4 Weeks Down- Hits & Misses

[GWOB]

Tomorrow we will wrap up our first 4-week session. I have decided to transition to a year-round schedule, so we started on July 20 and will finish around mid-June. This way, we can still have a month off during the summer and take more breaks throughout the year. So far, so good. I am sooooo looking forward to next week:001_smile:.

 

MFW ECC- I love, love, love this! My kids are completely in love with Kingdom Tales, our read-aloud for the last few weeks. The character education is wonderful. And the book basket! Even my dh loves this. The science is just right for my kids. They are loving the nature walk portion. I could go on and on about this. I give this five stars.

 

PLL/ILL- Ds loves PLL because he doesn't have to write every day. I like it because it really is well-rounded, especially when you add in the copywork and dictation from MFW. Dd loves the more creative approach to grammar. She is a ps rescuee and hated the thousands upon thousands of useless grammar worksheets she had to complete. 4 stars. (It would be 5, but I still panic and think we should be doing something much more rigorous.)

 

AAS- Ds says spelling is is favorite subject. Dd enjoys this and doesn't complain about the relatively easy words. Heck, I learned something in our lesson today! My kids were both early readers. Dd began at age 4, ds at age 3. Still, I can notice the difference in their decoding skills while they are reading aloud. Someone would have to pry this spelling program from my cold, dead hands. Easy 5 stars.

 

LFC- You know something is good when you hear your 2yo chanting Latin in her sleep. The chants are great. We love the DVDs. The workbook and activities are challenging enough, yet fun. I'm not Latin expert, but this really seems like a great, well-rounded program. No complaints here. 4 1/2 stars.

 

Abeka Health- My state requires me to teach Health. It would not get done unless I had an actual curriculum. Abeka gets the job done. I'm not completely in love with it, but I don't hate it. The kids like it enough to actually complete it. It works. 3 stars.

 

CLE Math- Dd loves this. I love it. Much, much better than Horizons. There are actually explanations in the book! And dd gets the explanations! Honestly, this seems like a perfect fit for dd. 5 stars.

 

Singapore Math- Ds loved it last year. He still loves it. So do I. It works for him. 5 stars.

 

Writing Strands- Ain't. Gonna. Happen. I purchased this last year with the intent of starting it with dd. I didn't like it then. I still have yet to assign a single lesson. I know it must be a great program since WTM and MFW both recommend it, but it just ain't. gonna. happen. It confuses me, so I can only imagine how dd would react. I am just not inspired my this program. I don't see the point. 0 stars.

 

So, I only have one miss. This year is starting off on the right foot. I just had to share because I really, really love the stuff we are using. Oh, if anyone knows a great writing program that is not IEW or CW, let me know!

[imhim]

Wow, it is going well for you! Tomorrow will be the end of 4 weeks of school for us, too. So far so good... hmm.... :-) My oldest is in first grade. The younger ones are going crazy :-)

 

Please explain these for me:

PLL/ILL

 

MFW ECC (the ecc part)

 

LFC

 

Thanks! Keep on doing good!

 

People keep talking about classical writing - but I have not tried it. It is not for first grade, that's why I haven't tried it yet.

[dhudson]

Wow! Only one miss! I think that's a great average. Glad it's going well for you.

[lisabees]

Sounds great! One miss is not bad at all!! I am using a few of the same things this year, with my ps rescuee!!

 

Question about ILL. Did you buy the one from lost classics? What size is the book? Is the font larger than the original, do you know? I printed some out from google books, and the print is a little too tiny for my dyslexic kid.

 

Thanks! Have fun!

 

Lisa

[FriedClams]

I'll join in. We're on week 4ish. We're traveling taking care of parents moving into assisted living, so my attempts at school failed a lot this week - but that's life...

 

 

MFW ECC- I love, love, love this too. Fabulous. Can't rave enough about it.

 

CLE LA - Perfect for DD8 (grade 3) but I bought too high for DS6 (bought grade 2). It's awesome, we just need to place him better.

 

CLE Reading -Again, love it for Grade 3, Grade 2 has too much phonics for us so I think I'll start tweaking. The kids LOVE it.

 

Horizons Math - Still chugging away...

 

Rosetta Stone - Not started yet, so no opinion...

 

Curriculum Advice from Victoria Botkin cds - UNREAL. Her ideas dor K-3 are so helpful. We're using her writing ideas and they rock (basically it's a guided jouranl).

