T4L Questions

[4JMJ]

For this upcoming school year (which we are sort of starting this week, because we are going year round) I signed up all 3 of my kids for T4L (5th, 3rd and 1st). We have used T4L in the past, but as a supplement for 1 or 2 of them when they were in ps. So this is the first time we are using it for all 3 for homeschooling. I have a few questions-

1)Is the math that they offer "enough"? If I used Saxon, in addition to T4L, would that be overkill? (for my 1st and 3rd grader, the 5th grader hates Saxon!) For the 5th grader, so I need to look for a math program to supplement T4L?

2)Should I be using a separate spelling program to supplement LA? It doesn't appear T4L has any spelling "lists", per se. How about a separate vocabulary program?

3)I had planned to use Story of the World for History and some Usborne for sciences. Do you think it is too much for them to also use SS and science in T4L?

Any insights or experiences would be appreciated!
Thanks!

[RiverSky]

Well, my two cents are that my children (11 year old son and 8 year old daughter) had the best time in the last half year listening to Story of the World (the 1st and 2nd books) on CD in the car as we drove around. I think the first set had 8 CDs and the 2nd had 9. They were both fascinated listening to all of the stories and have both asked that I hurry up and purchase the 3rd set of CDs. I have never felt the urge to do any of the activities with them, but it certainly was not torture, but pure enjoyment for them. If you were to do the same with your children, I can't imagine that they would hate it, regardless of whether or not you are doing T4L, which my children have also had subscriptions to, but which often bored them to tears after a while, no matter how enthusiastically they started sometimes and ask me to continue to pay for.

The beauty of T4L is that there are no long term commitments and you can always change your mind later.

Spelling City has a website and tons of free activities. Why don't you just read books with your children and if you'd like, keep track of words that they have trouble spelling or reading, and add them into some games for them at SpellingCity.com?

[jrcronewillis]

Thought I would share our T4L and supplement plan. Ds, 7, is just about finished with the 2nd grade level in T4L. For the past two years we've supplemented with Math Mammoth (a great fit, I've found) and SOTW and some critical thinking & cursive handwriting. The T4L science is pretty good (starting in 3rd grade), as long as you also do some hands-on stuff at home. I'm trying to decide what to do about spelling as well. Let me know if you have any great ideas!