They just finished WWE 3 and they did a nice job with it. They could narrate a story and did dictation well. I had an old post about dropping one level of WWE when my older kids were in the middle of 3rd grade and that helped tremendously. They also work on composition through R&S and could write three to four paragraphs without any of my assistance. They can follow writing directives that are given through R&S, after we have read them together. When they write, they do that on their own. They also write in their journals about 2-3 times a week. j Their concern about writing is that it might take too long. WWE doesn't take a long time and composition from R&S is only once every three weeks or so. I'm leaning toward Classical Writing because it seems to encompass more grammar and if I could work on grammar and writing together and that takes about 45 min a day then we're in. w Also, there's another program called Intermediate Language Lessons through MFW. I believe it's only English and no writing, right?

I have been using WWE and Rod and Staff English for the last couple of years. Wanted to switch for this year (maybe) and thought to try something different and return to WWE and R&S. I have a 4th grader and two 5th graders. We just completed WWE 3 (for all the kids) and Rod and Staff Enlish 3 and 4 with respect to their grade levels. I was thinking to switch to WT or CW. How long does each of these curricula take in a day? Is the grammar enough? For the fifth graders, I was thinking that in 6th grade, they can return to R&S and complete English 5 independently. If I had them do English 5 this year, they would need me to teach each lesson. My kids are still very dependent on me (including the 4th grader) and I directly work with them several hours a day. I also have a toddler and preschooler. I was hoping they could have some independence in 6th grade and work on English on their own. It would be English 5 so the material wouldn't be too difficult for when they are in 6th grade. I hope this all makes sense.

My kids were really into it when I was reading the book. I think I will go ahead and read it to them (I enjoy playing the different characters and voices) and hold off with Huck Finn until high school. Thanks for sharing your personal experiences.

I started reading Tom Sawyer as a read aloud and I stopped part way into the book. I think I would prefer to have the children read this book on their own, but I'm not sure. On a side note... I pick one book a year to do a lap book or unit study where we all read the book together and analyze it. I was thinking maybe I should have Huck Finn be that book instead of Tom Sawyer. We will be doing the Phantom Tollbooth this school year. Do you have your kids read the Mark Twain books or are they read alouds? My kids are 5th graders and a 4th grader. By the way, if I chose to not read the book aloud now, they would read the book around middle school.

We will be starting Singapore Math 5A, although we do LoF on Fridays (ice cream book at the moment). Once we complete SM through 6B, I am thinking to transition to LoF pre-algebra. After that, maybe use Jacob's or Foerster's Algebra I book. I am also considering Art of Problem Solving pre-algebra instead of LoF. There are so many decisions, but know I want a math program that is thorough and not light. So far all my kids seem to be math-minded and have interests that require math in their futures. Has anyone tried the LoF pre-algebra series??? I am so curious if I included books 1 and 2 for part of their school year in 6th grade that it would help to solidify math further and prepare them for Algebra 1.

Do you mean Complete A Sketch? I found it and it looks pretty nice. Overall, does it offer good, basic perspective training?

We are currently using ECC and I have three kids using it (two 4th graders and a third grader). My kids have learned A LOT about dozens of counties and I find the science very appropriate. We used Mystery of History and Building Foundations of Science Understanding last year. We haven't had as many experiments this year, but the kids have learned a lot about biomes, cell biology, animals, conservation, etc... I really love book basket. For every new country we head to the library and take out 30 + books related to the country of study and some surrounding countries and science for that two weeks. I can't find several of the books recommended by MFW and so I find very similar books. I get some from interlibrary loan as well. I try to get the books with an asterisk because those are the highly recommended books to get. This is our first year using MFW and I have been very pleased. I use it for Science and Geography only (but do work on the weekly bible verses). I don't read their read alouds or do their bible study (window of the world, hero tales, etc..). I have some conflict with the Religious portion of their curriculum, so I don't use it.

