I would second Sue's recommendation. I was afraid of teaching all three of my children (now 11, 9 and 8) two years ago. While I am not ready to go it alone just yet, with the use of IEW, my confidence is huge compared to before starting the program. I bought the Student Writing Intensive A in the spring of 2006 and used it with my then 4th grader. I could rely on Mr. Pudewa to teach the lesson and then I had the free lesson plans with checklists, which are VERY black and white, to guide the grading. Your child either meets the requirements or he doesn't. They know what's expected ahead of time and you grade accordingly. It helps with their confidence because they should be able to receive a perfect grade on every assignment if they just follow the checklist. After getting our feet wet with the SWI-A, I bought the Ancient History Based Lessons since that would be our history focus for his 5th grade year. I LOVED having it all planned out for me. The teaching was in the book and we still had the SWI-A to watch if we had trouble with a particular unit. This year we are working through the Medieval History Based Lessons and having similar success. I am now starting to see the skills taught in the program spilling over into all of my son's writing, not just IEW compositions. Next year I plan to continue with the USHBL, vol. 1. Let me know if you have any other questions. I know there are several great writing programs out there, but IEW has been a life-saver for me. Now I think I could actually tackle some of the other ones, like Classical Writing, and have success. Before IEW tears would have consumed me and we never would have gotten anywhere. Blessings, April

My oldest two boys are currently working through LCII. The plan was for us to complete lesson 15 and the review this year and finish the book next year. I am feeling like I may need to suspend our formal Latin study next year and focus on a few other areas, but I do not want to lose what we've learned thus far. What suggestions do you have? I thought maybe the Ludere II book might be something we could use once a week or so to keep voc., etc. fresher. Any ideas are appreciated. Blessings, April in WA

We've been learning Latin for the last three years. I am increasingly feeling like we need to take a break from it to focus on some other subjects due to time constraints. I do not want to lose the progress we have made since I do intend to continue past LCII into something else. Could we use the Ludere book to stay fresh with our cuurent knowledge for a year or so and then pick up where we left off fairly easily? Blessings, April in WA

I'm still hoping someone can answer this. Blessings, April in WA

Does anyone who uses the IEW program also use the Sentence Composing books by Killgallon? I have heard great things from people who use the Killgallon books. I am curious as to how you schedule the lessons if you use IEW. Also, are all the Killgallon books non-consumable or is there a workbook you can buy also? Blessings, April in WA

Ladies, One of my children is using the old Calvert spelling for the second year in a row and I have seen fantastic results. Previous to this his spelling was atrocious. I have heard from others in the past that the new version of the spelling cd is not as good. Do you have any specifics you can compare for me? I am concerned I may not be able to buy the 5th grade old version used and want to know ahead of time if I'm going to buy the new version or look for something else. My son and I LOVE the self-teaching computer aspect of this program. Your thoughts are appreciated. Blessings, April in WA

Heather and Melissa, I agree with both of you. In my original email I did not state that my daughter is my youngest. I also have 6th and 4th grade boys. I am already learning from my lessons of being lax on grammar. Actually, I should cut myself some slack. I did R&S grammar 1 and part of 2 with my oldest but he just wasn't ready for it then. Even with Latin Christiana I and part of II, he still struggles with the details of grammar. I am being more dilligent with my younger two. I know my daughter is absolutely capable, but I also know I need to concentrate on my oldest still. I was planning to use CLE with all three of my children next year for LA, but am re-evaluating everything right now to get the most bang for my time and money. Based on what I've seen as samples, I may go either way with GWG for my daughter. She is getting some from Latin and will absorb some just by being in the same room as her brothers during school time. Thanks to all of you for your thougthtful answers. Blessings, April in WA

I am finishing up my 6th year of TOG so I am very familiar with the LG/UG levels. I am moving my oldest into the dialectic stage completely next year. Literature study is something I do not feel completely adequate teaching without a lot of help so I've been thinking I was going to use a seperate literature program from TOG. Lately, I've been thinking about how I'm not using TOG to the fullest and need to streamline some more. I truly LOVE the history aspect of TOG but it has not given me enough help with the literature part in the lower grades. Can those of you who have older kids share your experiences using the dialectic literature component. I know there are more worksheets and answers in the teacher notes, but is there more explaination, etc.? If it matters, we will be doing year 3 using IEW for writing. Thanks for your help. Blessings, April [/size][/size]

