Critique my 2nd and 4th grade lineup please...

[MiniBlondes]

ETA: Okay, I've made some changes based on your suggestions. What are your thoughts on the revised schedules? Now I need to decide on a reading program. I'm also considering changing their Science. I was looking at Apologia. Thoughts? Suggestions? Thank you so much!!

 

This will be our first year homeschooling. We are on a fairly tight budget so we're trying to do as much as we can with as little money as possible.

 

I found a good deal on a SL Core B&C a few months ago and I bought it without much thought. In retrospect I wish I would have planned a little more but I did not. I have had a difficult time reselling the set. So, we have decided to move forward with what we have and see what happens.

 

Here is the decisions that I've made for our lineup. I'm particularly confused about LA (Grammar, Vocab, Spelling, and Writing). I don't know if what I have planned here is adequate or if I'm missing something. I'm in the process of reading WTM and will likely switch to that platform next year... but for now I'm stuck with this.

 

I have noted what we have already bought and what we are planning to buy. If it is something we have already bought, I don't want to make any changes. I'm willing to consider changes on pieces that we have not yet purchased, as long as they are comparably priced.

 

DD9 - 4th grade

Sonlight B+C World History - Already own

Sonlight Science C - Already own

First Language Lessons 3 (or 4?) - considering purchase

Writing With Ease - considering purchase

Teaching Textbooks 4 - Already own

Spelling Power - considering purchase

Reading - still considering

 

DD7 - 2nd grade

Sonlight B+C World History - already own

SL Science C - already own

First Language Lessons 2 - considering purchase

Writing With Ease - considering purchase

Horizons Math 2 - already own

Handwriting without Tears 3 (cursive)- considering purchase

Spelling Power (she is a good speller but I'm concerned this might be too much. perhaps I should get something more simple for her?) - considering purchase

Reading - still considering

Edited July 19, 2012 by MiniBlondes

[Disney Dreaming]

Being on a limited budget I would recommend the following:

 

4th grade

Handwriting-A Reason for Handwriting(C or D)

Spelling-Spelling Workout D

LA-First Language Lessons 3(if she has had limited grammar, and MAYBE combine with your 2nd grader)

Readers-look at Sonlight's list and just buy the books as you need them, or check them out of the library(if you have a good library)

Art, Wordly Wise, Spanish-I really believe with this being your first year homeschooling I would add this if you see you have time after the first few weeks.

 

2nd grade

Handwriting-A Reason for Handwriting(B or C)

Spelling-Spelling Workout B

LA-First Language Lessons 1/2 or 3 with sis

Readers-again, just use SL as a list to go by. Is she a strong enough reader to share with her sister? I noticed you were thinking of combining them in LA.

Art, Wordly Wise, Spanish-see above

 

HTH

[Momma_Bear]

4th grade:

Queens A Picture in Cursive

Writing Tales (especially if you're going more classical)

Maybe a couple progeny press guides?

I'd keep AAS but not wordly wise.

 

2nd grade:

A Reason for Handwriting

WWE 1

Just have her do silent reading everyday

Same as 4th grader, I'd keep AAS not wordly wise.

 

Together: The Sentence Family (grammar) and The Art Lab. I'd wait to do spanish for awhile.

[edeemarie]

If you are looking for cheap grammar, you could either do GrammarLand (free online!), or KISS grammar (also free!). If you have an iPad you could dowload it in Notability and not have to print anything. We are going to start KISS grammar soon and are already using the iPad for MEP math (free!), GrammarLand, Fix-It grammar, some Scholastic ebooks we bought during their dollar days sale, and various other pdfs I have found free online. Confessions of a Homeschooler has some great downloads and some of those are free. For our vocabulary we are using a Scholastic Vocabulary Word of the Day book, but I really wouldn't say it is necessary. If you read a lot of great literature aloud they will get plenty of vocabulary that way. All About Spelling is great and we use it with a lot of success, but if you are starting with older children be prepared to go through several levels in a year. Rod and Staff may be a cheaper alternative. If you are disciplined in making sure things get done I am not sure you will need a handwriting program. There are so many free resources for that (like Donna Young) or you could probably get Writing Road to Reading from your library (or purchase it pretty cheap) and that would cover handwriting. I haven't used Artistic Pursuits, but Art with a Purpose is nice and very reasonable priced. For Spanish, again I haven't used it, but Getting Started with Spanish would probably be your cheapest and best option. Not sure what to tell you about a writing program- maybe Writing Tales? We are using PAL writing from IEW right now but I'm not sure what we will do when we finish that. Iif you are really wanting to sell your Sonlight, have you tried Homeschool Classified? Whenever I list items there they usually sell pretty quickly. Hope that gives you some ideas, but I think your schedule looks great:) Just concentrate on the basics for a while and add the other things in as you have time.