I posted this in the K-8 forum, but feel there may be more people here able to respond because of the ages of your children and likely some are currently in college (or graduated). I would like to gain the advice of parents who schooled their children in a relaxed environment and STILL their children did well in college. I do incorporate a more Charlotte Mason approach, but tend to make sure the kids finish all that's needed for the day. I am a box checker and have certain goals in mind for my children; both daily and long term goals. I come from the perspective that my children will benefit greatly from the time/effort I put into them during the early years. I have high expectations for my kids - I finished a doctorate degree and was mostly a straight A student and I find myself wanting my children to have as many opportunities as possible. If they are given lots of doors of opportunities and decide to become an illustrator, then I'm ok with that. My kids are very typical kids. My husband and I are very typical learners as well. The reason for my post is our days have turned into monotonous, predictable days. I have become a crazy box checker and our days are about 6 hours longs, not including breaks, etc... I have two fourth graders and a third grader. I also have a preschooler and baby. Math is very important to us - I guess I consider us a mathy family. My husband and I were math majors. Anyway, I expect all of our children to go to college and for them to take at a minimum precalculus in high school. They all are in Singapore Math and are doing fairly well. Math takes about an hour a day. I would like to outline our current day below. Currently Singapore Math - 1 hour ( five days a week) - although try to use one of those days using Life of Fred R&S English - 45 min (four days a week) Writing With Ease - 15-30 min (four days a week) MFW Science, Geography, and Bible - 2 hours (four days a week) R&S Spelling - 15 min (five days a week) Cursive - 10 min (three days a week) Journal Writing - 15 min (twice a week) Math Drill - 10 min (twice a week) Reading Aloud - 45 min (five days a week) Silent Reading - 30 min (five days a week) Here's the type of day I would LOVE to have for two of the ten months in a school year.... Read aloud to my children great literature covering English, History, and Science - 2 hours (daily) Journal Writing on anything they want on a daily basis Singapore Math - 1 hour (five days a week with Life of Fred sprinkled in there) Silent Reading - 30 min (daily) That's it!!! No spelling, no English, no cursive, no math drill. No MFW Science, History, Bible. I spoke with a mother recently whose approach resembles the latter option. She reads aloud to them (or uses audible), the children write in their journals daily, and they work on math daily. That's it! I asked her if she's concerned about not covering certain aspects of academia like the Language Arts. She said she wasn't concerned and that reading aloud to children 2 to 3 hours a day covers the essentials and that it's enough. She said the children learn a great deal in this lower-stress, open environment and they do very well in college. I'm looking for advice from parents who have been there done that. Have you schooled from a more relaxed state, reading aloud to your kids several hours a day and later those children became excellent college students? I am so interested in trying this approach, but I'm afraid of letting go of all the boxed thinking.

I want to cross post this in the high school forum because I would like to gain the advice of parents who schooled their children in a relaxed environment and STILL their children did well in college. I do incorporate a more Charlotte Mason approach, but tend to make sure the kids finish all that's needed for the day. I am a box checker and have certain goals in mind for my children; both daily and long term goals. I come from the perspective that my children will benefit greatly from the time/effort I put into them during the early years. I have high expectations for my kids - I finished a doctorate degree and was mostly a straight A student and I find myself wanting my children to have as many opportunities as possible. If they are given lots of doors of opportunities and decide to become an illustrator, then I'm ok with that. My kids are very typical kids. My husband and I are very typical learners as well. The reason for my post is our days have turned into monotonous, predictable days. I have become a crazy box checker and our days are about 6 hours longs, not including breaks, etc... I have two fourth graders and a third grader. I also have a preschooler and baby. Math is very important to us - I guess I consider us a mathy family. My husband and I were math majors. Anyway, I expect all of our children to go to college and for them to take at a minimum precalculus in high school. They all are in Singapore Math and are doing fairly well. Math takes about an hour a day. I would like to outline our current day below. Currently Singapore Math - 1 hour ( five days a week) - although try to use one of those days using Life of Fred R&S English - 45 min (four days a week) Writing With Ease - 15-30 min (four days a week) MFW Science, Geography, and Bible - 2 hours (four days a week) R&S Spelling - 15 min (five days a week) Cursive - 10 min (three days a week) Journal Writing - 15 min (twice a week) Math Drill - 10 min (twice a week) Reading Aloud - 45 min (five days a week) Silent Reading - 30 min (five days a week) Here's the type of day I would LOVE to have for two of the ten months in a school year.... Read aloud to my children great literature covering English, History, and Science - 2 hours (daily) Journal Writing on anything they want on a daily basis Singapore Math - 1 hour (five days a week with Life of Fred sprinkled in there) Silent Reading - 30 min (daily) That's it!!! No spelling, no English, no cursive, no math drill. No MFW Science, History, Bible. I spoke with a mother recently whose approach resembles the latter option. She reads aloud to them (or uses audible), the children write in their journals daily, and they work on math daily. That's it! I asked her if she's concerned about not covering certain aspects of academia like the Language Arts. She said she wasn't concerned and that reading aloud to children 2 to 3 hours a day covers the essentials and that it's enough. She said the children learn a great deal in this lower-stress, open environment and they do very well in college. I'm looking for advice from parents who have been there done that. Have you schooled from a more relaxed state, reading aloud to your kids several hours a day and later those children became excellent college students? I am so interested in trying this approach, but I'm afraid of letting go of all the boxed thinking.

