ereks mom Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 By hits, I mean curriculum choices that you, the teacher, found effective and user-friendly, and that were well-tolerated by your kids.  For my 7th grader, the Hits were:  Teaching Textbooks Math 7 BJU Reading 6 Evan-Moor Daily Reading Comprehension   The Misses:  Writing Strands -- It was... boring. Properties of Ecosystems (used in MFW ECC) -- also boring   The Also-Rans: MFW ECC -- I wanted to love this, but I actually found it only so-so. I am a perpetual curriculum-tweaker, and this one needed more than its fair share of tweaking in order to make it work for us. Easy Grammar -- Not enough retention for my student; apparently we needed something a bit less independent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 I love these threads! Â Hits: BSGFAA--they loved this! Elemental Science-- was meh for me but a huge hit for dd and it got done, so I guess it was a bigger hit than I thought! Math Mammoth/Right Start games combo--worked great and dd especially loves the games aspect Sonlight readers and read alouds. Love them! Â Â Misses: SOTW, tragic I know :leaving: dd just wasn't a fan. And for me it was too much breadth not enough depth and too all over the place to stay chronological. Also, looking back I am really disappointed in our lack of biblical integration for such a biblically rich time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits: HOD Preparing, Little Hearts and Bigger. Not as crazy as it sounds to run three guides and they all made progress in many areas. CLE Math (for two of the kids) R&S Math (for a different kid): kind of a surprise but he loves it so we're continuing. Saxon Algebra I: First time I've had a kid going through this but he did well and liked it. Smarr's Introduction to Literature: worked surprisingly well for my lit and writing phobic guy Mapping the World With Art: My 15yods's favorite course for the year. Â Â Misses: AAS (I should have known - this was the second time I purchased it) Illuminations for High School - was abandoned about half-way through - especially the lit portion DITHOR - we ended up just reading the books after the first few genres and writing book reports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwickimom Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 4th grader HITS: Â HOD Preparing (except Science) R&S grammar MM4 Â Â MISSES: HOD Preparing Science (all over the place and boring) Â K'er HITS: Elemental American History Elemental Intro to Science unexpected hit: HOP k/1 He LOVES this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 8th grade  Hits:  Florida Virtual School online classes (high school level only) Life of Fred Algebra - claims it has taught her more than Saxon or FLVS Galore Park Latin Exercises - Book 1 - all the writing helped solidify the online class material   Misses:  Escondido Tutorial Services - Great Books I Loved the class, but the platform used for the weekly discussion wasn't compatable with our computers. After hours (and hours) of attempting to correct the situation including having their own tech guru enter our computer from the other side, we couldn't make it work correctly and had to drop the class during the second semester.   6th grade  Hits:  piano lessons, guitar lessons, online music theory class  Misses:  Florida Virtual School online classes all things math OK, basically all things academic :rolleyes: (We're making changes for next year.)  2nd grade  Hits:  Pentime 2 Singapore Math 2 A/B Life of Fred Math A, B, C Geography (online) - she loves this subject, who knew? :)  Misses:  Galore Park Junior Science 1 - too much writing, not enough hands-on Little House on the Prairie series - she can't stand it - We will move on after finishing book 2.  Kindergarten  Hits:  Pentime 1 Hooked on Phonics workbooks  Misses:  Scheduled school times :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits:  Beast Academy Miquon (who would have thought I'd EVER figure this one out!) Read, Write, Type AAS Lego Mindstorms   Misses:  WWE (SO sad about this, but absolutely terrible fit for my dyslexic ds, at least I can try it again on #2) Supercharged Science (LOVE the idea & content, stink at actually getting around to it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits: Â Derek Owens Prealgebra The *concise* edition of A History of US by Joy Hakim (from K12) Geography Alive! (TCI) Writing with Skill Hake Grammar (*not* the writing portion) K12's Intermediate English B and Literary Analysis and Composition (Literature strand *only*) Â Misses: Â Hake Writing (the grammar part is great) Write Source The *original* A History of US by Joy Hakim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits: Dd13: Lyrical Life Science 1 with Kingfisher Science Enc. & lots of research & drawing. Â CLE LA, Reading & Math.....we are making progress. Â Sonlight Core W at 1/2 pace using Patterns of World History as a spine instead of CHOW. Â Sonlight LA ( surprisingly has been good for this dd. I use their dictation selections and take 2 weeks on each writing assignment allowing time for edits and rewrites. I really like this...somehow it clicked for her. Â Misses: Â Apologia General Science...GAH! Latin....never got started. Wordly Wise...Meh... Â Ds 9: Hits... CLE Math, LA & Reading A Beka Science History ala WTM...using Usborne