My boy loves anything by David Macaulay...the books are incredibly illustrated in b&w, and he has written books about all kinds of things: the building of the Pyramids, Roman Village, Big City, How Things Work...right up my boy's alley. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?%5Fencoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=David%20Macaulay The reading just kind of goes along with the illustrations, so it's painless. :) He also likes the Boxcar Children Chapter books. (His big sister's influence.) :) Diary of a Whimpy Kid are also geared toward boys/humor.

Maybe help her 'jog' her memory, instead of telling her the rule, ask her 'what's the rule for 'k' sounds?' My dd is doing remedial work with phonics this year with AAS, and we barely use the word cards as they seem so easy...I think she probably already knows how to spell those from memory. So I give her more challenging words if possible to practice the rules. So maybe drop the word card 'memorization' and just start practicing applying the rules to more challenging words. Maybe give her a quiz once a week with words to apply the rules to from her key review cards.

Have you seen Intermediate Language Lessons by Emma Serl? I've been using it with my dd, and she's doing well with it. There isn't a lot of dicatation and copywork, but it seems like every other curriculum I own gives dictation/copywork exercises. :) The book was originally published in 1914, and covers lots of topics including dictionary skills, grouping sentences into paragraphs, memory work, nouns, etc. It's well done, IMO. I do have the teacher's manual, and have had to use it for some topics like pronunciation symbols (didn't know those off the top of my head!) :) It covers 3 years, and the book + teacher's manual comes it at under $30. http://www.amazon.com/Intermediate-Language-Lessons-Emma-Serl/dp/0965273571/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

Is there a Yahoo group? That would be a simple way of sharing files, since they are already set up to do so.

I don't know if this is even helpful at all, but I found it interesting. My Great Grandmother was a school teacher around 1915-1918. I still have many of her original books that she taught from. A big emphasis was placed on memory work...it sort of reminds me of the WTM First Language Lessons. :) My husband's grandmother said that she did a LOT of memory work in school. They were required to memorize more than just math facts...poetry, lists of historical names/dates. I am grateful that my kids are doing much more of this at home this year than they did in public school.

I printed out free figures from a yahoo group I'm a part of, and then we fill in with drawings for other things we want to include. My 10yo dd is my timeline artist. I made a blank 'table' in Word (a grid) that is about the same size as the printed pics, and she does her drawings in those. She draws with pencil or superfine sharpie and then colors with colored pencil. We laminate them. I just cut the corners straight.

Really neat site! Thanks for the link!

Oh...forgot this one: mine LOVES to play with magnets and little cards with pictures. I only give her a small stack at a time, because she makes such a mess with them, but she sure loves her flashcards! ;) She'd probably like something like a magna doodle or just some fridge magnets with a small magnetic dry/erase board. Another thing that keeps her very busy is trying on our shoes, and unfolding baskets of clean laundry...but I don't encourage the last one. ;)

Have you read any of the American Girl series? They are fun, an appropriate age match, and are historic fiction. My dd has enjoyed most of the books in that series. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms is one I loved as a little girl. The Secret Garden is another. I also loved Anne of Green Gables, but only knew about the first book as a little girl. ;)

Can she understand and follow several verbal commands, if given at once? Like "Go to the kitchen, get a glass, and pour some water." Or, if you say "Will you please feed the cat?", can she infer from that request the steps that need to be taken to accomplish that task? I'm not being sarcastic or making light...some kids really struggle with sequencing events and following instructions. Following a string of commands/instructions is a skill that is developed iwth practice, but by 9, most kids are able to do this easily. For a child who is incapable of understanding instructions, by this age, you would see *tons* of evidence in other areas of her life that she's not able to process the order of steps in a sequence. A sense of humor is an entirely different animal than the part of the brain used in understanding directions IMO. In a pun or joke, you have to infer a different meaning to the words used, and it's definitely a higher thinking process that usually requires a large vocabulary and some understanding of archaic word usage/meanings. In following instructions, your child simply needs to have basic comprehension skills, understand the vocuabulary used in the instructions, and be able to remember the steps. This is what I would do. The next time she reads something that she doesn't understand, have her read each step, and then explain outloud to you (in her own words) what the instructions say to do. That way you can see where the comprhension problem is coming into play. I know with my 10 yo dd, if she doesn't have a good grasp of the vocabulary used, then she's lost from the get go, wondering what the heck a 'denominator' is. ;) So if it's truly a case where she is not grasping the meaning of the words used, that is easy enough to remedy with some review. If you think she's stalling, have her write each step down and number them. I bet the light will come on really quickly if she's having to do extra work. ;)