 

So other than stressing out me and my kid by putting him in a grade higher than he would be in locally in a really challenging curriculum - it's all good!

[GWOB]

Wow, it is going well for you! Tomorrow will be the end of 4 weeks of school for us, too. So far so good... hmm.... :-) My oldest is in first grade. The younger ones are going crazy :-)

 

Please explain these for me: I am assuming you are asking for clarification on abbreviations, right?

PLL/ILL - Primary Language Lessons/Intermediate Language Lessons, both by Serl

 

MFW ECC (the ecc part)ECC= Exploring Countries and Cultures

 

LFC- Latin for Children

 

Thanks! Keep on doing good!

 

People keep talking about classical writing - but I have not tried it. It is not for first grade, that's why I haven't tried it yet.

 

Reply in red.

[GWOB]

Sounds great! One miss is not bad at all!! I am using a few of the same things this year, with my ps rescuee!!

 

Question about ILL. Did you buy the one from lost classics? What size is the book? Is the font larger than the original, do you know? I printed some out from google books, and the print is a little too tiny for my dyslexic kid.

 

Thanks! Have fun!

 

Lisa

 

I purchased the Lost Classics edition of PLL and ILL. They are smaller textbooks, but the font size seems fine. I can read it without my glasses and I am near-sighted. Don't know if that helps much.

[GWOB]

I'll join in. We're on week 4ish. We're traveling taking care of parents moving into assisted living, so my attempts at school failed a lot this week - but that's life...

 

 

MFW ECC- I love, love, love this too. Fabulous. Can't rave enough about it.

 

CLE LA - Perfect for DD8 (grade 3) but I bought too high for DS6 (bought grade 2). It's awesome, we just need to place him better.

 

CLE Reading -Again, love it for Grade 3, Grade 2 has too much phonics for us so I think I'll start tweaking. The kids LOVE it.

 

Horizons Math - Still chugging away...

 

Rosetta Stone - Not started yet, so no opinion...

 

Curriculum Advice from Victoria Botkin cds - UNREAL. Her ideas dor K-3 are so helpful. We're using her writing ideas and they rock (basically it's a guided jouranl).

 

So other than stressing out me and my kid by putting him in a grade higher than he would be in locally in a really challenging curriculum - it's all good!

 

Isn't it great when everything works out so well? We had to rearrange some subjects last year (our first year hsing). We were basically all over the place. This year everything is just so much easier. Yes, we have tears. Yes, it did take my ds 2 hours to color a flag yesterday:glare:, but that is par for the course. Good luck this year!

[8filltheheart]

We will be finishing up week 4 tomorrow as well. Here things are pretty much same old-same old. One big hit with my 5th and 2nd graders has been National Geographic Map Essentials. They say it is their favorite subject.

 

(FWIW, if you are interested in the program, they are selling individual books to homeschoolers. Do not waste the money on the maps or the TE......definitely doable without. The student text and the student response book are all that are needed and can be purchased for a total of about $13/grade level.)

 

The biggest miss is my energy and enthusiasm. :tongue_smilie:

Edited August 14, 2009 by 8FillTheHeart
wrong name for student workbook

[Lori in MS]

We have completed one week of school. So far we have only done the 3 Rs but they are all winners!

 

WWE 1 and 2 for 2 children 5 stars

FLL and FLL 3 5 stars

Saxon 8/7 with DIVE cd 5 stars ds is doing math on his own Yea!

Singapore math for other children 5 stars

IEW 5 stars My dc love Mr. Pudewa and don't groan anymore about writing

Analytical Grammar Very thorough and concise 5 stars

 

 

Next week we will add Spelling and Apologia science. History after that.

 

Lori in MS

[nukeswife]

We are just wrapping up week 2 (we started 3 weeks ago by dd had day camp this week so we spread week 2 out over last week and this week)

 

The Hits

McRuffy Phonics and Reading K for dd (she's a bit behind but blazing through this at 2 lessons a day and loves it)

McRuffy Math 1 also blazing through it at 2 lessons a day but having a blast with it. It's helping solidify her foundation and has touched on a few things we haven't covered.

JAG for ds- He is really enjoying it, I like that the "notes" pages at the beginning really lay it all out for him and he gets it.

TT math 5 for ds- he started this in Jan and really enjoys it. He's actually getting long division now. He'll finish this level in a few weeks and I was going to switch to saxon but since he's really retaining we'll stick with TT

IEW SWI-A My son loves having a writing teacher. He finds the DVD "awesome" and really likes the topics they've used so far.