World History WWE Misses: Anything I read aloud. This kid can not focus on read alouds. He is really cute and pleasant though...:D Â Ds7: Hits A Beka Math WWE Â misses Pretty much everything we used this year besides the 2 hits....He hated CLE...tears upon tears. We finally had him doing lots of reading, practicing penmanship, and doing various worksheets to cover grammar basics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 HITS- VP Self Paced History Phonetic Zoo spelling IEW Abeka science - horror I know but my kids LOVED it Piano with world's best teacher  And sincerely - no real misses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengjw Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 For my kids and I, we LOVE Nancy Larson Science. This is the first year we actually finished science and the first subject that was done.  Kinder :  Hits : McRuffy Math, LA, Spelling, HW.  Misses : None.   6th grader  Tolerates : TT, Soaring With Spelling, Climbing to Good English and Story of USA series.  Misses : BJU Heritage Studies.  Julia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengjw Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) Double post! Edited May 29, 2012 by kengjw oops! double post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIS0320 Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 First Grade:  HITS:  Phonics Road 1 Atelier Art Singapore Math  MISSES:  K12 Music (yuck, yuck, yuck!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hit: Â Teaching Textbooks Math in Focus Mark Kistler's online drawing History Odyssey Ancients 1 Â Â Miss: Â Nancy Larson Science First Language Lessons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 BTW....what is Also-Rans?? :blush: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastTNmom Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) 2nd grade  Hits: AAS 2 WWW Proverbs People GuestHollow Otter's Human Body Science HWOT Rand McNally Schoolhouse Beginner Geography (picked this back up after dropping Road Trip) USAB Download N Go studies Prima Latina  Misses: FLL 2 (sad, b/c we loved 1) Road Trip USA (we are not lapbook people...at least at this point) Apologia Anatomy & physiology. ( liked the "Try This" sections)  Tolerated: BJU Math 2 Song School Latin Edited May 29, 2012 by EastTNmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 2nd and Kinder: Â Hits: SSL w/ Latin Monkey Match (loved this!!) Sonlight Cores B & P4/5 SWR (again this year) FLL2/WWE2 (saw ds8's skills soar) McCall-Crabbs Book A (ds8 loves those little tests) LOF Elementary & Fractions Singapore PM I Can Do All Things Art Noeo Biology I Â Eh: Seymour's CT K-3 (not really a miss but we got bored of doing the same book for two years) Â Misses: None this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my2boysteacher Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits for 4th/5th grades: Lively Latin R&S grammar Math Mammoth LOE Supercharged science- robotics & electronics Mark Kistler online drawing  Misses: Winning With Writing Elemental Science- biology Road Trip USA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted May 29, 2012 Author Share Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) BTW....what is Also-Rans?? :blush: Â This phrase comes from the origins of horse racing, and the fact that people generally pay attention to who comes up top. Â Those outside the top three are often referred to as the rest, but in horse racing they are the also-rans - those that also ran in the race but no-one is particularly interested in. Â (from http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/phrase-finder/phrase57) Â In my post, I used "also-ran" to mean the materials that got the job done, but that I didn't find particularly impressive. Edited May 29, 2012 by ereks mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetandSimple Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 3rd Grade:  Hits:  -Math Rider (for math facts) -Study Island (really pinpointed the gaps in our math/LA at the end of the year) - Apples & Pears -Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals -Scholastic's Funny Fairy Tale Grammar -Scholastic's Super Sentences & Perfect Paragraphs  Misses:  - Mark Kistler online drawing - MbtP Lit Units - WWE - Sequential Spelling - CLE LA/ Reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 5th and 3rd grades:  Hits Math Mammoth Lots of living books Brave Writer Phonics Pathways and Reading Pathways  Misses Organized history and science :blush: Igniting Your Writing Reading Eggs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Ds12 used HOD RTR with Rosetta Stone French and TT Pre-Algebra. What wasn't a hit or miss was the stuff he did daily without complaint. Â HITS: Apologia Astronomy w/HOD book additions, Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algrbra, HOD History projects MISSES: MOH Volume 3 and the Shakespeare study in RTR. Both were just too much for him and he ended up telling me he was doing the reading when he wasn't. Didn't go over well at.all. Â Â DS8 used HOD Bigger Hearts this year. Like older ds, what wasn't a hit or a miss was just something he did everyday without complaint. Â HITS: Storytime books from HOD, History Projects/Readings, Teaching Textbooks Math 3, Cheerful Cursive, Elemental Science (add on for fun that he LOVED). Â MISSES: No real misses