:iagree: Thanks for the memories, Elizabeth. :)

:iagree::iagree::iagree: We love Ben (aka Crewton Ramone)! Our family spent a couple evenings with him and his boys on Maui last month. So much fun! Here are pics. Our kids played in the surf, played cards and goofed off together. We even did math in the sand. They are a darling little family. My dds are now doing math online with him periodically. He is a delightful, engaging and knowledgable math tutor. And a gem of a soul. I can't say enough good things about him. He is edgy. He is real. And he inspires my girls. Back in lurking for the summer. I just wanted to chime in quickly since I've been getting emails at home (from members here) about Crewton Ramone. :)

:leaving: Thank you all for your input and wisdom this school year. I could NOT have done it without you! See you in August...:coolgleamA:

:iagree: Dd9 uses TT Alg 1. She writes out the problems on graph paper when needed. I let her do some in her head. That's half the fun. :) For the most part she works them out. We use other math so I'm not concerned about the s & s of TT. I have preordered the new TT Alg 2 v. 2.0. ETA: For a science lover, beef it up with a tough program like aops. My older dc didn't use TT for higher level math. It would not have been enough.

Dc use it for 20 min/day. We have 3 different levels. Dd9 uses B. Older dc use F for now.

Some hands-on, VSL-friendly algebra ideas here. She 'shows' or tells me her steps. I don't make her write out answers to everything especially when she 'sees' the answer in her mind. So we do 50/50. I try to make it fun. Sometimes we have a little too much fun as the pics demonstrate. :) HTH! ETA: We are working on the Pythagorean Theorem this week. I pinned some ideas here. I'm very excited. My dds will enjoy these hands-on lessons.

:iagree: Dd15 is reading/listening to Fagle's translation this summer. Ian McKellan is wonderfully dreamy to listen to.

:iagree: That sounds like a nice combo. I have Jacob's Alg here on my shelf but it doesn't appeal to me. Lots of words on the page. I do like MUS for algebra since it teaches conceptually, has minimal clutter on a page, has an optional video (which dd9 enjoys), and complete solutions. I happen to use MUS alg w/ other alg resources so it isn't a stand-alone for us. Here is dd working on some MUS alg problems from last week. Many of my math-related blog posts illustrate the various math methods I use. MUS blocks may be just what your dd needs for math to come alive. If anything, it's a nice change of scenery. You are blessed that a df gave you the blocks. Check out Steve Demme's alg demo on youtube so you can see what's coming down the pike. HTH! :)

:iagree: I commented on the other copycat post.

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:lurk5::001_smile:

I didn't feel like hunting around for my animal dissection tools. I should have. We had everything all over the kitchen and then ds asked if he could have a group of friends over last night so we had to clean up. I wanted to have more time. Never. Enough. Time. My dds love to see other homeschoolers online also. They're currently celebrity-stalking Haven & Zoe of Education Unboxed. Lots of letters going back and forth between our houses. Very fun. :)

Yes..until I couldn't stand looking at it on my kitchen counter any longer. :) We are doing this crystal kit next.

Dd15's essay earned her the title of district champ. She went to state in April. She did ALL the work herself although I proofread her essay. Great experience! ETA...I'm looking forward to when dd9 can participate in NHD.

:iagree:

Dd8 has mandatory SSR (super silent reading) for 30 min daily. Non-negotiable.

:iagree::iagree::iagree: I haven't thought of that paste in 30 years! Thanks for the flashback, OP! :) I can smell it, too!

1. More STEM projects 2. More outsourced science 3. More hands-on math for dd8 4. More non-fiction reading for both dds 5. More praying/Bible-reading for me :)

Here's a simple, fun summer project for your dc. We did this yesterday for a couple hours. Blog post here.:001_smile: I got this idea from Satori Smiles. ETA: Better tools would have been handy. Next time...

We did that. :001_smile: http://homeschool-ninjas.blogspot.com/2012/01/kitchen-science-crystal-garden.html

We celebrated this on Feb 23 at OMSI. It was a fun day of science and engineering. Looking forward to next year. :)

Thank you! Ds starts his apps this summer. :001_huh:

:bigear:

Thanks for the reminder on King Tut!

1. Daily checklists to stay on task 2. Outsourced science 3. Online math (Cybershala) 4. Casual yet structured approach on my part 5. Ds driving! (more time for me at home)