I would recommend that you do the entire fractions series starting with book 1, even if your dc knows some of it already. There are no grade level equivalencies. It's just fractions -- the whole thing in one place presented incrementally with plenty of explanations and practice problems. We're using Key to Fractions right now. Ds was having some trouble and we decided to acquire mastery once and for all. We bought the four booklets plus the answer booklet for under $15 at Amazon. It's incremental, so you work your way through at your own pace. Since ds had some background in fractions, we began on page 1 doing every other problem or even one out of three if it was a page with tons of the same old-same old. In the second book we started finding places where we had to do all the problems or most of them to understand perfectly, then we'd go on at our faster pace until we ran into another snag. In this way, we're covering fractions from start to finish. When we are done with the fourth booklet ds will have mastery of fractions. We'll never have to deal with it again. We do four pages a day when we're skipping problems. This translates to about half an hour for us. When we're working on all the problems in a page, we do a couple of pages. At this rate we will have completed the four booklets in about two months. Meanwhile, we continue with Singapore Math at our regular speed. We're planning to go through the entire series like this between now and the end of sixth grade. Early on they begin multiplying and dividing numerators and denominators to find equivalent fractions. If your ds doesn't know all his multiplication facts, let him use a multiplication table (and get a free version of TimezAttack). When you're done, you can go on to decimals. Or you can do them concurrently -- it really doesn't matter as long as it works for your learner. We have found the Key to Math series extremely helpful. We like that once you're done, you're done and you know all there is to know about the subject.

Sarah, did you keep it full with water-filled jugs? I'm wondering if that is the difference between it working in the garage or not. Glad to see someone from Florida on!

This is true, but they also feel free to remove a book you already bought and paid for. They did that a few months ago. Also, the Kindle won't read a PDF book. Some of the other readers will. There are many wonderful classics available free on the Internet that you can't view in the Kindle. Being a voracious reader, I love the concept, but I'm going to hold off and get whatever gives me the most control.

Love it! :D

I have never done this. My mother didn't do it, nor did my grandma. My sister doesn't do this, and none of my friends do this. I do not believe that Santa is commonly used by lazy parents to control their children. Do you have any actual data to back this up, or is this just your personal opinion?

:lol: :lol::lol:

I was afraid of this. I don't have room in the house unless I get a really small one. Ack. Thanks for all the feedback. I appreciate it.

:lurk5:

It gets up in the nineties in the summer and it's relentless, month after month, with very high humidity. Would it need additional insulation? Would it work at all? TIA:lurk5:

Breakfast for dinner! I can do that quick, but then again, all those other dishes sound so delicious! I'm heading for the kitchen to see what's in the fridge.

I'm stumped! No idea, but my stomach is starting to rumble...

In first grade, listening to the stories is more than plenty. If it bothers you that you didn't start Ancients in first grade and you want to make it up, you still can with a very minimal time investment. Get the CD and have your little one listen to the stories in SOTW 1. Each story is about 5 minutes long -- you can chat about it informally later and don't worry about doing all the activities and "book" work. Your child can easily listen to the entire book in under a couple of months and believe me, your dc will internalize the stories and KNOW them. You can then pick it up with book 2 next year and not miss a beat. When I first got the books on CD, my ds took the first one and listened to it in one day! He loved it and often listens to them for fun. The SOTW books are permanently loaded on his iPod. I often hear one coming from the garage when ds is playing legos in there. Put on the CD and hand your dc paper and crayons while you go move the wash to the dryer. (Can you tell I love audio books for little ones?) Finally, it sounds like you guys are having a great time. I wouldn't "fix" it -- just add a story during quiet time every day and you'll be done with the book in no time and ready for Middle Ages next year.

I think you're right. With a dedicated teacher such as you, she will thrive and catch up. The story about her is heart-breaking. :( She's a lucky girl to have you to teach her. Kudos for taking this on.

Very, very bad idea to hold back a child so the slow ones can catch up.

We've been using a phonics workbook every year. Frankly, this may be part of the problem. I hate phonics. I never learned them myself properly -- I just picked up a book when I was four or five and started reading, so it's hard for me to teach them. The whole thing makes absolutely no sense. Consider that my first language is Spanish and if you read a word, even if you have never seen it before, you know how to pronounce it because there is only one possible way of doing so. This whole phonics thing in English seems incredibly complicated -- I guess it's the price we pay for using a mongrel language. :tongue_smilie: (Ds always reminds me that the we can thank the dang Vikings for the silent and unnecessary k at the start of knife, knee and knock.) And yes to the audiobooks and reading aloud to him. We love that and often cuddle up with hot chocolate and a blankie on the couch to share a good book. I don't think I ever want to stop doing that, even after his reading skills are perfect.

Thank you, everyone, for the great suggestions. I'm off to investigate them all.

