She will be fine. Better she be behind at home than in PS! Maybe keep your eyes on her and make sure she does not have a little dyslexia. My kids both did and learning to read was hard for both of them. We had taken my now 13 year old son to Dianne Craft for dyslexia when he was little and I just saw her at our CHEC conference and I was able to tell her he is now reading at a sophmore college level. This was NOT the case when he was little! He would cry after 3 pages of a BOB book! Hang in there and be on the lookout!

It sounds like what your kids need a lesson in is character. Unfortunatley, it sounds like they have your number that you are a softy and are working you. I hope that does not sound harsh! Sending them back to school is not going to do them any favors but they do need to learn to be responsible for their own education too. It is hard to know when they are really not able to do a book or they just figured out that if they whine enough you won't make them when you don't know they have solid character. Work on that first. Honesty, integrity, hard work. These, to me, are the REAL reason (OK, learning about Jesus is first) we homeschool. I would rather have a kid who is honoest,diligent and honorable in his or her work than anything academic. You can do it! Your kids can be honorable. They just need to be encouraged and admonished.

Go for it! Apologia elementary is not too bad. I don't think it would overwhelm you. I am a MFW lover but I am a tweaker too! Make it work for YOU.

You are doing exactly what I am doing! I am giong to introduce the letters and sounds etc. with MFW K and start PR in 1st grade. I love the Orton-Gillingham phonograms but I think PR will be too much for K. I love MFW K--super program, so we will just use PR as our 1st grade phonics. My other kids did not start out with the O-G phonograms and they are doing just fine with it. When we teach the letter sounds I just do all of the sounds like PR teaches (not even always, but I am giving them some exposure to them--we have letter factory and they don't give all the sounds). I want to make a video like letter factory with ALL the sounds since it does not exist---trust me---I have looked everywhere! It is good to hear someone else thinking the same thing I am.:001_smile:

Silly me!! I forgot to add that we have done other levels of MFW and did not find it repetitive. It just has a nice routine but it is not repetitive.

I just wanted to say that I kind of thought it was repetitive when I did it but then I thought, WAIT!!!!!!!! How are you supposed to teach something that is the SAME BUT DIFFERENT?! i.e. countries !!!!!!! :lol: There needs to be some continuity to it or it is not going to have a flow. How different can learning about a country be as far as getting your basic information about it? How expensive is it going to be if you have to use tons of different materials for 15 countries? The book basket helps and we used the internet to find specific things we wondered about each country. There are things to do to shake things up a bit like Crystal said. You can look on the interent to see if you can answer questions you have had about the country. You can cook food from that country. The list could go on and on. It depends on how much time you want to spend and how much money.:001_huh: Personally, I think that it would be really hard to make something that has repetitive information super varied, and exciting all the time while still giving the pertinent information. I know I couldn't. It is a super fun curriculum and we learned a ton. :001_smile: My kids loved it and so did I.

bump

:iagree: Another vote for Phonics Road. It is so much more than a phonics program. It uses Orton-Gillingham phonograms and covers all aspects of LA. Wonderful program!

This year I have been selling my older stuff I don't use. Next year, I have no idea!

What a great post! Thank you so much for all the information. I have also done both and have to agree with your insights. I just wanted to add that with MFW, it is nice to be able to get the book basket books but I almost never do and it is completely............complete with out them. If you don't have a good library system:tongue_smilie: (like me) or don't have the time or desire to depend on your library in order to educate your kids then MFW is really great without the extra books.:D Stacey

I ran across this lady and I am pretty sure she said she ships internationally. www.shirleysprepackagedcrafts.com Looks great! Stacey

I was thinking the same thing. Do you realize it is on that Homeschool Byuyers co-op has it for at least 40%off? Here is a link that will get you there http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/math-group-buys/ The actual page to Thinkwell is having some errors but it still gets you the info. Looks great! Stacey

I think it is like $130 for the upgrade and that is not bad but I am wondering what are the benefits of the 2nd edition? Is it worth it to upgrade? Crystal? Thanks!

