My oldest daughter is mildly dyslexic and has only used AAS. She started AAS in second grade with level one and started level three midway of third grade and will be in fourth grade this year and is around step 24 (I think) in level three. AAS has been great for her. She rarely gets frustrated, which tends to happen in other subjects. She enjoys spelling and I am seeing improvement in our spelling lessons and when she is writing in her own time. AAS is slow moving, but that is what she needs. I believe that if she has a strong foundation, then she will do better, so I do not have a problem with that. She tested at grade level for spelling last year during placement tests, so I pleased with that too. The drawbacks to AAS are that it is teacher intensive - not something dc can do on their own, however it is pretty much open and go; and the $$$. The cost of the levels add up, but they are not consumable and imho are worth the cost to see my daughter doing well with a difficult subject and not struggling.

My dh is a roofer. There are many, many factors that go into a roof estimate, pitch, one story/two story, what type of roofing, how many squares, obstacles, valleys, chimneys, on and on, but yes they do cost that much. Small simple roof jobs usually start out around $5,000 labor and materials. And we live in a economically depressed area. A couple words of advice, talk to your insurance agent, then get a few roofers out to look at the job (I am sure you are already doing this) and see who you like the best, who seems knowledgeable, trustworthy, and reliable. Have your dh there too if possible. References are great. As far as the estimate itself, my dh normally measures up a job, sometimes he can do it from the ground, usually not, but it depends on your house, then shoots out a quick estimate and if that is in the customers ball park, then goes home and puts it all on paper to sign a contract. The reason he does this is to see if the customer is serious or if they are fishing. He has seen people use his bid for the insurance and then have a family member do it for less and pocket the money. Also when you are getting estimates, make sure you are getting apples for apples...Is the guy with an estimate $2000 less cutting corners? Sometimes cheaper isn't better. Hope this helps some. Good Luck!

Thanks for the replies. This is very helpful!

My daughter will be doing Saxon math 76 in 5th grade as she is good in math. I am confused about the sequence of Saxon. I like to buy a year ahead, so I am not running around last minute to find curriculum, so that's why I am looking now. It seems that others either do 87 or algebra 1/2. We are using the older editions, not the current ones if that matters. My other thought is that she is ahead in math and may not be developmentally ready for algebra. Any thoughts? Thanks

I am trying to figure out what to do with my upcoming 2nd grade dd this year in math. We started out using Saxon in K, which is what my oldest dd uses and has excelled with. She didn't have the attention span for it. I cut out the meeting part of the lesson and she did better, but she also got bored with the worksheet after half the page. (I only had her doing one side.) Then last year for 1st, I thought she would do better with miquon and singapore. She did not do well with miquon. She didn't like playing with the blocks, but she really liked Singapore. We started with 1A. She did well with the shorter lessons and liked the color pictures. It kept her attention well. I let her work at her own pace, because some days she didn't want to stop, but when we got to adding larger numbers she started getting frustrated. We slowed way down and worked on her math facts (she hasn't gotten them down) and played games. We finished 1A and moved on to 1B and hit a wall when we got to multiplication. I thought singapore was going to be perfect for her, but I think it is just moving too fast for her and doesn't have the repetition she needs. And besides that she still doesn't know her addition or subtraction facts without counting. I am going to work with her over the summer to get the basic facts down, before we start back up. I don't want to change curriculum on her continuously, especially in math, but want her to have a good foundation in math. I didn't have this problem though with my first child and am not sure what program would suit this type of child best. I don't think she will do well with a mastery program like Math-u-See. I know that there is alot out there to chose from, but I am looking for a little direction. Thanks for any input. :)

Sounds just like my 8 yr old dd! UGH! I have been having more problems this year, because I have given her some independent tasks to work on while I work with my 7 yr old dd or 5 yr old dd. She has a terrible time staying on task. The biggest problem seems to be math. She is very good in math, but just gets distracted. I tested her and had her skip ahead and that did help some, but she is a daydreamer...no changing that:001_smile:. I think I will try sitting with her through her math and see if that helps.

Thanks! I am looking at this now...

Maybe that was my mistake to not even consider WWE. I am already working on copywork, dictation, and narrartions in MFW. Is there more to WWE than that?