for him, but he hated his poetry copywork every day and complained throughout the year. We "grade corrected" with him and kept him in 3rd on paper while he advanced academically, so some of that may be a maturity issue. We shall see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits: Most of HoD's RTR Typing Instructor for Kids (even my 5yo asks to use it) Having DS bake bread once a week. Â Miss: IEW's Medieval writing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Writing with Skill. Just love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits- McHenry Cells Singapore math OUP history Pentime History Portfolio Latin Prep Story of science  Misses Soaring with spelling Pictures in cursive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits TT LOF Beast Academy SOTW Galore Park Latin Prep  Misses Latina Christiana (I really wanted it to work) Drawn into the heart of reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuesdayschild Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 We're currently in our new schooling year 2012 Â So hits for 2011 were: AAS (not my favourite ;) ) WWE SOTW 3 SL 7 readers and read alouds Making Math Meaningful ~ Quine (the next book for ds just doesn't seem to be a go this year) LOF Exploration Education (science. Adjusted to suit us) Â Misses Drawing with Children :glare: English From the Roots up for DD Mammoth Math for DD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerforest Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits - Beast Academy - Hands on Equations - MCT - HWOT Cursive - Sentence Family  Misses - AAS ... it used to be a favorite but it isn't working for us anymore - FLL ... finally gave up when we were about to start FLL 3...it just isn't working for us anymore  We had several others that we have enjoyed regularly that didn't stand out in either direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALB Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits: Mark Kistler online Artistic Pursuits Spelling Workout (I love how my dd can do this independently, and its working for her!) HWOT (for my pre-K ds) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 HITS -WWE (3 younger kids) -First Language Lessons (3 younger kids) -Rod and Staff English (8th grader, who woulda thunk it?!) -Lials BCM- this really helped my oldest to solidify her math concepts and confidence in math - Teaching Textbooks- been amazing! I was so worried after all the negative reviews on it. Since upgrading Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 (soon to be Pre-Calc I believe) I took the plunge and am VERY glad I did! Â MISSES -BJU English 8-- I just LOVE BJU grammar but apparently it fizzled for my oldest. -Writing Strands :ack2: -Holt American Government for my 8th grader. I tried :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDays Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) Great thread! Let's see, we just finished 3rd grade...  Hits: Grammar Island (and the rest of MCT, but GI was the bit hit) Singapore Math Abeka Science (he really liked the book for some reason, I liked it because it was open and go, LOL) Primary Grade Challenge Math Beast Academy Life of Fred  Misses: Abeka Math (Panic ensues to this day if I mention it!) LifePac Math (neither of us liked it enough to try it again) Math Mammoth (DS couldn't stand the layout) LLATL (we tried this three times and set it aside three times)  Also-rans (I like that!): CLE Math and Winning with Writing. DS liked both... because "they're really easy for me, Mom!!" :glare: But he wasn't learning enough with either one.  Can you tell we tried a LOT of math programs this year?!? :lol: Edited May 29, 2012 by SunnyDays Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happymomofboys Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 4th Grade: Â Hits: SL Core E FLL 4 Copywork for Boys Singapore Math 4 A/B Â Misses: WWE (not right for my kids) Â Â 1st Grade: Â Hits: Any Usborne books (he really didn't care whether they were his or his brother's) LOF Elementary FLL 1 Singapore Math 1 A/B Â Misses: SL Core A (really tried to fully implement 2 Cores, but it just didn't work for us, we'll be switching to TOG next year) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BugsMama Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Pre-k and k  hits: AAS Saxton Math *k and 2* IEW PAL Writing Leapfrog TAG Learn to Read books Dreambox TWTM!  misses: Math Mammoth MEP Connect the Thoughts Moving Beyond the Page Critical Thinking Co Building thinking skills Hooked on Phonics IEW PAL Reading Handwriting without Tears CoaH- Expedition Earth  ..... yeah, we had a "find yourself" year.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Girl Power Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits: VP self paced, SWR Â Miss: Classical Conversations (though I will continue with some of their memory work, but the community left us frazzled and burnt out), TT, IEW Â Beck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Mixture of 5th and 7th grade stuff -  Hits:  Nancy Larson Science 3 Lightning Lit 8 Writeshop I Jump In! Building Spelling Skills Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop Harry Noden's Image Grammar for Middle School Human Odyssey Caesar's English I Mark Kistler Online Art Classes Life of Fred Pre-Algebra With Economics Key to Fractions & Key to Decimals  Misses:  History at Our House (*I* loved this. They did not. And we did it for the full year even though they complained. I was hoping they would "develop" a love for it, and they never did. I still love it. Sigh.)  