I'm currently using Pre-Level with a 2nd grader and Level 1 with a 5th & 7th grader. It's a little light for the 7th grader, perfect for the 5th grader and I wouldn't again pay money for a pre-level book. There's just not enough in them to justify the expense. I do like the level 1, it's a great intro to chemistry. HTH

This sounds just like him! He's always writing capital D's when he knows he needs a D. When I ask him if it needs to be capital he will grin and erase it (he knows it shouldn't be capital in the middle of a sentence) but then he writes a lower case b instead of d. Angie, how did you know she was dyslexic? When he reads he often reads "will I go" for "I will go" and "Shall we stay here" when it says "we shall stay here." I've always thought he was rushing and guessing so I have him put his finger under each word as he reads it. That helps but hasn't solved the problem. Could this be a dyslexia issue? Are there other signs I should be looking for? I had his eyes checked months ago after asking this question on this board and getting the suggestion of visual processing disorders. The opthamologist gave him a "clean bill of health." Could it still be dyslexia? Thanks for your insight!

My ds 10.5 loved The Chronicles of Prydain. For fun reading (on his own and not for school): Artemis Fowl series Warriors series Eragon series Indian in the Cupboard Bridge to Terebithia (although this was last year) Together we've been reading LOTR.

Thanks ladies. I think for now we'll take a week or two off from spelling to decompress and then just practice the rules and do the pages and skip the tests. If there's no improvement over the next couple months we'll try a new program. Thanks for your help!

I have looked at AAS before, eons ago. Are there rules to that or just say the word for him and let him grab whatever letters he thinks he hears? Can I use refrigerator magnet letters? What if he just grabs the r-l-n for rules? I'm still not sure there isn't a problem with him hearing the "n" sound randomly.

Ds7 is finally reading fluently (by fluent I mean he's not sounding out every.single.word.) and reading isn't painful anymore.:001_smile::001_smile::001_smile: This seemed to take a really long time since my olders learned much earlier. I keep telling myself all kids are different and learn at their own pace. But, I'm starting to wonder if there's some kind of LD possibly going on. Ds can read a word but he just can't hold it in his head to spell it. We've been working through SWO level B and he'll do great with picking out the misspellings and deciding which word should go in which blank. But, when it comes time to test (I dictate: I say the word, say a sentence using that word and then repeat the spelling word) he goes absolutely blank. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Often he can't even come up with the first letter unless I prompt, "rule, what sound do you hear at the beginning of rule?" That was one of today's words and he finally wrote "r-l-n." (?? "n" ??? where do we hear the "n" sound in "rule?") The really sad thing is that I had given him the list and had him spend a few minutes looking over the words immediately before we started the test. This was an effort to help him succeed. Nope, nothing. So, after he wrote "r-l-n" I had him erase and we reviewed the 3 ways to make the long u sound from that lesson (-ew, u_e, and -ue). I moved on to the next word (maybe rule was too frustrating for him) "tune." Same result. Anyway, I could go on but this post is already too long. Is this a developmental issue, a possible LD, a curriculum misfit for this particular child, or am I doing something wrong? When we do WWE he rarely has to ask me how to spell a dictation word! If he does I immediately spell it and we move on (SWB suggests making dictation and spelling seperate in WWE2). Is it just nerves because it's a "test?" He aces his math tests. Sigh. Today he burst out that he hated school during his spelling test. Obviously we finished because I don't give in to whining outbursts, but we aren't going to do spelling for a few weeks. I just can't figure this out. It's too frustrating for both of us right now. Any ideas would be appreciated. TIA!!

I voted for 2 years because we did 2 Sonlight cores (3&4). But, we didn't use SL for everything so I guess I should have voted for never. We quit using SL because of a customer service issue, plus I found I just added too much. I *enjoy* making the plans. Crazy, I know. I've found planning takes up tons of my time, though. But, this year we went with History Odyssey and I'm tweaking just as much! (Not to mention the fact that it's essentially the WTM recommendations with The Story of Mankind added to it: I could have done that for free!) Next year who knows. I considered TOG but couldn't wrap my head around the samples (and it was way.too.expensive). I'll probably just keep making my own plans.

