit for him, and we should quickly run the other direction! We just pulled him out of a very negative school situation, and this gifted child needs a huge dose of SUCCESS. Any input is very welcome!

Do you stop at the end of elementary? Or continue on through middle school? I have a 12yo who spells quite well, avoids reading any rule presented to him in a spelling book, and performs very well on achievement tests. Should I continue to have him do a spelling program?

We'll be schooling four this coming year, and it will be the kiddos first year home for awhile. I'm looking for solid academics, but I need it to be SIMPLE and DOABLE. Two of the kids have focus/adhd issues, and we're doing foster care too, so it is a busy season. Kiddos are DS12yo, DS11yo, DS9yo, DD7yo Together Biblioplan (history/literature/church history/geography) Science (NOEO) 12yo (grade 6/7) Bible – read through in a year Math – TT 7 for primary teaching & CLE 5 for the steady spiral Logic – ?? Writing – Writing With Style level 1 Grammar – Easy Grammar 6 Keyboarding – Mavis Beacon Spelling – R&S 11yo, (grade 5/6) Bible – read through in a year Math – TT 6 for primary teaching & CLE 4 for the steady spiral Writing/Grammar – Writing Tales 2 Keyboarding – Mavis Beacon Spelling – Logos Spelling 9yo (grade 3/4) Bible – read through Rod and Staff reading books Math – TT 3 quizzes until teaching level is found, CLE for review? Writing – WWE Keyboarding – Mavis Beacon Spelling – Apples and Pears Reading – Dancing Bears Fast Track 7yo (grade 2/3) Bible – read through Rod and Staff Books Math – TT3 beginning with lesson 1, CLE for review? Writing – WWE Keyboarding – Mavis Beacon Spelling – Logos Note: Our oldest two really need the double math program, not sure about the youngest two yet. The TT gets done and offers immediate feedback, the CLE makes sure skills are not immediately forgotten.

We're looking at NOEO for science in the upcoming year. Biology II schedules several Usborne internet linked books. I'm wondering if edition matters very much on these? There are quite a few used copies of these titles available, but the cover is different, so I presume the edition is not as current. Has anyone else tried to swap out the book editions? Did it create significant problems?

Biblioplan would keep everyone together for history/bible/literature/geography. Then just add in age appropriate language arts and math.

What are your favorites for science at these grades?

I like VP self-paced, and we enjoyed the year we did with it, but it isn't practical to do it now that we have four school aged kids. Purchasing it for each child is too spendy for us, and combining them and working out the logistics of sharing the program is a roadblock I'd rather not deal with. But my biggest reason for choosing something else for history this year, is the fact that once the one-year subscription is over - it's really gone. Oh, sure, there are still the cards and the literature books, if you do those. But access to the bulk of the learning material is gone, and I'd like my kids to be able to go back and look through what they've learned for review. I still really like VP self-paced, and recommend it. I'd probably be using that if I had just one kiddo. It'll be a terrific fit for a lot of people...

We use TT. We have workbooks on the shelf, but the kids don't write in them (we've used grades 5 and 6). I like having the hard copy on the shelf - it is helpful to be able to thumb through it and quickly see who is working on what concept, etc. So, yes, we expect to be able to have all the kids use the same materials - very cost effective!

Thanks for that tip! Sounds like I can treat the Mastery Tests like quizzes, and go from "quiz" to "quiz" until I find his starting point.

One of our boys turned 9 this week, and I'm trying to figure out curriculum for him for next year. He's in a private school now, and will be coming home after this semester. We had him screened for dyslexia recently, and we ruled out dyslexia as well as vision tracking issues, etc. He's very bright, but learning to read was very hard for him. He's pretty fluent at Frog and Toad type books, and briefly picks up boxcar children, but they are hard work. Bobbsey Twin books are quite beyond him. When he reads aloud I'm still hearing skipped words, and words that are just totally mangled. The lady that did our screening says he has a sight word vocabulary of a sixth grader. But, I'm thinking that when he gets to a big word that he hasn't memorized, that he doesn't know how to approach it. (He's had at least three years of phonics practice: ETC, Phonics Pathways, Saxon Phonics) My "mother gut" tells me things are still not quite right, and that there is no way he'll keep up with the increased reading load of the upcoming school years. One big clue I have is that learning to read music is proving to be the same challenge. Something about attaching meaning to a symbol, and becoming fluent with that is difficult for him. Anyway, I'm thinking of taking him through Dancing Bears Fast Track. What do ya'll think? I think much of it will be very, very easy for him. But perhaps overlearning is what he needs to shore up the foundations and really finally understand how to approach a word that he hasn't previously memorized. He can already read to me most of the Dancing Bears material, though, so perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree. I pulled up the samples for Dancing Bears C this morning, and took him to the last pages. He can read most of it, but it isn't fluent. Not painfully slow, but rather halting, and a good smattering of mistakes throughout. What do you think?