Sciencesaurus  Worked But Not A Huge Hit:  Thinkwell Horizons Pre-Algebra   I guess I'm happy we had so many hits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted May 29, 2012 Author Share Posted May 29, 2012 Â Ds 9: ... Misses: Anything I read aloud. This kid can not focus on read alouds. He is really cute and pleasant though...:D Â Â ER was exactly the same way. But EK loved read-alouds--still does, at age 17! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits: Galore Park English, AAS, Math Mammoth, cursive handwriting by Teach Me Joy, science lessons using techniques from The Private Eye (when I remember to do them), Â Misses: Meet the Masters (It's not the program, we just never got to art this year. I'm hoping to use it more next year.), Timez Attack (Ariel liked it at first, but got stressed out over the timer.) Â Also-Ran: WWE (I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. It's solid, so we keep going.) Â Â I know there's some other stuff we used, but it's early and I'm tired. I may add another post when I remember what they are. :001_huh::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorrelZG Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Misses: HOD LHTH, LHFHG & Beyond: Beautiful, loved the idea, but fit my son like a square peg fits a round hole. Math Mammoth: I had to be a dragon blasting unrelenting fire at my son's rear to get it done. We cried many tears. My son is a living math guy. Â Hits: Life of Fred Elementary A lot of good books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 EVERYONE Hits Singapore Math - But we're switching to Math Mammoth for ease of travel Science - Videos from National Geographic, Fetch!, and anything else I could find. With Fetch!, I caught them building the machines independently. Science without my help; I'm all about that.  Misses Lapbooking - I tried multiple times to interest the kids in lapbooking. Nothing. Even after spending hours cutting and pasting one together, they still weren't interested in looking at the information. Big bust! Crafts - Not interested because they wanted to go out and play  3RD GRADE Hits Beast Academy - Loved this program The Complete Book of Spanish - Good mix of activities and saw retention with oral practice Natural Speller - I like the fact that similar words are grouped together SOTW3 - He really enjoyed this one and we plan on using SOTW4 next year WWE Instructor's Guide - Writing got done every day and I've seen good progress US Geography Study - Really enjoyed learning about different states and their maps and flags. He can't walk by a US map without pointing out the states and reciting the capitals.  Misses Latina Christiana - Not interested. I may put Latin on hold for another year and concentrate on Spanish. WWW - A great introduction to the mechanics of writing, but it was overkill when coupled with my son's writing program.  Also Rans GWG3 and FLL3 - Got done but grammar was not a favorite  KINDERGARTEN Hits Now I'm Reading! by Nora Gaydos - Excellent set of phonics readers. Sentences gradually get more difficult as the book progresses, the stories are engaging, and the illustrations are enjoyable. OPGTR - After making some adjustments to the teaching method, DD has really taken off (but not without grumbling) Theme Based Read Alouds - I would check out a group of picture books based on a theme. For Cinderella, it was similar stories from around the world (Cinder Edna was a favorite). One unit was bears, and I checked out all the Goldilocks and the Three Bears along with Eric Carle and non-fiction books. Writing - Copywork pulled from her readers. In January, we began discussing grammar and she began labeling nouns and verbs in her sentences.  Misses FIAR - I love this program, but dd did not enjoy all the activities Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Changed Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 6th grade  Hits: TT Algebra (almost was a miss, but we pushed through and it's been great) R&S English (can't say she loved it, but I thought it was great)  Misses: HOD (I wanted to love it, but dd hated it...the history, the science, etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lots of boys Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 We are just finishing up our first year - it was bumpy but we are almost done!!  HITS:  For all: -SOTW -Beginning Geo (Evan Moore) -Bill Nye the Science Guy videos   For my Gr. 2 er -all read alouds - he loves them -logic safari -HWOT cursive -Miquon  For my K'er -AAR -OPGTR (a hit for me - my son disliked it but it has helped me teach him) -Miquon -Singapore  Misses  For my Gr. 2 er  -FLL - this is a struggle - but we keep moving slowly forward -any math except Miquon, we have used TT and Singapore. -ETC 7 and 8   For my K'er -none ! - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iafrmgrl77 Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Joining to remind myself to come back later! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) The Hits:  First grade: CLP Nature Reader 1. My dd loves it. She considers it science, and I get her to read more. Using the MP lessons to pace our reading - she hated the readers we were using, but once we switched to reading real books, her reading took off and she felt very proud of her accomplishments. She started in Little Bear in Jan., when the eye doctor gave her visual development the green light. Right now, she's reading her way through our Robert McKlotskey collection. Life of Fred Elementary. I don't know why, but she thinks these are awesome. McRuffy cursive handwriting  And ETC never fails. It is a success.   Misses: McRuffy readers - she could read them, but didn't enjoy it     Fifth Grade:  Could everything be a miss? perhaps. The biggest hit was cello lessons with a beginner group from the youth symphony. Other than that, the boxed set of Horrible Histories made it easy to pull her nose out of a fiction book.  On further consideration, the science reading worked great for her too. I borrow/stole/copied/used a list of science books for her to read this year which she really enjoyed choosing a weekly books from. Thanks nmoria. And here is her list that I used. The scientists in the field books were some of our favorites. Edited May 29, 2012 by Karen in CO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estelleblue Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 1st grade-ds6  Hits FLL1 WWE1 ETC3 MM1 MFW Adventures  Misses CLE LA CLE Reading Building Spelling Skills (CLP)  PreK-dd5  Hits MEP Reception ETC A BOB Books books from SL P cores  Misses OPGTR Phonics Pathways Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) We're just wrapping up 3rd grade and pre-k:  3rd grade hits: Easy Grammar (my ds loved this) Daily Language Review by Evan Moor (picked this up after Daily Grams was a bore---paired with EG and we had a fun and solid grammar program) Sequential Spelling (this has been a hit since 1st grade--my ds still loves it and likes to start his day with it) HWT cursive Miquon RS4K chemistry Building Thinking Skills Drawing With Children Daily Science Reinforcers  Misses: Wordly Wise 3 (This was a big hit in 2nd grade but it was torture to try to continue with. But I like the program.) SOTW1(This was a hit and a miss. We're continuing with the program, it's just that my ds really doesn't like history.) Writing Strands (I want to like it, but it wasn't happening. We ditched it mid year and started easing into WWE which has been going a lot better.) Daily Grams (we just found them too simplistic and boring.) Zaner Bloser cursive (got a workbook for more practice after HWT--yuck)  Pre-K hits: Everything. ETC, HWT, Singapore Essential math, started OPGTR and Mudpies to Magnets, even the workbooks you can buy at WalMart. :lol: Peak With Books (plan on using it again next year in more depth)  Miss: the miss with both my kids has been the Family Math book. I always try to pull activities from it and it just never works.  A miss with my nearly 2 year old was Slow and Steady Get Me Ready. Just a silly book imo.  A hit was just letting her be. :lol: Edited May 29, 2012 by Walking-Iris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) 4th Grade  Hits: pretty much everything we are using now, we made a lot of changes in March: MM, BA, LOF MCT - especially Sentence Island (loved Mud!) and Caesar's English WWS BFSU, SOTW  Misses: FLL4 Spelling Workout Writing Strands BTS 2 TT Edited May 29, 2012 by rroberts707 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea1 Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hits:  HWOT - The K, 1st and 3rd (cursive) grade packages. One son loved it, one tolerated it (with some complaining) but it definitely got the job done. WWE1 FLL1 SOTW Ancients MM Apologia Astronomy  Misses:  ETC - Have tried it twice and now I give up. Singapore Math Right Start Math AAS SWO  The Jury is Still Out:  NOEO Biology - We jumped in to the study of the human body in January and I was not overly impressed with the 'experiments'. We are going to give it another try and start at the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 This phrase comes from the origins of horse racing, and the fact that people generally pay attention to who comes up top. Those outside the top three are often referred to as the rest, but in horse racing they are the also-rans - those that also ran in the race but no-one is particularly interested in.  (from http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/phrase-finder/phrase57)  In my post, I used "also-ran" to mean the materials that got the job done, but that I didn't find particularly impressive.  Oh, okay. Usually I'm the last to know everything.....but maybe not in this case. :001_smile: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 On further consideration, the science reading worked great for her too. I borrow/stole/copied/used a list of science books for her to read this year which she really enjoyed choosing a weekly books from. Thanks nmoria. And here is her list that I used. The scientists in the field books were some of our favorites. Â Thank you! Off to borrow/steal/copy as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Creek Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) Hits: Evan-Moor Daily Geography Practice - quick, painless, informative, and a good way to learn/practice basic map reading skills (used 2nd & 4th grades) Didax Daily Mental Math - I cannot praise this little practice book highly