I wrote a recent post about starting my third graders (last year) on level three and realized after 6 months that it was a mistake. I ended up dropping a year and a half and they (and I) were so much happier. It is a skill that requires practice. My husband and I could barely do the dictations in WWE 3, and we are college-educated adults! Personally, I think starting even at level 2 might be appropriate. You could easily do two weeks of WWE in one week and/or be selective about what to work on. I understand wanting to catch her up a bit, but working on the fundamentals will pay off greatly in the long run.

Also, do I receive one free audio book every month with the the $15 a month subscription? For any additional books, I have to pay the amount stated? Some of the amounts are $20?! For example, the Daniel Boone audio book is over $20, why? I could get the real book for a few bucks. Do the prices change once I'm a member?

Once you download an audible book onto a laptop, can I transfer that to a couple of kindles for the kids?

I too have been very interested in subscribing to Audible. This may have already been answered, but with multiple kids, each of them listens to one audio book every week, I easily could have up to 12 books a month. These books tend to be series books like the Chronicles of Narnia, the series for the Wizard of Oz, the Jungle Book, etc... Would I pay the price advertised for each book? I don't want to keep the books, I just want to have my kids listen to them and I guess "return" them when done. Do I get that money back when the audio book is returned?

Oh thank you for this. It provides me some perspective.

This information is so amazing! I will print this up to save in my math folder. Such fantastic advice, thank you. I do have another question. Currently, we work on Singapore Math four days a week and on Fridays we read and work on problems from Life of Fred. We do three to four chapters on Fridays in LoF and are currently working in the Fractions book and Ice Cream. Could the kids do pre algebra four days a week and continue to work on LoF on Fridays and STILL complete AoPS in one year if possible, even if it's a full 12 months?

I really appreciate your input, thanks! My kids are in SM 4B and will soon be in 5A. I am thinking to complete 6A and then switch over to AoPS pre-algebra. They will be toward the end of 5th grade/beginning of 6th grade. Would I read the beginning of the lesson aloud with them or do they just read it to themselves? How do you manage that? Also, I see the lessons are divided by 1.3, 1.4 etc... do you complete one of those each day?

Could I use the textbook written by Richard Rusczyk, David Patrick, Ravi Boppana for the Art of Problem Solving Pre-Algebra instead of paying for an online course? Is there a teacher's guide? I know the book speaks directly to the student, but is there a separate teacher's guide and/or answer key? Are the sample problems in this main book or is there a separate workbook? I would prefer to teach my kids directly instead of using an online course, but want to make sure I have a great textbook to teach from. Have any of you directly taught your children pre-algebra using the AoPS book?

I would really appreciate any feedback. He would love to be homeschooled, but his mother isn't able to do it. I don't want the books to be viewed by him as too youngish, however, the vocabulary level would be appropriate.