This coming year we'll have four school aged children at home. I'm thinking of combining them two & two in grammar, just to cut down on correcting - seems more likely to stay current if I'm correcting two levels rather than four. But I'm not sure what levels to choose for them. I'm planning to use Easy Grammar. We brought the oldest home mid-year, and he's getting started on Easy Grammar 6, and I think as far as learning styles go, that program should be fine for all four kids. The youngest two would be together. 1. Advanced, go-getter girl 7yo, using Shurley grammar 1 in school right now 2. Smart, took-ages-to-learn-to-read wiggly boy, 9yo, using Shurley grammar 2 in school right now. Easy Grammar 2 for the younger set? No stress for the younger girl, and make sure the slower kiddo has time to absorb all new concepts without pushing too hard. And the oldest two would be together 1. Very languagy boy, just beginning Easy Grammar 6 right now, he'll be 12 next year 2. Average boy, 11 next year, using Shurley grammar 4 right now in school Maybe Easy Grammar 6 for the older set? I could have the oldest stop and wait for his brother to come home. He'd have one semester with no grammar, but that isn't the end of the world. Any thoughts? Is it a dumb idea to combine this subject? They'll have their own levels for spelling, literature, and math.

Do you mind telling me how you do that? I've looked and looked and looked, and all I see is list format, with options to change grid size or change weekly/daily.

Anyone know what planners I should check out? I've been making my own chart in WORD each week, and I really like the grid style. But it is tedious to edit and redo the assignments for each and every week. Next year we'll have four school aged kids at home, and I know I won't have time to keep up with extensive editing for each of them. I'd like a planner that allows me to use a formula to plug in assignments for a semester (like Scholaric does), and then simply bump assignments as necessary. But, instead of a list of assignments that takes up several pages, I want the planner to output a single page grid that displays the entire week for that particular child. Anyone know an online planner that will do this?

Ditto on reading during mealtime. It keeps the kids engaged, and the meal time as well as the story time tends to go smoother.

We're doubling maths. We homeschooled before sending the kids to a classical school, and we're now in the process of bringing them back home. We've always needed to layer math curricula. Even with the kids in a classroom. Our two oldest kids did Saxon in school, and we found we still needed to reinforce with Teaching Textbooks at home. So, yes, sometimes it is just necessary. With our kiddo who just came home, we're continuing Teaching Textbooks as our "cutting edge" curriculum. New concepts are learned with TT. Our kids are strongly visual learners, and it really works for them, with the added perk that it always, always gets done. But TT lacks adequate review for my gang. So what I did with our oldest was have him take the CLE placement test, and I found his level and then placed him back a titch. So, the idea is that CLE will be our review. We've used it before and I really like it. By placing him just under his level, I'm hoping it won't take forever to get through the lesson, but the review will be thorough enough that he won't perpetually forget concepts.

Looking for suggestions for our 11yo son. Developmentally, he's clearly entering the logic stage, so I want to exercise those muscles while keeping things reasonably light - I want him to enjoy the subject. He typically does well in any subject involving words or language, but he's hasn't had any kind of logic so far. What do ya'll like for this age?

One other feature of Teaching Textbooks. Yes, it has the instant feedback. But also, if they get a problem wrong, they get another chance at it, and if it is correct the second time, it goes into the grade book as correct. When I look at the grade book I can see if it took them one try or two, so I can keep tabs on the situation. This feature encourage the kiddos to try to figure out their mistakes, which is a big plus for my learners. Note: we've used TT5 and TT6 - perhaps others can chime in if this feature is consistent with the older levels too.