Phonetic Zoo- DS has been enjoying this program. He likes that it's a do it until you get it approach. I'm not using the CDs I just bought the cards and give him the rule and test.

History Odyssey Early Modern: We're finishing this up and I'm glad I had the ebook version so I couldn't sell it when I had my bout with "The grass is greener" syndrome. My kids really like HO and I just need to stop looking for something better when we have that.

REAL Science Odyssey Chemistry- Loads of fun

 

Misses- Rosetta Stone German, after really listening to my kids they have no interest in foreign language now and after trying RS myself all I can say is BORING!

 

So not a bad start here, but we'll see what's up in a few months.

[3byzaz]

I love these!! We are only at the end of week 2 - where it is mostly trying to accept that we ARE back in school and getting everyone to not take FFFOOORRREEEVVVEEERRR to do one subject!! :001_smile:

 

Biblioplan/MOH/Literature combo - LOVE IT!! We are so enjoying this - just awesome. 5+ Stars.

 

CLE Math, LA, and Reading - end of 400, end of 600, some 700 and 100 level - Still excellent. LOVE IT!! 5+ Stars.

 

BJU Life Science 7th - Going well. I think my son likes it! Probably 4.5 stars!

 

God's Design for Science (new ones) - LOVE!!!! Also, excellent. So great. I am really enjoying this. Very do-able and yet very informative. 5+ Stars.

 

Also liking the Key to books to help 7th graders solidify some areas before starting Algebra!

 

Maureen

[GWOB]

So many of you guys love CLE Language Arts. I am totally getting "grass is greener" syndrome. I have just stated that my dc love PLL/ILL, and I like it too, but I keep drooling over CLE LA. I just need to keep telling myself "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

[Guest 4boys]

We've been at it for about a month too, so here are my humble reviews of some of our 2nd grade/K stuff:

 

R&S Patterns of Nature science -- simple, fast but makes the kids think. I would say it isn't very in-depth at all compared to a lot of other science curricula for 2nd grade, but it's what I wanted. We don't do the written exercises, just read aloud, chat and sometimes do the activities orally.

 

Math Mammoth -- I am liking it. DS isn't thrilled with math no matter what we do, but he does it and is catching on to the topics so it's all good.

 

Story of the Ancient World -- DS7 is LOVING this book! I can't believe how much he wants me to read at one time. I am supplementing this with R&S's Understanding the Old World (just as a read-aloud for a broader picture) and we are both enjoying history a lot.

 

Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science & Nature -- This book is a HUGE hit with all my kids. They never want to put it down. I'm using as part of science for my K'er and yet DS7 loves it just as much as his brother.

 

ETC -- We've always liked this one, it gets the job done and both boys do well with it. Can't say they love it, but they don't mind it either.

 

WWE -- I am just doing the last few weeks of level 1 just to make sure DS7 gets it, then we'll move on to level 2 in September. I am really liking this approach. It's simple, fast and easy and it gets the job done. I just have the text and I am choosing my own copywork and narration pieces.

 

Studying God's Word -- We are just finishing up book B and then we'll move on to C. Honestly, I'm not that thrilled with this book. It's alright and it's doable but the activities are rather repetetive and I would like to actually study the Bible, not just catechism. Plus, there are no built-in memory verses so I have to find my own (although that's not a huge deal, just inconvenient). But it looks like book C is totally different and improves in all those areas so I'm looking forward to starting it in a week or two.

 

Arts & Crafts Busy Book -- I bought this little book to get ideas for Friday art and craft projects and there are sooo many good ideas in it! It's really thick and pretty cheap (less than $8 at RR I think) so it was totally worth it!

 

Music for Little Mozarts -- I'm using this for DS7 to teach him to play the piano. We have both liked it and it has been a really gentle and slow-paced introduction for him. We are halfway through the second lesson book and after that I may move on to something else, like Piano Adventures, but so far it's worked well and he enjoys the storyline woven into all the lessons.

[Guest]

Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science & Nature -- This book is a HUGE hit with all my kids. They never want to put it down. I'm using as part of science for my K'er and yet DS7 loves it just as much as his brother.

 

 

I love this book!

 

I fearfully started Singapore Earlybird B (Std. Ed.) with my 4 year old - he LOVES it. He is always asking me to do his "workbook". I am amazed at what he is grasping. We just might become Singapore users yet!

 

We are enjoying everything so far. (I am also loving Henle Latin - it's excellent.)

[Mom-ninja.]

