I have used R&S Spelling 4 and 5, however, I am planning to switch over to Word Roots for the first half year in the fall. I want to give it a shot. We had used English from the Roots Up last year...It was fine. I will use the words from the lesson in Word Roots to "quiz" them at the end of the week, along with making note cards of the prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

I am struggling to pick a reading/literature program for a 5th and two 6th graders. We read a lot, but I am wanting to dig a little deeper into the analysis of reading without killing the love of reading. I have looked at Mosdos Press, Moving Beyond the Page, CLE, R&S, Discovery literature guides, Progeny, and a couple of others. I really am not aiming to complete a full curriculum, but more or less working to analyze two or three books in a school year or several lessons. I GUESS I mostly have eliminated the list, with the exception of Teaching the Classics, BJU, and Lightning Literature. I haven't fully researched or dissected these three curricula, which is how they have remained. Please, any thoughts on any of these???? Also, does Lightning Lit have materials for 5th and 6th grade?

Awesome, thanks.

Also, is Level 7 equivalent to 7th grade?

What is BYL and does Essentials in Literature start at Level 7? I haven't come across this one before, it looks really interesting.

I don't have experience with the WTM Grammar program, but wanted to say that I really love R&S English. We just completed book 5 (today!) and look forward to using book 6 in the fall. The pros are...lots of repetition, layers new information slowly, the information does go deep. We follow the oral part of the lesson and I hand pick what they do for written work, which is most, but not all. I do allow the kids to write directly in their books. I wouldn't have it any other way. The "homework" goes by faster and I think the information sticks better. They have a separate composition book for diagramming or writing sentences or paragraphs, however, a lot of their work is done in the book. My kids have an amazing understanding of grammar and the like.

Could you provide more information about the Glencoe program? I too have been looking for more literary direction with my kids. I have two starting 6th grade and would love to teach literature more formally. I enjoyed reading and analyzing all types of literature in HS and college and would love for my children to experience the same. Just would like some formal direction and guidance about what to teach at this age. There seems to be be many options (i.e. Heart of Dakota - Drawn Into the Heart of Reading, IEW - Introduction to Literature, Center for Lit, Moving Beyond the Page, etc...), but don't know which to pick. I would like the program to really really focus on the elements of literature and using those elements to analyze the material. I don't want to kill the love of reading literature, but to engage in gentle discussion.

Any curriculum ideas for astronomy and human anatomy that is NOT Apologia or the like? This year we had used Science in the Beginning and struggled with the format of the lessons. Two years ago we had used BFSU and loved it, but I don't want to put the time in like I had - I have another child I am formally starting in the fall. I love both of these subjects (i.e. astronomy and human anatomy) and would love to use solid and interesting curricula.

We have been using Rod and Staff and find it totally effective and gets the job done well. We are completing books 4 and 5 and will commence books 5 and 6 in the fall. For book 5, my twins agreed to a 20 minute timer for each lesson. The one twin wasn't crazy about R&S in fourth grade so we agreed on a time limit. However, any goofing around would pause the time. Interestingly enough, we got almost all the lessons done in 20 minutes, and toward the second half of the year, they were willing to work up to 30 minutes if needed. We have about five weeks left in the book and the year has been overall pretty great with R&S. I looked over book 6 for next year and forewarned them that the new time limit is 30 minutes. It's a little chunkier with information. I plan to use R&S until book 8 or 9/10, I just find it so effective.

This thread made me chuckle a little. I had to double check the title of the thread, thinking I misread it - must be upper middle school, not 6th grade. Wow, lots of strong math kids! English: Rod and Staff 6 Science and History: MFW guidance, although will not focus too much on the reformation, but more on Byzantium- Orthodox perspective. Math:We are moving into SM 6A and are slated to finish 6B before Christmas. I have Dolciani Pre-Algebra polished and ready to go. Spelling: Continue with Rod and Staff ...book 6 in the fall or return to Spalding (had used them years ago) or try Spelling Wisdom. Writing: We will stop at lesson 18 in WWE4 next month and resume to finish by Christmas... then onto WWS1. I just love Bauer 's writing books. Tried others and always see the greatest writing growth with her books. Latin: We are finishing up MP Latina Christiana. Thinking about switching to Classical Academic Press...never used them before. Outside sports, theological, and music activities.

Based on your experience, which I appreciate you sharing, Spelling Wisdom could fit our needs. It's essentially copywork (i.e. practicing the dictation in the start of the week through copywork) and taking the test via dictation of the passage.

Oh my goodness, you are right. So funny! Thanks!

We have gone through Spalding and Rod and Staff Spelling. I like both programs a lot, especially Spalding. We are currently using Rod and Staff Spelling 4 and 5 . I switched from Spalding to R&S because I needed something a little less intense, although, I add my Spalding twist to R&S :) I like R&S levels 4 and 5, but don't like levels 6+. I am researching other programs because I need my kids to continue with Spelling. I recently looked through Spelling Wisdom and thought it looked really great. As you study the dictation for the week, you pull out a few of the words to study. You study the words any way you seem fit. I would plan to study them with a Spalding twist. I also read about Simply Spelling and thought that looked like a good fit too. There is also Apples and Pears! Too many choices. I want the program to be straightforward but with attention to rules and language usage. I guess I could return to strictly Spalding, but I know my kids like a tiny bit of flare to our Spelling.