[Aurelia]

I have not heard good things about Sonlight's LA, and AAS may be more expensive than you expect, as the author recommends all students start at level 1, and your fourth grader will likely move through the first several levels very quickly. A couple of low-cost options:

 

KISS Grammar (you can use the 3rd grade workbook, it won't be too easy for a 4th grader. It's free, though you do have to print it yourself) and

Writing with Ease (you may be able to check out the Instructor Text from the library for the placement tests, or maybe someone can link them. I can't seem to find them.) - just buy the workbook for the levels you need.

 

OR:

Intermediate Language Lessons (4th grader) - you can buy the hardcover copy of Serl's, or buy the first workbook from Living Books Curriculum. There are also several "Language Lesson" books on Google Books for free, like Sheldon's Primary Language Lessons that you can print out. ILL covers grammar and composition, plus has poetry and picture study. Your second grader, if she's fairly strong in LA can start with Primary Language Lessons.

 

I really liked using Galore Park Junior English 1 for second grade. It covers vocabulary, composition, basic grammar and reading comprehension among other things all in one book. Junior English 3 would also be good for 4th grade.

 

Spelling Power covers spelling through 12th grade in one book, or Apples & Pears would be less expensive in the long term compared to AAS.

 

I'd skip Wordly Wise, especially if you do Galore Park, since I think the vocabulary work would be overkill.

 

You won't really need a handwriting program if you use WWE or the Language Lessons books, since they include copywork, which expects the child to write in their best handwriting. If you do order HWT, I recommend just the workbooks because both grades 2 and 4 are reviewing handwriting skills, not learning how to form the letters.

 

Have them read books on their level, and have them talk to you about what they read (you can discuss it with them, if you've read it, too) to check their comprehension, and periodically have them read aloud to you to check their fluency and vocabulary knowledge (better than getting to high school before they realize "nauseated" isn't pronounced "naw-seet-ed".)

 

For Spanish, Getting Started with Spanish is inexpensive and thorough, and Head of the Class has elementary Spanish materials for free, though (again), you have to print them. Head of the Class also offers free materials for geography, art, and handwriting.

[fourisenough]

I personally think SWB's LA stuff is hard to beat. In our house, FLL (grammar) and WWE workbooks (writing, can also be handwriting practice) are staples because they're highly effective and always get done. I also am a fan of Wordly Wise. Because Sonlight can be a little 'light' on the output side of things, Wordly Wise is a good way for the girls to have daily written work required of them and it can be done independently. I think the reading comprehension section is particularly valuable. I am a recent convert to AAS, but will admit that it will be expensive beginning with an older student. R&S would be my back-up spelling program (after have recently researched this exhaustively) if you are not bothered by the religious content.

 

Other than Language Arts, I would agree with previous comments to begin with the basics and add in art and foreign language down the road (a couple of weeks or months or semesters into your hs'ing journey). You most definitely don't have to purchase those now. If you're anything like me, you would have them sitting on your shelf and it would drive you crazy if you're feeling overwhelmed and can't find time to implement them right away. Once you are established with your core subjects and are feeling like you're on top of things, you can add them in to spice things up!

 

Good luck & have fun!

[Mommy22alyns]

I am personally not a fan of SL LA. I did try it with Rebecca and it was pretty bad. I much prefer WWE for writing and R&S for grammar. FLL is also good. I also agree that AAS gets expensive and you could use Spelling Power for both girls.