Misses- Rosetta Stone German, after really listening to my kids they have no interest in foreign language now and after trying RS myself all I can say is BORING!

 

 

 

That is an expensive miss.

[HappyGrace]

lovin' this thread!

 

momof7-any samples anywhere of the Nat'l Geo Map Essentials?

[ManyXsBlessed4]

Great thread!

 

We just finished our second week. We are loving EVERYTHING so far. See below.

 

Thanks for sharing and starting this, OP.

[Closeacademy]

Hits:

 

Ruth Heller Grammar books

Notebooking SWR rules and phonograms

Singapore Math

 

Misses:

 

Rod and Staff English 2

 

 

Still up in the air:

 

Time Traveler History

 

We started in June and did an overhaul in July. We swapped SOTW for Time Traveler History, Rod and Staff for notebooking, and combined most subjects rather than have everyone seperate.:001_smile:

[8filltheheart]

lovin' this thread!

 

momof7-any samples anywhere of the Nat'l Geo Map Essentials?

 

Not that I know of. I will tell you that the program is more focused on cartography than memorizing "geography." Being lazy this morning, this is quoted directly from wiki:

 

The fundamental problems of cartography are to:[citation needed]

 

* Set the map's agenda and select traits of the object to be mapped. This is the concern of map editing. Traits may be physical, such as roads or land masses, or may be abstract, such as toponyms or political boundaries.

* Represent the terrain of the mapped object on flat media. This is the concern of map projections.

* Eliminate characteristics of the mapped object that are not relevant to the map's purpose. This is the concern of generalization.

* Reduce the complexity of the characteristics that will be mapped. This is also the concern of generalization.

* Orchestrate the elements of the map to best convey its message to its audience. This is the concern of map design.

 

So the 2nd grader is learning to read map directions, find routes, understand symbols, and how maps and real life photographs relate (what do they eliminate when they "reduce" size.)

 

The 5th grader is learning how maps can represent different ideas......geographical areas, geographical features, political maps, etc.

 

HTH

[Sasha]

Yes, it did take my ds 2 hours to color a flag yesterday:glare:, but that is par for the course.

 

This made me laugh. I thought we were the only ones who did this.

[dragons in the flower bed]

We've been schooling anew since July 1st or roundabouts, but missed a couple of weeks due to my neurological illness. That shouldn't bug us anymore, and we've determined our major hits & misses.

Hits:

 

Life of Fred. Wow, how the kid loves it. And now loves all of math. Someone needs to write a Fred ballad.

 

Waldorf style notebooking. I draw and write the notebook page on the chalkboard, taking input from them (ie, "what facts shall we list?"). They copy into their notebooks.

 

Misses:

 

RightStart B. I should have gotten RightStart C. My 6yo is bored. I'm hoping once we get deeper into the program it will be more challenging.

 

First Language Lessons. This is the third kid I've tried this program with, and the third kid who has gotten to proper nouns and said, "What? Huh?", causing me to pull out this little known cartoony text, _Grammar and Communication for Children_, and explain from that. So we're using GaCfC. Forget FLL. I will not try it with my three-year-old in three years, and maybe that will make him be the kid who needs that sort of explanation style.

 

Young People's History of the United States. My kid HATES it, and is not remembering anything read from it. Bugger.

 

Still Not Sure:

 

I'm so nervous about "only" doing WWE with my 4th grader this year. We should be started on a progym program, my brain shrieks every time I pull out WWE. The only way out is through, though.

[Mom-ninja.]

So far my "miss" has been interruptions! Still trying to get my family/friends to realize that we do stuff during the day, and can't just drop everything.

 

My mom is getting better though. She doesn't panic anymore when I don't answer the phone. She used to call the house phone and immediately call my cell. If I didn't answer she would leave a message on the house phone *and* my cell, yelling at me to call her because she thinks I'm on the side of the road bleeding to death. :glare: Yeah, that has now stopped.

 

As for curriculum, so far we like everything. I'm still trying to stick with one phonics program with my 5 yr old. I can do a mix of three right? :tongue_smilie: He's reading so much better than his brother did at the same age. I guess this is what it's like teaching a child that is not dyslexic! It's so much easier!

[Julie_Julie]

My mom is getting better though. She doesn't panic anymore when I don't answer the phone. She used to call the house phone and immediately call my cell. If I didn't answer she would leave a message on the house phone *and* my cell, yelling at me to call her because she thinks I'm on the side of the road bleeding to death. :glare: Yeah, that has now stopped.

