Alley, I don't start LL till 5th or 6th grade, and then I have them do one page per day and they do it totally independently. They don't love the memorization, but they don't complain a lot either. I just have them go through one list per day with the audio files. Monday I rotate in an old vocab list and Tuesday through Thursday I have them work on the newest list. My oldest adored it. My 2nd dd doesn't mind it but doesn't love it like my oldest. BB2 wasn't completely finished when we moved on, so I don't own it. I was too worried that we would catch up to her writing it. :D Given I invested a lot into the next program I doubt I will be able to pick it up either. It is hard to justify the cost when you already have something in house that will work. Heather

My oldest did lots of hands on for 5th, 6th and 7th. She will soon start the self teaching series that SWB recommends for High School as part of her 8th grade science. I just will give her more time. My 2nd dd did hands on for 5th and so far this year. I am switching her to an Environmental Science text to match topics with my oldest. My 3rd dd is 5th this year and will continue with hands on.

The only part that I use is the worksheets and I do have the kiddos do them independently. The worksheets focus on one set of homophones and then have a set of sentences where the child is supposed to fill in the correct spelling for that use. Like sale, sail, once sentence might be: I got that dress on ____. then another: The boat has a white____. Each sheet has...about 10 such sentences. The difference between the two or three homophones are not covered on the worksheet so you would have to make sure the child knew that when you give them the sheet. Beyond that it is independent. Heather

My 3rd dd struggled with the exact same thing...but over time grew out of it. Most of the time she did get the place value though, she just called 12 twenty. I give credit for her knowing the place value to Right Start because it uses the base 10 names at first then moves to the teen names. My ds also struggles with the same things. Now he can recognize the teen number names and translate them into their proper place value, but he can't recall 11 and 12 and half the other teen names upon seeing the number. If I give him 11 he can do 12-19. He will make a couple of mistakes and correct himself. But getting him to remember 11 even 2 mins after we covered it (daily) and he won't be able to. In his case because he can do the base 10 number (one ten one, one ten two, one ten three...)and he is able to translate the the word into a number upon hearing it, he is able to do math and function in most situations. The only problem is in communicating with other people. My recommendation would be to also go back to place value names until he can nail place value consistently for an extended period of time. Then I would start to use both at once. "That is one ten one, or eleven." This is the phase we are stuck in...the using it both at once. The goal is to eventually transition to being able to use just teen names. Heather

I don't remember how much it costs, but we use the Homophone book exactly the way you are thinking. It is a great way to work on homophones. We could live without it. Guess I would say that if things are tight financially skip it, but if you can afford it is easy, fun reinforcement. Heather

I can't speak as to when, but BCM starts with addition. They don't need anything before starting it. It just jumps into larger numbers and multiple number addition quickly, assuming they have the maturity to follow. I have had my 6th grader doing some BCM. She is not as mathy as your ds. She either gets it and owns it or doesn't get it at all and we have to work at it for a while, then it clicks and she owns it. She has been doing one page a day..which would take longer than a year. My oldest started BCM spring of her 7th grade year and is still plugging away. She is doing two pages a day and should finish close to the year mark. I do have her set a timer and if she reaches an hour I have her stop. I think an hour for a non-mathy 8th grader is enough. :D Heather

If you can manage it, scheduling the games for the kids to play with each other will take some pressure off. My schedule has changed over the years, but currently it is: Monday: 8th and 3rd play a game at 3rd grader's level. 6th and 5th play a game at 5th grader's level. Tuesday: 8th and 6th play together at 6th grader's level. 5th and 3rd play a game at my 3rd grader's level. Wednesday: 8th and 5th play together at my 5th grader's level. 6th and 3rd play a game at my 3rd grader's level. Thursday: Same as Tuesday. Next year I will probably let my oldest out of games, but not quite yet. Heather

I use Right Start and Math Mammoth. Heather

It might be developmental. It might also be that mom's get tired. We love RS here. Geometry was the only level I didn't care for....just too much working with hard concepts then drawing...it was hard for my dd to find a schedule that worked. Plus we seemed to always get different measurements, so I would have her measure the lines and had it for me to "correct". I actually just wanted her to do the calculations with their figures so the answer key was viable. If she measured .2 of a cm off of their measurment it would render the answer key useless. C works a lot on multiplication, and also introduces fractions and division if I remember right. D has quite a bit of review, but at the same time it tends to add a layer of new stuff. My kids liked having something easier to do. It goes on to cover a lot of measurements, area, perimeter, fractions and short division...decimals are introduced as well. E shows the relationships between fractions, division, decimals, percent and ratio. I really adore how E does this. The only gap I see in RS is limited word problems and it doesn't heavily cover long division. If you are using a secondary program I am sure they will get enough coverage between the two. Heather