I have a third grade dd for whom I am researching writing programs. I bought Writing Strands 3 at the begininng of the year, because we are using MFW and that is what they recommend. I decided I wanted to firm up some of her grammar before starting WS, however now that I had time to look through the book I am worried I will have problems helping with/correcting her work. Writing is my weakest point and am nervous about teaching it. I think she will be eager to learn so that shouldn't be a problem, it's just me! I have read Evaluating Writing, but am not sure that is enough. So I have been looking at other programs and IEW stands out as something that may work well for us, but from what I understand from reading old posts here, is it is best for 5th-6th graders. That would be great considering I have another dd that would be in 3rd/4th then and could tag along working at a slower pace (I think). I like that WS is written to the student, eventhough I will be there to answer questions, I am often preoccupied with two little ones and appreciate the exercises are self guided. So now, I am thinking maybe try WS 3 next year, then move to IEW in 5th. Does that make sense? Should I just wait until 5th to do any writing instruction? That seems late. I thought about having her take an online course, but she does not type yet and I wouldn't know where to start. Anything else? We tried FLL and she hated it, so I am leary if WWE would be a good fit. I need something that will hold MY hand and is not teacher intensive as far as prep work.

This is my 3 yr old too, altough he is the 4th. I have dd in 3rd grade, dd in 1st, dd in k'er, and ds. Boys are definitely more trouble than gilrs (at least mine;)). I am starting next week and am nervous having 3 in school at once and keeping an eye on the little guy. I think he has some new toys that will keep him busy nearby, at least for a week or two.

We did Adventure's last year with a 2nd grader and my K'er tagged along. It was our first year with MFW and our best year homeshooling so far! My girls loved the science in Adventure's, especially all the experiments. I helped them with writng their notebook pages, because they were not up to doing that much on their own. They really enjoyed the state study too, eventhough I was getting bored with them. I was worried about the state study too, but they thrived on the repetition. I think it depends on your dc. All in all a great year for us.

I used I Can Do All Things last year with my 8 yr old dd in 2nd and 6yr old dd in K. We had the DVD's but rarely used them. My oldest dd really liked the program, she was already more artistic and had patience and good fine motor skills. My 6 yr old dd had trouble doing the program. Her fine motor skills are far behind where her sisters were at her age. And she was just not interested in sitting that long. However, honestly, this was the first thing we dumped if we were behind. My 8 yr old really likes it though, so we are still working through it and I may use it later on for my youngers.

As far as placement, I have heard others say when your dc have their math facts down they are ready for 5/4. My dd will be starting 5/4 this fall, so we will see.

When I was 13, I went to a local professional photographer who dealt with modeling agencies. After doing a photo shoot, he sent my portfolio out to several agencies. My mother thought this through and decided this was the best way to avoid scammers, who came up to me asking if I was interested in modeling. I really wanted to get involved and would have fallen right into a scam, if my mother would not have been there to guide me. I did some local jobs, but when I was called on jobs that where more than an hour or two away, my mother said no way. At the time, I was very mad and disappointed. I couldn't understand why. It all looked so exciting and I felt like I was missing out. Once she did let me go with another young girl, who was being escorted by her mother, to a 3 day job a couple hours away. I felt like a hot shot. However it was not an atmosphere I would allow my dd to be in when she is 13-15. And that was 15 years ago. I don't know what it is like now.

Here are a couple websites I use to print off aleph bet pages. The dc color them, try writing them, and we will talk about how to pronounce the letter. http://akhlah.com/ http://hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Homeschool/homeschool.html HTH!

This is awesome! Thanks!

After using Saxon 1 lightly with my 2nd dd for K this year, I am thinking it is not going to be a good fit for her. My oldest went through Saxon 1-3 and has done very well with it, however she is more of a perfect paula, while #2 is a wiggly willy. I made some adjustments to the way I used Saxon to break up the lessons and change the scenery, but it didn't seem like it was enough. I think she would do better with shorter lessons and more visually appealing pages. I have stopped using Saxon and have been doing various math games with her, and for the most part, she enjoys that. I am not really sure what would suit her. I am torn between sticking it out and hoping that next year Saxon would be a better fit for her. I am also looking at Singapore and Horizons as options. At this point, I don't know if she would do better with a spiral approach or a mastery approach. I love that my girls are so different and special in their own ways, except when it comes to changing and choosing cirriculums. I feel like I am starting the cirriculum search all over again! :blink: Does anyone have any other ideas I should be thinking about?

My oldest two are 7 (reading well and was asking to do spelling this year too) and 6 (still at the sounding out c-a-t and d-o-g phase). I bought AAS Level One TM, one student packet, and the letter tiles and magnets this year. Now dd7 is on step 19 out of 24 and really enjoying spelling. She wants to do spelling first every day. And dd6 has been working on steps 1-4, which are very easliy combined and can double as a phonics lesson. I got advice to combine the steps from http://www.thechatterbee.com/group/allaboutspellinglevel1. I didn't see the need to buy an additional student packet right now, since I knew that dd6 would move very slowly. I decided I could wait, and not put all the money out at once.

My TM is 2005 and AP&P is 2nd edition 2002.