 

Oh my!! I can relate to that sooooo much!! Only I am blessed to have both a mother AND a mother-in-law who love us too much!!

[mama25angels]

Would you please tell me what ages you are using the Biblioplan/MOH combo for? I'll be starting it next week with my 1st and 8th grader and i'm so anxious about it. Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love these!! We are only at the end of week 2 - where it is mostly trying to accept that we ARE back in school and getting everyone to not take FFFOOORRREEEVVVEEERRR to do one subject!! :001_smile:

 

Biblioplan/MOH/Literature combo - LOVE IT!! We are so enjoying this - just awesome. 5+ Stars.

 

CLE Math, LA, and Reading - end of 400, end of 600, some 700 and 100 level - Still excellent. LOVE IT!! 5+ Stars.

 

BJU Life Science 7th - Going well. I think my son likes it! Probably 4.5 stars!

 

God's Design for Science (new ones) - LOVE!!!! Also, excellent. So great. I am really enjoying this. Very do-able and yet very informative. 5+ Stars.

 

Also liking the Key to books to help 7th graders solidify some areas before starting Algebra!

 

Maureen

[mama25angels]

So far my "miss" has been interruptions! Still trying to get my family/friends to realize that we do stuff during the day, and can't just drop everything.

 

My mom is getting better though. She doesn't panic anymore when I don't answer the phone. She used to call the house phone and immediately call my cell. If I didn't answer she would leave a message on the house phone *and* my cell, yelling at me to call her because she thinks I'm on the side of the road bleeding to death. :glare: Yeah, that has now stopped.

 

As for curriculum, so far we like everything. I'm still trying to stick with one phonics program with my 5 yr old. I can do a mix of three right? :tongue_smilie: He's reading so much better than his brother did at the same age. I guess this is what it's like teaching a child that is not dyslexic! It's so much easier!

 

 

I can relate here too!!!!:grouphug:

[mama25angels]

This only our second week of school and we've had the most problems with interruptions and just realizing that we're doing school as well. I've only concentrated on the basics, but I can tell that we have a couple of hits with:

 

Victory drill book-only done it about two weeks and can already see Ds's speed increase

Math Shark--we all love this!!!!

 

 

edited to add on more miss: My 2yr. old whose convinced that he's reading when he's screaming at the top of his lungs as we're doing OPGtTR. He's so adorable though, so no one minds it.

Edited August 14, 2009 by mama25angels

[Avila]

I am really frustrated with myself for still having big misses after 4 years! And really sad at what some on them are too. And of course, the misses are the expensive items, even with buying some of the required stuff used. I finally took them all to our local consignment store, hoping that if they aren't staring at me from the shelves, I will get over the guilt and just be happy with what we are doing and like.

 

Hits:

 

• History Odyssey Ancients 2. We actually started this in the spring, and my 5th grade DD and I both LOVE it.
  
• Saxon Math. My DD really needs the drill, and she honestly stopped hating math when we started using this last year.
  
• Rod & Staff English. I used to use this and quit because it is dry, but we started it back up this year and I appreciate how simple and well-thought-out it really is. And my middle DD (the hard-to-please one) actually likes it too.
  
• WWE. Simple to use, easy to understand and can replace a handwriting program for too!
  
• FLL 1. This is my second time through it, and we really like it.
  
• MP Christian Studies 1. This is unexpectedly a big hit. We have tried other bible history books, but they were dry and didn't have the comprehension questions and exercises that CS includes.
  

Misses:

 

• Heart of Dakota Beyond. Just was not the right level, and my DD really does not want any of the extra "fun" stuff because she would prefer to decide that for herself. And I really dislike the CLP history books. I was so excited about this one, and it is still making me sad to give it up, but it is just not working.
  
• Classical Writing. I just don't have the time or the energy to figure this one out, or the money to spend every year to keep buying it.
  

 

[mama25angels]

Asenik don't be frustrated, we've all been there done that.

[DawnM]

I will have to report back more later. We are in week 3, so I have a general idea of where we are going.

 

This year is a FOCUS ON ENGLISH, LANGUAGE ARTS, and SPELLING year. All else may happen as we go! ;)

 

We are using CLE for LA, Reading, and Bible. I am not in love with the Bible, BUT, it is reinforcing the idea of reading a story for meaning and responding with full sentences, which is exactly what my boys NEED this year!

