[AOPS Online vs. AOPS Academy?]

11 hours ago, Mom_to3 said:

I am more concerned that the fast moving nature of the classes won't allow the kids to work through the entire books/questions

It makes sense. But my goal for either the online or the academy class is for a teacher to teach him the lessons. It takes him a long time to read the lesson problem solutions and strategies. Does he still have to read those before the classes anyway? 

[AOPS Online vs. AOPS Academy?]

16 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

I’ll note that there are actually advantages to the text-based format. Each student has the chance to answer all questions and it’s very interactive.

Did your kids run into a problem where he couldn't read fast enough and the new comments kept pushing the chat box up? 

[AOPS Online vs. AOPS Academy?]

13 hours ago, SeaConquest said:

The Academy classes are in-person now in San Diego. I don't know about the other locations.

We are close (ok not really that close but driving distance) to two locations: Vienna & Gaithersburg. I believe they are in-person at the moment, but things may change with Delta on the rise. 

[AOPS Online vs. AOPS Academy?]

1 hour ago, calbear said:

The Academy class has live video classroom. For my son, text-based would never work. This is also why self-paced classes won't work for him either. 

Whether or not it is better really depends on your student and how they learn. 

Alternatively, AOPS math classes are also offered by WTMA and Royal Fireworks Press.

 

Does the live video/zoom style class at the academy cost the same as an in-person class at the academy? 

My student do well with pre-recorded videos but need help clarifying things out here and there. He doesn't do well with zoom style unless it's 1 on 1. I heard WTM AOPS classes aren't as rigorous? The in-person academy class is so expensive and I'm not sure if it's worth it. 😰😬

[AOPS Online vs. AOPS Academy?]

Can you tell me the difference between the text-based online class and the academy class? Which one is better in your opinion? 

[Geography Program for Every Country (and Major Landforms)]

Not a program but it's a fun hands-on game to learn about countries and capitals, similar to pin maps. 

Imagimake: Mapology World with Flags & Capitals- with Country Shaped Pieces- Jigsaw Puzzle and Educational Toy for Boys and Girls Above 5 Years- Excellent Birthday Gift https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079SXW3WD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_W3R2XXTE5XZT5P8546KJ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[TGTB vs Singapore Math for very fast learner, imitating older siblings]

I only used Singapore math and my son (5yo at the time) didn't like it due to the confusing bar method. I never use TGTB. I, however, know that TGTB is spiral while Singapore is mastery approach. Which approach fits your son better? Does he need a lot of repetition to understand a new concept? Maybe you can have your son try out TGTB 4 with his sister if you think he may master all TGTB 2 (or 3) before the school year is over.

[Wordsmith vs. Classical Writing vs. Writeshop vs. anything else?]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

Did you try something like the 6 Traits Daily Writing?

We did. He can do it, but it doesn’t teach him where I want. We too do Wordly Wise and he can comprehend those words when he comes across them in reading, but is unable to retrieve them for writing. We also use the Sentence book & the Paragraph book. Most curriculums only teach what single sentences/compound sentences/complex sentences look like. Few teach sentence structures when you want to put the emphasis (various types of clauses, phrases) at the beginning/middle/end of the sentence, from actual good writing. Maybe Writeshop does? I can’t remember. For paragraph writing, I have Mindwing & Inspiration for outlining, but he fought against it. He dislikes planning. Maybe I’ll try to bring them out again this year. Writing curriculum with instruction like “start with a topic sentence followed by detail sentences” just doesn’t mean anything to him. He can’t identify the topic nor important details in a paragraph. 

 

2 hours ago, PeterPan said:

CAN he name the objects? Was it hard to retrieve the names? Was it hard to retrieve the name *and* hold his thoughts? Sometimes with ADHD (which is usually what causes the EF issues) you get those low processing speed and low working memory that make it hard to hold their thoughts and get everything out.  

If it is ADHD and working memory issues, you'd like to know because you can actually improve working memory a bit.

Yes he has a hard time retrieving the words and holding his thought. How can you improve working memory? I don’t even know how he is not able to hold words & thought, but has no problem doing multi-digit multiplication and division math in his head.