Currently, we are in TT6 about to go to TT7. I am thinking that MM is farther ahead than TT. So, thier 6 may be like TT7. I know 6B is not out yet but I am wondering if it would be just as good when it is out for PRE-pre-algebra as TT 7. Any thoughts? Also, what Pre-Algebra do people recommend for a non-mathy type kid but a mom who aspires for them to get a thorough math education. (MM seems to fit this--it is very detailed and explained really well and gives an excellent math education) Help! Stacey:confused:

Just so everyone knows, I have both of these for sale on the For Sale thread! $17pp/each :001_smile: Stacey (MommaH)

I really hope I don't upset anyone but I have to respond to say I have used TOG. Yes, it is rigorous. It is REALLY great in theory. When you put legs on it, the program is pretty "rigorous" for mom to implement (and dad to pay for)! Every quarter we have to buy books and plan again. (this is no small feat--if you go to the library to get books, just know, that is really a lot of work. Often, we had to read books weeks after the subject was over because you can't get the book right away from the library so I usually bought them all. I will never tell my husband how much that year cost!) I also have to say that for me and my family, history did not hang together well using TOG. There are too many different sources that are used and using literature is great in theory but we spent so much time on one particular part of history at a time that I felt we did not cover the other aspects of history thoroughly enough. I was all excited about the program when I started but as time went on it was just TOO MUCH. Rigorous is not always a good thing. I love MFW because it is doable, very doable. Life is life and I can feep up running for only so long and then I can't take the running any more. IMO TOG is just too much. My kids also got so wrapped up in TOG that other topics fell by the wayside. We did not have enough time to take care of science, math and LA as well as we should have. I was so excited about TOG that it took me a little while (2 quarters) to figure that out. We have to remember, it is (basically) a history program and should not take more time that history is alotted. I understand many will probably really disagree but that is my .02. It is scary to swim against the current!!! I am actually getting sweaty palms! I love MFW because it is balanced and thorough and I can combine many kiddos in one year. The idea of "everyone being on the same page but at thier own level" is great but that still means you are having several different books about the same time period that you have to juggle (and buy) and I never felt my kids were actually learning about the same thing really. We did the Roman age and medieval times. One kid would be reading about the printing press and the other about monks--it is not like we sat around and discussed history together. With MFW, we do discuss history! I am sorry, I am totally rambling. I really recommend MFW. It is fun, doable, and your kids are REALLY on the same page. It is easy to combine many levels together. If you can't combine them ALL, then maybe your kiddo on a different level shouldn't be combined anyway--they probably need some individual momma time anyway. (like K and 1st) I am going to go get my flame retardent suit on now. Please don't ban me from this site!!! I love WTM--I am actually highly addicted to it and would be crushed if you all hated me for this honest .02 about TOG vs. MFW. Stacey PS I see you are concerned about having bought SOTW already. Please keep in mind, this book is less than $15. It is a good read and you could read it as a supplement. However, I would not personally choose a curriculum or discount MFW over a book that is that inexpensive. Times are tight, believe me I know. My husband has lost 60% of his income this year. Just see the big picture! You own a Bible I am sure (or 18 of them!) and that is what MFW uses for ancient history. SOTW is fun to read so I would just add it in and not throw out the baby with the bathwater. In this case it would be saving the one rubber ducky and throwing out the baby with the bathwater as well as all of the other toys.

