homemommy83 Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 My elementary children love activity workbooks/ workbooks in general and so to give them more "busywork" each day I am looking to purchase one complete book of basic skills type book for each of them. I bought Walmart "complete" books for my preschooler (so he wouldn't feel left out/ get in the habit of mommy tutoring time) and my first grader (it gave her pages on little subtopics that aren't done in our home until later /puzzle like activities) this year and my other children want one to. They are both almost finished with their "special" books so it was time to order more. I picked them up on a whim and they loved them, but I see that there are several on the market and I would like to choose the "funnest" one for each of my elementary students. I would like something that has a large variety of activities using basic skills like color by number, mazes, and has cutting and pasting, reading and answering questions math puzzles, and writing prompts. We use workbooks in a lot of our homeschool studies- spelling (our children do 2 or 3 lessons a week until they have finished a book, then they take a break- this is because they like doing worksheets, and Rod and Staff Spelling is very easy to them). Math Mammoth (takes my kids about 5 months per level), and TGaTB levels only last us 3-4 months a piece and we don't want to graduate early or be bored so I am looking for fun workbook filler as the majority of our studies is them reading to themselves or me reading to them or experiments or running around the yard (lol). I don't want to buy expensive curriculum as filler either, so this is the other reason I am looking at "complete" workbooks. We just get through curriculum much faster than the school year it is supposed to take, and don't always want to go on to the next level so quickly-kwim. Do you have a favorite "complete" workbook that your children have enjoyed (if they are workbook kids)? For my soon turning 4 year old I have already purchased: The Good and the Beautiful Prek set Developing the Early Learner series and Explode the Code primers (these are our focus programs) I already have The Complete Book of the Alphabet/ Walmart's Big book of Preschool activites (mazes, dot-to-dots ect...) Kumon 1-30 and Amazing Mazes activity books This is a lot of worksheets- but we will alternate through them with only 20 minutes daily as we spend a lot of time doing other blocks throughout the day: 1. At least 1 hour outside 2. Two 20-30 minute readaloud periods 3. 20-30 minute speech therapy with me (on days we don't go to the therapist) I am interested in Grades 2-6 at this time as my preker's hand will be busy-lol. Well, I hope he feels they are as he will come back to me for "more" work 2-3 times a morning while I am tutoring others. Thanks in Advance for your opinions! Brenda P.S. I just wish that there were more samples of each styled book so I could make an educated decision for my kiddos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 (edited) No suggestions for anything that is "all subjects in one workbook", BUT... As a NON-workbook-y family, we really enjoyed these: - The Complete Book of Maps and Geography (gr. 3-6) - The Complete Book of Math (gr. 1-2) -- includes fun games/activities in it; the gr. 3-4 one was more "drill" based - The Big Yellow Drawing Book (ages 4-8) - Mark Kistler Draw Squad (gr. 2-12) - Puzzlemania variety collections (best of variety of puzzle types from Highlights magazine) (gr. 1-5) - Logic Countdown (gr. 3-5), Logic Liftoff (gr. 4-6), Orbiting with Logic (gr. 5-7) No personal experience, but here are ideas for "all subjects in one workbook". Most look like they have levels for grades K-6th. Since they are designed for summer (usually 50-100 activities), you may need more than 1 book to last all school year -- but that would allow you to try out different books, and cover different subjects: Summer Books series (Math, LA, Critical Thinking, Science) Summer Bridge series (Math, Reading, Writing, Science, Social Studies) Evan-Moore: Daily Summer Activities series (Math, Reading, Writing, Geography, Critical Thinking) Summer Quest series (Math, Reading, Writing, Science, Social Studies, Geography) Summer Blast series (Math, Reading, Writing, Art, Puzzles) Summer Brain Quest series (Math, LA, Science, Social Studies) Summer Sparks activity task cards (Math, LA, Science, Social Studies) Summer Fit series (Math, Reading, Writing, Nutrition, PE) Teacher Created Materials: Summertime Learning series (Math, Reading, Writing) Summer Study series (Math & Reading) 100 Skills series (Math & LA) Edited February 3, 2018 by Lori D. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homemommy83 Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Lori D you never fail to amaze me with your well researched and encouraging comments- thank you. Off to go look at new books- my second passion-lol. Brenda 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal_Bear Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 If you have a Costco membership, they often have these sorts of workbooks in the warehouse at a good discount off retail prices. They stock a lot in late spring for the lead into summer as there is high demand for these sorts of workbooks to keep skills fresh over the summer breaks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 We’ve used some BrainQuest as fun/supplements, and the kids have liked those. Comprehensive Curriculum was less interesting to them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homemommy83 Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 We’ve used some BrainQuest as fun/supplements, and the kids have liked those. Comprehensive Curriculum was less interesting to them. These were the two of the three main ones I was seeing at RR, thank you for the reviews. I think I will go with BrainQuest and the Scholastic ones from Walmart as they each have different styled activity focuses and my kids can pick and choose from the books their favorites. I think BrainkQuest looks more colorful and has a nice poster to study that changes year to year, and the Scholastic has tons of color by number (after they answer the math problems), math puzzles, spelling list with crossword puzzles, and reading comprehension quizzes (similar to standardized testing). Walmart carries Scholastic up to fourth grade at our store- I will get my turning 1st/3rd grader these now to supplement. I will add the Brain Quest during the summer when they have finished all of their yearly curriculum as a lighter summer book with our MFW studies that will continue. My 6th grader will only get one book-Brain Quest as she has a full load of work to keep her reading right now. She enjoys crossword puzzles/ SODUKO and I will add her a book of each from Walmart as well. Thanks again for the comparison as it really helped me narrow my choices down :hurray: :D Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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