I picked up a brand new microscope with all the capabilities of the microscopes I use with my college students for $200 on Amazon. It's not a cheap microscope despite the price tag. It's solidly built, the body is metal, and the lenses are well-made. I honestly see no difference in the quality, and it will last your son all the way through college and grad school if he takes care of it. There is really no reason to spend the amount of money you have budgeted, as those found in the $200 to $250 range are quite capable of even microbiology work (anything more detailed than that you won't be doing with a light microscope anyway). Edited to add: I purchased an optical OMAX (no digital abilities built in, although a digital camera kit that fits into one of the ocular tubes is available for less than $40 from the same company - PLUS, the company has a great reputation for customer service, which is always important when you don't have the purchasing power of a major university backing up your complaints, not that I've had any).

I had an English professor in college who was like this - didn't matter if I could defend my opinion with specific examples or not, if my opinion differed from his I was wrong. The only English class I ever hated.

I asked both an OT and the reading specialist who evaluated DS before and after K, respectively, and they both said it's normal unless it continues past about 3rd grade, and even then it doesn't always mean anything. DS stopped doing it less than a year later.

Nice! I'll have to take a look, too.

Sounds like something my DS would come up with. LOL

I'd just let the kids do science at their own pace. You'll hit a topic now and then that really fires them up and you can expand that as long as they stay interested, but I wouldn't try to deliberately drag it out. That was easy for DS because he's interested in everything about science, so we spent a lot of time reading additional books, doing mom-created additional explorations (I'm a scientist myself), and spending time with Daddy working on some topics that weren't covered in the current BFSU volume (electronics, robotics, and computer programming). For the non-scientist, let them pick up additional books and documentaries at the library or bookstore, purchase kits along their specific interests (but make sure they've got good reviews because there's a lot of junk out there masquerading as science kits), and let your kids lead the way. If they're science-oriented, they will happily drag you along for the adventure.

We started this much earlier than SWB suggested. The Building Thinking Skills books start in K, so we did as well. We also tend to play games that require logical and strategic thinking (mommy's favorite kind, so our collection was already skewed). By the time DS starts formal logic training he'll have a lot less material to wade through to get where I need him to be, and he'll already have enough informal training from me that it won't take anywhere near that long. I'm a college professor, and after having been exposed to the lack of critical thinking skills in the college-age population, I was determined DS would not be adding to that sad situation. So far I'm very happy with the results.

We had a hard time with OPGTR when we started out, but he actually learned the material in spite of it. We completed part of the book the first year, then took a break because it was stressing mommy to be constantly fighting him. We picked it up again the next year and because of the long break we started again at the beginning. What a difference! By the time we got to the new material he was excited to do his reading every day and would actually ask to start with that. That lasted through the end of the book. I almost switched after the first year, but because he was actually learning the material, even though he wasn't enjoying it, I stuck with it. I suppose I would have made a different decision if it had also resulted in him not wanting to read actual books, too, but that never happened. He's turning into a little mini-me with a serious love of books. Spelling Workout, on the other hand, was a complete flop. Neither of us liked it. Fortunately it wasn't expensive and although I had him finish the first book I'm sure he didn't actually learn anything from it. We switched to AAS and that's been a huge hit. I almost switched to AAR too, but after a conversation with the publisher I decided not to. I was advised that AAS would complement OPGTR, and since he was actually learning from that program I should just stick with it and let AAS build on what he had already learned. Worked like a charm.

I have this issue with DS. I love the Sloyd idea, and with his love of handcrafts that might be a good thing. I will, however, be making a poster for the wall near his desk reminding him to pay attention to what he's doing, probably with a short list of steps he should be following.

Hits: Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading Modern Curriculum Press Plaid Phonics Writing with Ease Handwriting Without Tears First Language Lessons All About Spelling Primary Mathematics (Singapore) Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding Artistic Pursuits Mixed: Story of the World Telling God's Story Building Thinking Skills Misses: Spelling Workout

WWS 3 is out, and (per email with PHP) there are currently no plans for a WWS 4. I realize SWB is currently working on the 4th edition of TWTM, but I'm really hoping this means ALL is back on the schedule... Any updates? Anything at all...

