I've been really relaxed with the kids this year, but now I'm ready to ramp up. We've hit a brick wall with math (both kids) because we just don't have our facts down. I'd like to plan out a time frame for math in order to catch up. The kids are used to "do the next lesson", race through and get done in 15mins, and then complain that it took too long, lol. They also barter to get less problems (and in the past I've caved!) I think it would help us catch up on math if we just set a clock and did math until time was up. If we get more than 1 lesson done, then hooray. Also, I'd like to set the goal of "do every problem until time is up". I really need to break this habit of theirs (ok, mine too...) I was hoping to do math for 1 hour (15mins of math drill & then 45 mins of an easy, 1-grade level behind math book). But when I assigned 30 mins, the 8yo whined and cried and carried on - "30 minutes is toooooo loooooong". So help me set some expectations here. How long should we do math? This is for a 10 & 8 yo.

Thanks, Liberty! That's very helpful; we'll start working on it. I'll bring it up at our ophthamalogist(sp?) appt in March, too (I'm taking all 3 of my kiddos in).

Gosh, Rosie, you have littles, too, LOL. Where's the embarrassed smilie? I think I wrote that at 4am.

Actually, I think she spells quite well! We haven't done formal spelling for awhile now. She tested high in spelling on the IOWA test 3rd gr last year. I just tested her with SWR and she tested in the 4th grade lists. She gets words like write/right mixed up, but I think this is pretty age appropriate. If she studies a spelling list and then gets tested, she scores fine (so her memory for letters/words seems alright). Of course, you have to ignore that capital B in the middle of the word, lol.

She has 4 kids and if her oldest are 8 and 5, then that would mean there are some littles in the mix. I think that probably explains it! lol And if you do have 2 littles in the mix, I'm super impressed that you've gotten that far! :001_wub: I've been a total slacker this year, too. I'm trying to make changes and the kids are fighting it. sigh. not fun. But we'll get there. "I think I can, I think I can". I have to pep talk myself every day (parent/teacher conference?) My 10yo even wrote on her paper yesterday: "you can do it" when she saw I was frustrated, lol. I'm just fitting in as much as I can each day, and when we reach baby's naptime, I call us done for the day. If your dd seems to be doing well with spelling once per week, then I'd go with it. Some kids do well with study-test, so handing out a list at the beginning of the week and then testing her at the end might be enough (that's what we've been attempting lately). One day of science and history sounds pretty good - you could always aim for 1 more day if it would help you to feel better. Sounds like math is fine if you are seeing progress. So I wouldn't worry. If adding in another day of something would make you feel better about your homeschool though, then try to work something in.

Anyone have older kids that still confuse b and d? My dd (10) seems to have "fixed" this by just making all b's and d's capitalized. She used to have horrid handwriting and I spent years trying to fix it and finally just gave up (we used HWT and HWT cursive). She hates cursive hw'ing, so after 2 years of that, we just went back to print. Her hw'ing has greatly improved when she takes the time to make letters, but those b's and d's are now capitalized. I don't think she's dyslexic; she struggled to read at first, but then caught on around age 7 and is ahead in reading ability. Even with capitalized B's and D's, she still has to correct her letters, because I'll see her write a D for a B and then rewrite it correctly. I think she is one that I will just need to teach typing:glare:

Most people use the Blue series to supplement - it goes by topic. So...if you are working in one curric on addition/subtraction, then it would be a good time to pull in the add/sub worksheets from MM, too. If you hit telling time in your main curric, then pull in more practice from MM. You can supplement with light blue, too, but I think blue was designed to be more of a supplement by topic.

I don't really know and just want to bump your thread:) But 5th grade seems to be the year when they focus on more prealgebra type topics (ratio, percent, negative numbers, mult/div of fractions, decimals). They introduce it a very little bit at the end of 4th, but has a much bigger focus in 5th. By 6th grade, I think there is a lot less review of 4th & under topics (add/sub, mult/div), with a bigger focus on 5th & up topics. I had my dd skip from 3rd gr English to 5th gr, and it was a big stretch (I think 4th gr was the year they introduced diagramming, because it was a dominant feature of 5th gr). I also was a total moron about the whole thing and didn't buy the teacher's manual this year (never needed it in the past!) I bumped her up a grade in language arts because I had her repeat 2nd grade (she had a really bad attitude that year that made any learning completely impossible. she also was behind in reading, but now is way ahead, so keeping her behind didn't seem necessary). But I would say if he has a good handle on add/sub, mult/div, and seems ready to do more with it (fractions, decimals, factors, ratio, percent, negative numbers, etc.) then go ahead and put him in 6th. If you think he needs that bridge between 4th & under, 6th & up, then put him through 5th. Don't really know, but hope someone who has been through those levels will give you a good perspective! There is a yahoogroups for bobjones users, maybe they'd have more input.