 

We are still getting used to the style of CLE and the stories are a bit old fashioned for them, but they are starting to get it without much help now and they are learning what they need to learn and they love the idea of "lesson 8 today, lesson 9 tomorrow" thing rather than the Charlotte-Mason.....we do it until Mom says we are done thing.

 

Sorry for the long intro.

 

Older boys:

 

Language Arts- CLE.....HIT

Reading- CLE......HIT

Bible- CLE......don't love or hate it but it is reinforcing the above

Spelling- AAS......we haven't started yet

History- Sonlight "lite" with Homeschool in the Woods packs

Science- SL 3, boys like it!

Math- Singapore for oldest (HIT!), MUS for middle (jury still out),

 

5 Year Old:

 

UGH! Still haven't gotten it together. He is bored. He is driving me crazy. He is whiney while the older boys do their stuff. I do phonics with him and Horizons math. He needs help the entire time and then when he is finished he is BORED. Coloring takes all of 10 min. and then he is begging for TV, Playstation, etc.....I am seriously thinking of getting him some BJU on DVD just to get him OUT of my hair!

[GWOB]

I am really frustrated with myself for still having big misses after 4 years! The helps me relax a little. This is our first full year, but I expect perfection from myself. Thanks for stating this.

 

 

• Classical Writing. I just don't have the time or the energy to figure this one out, or the money to spend every year to keep buying it. I love the look of CW. It sounds like a wonderful program, but you basically listed why I won't try it. I just don't have the time to put into making this program work. Add to that my lack of confidence in my own writing abilities.

 

 

 

I'm really enjoying everyone's answers. I always love these hit or miss threads.

[Avila]

Thank you to the people who replied. I do hope that hearing that misses happen to everyone helps everyone else! :) I know I will have the occasional miss (and I really do expect it), but I just am still frustrated at having such BIG misses, you know! It seems like I would eventually grow out of that or at least admit that to myself and stop buying the big programs that never seem to work for me. Ever the optimist on those, I guess! Ugh.

[8filltheheart]

I am really frustrated with myself for still having big misses after 4 years! And really sad at what some on them are too. And of course, the misses are the expensive items

 

Goodness, this is our 16th yr and I still make expensive mistakes! Even this yr I think I have bombed on what I bought my senior for math. He is spending 4 weeks reviewing with Aleks and if at the end of that time he isn't ready for what I purchased, I am either going to have to pay for a tutor or buy something much less advanced.

 

FWIW, I bought CW a few yrs ago hoping that it would simplify our school day. (I haven't used a writing curriculum in yrs and instead put together my own.....I wanted something pre-done.) I quit using it after about 6 weeks and sold it b/c they make teaching writing so convoluted.....it simply doesn't have to be that difficult.

[HappyGrace]

Thanks, momof7, for the Nat'l Geo info. I've had to cut all the "gravy" out this year to focus on math and writing and a couple other foundational things, but I'll put this on my list for next year!

[Mommamia]

Miss:

 

I'm ready to put HOD Beyond on the shelf. Like someone wrote earlier, I'm not loving the CLP book and various other things.

 

Hits:

 

MUS

 

 

I have a short list of hits/misses.....we are still testing things :)

 

Where did everyone find the Berenstein's book?? I've been looking for that.

[NicA]

Sonlight sells the Berenstain book. Here is a link... http://www.sonlight.com/PS12.html :) I've been thinking about getting this book, and it seems like I should since everyone seems to love it.

 

Everything we are using has been a hit so far. Yeah! We are not doing much since my dd is just in K4, but we have really liked ETC, Abeka math and art. We are slowly doing OPGTR, and that is probably the only thing that my dd does not particularly care for. I think it's great though!

[Tidbits of Learning]

Hits-

First Language Lessons 1/2

The Reading Lesson

Singapore Start Up Science

Singapore Math

Abeka Writing with Phonics 2 (older edition transitioning manuscript to cursive)

Misses-

R&S English 2

Heart of Dakota

[patchfire]

We just started this week, but I have a huge, huge hit:

 

Student Timer - who knew that being able to time herself would make such a huge difference? I didn't!

 

Another unexpected hit is our MOTH-style schedules. We have a different schedule for each day due to the variety of activities we do, but the kids absolutely love them.

 

Curricula-wise:

TOPS Electricity

Editor in Chief

Spencerian Penmanship

Lively Latin

Writing Tales 2 (though we used 1 last year and loved it)

Life of Fred (again, used LoF: Fractions last year and loved it)

Right Start

 

Misses? I'm not sure OPGTR is going to work well for ds, though I love it. And I think I underestimated his writing ability - I bought the preK book, but I'm going to need the K level book.

