Looking for a secular homeschool group for my 10 year old DS and me. I recently stepped down as the group leader of a Meetup group that was designed specifically for making friends and exploring Dallas through field trips. It was so much fun but it got really tiring organizing field trips and having little turnout. Since this time we have joined several other groups but the kids seem to be way too young at the group events. If you are in the Dallas area and know of any homeschool groups or you yourself are running into similar issues, I would love to hear from you. Thanks!!

I recently purchased TWJ and I started with the Preface, it was way too long for my taste. So I decided to skip this section altogether. I went straight to Chapter 1 and from there it has been smooth sailing. I'm what you would call a "forced" reader, it definitely does not come naturally. :laugh: My son seems to be a reluctant everything but this might really trick him into writing. Just the idea of not forcing him and letting it come naturally is very appealing. Heck, I think I will learn a lot from this program. I also plan to include the Arrow and Teatime into our curriculum. This will teach him grammar, dictation, copywork and other parts of literature through reading the assigned books. The sample looks very interesting.

I highly recommend this version of Aseop's Fables by Beverley Naidoo (Author), Piet Grobler (Illustrator). You can find it on Amazon with a brief preview of some of the pages. This was very well illustrated and the stories are retold from animals native to Africa. My son could not put it down, he absolutely loved it.

I'm using Teaching Textbooks 6 for my 5th grade DS this year.

Thanks for all the great feedback!! I've never heard of 4-h but I'll check into it. My issue I keep running into is we find a group and either it's religious based or too young of a crowd. We've tried boy scouts at 2 separate times and both groups were not very active...did a lot of arts and crafts. I've searched online and joined several forums. We live in North Dallas so this should not be that hard...you'd think.

LavenderGirl, I'm not quite the helicopter mom but far from checking out. :laugh: Surprisingly, I enjoy relearning this stuff, I could be a candidate for the show, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader. LOL! A common issue that many moms have said is the lack of problem solving questions in the program. This is not a deal breaker but it is definitely something to consider.

I am going on 3 years homeschooling my ds and I have been unsuccessful in locating a homeschool group. My ds is not into sports so that rules out the majority of groups that he would be able to find kids his age to socialize with. I even went as far as to start a Meetup group which was great but its hard for parents to commit to outings due to their crazy schedules. Then I decided to join a few groups and the majority of the kids were VERY young and my 10 year old ds just could not relate. Do any of you have the same problems? I feel alone and I live in a very big city but I just can't find kids his age. Any help you could offer would be fantastic! On a side note, we live in Dallas, Texas.

Ethel, I like the idea of writing with your kiddo and then sharing your stories with each other. It can get really tiresome to write alone. Unfortunately, there are not many homeschoolers his age in my area, which I find bizarre since we live in Dallas, but much of the time we spend with each other. So being able to bounce ideas back and forth and share our work sounds like a great idea! Thanks for your feedback.

Poikar, I looked at the IEW program since the reviews were so positive but after watching the sample video it honestly put me to sleep. The video seems so outdated and the speaker is very monotone. I had my husband watch it to make sure it was not just me and he said, if it can't keep my attention in this short sample then I know our son will be zoning out. ;) I know you said that W&R did not work out, was it the lack of structure or was it too repetitive or something else? I'm just trying to get a feel for the program.

J-rap, I agree there is a lot of differing views on this forum regarding TT and I don't know if it is more opinion than fact. The only downside I've seen so far to TT is the cost of the program, but if it works then I'm all in. It's great to hear that it worked well for your kids. The sample program grabbed my son's attention. He wanted to keep going!! That made me very happy. :hurray:

I was using the US Edition which only had reviews every 3 or 4 chapters, so it was a ton of information at once and my ds would always get frustrated. I want my kiddo to enjoy math and not loathe it. EKS, can you tell me your personal experience with TT? Why is it less superior than Singapore Math?

Ethel, this was a VERY helpful response! It is a great relief to hear someone actually use the program and have great success. Finding his own voice is exactly what I'm looking for and that is why I had concerns initially. When you used this program did you also purchase the Teachers Edition?

This past year we used Singapore Math 4, my ds seemed to breeze through the workbook but each time it came to the review it was like he had never seen the work before. So for 5th grade we were looking at Teaching Textbooks - Level 6. It says a lot that we can skip a grade so that is a plus for Singapore but he was getting really bored and frustrated so I knew it was time for a change. Has anyone used TT and if so what was your experience with it and did you need to use any supplements? Also, has anyone used it long term?

This year we are diving into writing for my 5th grader and after researching The Writer's Jungle and Writing & Rhetoric by CAP, I need some advice before I dump money into it. :001_smile: In my opinion, it seems that TWJ is for the homeschooling family that doesn't mind not having a structured curriculum (which I'm ok with). It's more or less a guide to help your child naturally find his own voice. However, W&R is a structured curriculum with weekly activities that revolve around a different Fable each week for the child to decipher. My first thoughts after reviewing the downloaded samples was, WOW! the hard work is done for me and the daily activities with narration, dictation, copy work, rewording...WAIT! WHAT? Rewording got to me a little bit and in the introduction of the sample pages it says something to the effect that pretty much everything there is to say has already been said and any "new" writings are just a mixture of old works. Crazy, right? So, here's my concern, by having my kid's first experience with writing be the rewording of someone else's work then in turn will he ever find his own voice or just become a really awesome plagiarizer? Please let me know your thoughts and if you've had any personal experience with either program? Thank you

This year we are diving into writing for my 5th grader and after researching The Writer's Jungle and Writing & Rhetoric by CAP, I need some advice before I dump money into it. :001_smile: In my opinion, it seems that TWJ is for the homeschooling family that doesn't mind not having a structured curriculum (which I'm ok with). It's more or less a guide to help your child naturally find his own voice. However, W&R is a structured curriculum with weekly activities that revolve around a different Fable each week for the child to decipher. My first thoughts after reviewing the downloaded samples was, WOW! the hard work is done for me and the daily activities with narration, dictation, copy work, rewording...WAIT! WHAT? Rewording got to me a little bit and in the introduction of the sample pages it says something to the effect that pretty much everything there is to say has already been said and any "new" writings are just a mixture of old works. Crazy, right? So, here's my concern, by having my kids first experience with writing be the rewording of someone else's work then in turn will he ever find his own voice or just become a really awesome plagiarizer? Please let me know your thoughts and if you've had any personal experience with either program? Thank you