Thank you all for your advice. I really do think I just need to keep perspective and remember, it he does not get to calculus before he graduates from my homeschool, it is not the end of the world. If he does decide to go for something in college (should he decide to go--that is a whole nother thread) that he needs advanced math for, he will find his own major motivation to learn that. I think we will keep plugging away at our TT for now (sure wish I would have known about Math Mammoth before:001_huh:) and do two a day to try and be at TT7 by next year, maybe even further in to TT7. This website is such a blessing to help us and you all were very helpful. I will have them keep plodding on and not stress them out.;) Thank you, Stacey

We started with Singapore until about my son's 4th grade. We moved on to Math on the Level (his 5th). This was the year I fostered and adopted 2 kids so me putting together the math was not happening, it is a great program though. We moved on to Professor B math (his 6th) which is where we started at ground zero to get that foundation. Granted this was the beginning of last year and we did progreass pretty quickly to get to this point. He is now in TT6 with LoF fractions and percents (just started this as a result of the "Do kids get math conceptually?" thread). I started TT at almost the beginning of this year.

Honestly, I think they are behind because I have switched thier curriculum too much. ALSO, we also did start over from the start to try and get that understanding better. It did work for the most part. They do really understand the basics well. I feel like it took us 2 years to memorize the multiplication facts.:tongue_smilie: The lights have just not really gone on for either of them in math so I keep trying to find something that makes those lights go on but maybe they just need to be diligent even if it is not a wonderful and inspriring experience. The whole thing just makes me feel out of control and like I need to "FIX" this so I self medicate (read: buy more curriculum). It feel like TT is taking forever and not progressing very fast. I have them doing 2 lessons of TT one day and 1 TT and 1 LoF on the opposite day.....sigh...... I just feel impatient. My son will be in TT 7 in the 8th grade which really means 6th grade math. I just want to get him to at least pre-alegebra by 8th grade if I could. Maybe it is not possible. I don't want to torture the poor guy, I want him to like math!

:001_huh: My kids are behind in math. I have them both doing math all summer (my son is 13 and in TT6, my daughter is 11 and in TT5). I just don't see how we are going to catch up. Does anyone know of some ideas or a method to catch them up quickly? We don't mind doing math all summer but we will still be behind at the end of it. Obviously, neither of my kids are mathy, enjoy or "get it" easily. I don't either. I know it could be fun and interesting but I don't know how to feel that or instill it in my kids but that is besides the point. At this time we just need to catch up! Any ideas? Stacey

Congratulations! My last two are from foster adoption. It is really a blessing to think back and say, "Whew, glad that is over!" Wahoo! Stacey

We have used this as well. Regarding the cartoons. I like them because they just give a quick picture of what is going on. My daughter is visual and the simple cartoon makes is EASY for her. I was thinking if the pictures were anything but those cartoons she would have to think hard and there is so much information! It is a great study. It was suprising to see someone else who had heard of it! Stacey I wanted to add, one thing about this study I really like is that you can combine all ages of kids together. They have packets for different age ranges. It works kind of like TOG where everyone learns the same thing at thier own level.

OK, they aren't givin it away but it is on sale!!!:lol: I will say when I see something I really think will work with my teaching style and my kids will learn a ton from, I get more willing to spend bigger bucks. My kids BETTER be brainiacks (I am pretty sure that is NOT one of the words they teach)!:001_huh: Stacey

Hi Judo Mom or anyone who is using this. I just saw this curriculum today in an ad I got. By the way is is on sale for 25% off here. http://www.dynamichomeschool.com/specialoffer/Exponential-Learning-1005.php Real quick, anyone who is curious and needs vocab/roots work this looks great. It is fast, sequential and thorough for a roots program. Dare I say it looks fun? Our kids will learn tons of roots, way more than in other programs I have seen. It is only 15 minutes a day too.:D I am finished buying curriculum for next year but there is NO way I am passing this up. :tongue_smilie: Anyway, the kids I will be using this for are 13 and 11 and will be 6th and 8th grades next year. We are good on phonics (so accordong to the placement recommendations we are fine to start at a higher level) but I always feel like I am missing something if I don't start at the beginning! Especially with something like roots. Do you think I would be better starting at the beginning or is it better to start in the Elements book (I see that is where Judo Mom is)? I am also wondering how long does a level take to finish? Any other input good or bad? Thanks! Stacey

Amen, Amen and Amen! Stacey