I'm guessing parts of 5B would be review for your son, and 6A/6B also have a fair amount of review for the previous work. I suspect your son would have no problem completing all three (5B, 6A, 6B) in a single year. Just move quickly through the stuff he clearly already understands. A lot of people find 6A/6B doesn't take the entire year and combine it with a short pre-algebra class, so you shouldn't have any trouble combining it with 5B to catch the stuff he might have missed because of differences in when Singapore introduces some topics. I found the instructor guides useful, but not strictly necessary. I'm very mathy, however, so your milage may vary. For me, they were primarily a useful resource for reinforcement and drill activities so I didn't have to either make up my own or go hunting for ideas. You will definitely need both the textbook and the workbook. If he needs extra practice, which is not unusual for Singapore because the number of problems provided in the workbook is limited, pick up the corresponding Extra Practice books. If he's strong in math and doesn't need extra practice, but could use a challenge instead, I'd recommend the Intensive Practice books (only available in U.S. Edition, but easily used with both the Standards and Common Core editions). You can also pick up the Challenging Word Problems books for a different kind of extra challenge (Standards edition is out of print, but the Common Core edition can be used with either - the main difference is the addition of new problems). Can't help with post-6B choices since I haven't made my selections yet. I'm personally very STEM oriented and I'm a biology professor with a strong math background so I'm seriously considering options that most homeschoolers would never consider for junior high school. No idea which edition would be better for Canada, but the difference between Standards Edition and Common Core Edition is minor. It's basically the same material, rearranged to fit two slightly difference sequences, with a few minor changes made here and there that would have no real impact on the student's ability to move into the next math program. The differences between these two edition and the U.S. Edition are much greater, but again, it's a strong program either way and even those differences won't have any real effect on moving into the next program. U.S. edition might be cheaper, particularly since it's been around longer and more people will be selling used books on Amazon and eBay.

I would definitely recommend the Mensa Excellence in Reading lists. Be sure to check the K-3 list as well as the 4-6 list because they have some books on the K-3 list that could go either way. We're just about finished with the K-3 list (we used it as summer reading before starting 4th grade), and I've divided the 4-6 list into thirds for the next three years. Quite a few of the books on the lists (there are four) are already listed in TWTM and TWEM. Also, rather than trying to read each series that has been mentioned, read the first book in the series and THEN decide if you want to read the rest. If the first book didn't grab her attention, the rest won't either, but you've at least read the first one. There is more than one series that never got past the first volume in my house (Little House on the Prairie, for example - although we actually read the second book, the one for which the series was named). Your daughter may love a series that other have found rather meh.

I love it! Your husband is a genius!

I don't mind pre-reading for DS, although that will get tougher as he gets older even though I'm a voracious reader. Fortunately, many of the books he will be assigned in later years are books I've previously read. It also helps that I have ONE child. Keeping up with the reading materials for multiple kids would probably be overwhelming even for me.

I've noticed this too. We read one because it was required for a reading program we participate in, but we won't be reading the rest. Aside from the nasty, I found them rather preachy. The combination grated, and while I have no issue discussing the ideas in the book that are no longer acceptable with DS, I don't feel the need to provide a steady diet of it either.

Exactly! The age and abilities of the student are critical here, and grammar stage students have not developed this ability yet. Henty's books are frequently recommended in this age range.

OMG, now I understand why his books are actually a bit challenging to find in some library systems. I think I can safely skip these. I'd deal with it and just have some frank discussions with DS if they had some literary or historical merit, but even as cherry-picked quotes that's just not ok.

Just put this on hold at the library - thanks for the recommendation! :) I've been giving a lot of thought on how to introduce DS9 to Shakespeare, and was planning to consult a college friend who teaches Shakespeare to children (including running a Shakespeare summer camp). If her health is up to the discussion, I'll be sure to pass along her recommendations to any that are interested.

I would definitely continue to include Euclid, although not necessarily under science. It is required reading at St Johns College, and not for it's historical value - they use it as a teaching textbook for mathematics. That's a pretty good argument, in my opinion, for it's continued value as more than historical interest.

I'm doing a variety of things this year... 1. Reviewing my Latin, both as prep for teaching DS and for a translation assistant application I'm working on that requires I dig a lot deeper than what is typically taught, even in Wheelock 2. Reviewing and improving my Java programming skills (see item 1) 3. Working through the Mensa Excellence in Reading program lists (doing the K-3 with DS so he can complete it too, but also doing the others on my own to catch good books I might have missed) 4. Reviewing calculus and post-calculus math classes as prep for taking additional math coursework (my degrees are all in biology, but I'm wanting to add a second set in math) 5. Planning to work through SWB's high school level ancient history text this year - bought both the book and the study guide even though I won't need them for DS for quite a while.