Oh my...she sounds like my daughter. :) It's not that I don't want to do it...it's just that I want to do it *my* way; and, btw, Mom...I already know how to do it, so I don't need this boring curriculum. And if you question me, push me, or don't believe me I *will* cry, pout, or stonewall until your hair turns grey. So then I have to start quoting scripture to her about an unteachable spirit. :D Fun times at my house too. ;) I might scale back the writing to your one favorite writing program...the one that you feel will give her solid and practical writing/composition training. After she completes her assignment from that, she is free to compose her other stories and journal to her heart's desire. Make room for her to do this in other subjects, because, like she says she 'likes to write stories.' I have my dd write a journal of her 'adventures' in space (we're studying astronomy in science this year). So she happily draws and writes her little character on adventures, and includes the planetary facts just to humor me. ;) We're both happy! I found this link: http://www.storyarts.org/classroom/roots/family.html that uses questions about family history as a springboard to interview family members and/or journal about your own life. and another WTM buddy gave me this really cool link: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/files/ywp/Workbook_Middle2.pdf It's a writing notebook program on how to plan, write and edit your own novel. Hang tough, Mama...don't give in on the whining, or she'll use it more frequently. I've been known to *add* sentences when the whine box starts up. Sentences like "Whining is a very unattractive trait in young ladies, and may cause facial blemishes." "Women who whine are at higher odds of working in environments that requires polyester uniforms." "It's your turn to unload the dishwasher, and if you give me more time to think about it, I can come up with a few other chores too." Ya know...stuff like that. ;) HTH! Gwen

I agree with Erin's assessment, and would add that often, fictional characters thoughts are written in the exact same style as their speech...so the only way you can tell if a character is thinking *that blue eye shadow is hideous* or saying it outloud, are the presence or absence of quotation marks. I understand how someone would consider that quotaion marks are used in two different ways. When they are used to with a quote from a real person in a non-fiction text, you know that you are reading real words said *or written by* by this real person, and are therefore are not an original work by the author of the text. Quotations in non-fiction offer a relevant, real voice from the past that supports what the author of the text is writing about. But in fiction, they are absolutely necessary to determine what is being said outloud. So, ultimately, in both cases, quotation marks tell you that the 'voice' is changing, and in non-fiction, usually indicate an audible voice. ;) I have a 10 year old. God bless us, every one.

I have an 18 month old, and we plan school time around her morning nap. :) In the afternoons, we do read-alouds, and she plays in the floor, colors with colored pencils, or looks at books with the big kids. My little one is really into putting things in and taking them out. So a cardboard (cereal) box and some cherrios may do the trick for you. She also has the snack cups that have the rubber split lid to keep them from spilling, and she loves to take things in and out of that. Another idea...let him 'paint' with a little square of wet sponge on construction paper.

Actually, I think children who are taught basic manners do rise above the norm now adays (unfortunately!). Take this from someone who ate several times in a public school lunchroom last year. The sound of smacking was deafening. A dear friend on mine was taught manners and etiquette as a child, and related the following story to me. Her uncle was a businessman who frequently went on international business trips. When she and her cousin were in their ealry teens, he took them overseas to Austria (I think). They spent one day skiing, and then he took them directly to a dinner party. A formal dinner party...in their ski attire. She was mortified at the impression that this made as a representative of our country, but was so grateful that she knew how to conduct herself at a formal dinner. So, despite what your vision is for your child's future, they may at some point find themselves at an event, business dinner, formal wedding, or government/military function that would indicate the use of etiquette. It's a wonderful gift to give a child an education in manners and etiquette IMO, whether they have a chance to use it or not. Connecting etiquitte with rudeness, snobbery, and racism is just unfortunate. Certainly, a person with poor manners can and do behave in these same ways...it is a sign of poor character, not of etiquette training.

I found packs of 11x14 posterboard at the Dollar Store. I drew a line down the middle (with the page horizontal), and marked out lines every 1.5 inches to represent 100 years, and marked out my years from 4000 BC to 0. I'll tack on AD next year. Then I taped the pages together at the back and laminated them at our church with a continuous (thin) lamination. It's very heavy duty, and the time line is really llllllooooooooonnnnnnnngggggg, which thrills my kids to no end. :) But it folds up accordian style to 11x14, and I am getting a notebook/scrapbook to keep it in between uses. I'm going to just hole punch one end of it, so we can stretch it out of the book to work on it. I also found some cheap little plastic stick on hangers that I can stick onto it at different points and hang it on sewing pins if we want to. I made my own because a) I'm cheap b) I wanted BC and AD to be measured out in consistant time ratios, so they really get a feel for length of time. We also have the book of time pages that other posters have mentioned, so that the kids can record more detail about events and characters that interest them. The time line is just an added visual aid to help them see the events in order (which you can't do as well with a notebook style timeline IMO) HTH!

