I love CLE Language Arts for filling in gaps. My 3rd grader has been slow on the Language Arts skills front and the CLE workbooks are doing amazing things for him. We started at 201 and are currently doubling up on lessons and doing them every day, so one workbook takes us about 8-9 calendar days to finish. If I can tell he has mastered something I can cross out those questions to move ahead a little faster. I'm calculating that we should be able to start the 300's by September (we do year round schooling) and will be at the 400's by December 2015, at the current rate. Which would get him caught up by the end of Grade 4. I'm so impressed with the progress in Language Arts I'm going to try out the math workbooks next. We do Singapore Math but I think it would be good practice and review to have a spiral style workbook he can do independently sometimes. Who knows, maybe we'll love it so much that we switch over to CLE math completely.

I second CLE Language Arts - surprisingly this has turned out to be one of the best curriculum buys yet!

Spelling Workout workbooks! :) They are fun, have puzzles, etc.

I LOVED All About Reading - did wonders for my son also, after trying out numerous other programs. This is it. We also use the Explode the Code workbooks, they work well together with AAR.

Check out Guesthollow's Geography Curriculum based on living books. It's free and it's wonderful! Perfect for the age range you are teaching.

Just wanted to say... we started CLE Language Arts about a month ago and I am AH-mazed at the results thus far!! I'm so glad I gave it a chance. One of the best curriculum buys ever. I'm saving so much time and my son is plowing through the workbooks. I love that it's 95% independent work he can do on his own. He really enjoys it too. We also do FLL - why not do both? FLL takes hardly any time. You can always skip some of the lessons. I really enjoy FLL but I wouldn't compare it to CLE, they are so different.

You said she's going into Grade 4 and she's completed ETC 4? I believe ETC 4 is usually completed in Grade 1 or 2. By Grade 4 she'd either be done ETC entirely, or in book 7 or 8. I'd keep going with ETC and perhaps double up on lessons and do the half level books as well for extra reinforcement. It covers a lot of the stuff you mention.

When we first started HWT I didn't realize there were so many extra components you needed for the full program, so I only used the workbooks. For my first kid that was just fine. There is not a ton of practice in them though (he hated handwriting so it was just the right about for him), so then I added in "A Reason for Handwriting" for extra practice as needed later on as his ability increased. With my second one I got some of the extra components for HWT. I don't think they were necessary. I like the format of the workbooks though. So I would go through the first 3 books of HWT, then switch to something else. I got the teachers guides and never used them. Worst case scenario the kid goes through the same workbook twice. Honestly I don't even think they would notice. I don't like the look of the HWT cursive style. I'm planning on just using "A Reason for Handwriting" when we get to that part or adding in some other stuff. CLE Language Arts workbooks cover some cursive and we do those, also Simply Charlotte Mason has some nice printable resources for cursive.

3rd Grade: -- All About Reading -- Explode the Code workbooks -- Wordly Wise 3000 Level 3 -- “Just Write†by EPS -- CLE Language Arts -- Spelling Workout -- All About Spelling (supplement, thinking of switching to Spelling Power) -- Penguin Young Readers - Leveled First Readers -- First Language Lessons -- Handwriting Without Tears & A Reason for Handwriting -- Reading good books (use book list from Well Trained Mind, Veritas Press, Memoria Press, Mensa Kids, Sonlight, etc) Looking to add in some more copywork, stuff for a poetry unit, and composition. I'm impressed with how far DS has come with CLE Language Arts the last few months so some of this stuff may turn out to be redundant next year and we won't have to continue all of it.

We use them between books. They are a bit different, more challenging. I wouldn't consider them just review. That said, we haven't needed the half books between every single level. We did all the half level ones in the beginning but now that we are closer to the end they haven't been necessary.

Just FYI... the Magic Tree House books, while being longer then most first readers... are actually quite low grade level wise. You can check the Lexile Measures online. The non-fiction "Fact Checker" ones are much more challenging, but the fiction ones really aren't. I would continue phonics until Grade 3/4 personally.

Check out Times Tales!! It did wonders for my kid (really quickly too). We use Singapore as well.

I'm thinking of switching from Singapore Primary U.S. Edition to Math in Focus. I was going to try the Standards edition, but after looking of samples of Math in Focus I like how "polished" it is. Much better. Seems more organized and easier to teach while maintaining the core of what makes Singapore a great program.

