Okay here we go again! I really thought we had found the math we would stick with till my 3rd grader gets to Saxon but we need to change. He isn't ready for saxon yet because his handwriting isn't good enough yet to copy into a notebook that is why I'm not switching straight to that, We've been using The Good and the Beautiful math his whole schooling and I have completely satisfied with everything they have taught, he is very good at math and his thinking is beyond what any of my other kids have been at his age. I credit it to the hand holding I've had as a teacher using Tgab math. However, the last year my son has been frustrated with the math and it boils down to 2 things, the biggest issues is the color their new editions are SO colorful that he will start his independent work and then before he knows what is happening he is off to daydream and can't do a simple 11-5= problem and math ends in tears because he has spent 30 minutes on 2 problems most of which is because he is so distracted by the fun images that basically cover the whole page. The other issue is now that he is 1/3rd through their 3rd grade book I am NOT liking the way they teach multiplication. They don't do it by families but random problems based on music the author wrote that has no rhyme or reason to the facts, they say its because it all has be memorized so why teach by families and waste time? This may be true but my son has not mastered any of the problems and we've been doing it faithfully. I think their method is just plain weird. All that to say I am now looking at Horizons, Saxon 3, or possibly Abeka (not sure about his one). Except I'm worried about them because tgab math has such great logic and rea life math that its been so refreshing instead of just facts, I'm worried my sons great understanding will go away with using these very fact driven programs. I know Singapore or beast academy is good but I am ONLY considering those 3 I mentioned because I wouldn't be able to teach the others. Question 1. Do they need to all the multiplication facts for Horizons 3? My son knows 2,5,10,1's, he understands the concept completely but the others aren't memorized yet.. He passed everything for 3rd grade horizons except the multiplication without help. Question 2: Do you think doing tgab lessons with me (only the lesson not the additional practice) and then horizons work pages would be too much or even work? I love the way they teach and hold my hand without being too much work or manipulative heavy and the only reason I'm considering switching is because he can't focus with the color pages. Any other suggestions to make tgab math work would be appreciated.

I vote beautiful feet! Doing 2 years in 1 might be a bit much at that level but why don't get it and see how it goes as planned an you can go from there? I suppose you could always work through summer if you really felt like you have to finish all 4 but there's also no reason to do all 4 years, I would just pick the ones your kiddo is most interested in!

Treasure from Mcgraw hill has these science books and are free https://web.archive.org/web/20190619192117/https://www.mhschool.com/instructional_materials/ca/fwo.html

Id try Beautiful Feet history! Lots of beautiful stories and books but can be done family style! https://www.bfbooks.com/Literature-Packs/4-6th-Studies

Wow, that's cool! Thanks!

Thanks! I'm afraid the links don't work anymore in most of the posts but it did give me some ideas :0)

My husband is going to be teaching highschool zoology course and can't seem to find what he is looking for. Do you know of any good ones? He wants hands on activities and such. It doesn't matter if its secular!

WE Really love The Good and the Beautiful! They just redid their level K and its AMAZING!!! Not too time consuming or hard and is a mix of different philosophies like charlotte mason/classical/ and others.

I agree completely!

Well, that's your opinion 😉 the fact they are trying to make their products better is a GOOD thing in my opinion. Their first editions were written by a mom with no editing by anyone else and as they have grown their resources have changed so they have tried to make it better. its simple really. I know you are anti tgab and that's fine. I was simply letting them know that these new editions are better and have changed from what the other poster was saying had been in them. I hated their earlier editions for the same reason @ktgrokmentioned but having looked at it thoroughly it doesn't seem to be an issue anymore.

This is exactly what the new edition changed! They used actual reading specialists for this edition and they didn't before.

If he likes reading biographies then let him read all he wants! Try to suggest ones about mathematicians and maybe he will want to try some of the problems they were dealing with himself. Maybe taking a class on construction would be his geometry because he'll need to know how to compute for different things. Just a few thoughts. He doesn't sound college bound and trades might be a better direction for him since they are real life and might be something he enjoys more.

Maty Ruths Organics supplements are the best!!!

They have redone the Language arts k as of this month and other more recently and I feel they are FAR better than they used to be. OP, I have used tgab for a few years and I feel like for me it is easier to implement and my kids enjoy it a lot more than something like AAR. As far as comparisons with there new editions there are some similar principles taken from OG that I felt were beneficial and it helped a lot. If you used the preschool course and then kindergarten prep then AAR 1 would flow great afterwards!

The good and the beautiful has math K-6th free pdfs! I actually created a document for free homeschool stuff there are a couple maths depending on the grade your looking for. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YKjwdXG1tYiEHi6ZCb6fMzkbxDNXfAcKk2K9PyuAXLc/edit?usp=sharing

That is odd about their FB group! I have said worse and am still there, lol! They had some glitches at one point in group because of FB wonder if that was why...

They actually changed very little content wise. I own the originals and have compared them.

I'm not sure what you mean by the bolded part. We were involved in a lot of things I never felt awkward or that I was inferior because I didn't go to school. I felt like I wasn't educated because there wasn't time set aside for learning other than through our work at home/jobs as we got older. I do think my parents tried a lot to teach us in unconventional ways but I wanted to learn more and wasn't able to because of various reasons. My friends feel like they missed out on learning and felt embarrassed that they didn't seem to know what others did (same with many of my siblings). That has never bothered me I simply wanted to learn more and wasn't given a chance.

I do not have graduated kid yet but I was a graduated homeschooler and my biggest regret was imply not doing anything "school" related. My parents were major unschoolers but didn't know that was a term and we didn't even have time set aside to pursue any learning it was always through life. All of my friends who parents homeschooled the same way have the exact same regrets, interestingly enough.

Yes! They are freee!!!! https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/free-homeschool-language-arts/

That's funny! we have loved level 6! My 2 boys who have done it both said it was their favorite. They loved learning about Australia :0) Its definitely our favorite level!

We've been very happy with our kindles! They are much less expensive than an Ipad and honestly less to replace when (not if) the kids do something dumb and break it. We do have an ipad for family use because there are a few neat features but for less than $50 a kindle works really well for most things. We don't really use the ipad more than the kindle and I would be fine without the ipad altogether. ETA: a math app we like when they get a bit older is xtra math its just for the facts. Moose academy and anything by thup games are great fun and educational for that age!

I am still very involved but I have started having them do part without me like a worksheet that briefly goes over what I already taught or a coroling page with things we learned about in history. I feel like by doing this I am preparing them to work more independently without me in small chunks but by no means are they doing most of it alone. by about 4th grade I try to have them be independently working in 1 subject, I do check in frequently and help as needed.

I agree this was a mistake I made with my kids when they first started too. I'm trying to be better about my younger ones.

Oh and for my older kids: Not investing in a better elementary math program Not reading aloud enough Not doing a family morning time