I have my 5th graders working on SM 5b at the moment. We do key to decimals and fractions on the weekends as homework..usually a page or two.. Fyi.. SM is done m-th and life of Fred on fridays. Anyway, I have SM 6a and 6b, key to algebra books, Dolciani pre algebra and Dolciani algebra. If we continue with SM and finish 6b, would you transition to Dolciani pre algebra or go straight to algebra? We also will be working through key to algebra on the weekends..only about 1-2 pages a weekend. OR would it be better to go from 5b to Dolciani pre algebra and then to Dolciani algebra? Last option, just go through all the books, which puts them in algebra as 8th graders. Fyi, they are older 5th graders.

We took a hiatus from wwe for a half a year. So glad we are back. I tried another program that people raved about but for whatever reason it didn't work for us. I noticed their writing had declined a bit and so I stopped it and went back to wwe. I have two fifth graders in book 4 and the fourth grader in book 3 on week 24 (picked up where we had left off).They too are happy to be back. I don't fully know why wwe works with the use of dictation and narration, but the brain seems to like it for writing.

Interesting... maybe I should call MP and ask how to manage using the lit guides for one or two kids.

That is awesome. My kids are in fifth grade and are currently working through 5B. I will gauge their progress when we hit 6A. Mentally, I would like them in Pre-A no later than 7th grade. They have done well with SM - not too much trouble going through the program. As a family, we value math. I have some personal expectations for my kids when it comes to math. They generally do well in math so they seem to be on track for Pre-A in 6th or 7th grade. If we transition into Pre-A after 6A, then they would be working on Pre-A in 6th grade. What are your experiences with Pre-A in 6th grade? My kids aren't gifted in math, but do well.

Hmmm...I wonder if we don't have to do 6B? I also have Doliciani Algebra Struture and Method book that I'm hoping to transition into. I have the Teacher Manual for the Algebra book, but only the student text for the Doliciani Pre-Algebra. Were you able to use the Dolciani Pre-A without the Teacher or Solution Manuals?

I know prealgebra has been brought up many times in terms of seeking out the right program. I have Dolciani The Accelerated Course but want to take a look at other strong prealgebra programs before we start. We will be starting SM 6a and after 6b will start prealgebra. I have looked at AOPS, but not sure if it's the right fit. Open to recommendation of good solid programs. Thanks!

Bump...

I had tried a lapbook unit study this year with my fifth graders and fourth grader using the Phantom Tollbooth and it worked out nicely. They weren't totally interested in the story, but enjoyed creating their lapbook. I want to continue this literature process but may want to try something different. I'm considering possibly using MCT (Michael Clay Thompson) or MP (Memoria Press). With regards to reading, I read to my children almost everyday (our read aloud) and they read silently about 30 minutes a day (book on their list or free choice). I want to continue this separate literature program where the children take turns to read aloud and we discuss and maybe write a little about the chapter we had just read. When we had done the Phantom Tollbooth, we worked on it about three days a week and took us about 2 months to get through it. We took our time and they enjoyed the process of reading together and doing a small minibook to stick on their lapbook. I had tried Memoria Press a couple of years ago and it was a lot of writing. I'm leaning toward MCT and trying a couple of their books. I'm taking a look at the Search Trilogy, which includes Treasure Island, The Call of the Wild, and The Invisible Man. Has anyone used MCT's literature approach?

I have used wwe 2 & 3 and wanted to switch things up at the start of this year. Well, I have been using Treasured Conversations because it was recommended by many. I know many people speak highly about the program, however, I have noticed a decline in writing skills in 2 of the three kids. Both fifth graders are frankly not writing as well as they did last year. I saw incredible progress in their writing when I had uses the wwe books, but for whatever reason, TC has stifled their writing. We are completing week 19 next week and I will be moving back to wwe. I purchased book 4. I have heard writing tales and writing and rhetoric were strong programs. Something to think about. I keep thinking of trying one of those two programs, but for now, I need to go back to what works for my kids.

I just posted about CW and WT and noticed the thread about WR. Argh! Too many options :) Anyway, based on their descriptions, CW and WR seem to be the most similar. Also, from what I've read, people really like WT. With respect to the amount of time everyday, how long does WR or CW take? Also, CW has a grammar component, does WR? My kids are pretty decent writers and work on writing almost everyday, they just don't want to do it more than 30 min a day. We did WWE 3 (took about 30-40 minutes with three kids) and R&S, which took about 30 minutes. All together, was about an hour a day between those two programs four days a week. They also write in their journals 2-3 times a week. So, for those who use WR, what do you like or don't like about it? At which grade did you use Fable 1? My kids will be in 4th and 5th grade.

So if I decided on WT, you would recommend level 2? I should look at their samples. You're right, level 2 does look more appropriate. How long does it take in a day? I likely would stick with four days a week, which is what I did with R&S and WWE.

I might want this year to be a lighter grammar year and get back to R&S the following year. That way they could be a little more independent.