I'm just posting to follow this topic. My kid is finishing 7th grade and I'm not 100% sure if he's ready for pre-Algebra. I feel like he can do arithmetic but that he doesn't really comprehend. Every time we roll around to a topic he has already done he needs me to basically reteach it. Not the four functions but basically everything after that. The other day he actually cried while trying to convert some fractions into equivalents playing a math game with younger sister. But at the same time he did great in unit on Khan Academy. So, who knows? I'm curious about MEP though. I was looking at it and it seems really creative. Can you just start in year 7? Edited to add: Is this the thread you were thinking of @SilverMoon?

I just wanted to update this thread since it has been about two years. I see a lot of these kinds of posts that end up unresolved. I thought really carefully about this, because what @daijobu said about her radical unschooling principles gave me a lot to think about at the time. I decided I did not just want to make curriculum suggestions because I felt like she was probably asking from a place of mom fear, and if I were in her shoes I would not appreciate someone having counseled me away from a personal philosophy like that. I comforted her, reassured her things would be fine, reminded her the other kids did fine, and reminded her some of the many reasons she shared that she'd chosen to educate this way. I did a suggest the combination of ideas, the "try to interest math concepts" approach @smfmommysuggested, the "take care of a cavity" approach @kbuttonmentioned, and I took @daijobu's advice and shared my experience along with the idea that she should talk with her philosophical tribe. I do know that she did start heavily strewing stuff that she felt would engage her daughter in mathematical thinking. I also know that she did interest the kid in an architectural project that was happening locally where her daughter could do some of that related geometry stuff, and that got her interest up in other math as well. What really made a difference apparently was just time. The girl started finding that her interests outstripped her math knowledge and to keep up she taught herself. The other unschoolers gave my friend more advice about stuff but I didn't pry. What she really needed from me was just support. I do know she did get copies of Strayer-Upton one and two, because the old fashioned examples and number by number approach appealed to her. I don't know if the kid used them but it doesn't really matter if she did or not, I guess. Anyway, thanks for the helpful thoughts.

I’m struggling a bit. Our plans changed suddenly this afternoon. Younger daughter was supposed to be going to Girl Scout winter camp, where the other twenty-five girls were all required to be vaccinated. We’d registered back in October when I thought it was ok. They emailed us yesterday evening that they’ve *just* decided, due to uptick in cases, that all the girls need to show negative test results when they get there. So I’d spent all last night and most of today calling around, no tests to be had anywhere, no appointments either, except urgent care … for $220! Camp only cost $140. Now, I’m not sure she can go at all. My husband had a day off work today but got a call at 2. He had a significant exposure at work this week from a careless coworker who has tested positive. They will test him Sunday unless he develops symptoms. He already has a cold so I don’t really know how we’ll tell the difference (besides an increase in the severity of symptoms or he gets a fever). My kids are gutted. We’ve canceled all plans tomorrow and Saturday. I was already mentally struggling. I’ve had some COVID related fear. I talked to my therapist who said we all struggle with “invisible threats” and the only way forward is compassion towards ourselves and others. I’m going to try that. I’m sad though.

Netflix still has a DVD rental subscription. What about Star Trek? I still think Next Generation is better than Original Series but both are age appropriate. Also there are years and years of older Doctor Who.

Me too. I have a really hard time getting past the stalker aspect of it. At least I did until I read this article and at least now I can appreciate what its intentions were, even though I don't feel like it got there.

Thanks for getting back to me. No France study? Awwww.... I'll still check it out but my little Francophile won't settle for Italy. 😉