My kids and I still talk about how our character houses are coming and how our prisons are full of people whose biggest mistake was not admitting that they made a mistake and taking responsibility for it in the first place. We read the first three of that series as Read-Alouds in our house (yes, I edited language on the fly) and I cried and the kids cried and we learned soooooooo much! This is by far one of the best read alouds we have ever done as far as learning examples with good stories!! There's a fantastic scene where Ralph's dad teaches him about "life" and hard work. "There's only 2 kinds of men in this world: black, brown, red, yellow or white, there's only 2 kinds of men: honest and dishonest. One thinks the world owes him a living and the other works for his keep. Some men work with their heads and some work with their hands, but all honest men work." We've discussed this many times as dh works with his head and a dear uncle (or 2) work their hands. But, everybody works! Wow, there are So.Many.lessons. in this book that really stick. My boys were 9 and 6 when we read this and if I had to do it over again there are many, many other books I would eliminate before I eliminated this one! Ralph's dad (and then Ralph as he grows up) is one of the best examples of a godly, hard-working "man" you'll find! (By the term "man" I mean one who takes responsibility for his life and his family and honors God and works hard to support them, unlike soooooo many male "role models" in our world today). FWIW, just my opinion!

but for comparison's sake I'll tell you what my 2nd grader (ds7, he won't turn 8 till the middle of June) is doing. *WWE 2 (just finished 1 before Christmas and started 2 this week) *Memorization (scriptures and poems, he loves this, but it comes naturally for him) *MUS Alpha (almost to Beta, yeah!!!) *SOTW 1 (following topics with the older dc in HO Level 2 Ancients) *Spelling Workout B *Explode the Code book 3 (finishing this week, starting book 4 next week) *Science: RS4K pre-level Chemistry (the olders are doing level 1 Chemistry) *Reading: This one's a little tricky. We finished Blend Phonics a couple months ago and his grandpa offered to pay him a specific amount of $$ for finishing a specific amount of scripture before his next birthday. So, he's really motivated now to finish the scriptures. So, we are now alternating between an easy read (level 2 or 3) and reading scriptures together (he reads a column aloud then I read a column aloud, one chapter a day) Wow, I didn't feel like he was doing that much till I typed it up!:confused: I guess I'll wait to hear what others are doing. I have always assumed he does more because older dc do more and they complain that he *never* does any work......:tongue_smilie: Anyway, hope that helps!

:iagree:

Really good: Across Five Aprils Shades of Grey Decent: The Perilous Road Turn Homeward, Hannalee

I would keep moving on, slowly so she doesn't get lost, but she doesn't get too frustrated either. Have you tried flashmaster or mus's online drill? Try taking some time off from worksheets and just play games. We use dice and play bingo (I made up bingo cards with the answers to all the math facts my dc were supposed to know). Each kid takes a turn rolling two dice (I bought 12 sided dice for my olders and regular for ds7) you have to add (or multiply or subtract depending on which kids rolled and what level they are at) then whoever has that answer on the board gets to cover it with a dry bean. They'll all play this game over and over better than doing worksheets over and over. With the variation in operations and in dice size it has worked well to combine them, too. HTH:)

:001_smile::hurray:

That's the plan! When I preordered they said they would notify me before shipping and I could cancel at that time if I no longer needed it. They haven't charged me yet so I guess we'll see what happens. If it's not ready soon dc will be beyond it. Or, close enough to beyond it that I'd choose Rainbow instead of Colors. :confused:

I preordered this way back in April 2009. I've heard nothing. I finally sent an email asking for an eta for a release date last week and still haven't heard anything. If anyone knows anything I'd love to hear it, too. :bigear::bigear:

My hubby is Navy and we're in the northeast. We spent 3 1/2 years in Hawaii and loved, loved, loved it. That's where I started home schooling (yup, for a reason! The schools there are awful!). But, we loved just about everything else about Hawaii and would go back in a minute if they'd let us.:) When dh joined the navy their recruiting slogan was "It's not just a job, it's an adventure." That's about the only thing the recruiter didn't lie about.:D

