What libraries does he need? You should be able to use pip3 to install most of them.

I'll take a look at that. Have you tried https://repl.it/languages/pygame to see if it would work for your purposes?

My son has been learning python, and would like to learn pygame to be able to have graphics. He's been working through this book: http://inventwithpython.com/pygame/ Does anyone have any other recommendations, either for books or website tutorials, that focus on pygame?

Thanks for starting this thread! I just got the book from my library to look over, so I don't have anything to contribute yet.

My library has both Writing Revolution and Writer's Express, so I'll get those and take a look at them. I've been neglecting writing across the curriculum because my oldest likes science and history and dislikes writing--I didn't want to make him dislike the content subjects as well. I'm hoping to get him remediated enough this year that we can start doing some writing with history next year. My youngest is at a stall in WWE, and I'd like to take another route before doing the next level.

Anyone else? I'm not necessarily looking for curriculum; I just want something for younger grades. A resource book, a teacher theory book, something like that.

Which Notgrass book are you looking at? I've used Adam to Us. Not every lesson even has a writing assignment, and when they do, they aren't really worth doing. Here's an example of two: As for the text itself, the book is lovely to look at, but the text can be dry at times, giving a quick summary of things without drawing the student into the material. I like the map work and the source text that is in one of the extra books. The timeline book doesn't seem too helpful to aid with learning. We skip the student workbook because it's busy work. My kids have enjoyed the literature selections, but I wouldn't count on them to teach any extra history. All in all, I like it enough to finish it, but I'm not sure if I'll use it again with my youngest when she's the right age.

I want book recommendations for books that will help me be a better writing teacher. Many of the books I see recommended here are for high school/college level writing instruction and focus on essays. I'd like a book to help me see how to get a student from a non-writer to someone who is comfortable writing paragraphs and putting them together (report writing level, not essay writing level).

I've not used FLL, but I've used WWE1 and most of 2 with my youngest and I've used ELTL1-4 (now A-D) with my older two. I liked WWE1. Partway through WWE2, the dictation became too much for my daughter. The dictation selections include words that an average 2nd grader cannot spell and started to get longer than my daughter could handle. There is too much going on in a single dictation (remembering the sentences, figuring out commas and other punctuation from my pauses, trying to spell words she doesn't know, etc.). I'm finding myself having cut the dictation down, writing several words on the board, and/or making it into copywork. I'm going to take a year or so break before doing level 3, and even then, I might only use it for the narration pieces. I love the grammar in ELTL. I love how it's taught. I love how it gets used so frequently. I love the emphasis on diagramming in levels C and beyond. The writing aspect didn't work as well. The transition from oral to written narration was really rough (to be fair, we haven't hit this transition yet with WWE with my youngest). In level 4/D the instruction for writing/explaining the assignments wasn't fleshed out enough for my kids, and they struggled. I wasn't sure on the purpose/details of the assignments, even though I was teaching it and not just handing them the book, and I had a hard time helping them. They didn't like the scientific narrations. The copywork in level 4/D is really long (but likely comparable to WWE4). Dictation, when it comes in ELTL, is prepared dictation (where the student studies the passage first), and is meant for spelling. I did a separate spelling program, so we skipped dictation in ELTL. I wish I could have the grammar instruction on ELTL, the copywork and narration guidance of WWE, no dictation or more doable dictation, and then some kind of writing instruction to get a student able to write a few original sentences (maybe written narration?) before moving on to something like Classical Writing or W&R around 5th grade.

I personally know one of the community ed swim teachers, so one time I hired her to give private lessons to my kids at our community pool. Since we school year round, that meant not getting a full day of school three days a week for the two weeks we hired her. It was cheaper than putting the kids in the community ed classes, she got more money per hour and a similar (if not smaller) class size, and it was more convenient to get to. We've been able to shift schedules around to make a family wedding that we had to travel to into a vacation. I've been able to give my kids lighter school to work on 4-H projects.

The Vex stuff looks interesting, I'll have to dig into that to see more about it. I've already found a tutorial about getting an arduino to control the vex motors. Thanks!

I'm looking for something fairly specific. I'd like a mindstorms/lego technic type building system that is compatible with Arduino or Raspberry Pi and the electronic components of those systems. So rather than buying Mindstorms and being stuck with their motors and sensors, I'd like my son to be able to build various models and use any sensor or motor that will work with Arduino or the Pi. It doesn't have to be technic style, but I know that's pretty popular with lots of knock off kits out there. The various knock off kits seem to be more Lego Boost based than anything, where you have to use a tablet to program it and run the program--it doesn't have the processor/memory to hold and run code on its own the way an Arduino board does. Does anyone have any ideas?

I was hoping for shorter works that we could read in a sitting, but I can go with one of those if I can't find anything shorter.

Yeah, I think that one is a backward retelling rather than starting in the middle.

My daughter is doing Classical Writing Homer, and she will be soon be covering the writing project where she has to start a story in media res (start in the middle of the action, then flashback to tell how the hero got into that mess). Does anyone know of a picture book or short story that I can have her read as an example before we tackle her doing it herself? Or even an episode of a kids TV show on Netflix or Amazon Prime?

Shutterfly lets you create group sites. The sites have features like calendar, email list linked to an online forum, sign-up sheets, etc. People would need to register for Shutterfly to join a group though, which can be a problem.

