I am in college and I am looking for recommendations for a writing/grammar program for my kids. Their grades are 5th, 8th, and 11th. Video instruction would be a plus, but not necessary. I just want something solid, they can do on their own in this subject. I would be checking in, especially with the youngest. What have you used that you could really recommend?

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.

:hurray::hurray::hurray: 100% on his own. He did the editing, marking up for points (dress ups,etc) - the ENTIRE thing! He spent 4 hours resisting, and 1 hour actually getting the 'work' accomplished! Had to share!:D ETA: Until now, these weekly papers were always a joint effort -- mostly mine as I extricated words from him. I was confident, though, (really really) that if I persevered, he would finally do it himself. Now, if I could have had the same results with his twin sister:glare: who is not going to be happy with herself at 1:15pm today when we walk into our Essentials classroom, and she doesn't have her paper written.....but, live and learn.

I have used Rod and Staff 2 and 3 with my dd. I went with Serl's Language Lessons for this year, and I don't feel like she has really learned much grammar at all :? . I did not feel like Rod and Staff lent it self very well to independent work. We did most of it orally or she would just read it on her own. But, in the higher grades, I am concerned that it will have to take a lot more time one on one. I am wondering if Abeka or BJU may be better in regards to independence because of the workbook format. Does anyone have experience with using several grammar programs, that could suggest one that is good for self learning?

What I am trying to ask is, at what point do you stop walking them through the subjects and start giving assignments to be worked on and turned in? How do you go about doing this and/or transitioning over to this? just curious about how this works in your home.... maybe its strange to me because I have an only. Thanks, Kate

I'm posting this on behalf of a good friend. Due to family circumstances, my friend is looking for curriculum her rising 5th grader can work on as independently as possible. The child does well academically, is a strong reader, and has good reading comprehension skills. The family has always homeschooled, but has used various parent-child interactive curriculum. That won't work for them this year. One major requirement is that all of the choices be secular. I'd like to gather your suggestions and pass them on to my friend. Thank you!