I had issues with my knees back in jr high (long, long before I started running). The doc back then had me wear braceson my knees when I exercised. Fast forward 12 years to right after baby # 2 was born. I started running to lose weight and feel good about myself. I have now been running for 10 years and I just can't stop! The first couple years I ran I was religious about stretching and icing and it worked just fine. After another couple years I was in the physical therapist's office. Strengthening the quads and hamstrings (muscles that support the kness) made a huge difference. Also, now I run no more than once a week, very rarely if it's been a really stressful week I might run twice. I always run on a treadmill, never on the road: it's murder on the knees. But, the other days I'm on the elliptical machine. I need the endorphins and the alone time. Once you stop you'll never want to start again (starting is the worst part!). So, I can't stop. But, I don't want to disable myself either. So, a once a week run to keep me sane and 3 times a week on the elliptical or the bike to stay strong. One of the things the physical therapist told me was never do the same routine day after day after day. Mix it up. A long slowrun, a short run, hills, elliptical, bike, swimming, etc. etc. Don't do the same thing day after day: it's hard on your joints and your body develps a tolerance and you don't ge the same workout benefits either. HTH!

First I would ask if you are familiar with WWE? Basically, each week is set up in 4 days worth of work: day 1 copywork (2 sentences, one longer one shorter: you choose which the student copies). Day 2 narration (passages of varying lengths starting with a paragraph or two and working up to 10 or more paragraphs) where mom reads it outloud and then there's scripted questions to ask which they need to answer in complete sentences. Then, you ask "What's one thing you remember from this passage?" and you write down their answer. You can have them copy their sentence or not. Day 3 is just like day 1 and day 4 is a repeat of day 2. As the year goes on the skills get more difficult (as it should be). Now: I have only used SL 3 LA (and tossed it after 13 weeks!) so take this for what it's worth: I *really* disliked SL's LA. I found it too general and "out there" for my kids: not enough structure for my dd who could write 10 pages of a story that only needed 1 page and not enough instruction for my ds who is writing phobic. There was also little to no grammar unless you use grammar ace which is in no way appropriate for the ages you're talking about. About WWE: I bought the book that's the overview of the entire program last spring. Read it and loved it. I really think SWB is spot on in her theory and approach to writing. My olders are using IEW this year (our first year with it) but they are 5th and 7th. My ds7 (grade 2) just finished WWE 1. We didn't start it till last April and I had him doing 2 days worth each day (1 page of copywork and 1 page of narration). That was the perfect amount for him. We would go over the sentences he needed to copy, pointing out whatever was in the instructor's portion that they were supposed to be practicing that week (capitalization, punctuation, proper names, etc. etc) and then he would copy them carefully (both sentences). Then we would read the narration story, discuss the questions and he would narrate a sentence back to me to write down about the passage. Somedays I had him copy the narration sentence also, sometimes not (depending on the effort he put into the copywork sentences, were they neat or sloppy? and my patience level that day;)). This week we are having an "early release" week in prep for Christmas break next week (math, memorization review and reading everyday, nothing else) and ds7 has been asking for narration!!:D I just ordered WWE 2 workbook to do with him the rest of this year. Ideally, I'd come up with narration passages and copywork from his history and science, but my plate is full! Realistically, I decided the workbook is worth the $20 I paid for it on amazon! Less stress on mom = happier homeschool = work actually gets completed! If money is an issue, you can easily buy just the workbook and skip the overview hardback text until you have a little more cash:001_smile:. (Or try the library, a lot of them have it!) The workbook won't explain the theory behind what you're doing, but you can probably find that by searching archives on these boards!;) But, the workbook would be all you need to get started. There are sample pages up on peacehillpress and amazon so you could determine which level you needed for your dc. HTH!! Good luck!:D

Okay, I've been reading these religious threads all day and not said a thing yet. For the most part, people have been respectful of others. And, the other LDS folks on the board are doing a great job articulating our beliefs. But, finally, I can't NOT respond!! Forgive me, but you have no idea what you are talking about!! If you had ever been inside an LDS Temple for actual worship services you would be appalled at what you just said. As an active, devout, temple-worshipping Mormon who has a vibrant relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ, I find that statement eeply offensive! If you wish to disagree with our doctrine, fine, do so. If you wish to quote scripture to me, fine, do so. If you want to say we aren't Christians, fine. If you want to say we worship a different Jesus, I can even let that pass, but do NOT try to describe what happens in our temples as something so foul. Please, please, do not speak about things that you do not know or understand. There is no "divining of spirits" or seeking to commune with the dead (necromancy) in our temples. If you want to know what a Mormon believes, please ask one!! Don't spout off about things you know nothing about.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