When looking at the Hakim concise books, I noticed that there is a one volume US history text by her. It looks like it is based on/written for the PBS series, which is based on the 10 volume set. https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-History-US-Joy-Hakim/dp/1560047747/ Does anyone have experience with this? Is it high school level or middle school level?

I notice that they say this is for 5th grade. Would this be appropriate for 8th grade if we are adding in other books?

I would like to do US history with my two middle school aged kiddos using lots of biographies and other in depth books. But I would also like to have a light spine to read to tie it all together. I don't want something with the depth/length/time commitment that a normal one-year US History textbook would have (because I want time for other books). Secular or Christian is OK (so long as it doesn't teach "America is God's favorite country" or the like). It'd be nice if it had short response questions or something to let the student show understanding, but it's not necessary.

I'd love some more ideas for enjoyable writing. (And anyone else that has ideas, please feel free to share.)

I'm unable to get quotes correctly... I want to start by thanking you for the various things to look at/look into. My son is in 7th grade/12-years-old. He doesn't cry every day, but there are more tears than there ought to be, and just because he isn't crying, doesn't mean he's enjoying it those days. Thinking over past programs we've done, ones that were a complete flop had really vague assignments (or made the student pick the topic) or required creative writing. I think my current plan will be to set aside (or permanently drop) WWS and try Writing Skills by Diana King. With regards to typing, yes, he can type. He's been typing or doing orally everything related to his English work since end of 3rd grade. Well, I take that back, he doesn't type diagrams and he didn't type copywork (which we did through 5th grade). Typing is not hard for him, but handwriting can be. He has an odd lefty pencil grip and presses hard with his pencil. We've changed the type of pencil he uses and that seems to have helped some. I've not looked into ADHD, as he's pretty good at managing his time, keeping his belonging organized, and other executive functioning type of things. He was a later talker, but not so late as to need intervention (we had him evaluated at two). When I ask him why he doesn't like writing (which I've done on more than one occasion), he either says he doesn't know or he says that he doesn't like either the topic or assignments. He likes science and history outside of WWS, so I'm not sure how much the topic is the issue. He can handle oral narrations (but could not handle writing the narration down after telling it to me). He loves to read and tests well for reading comprehension (tested at lexile 1495L–1645L last spring). For language play, he plays with rhyming and alliteration with his siblings outside of school time. He'll volunteer to type things for his younger sister. He writes (2-5 sentence) letters to his cousins and short messages to his sisters during games they play.

I don't know if I want commiseration or advice, so I guess I'll take both. My oldest hates to write. I have tried many different writing curricula over the years. Tears are always involved. He's currently working very, very slowly through WWS 1. Today he had to write a description of a place. He didn't read the instructions first. After writing the paragraph, he asks me about one of the requirements given in the book. The first thing I ask him is if he read the instructions. Yes, he claims, he has. I then go over the requirement he asked about (choosing a purpose for the description). When we've finished, I ask him what purpose he wants to choose. Instead of answering, he bursts into tears, because now he has to rewrite the thing (he had no purpose chosen). A single paragraph. That he already has taken notes for. And it's causing tears. And this is how writing goes almost everyday. I drag him kicking and screaming through the assignment. It's not WWS, because we've had this problem with other writing curricula as well. I don't know what the problem is here. Is it pre-teen brain fog? Is it laziness? Is it an attitude problem? It's it because the rest of school is easy for him, and he resents having to put effort into this? Am I a lousy writing instructor? Is there a learning disability causing legitimate difficulties? Are my expectations too high? Have I not given him enough writing practice over the years? I'm about to call this a lost cause and just teach him to write poorly done five paragraph essays and have him churn those out for the rest of his school career. With our current issues, it'd probably take him three weeks to do a single essay. At his age, my middle school expected us to go from topic to finished essay in less than an hour. Please send chocolate.

Thoughts on Dimensions Math 6-8 from anyone who has used all (or part) of it? I know that if you do all of Dimensions 6-8, you've covered Pre-A, Algebra 1, and some Geometry. Do any of the levels correspond with Pre-Algebra? I'm OK with covering some Algebra, but I'm looking for a one year Pre-Algebra course. Looking at the table of contents for each book, it looks like level 6 might be pre-algebra, but the FAQ seems to imply level 7 is pre-algebra. https://www.singaporemath.com/FAQ_Secondary_Math_s/16.htm Also, if I have a student that does not need lots and lots of practice problems, can we get away with just the textbook, skipping the workbook?

I like Jacob's Algebra. I think part of it is the fact that it doesn't have the student do 50 rote plug-and-chug problems per topic. But I also like how visual the explanations are and how it walks the student from introduction to understanding. I know some people use Jacob's Mathematics: A Human Endeavor for Pre-A, but I was hoping to find something similar to the style of Jacobs but with more of a traditional Pre-A topic coverage. Any suggestions to look into?

I know that the options I'm looking at are sort of a "step back" from WWS1. But with how WWS has gone for him, I'm wondering if he might do well with a slightly easier curriculum. He's not a kid that shies away from challenge when it's something he's confident he can tackle, but he has really disliked WWS, which makes me think it was maybe too much for him, even at the slower pace we've been doing (spreading some of the "days" over a whole week). I like what I've seen of the WWS series, but I'm definitely waiting until at least 9th grade to start the 2nd book if we continue in the series.