I just read this in a catalog - that the WTM recommended Ray's. I didn't remember it from 2nd and see it's not in the 3rd. Not in the first edition either?

Thank you! I will check these out. Teonei

Thank you for this chart! My sister and I were just talking earlier today about finding a scope and sequence for Singapore Math. This is very helpful. Teonei

That's why I haven't chosen any of the all-in-one language arts programs. But I would like to start a literature program for my 8.5-year-old son. What program did you choose? I'd love to see some recommendations. I've been impressed with Drawn Into the Heart of Reading but haven't actually seen it (except the samples online, which I like). Are there others like this, or is DITHOR a good way to go if I want to choose our books and not use readers? I have the other components I want for language and don't want to overlap, but I do want to get more out of the books we read. At this point, I am thinking we'll use DITHOR (or ?) mostly for the readalouds. My son reads almost constantly for pleasure, so I haven't assigned anything to him yet. That will change, but I am looking for a versatile litarature program. Any guidance would be appreciated! Teonei

What a great resource! Thank you for the link. Teonei

Thank you, Colleen. I am glad to know I can move more quickly through the program. I gave my son the third-grade mastery evaluation a couple of days ago and was surprised by how well he did. No problem with the narration and even better than he thought he could do with the dictation. When he starts fourth grade in a couple of months, I'm going to start him somewhere in Level 3, but I think he'll move through that pretty quickly. I am so glad I have this book to start from the beginning with my soon-to-be first-grader, though! :001_smile: Teonei

Thanks, Nancy. You posted while I was still writing. I had thought I'd use WWE as you explained, so I am glad to hear someone say it's OK. :) Teonei

I am also curious about this. I just got the WWE text and plan to use it without the workbooks. I figured I would do the history/science/lit bits at a different time of day set aside for WWE. But do I need to choose passages that my children have not yet heard or seen?

Thank you for this! I was wondering whether it made sense to teach my second son any Latin at all when I start my oldest on it in a few months. I didn't want to buy a curriculum too easy for my 8yo and didn't want two. Your solution seems obvious now that you've told me! Teonei

Is that R.E.A.L. Science from Pandia Press? Which one? What didn't you like about it? After taking a brief look at the Life Science book, I'm considering it for chemistry in 2010-11. Teonei

It is interesting to see what everyone else is doing. My second son will start first grade in August. Here's our plan: Language Arts - finish OPG, start FLL 1, WWE 1, penmanship as needed, maybe Spelling Power Math - continue RightStart Level B, then start Level C; will probably do CER Math Masters once every week or two with older brother (applied math) History - undecided; whatever his older brother does (founding of the U.S. or SOTW 2, probably) Science - A Child's Geography: Explore His Earth and lots of books about the earth and space Art - continue Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 1, then on to Book 2 Music - continue piano lessons

We are headed into our second year of homeschooling. Last summer, I bought a package with several subjects that we have used as supplementary in every case (sounded better than it was for us). We have not used the history portion yet, as it is solely about the United States. Instead, we did MOH Vol. 1 this year. We are supplementing with other resources to get through 400 A.D. (just a few lessons left). Next year, I was planning to take a year out to study American history with the curriculum we have, which is intended for young children, so I want to use it before my oldest is too old. It is a somewhat disorganized curriculum, and I have been poring over it night after night to make real lesson plans. Last night, I really questioned my decision to use it. Maybe I will go with SOTW 2 next year instead. Is there much U.S. history in SOTW 3 and 4? Or is there time to supplement? I should probably post this question elsewhere or search the boards. So yes, I am undecided now on history. Also, I haven't chosen a program to start Latin. And I really like the idea of using DITHOR but am wondering whether it will be too much work. My 1yo is now 21 months, and I was spoiled by him being my best napper ever and taking his nap in the morning, while we did much of our schoolwork. But that won't be the case anymore. I think I know everything else I am using. History is weighing most heavily on me, though, as we loved history this year and want to keep that joy alive. I guess I'll be back on the boards later tonight to search for my history questions! :D Teonei

Thank you for your honesty, Susan! This eliminates my confusion. I am looking forward to starting WWE soon. I also liked what someone said about doing two days of work in one day, as my oldest will be in 4th grade next year and will need some catch-up in this area. (Sorry, I don't know how to quote two posts.) Assuming my son doesn't have a problem with the work, is there any reason I shouldn't double up on assignments? Or even an entire week's work in one day? Has anyone done this? Or can anyone tell me how they've accelerated the WWE program in another way, such as skipping from Week 1 to Week 4 without the extra first-level practice of Weeks 2-3? I am hesitant to move so quickly through this program, but I also want my son to be ready for outlining and such before 4 years from now. (I have yet to give him an evaluation, so it may not be as bad as that.) I am sure I have read about this concern before, but I would be interested in knowing specifics on how WWE users have accelerated the program. Thanks for any ideas! Teonei

Rose, I like the way you put that. It helps me justify buying the new edition to add to my second edition. As if I really needed any more justification! :001_smile: Teonei

This Saturday marks one year since I decided to homeschool. Last May, one of the first books I read was TWTM. We began our first homeschool year July 1, 2008. I have been somewhat aware of this forum for a few months but never took the time to read anything until a few days ago, when I also joined. So many of you have already helped me so much, and I have barely scratched the surface of what is here. Thank you! Teonei

This is just what I have been looking for! My son wants to take tests on books he reads for fun. He was in public school through June 2008, and he loved earning points for the books he read. This Book Adventure site looks similar to what he is used to. Thank you so much! Teonei