Karen Andreola, in the Charlotte Mason's companion says that you do the same thing for the child who can't think of what to say as you do for the constant talker: you give them a limit. "Tell me about your book in 3 sentences." (or however many you choose.) I also help them by keeping count on my fingers so they can see how many they have left. This helps them condense their thoughts and just bring out the main points. I was so relieved when I read this, as I have several stream of consciousness talkers in my family. ;)

We've run through level one in a month, and what I did was to just skip to the lessons that introduced phonograms and new rules. We didn't bother with using spelling words, as they are way too easy for my 2nd and 5th grader. We practice with the tiles a few times so they get the concept, and then review the phonogram, sound and key cards. It's really not teacher intensive at this stage for me, because we don't do all the steps of it. I'm just using it as a phonics refresher, and plan to use it much earlier with my younger kiddos. My dd had very little phonics background, so this has made a big difference with her ability to sound out, read and spell words, so I am very happy with it for that reason. If you have a child who struggles, it lets them *see* the rules in action. As far as a remedial spelling program, I don't see that it has as much value, as the words are so simple...but you can always sub with another curriculum or workbook, or a list of words that your child misspells in other subjects. Last year, she kept a notebook, and wrote down any word that got corrected on other papers, and then she's test on 10 a week.

We practice the math facts with playing cards. Remove the face cards, but keep the Aces...they are 1's. Then you choose a fact family (for instance, multiplication of 7) and shuffle through and start laying down a card one at a time. The ones you get right, you get to keep. The ones you get wrong go into the practice pile. See how many you can get in one minute. There are lots of variations on this. You can divide into two piles and turn over two cards at a time and multiply them. When I do this with my kids, I give them to the count of 2 or 3 to 'get' the answer if it's a fact family that they know already. HTH! Gwen

If you are looking for scripted, I would recommend All About Spelling over Phonics Pathways. Both are great programs. My dd was pitifully deficient in phonetics training, and we're working out way through AAS 1&2 this year. It's essentially a scripted phonics program that also teaches your child how the sounds come together to spell words. Very effective. However, I have found Phonics Pathways helpful for her as well. There are exercises that help to strenghten their eye muscles in tracking, that we've found very helpful. If the girls are already reading they can do the simple exercises in Phonics Pathways by themselves. It's mainly blending exercises, so it goes along really well with what they would be learning in AAS.

This is really neat! Right up her alley. I may work this in this year. :)

Okee-dokey...I really HUGELY appreciate all of the great suggestions and input! Here is the decision I have come to: I will thumb through and pick out review lessons from FLL 3, and we'll do those while we wait on the new stuff to arrive. Instead of dropping another $100+ on Writing Tails & Junior Analytical Grammar, I will go with the Intermediate Language Lessons + the teachers manual off of Amazon. The pair is less than $30 and in keeping with the style of education that I wanted to introduce this year, plus it's used for ages 9-12. So I should be able to get some good mileage off of it. I can remediate anything that it doesn't cover from my FLL3...I will just save the FLL3 workbook to use for my son next year. At the end of this year, I'll re-evaluate dd and more than likely, we'll go with the Writing Tales/AG option for next year (when I have a book budget again :) Thank you all again SO much for your input! It's been fun looking at the different options and hearing all of your success stories and ideas! Gwen

Have you seen Biblioplan? Their ancients study is basically a schedule and book lists for each age range (elementary, middle & highschool)...they use several spines including an alternate to use MOH, which is what we're doing. They use both Greenleaf guides. We're just getting started with it this year. It's organized enough to keep me on track, and yet very flexible. I have a 5th and an advanced 2nd, so it's working beautifully for us!

I would say that my dd is of average ability in grammar (though she has not done sentence diagramming yet). We are remediateing phonetics in her spelling program this year. She's an avid writer, but needs instruction on organizing her thoughts/compositions. She learns best when she sees a valid application...so I think learning grammar with or through writing would be a great fit for her. So Rod & Staff is grammar only, or a combination program? Tell me more, please! :) Gwen

Thank you for the excellent recommendations! Here is the Emma Serl book Intermediate Language Lessons in case anyone else want to see it: http://books.google.com/books?id=JzIXAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA258&lpg=PA258&dq=free+Emma+Serl+Intermediate+Language+Lessons&source=bl&ots=RyuApV3WVQ&sig=lksCiQ46cDKjz2ag1ISvN0eTniI&hl=en&ei=dC9mSuquCMO3tweWkZH4Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4 Any other recommendations for me? Being new to the WTM/Charlotte Mason style of teaching...and honestly, to teaching in general, I am possibly not distinguishing between 'gentle' and 'too easy' :D Thanks so much! Gwen

Thank you Donna T. anyone else...what do you think about a 5th grader using FLL3? She LOVES to write, and makes up and illustrates her own stories. So she thought I was joking when I asked her to write the title of the book and that's about it. :)