Last year BYL had 25% off sale.

I’d suggest looking at a combo of Math Mammoth and RightStart Games. We’ve started with Math Mammoth’s samples (I’m buying MM through Homeschool Buyers Co-op which is on sale this month). We also use RightStart Games. MM is similar to Singapore with its mastery approach but it’s all in one “ worktext†- no separate manuals etc. It is workbooky but I don’t have my kids do every problem and the activities suggested at the start of each MM chapter help to balance it out (in addition to any other games you might add such as RS). Much less teacher intensive to MEP and RightStart which I’ve used in the past.

I’ve been trying some of the samples and it’s working really well for my kids! I’m going to buy the Light Blue Bundle - it’s now in the 30% off range. Would be great to have it at 40-50% off :)

I like 6 week blocks. That way History and Science are both covered each term.

Our lineup is TC, W&R Fable and Killgallon Paragraphs spread out over 2 years before starting WWS1 in 6th Grade. We also add Brave Writer into the mix :)

Most of her Periscope vids have been put onto her YouTube channel. You can access them via her FB or YT.

We do a lot of shared reading. We snuggle on the couch or bed and read aloud to each other. It started off with DS reading once sentence from each paragraph or page, then we'd alternate paragraphs, then pages. One night when he was about 8 yo I was reading aloud a bedtime story to him and his little brother; I was tired and finished reading on a cliffhanger. They begged me to read more, I said I was too tired but that DS could read more if he wanted to. He did :) He read until both boys were satisfied with where the story was going (not on a cliffhanger lol). Since then, he reads aloud to us as much as he wants. He doesn't like reading by himself (and I don't force it); he enjoys the combination of a good story and sharing it with others.

I agree with Farrar. If you want fun writing projects then Partnership Writing (PW) sounds like it would suit your son's ability level. Re: Arrow, only get those if you want help with copywork/dictation passages. I like them because they include literary elements. A lot of other companies only focus on spelling and grammar for their passages. I've purchased a couple of the annual subscriptions but I don't follow their monthly schedule - I'm saving some of the guides for when my boys are older. The most recent guides included 'Big Juicy Questions' for optional discussion. This year's will also include ideas for 'party school' for those who want to finish with a party inspired by the book.

HSBC doesn't have the newer singles, but they do have the annual subscription. The 2016/2017 package will probably be there until the end of May. Last year, when BW had their June sale for the new list, it still wasn't as discounted as HSBC. I'm not sure whether the HSBC will have the 2017/2018 annual subscription this year, but they have had the most current annual subscription for at least the last couple of years.

I bought it in the premium build your own bundle. Even if I didn't use anything else in the bundle it still works out cheaper than buying from her website. She currently has a deal on her website - 25% off the print version, but I'm also in Australia and it usually works out better to get ebooks. I'm reading the story from my iPad and printing off the missions as needed. That's great! I'd never heard of this curriculum before the sale. Both boys get their new mission in a packet/document folder which also has highlighter, pencil, eraser, correction tape and star stickers. Once they finish the mission they decorate with some stickers and then put the finished pages in a binder. Lots of fun so far.

If you only had a 6th grader and a 3rd grader then I would suggest adapting PW to suit them both. Considering you also have younger kids then I would get the younger kids involved in JID projects (whether you go with the ideas in TWJ or the JID guide). If your 6th grader is interested in things like fairy tales then even they could join in on that project or they could do a similar project (with less help obviously) on Greek or Norse myths etc. To extend your 6th grader you could give them FO projects OR you could get PW and alternate JID and PW for them all (if you wanted to streamline). They really are projects that can be adapted to suit different abilities. Regarding the Arrow- I'd recommend getting Arrows from the 2016/2017 list and/or 2017/2018. These are the only guides that included 'Big Juicy Conversations' which could be great for your eldest. The Homeschool Buyers Co-op sell the full 2016/2017 year at a discounted price (it will probably disappear at the end of this month). Have you heard Julie talk about French Dictation? It's a great way to adapt dictation for younger kids. My 3rd grader is not ready for full dictation. Even my youngest at 5 yo liked to get involved. I'd just blank out a few easy words in the passage for him to fill in.

We did the first 'mission' from Grammar Galaxy today (6 yo & 8.5 yo boys) - huge hit! 😀

Thanks! For anyone interested, this FB group's registration will close this Friday.

Julie who created Brave Writer (incl. TWJ) recommends Nitty Gritty Grammar and More Nitty Gritty Grammar to use as grammar guides.