[Wordsmith vs. Classical Writing vs. Writeshop vs. anything else?]

4 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Welcome! I see by your post count you are fairly new here. 😄

Side note about the independent writing program for a 9yo -- from my experience with 2 writing phobic DSs (homeschooled for 12 years), and teaching writing & lit to grades 7-12 students for the last 8 years at our homeschool co-op -- most students, especially in the elementary/middle school grades really need a lot of guidance and mentoring in their writing, so while something like the Write Your Own series is great as a solo supplement to explore creative writing, I would still plan on being very involved with a main writing program. JMO! 😉 

For your 9yo, I would go with Teaching Writing Through Guided Analysis (formerly called Treasured Conversations). See sample pages here. It pretty much does all of your list except for the last item -- it is clear and simple, but is scripted for the parent to do alongside the child. it is not a solo-working program, but everything is there in one place and it is not teacher intensive.


Your description of your 9yo's writing sounds very typical -- nothing to worry about. Creative writing is not at all necessary at any of the ages/stages, so if he enjoys writing stories, at some point along about 6th grade you might just switch to a creative writing program for a year to help him strengthen his creative writing -- otherwise, no need to worry about "circular story plots". 😉 

If that is also how his nonfiction narrations sound, then you might look into doing Writing With Ease level 3 or 4, which works on summaries and narrations -- but, it is not solo-working. It uses the imitation of good writing as one of its teaching techniques, along with summary/narration.
 

Of the other programs you have listed:

Classical Writing -- or perhaps CAP's Writing & Rhetoric, which was not in your post -- might fit a lot of your wish list.

Writeshop goes from elementary to high school (different authors for the primary vs. middle/high school levels), but the main downside that I've heard people on these boards mention is that it is not written to the student and has a lot of components, so it is teacher-intensive. It also does not use imitation of good writing as part of the program.

Wordsmith series is written to the student and solo-working, but also does not use imitation of good writing, and it does not have levels for every grade, so you would just plug it in here and there -- Wordsmith Apprentice (level 1) is for gr. 4-6; Wordsmith (level 2) is for gr. 6-8; Wordsmith Craftsman (level 3) is for gr. 9-12. The first two would work as a fun supplement, or a break from a more formal program every so often. If next year you need writing to be mostly solo working, Then Wordsmith Apprentice could fit the bill for you there, as it does include some fun creative writing and journalistic writing.

Killgallon is usually used by people on these boards as a supplement to plug in here and there to support sentence structure/composition. It would not cover all the aspects of writing that you would want to cover over the years.

BEST of luck in finding what is a fit for you and your student! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Thanks so much @Lori D. for your detail explanation. By basic to HS, I mean the skill level covers from creative writing & narration to note taking & essay writing. My son loves creative writing, so that's all he does right now. I also hope to use his descriptive writing to help with his oral language, which is much weaker. He would say things like "mom can you get me that thing over there please" or "mom look, I put something over something." We hit roadblock with the Evan Moore books when he got to paragraph writing, especially with nonfiction. He's a pattern kid, so he can summarize fiction using SWBST formula. There is no such formula for nonfiction. 

Is Writing & Rhetoric the earlier level of Classical Writing? Will Writeshop work if you pick and choose the components instead? The Teaching Writing Through Guided Analysis looks good, clearer & more structured than Evan Moore. I found Put That In Writing that looks good too. I cannot find the sample pages for Classical Writing Homer anywhere. Out of the core book, the teacher guide, and the student workbook, which book do you think is a must-have? 

[Wordsmith vs. Classical Writing vs. Writeshop vs. anything else?]

I am looking for a writing curriculum starting from basic to HS levels that:

Teaches how to write various sentence structures from mimicking good writing samples (Classical Writing, Killgallon)

How to replace generic words with stronger, more descriptive words (Writeshop, Wordsmith)

How to improve vocabularies in context (Classical Writing, Writeshop)

How to connect sentences in a cohesive way

Is comprehensive & well-structured; no supplement or winging is needed. 