enough. It is the best source I have found to teach mental manipulation of numbers (calculation) and objects (mentally viewing from different perspectives). I am going to continue to use this series on grade level (even with my advanced older child and mathematically challenged middle child) for as long as the series lasts. Latina Christiana I - it works well, but the DVDs are vitally important unless you already know Latin!!! We were totally lost this year until we ordered the DVDs. The TM does not explain important things like declensions. Did I mention how necessary the DVDs are??!! The instruction is thorough, the chants are so very, very helpful, and my daughter enjoys the videos each week. (On a side note, I will personally deny the rumor that Ms. Lowe speaks with any sort of southern accent that makes her difficult to understand - I have lived in Texas for many years and have friends from West Virginia and Georgia - believe me, she does not have a southern accent! In all of the Prima Latina and Latina Christiana videos she drawled not ONE syllable. Every single syllable was...well...one syllable in length.) Wordsmith Apprentice - we did not finish this book yet, but we plan to at the beginning of 5th grade. It got my writing-hating daughter writing, and taught her the value of a thesaurus. Her writing has improved immensely. I really like how the assignments are broken down into small sections so I can assign a lot or a little, depending on the day. She likes how the assignments are interesting and varied. First Step Espanol (on knowitall.org) - free immersion lessons that teach through conversations, stories, and songs. My daughter and I have learned more Spanish than I thought was possible from a free program. My daughter loves it so much that she actually asked to continue with the next level (Next Step Espanol) over the summer. Jump at Home - I credit this math workbook with providing my daughter with the incremental steps that she needed in order to develop a conceptual understanding of arithmetic and numbers in general. She went from a K level of understanding to a solid early 2nd grade understanding in a few short months. R&S math was great for teaching math facts, money, time, word problems, etc., but Jump at Home taught her basic things that no explanation of mine could convey (like how to count on from a number to add, and the pattern that our base 10 system has). It was probably a failure on my part to explain these basics (my older daughter intuitively gets math concepts, so she understood basic explanations), but this inexpensive workbook saved me. I am going to get the 3rd grade workbook for next year and save myself the frustration that my explanation of multiplication will cause. :D place value chart - not a curriculum, but it works well for teaching place value and one-to-one correspondence of numbers. Â Misses: Â Spanish For Children A - maybe children can learn if they have the DVDs, but without them I don't see how (and they shouldn't market the program as complete without them). I still don't understand the logic behind not having a TM :confused:. The CD tracks were incomplete (so we couldn't learn the pronunciation of the conversational Spanish phrases provided each week) and the lady spoke extremely fast, the explanations in the book were convoluted and I kept having to read over the grammar portion and summarize it in my own words, and the program as a whole was a very, very poor introduction to Spanish. It looks like it might be easier to do next fall, after doing the free Spanish program mentioned above, but I would rather do almost any other Spanish curriculum than it. Every other program I have looked at has clearer, more concise, and more thorough explanations, and looks easier to use. Really, this program should just be thrown in the trash, and I hesitate to say that about most curriculum because almost everything can be modified to a usable state. C-rods - not a curriculum, I know, and I am going to get nasty PMs over this, but they really do not work to explain math for every child. All my daughter got after weeks (months?) of playing/working with them was that 2 rods=one rod so 2=1. She totally could not understand that the different lengths represented different amounts that added together to create a larger amount. A place value chart that had straws of equal length that could be bundled together to make ten (and deconstructed to borrow back a ten) taught her more in fifteen minutes than those hours and hours of play with c-rods. C-rods work well for explaining concepts to my oldest and my youngest, but not for my middle child. She is just different :001_smile:. CLE Reading - it just didn't work for my oldest. She retained nothing; apparently she requires some sort of interaction to learn new concepts. Good, thorough instruction, but just not our style. (4th grade) Edited May 29, 2012 by Clear Creek forgot one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trillian Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 4th Grade  Hits:  Bravewriter SOTW IV Story of Science w/ science kits MUS (finished Gamma/Delta/started Epsilon) Grammarland  Misses:  MBTP Outside classes (maybe I've learned, this is a lesson I seem to have to learn repeatedly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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