I am seriously considering WT1 for my upcoming 3rd grade daughter. I see a lot of you use GWG alongside this. I am wondering if it is really necessary at that level. I guess I am thinking WT1 deals with parts of speech and other lower level grammar. Also, how do you schedule the two programs together? Blessings, April in WA

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I've looked at the samples online for both levels and have two questions. Does WT go deeper into literary terms like simile, foreshadowing, etc.? Are the notes at the bottom of a lesson marked with an asterisk telling the teacher special items they will need for the next lesson? How often does this occur? I would prefer something that is basically pick up and teach. Blessings, April in WA

I am currently in my fourth year using MUS with three children and have never bought their manipulatives. We already had an investment in a number of other manipulatives when we started the program. I didn't feel like spending any more money at that point. I am comfortable with math and figured I could come up with my own ways of getting the point across if necessary. When my oldest was going through Epsilon, the fraction-focused level, I did consider buying the fraction overlays, but never did. I know others who use them all the time. I'd say try it without them if you want. You can always add them later. HTH, April in WA

My son FINALLY learned his multiplication facts using this program. I was so thankful. Blessings, April in WA

Lori D., Thank you for your lengthy response. I will take all this information into consideration when I make decisions for the future. Blessings, April in WA

Lori, Could you give examples of what changes and why you have modified PTIW? Also, why are you switching your son to Wordsmith next year over PTIW? I'm looking at both of these programs for 7th-9th grades and would appreciate your answers. Blessings, April in WA

Can you tell me what you did not like about WriteShop. I've been using IEW. From what I see WriteShop is somewhat similar, yet you said you were interested in IEW. Just curious since I'm thinking of supplementing IEW for a little variety for one of my sons. Blessings, April in WA

Lori, Thank you for your reveiw of Wordsmith Apprentice. I have two boys, currently grades 6 and 4. I can't say either are reluctant writers, just not super-excited ones. I have been using IEW theme-based writing programs last year and so far this year. I really like them and am convinced they will produce great writers if used. While I am not a bad writer, I am not terribly comfortable teaching and grading my children's writing. IEW really helps me with that. I thought my oldest would really appreciate having a checklist to know exactly what I expect from him on each assignment. Instead he feels stifled by all the requirements. When I give him an assignment from Intermediate Language Lessons to write a story, etc. without the IEW requirements, he usually produces a quality work. I don't know how familiar you are with IEW so all I've stated about it may not make much sense to you. If it does, do you think Wordsmith would be a good choice for him? And a good choice for me? I like consistency and don't really want to jump around writing programs a lot. Thanks for your time. Blessings, April in WA

Kathy, Thanks for the quick response. I checked google again with Marilyn's name and still came up short so I did email her. Have you used this or know anything specific about it? Thanks, April in WA

Can anyone help me remember the name of a writing program written for boys? I think it's something like "No Girls Allowed" but I'm not coming up with anything when I google for it. Thanks, April in WA

Is each volume meant to be covered in one year? What's the youngest age you would start this program? Blessings, April in WA

I appreciate all of you taking the time to answer some of my questions. It has been a busy week and I have not had a chance to reply until now. I was thrilled to hear the homeschool laws are almost identical to those here in WA. I was surprised to hear about how much snow you do or don't get in that area. I guess I was thinking I'd be shoveling snow all winter long. From my previous thoughts and all of your nice comments I think I'm ready to move. Now I just have to convince my husband and most importantly see where God is working. Thanks again for answering questions. I will email again if things progress. Blessings, April in WA

My husband and I are thinking of a move to Colorado in the future and I would like to ask some of you who live there some questions. Most likely we would be moving to the Fort Collins area but somewhere between there and Denver with ease in getting to the airport for work travel would be the area considered. I would like to know what aspects of living in this area you love and what you don't. We live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest but are far from family in TX and would like to have a bit more sun and warmer summer temperatures. What part of the year do the temps regularly stay above 75 during the day? How much snow do you get in Fort Collins generally? What characteristics of a home are nice to have there like mud room with the snow, etc.? Are there certain parts of town gaining in value and others losing? What are the homeschooling laws like? Are you required to submit paperwork to the schools, etc. Currently we live in WA and have very little governmental involvement. Are there any programs offered by the school districts for homeschoolers? Can you also comment on the politics of the area? Does it tend to be more conservative or liberal? I know I have more questions but that's what I can think of right now. Thanks for taking any time to answer these questions. Blessings, April in WA