I've used it twice and loved it! It's a great program! I used it alongside of Abeka history 2, but you can totally use this alone and supplement anything extra from the library. I think it's plenty for a little person of first or second grade! Two thumbs up! Dee :)

Okay, take a deep breath, it's going to be okay. I brought my daughter home for her 6th grade year, she was also an honor roll student. It only took me a few days to realize she couldn't tell time on a clock. What? How did I never notice this? How did the school not notice this. Among other things, she also didn't know her time tables. It only took a few weeks to really teach these and move on from skill to skill. Your daughter is obviously intelligent and it's not her fault that the system is just that, a system designated to teach children to pass tests and appear more intelligent than their counterparts in other countries. I like the suggestions offered, but you can get some basic math book like, Basic College Math. Sometimes they have it on Amazon for a few bucks and if you only have your daughter do the odds, you will already have an answer key in the back of the book for that. I own this book, it is awesome and I love the way it is so direct in teaching. When you enroll in college and fail the basic math test, you get a basic math course like this one to quickly pull you up the ladder of basics and get into algebra courses. I promise you it will only take her a few months to catch up, so to speak. I hesitate putting her in CLE as much as I love the program because of her background in coming from the public school, something like this can be detrimental to her. With something non-graded like Life of Fred, or Basic College Math, she will feel good that it is intended for her age or higher. You did the best you could. We all put our trust in the system until we realize it's flawed. Thankfully you pulled her out early enough to catch these little things before she even starts highschool. You will be fine! Good Luck and Congratulations on pulling her out and homeschooling her!!! Many Blessings!!! Dee in Sunny FL! ps sorry if this is a repeat, I have not read all of the posts, only two or three.

I believe that Reading Strands also tells how to do this. :) The Progeny Press study guides are great and have all levels. HTH, Dee

The teacher's manual is a little jumbled, but once you get the hang of it, it makes perfect sense. There are two separate lesson plans in the Teacher's edition. You can use the grade level sheets and use the program in much the same fashion as a textbook, in other words some addition sheets, some subtraction sheets, some mult. sheets, and so on. In this way you would target all the necessary skills for that grade. Then there is the suggested course of study of doing a book a year. You would finish one book before starting another. We started off doing all the addition and all the subtraction, then we went straight into the multiplication and then because of having a baby and some health problems dealing with fatigue, I ended up getting a regular program. I was also worried that my son may have been behind because he wasn't in a regular program, but that couldn't have been farther from the truth. He was right on target with all of his skills. The multiplication book was my personal favorite. I couldn't believe the ease in which my son learned his multiplication tables. We loved and played all of the games, and I have kept every bit of it to use as a supplement for my other son now. We often use the cards, and all the manipulatives, with the program we are using now. I find myself referring to it and the teaching tricks in the teacher's manual very often. Someone on one of the other boards use to use it exclusively but had to test each year, so she used a cheap, 5 dollar spectrum workbook to target any other skills that she thought would pop up on the tests and her children did just fine. I forgot her name, I think it was Shay, I can't remember. :( HTH, Dee in Sunny FL! ps get ready for lots of cutting of all those manipulatives. I bought mine used and already laminated, and I couldn't have been more appreciative of the time and effort that must have gone into doing this. It is definitely worth laminating all the games and manipulatives before cutting them.

My son was behind so we started him a level behind. He is currently a third grader and he's working on 209 right now. We started the year on 201. He is doing wonderfully and really learning and retaining everything he's learned so far. I love the pace and so does he. It's perfect for him. What I love the most is that I don't have to supplement with anything like I was doing before. Please test him in. The diagnostic tests are free online at clp.org, I believe that's the site, I hope I'm right. Then place your child in at exactly the level where she places and go from there. We could not be any happier with CLE! Dee :) ps and don't forget to buy the sub./add. flash cards. You could make your own, but they are numbered and have letters in a certain order and it makes it so much easier for me to pull out the right flash cards each day. They come in a nice, sturdy case, and are very durable. The multiplication flash cards could be any kind or type. So you can even use the dollar store ones.