This boy is currently 13 years old and has been living in the states for more than 3 years. He moved from eastern Europe. He is in the 8th grade, but technically should be in 7th. He just turned 13 last month. The problem occurred when he moved here. In his country, he was in the grade ahead (their cut off date was in December) and so it was a lateral move for him when he entered the U.S. school system. The cut off date at his current school is Sept 1, but because he was in the grade ahead in his country, they decided to keep him in it and not move him down. He is struggling in school across all subjects. I told his mother to get audio books of good, rich literature to help improve his vocabulary and English language skills. He is getting lots of tutoring help after school, but he is starting to rebel against all the extra work. I spoke to him about listening to some really good books on his ipad while he's relaxing in bed before going to sleep. He seemed very interested in this idea, but now I need to come up with a list of books that he will find very interesting but not too difficult. He lives by a lot of Indian reservations (southwestern region of the US) so I thought to try some books with American Indians in it. Two ideas included Squanto Friend of the Pilgrims and Little House on the Prairie (this book includes the Ingalls family living in Indian Territory). What do you think? Other book ideas... Lewis and Clark by George Sullivan, The Sword in the Tree, the Jean Fritz books, The Trumpet of the Swan, Twenty and Ten, Runaway Mouse, Snow Treasure (story about Norwegian children moving millions of dollars worth of gold when Nazis were occupying their country).

Oh, I also want to mention the narration of the bean, the straw, and the coal from yesterday's exercise was also light years better than last year's. I even had read them to my husband last night and he said they were very well done. I love that my kids could read something and come up with a nice summary.

I want to share my positive experience using WWE. After a GREAT deal of research last year, I decided to use this program. It was my first year homeschooling and I had a 2nd grader and 3rd graders. I started the 3rd graders with level 3 and the 2nd grader with level 2 - made sense to me. I had them take those evaluations to make sure the levels were appropriate. They seemed to do pretty well so we went ahead with those respective levels. Anyway, we really struggled using this program the entire half-year. From day one, there were struggles (I completely ignored that red flag). I couldn't understand why they couldn't repeat the very first dictation lesson in WWE 3 using two repetitions. I mean, the book asked me to repeat it TWO times. I thought my kids could easily do this. They are good students and work hard. Anyway, after repeating that same sentence several times, we finally got the content down on paper. Finally, in December of 2015, I finally concluded that my kids needed to try a different level. I had read somewhere on this forum about Susan Bauer mentioning that it is really ok to drop a level and that one of her own children may have had some struggles with dictation. Once I read that, I felt less pressure about keeping them where they were. They then were all placed at the start of WWE 2. I dropped the 2nd grader half a level and the 3rd graders a whole level and a half. They had completed about half of WWE 3 and were then placed at the start of WWE 2. They weren't entirely happy about that, but their attitudes changed immediately. After the first week, the kids were SO MUCH HAPPIER. I was happier because there weren't any struggles - they were completely eliminated. And I had all three kids on the same level. I am typing all of this because I wanted to share that we started WWE 3 this week. I cannot believe how well they did today with the first dictation of Little Red Cap. I read the passage TWO times, just like the book suggested and they all got it! After we were done, I asked the 4th graders if they remembered how much they struggled on this exact exercise last year. They totally remembered and thought today's passage was easy. I know someone who uses IEW and is always trying to convince me to switch, but honestly, I have really enjoyed the progress they have made in the last year and the approach to writing makes sense to me. I really love it.

I'm on their website but nothing states Cyber Monday Sale?

I would love to see this curriculum go on sale. I have avoided buying it for almost a year, but if it's on sale, I would feel better about buying it. Anyone know?

I looked at the Right Start website and was hoping the sale would apply today. Nothing. Does anyone know from experience if they have the sale on Black Friday or Cyber Monday? I have wanted to buy this curriculum, but was always turned off by the price. If it's on sale, I would snatch it up in an instant. Ugh. I will wait to see on Monday.

I will try to respond again later. But yes, he does work from home. We are good about leaving him alone when he's working. We are used to him working from home, so the kids know the drill. He has directly told me that he feels I don't need the help, I look to have it under control. I tell him that even though it's under control, it would be very helpful to me if he could lend a helping hand. He KNOWS that I'm feeling overwhelmed. I am like a rag doll with the demands hitting and dragging me from all the directions. I have little breathing room to re-energize. Thankfully, I am able to take a deep breath and keep chugging along, but it is beating me down. I tell him this, I am a very open person.