Has anyone pretty much just used Evan Moor workbooks for everything?

[Mandy in TN]

If so, what all did you use and how did that work out for you?

Thanks-

Mandy

[ChicoryChick]

I haven't used them for everything but I have used the ScienceWorks and Grammar & Punctuation. While a great as a supplement or even a spine, IMVHO they don't have enough meat to be used exclusively.

[Hunter]

I think the Daily Science is surprisingly awesome. I choose to use the science in my integrated curriculum instead because it's there, but for a stand alone science core, EMDS is my absolute favorite. EMDS :thumbup:

[tomandlorih]

I am using them exclusively for LA this year. I use Daily Reading Comprehension, Daily 6 Trait Writing (needs teacher input.. it's not self explanatory like WWW), Daily Language Review, Building Spelling Skills, Daily Cursive Handwriting.. I think that is all daily. (I use VfCR for vocab instead of EM) I also use various and sundry to fill in. Grammar & Punctuation, Language Fundamentals, Writing Poetry, How to Write a Book Report.. etc.etc.etc. It takes more work to find & schedule everything to make sure everything is covered but it's working for me and dd. I do have teacherfilebox.. I didn't buy all these separately and my dd is a grade ahead in LA so I'm not worried about her standardized test scores.

 

I also use Daily Word Problems, a bunch of History Pockets and other individual units of stuff as I need them.. I have a friend who uses the Read & Understand Science as her only science and she and her 2nd grade son are loving it. I keep meaning to look into doing E-M for science based on my friend's experience and a previous recommend by Hunter but I just haven't yet. HTH!

[dsmith]

We used them for a few months while I was trying to figure out what direction to go with ds. I had a subscription to teacherfilebox.com. Every Saturday I would spend a few hours finding what we would use for the week. I'm not sure what book the grammar was coming from, but it worked better for ds than some of the more expensive programs we had purchased. I found it a bit difficult to search for things on teacherfilebox.com and considered purchasing individual titles on currclick.com a few times, but never did. Sorry, I can't give individual titles. I was using them for geography, spelling, grammar and punctuation, book report forms, vocabulary, science, math review, occasional add on to history and some art/craft ideas.

[LBoogie]

I keep looking at it for spelling for 3rd grade next year, wondering if it would be enough. Anyone have any thoughts?

[Wheres Toto]

We use it quite a bit. I have teacher's file box and I go to the Evan Moor site, look up books and then plug the number into TFB.

I use some fun math and games for dd. For ds, I use reading comprehension, spelling, extra math drill, games. I use various science, geography, and history supplements for both of them - history pockets, science works, literature pockets.

 

We also are using How to Teach Art to Children, which I bought right before it appeared on TFB. Before I realized how much I would use, I also purchased Beginning Geography, Giant Science Resource Book, and one other science book.

[Wheres Toto]

I keep looking at it for spelling for 3rd grade next year, wondering if it would be enough. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

 

I'm getting ready to start the Skill Sharpeners Spell and Write. I like that it has spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and reading comprehension. We were using AAS but spelling comes so easily to my son that I find we're not utilizing it fully and it's expensive as a word list.

[fairy4tmama]

Not using EM for everything but I wanted to chime in because we started using daily science and love it. At Hunter s suggestions we are using it as a non consumable and as a spine paired with journaling. It has really surprised me how well this approach has worked for out for us. At least with Daily science there is a lot of opportunity to use it in a way that makes it so much more than a workbook!

[JudoMom]

We use it quite a bit. I have teacher's file box and I go to the Evan Moor site, look up books and then plug the number into TFB.

I use some fun math and games for dd. For ds, I use reading comprehension, spelling, extra math drill, games. I use various science, geography, and history supplements for both of them - history pockets, science works, literature pockets.

 

We also are using How to Teach Art to Children, which I bought right before it appeared on TFB. Before I realized how much I would use, I also purchased Beginning Geography, Giant Science Resource Book, and one other science book.

 

 

Does Teacher's File Box have entire books? I used it for a bit several years ago, but it seemed like they only had bits and pieces of books then.