Typing is an excellent option. AAS uses tiles, which you can order separately and use with any program. I generally use the tiles day 1, then a white board day 2, have him spell it out loud from memory day 3 (trying to visualize the words) and day 4 I finally have him sit down with pencil and paper. This way by the time the child has to use their motor skills they should already know how to spell it. When they are spelling it for the first time they don't have to write at all. Heather

I use AAS, Sonlight LA which schedules the ETC books and I See Sam for fluency practice. Once you have covered EE in AAS you should be able to use the I See Sam books, regardless of what else you decide to use. Heather

There could be several things going on here. Part of it could be lack of practice, it could be that it is just pushing him developmentally, or it could be that the Miquon discovery approach isn't his learning style. I used Miquon with my oldest two, and both of them hated it. Hated the discovery approach. I finally changed simply because I was tired of hearing about it, but as time has gone on I realize now that they have concrete personalities. They want to know exactly what is expected of them and how to do it. The discovery approach was too abstract for them. They just were never sure if they were doing it right and that uncertainty made them hate it. There isn't any wrong answer here. You can keep going, you can switch, or you can supplement. It really is up to you and what you feel is best for yourself and your child. Heather

For me personally, I wouldn't...but that is largely because I don't use SL anymore. :D Yet I still buy the $150 minimum each year from SL to get the membership just so that my kids can post of the kiddo forums. They love it there. Heather

It is ok, really. What I find amusing is that I personally was held back in 1st grade because I couldn't stand in front of the class and recite my phonics. In front of the whole class! Being terrified was half of it. The next year everything clicked for me and I excelled. Now your child is struggling with the same sort of things that I was held back in 1st, but he is only in K? Poor little guy deserves a break! But in the end I think being held back was great. I was always the oldest in my class, more mature, better able to grasp and make connections simply because my brain was more developed and I was more mature. Plus I could drive before everyone else. :D I turned 18 a month after I started my senior year. If I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't change a thing. I really don't see anything to be worried about. Boys are often delayed developmentally compared to girls and it seems they are pushing reading earlier and earlier. It is probably too much, too soon and in its own timing it will click. Heather

I would second a phonics based spelling program, and All About Spell (AAS) as a good one. While they may not need a phonics right now as strong readers, they often begin to have problems later with multi-syllable rules because they begin to forget phonics. A good spelling program will take care of that potential problem and spelling at the same time. Heather

The MUS rods, because they are notched. That meas that if the child forgets what color equals what number then can just count the notches to see which it is. None of my kids took to c-rods, but I think it was because they didn't like the color to number association. The notched ones might have worked through. Heather

My kids are not mathy, so we will continued with Lial's prealgebra, then beginning algebra, etc... She doesn't have geometry (waaa!) in this series, but I will worry about that later. She does partner with a different author to write one but I am not sure it is as good. Most people use Jacobs Geometry...or so it seems. If your child is more mathy I know a lot of people skip the prealgebra and go straight into Lial's Algebra, because there is so much overlap. Heather

While I know Susan doesn't recommend it, you can do LiPS at home. I took both my younger two through it, and it was a tremendous help. The movements in Barton level 2 really helped my ds bring blending together. In level 1 the focus is on separating and hearing the sounds without letters to represent those sounds. LiPS, after you cover the basics of how the mouth moves to makes sounds and how they feel, also covers this territory if you prefer to use that, but Barton is more structured and easier to use. Heather

With the questions, I do read back the sentence that contains the answer. Usually at first I have to do it a lot, then over time less and less till I only have to do so rarely when they are distracted. With level 1 it really doesn't matter what they give you as a "narration" the point is just to get a full sentence down on paper. With level 2 I have to continually work with them for a while. "Who was the main characters?" is the first one I ask and then often I have to help them narrow it down at first. Then "What did they do?" is next and again I have to help them narrow it down for a while. Over time it has clicked for all my kids. Just wasn't 2nd nature for the younger three like it was my oldest....well my ds is still at it. I don't use the books at grade level. But the way I do dictation is the way it is taught by Ruth Beechick, and I believe Charlotte Mason also teaches a cross between RB's method and WTM. You don't have to feel like you are giving up just because that one method doesn't work for you. I love dictation and still have my oldest doing it, but still not for the purpose of memory work. Most of the time we just don't need it here. Our dyslexic tendencies allow us to visualize so well we just replay what we see in our mind instead of working on holding words in our mind. :) Heather

