I've got an older K-er: turned 6 in November. He loves Horizons K, and we're about 10 or so lessons into the second book. it's easy for me to teach, and so far, he gets it all pretty quickly. I had some problems with my older son when we did 1st grade, but I think that has to do with his learning style, and the fact that he was my first and I was uptight. :)

Thank you so much for posting this. We are in this very place of being frustrated with Saxon 6/5, and I have slacked off on all these same things. This is probably the most help and encouragement I've ever received from reading this forum. I now have the direction I need to work with my son on improving our math lessons. Your shared wisdom and encouragement is a blessing to me today -- thank you!

Veritas Press also does an online grammar and writing class using IEW and Shurley grammar.

I second the recommendation of Child's Story Bible by Vos to go along with SOTW 1. It's a wonderful resource.

We've done Foundations and Essentials, and consider Foundations a supplement. Essentials was our only grammar and writing program this year. You could easily use TOG, or Sonlight in addition, if you considered it to be a memory-work co-op only. We're considering something like this for the upcoming year. CC has great hands-on science and art projects each week, which is one of my favorite things. And I really appreciate the accountability and opportunity to fellowship with other moms.

Thank you. I appreciate the wisdom.

Thank you so much, ladies. These boards are a blessing!

I'm considering R&S English for our grammar program. What is your opinion of the R&S English writing/composition assignments? Can anyone give me examples from year 5? How does their writing compare to Writing Strands?

Has she read the Anne of Green Gables series yet? There are 7 or 8 books in the series, and while Anne takes a backseat as main character in the last two or three, they're still pretty good, especially for an avid reader. Montgomery's writing and descriptions are beautiful. And some of her other books, like the Emily of New Moon series (3 books I think), The Tangled Web, and Kilmeny of the Orchard, are also good, but not as good as Anne. :) All of the Anne books, in my opinion, "sustain a rereading," which was one of Lewis' ways of identifying a good story.

Thank you, ladies!

Jim Hodges Audio sent me an e-mail special that looks quite enticing for my 9-year-old. We've never listened to him before, but enjoy Jim Wiese. How does Hodges compare to Wiese?

We used FLL and FLL3 for 1st through 3rd, and I thought it was a good preparation for Essentials. But my son catches on very quickly, and enjoys the classroom setting. He isn't familiar with everything in EEL, but he is comfortable with learning it because he's already learned some of the "grammar" of grammar from FLL. In the EEL curriculum, they point out that for 4th graders, EEL is all about exposure. They do the exact same curriculum next year, and the year after that. And while he is, at times, unsure about what's going on in class, the beauty is that I'm there with him, and can help him later at home. I will say that the kids in the class who've had Shurley are quite adept at the grammar portion of the class. They participate in the question and answer flows very comfortably. But I see that as something we can look forward to, and now know how to practice at home. To answer an earlier question, this is the second year our campus has had EEL, the first year my son is doing it.

My fourth grader started Essentials this year, and we actually do the Shurley grammar question and answer flow on the weekly task sheets. Our teacher also introduces the Shurley jingles and encourages the students to memorize them. I've never used Shurley grammar, so I don't know all it entails, but these are the two components from it that I know are included in Essentials. I also sporadically use FLL 4 with my fourth grader, because it's what I'm using with my 3rd grader, and I really enjoy doing it with both. But I don't know how necessary it is. Hope this helps!

We were struggling with math facts, and I'm terrible at drilling them myself. However, I bought a computer game called Math Drill Express for $20 at the homeschool convention. It's timed math drills and it shows their score at the end. I'm not sure if it records their progress, but my daughter has improved. She and my son both like it because they get to design their background for the drills, and pick what alarms they want for a correct answer and a wrong answer. It's compatible with both PC and Mac. Here's the link: http://www.mathdrillexpress.com/ Hope this helps!

I second this very same set-up. Our 2nd grade dd7 and 3rd grade ds9 both liked FLL 3, although we haven't finished it, yet. :) My children are also strong in language arts, thanks to the seamless way FLL1-2 and 3 help you get in so much: dictation, copywork, poetry memorization, narration. FLL is definitely my favorite curriculum I've used so far in homeschooling. Miss you, KLA!

I'm not a planner at all, but I did use SSRW, with success. Both my readers read well above grade level. It wasn't until nearly the end of our journey with the curriculum, though, that I realized that the 36 "stops" on the racetrack correlate with 36 weeks of school. Duh. If I had figured that out at the beginning, it would have helped me know how much to do each day/week. Not having a schedule was my biggest complaint about the program. If she hasn't figured this out, it might help her to plan as she goes, figuring out how much to accomplish each day to finish a "stop" each week or so.

My kids, ages 9, 7, and 4 have enjoyed this immensely in the week or so that we've had it. Well-written and beautifully illustrated. http://www.amazon.com/Beowulf-Grendel-Michelle-L-Szobody/dp/0979718309/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206415119&sr=8-5

Thanks so much! I think my daughter will really enjoy this!