I copied this from the Math Mammoth FAQ Blue Series page: 2. Do the Blue and Light Blue have the same material? Practically so. There are only a few very minor differences: few pages here and there that are in one series but not in the other.

the dvds look good, though! Even though I like the 3rd ed, I also like the idea of someone else teaching this subject:)

I want to purchase the blue series and there is a 20% off sale now. There's another sale through Homeschool Buyers Co-op in March. Does anyone know if this includes the blue series (my email said bundle sets), and what the price range typically is for this sale? I'm just wondering if I should buy now or wait until March. Thanks!

Has anyone looked at the new BJU 5th grade Math 3rd edition? Some of us awhile back were wondering if the new 5th gr would be workbook or student textbook. The 2nd edition is a student textbook where the student needs to copy problems onto a separate sheet of paper. But looking at the 3rd ed online, it looks like a workbook to me. Go here and look at the specifications: it is called softbound. 4th gr 3rd ed is softbound, too, and this is definitely a workbook. One thing I didn't see in the 5th gr package, though, is a reviews book. 3rd ed doesn't seem to have one - or is it just not out yet? Just wondering if anyone has actually seen the 5th gr 3rd ed and can verify. Thanks!

Chiming in on the manipulatives: The CDs contain the teacher manipulatives for classroom demonstration purposes. These seem almost identical to the student manips, but with slight differences. For instance, the ducks in K5 were a little different looking (can't remember, but I think it had a different background, or were a little bigger, or something?) The biggest problem came in with the measurement manips. The INCH ruler was bigger in the teacher manips than the student, for demonstration purposes. This meant that we couldnt' measure using the CD printout ruler, because it wasn't accurate. But overall, the differences are minor - you'd just need to use a real inch and centimeter ruler, rather than using the CD printed one. And yeah, cutting out all those shapes would be a pain, but doable.

Here is the overview: http://www.cathyduffyreviews.com/learning%20styles%20fpea%2009.pdf I know. I can't peg mine, either (esp my tricky firstborn). Here's what I did: I copied each of the learning styles from the above document into a wordprocessing doc (Word doc). Then, I went through and found which items *did not* fit her style. I used the strikethrough font option to strike out those items. I gave it some time and thought some more. Came back the next day and did some more striking through (I haven't actually finished this task yet) Hopefully, what I'll be left with is a visual list of what's left. Hopefully one of the 4 will have the most amt of text left intact and this will reveal her style. Good luck! BTW, I've found that asking my dd what she thinks doesn't work. She tends to pick the style that sounds the coolest and then says that is her. I used to think she was a sociable sue, but now I'm thinking that is really not her style:001_huh: Even though she loves group classes, she seems so exhausted after being in that environment.

Yup, pretty much describes me, too:) I'm still in research-mode. I started a similar thread a few days ago (mine was about the lists, because I didn't know you had to buy Foundations to get them). Someone suggested the Scholastic Everything you need to know about...books; I'm inter-library loaning one to check it out. I also like the free lulu.com ebook someone suggested. I'm also considering the foundations book, but I really don't want to invest in the veritas press timeline cards (sheesh, that could get expensive quick!) I'm really more interested in just history and science. We do AWANA, so plenty of Bible memorization there. I'm not interested in latin or poetry memorization either. Just history & science (and maybe geography, if all else were going well).

LOL, I've wondered the same thing:) My dh writes his letters starting at the bottom. After watching him write, I decided not to worry about it anymore.

I've been reading the book The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education, by Leigh A. Bortins. She helped found Classical Conversations (no, I didn't read that entire thread, lol). I'm not interested in CC at all. But I was sort of interested in this list she mentions in her book The Core. Her kids memorize 204 timeline events, including US presidents for history. There are 72 facts for science. Where do you get this list? She doesn't mention anything in her book about *where* you get this list:) I'm not a big memorization person, but would love to see this mysterious list.

I've been thinking about the Kumon books, too (instead of MM). Ok, who am I kidding...I've been daydreaming about sending the kids to a Kumon center. But that isn't going to happen, so time for Plan B. Although BJU does a great job of teaching math conceptually, I think MM does this even more, so it wouldn't hurt to catch some of that aspect as well. But Kumon books (done repeatedly, with a focus on speed) I think would hit the math facts side of things quite well. Decisions, decisions...

I've never been good at keeping up with math fact practice for the kids. I ditched it in favor of math concepts:glare: Then the baby was born, and homeschool went to heck in a handbasket. I now realize what a HUGE mistake it was to do math facts half-baked. I also feel we're pertty behind in math. And as great as it sounds to try to catch us all up, I think we'd be missing a whole lot along the way. I've read The Core and her chapter on Math really resonated with me. I love the concept of Overlearning (Overteaching, Overpracticing). So I'm trying to figure out my plan of action. Help me hash this out: In the past, we've used BJU 3rd edition Math, which I like, but now we will be backing up the train. So... What if I got Math Mammoth Blue series as a download and just went through ALL addition and subtraction with the kids, and then ALL place value, and then ALL multiplication and division, starting at the lowest level and then going through one whole topic at a time. We'll spend about 1 hour per day on math, including some speed drills or flashcards. I'll probably skip Clock, Money, Measurement, etc. and just hit the basic Addition/Subtraction, Multiplication/Division topics until we're through them. And then we'll go back to a different math book, like BJU, but continue with daily drills and 1 full hour of math work. Right now, we probably spend 15-30 mins on math, and we cut a lot of corners. Anything you would change in this plan? Any suggestions on overlearning math?