We are currently using HO Level 2 Ancients for my olders and level 1 for my youngers. It's working, but I already owned SOTW 1 with the AG. If I were to redo it, I wouldn't buy the level 1 Ancients, I would just take a couple days before we started and match up the SOTW chapters to what the olders were doing. SOTW is one of the recommended spines for level 1 Ancients. If you get the AG you don't need the HO schedule, especially if you love history! But, if you are going to do seperate history cycles and are only doing Ancients with the youngers, HO level 1 would work. Be warned, though, the only activities that you won't have to gather supplies for are the History pockets (but you'll need copies). They list a TON of other activities from "Ancient Egytians and Their Neighbors" and "Ancient Israelites and Their Neighbors" (actually, I think level 1 only uses one of those, level 2 uses the other one). So, you know which activity to do when, but you still have to gather all supplies and get it organized. If you already own SOTW 1, I wouldn't buy HO level 1, I'd just get some fun supplemental books for it. HO Level 2 Ancients could easily be done independently by my 5th grader. I haven't used any other history cycles from HO. HTH!

The TWSS is a seminar for the parents, it's not designed to be a writing course for the kids. It's to teach the parent how to teach writing. If you want Andrew to teach then you'll need to get the SICC. If you think they have learned the principles well after SWI-B then you could try one of the themed lesson plans. There are no dvds with the theme lessons, just the worksheets and lesson plans and writing assignments that all follow the program steps they learned in the SWI. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in here, I'm just getting ready to start SWI-B this fall with my 5th and 7th graders. But, this is what my research has led me to conclude. HTH

for Ancient Egypt. Detectives in Togas for Rome. It has a sequel (which I haven't read yet) called Mystery of the Roman Ransom. But Detectives in Togas was a fun read!

:iagree:Especially with the bolded parts. As an example I'll reference the Harry Potter books. I read HP to my kids (at age 9 we read book 1, age 10 book 2 etc.). I feel like Rowling is a master at capturing what it feels like to be a teenager. I use it as a teaching tool. For example, in book 1 when Harry gets to buy treats on the train and share them with Ron we talk about how it must feel to have something to share for the first time in your life. We also talk about being included and having friends, we talked about how Harry doesn't like Malfoy (even though it seems like being friends with Malfoy could help Harry be "popular" which he's NEVER been and he desperately wants to fit in) because Malfoy reminds him too much of his cousin Dudley the bully. We talked about how Harry and Ron treated Hermione at the beginning of the book and what they learn about that by the end. These are powerful lessons at ages 9-10 as they are getting ready to hit puberty. {spoiler!!!!!!} My oldest (dd12) and I are getting ready to start HP#4 this week. As a Christian, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to bear witness to her of how resurrection really happens at the end when Voldemort comes "back to life." What a great time for a 30 second teachable moment instead of a "sunday school" lecture! {spoiler!!!!!!} In book 6 when so many characters spend so much time "snogging" (making out) and then are hurt so badly when they break up, what a great opportunity to discuss s3x and how even making out is supposed to be sacred. How God designed for it to draw us closer together, God's design for s3xual relationships. [sidenote, there is no explicit description of the "snogging" in the books. I gathered from context that snogging is a British term for making out]. Okay, enough rant:D. I think you get the idea. I just thought I'd put that out there. If your kid is interested in them I think these books do a great job of showing how anything can be used with good purposes or evil purposes (magic, people, love, power, etc). They also do a great job of describing what it's like to be a teen and struggle. We all have struggles, that's part of life. We all sin, that's also part of life. We have have hateful feelings toward other people at some point in our lives. The question is, what do we do with those feelings, do we act on them or not? And, if/when we sin, do we repent and turn from sin or do we wallow in it? Yes, characters in HP make mistakes and sin. But, we also see them learning from them (or not learning and suffering the natural consequences). That being said, the books do get darker as Harry gets older. So, we don't start them till my dc are old enough to really understand fact vs. fantasy and then the first time they read the book we read it together and talk about it. I find them to be great for creating wonderful teachable moments. JMHO!