We haven't read those specific books (yet, DS has already asked for more Ramona), but we did recently read Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Yes, Ramona behaves badly on occasion, as do many of the other children, but this is what children are really like. In the end they are kids feeling their way through family and social interactions and learning from their mistakes. What's not to like? For what it's worth, the one we just read is a required book for the Mensa Excellence in Reading Program (K-3 list). I would have let DS read it anyway, of course, but it's not optional if you want to participate in this program.

OK, now that I've skimmed through the earlier posts and commented here and there, here are my suggestions: I agree with several other posters that Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready was basically useless. I pay much more attention to your chapters on language arts and history because that is clearly where you shine, but the math and science recommendations often made me cringe (I wouldn't say I'm STEM oriented so much as STEM strong (I'm a biology professor, so that's not a surprise), and DH and DS are both strongly STEM oriented). I had fewer issues with the math sections than the science sections, but think the grammar-logic-rhetoric divisions simply don't fit math instruction. As for the science sections, the grammar-logic-rhetoric division also feels artificial, but nowhere near as artificial as the biology-chemistry-physics-earth&space division (particularly for the pre-high school years), and the recommendations are badly skewed to YEC resources. I realize that those are more numerous and accessible to homeschoolers who want to apply these artificial divisions, but there are other resources available that do not cater to the YEC crowd too. Also, it does a great disservice to the children not to take advantage of their curiosity - they are natural scientists and the science recommendations, particularly for first grade, are mind-numbing busy-work which seems to serve the language arts curriculum better than the sciences. Please don't kill their enthusiasm by making science all about facts - that's one of the major problems with typical public school science textbooks, and switching to real books to do the same thing doesn't actually help. Do keep recommending real books for the various sciences, however, as there have been some real gems in there. I'd also like to note that the chapter for first grade science in the last edition was a horrible cut and paste of a previous edition that resulted in a how-to that didn't actually fit the new recommendations. I have no idea how that was missed, but I urge a complete rereading of each chapter with an eye to this kind of thing for the 4th edition (which I am very much looking forward to). Additional information about internet usage and the pitfalls would be valuable these days. I realize you prefer to avoid screen time in general, and that's fine for grammar stage, but logic stage students need to be learning these things, and for rhetoric stage it's absolutely essential for research. Perhaps, for the budding STEM child, some mention of early access computer programming and robotics (Karel the Robot, LEGO Mindstorms, and similar) would be appropriate for logic stage, rather than waiting until high school when many of these kids have already moved past the early stages. Flesh out the religion chapters, perhaps with just some book lists for each of the major religions (both for coverage and for comparative religion studies). Addition of All About Spelling, All About Reading, Artistic Pursuits, Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program to the appropriate chapters (the only one I haven't used personally is All About Reading, because the publisher assured me that having used OPGTR and switching to All About Spelling would make it unnecessary, and that was completely accurate for us). Perhaps include some of the wonderful programs out there that include your SOTW series as a spine. There are quite a few and some of them are excellent (History Odyssey, Mosaic History (Myths, Maps, and Marvels), etc.). Most of them I discovered by googling for SOTW schedules. Which reminds me... Some guidance on how to fit 42 chapters (most with more than two sections in years 1-3) into a 36 week schedule would be super, although I realize the 4th edition is probably not the right place for this. I think that's it, or at least it's all I can remember with DS bouncing around asking me if I'm done yet every five minutes. LOL

I would also add the Karel the Robot materials for computer science. They're quite good, and there are options for several modern programming languages. I would also make mention of the programming capabilities of LEGO Mindstorms and the robotics competitions that users can participate in (given the expense, however, I wouldn't devote a lot of space to it - but it's an incredible system for kids that are really into this kind of thing). For electronics, there are some fabulous Snaptricity kits available, and many of them include books that are essentially training manuals. We love them here.

I have to disagree here. Some OOP things aren't hard to find, but others are either very difficult to locate, or cost a small fortune when you do manage to find one. Seriously consider removing all OOP resources unless someone can verify they are still relatively easy to find and affordable. A list of OOP recommendations isn't terribly useful otherwise, no matter how good they are.