If your state requires a certain number of hours per year, do you record such hours per day or week as a homeschooler or unschooler? Would a state ever audit homeschooling/unschooling hours? Our state requires 1000 hours for the year. Thanks!

Professor Aharoni (Arithmetic for Parents book) stated that division is "the most interesting" and "complicated" of all the operations.

We used RightStart and added Singapore. But now I use Mortensen Math (blocks from Anna's Math Page and video lessons from Crewton Ramone) and supplement with geometry and word problems. I learned that workbooks and worksheets are not critical for younger ages. Concrete manipulatives like blocks are more helpful. The blocks (Mortensen or similar MathUSee) have demarcations to denote quantity. Crewton Ramone shows how to build a number wall which is easy and fun. RightStart was useful for the geometry elements, but the Mortensen blocks made math simpler such that a little child can add exponents : x^2 + x^2 = 2x^2. Put the blocks in the bathtub for fun math.

Is there a comprehensive book that lists all known Greek and Latin roots, Greek and Latin affixes (prefixes, suffixes) with brief etymology, pronunciation (of Latin and Greek), and all known derivatives (of roots and affixes)? I've found William Swinton's New Word-Analysis, Or School Etymology of English Derivative Words, but I'm wondering whether there are other more comprehensive resources. I'm asking because my current books/resources have scattered information. It shouldn't be this difficult. Thanks in advance.

If it makes you feel better, we don't study history or geography (for 2nd grade) - just longitude/latitude in math.

I agree with others about manipulatives (we have circular and bar fractions).

Does anyone have experience with fountain pens (like Noodler's), specifically flex nib fountain pens, for writing similar to roundhand/Copperplate cursive? Are hard, inflexible nibs more like ball-point pens? Are fountain pens easier on the hands because of less pressure required to write?

Just a simple rule of thumb - don't continue to pay for a bad environment and service. I would suggest that you take your money, leave, and find a better school or environment. Best wishes!

Does anyone have recommendations for good smudge-free pens? Some of our gel-like, watery pens smudge a lot, so I am interested in smudge-free pens (that click at top as opposed to having a cap that gets lost). Thanks

Thanks for the suggestions! I didn't know about twistable colored pencils which I'll look into. The pen idea sounds great - no interruptions from clicking or sharpening. Because of the clutter, I want to eliminate more crayons and certain pens. I'm not fond of pens that smudge (if that makes sense). There are certain gel-like pens that ooze out wet ink and smudge, and that is driving me nuts, too. So I often used colored pencils to mark homeschool work because they don't smudge like some pens.

I feel that I'm losing time sharpening pencils and colored pencils - sharpening, breaking graphite, disposing of shavings of dozens upon dozens of pencils. So I ordered 2mm (chunky graphite) mechanical pencils and mechanical colored pencils. Is anyone else feeling like they are losing part of their life sharpening pencils? I have a packrat spouse who constantly buys these colored pencils and graphite pencils, so it's a crazy mess.

Does anyone have suggestions for standardized testing (early elementary age)? Also, should I choose computerized testing or paper testing? I am interested in - Quickest (duration) Cheapest Simplest (only math and language arts) Our state requires standardized testing, so I'm just fulfilling a requirement. I don't want a test that will take too much of our time because homeschooling is already busy.

Which math programs prepare kids for Math Olympiad? Aops (appears to prepare kids) emf (elements of mathematics): https://www.elementsofmathematics.com/home.htm?about? eimacs?: https://www.eimacs.com/blog/ megsss?: https://megsss.org/ Should I assume that only aops explicitly prepares kids for such math competitions?

Thanks, Arcadia, information was helpful. For any folks out there - Do public schools use csmp, eimacs, megsss, and emf? Granted, all math practice is helpful, but which program or programs prepare for Math Olympiad? Is it only aops? Could emf also prepare kids for Math Olympiad?

Are some of these math programs created by the same organization? I read somewhere that eimacs and megsss may have been an "outgrowth" of csmp math. McRel appears to be the owner of csmp math: http://stern.buffalostate.edu/CSMPProgram/ I'm interested in who owns and/or designed eimacs, megsss, and emf: https://www.eimacs.com/blog/ https://megsss.org/ https://www.elementsofmathematics.com/home.htm?about I'm most interested in emf (elements of mathematics). Are there emf books? Does eimacs use emf books?

Thanks to many who have explained the benefits of foreign language. We are in the U.S.A., and we never travel abroad. Right now, we are immersed in music, so I thought about Italian. I'm still considering the options.

We have no foreign language planned. I'm wondering what language would be useful to study (aside from ancient Latin): Sign language Italian - to help with musical terms? Does anyone have suggestions of what was useful? Thanks

These early years are truly unpredictable for me.

I'm a planning/scheduling type, but I wing it each day now.

The best organization for me is to get rid of things. Less junk = less mess.

I also want to add that you and your kids are doing a lot and braving through the storm of life!

Blessings to you and your family. I agree with the posts about relaxing.

We worked on RightStart, Singapore Math, and some Kumon books for first grade. It was okay. Near the end of first grade, I discovered Mortensen Math which emphasized conceptual learning with blocks. Mortensen Math (which began with Montessori) also covers many topics simultaneously - algebra, addition, multiplication, squared numbers, etc. in the same lesson. I thought that the Mortensen Math program was unusual, but the conceptual approach even helps adults make sense of algebra, square roots, exponents, percents, etc. in a visual way. We also bought a large whiteboard for math (like Crewton Ramone's website), so math is always hands on, and we also study real-life problems (using real objects) to solve math problems. We signed up for membership (access to videos) at Crewton Ramone House of Math because it's a visual/conceptual program. At first, it was strange to not have teaching manuals, but you get used to the new freedom. We also purchased blocks and sets from Anna's Math Page. Crewton Ramone's website is cluttered, but it has a great deal of information and creative ideas. AnnasMathPage.com is well organized, and she explains the products in wonderful detail.

I threw history overboard. We have too many textbooks (of math, science, and language arts), so history textbooks had to go (donation). It is a wonderful feeling to reduce clutter.

Son (6.5 years) is not an avid reader because I checked his reading too often (frequent decoding) - New Yorker articles, words we encounter, scientific jargon, Constitution (in cursive, since he enjoys cursive), Edward Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (to test for decoding), etc. Currently, he prefers to look at pictures. However, he would occasionally and meticulously pore over, of all things - Harbor Freight ads. Then he'll ask, "What's an electronic refrigerant leak detector?" Yep. That's our life.