Maybe this is a stupid question, but how do you download this series as PDF's? I don't see that option anywhere on the page and I can't preview anything. **Never mind, I found a different link that had the PDF option**

Halfway through AAR 3 with my third grader currently who is reading at a fifth grade level. We are doing a lesson per day so unless it all of a sudden gets really hard I think we'll be done AAR 4 in the first few months of grade 4. There have been times in the past where we did 2 lessons per day or skipped some. His reading took off really fast all of a sudden a couple months ago but we go through the lessons anyways as reinforcement. If it's too easy we don't do the activity, just review the flash cards and rules and then move on.

Elementary essentials for me: Phonics Spelling Grammar Handwriting Vocabulary Non-Fiction writing (reports, paragraphs, essays) Reading Literature (understanding, analyzing) Math Science - can merge this with Literature Geography - can merge this with Literature History - can merge this with Literature Some kind of formal physical instruction at least 1-2 hours per week: Gymnastics, swimming, dance, etc. Last priorities: Art (drawing) Music (basic theory, 2-3 years of piano lessons min.) Foreign Language only the last year or two of elementary, no need to start it early (speaking as someone who is bilingual).

We use Spelling Workout workbooks alongside CLE, and plan to go back and forth to AAS to teach rules. AAS was the first curriculum I bought and it's good for a foundation, then I use the other stuff for the practice. My son does not come naturally to spelling AT ALL so he needs all of this. He is an above average reader though. I'm considering getting Spelling Power as that seems the most similar to how I remember being taught how to spell and I have always done quite well with spelling.

I like CLE workbooks a lot, but just for language arts and math (review, we use Singapore Math as core). Language Arts is such a nice one to have a "get it done" curriculum for since it's the most time consuming.

I bought the first two levels and haven't finished the second one. I'm undecided whether we'll continue. My kid actually LOVES the letter tiles - he needs them. We keep them stuck to a white board that hangs up on the wall out of the reach of the kids and I take the board down when it's spelling/reading time. Currently we are using a workbook instead, "Spelling Workout", and I really like it but there is not enough reinforcement for my not-natural speller. So I think we will likely come back to AAS to help teach the rules. My son is good about knowing rules. He has thrived with AAR and I like that AAS is similar and they work off each other. The only real downside is the cost. I don't find it too teacher intensive cause the lessons are super short. I don't like the format though. I've had to adjust some things on my own. For a kid that thrives with the tiles and phonograms etc. I think it might be worth the cost. The retention of the rules hasn't been excellent yet but we also haven't been very consistent with AAS when we were using it. It's easy enough to go back to particular lessons to review the rules when necessary. I flipped through the scope and sequence of some of the higher levels (level 6, 7) and I can see some advantages to sticking with the program.

Yes absolutely we do vocabulary. Currently using Wordly Wise but considering adding in "Vocabulary from Classical Roots" next year and looking for other options for my younger student.

Google "Little Mozarts". They are really cute books that both my kids used to learn beginner piano. They are geared for age 4-6 I think, my son started with them when he was 6 and he's just finishing now at 8. There is a whole story line that goes with the music, and CD's, etc. Easy enough that even if you don't have any music background at all you could do it. I put my younger daughter in group piano lessons this year and I regret it. She was too young. I'm just going to use the books at home next year instead with her. My son started piano lessons in Grade 2 and that was a great time to start.

You know, you're right. At first I assumed they were just minor misconceptions about Christianity but in hindsight I'm seeing more evidence for an anti-Christian (and perhaps pro-muslim?) worldview in her books. The flat earth thing goes beyond bias though, that is a major error.

The more research I'm doing, the more errors I'm finding. She is not a historian, she is an ex-newspaper journalist. Her books are entertaining but lacking in factuality.

I think the limit is just within the grade level. So the first list is Kindergarten to Grade 3, I'm assuming they expect the list to be finished by the end of Grade 3 for example and not the end of Grade 6.

She states in several of her books that the dominant view during the Middle Ages was that the earth was flat, which isn't true. This wikipedia article goes into more depth, the reasons behind the flat earth myth are quite interesting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_Flat_Earth