Thanks AnnMarie... This isn't the one, but thanks for posting it. I'm going to keep this one as well. Anyone else? Dee

Someone posted a link to some english worksheets that I believe went from K-6 or even k-8th, I can't remember. They were whole books...I think they were spelling books and grammar books and it's not the Scott Foresman reading handbooks either. If you have this link, please share it. Thank you, Dee

I like everything about it! We started with Winston Basic in the 8th grade and it was a perfect fit for my son. I did it right alongside of him, so we learned together. What I loved about the program is that you are only working on 3 sentences per day. This may not seem like enough, but you are writing them down, dissecting them for a short time with the cards, and then marking them down to parse them on paper. You discuss the whys of everything, and retention is high. I wish I had done this with my other children because they have not retained as much as this particular child using Winston. We've gone on to use Winston Word Works, and Winston Advanced in the 9th grade and are enjoying the challenge as well! One thing to remember, Winston is just grammar. You will not find any writing instruction or any lessons on punctuation. By this time, my son had a good grasp on punctuation and a handbook remedied any questions that came up. (we have a few, though I am about to purchase Rod and Staff's handbook...I think....) We use Writing Strands for Writing, and Igniting Your Writing since Writing Strands is only a semester course and we need the writing practice with my reluctant writer. :) HTH, Dee in Sunny FL!

We used Winston Basic for the 8th grade and then went on to do Word Works, and are doing Winston Advanced in the 9th. I would say that if your child has a good grasp of word usage then yes, it would be okay to skip Word Works. I thought it was going to be a super easy course for my son, but I was able to see a lot of weaknesses when we used it, the Word Works, that is. :) We have loved all the Winston Grammar products!!! We do it together and my son loves getting more answers correct than his mama! :lol: Blessings!! Dee

These are the reasons why now I buy mostly new. I got tired of people not being truthful about the condition of the curriculum that they were selling. ...so sorry this happened to you. I would also send it back and cut my losses and save up for it new. It's a lesson and you will never forget it. Dee

If you have been using it, can you share what you like or don't like about it? ..and your experience with it, and anything else you'd like to say about it. :) blessings!!! Dee

Tatras Vertical Phonics-This we used to introduce all of the phonograms in a quick and easy manner. We use it to learn the word lists as well. Let's Read, A Linguistic Approach by Leonard Bloomfield-this reading system is amazing and very easy to teach once all of the phonograms are known. We really enjoyed it and loved the stories. One manual gets you through k-3rd grade, maybe sooner depending on your readers. Spelling Plus Dictation--I love knowing that the dictation sentences are there for me, and my son is really learning to spell using this method. That's all for now! In 10 plus years of homeschool, these are the ones that really stand out and not that many people use them. :) Dee :)

Awesome!!!:lol:

Call the company. They are very helpful with problems like this. They might even issue you a new code. It's worth a try and you have nothing to lose. HTH, Dee

It's so wonderful to have a new baby, isn't it, especially with all you've been through. Let me let you in on a little secret. One year, we made a huge life decision to move from NJ, to FL. Guess what, one of my daughters had much difficulty with the changes and I was so busy and overwhelmed myself, I barely noticed. At the end of the year when it came time to look at her completed work, I realized that she had barely touched her school work all year. Guess what? We took our summer break anyway and I didn't fret about it. All she had done all year was take out and read library books. The following school year I purchased curriculum in the grade level that she would be passing on to and she did just fine. It hadn't hurt her in the slightest to take that year off. She was able to continue her next grade level work with absolutely no problem. A few months will not kill 'em. If all you did was read on the sofa, it might actually help them and boost up their reading and listening skills. You have full permission to take 2 months off to regroup. I promise you each and every one of the kids will bounce back, and they might actually do better as the one poster posted, they also need to heal from this scary ordeal of possibly losing their momma. Enjoy your time reading wonderful books, baking delicious confections, and loving on that precious gift of God!!! Be blessed! Remember, the baby is the lesson. http://www.schoolofabraham.com/babylesson.htm Dee :)