Is written to the child in clear & simple language & format without teacher intensive. 

 

My 9yo is very advanced at spelling & grammar, but he uses generic words. simple sentence structures, and his story plots go in circles. We have MCT, Killgallon, Wordsmith, Evan-moore, and the Usborne Writer Journal/Write Your Own series. What do you think (writeshop, wordsmith, classwriting, something else) is closest to what I am looking for? Thanks.

[42 Electronics vs. Arduino Student Kit vs. Mark Rober vs. EEME]

Hi, for those who used 42 electronics courses, arduino student kit with online curriculum lessons, and Mark Rober engineering class, which one do you like more and why? 

 

[Headsprout Content Reading Comprehension]

I tried discussion and modeling discussion, but it does not work when he answers "I don't know" to every single question. He has difficulty holding information in his head and seeing "whole." He can only see "parts, details" and could not even summarize or find the main idea of a 5 short-sentence paragraph. So I need a program specialized in comprehension. 

Even in school, I feel they teach too much test taking skills & tricks. The kids are taught in a way that they can only answer comprehension questions on the passages they have gone over in class, but not any other passage or book at the same reading level. 

[Headsprout Content Reading Comprehension]

I read a post from @RenaInTexas saying that Headsprout is only good with comprehension testing skills but does not help much with content reading, especially main idea/summary? My 2nd grader is very advanced with phonic reading, but struggles with main idea/summary. Does anybody have experiences with Headsprout, or any other online programs that teach content reading?

Note: I knew about Visualizing & Verbalizing and have been using it. 

Thanks in advance.

 

[Math Competitions]

Thanks so much for all your replies.

I am confused about the math olympiad though. Some said it was for younger students (as young as 4th grade) but the MAA website said that the USAMO is by invitation and only for top performers of the AMC 10/12. Did you mean MOEMS olympiad for middle school? It doesn't allow individual participants 

My ds goes to public school, but our entire district has nothing other than 24 math for some elementary schools (not at our neighborhood school) and math count for middle school. The AMC is not available at the high school we are zoned to either. At least the closest math kangaroo center and math circle are both only an hour drive. 
 

 

[Math Competitions]

Hi I am trying to understand math competitions in the US. 

1. It looks like all the competitions (AMC, Math League, Math Olympiad, etc.) require a team. What happen to homeschooled kids or public schools with no math team? 

2. Do the whole team in each school advance to district to regional/state to national altogether, or will they pick the best individuals from each team to form new team to compete at higher rounds? In other words, do kids need to go to the schools with better teams? 

3. Are there any US math contests for individuals? 

4. Which competitions are better for 2e kids? I heard Math Count is easier but more intense, higher time pressure and hence is more disadvantageous to 2e. 

[SGM and SKILL for Narrative]

No the private evals are for autism and auditory processing. My intervention is mostly comprehension & narrative, for now. I try to target his weakness one at a time. I wish I got funding to purchase books like you, but probably not since he is not home-schooled.

[SGM and SKILL for Narrative]

SO I’ve still never heard back from Moreau, but I’ve been reading all your narrative/comprehension threads, and a satisfied amount of MW blog posts/presentations, and find many useful things there.

I heard EET (expanding expression tool) got brought up a lot. Wonder what else it does other than describing things (words, objects,) sorta mix of VV & MW with different story element icons? Then there are Story Champ & Inspiration also for narrative, which I need to check out the samples. Inspiration seems to include math, which I don’t need.  I saw a great deal of comparison between MW vs SKILL in your narrative thread, from which I think I still prefer MW. My ds doesn’t have problems with parts or basic grammar structure. He has difficulties with mostly connecting parts to a whole (using story grammar to memorize the plot,) and remembering expository information long enough to answer open-ended comprehension questions. He also struggles with synonyms, elaborated nouns, adjective, adverb, preposition, etc. but it’s because he is never explicitly taught on those. He can say “because” and “so” since 1st grade but his critical thinking & inference skills have flaws.

