Hi all, I home schooled my 3 from the beginning but had to put them into public school 2 years ago because I had to go back to work full time (8-5 type job). The first year they were in K and 2nd and it wasn't too bad, or maybe I was too busy to notice how bad it really was. Long story short, Common Core is not working and it is destroying my precious ones (maybe a little dramatic, but Common Core is not the discussion here). I am pregnant with number 4 due in July, for financial reasons and my sanity my husband is going to stay home with the baby in lieu of daycare. I am pulling my older 2 (3rd is still in preschool) either to go to one of the 3 local charter schools that don't use Common Core, or they will be homeschooled. We are on waiting lists for the charter schools and our odds are not good, so I am planning for HSing next year. What I need... I need something the older 2 (going into 2nd and 4th) can do independently during the day while I am at work. Something that they can get some benefit from that will be easy for them to do with minimal input and support from their dad. He will be there to trouble shoot and help them get set up but it really needs to be something they can do by themselves. Our background is using TWTM resources, SOTW history, FLL, WWE, Sonlight, and Math Mammoth, I was a Classical Conversations Foundations tutor (and campus director for a short time), and I am a curriculum junkie so if someone has mentioned it on this board chances are I've bought it tried it sold it possibly more than once :) Time 4 Learning... We have done Time 4 Learning before and it was ok. I know it is not comprehensive and not enough for a complete program, but it does track their progress somewhat and it is easy for them to navigate through. Cons: it's not Christian based, so the science will be more like public school, and the history will not go along with what we are doing with Story of the World and Sonlight in the evenings/weekends. Also I think it has Social Studies type nonsense like community helpers and such which I think is a waste of time. Easy Peasy... it looks fairly easy to navigate, though I know sometimes the links don't work and you need to get on the FB group to let the admins know etc. It's more comprehensive than T4L but you need to print out more things and you need to track progress on paper. NC is very easy reporting wise so I'm not super worried about this, I just will have to stay on top of it. Something else... SOS will not work on our Macs and I don't really like it anyway. I need something web based. Ideas? Piecing together a whole slew of websites will likely be too hard for my littles to navigate independently. Questions I'm not asking... not asking for opinions on if this situation will work, the decision is made and now we just have to figure out how to make it work. I am spending at least 2-3 hours each night after work with my kids reteaching them in a way they can understand in order to help them answer the question in the way Common Core wants them answered, so "not having enough time to do it all" is not a factor. Yes I know it will be hard and I will have no free time, but my children's well being is at stake that is more important. There is not an option for me to stay home, I make significantly more than my husband when benefits are factored it and my job has more opportunity for upward growth and flexibility. All this said I really do respect what you ladies (and few gentlemen) think. I just don't want to waste anyone's time bringing up issues that are not relevant or up for discussion. Thanks in advance for your input.

We're halfway through 2nd grade right now and I'm looking ahead for what writing program to buy for next year, since we're overseas and my FIL is visiting in September; so he can bring stuff over for me. My problem is that I don't know where I'm headed in writing or what is even important. I am attracted to language programs like CW, Write from History, or ELTL, which are classical or CM with a classical flavor, that integrate spelling, grammar, copywork, narration, dictation, vocab, and even lit analysis into one program. Right now we're using FLL and WWE, but I try to do narrations from our science, history, or lit readings, and make copywork from our lit, instead of using WWE's workbook. I would like to streamline all of this as much as possible, which is why I ditched WWE's workbook so that we weren't using random snippets of lit. For those of you who use CW or other all-in-one programs, I need some advice... Is it worth the price to buy the program, if you don't use all of the components? When I look at CW's primer, for example, I love the nature study and picture study, and the copywork and narration, but I think I would feel pressured to use the phonics and spelling components, even though I already have those covered better through other curricula. Then on top of that, we're still not reading literature connected to our history or current lit, and the grammar seems light--which leads me to my next question... If I am drawn to CW for most of the components, but feel that the grammar is lighter than FLL or R&S (just based on what I can tell for now) for the grades 1-4, is grammar really that important? Is the grammar "enough" in CW Aesop and Primer levels specifically or Write from History? Should I go more CM and teach grammar through writing if I like a certain writing program that isn't as strong as, say, R&S in grammar? OR.... Should I pick the strongest curriculum for each subject, and if I like CW writing only use the writing portions? (I don't want to use only R&S, though; I know I at least want to use CW or CAP for writing.) Is it worth switching to an all-in-one for my sanity and saving time and for the strong writing components? I run across similar problems with ELTL--I like certain things, but I still would like to combine narrations with the history and lit we're already doing, not add on yet more readings every day. Even though it goes through entire books, still, they weren't the books I was going to read at that time. Or is it worth it just to save the time from having to organize my own curriculum? Then I'm noticing that many of the curricula do dictations kind of differently than WWE. They are more studied dictations. So I guess some of my basic questions come down to philosophy of grammar and writing. I had sold myself on SWB's philosophy of early, rigorous grammar, and WWE's way of copywork, dictation, and narration; but now I'm wondering if the other philosophies are more age-appropriate. I feel confused. I had thought I'd do WWE and FLL for grades 1-2, then R&S grammar from then on (I have levels 3-5) with AAS spelling levels 1-4 followed by R&S spelling. I knew I wanted to add CAP or CW for 3rd-4th grade writing, but when I see all of the components in CW, I wonder whether I should use R&S or not, etc. I want to use too many things! How do I choose or narrow down? How much is enough grammar, spelling, and writing per day, and how much is too much? Sorry this is too long. I want to get solid curricula for each subject, but don't want to kill my kids by doing too many overlapping items, and so like the idea of an all-in-one.

Has anyone used this? I'd love pros and cons about it, what you liked or didn't and why... I really haven't found many reviews out there. Thanks! It's for my son's 3rd grade year.