[pitterpatter]

You know, I've always thought their products far superior to most other similar resources out there. At just $70 a year for TeacherFileBox.com, I think it would be an excellent way to school elementary on the cheap.

 

I find that I use more and more of their products each year. I search and search and search and search, then rediscover that the best resource is already right in front of me...in TeacherFileBox.com.

 

We have used Beginning Geography and Everyday Literacy: Science in full. We are currently using History Pockets and ScienceWorks. Next year, I think most of DD's grammar and language arts will be from there in addition to more ScienceWorks and History Pockets. We use a smattering of other things too, but the products mentioned are what we have used or are using in full.

 

As for the language arts mentioned, I have looked at just about everything out there for DD's age and I keep coming back to Evan-Moor products. I don't see a reason to pay more for a "homeschool" product that can't hold a candle to what Evan-Moor is offering in turns of quality, professionalism, design and content.

[pitterpatter]

Absolutely! But, you can't download them as one big file. You have to download each lesson separately. Just search by book number in TeacherFileBox.com. If the book is EMC 672, search for "672"...not "EMC 672".

 

 

 

Does Teacher's File Box have entire books? I used it for a bit several years ago, but it seemed like they only had bits and pieces of books then.

 

[pitterpatter]

This is on TFB now? Yeah!!

 

We use it quite a bit. I have teacher's file box and I go to the Evan Moor site, look up books and then plug the number into TFB.

I use some fun math and games for dd. For ds, I use reading comprehension, spelling, extra math drill, games. I use various science, geography, and history supplements for both of them - history pockets, science works, literature pockets.

 

We also are using How to Teach Art to Children, which I bought right before it appeared on TFB. Before I realized how much I would use, I also purchased Beginning Geography, Giant Science Resource Book, and one other science book.

 

[serendipitous journey]

I keep looking at it for spelling for 3rd grade next year, wondering if it would be enough. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

 

We've just finished their 2nd grade spelling and have moved on to 3rd. I find it to be plenty. The third grade book does 15 words/lesson (per week) and the activities are engaging; we have good retention, though I do oral reviews daily. I also try to add in words that he misspells in his nature journal or other writing: each lesson has space for 2 words to be added to the Evan Moor list, so this is easy.

 

This is so straightforward, I am very happy to be using it! Button enjoys it! (he wouldn't choose it over running around or playing Legos, but for school, he thinks it is fun)

[momtoamiracle]

I've been looking more and more at Evan Moore products for daily science, geography, and language arts. I went to the school store today so I could look at them and it was closed! No reason, just closed. Augh! Teacher firebox doesn't appeal to me, at all. Too much time to look stuff up, download and then print. It would cost me as much as the workbook just to print for a month. I want a laser printer, but who knows when I can do that.

 

 

I want easy these days. My son is six, he's really not interested in schoolwork very much right now, so whatever I can get done with the least hassle for me is good!

[Mandy in TN]

Thanks for the replies. The little man has been using Daily Math Practice all year just to stay comfortable with elementary math and it has been very much a non-issue- just a few math problems already all laid out and on we go. This week he started Daily Paragraph Editing.

 

For next year, I plan to have him continue using Daily Math Drill and Daily Paragraph Editing. After looking at what all Evan Moor has, I will also be adding Read and Understand Poetry to our line-up. :-)

 

Mandy

[North Coast School]

Love, love, love their stuff. Especially Geography and Science.

 

We also use their "Making Books with Children" Series for lapbooking.

[momtoamiracle]

Love, love, love their stuff. Especially Geography and Science.

 

We also use their "Making Books with Children" Series for lapbooking.

 

 

 

 

Oh I like the looks of that!

 

 

I could spend a fortune on their books. Hard to decide between them!

[Hunter]

Not using EM for everything but I wanted to chime in because we started using daily science and love it. At Hunter s suggestions we are using it as a non consumable and as a spine paired with journaling. It has really surprised me how well this approach has worked for out for us. At least with Daily science there is a lot of opportunity to use it in a way that makes it so much more than a workbook!