the last poster. Finish the Easy Grammar for the year and then start fresh with Winston in the 6th. I actually used E.G. for a while then used Winston Grammar in the 8th. We loved it!!! Please don't try to rush through it. We found that doing exactly 3-4 sentences a day as the publisher suggests was ideal. You train the brain to memorize the cards, so to speak. We really enjoyed it. This year we used Winston Word Works in the beginning of the year, and now we are on Winston Grammar Advanced and it is very challenging, but because we only parse 3 sentences per day, my son thinks it's fun. HTH, Dee ps There are so many good questions answered at winstongrammar.com

I was blessed enough to purchase it used for 50 dollars more than 10 years ago. I've sold so many things throughout the years, but I've never let go of my Mastering Mathematics. All of my cards were even laminated. For us, it was a Godsend. My son was writing phobic and just loved, loved, loved the games! I've used it as a supplement for my other son, and if you school in the summer, or throughout the year, it's a great textbook math break to just work on one needed skill. For us, this summer, I'm going to have my 9 year old start in the multiplication book. He's doing wonderfully in CLE, but we are a 3rd grader basically working on the second grade material, book 207. While we are at a perfect place level wise, my son is definitely ready for more in terms of multiplication. So this is where the workbook and the games will come in handy. I also use the addition and subtraction games in the summer to keep skills current and fresh. I cannot tell you what an invaluable resource all those manipulatives have been!!! We use them still. I add the manipulatives whenever we are working on our CLE math and there is something my son doesn't understand. And I use the little cards to play matching games to keep geometry and measurement skills fresh and current as well! The ideas and possibilities are endless!!! :) Dee

I've been through the grieving process twice while homeschooling. The first was when my best friend died of breast cancer, the second was when I found out about my husband's infidelity. The second grief was worse than the first and took me almost 2 years to recover, but what I was able to do was just the basics, and most of what the kids could do independently. I'd say math, and english grammar--and workbook at that. Ask them to write something every week about anything that they are reading or doing. Don't worry about checking it, just make sure they are handing it in, and that's all. There are seasons for everything in life, and my time of grief did not stop the children from learning and we all learned that even in the grief there was learning and God was truly there. I pray that God gives you His peace at this particular time. My prayers are with you right now. I'm so sorry for your loss and your pain. Many Blessings... Dee

Rod and Staff spelling 2. We really enjoyed it last year. HTH, Dee in FL! ps if it helps, I've been there with depression and have to pace myself very carefully as to not become overwhelmed. I'm lifting you up in prayer right now. Don't be afraid to seek help. Some depression is temporary, others find that it's a chemical imbalance, like mine, that affects most of their lives. Whatever the case, get out, take a walk, and please talk to someone until you find that person that will listen. ((((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))))))) ps if you need to talk and just want an ear rebel4jesus25@hotmail.com

hit it at 13 1/2. It's like the bulb was off and then it went on. School has been so much easier with him since. It will happen. My son was a late bloomer so there's hope for the late bloomers. I can totally see it happening sooner with my younger son. :) Blessings!! Dee

This is exactly how I plan on using it, and we do our own memory verses, so I won't be using those either. I'm really excited to be receiving this... Blessings!! Dee

I only ordered the TM since it has the student pages condensed. I only plan to do the questions orally as not to overwhelm my son or add on more than we already have on our plate. Thank you, Dee

This is exactly what I'm looking for. I prefer the Holy Spirit to direct us on the devotional aspect of it. I like that from the sample, it teaches a lot of the KJV poetic language and that is my hope, that my children learn to read from the KJV. Thank you for your response!!! I just ordered it at Rainbow. Blessings!!! Dee

I'm really interested in using this, but haven't found one single person that has used it? Anyone have any opinions??? Thanks, Dee

Did you feel that they were necessary, or just an extra addition to what was already offered in the paces? Did you also buy the lab dvd's, or are these in the videos as well??? Thank you for any info., Dee