[Guest sarathan]

I'm bummed to see all the misses for HOD! :( We're starting LHFHG this fall and it looks good from what I can tell, although we haven't actually started it yet.

[Mom0012]

Hits so far:

 

CLE Math for my daughter - This is a perfect fit for us.

SL 3 - We're using everything except the LA. Again, a perfect fit.

CLE LA - I think this is working well. I like the format of it. I'm waiting to see if the information is going to stick or not, though. I feel like my kids are making a lot more mistakes than I'd like to see.

R&S Math 4 - This is my son's 4th year with this. It may not be exciting, but it gives him the practice he needs to be successful. I have been a little surprised at the huge step up it is from R&S 3 in terms of difficulty and the amount of time it takes to complete. Last year, my son completed each lesson in 30 minutes tops. This year it takes at least an hour and the teacher portion is 3X as long as it was in prior years.

 

That's it so far. We are adding in one subject a week, so we haven't gotten to everything yet.

 

Lisa

Edited August 15, 2009 by LisaTheresa

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Thank you to the people who replied. I do hope that hearing that misses happen to everyone helps everyone else! :) I know I will have the occasional miss (and I really do expect it), but I just am still frustrated at having such BIG misses, you know! It seems like I would eventually grow out of that or at least admit that to myself and stop buying the big programs that never seem to work for me. Ever the optimist on those, I guess! Ugh.

 

Thank you so much for saying this! This is our second year and I had a big, expensive "miss" also. I really didn't expect it, I thought I had done my research and knew everything :lol: ~ oops, pride, gets you every time! Now, I need to sell some things, if I can, and move on. :tongue_smilie:

[mominbc]

We have just started HOD Hearts for Him Through Time and its AMAZING. We love it:thumbup:

My DS(5) loves his McRuffy LA K ,Math K and Science K its a huge hit and I am thrilled with it too.

 

:party:

[Dinsfamily]

I love these threads!

 

We're on about week 8 since we took off 4 weeks for vacation in July.

 

Hits:

Schooling year-round We're in a rhythm of low-stress days and already half-way through a math curriculum before public school even starts. It has helped me relax.

 

SL P4/5 I was nervous buying this core for my ds's K year, but it is perfect. It's getting him used to reading books for school, but light enough that we can focus on LA this year. Plus, my 3yo sits with us. He doesn't get everything of the stories, but he loves the characters and hanging out with us. Also, DEL is one of my ds's favorite activities to do during the schoolday.

 

Horizons K Math This is a hit because we both enjoy the program, but I really should have started D-Man in Horizons 1. He tested into Horizons 2, but I wanted math to be easy this year. He does like it, but he wants a little more challenge. With that said, Horizons fits his personality well. He is a posterboy for spiral math and colorful pages. We'll be starting Singapore 1A soon and then back to Horizons 1. I'm hoping that'll be hard enough for him, but not overwhelming.

 

SWR This program is awesome!! Switching to SWR from WRTR is making my year. It is easy to teach and my ds loves the program. My 3yo can play the games with us and is picking up the first 26 phonograms easily.

 

Misses:

Horizons K Math TM It's not bad, just not needed. My ds can almost work through the workbooks independently. Most of the activities are self-explanatory and the concepts are easy to teach at this level. I think I'll save the money and forgo the TMs until Horizons 4. The only thing I'll miss is the beginning where it tells me which lesson concepts are introduced.

 

Overall, we're having a great Kindergarten year. Thanks everyone for sharing your hits and misses.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

We love the book selections in P4/5 and P3/4 also. Have fun!

[Rebecca77]

My great hit so far is BJU distance learning. I'm just so thankful this is available for uneducated, high-strung moms like me that have so little faith at times. What a huge blessing they have provided our family, to be able to keep our children home where they belong. Scripture and powerful spiritual lessons are woven all throughout. God is definitely glorified!!! I'm just so overwhelmed with thankfullness for finally having peace regarding my children's education, I had to share.

 

Other hits

 

Sonlight Science2, and P4/5

Sonlight 2 intermediate readers

Most of Sonlight's history selections in core 2 and 6.

HWT pre-school w/ all the bells and whistles, this is awesome!!!

Veritas Press MRR-love having a reformed perspective

Grade's 2 & 3 literature selections from Veritas Press catalog

 

No misses so far, but still have more to add soon w/ my pre-schooler.