 

 

I am just SO impressed with what is BEHIND the workbook pages of EM Daily Science. I am totally OCD about my curriculum choices. No frosting, page formatting or ease of use will distract me from my judgements of the framework of a series. EM Daily Science is a well chosen scope of topics presented in an ingenious sequence. The new vocabulary is explicitly taught. The diagrams are clear and illuminating. The weekly topics are fun, and really do effectively illustrate the monthly "big ideas". There is nothing NOT to like about EM Daily science whether used as a workbook, or as a stick-in-the-dirt TM requiring nothing but paper and pencil for the student.

[Mandy in TN]

My 10yo son has turned into a prepubescent monster who believes that anything fun or interesting that I attempt is merely torture designed to make a lesson take longer. LOL I had been seriously considering ordering Calvert 6 with ATS without math for next fall. Then, I really sat down and considered what I needed help teaching. I need near daily help motivating ds to write with genuine effort and I need a math teacher that I can call or e-mail if we have an issue during the week. Calvert with ATS without math wasn't going to meet either of these needs. Calvert was appealing to ds, because it has no frills. It has no bells or whistles: a presentation that I wouldn't consider interesting or fun.

 

So, this week I started looking at options that would git-er-done without being as expensive as Calvert. I think I have cobbled something together that will, like Calvert, cover the bases without frills. With the difference between the cost of those products and the cost of Calvert 6 with ATS without math, we can enroll ds in an online writing class and an online math class. I am trying to be content with this arrangement.

 

Thanks again for all the information. :)

Mandy

[dsmith]

I didn't know you could search by book number! That would have made things so much easier.

 

 

Absolutely! But, you can't download them as one big file. You have to download each lesson separately. Just search by book number in TeacherFileBox.com. If the book is EMC 672, search for "672"...not "EMC 672".

 

[sbgrace]

I have teacher filebox and I like a lot of the EM stuff. I, actually, was not impressed with daily science. It's presentation isn't enough, on its own, for engagement or retention here. I have tried. I've got a workbook loving kid but retention wasn't good even for him. I guess different strokes and all. There are some neat EM science materials though.

[WonderRed]

I am using them exclusively for LA this year. I use Daily Reading Comprehension, Daily 6 Trait Writing (needs teacher input.. it's not self explanatory like WWW), Daily Language Review, Building Spelling Skills, Daily Cursive Handwriting.. I think that is all daily. (I use VfCR for vocab instead of EM) I also use various and sundry to fill in. Grammar & Punctuation, Language Fundamentals, Writing Poetry, How to Write a Book Report.. etc.etc.etc. It takes more work to find & schedule everything to make sure everything is covered but it's working for me and dd. I do have teacherfilebox.. I didn't buy all these separately and my dd is a grade ahead in LA so I'm not worried about her standardized test scores.

 

I also use Daily Word Problems, a bunch of History Pockets and other individual units of stuff as I need them.. I have a friend who uses the Read & Understand Science as her only science and she and her 2nd grade son are loving it. I keep meaning to look into doing E-M for science based on my friend's experience and a previous recommend by Hunter but I just haven't yet. HTH!

 

I recently subscribed to TFB and was considering using EM exclusively for LA also for my boys ds9 and ds7. Your post has been extremely helpful to me. From another thread, I learned to look up the specific book number from the Evan Moor website and search only the book number on the TFB site. It does take time to print out and organize all the various books.

[tomandlorih]

 

I recently subscribed to TFB and was considering using EM exclusively for LA also for my boys ds9 and ds7. Your post has been extremely helpful to me. From another thread, I learned to look up the specific book number from the Evan Moor website and search only the book number on the TFB site. It does take time to print out and organize all the various books.

 

 

It does take a little time to print and organize it all. I have them in folders by book in tfb so I put all the pieces into that book name so I can find them fast later when I need them. When I first subscribed to tfb, I would sit up after the kids went to bed and do 1 book per night. It went pretty fast and in no time I had most everything I needed ready to go. Now I still look and do a book here or there so I have them handy if I need them (like How to Teach Art to Children). I print out 2 weeks at a time, cut the half pages apart and put them into packets (Mon, Tues, Wed.. etc.) along with her MUS worksheets and Spanish and whatever else is in worksheet form, and staple. Then I just write the day and date at the top and dd9 grabs her packet in the morning and heads off to do it. She comes to me if she has a question and when it's time for a spelling test or something but LA on the whole is easy, peasy and independent.