There are many different lists/types, and some will strike a cord more with you than others. I had one dd that I'm still not 100% sure what she is:) She throws me for a loop with visual/auditory/hands-on. No idea. For her, I found the Gregoric model finally rang a bell for me; I suddenly knew where she fit on that model. But still don't know the visual/auditory/hands-on one for her (she's 10, you'd think I'd know by now). And I still don't know the Cathy Duffy one for her, either (Cathy Duffy's list is great, but just didn't seem to fit any of my kids). I'll give a basic overview of these... Visual / Auditory / Hands-on (Kinestic) Answers - does your child learn best by seeing things, hearing things, or doing things? Hands-on gets broken into 2 categories sometimes: building things vs. physical body movement. Cathy Duffy's Personality Profile: Answers - does your child like workbooks, learn through social activity/discussion, in a closet by themselves, or through movement? Her categories are: Wiggly Willy, Perfect Paula, Competent Carl, and Sociable Sue. Gregoric Model: Answers - how does your child organize information: randomly or sequentially. How does your child see things: concretely or abstractly? Categories are: Concrete-Sequential, Abstract-Sequential, Abstract-Random, and Concrete-Random. 7, 8, or 9 Intelligences: What sorts of things does your child do well? Are they good with sports? music? language? math? artistic? do they relate to people well? are they quiet and reflective? And gosh, there's a ton more, LOL. For me, the Gregoric model makes the most sense for me and my kids. Even so, I didn't figure out my older kids until this year, when it suddenly struck me. Also, getting feedback from other adults that interact with my child helped me figure it out. My oldest dd's co-op teacher told me some things about her in class that definitely defined her as Concrete-Sequential.

Besides doing the usual (leapfrog videos, phonics program, alphabet letter magnets on the fridge, etc), I also played silly auditory games. Example: me: "time to get into the /t/ /u/ /b/. Where are we going?" dd: "tub" later.... me: "would you like a /s/ /n/ /a/ /k/? what word did I just say?" dd: "snack" I did this A LOT. Any word that I could easily separate, I did. I think this helps because sometimes when they are focusing so much on actually making the sounds, there is a disconnect between actually listening to the sounds they are making. (In other words, they sound out /c/ /a/ /t/ but sometimes can't remember that they just said "cat"). I would also remind them during reading practice. dd: "/c/ /a/ /t/" me: "what word did you just sound out?" dd: (shrug) me: "you just said /c/ /a/ /t/. what word was that?" It was a very gradual thing, though - being able to sound out, blend the sounds together, and then actually KNOW what they just said, lol.

YES!!! This is the heart of the philosophy explained in Teach...With Children's Books. (OK, the full title is Teach A Child to Read With Children's Books. Author's name is Thogmartin. I hate the title because it is so long and easily confused with 100EZ Lessons, kwim?) I recommend getting Teach...With Children's Books from the library just to get the overall idea behind the thing and copy the book lists in the back. I had a child that I just beat to death with phonics and she still wasn't reading. We switched to this and bingo! She's an awesome reader now:) (BTW, this is not a popular opinion. Oh well).

I have no idea about allergy shots. I am sorry for you and your daughter - that is awful to have such a reaction:( My dd started getting skin sensitivity hives around age 4, and at 8 she still gets them. We give her a dose of Zyrtec every 1-2 nights to keep it under control. Otherwise, her body just breaks into hives. It's very weird. After spending about 2 hrs talking to the allergist, he determined it was caused by skin sensitivity (which sounds like your daughter gets the same thing; if scratched, they welt up). My dd also gets pressure hives (if pants are pressing into her skin, it will hive around the pantline), and virus hives (first sign she's getting sick). I can trace the worst of this starting up about 6 weeks after her age 4-6 vaccines. We have never been able to do a skin allergy test because she has to be on Zyrtec full time. In order to get the skin allergy test done, we have to take her off of Zyrtec for 10 days. Since this all began, she has never been off of the medicine long enough for testing - the hives flare up too much.

I use blogger (blogspot) for my personal family life homeschool blog: www.teachafish.blogspot.com I have an experimental blog that I put general homeschool info on, and this is a wordpress blog. Mine isn't free (I use paid hosting with domain name), but I imagine the free wordpress would be similar to manage: www.teachafish.com/blog

Alrighty, I'm bringing back the science workbook:) It's good fill in the blank practice. Love the suggestion to have her read aloud from a few paragraphs that have the answer. I may read aloud too. It doesn't hurt if we both read aloud and go thru it a few times to find the answer. It's a good skill to have, so I think we'll be working more diligently on this. Thanks for the suggestions!