 

BTW, welcome! My two are the same age as yours. :)

[Medieval Mom]

This will be our first year homeschooling. We are on a fairly tight budget so we're trying to do as much as we can with as little money as possible.

...

 

This being the case, here's what I'd suggest.

 

DD9 - 4th grade

Sonlight B+C World History - Already own

Sonlight Science C - Already own

Teaching Textbooks 4 - Already own

 

Sonlight LA 4-5 with readers - considering purchase. May I suggest Rod and Staff English 4 for English (LA) and 1000 Good Books list Elementary for Reading (get from the library). Alternatively, purchase the reading schedule from SL and get the books from the library, if possible.

 

 

Handwriting Without Tears 4 - considering purchase Pentime 4 or here

 

 

Wordly Wise 4 - considering purchase We use the vocabulary words from McGuffey's Readers and CLE Reading 4. If you're interested in a reading program, we really like CLE which covers literary terms and vocabulary; otherwise, I've heard Wordly Wise is great!

 

All About Spelling - considering purchase. Rod and Staff Spelling 4

 

ARTistic Pursuits 4-6 - considering purchase There are many, many books in most libraries for art. Or some people like Art With a Purpose. We use some free books from google, as well as Ed Emberley, Mark Kistler's Draw Squad, etc. Drawing Textbook is great, too.

 

Spanish (need suggestions). I'm not sure I'd tackle this your first year homeschooling, but I've heard great things about Getting Started with Spanish.

 

DD7 - 2nd grade

Sonlight B+C World History - already own

SL Science C - already own

Horizons Math 2 - already own

 

Sonlight LA 4-5 with readers - considering purchase Rod and Staff English 2 and 1000 Great Books Primary Level

 

Handwriting without Tears 2 - considering purchase Pentime 2 or Rod and Staff Penmanship 2. R&S handwriting paper is fantastic!

 

Wordly Wise 2 - considering purchase Possibly CLE Reading 2, if you're interested.

 

All About Spelling - considering purchase R&S Phonics 2

 

ARTistic Pursuits K-3 - considering purchase. Do this subject together, using the above resources.

 

Spanish (need suggestions) Do this subject together, using the Getting Started with Latin.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Medieval Mom

[Mommy22alyns]

Oh, and I forgot, make sure to have your 4th grader take the placement test for TT.

[g7s22]

I had a 2nd and 4th grader this year for our first year homeschooling, and I bought Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 1. It worked great, the 4th grader just did the project at her own level. Definitely helped the first few weeks to have a "fun" subject while we were figuring the rest out. On a side note, excellent resale value on ebay.

[Penelope]

 

Here is the decisions that I've made for our lineup. I'm particularly confused about LA (Grammar, Vocab, Spelling, and Writing). I don't know if what I have planned here is adequate or if I'm missing something. I'm in the process of reading WTM and will likely switch to that platform next year... but for now I'm stuck with this.

 

I have noted what we have already bought and what we are planning to buy. If it is something we have already bought, I don't want to make any changes. I'm willing to consider changes on pieces that we have not yet purchased, as long as they are comparably priced.

 

DD9 - 4th grade

Sonlight B+C World History - Already own

Sonlight Science C - Already own

Sonlight LA 4-5 with readers - considering purchase

Teaching Textbooks 4 - Already own

Handwriting Without Tears 4 - considering purchase

Wordly Wise 4 - considering purchase

All About Spelling - considering purchase

ARTistic Pursuits 4-6 - considering purchase

Spanish (need suggestions)

 

DD7 - 2nd grade

Sonlight B+C World History - already own

SL Science C - already own

Sonlight LA 4-5 with readers - considering purchase

Horizons Math 2 - already own

Handwriting without Tears 2 - considering purchase

Wordly Wise 2 - considering purchase

All About Spelling - considering purchase

ARTistic Pursuits K-3 - considering purchase

Spanish (need suggestions)

 

Handwriting: How is the older one's handwriting? If she has learned nice print and cursive reasonably well, I would skip the handwriting workbook and just insist on nice handwriting during her daily writing. For the younger one, you could do the same, depending, though I'd be more likely to get a book to work through in that case. If she knows how to form the letters neatly, the second grade HWT book is just the same thing but with smaller lines. You could have her practice this herself with copywork. If you want her to learn cursive later this year you'd need HWT 3.