We're using Key to Fractions with great success. Ds is doing 2-4 pages per day, depending on his workload, and he's advancing in leaps and bounds. We went from, "I can't do this, Mom," to "This is easy!" It's incremental and has tons of practice problems. As we advance through the booklets, I let him do every other problem. When we hit a bump, we hunker down and do every problem until we understand the concept perfectly. This strategy has worked very well for us, and the Key to series lends itself very well to it.

Ds was late starting to read. He's great at math, science, grammar, history, logic, Latin, but he was delayed reading and writing. This year he has finally made a breakthrough and is reading for pleasure. He reads at fifth grade level (he's reading the Meet the Presidents series by Mike Venezia which is leveled 5.0-5.9. and has no trouble reading them). His comprehension is excellent. When he reads for pleasure, he chooses chapter books with illustrations at the 3.1-3.5 level. He's churned right through all the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and is now churning through the Cam Jansen series. I'm delighted. However, when I try to introduce books at his reading level, he says they're "too hard." Recently I offered Half Magic (fourth grade level which is still below his grade level) and he scanned the first page and said it was, "a little bit too hard," I understand he's catching up and is doing a good job. My question is, how can I help him advance in his reading as much as possible. Without applying undue pressure, how can I speed up the process so he can start reading the classics on his own? Right now he's listening to them on the iPod, which works great for us. Thanks in advance for any advise and comments.

Me too. Mine make me foggy, so I'm off them. I could use a happy pill that doesn't make me even less motivated than my low-grade depression does.

My housekeeper is on three weeks vacation. My husband offered a replacement during the three weeks, but I hiked on my big girl panties and said I'd do my own housework for three weeks. It's been four days. :w00t: I'm heading toward my bathroom, yellow rubber gloves in hand, and I plan to do the deed that must be done. Gawd, how did I get so many dirty towels! Like the OP, I'm a top-down, left to right person. I'll start at the back and work my way to the front door. My Christmas tree is coming this weekend and I won't decorate a house that looks like monkeys live in it.

This is why I believe the police should be called in. She did this in public to someone else's child. Consider what she's probably doing to her own poor children. The authorities need to know this.

We've always done Santa with the kids. They love it. When my eldest finally realized there was no Santa, it wasn't particularly traumatic. The last couple of years it was like a little game. "Mom, is there really a Santa?" And I'd smile slyly and say, "What do you think?" By the third year of this she was too old to believe, but she loved the game we played and still speaks fondly of waking up early in the morning to see what Santa had left. Now with my younger one (10) we're going through the same thing. "Mom, is there really a Santa?" And I wink and grin and ask him what he thinks. He's on the fence. We have this year and maybe one or two more with Santa. But even now, as he comes slowly to terms with reality, he still loves it. I see absolutely no signs of anger or a sense of betrayal from either of my children. They both trust me completely. And my daughter, who is looking over my shoulder, is confirming that she loves the fact that I played Santa for her and she will do the same for her children. She feels she would have missed a wonderful, delicious part of her life if I had just handed her a gift Christmas morning, and she's grateful for all the trouble her dad and I went through to buy, hide, wrap and present gifts from Santa. (Her words.) So we do the whole thing. Christmas tree, stockings, decorations, the works. I love the crafting and planning and cooking and baking. The kids get right into it as well. Opening our homes and hearts to Santa each year has enriched the Christmas tradition in our home. Merry Christmas, everyone!

I'm very sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you.

Sorry -- my message posted twice.

Once lessons and chores are complete, ds can watch tv or sit at the computer. He has his own desktop in his room. I generally allow about two hours of computer time on week nights. He's allowed to play during the day on weekends, but I require that he come up for air every hour or so and do some strenuous physical activity, like a few laps in the pool, a run with his dogs, or just help me in the garden. He also has scheduled play dates on weekends and they're usually computer-free. He's playing games online with friends, but about half or 3/4 of the time he's programming game maps (virtual reality scenarios) that he can share with his friends. In other words, he creates a virtual world and plays on it. His father teaches him programming and programming principles concurrently and I consider that combination a learning time. It goes in his portfolio. One day he came up to me after having spent a weekend working on an incredibly complex world that he was rightfully very proud of, and said sadly, "Too bad you can't get paid for developing video games." (!!!) I explained that video game developers not only have to learn how to create worlds, but must be conversant in the Classics, world literature and mythology, and of course, they must write well, but once those are mastered, he can make huge money. He was thrilled that there is a possible career for him developing vieo games with the added bonus that he's paying much more attention to his literature and study of the Classics and has been using them in his world building. As for TV, we watch very little of it -- mostly the SciFy channel (I hate their new name), the History Channel, and educational programming. None of us are fans of fluff tv, so it's not an issue.