All my kids are behind "grade level" in math. This is because they just aren't ready. I refuse to push when they aren't ready. My oldest didn't cover long division...or any division for that matter in 3rd grade and still got at NP score of 75 in math. The NP score is the one where if you lined up all the kids who took the test it tells you where your child lands in relation to the others. Only 25% of the kids did better than her despite not having any division. She also had to test at the end of 5th grade, and this time got 84%, but there were still several topics we hadn't even touched on. She will go into test again this year and I can't wait to see the scores. Keep in mind that most middle school math is review. They do add in some higher end topics, but you have wiggle room. Programs that start Algebra in 8th are advanced. It is a nice thought but my kids aren't mathy and won't get there till 9th. I'm OK with that (despite the fact that I LOVE math). My advice is to go at the child's pace and go for mastery not for grade level. Heather

I use WWE and love it, but I don't do dictation the way they suggest. I give it to them as a whole sentence first (with them just listening) and then I give it to them one word at a time, and if needed I sound out any words they need me to for spelling. There is no way I could even do WWE diction for memory. Yet I often score high on Simon type memory games. With writing it just gets jumbled in my head and I can't get it out correctly. Focusing on it just creates more frustration not improved ability. Heather

I would second this. BCM is Basic College Math by Lial. I don't use the tutor part, but the text itself is great. Lial writes texts specifically for remedial college students going to community college. In other words, high school math for people who are not mathy, who don't understand math speak. She does explain why math works before moving to the formula, but gives long problem sets for lots of practice, like comparing the cost of Sprint and Nextel plans for a year taking into account the start up fee (not right off, this is later in the book). She highlights all definitions (which I have my kids memorize), and clearly refers back to example problems when directing the student to work on a problem set. I do also have MM and it is also good and not too childish. They really don't last that long if you are doing a couple pages a day, so you could do those first them move into something like BCM to solidify their understanding. Heather

This is what I was going to recommend. This could be completely developmental...she just hasn't developed the higher level think necessary to get it. Doesn't mean she never will. All my kids are developmentally behind in math. It is always a struggle here. I have one child this week who was multiplying fractions and half way through the assignment she started reducing by finding the lowest prime factor (other than 1) and reducing to that instead of dividing both top and bottom by the same number. :confused: I had her redo the page the next day, and she did well except for on the last about 5 problems she suddenly started adding the denominators instead of multiplying them. This is the child most likely to get 100% on a worksheet and tests high 90's in math on standardized testing. Getting it into her brain the first time is another thing entirely, and has always been like this. I will probably pull her out of what she is doing, pull out MM fractions and have her go through that and hope that is enough to get her beyond this. It might be signs of a developmental delay and I might have to find other math for her to do for a while. You are not alone. (((hugs))) Heather

Here it is one day at a time, and no one gets the time I would like them to have. Though I have high ideals. My oldest is a natural in language, but struggles with math. She does read aloud like a typical dyslexic with typical substations, but reading on her own she can read and comprehend like the wind...at least the big picture. Details are another thing...we have developed strategies to help her catch the details. My 2nd dd is overall the strongest student. She does well in everything, but isn't astounding in any one topic. She also does typical dyslexic substitutions when reading aloud and struggles with math at times. Just this week in covering multiplication of fractions she went mid page from dividing to picking the lowest prime factor to reduce to. :confused: She did that page again yesterday, but towards the end she quite multiplying the denominator and started adding them. Getting into her brain is hard, once it is in there she is the one most likely to get 100% correct on something. My 3rd and 4th children have similar issues. Both read at or above grade level, both spell years behind that. 3rd is just now hearing and spelling blends correctly. She just couldn't hear it before and she had to go through LiPS and Seeing Stars first. Even then, last year, she spent writing it wrong then reading it and correcting her spelling (she would leave one letter of the blend out, then erase and add it back in). Finally she is writing the whole word start to finish without erasing. :D DS issues are more profound. He still struggles just to hear the difference between short vowel sounds (after doing LiPS and Seeing Stars). He also has speech issues with th, l, ch, r and j that we continue to work on. We just plug away. It isn't easy. But I don't see PS as a solution. Then I would just be re-teaching it to them at night...trying like I do now to get it into terms that make sense to them....but then I would be forced into pace that is faster. It is just easier to keep them at home and work at our own pace. BTW we are required to test here, and all my kids test well. So while we aren't meeting my ideals of what they need at what time they are learning and mastering what is important. Heather

Kim, Try looking it up by subject. Then you can look up readers, then go to Core H. Separately you can look up RA's and go to core H. When you look at the whole package they don't separate them out. Heather