@PeterPan Do you find Color my Conversation worth it? Does it help your ds in starting & maintaining conversations? It looks like a more thorough program than the Linguisystems conversation workbook & MW autism book 3. 

Do you mind telling me more about character/setting in SKILL phase 2? From the sample, phase 1’s character/setting teaching is very shallow.  Not sure if phase 2 extends more to character’s personality, setting with 5 senses like MW. Also I’m very interested in the story telling kit you got from the library. It sounds potential. Do you happen to have a link? I found this link kidzclub.com the most helpful so far. 

@kbutton what is the difference between the Making Connections (autism book 2) and CTT book in term of teaching to connect all components to a whole narrative with cohesive ties and in term of helping with working memory? Does book 2 have all the downloadable from CTT? I know Lecka was thinking of getting CTT at some point. 

Has anybody bought Core of the Core?  Wonder if I can get all the expository maps from Core of the Core? My ds is not old enough for Thememaker but I am looking for a book that offers expository maps and teaches you how to fill in each map and which paragraph structure it is in the assigned reading (list, compare contrast, problem solving, etc.) On another note, CoC question cards downloadable is on sales at $0 now instead of $15. 

Oh and is it book 1 or book 2 that has the appendix list of grammar skills needed for each narrative stage and how to teach the language at each stage again? There are just so many books to budget for and I haven’t even started looking into executive function (working memory, attention) yet. Good news is now we are on waitlist for evaluations and the school approves him for IEP. Now off to learn about IEP goals & accommodations 😬.

 

 

[Social Skills & Higher-level Emotion Vocabulary]

I have read/used social thinking materials and noticed one thing: it taught kids to do what is socially expected. My question is how to teach my child to still voice his need & his opinions, as long as they are reasonable? You would not want your kid to grow up to be everyone pleaser and easily affected by other's judgements, peer pressure, and influence of the majority.

Also any books/resources on social problem solving & conflict resolution based on different scenarios; when to avoid, when to let it go, and when to fight for what is right? Books/video programs on higher level Emotion Words description? Am I asking for too much 😑?

[SGM and SKILL for Narrative]

Has any of you tried MW SGM APP? My son seems to do well with video lecture where he can see the visual demonstration, someone else other than me doing the teaching, and the subtitle, on top of hands-on (like those MW youtube videos.) In my dream there is a guided reading video companion for each children story book, like audiobook nowadays.

[SGM and SKILL for Narrative]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

The Five Kinds of Nonfiction - Melissa Stewarthttps://www.melissa-stewart.com › 5_Kinds_of_Nonfiction_SLJ_May_2018

Ooo I need to check this out. With gifted and faster learner kids, it's hard to find nonfiction with vocabulary within their level and with new background knowledge they cannot script/guess.

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

The book I'm curious about is Core of the Core. In reality, Thememaker is what you're asking about

I was really curious about that book too, after reading many blog posts on it. But the samples make me think like you, whether their chart (which I can buy separately) is the best they have.

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

In the past they had run really great sales over the holidays and they didn't this year, don't know why. Maybe I missed them? So you could hope for a sale or go ahead

They had 50% sales last Christmas. Part of me want to wait for the sales (and continue to read the blog/watch videos) but part is so impulsed to get them all now lol.

1 hour ago, Lecka said:

Do you think he can already tell a “six second story” or whatever?  That is in book 3.  My son could already do that from other therapy, so I personally haven’t used it.  But it looks really good.  

It does say social; but it is all very connected to narrations and reading comprehension.

He can't. I have to wait for Kbutton for her view on book 2 then. It seems everyone here has outside therapies when I don't. I keep running in circle and couldn't even find a SLP who would do the tests I want. Sure I can run the test myself at home, but then I'm stuck with finding ways to help with those missing skills as well. I may need all three books then.

11 hours ago, Lecka said:

But I did not even know these book companions existed until maybe a year ago!  Someone here mentioned it to me.

Wow thanks for letting me know.

2 hours ago, Lecka said:

I have heard of a lot of benefits from fiction, for learning about social things

I did fables with him yesterday and I see it helps with both narrative and social/moral lessons.