 

You might check with your library also. Mine allows me 10 copies per card per day free (the whole family has cards so 50 copies per day which is just enough to print 2 weeks worth of work, since I don't print the answer pages that I can view online if needed) and we generally go to the library once a week or so anyway so it saves lots of ink. =D

[ProudGrandma]

We have been using their Daily Geography for years. It's not a geography program where you "visit" a country and do activities associated with that country. But what it is, is a program that teaches map skills using maps from all over the world. Sometimes its a section of the US, sometimes its the rivers in Africa, sometimes is the lines of latitude and longitude, and with the younger set, it might be a map of the zoo, or your neighborhood, or the major cities in Nebraska.

 

Each day they get 2 questions based on the map and each week is a different map. We like it a lot.

[Pen]

Listening in. Never used any, but my interest is piqued!

[WonderRed]

Tomandlorih: Thanks for the suggestions on how to organize TFB. I just printed my first book.

[pitterpatter]

Yes, it does. And, if you come across something you like in TeacherFileBox, a lot of times you can click on the "Book Details" tab to figure out what book it came from. Then, you can plop in the book's item number and get the rest of the pages. If that doesn't work, print out the worksheet and look at the bottom of it. It usually always has the book's number listed on it.

 

I didn't know you could search by book number! That would have made things so much easier.

[momtoamiracle]

ok, let me see if I've got this straight.

 

You can punch in the book number and print the individual lessons. If you can't print them right then you put them in your file but can't save them to your computer. You can go back later to your file and then print them.

 

Is this right?

 

putting book number in makes it easy! I just found the whole Daily science book....

 

I think I'm convinced to get it when it goes on sale next month. I am going to try and invest in a laser printer. That would help tremendously.

[pitterpatter]

Yup. You can save all of the lessons you want to your online file box. Evan-Moor now allows users to save and use their products as PDFs too, although you have to have your own PDF "printer" program on your computer. Nitro is a good free one, if you don't have one. I actually download the files to my computer and use them from there. It's easier for me to organize and access them, especially when I have internet issues. I have and plan on keeping TeacherFileBox for a good while so I don't think I'm breaking any rules in terms of usage.

 

ok, let me see if I've got this straight.

 

You can punch in the book number and print the individual lessons. If you can't print them right then you put them in your file but can't save them to your computer. You can go back later to your file and then print them.

 

Is this right?

 

putting book number in makes it easy! I just found the whole Daily science book....

 

I think I'm convinced to get it when it goes on sale next month. I am going to try and invest in a laser printer. That would help tremendously.

 

[Halcyon]

We use a fair amount of it. Daily Science, Daily Paragraph Editing, Science Works, History Pockets.....I find their workbooks to be high quality.

[ladyinthegarden]

I found Evan-Moor workbooks when I began homeschooling in 1st grade. The workbooks are superior to most other educational workbooks. They don't contain loads of errors, like some of the cheaper workbooks. If you have a kid that loves doing map work the daily geography book is thick and will last the entire year if you want. I've never used these but I have heard good things about flash kids complete curriculum workbooks. http://www.homeschool-curriculum-savings.com/homeschool-review-flash-kids-curriculum-all-grades.html For the price of them you could use just what you need and leave the rest, they are thick because they have several hundred pages.

[HootyTooty]

We have been using the new Daily Phonics books. We use them a year ahead and they have been perfect for my youngest who is in Saxon Phonics 1 and needed a little break/a different take on things.

 

I also love the daily editing and daily reading comprehension books.

[laundrycrisis]

Not Evan Moore specifically, but yes, I have used workbooks for every subject for the last two years. It's been a great way to not overwhelm a kid with written language challenges, make lesson planning super easy, and not have tons of materials all over the place to get through a school day. It's been a very efficient way to get school done.