 

I have looked through the Wordly Wise series and decided that for my children they would be busywork and a waste of money. How you feel about them depends on how strong you feel your children's vocabularies are. I believe at elementary ages they learn more vocabulary from reading and even more so from being read to from books with more challenging vocabulary.

 

Spelling: again, it depends on how your children are doing in spelling. For a child who is a very good speller I would not bother with AAS due to the expense and time. If your children have not had phonics, though, it's a great way to make sure they know the rules, but AAS is not the most economical way to get there. I say that as someone who has used AAS and been very happy with it.

 

I have heard mixed reviews of SL LA. I can recommend Peace Hill Press products instead: First Language Lessons for grammar, and Writing With Ease for writing. You can find a writing placement test on peacehillpress.com. For FLL you could ask them for recommendations, but starting with level 2 for the younger child and 3 for the older may work well. Depending on the writing and comprehension abilities of the younger student, you may be able to have both of them in FLL3.

 

I would skip the SL reader packages for those levels and use the library. When we used SL I did not feel a need for the comprehension questions. I do have my children narrate from the books they read for school.

 

I also agree with the advice to wait on art and Spanish until you settle in with everything else. If you get Artistic Pursuits I would buy the 4-6 package and do the same program with both of them. I think most 4th graders would also learn from and enjoy most of the art study and projects in the K-3 books.

[Mom2OandE]

This is our first year and I wanted to make sure we spend our money wisely. We found a few very nice free programs out there: Kiss Grammar, Grammarland, Spelling Connections and a unit on Braham from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

 

For literature I'm using Newberry Award winning books along with AG books (as well as other books from the time period). We will use vocabulary words from those books as our vocab which will be kept in a journal (she will get practice using a dictionary). We are also using her favorite passages (my 2nd grade ds will be doing the same with his books) from the stories for copywork/handwriting practice. My dd fully knows how to print and use cursive so I think practice is all she needs at this point. I am providing examples of proper writing in her copywork journal.

[Mom2OandE]

Also not sure what state you live in but you should look to see what resources you can get through various state agencies. For instance we are in Florida and we were able to get a FULL science curricullum complete with guide, posters, videos, childrens newsletters and a book for free from our land and water management. We are using this as our science for this year along with nature study. This worked out great for us as our kids love science so we were able to use the science funds to sign up for classes at our Aquarium (which correspond to the curricullum) as well as a lab class at a local tech place.

[ByGrace3]

Ok, I think you have a great start. I am not a fan of SL LA so if it were me, I would go the FLL/WWE route or WWW/GWG and then use the SL readers. I have them on the shelf for this year and they are great books. You can always just buy the readers schedule and get the books from the library to save money. I would skip wordly wise, at least for the 2nd grader and maybe both, SL includes vocab.

 

HWOT - if you just want extra practice, the workbooks are inexpensive. But honestly, if there is not instruction in handwriting, it would be cheaper to just have them do copy work from reading for that.

 

We love AAS but it is expensive. Worth it for us though. If you can swing it I would, if not How to Teach Spelling uses the same method but just one book with inexpensive workbooks.

 

Artistic pursuits is expensive, while art is important if I had to prioritize spending, I would save the money and spend it on other things. There is a lot available on the Internet for free.

[Mrs Twain]

I would vote for a lot of things already mentioned here.

These are less expensive as well as very solid choices.

 

Grammar--R&S English (+/- composition exercises)

 

Spelling--Spelling Power (to use for both kids up through middle/high school)

 

Writing, Reading Comprehension--Writing With Ease (WWE3 for your 4th grader may be good), plus Winning With Writing (start at WWW3 or WWW4 for your 4th grader, start at WWW2 or WWW3 for your 2nd grader depending on writing ability--look at the table of contents to see what you need). These two programs make a nice combination IMO.