Reading everyone else's posts has given me some good ideas for next year. We'll school through. Sometimes I feel terribly mean, but my children take it well. :001_smile: This is our first year of homeschooling, and we started July 1, 2008. I had no clear plan on how our vacation schedule would go, except that we would take time off here and there as we chose. The public school right over our backyard fence is year-round, so it's open for all but about 3 weeks each year. My 3rd-grader who was at that school through 2nd grade thinks he should be in school if they are and doesn't remember that "his class" had 3 months on and 1 month off. So we have already done about 180 days of "school", including field trips. But because of my changing math and English programs a few times before getting it right, I'd like to get my sons a bit farther along before next year. We're also supplementing Mystery of History 1 to get us up to 400 A.D. so have about 5 lessons left. And we are having so much fun with science that we'll continue that for at least 4-5 more weeks. We'll do other subjects as we feel like it. Even if we decide to take July off, which I think we'll be ready to do, we'll do some light work one or two days each week. When we took three weeks off at Christmas, they couldn't remember much. This week we're off, though, and we'll have about a week off next month to visit relatives. We'll start the next school year at the beginning of August. Teonei

Thank you so much, Colleen, for your detailed answer! I am going to get the main WWE text and then decide whether we need the first workbook or whether I can handle implementing the ideas into the content areas. You have been very helpful. :D Teonei

this is a test Teonei

I've spent the weekend reading all the WWE sample pages and all of this thread. I still have questions. Sorry this is long, but if you have the time to help, I'd appreciate it. Background: My 6yo K'er son is about 105 pages into OPG and is doing well, although we need to work on fluency. I am getting ready to buy FLL 1/2 for him. For penmanship, he has been writing in a journal, usually 2-4 lines about 3 days each week. He tells me what he wants to say, I write it, and he copies it. He asks to do this, and I do like the idea of his writing being something he will treasure when he is older. But it looks like I should not push this if he loses interest. (Last night, he wrote his first sentence on his own, by the way. I was sitting at my computer reading this thread, and he brought me a piece of paper with this, "I WONT A GOET.") Also, he does narrations occasionally for history (1-2 sentences, but only the scripture stories, because he's already familiar with them and rarely even listens to the other lessons) and science (3-5 sentences, as he enjoys science more). I have not done any dictation with him yet. Q1) Do I need to make any copies from FLL 1/2, or is it like OPG? (I'd like to get the hardcover for durability if I don't need to make any copies.) Now I am wondering whether I should get WWE, as well. As I see it, these are my options: A. Continue OPG to the end. Start FLL 1/2 once he's finished OPG L140, as advised at the Peace Hill website. Do all the optional activities in FLL (narrations, copywork). And add extra narrations and copywork from history, science, and lit. B. As above but skip all optional narrations and copywork in FLL 1/2, and instead use WWE. Use the main WWE text only, adding narration and copywork from the content subjects. C. As in Option B, but use a WWE workbook, and do not do any narration or copywork from the content subjects. Q2) In Option C, do I really not need to do any narration from history, science, and lit? Is it wise to omit these? Or should I use the workbook, which is very appealing, and still do narrations, at least, from content areas at another time of day? Is Option A just as good? Q3) Based on the background info above, do you think I should start with WWE Level 2? Obviously, I should get the main text and have him do the evaluations, but I'd appreciate any ideas you have. Background: My 8yo 3rd-grade son (who was public schooled through 2nd grade) doesn't enjoy copywork and doesn't copy carefully so always makes mistakes. It may be that I just need to give him very short sentences and/or sit with him to correct him right away and let him know this is important. He narrates well, dictating half a page to one and a half pages after most history lessons (he doesn't want to write this on his own). He does not necessarily pick out the key ideas, but does well at telling the whole story. I think I had misunderstood the goal of narration. I have started a little bit of dictation, but he doesn't do much of this yet. He is a very good writer when he wants to be (creative stories and science narrations that he initiates, generally), although his spelling and mechanics are not flawless. He writes a couple of letters each month, as well. Along with the grammar, he does the writing exercises in Rod and Staff English 3 without complaint (he has commented more than once about what a good book it is and how much he's learning), although he detested Writing Strands 3 (for some reason I thought he needed both. We were both relieved when i realized he didn't). We're planning to use Rod and Staff English 4 next year. Q4) I've seen some people here say they do supplement the writing in R&S, though, with another writing program. Is this important to do, if not absolutely necessary? Will we get a wide variety of writing assignments if we continue with R&S? Q5) Is there a need for this son to use WWE? Below are some quotes from SWB from earlier in this thread. --If the third grader writes fluently and easily, you probably don't need WWE. --if the child can copy well and doesn't struggle too much with the physical act of writing, start with Level 2; if not, start with Level 1. --The purpose of narration and dictation is to help students develop basic skills in getting words down on paper. If your 9 and/or 11 yo can tell you what they want to write, out loud, using complete well-formed sentences, they don't need to do narration. If they can take those sentences and put them down on paper without struggling with spelling and punctuation, and without asking you constantly to help them remember what they're trying to write, they don't need to do dictation. If they struggle in either of these areas, they could benefit from the last two years of lessons on WWE. Sometimes my son "writes fluently and easily", but he usually doesn't like to put pencil to paper and has awful handwriting (another can of worms I won't get into) -- except for R&S, which he usually does neatly. This makes me think he may need WWE level 1 or 2 (along with my K'er). But the next quote makes me think he doesn't need narration or dictation to improve his writing at all. I have a case of situational writing ability. This son is very talkative and can write when he wants to. Should I use WWE? (I do have two younger sons, as well, who could use WWE, but I'd rather buy it later if my first two sons aren't going to need it.) Thank you very much if you have read this far, and thank you even more if you can help me! Teonei