12 hours ago, Lecka said:

I went to a program once that included data about answering wh questions and making inferences

Do you mind telling me what program is that? Sounds very interesting.

[SGM and SKILL for Narrative]

You guys are so awesome with those think-aloud/read-aloud ideas.  I think I am going to order book 1 & 2 of the autism set (book 3 seems to be into social thinking more than language), the magnet and wooden stamp. My son resists slowing down to work on comprehension, but he is going to love stamping the components in the story. Questions though:

1. Do kids get to look at the book when they narrate the story back or they are supposed to remember it?

2. I found a chart that maps narrative to expository (stage 1 narrative to compare & contrast, stage 2 narrative to list & sequence, etc.) Do the books have more expansion/details on that?

[SGM and SKILL for Narrative]

Thanks. I need to read the links you postesd. I have a few youtube videos about modeling read-aloud saved to watch later too. The strategy sounds easier said than done, especially when I had never been taught active reading myself growing up. 

[SGM and SKILL for Narrative]

Thanks so much PeterPan for your time reviewing the SKILL book. So basically SKILL doesn’t go that deep to be useful and SGM stage chart is more of a framework? For example, I still would need the entire VV curriculum just to learn to describe character & setting (and hopefully actions) in details, Interception for feelings. I emailed MW again to ask what I’d miss out on if anything for not getting the SGM & expository manual. Sorry I know I’m obsessed with expository, because most of his school work was non-fiction. I also think narrative should help with his working memory. 

Kbutton: no he is not able to engage in a back-forth conversation or discussion of a story/movie at all. I am just working as much as I can with him at home now, while looking for a good ASD/gifted (neuro)psychologist/SLP in network.  

Btw the first book I mentioned at the beginning was “Bear your manners are showing,” not “Bear where are your manners.” 😓

 

[SGM and SKILL for Narrative]

Mine can write full sentences with correct grammar (creative writing, not narrative writing.) His sentences, however, seem repetitive with the same structure & vocabulary. He can use “because” and “so” but the causation doesn’t always make sense. He also struggles with vocabulary & inference. The thing about comprehension is I need him to narrate/tell me what the story is about for me to know whether he comprehends it or not.

I emailed MW asking the difference between the SGM manual and the autism books, but they never got back to me. Do you mind telling me what the autism books teach? What are their ISBN so I can go find them at interlibrary? I made my own teacher manipulative and printed out the narrative stage from MW post. Accompanied with the story book lists from Kbutton and Pepterpan, MW instruction videos, presentation & a few free lesson samples in their blog, what more do the autism books contribute? MW did say the free sample lessons were part of hundreds of those lessons in their manual, but they didn’t really specify which manual. 

 VB-MAPP and ABLLS are assessments for specialists? I’ll try to push his pediatrician for an ADOS evaluation referral then. 

 

 

[SGM and SKILL for Narrative]

I have Grammar Island and Building Language. Building Language is SO HARD, but the grammar book may be more doable.

Ideachain is VV with scripted lessons, since I think part of his problem is that he reads much faster than he could visualize and ends up not remembering anything to retell. Yeah I don’t know why words don’t have meaning naturally to him either. It's his native language.

Last year he did reading assignment that asked for the middle of the story. He said well the book has 12 pages total, so the middle would be page 6. Then he went on reading everything on page 6 of the book. 😑

For social/emotion, I already have social detective, superflex, and zones of regulation, linguisystems social language room 14, and still waiting for my Kelly Mahler’s Interoception book to come. He can tell when he is or someone else is angry based on how the body reacts (fast heart rate, yelling.) He just lacks vocabulary to describe beyond basic emotion words (synonyms/variation of “angry/mad” and social emotions.)

 

Audiobooks won’t help since his listening comprehension is much worse than his reading comprehension. I have to break instruction/explanation down to one simple sentence at a time. He does enjoy watching videos with subtitles on or do hands-on storytelling kit.

 

I need to start somewhere, so I’ll do both the fables vol 1 and lexile 150 picture books, supplementing with Word Caller book to build vocabulary and see how things go.