 

Handwriting--Handwriting Without Tears has a good cursive program if you need that.

 

Vocabulary--I wan't very happy with Wordly Wise. I am trying Vocabulary Workshop this year.

 

Reading--Have the children read aloud to you and test reading comprehension orally. Use VP, Sonlight, Ambleside Online, and/or 1000 Good Books lists to find books at the library.

 

Literature Guide/Reading Comprehension--If you are looking to use one or more guides like this, Blackbird & Company is my favorite choice.

 

Art--I couldn't get Artistic Pursuits to work for us, but I am extremely happy with Meet the Masters and Mark Kistler's online drawing lessons (both of which are on sale at homeschool buyers co-op which you can join for free).

[MiniBlondes]

Oh wow! As usual, you ladies amaze me!! So you all think I should scrap the SL LA altogether. I think you're right! ;)

 

My poor little spreadsheet is tired of getting changed. And my poor hubby is tired of hearing me change my mind 56465654689413 times.

 

I just need to make a decision, buy it, and shut up already. ;)

[MiniBlondes]

Also not sure what state you live in but you should look to see what resources you can get through various state agencies. For instance we are in Florida and we were able to get a FULL science curricullum complete with guide, posters, videos, childrens newsletters and a book for free from our land and water management. We are using this as our science for this year along with nature study. This worked out great for us as our kids love science so we were able to use the science funds to sign up for classes at our Aquarium (which correspond to the curricullum) as well as a lab class at a local tech place.

 

I am in NC. How did you find such a thing?

[MiniBlondes]

Okay. I made some changes to the OP. Thoughts?

[zenjenn]

You have kids SPOT ON where my kids are. I'll comment with my thoughts but of course this is such a subjective and individual thing.

 

DD9 - 4th grade

Sonlight B+C World History - (Sounds like you are set. We are doing SotW Volume 2.)

 

Sonlight Science C - (I'm really loosey-goosey about elementary science - and btw, Dad is a physicist so it's not out of being science-adverse. We use RS4K for experiment/lab ideas as time permits, and then First Lego League!)

 

First Language Lessons 3 (or 4?) - (Good program - started FFL 3 last year towards the end, and continuing it this year. Gonna bring the 2nd grader in too because she's ready.)

 

Writing With Ease - (Love, LOVE, LOVE!!! Did this for the first time last year. My 4th grader does it 1 grade level behind primarily due to struggles with spelling and the on-level WWE required dictation that exceeded her spelling capacity.)

 

Teaching Textbooks 4 - Already own (LOVE TT! My 4th grader is a bit older, 10 in Sept, and is on to TT 5. I sometimes feel that TT isn't enough so we're adding an ALEKS account and then doing enrichment with LoF.)

 

Spelling Power - My 4th grader STRUGGLES with spelling. I found extra reading and writing improved her spelling more than any other spelling program, all of which I found useless - though to be fair I never tried SP. That said, 4th grader is mildly dyslexic. She is also an auditory learning so I am VERY excited to be starting her on Phonetic Zoo this year. Ready for it this year, last year it would have been too difficult.

 

Reading - I just choose integrated literature suggestions linked with the history we are studying. I also incentivize my kids to read free-reading books that they wouldn't normally read. Incentives, example, for choosing genres they don't normally read or for Newbury award-winning books.

 

DD7 - 2nd grade

 

Pretty much same as above. My kids do history together and science together, and literature together.

 

2nd grader will be on WWE 2, and TT4 (she is math-gifted.) Also putting the 2nd grader on cursive but I am undecided on HWoT or something else. I did HWoT cursive with my oldest, because she's left-handed and I like vertical HWoT cursive style for her. 2nd grader is right-handed and I'm debating presenting her with a more traditional cursive style. But I may just go with HWoT because I have the materials, cards on the wall, etc. And who really cares it's the 21st century having traditional slanty cursive is really irrelevant.

 

JMO, but I'd skip FLL2. After looking at them, FLL 1 and 2 just kind of cover the types of things I cover organically by talking to my kids about language and that are in WWE. I don't think FLL1 or 2 would add anything but busywork. Again, JMO.