Edited August 15, 2009 by Rebecca77

[kindermommy]

I'm bummed to see all the misses for HOD! :( We're starting LHFHG this fall and it looks good from what I can tell, although we haven't actually started it yet.

 

MANY people love HOD, so don't let a few that it wasn't a good fit for get you down before you've even tried it ;) No program works for everyone and EVERY single program will have those that don't like it or it just didn't work for.

 

We are going on week two, and haven't implemented every aspect of our curriculum for this year (I am taking it slow, esp for DS and to break them in so to speak - we were VERY informal last year). I plan to add grammar for DD (light, like FLL most likely) and geography (world - either with GTG and/or some lapbooking, living books, card games, map skills wbooks, etc)

 

HITS SO FAR:

 

Winterpromise Animals and Their Worlds - we are only in week two, but I love the "buffet" of activities to choose from and the fact that so many different levels are covered in one program. I can pick and choose to meet their wants AND needs. It doesn't take much time, has hands on crafts (not too hard!) and is interesting. WE love SOCKS by Beverly Cleary!!!! It's the perfect book for DD's level right now - she can totally relate!

 

Blend Phonics (using lesson plans adapted by Elizabeth B on this board) - this is easy to implement and best of all FREE! I plan to use this for the next few months and then move to either McRuffy, PP, Phonics Road or MCP.....

 

I have tried SO many programs and honestly the real beauty of this one (besides the cost) is that it gets the job done fast for kids that are ready to blend/read. I use her phonics concentration game as well as a nonsense word memory card game from Abecedarian (can be downloaded for free from the www.abcdrp.com under their free support materials button - I printed two copies of the blend practice word cards and use it like memory)

 

Right Start Math - was a hit last year and continues to be this year. I plan to integrate some Singapore CWP and 1A workbooks in eventually for some written practice.

 

How to Teach Art To Children - LOVE this book - I use it in conjunction with Teaching Art with Books Kids Love and it's fun and interesting. We've only done one project, but I wrote LP's for the next couple of months. I know DD (very artsy) will love the activities.

 

HWOT - we are finishing up the Kinder level and I love the style. DD has beautiful handwriting for her age because of this book (ok, we still have a few letters we struggle with, but overall, it's taught her well). I don't think it has enough practice as each letter is introduced though, so I am anxious to move to the 1st grade book. The ONLY serious drawback I find a pain sometimes is that HWOT uses a 2 line paper style - and everything we find in workbooks and other premade pages or books that they need to fill in is the 3 line style - and so I have to remake those pages or just redraw the lines. We tried to switch to the 3 line traditional style mid year last year, but it really confused DD. So we just went back to HWOT style.

 

Workboxes - ok, I have to admit, in the time I started making/planning these and during the last week of implementation, I went from 12 to 10 to now 5 workboxes - I quickly realized it's overkill to have too many for my DC's ages right now - and there is still so much curriculum they really need ME to do with them so not a lot of independent work. Plus they are S.L.O.W. So of the 5 days last week, I spent 3 days sort of wishing I had not even started workboxes yet. It's a lot of work to get my ideas and supplies organized too (although I know it will get easier (it already has)

 

BUT I have to classify it as a HIT but the DC's LOOOOVE them. They are so excited to see what will be in their boxes, and motivated to get even the not-so-fun stuff done. I also like that stuff I always "wished" we could do is now finding it's place in my lesson planning.

 

Some other random books we use and love: Adventure Bible Daily Devotion Stories, Leading Little Ones to God, The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book..

 

 

JURY STILL OUT:

 

La Clase Divertida - It is supposed to be for levels K-6 - I should have caught that BEFORE I bought it - looking ahead in the workbook, it will be far too advanced for DS especially. Also, the format of the workpages is just not kid-friendly, especially LITTLE kid friendly. The DVD and the CD are totally cheesy in my opinion - BUT what did DD and DS sing ALL DAY LONG yesterday? "Los Vocales in Espanol, Los Vocales in Espanol - A E I O U - A E I O U" :) So we may just modify this and use only the parts they are ready for.

[kalanamak]

So GWG, SWR with AAS tiles thrown in, Singapore 2A, R(EAL)SO experiments going very well.

[kalanamak]

Please explain these for me:

PLL/ILL

LFC

 

 

Primary/Intermediate Language Lessons

Latin for Children

[rafiki]

.

[momco3]

Wow! Things are starting well. Thanks for the reviews.