Hi, so there is a woman in one of my online groups I've gotten to know a bit and I have sort of followed her social media with some jealousy. They are radical unschoolers and are always in nature and doing cool things and going cool places. Anyway, she and I were chatting via messenger when she mentions her soon to be sixth grader HAS NEVER DONE MATH. I nearly spit my coffee out all over the screen. There is part of me that is so entrenched in certain ideas about education that I cannot wrap my mind around it at all. The child sort of naturally learned how to add and subtract just by doing things, and the child knows a lot about measuring, because she is an avid sewer who makes her own clothes. That's it though. Never picked up a math book. No arithmetic. ZERO. I asked about fractions and percents because it seems like you'd need that for clothes to fit right, and the mom said she does a bit of guesstimation and understands simple fractions like half and third, etc. Why am I sharing this? Two reasons, one, the mom has asked for help, and two, I think it'll be interesting to see the progress of this child. Her other children just eventually gravitated towards an interest in Arithmetic, and she worked with them, sans curricula, according to what they needed to know via a lot of oral math and math with c-rods and stuff. One of her older kids became interested enough to self-teach lower level Algebra and Geometry. Otherwise, her kids are all free spirit types, attempting to move out into the world in crafty and artsy careers. This child though shows not one iota of interest and the Mom is beginning to worry. She's asked for advice and ideas. I'm not an unschooler, I don't even have any idea how that works. I tend to be eclectic but a user of curriculum and we are basically a mom-led and organized homeschool. First, what would you tell her? I want to be nice and not dwell on the "I can't believe you didn't make your kids do math" thing. She's given me a lot of helpful wisdom and advice in parenting and schooling over the years. The mom has said this child is an exceptional reader, consumes a lot of high quality literature, reads a lot of nonfiction regarding animals and their care, various sewing manuals, and a ton of things about clothes and fashion design. She is also interested in art and architecture and spends a lot of time in their local museum in the portrait and abstracts galleries. They have all been natural spellers, and picked up most of their grammar through usage and good lit. I don't have any reason to suspect (at this point) that the girl is anything other than neurotypical. Is there anything to tell the mom to consider besides pick up a textbook and get to it? I was thinking of recommending Strayer-Upton. Second, as I sat here thinking about this, I wondered what I would do if I found myself in charge of a middle schooler with no Math at all under their belt. I don't know if there is anything like a one or two year long basic arithmetic course. I'm wondering if there is some kind of comprehensive Arithmetic that just takes all of what you'd teach a kid normally stretched out over 6 or 7 years and puts it into an all-in-one course. I guess I'd have to find a adult text or something. Does anyone here know of something like this? I am really freaked out by this. I don't know why. I guess I feel like it is a mistake, to not have certain age kids learn certain things whether they want to or not. But if it is, then I guess I'd want someone to be gentle with me as I learned from my mistake and decided to change. What do you guys think?

Hi Brittany, welcome. What is the "Thinking Tree Italy Study" listed there in your "other" line? I have a fourth grade daughter obsessed with all things France so maybe there is a France study?

The Beautiful Feet stuff might suit you. I'm personally looking for plans for how to use the American Girl books with my 4th grade daughter next year.

Thank you so much for sharing that IG review. It was super helpful. I did buy it, I really think it will be great for my kids, though I may add in a more traditional spine to go along with it, but there is room and flexibility for it. I will update after we've worked on it for a bit.

My older kid who really loves Astronomy liked Isaac Asimov's Guide to Earth and Space, which has a good Google preview here, and you could contrast it with several challenging real world activities such as "build a telescope" or "make her own planisphere" or some sort of long running observational project.

I'm doing it with my kids and they are actually getting a lot out of it. My more crafty kid enjoyed making the plague mask, my more analytical kid spent a long time last week with the interactive map of the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Both are getting something out of doing the journal, but what I really loved were the definitions of everything. They're hearing all these terms in the news but are way less freaked out because they get the why behind the discussions. My kids are 9 and 11. It seemed perfect for that age. I've not done any of the other science offerings from Pandia Press because they seem too worksheet heavy, but if they put out more small topic units like these I'd probably buy them.

A River of Voices I've been looking at the sample of "A River of Voices" which is the first volume (of three) of the US History curriculum being put out by Blossom & Root. It looks interesting and flexible, like you could get really deep in history or only go over it lightly depending on each child's interest. It also looks like it could be taught family style, including a variety of kids from kindergarten through the end of middle school. It seems really rare (to me) that a history curriculum could really do justice to such a wide age group. I have two kids, one age 11 and going into sixth, and the other, age 9 and going into fourth. We really enjoy our literature and fine arts studies more than history, so this seems like a nice middle way between history programs that take over your schedule and just reading a book and narrating. Plus, I like that it seems to share our family support for multiculturalism. It just came out this spring so I'm probably asking too much to see if anyone has used it yet, but I'm betting someone here has already bought it, downloaded it, and examined it to see if the materials make sense together and if it really could be done in a multi-age setting. Thanks for any feedback!

Is Intelligo still around? I thought they had unit studies. I've been recommending Outschool classes to my friends. There are lots of low cost one-off or short term classes on there.