Saxon is just fine, and all the other curriculums you mentioned are good choices as well, and a nice fit for different students. Saxon has 30+ years of research demonstrating its success with students...except for those who aren't successful with Saxon. GRIN. I honestly think that the important thing is to choose, then work the problems consistently to accuracy and keep doing more math every day. Review, retest, repeat. LoriM Retired Math/Science teacher, mom of two married homeschool graduates, and grandmother to a gingersnap

Just wanted to touch base after a long hiatus to tell you that my first granddaughter was born Monday afternoon (1/23/12) at 3:24 p.m. She weighed 8 lbs 2.3 oz, and was 19.5" long. She has little fat rolls and long feet...and long, curly red hair! Her name is Erin Mina, and my daughter (the married-two-years-now, Math/Art major that we homeschooled through high school) is doing great. Although labor had to be induced, she needed no pain meds, so her recovery has been rather quick. Headed to her house to rock a baby, LoriM PS I am also reading a great new book, so probably everyone who remembers me would also love to hear about this one: Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion & Naturalism by Alvin Plantinga.

You know you spend too much time on facebook when you search around for the "LIKE" button! :)

Congratulations! I am a middle school science teacher in a small classical Christian school (and also teach prealgebra and algebra). This year I am teaching Life Science in 6th, Earth Science in 7th, and Physical Science in 8th. We use the Prentice Hall Science Explorer texts. It is the best of both worlds; strong science curriculum, small class sizes! Good luck to you in your job hunt!

My daughter did no math for a year, did what I consider "conceptual" math for the next three years, then started in college algebra at 16...and made nothing but A's, all the way through a BA in math. :) The math we did at home involved MANY mistakes, a lot of copy work and no grading...only self-grading and then correcting. No tests, other than for self-analysis and review. Often she'd work every problem the book offered on a topic, and I would write 50-100 more for her to work. She would still miss 20% or more. Anyway, persevere. And take time off if you both need it. :)

My daughter pushed to Calculus at 15, then actually went back to College Algebra-PreCalculus-Calculus I-Statistics at the local community college while she was 16-17 yo, then started Calc II at 18 (and a freshman) at the university. I found it a good fit for her to skill-and-drill the algebra skills (which, by the way, enabled her to graduate summa cum laude in mathematics) at the pace of a college class before pushing her forward to the harder concepts of Calc II. I agree that there is plenty of math to do prior to the Calculus sequence, and I think it's pretty important to be a master of numbers and algebraic manipulation before diving off into the advanced concepts of university mathematics. Many students work too few problems to be masters.

I try to reward diligence, orderliness, and accuracy as well as argumentation when I grade. So, my students know that 50% credit comes from "the right answer" while 20% comes from diligence (turned in on time, following proper procedures), 10% orderliness (neat, legible) and 20% what I call "argumentation"...that is, they give sufficient substance or proof to verify their answer. That doesn't mean showing *every* step, but it does mean that I can follow their line of thought, including pictures or graphs, to justify their answers. That means I either give 10 pts per problem, or I grade 10 problems, or some other multiple of 10, to make my grade calculation easier on myself. :) Since I am a classroom teacher, I allow them to correct for full credit mistakes due to inaccuracy or disorder or poor argument (that is, they can rework and rewrite for those points back), but do not allow them to earn the points for diligence. So, that ensures I get most papers on time, even if they have made several mistakes. I never had to do that with my own children, of course...I just allowed for corrections/rewrites on daily work, and half-credit on test corrections.

Jane--I have thought the same thing! I have even "shopped" them on Amazon; is that the best resource for AoPS texts?

Nicole...brilliant. :)

I showed them to my 6th grade class today, and they happily spent the next hour playing with beads to form Serpenski triangles, and drawing knots, snakes, and two color graphs! Great pre-Christmas activity for them! Thanks, guys. This is why I more-than-lurk here. :)

And ihave the opposite problem...students who are successfully learning to build an argument, and parents who call me complaining that I am not requiring the work to be "neat" enough, or that they show "enough" work. One mom is frustrated because her son doesn't show work "the way she would work the problem"...even when he is consistently right and is quite brilliant in math. She is sucking the joy out of it for him. Personally, we spent yesterday contemplating volume and surface area...and calculating how many Barnes and Noble boxes would fit in our classroom, why boxes are rectangular prisms, and how cardboard is made. :) I don't think every math teacher is the problem...but I do know a lot of students who are not in class to learn math. Or even arithmetic. Right now, I have sixth graders at three separate levels of math learning...several already in beginning algebra. It's exhausting to manage but necessary since some have amazing grasp of arithmetic and number theory, and others still cannot master fractions, decimals and percents. I miss homeschooling and the luxury of my one (mathematically talented) child. :)

http://Http://www.sciencebuddies.com is a great resource for project planning. I'm grading 50 projects right now! :) Our fair is next Saturday.

Outstanding time management would definitely be a developed skill. :)

Oh, no, of course not, nor did I mean to imply that! (I swear, using the iPad to peck out answers on this board is going to be the death of me!) You read me perfectly; successful students handle *everything* well, but their "future" success was not correlated with sports, high grades, or club leadership. It was as if those things, while minimum standards for scholarships, held no value as predictors. But top students in every other way who also held jobs? Wow. Anyway, my personal experience was overrun by the data. :) I didn't hold a job concurrently with school at any point in my teens, because I was an overachieving scholar with lots of leadership obligations. Of course, it also turned out that I flamed out in college and did not get commissioned...so I supported the research. LOL! Please remember this is a 15 year longitudinal data analysis, not personal experience, however. I know several exceptions, and several shining examples, just like any other statistical study. :)

I did the statistics for a dissertation by a USAF Air War College professor who was trying to draw conclusions to predict college ROTC success, given high school demographic data. The ONLY valid predictor was high school employment. Turns out that students who remain the kind of excellent, driven, leaders that the Air Force recruits and gives scholarships have jobs in high school...as well as good grades, strong test scores, and sports and club leadership experience. Anyway, I analyzed 15 years of data, and it completely changed my attitude about teens' working. Until then, I agreed with Ester 100%. Fortunately for my children they were young teens at the time, and so they both got to work at 16yo. My 18 yo works about 25 hours a week, while taking 18 college credits. She chose to wait until she was 17 to work, but she has proven to be very responsible managing her work and life obligations. For this situation, I would probably treat it as "a bird in the hand" and let her work, while dropping to minimal lessons (3-4 hours each day) until the season is over. Then I would take it one week at a time for scheduling after the first of the year. No reason to panic and lay down the law only to have her lose the job by February!