No, because I'm dumb. That will be a big help. It mixes radicals in the same section, which I was trying to avoid, but it will work for now. Thanks.

Let me tell you from experience that if she wants to go to college and earn a degree that will lead to editing she is going to have to write essays out the yang. Perhaps that is the way to go. Maybe explain that reality to her and say that while you understand she absolutely hates this type of writing, if she wants to reach her goal this is one of the many (many, many, many, many) things she is not going to want to do but have to do anyway. Have her research the classes she would take at a college if she doesn't believe you.

One of my DDs is just struggling with fractional exponents. I know it's just a matter of a fraction in the exponent freaking her out, so all she needs is seeing it a few more time for it to make sense. Does anyone know of a good supplemental (and preferably free) worksheet generator/website where I could find things on the same level as AOPS? Not just this topic, but in general in case (read: when) we hit this snag again.

We are using all ebooks this year and I have my kids annotate right on the reader (Nooks in our case). It's not a perfect system, as the pp pointed out you can't do symbols (other than the stock ones on a keyboard) or pictures, but it works for us. With three kids in HS, plus me and mom and the other kid's mom all reading, books would get expensive fast, so we chose this option.

Do you just let yours use them whenever they feel like it (outside of whatever is structured, of course), or do you try to pick times. What about topics? Do they just go in order or do you pick for them?

I am teaching 6 this year, counting my neighbor's two and my newest 1st grader. The little one is completely insatiable when it comes to learning. I cannot borrow enough books to keep her engaged. She sees the big girls doing so much more and she wants to do more. She is making it difficult for me to handle the transition period with the two ps "drones" that must adapt to the new style. (On a side note, it is funny how my kids marvel at how little their new classmates wish to engage.) Anyway, I told you all that to ask this: Has anyone ever used those "BIG WORKBOOK" things as supplements (not meaning the brand per se, just the idea)? I'm thinking of buying one and just letting the baby tear into it at her leisure. It won't be all she does, of course, but with everything going on it seems impossible for me to fill her need for input on my own, and I don't want to turn off the spigot when she is so thirsty. Thoughts?

Elements of Style. No question. Best book a writer could read.

Algebra teaches how to take the specific and make it general, which is an unequivocally important skill. While the math of it teaches 5+2 = 2+5 means a+b = b+a (commutative property of addition), the skill that is ultimately being taught is deductive reasoning. Not to mention I reject the idea that you can go through life without ever using algebra. That argument is nonsensical on it's face.

Can we ask why? I do not mean to challenge, but if there is some shortfall in IEW it might help to know what it is so you can be pointed in another direction more accurately.

I'm still here and I have been thinking about this. First I think they really are old enough that Latin, a foreign language, and English study are possible. Of course I understand that there are only so many hours in the day and we can't study everything we want how we want to. BUT if I had a native speaker wanting to teach my children language, I would take advantage of it. I would probably count it more important then Latin (maybe doing it only half speed or quarter speed), but if that doesn't work for you I would cut out something else. Maybe art or music, maybe a lighter year for science, maybe some other elective. I think this is a great opportunity and I think I would regret not using it more. I know. That's why I'm trying to make it work! We have decided to try all three languages and evaluate in a month where we are. Wish us luck.

I am a professional writer and yet could not find a way to get what was in my head into my childrens' heads. TWSS changed all that. I was halfway through the first video and it wasn't like a lightbuld came on, it was more like a supernova exploded. Sudenly everything made sense and it actually changed my whole plan for all the kids. We start next week, but the path is so clear now. I cannot recommend it enough and we technically have never used it!

http://www.seterra.net/ offers the freeware Seterra which is a political geography program. It's not the be all, end all but it does a nice job of what it does and the price is right!

Humbled by your closing words and thankful for them all, especially the links. I have still not decided what to do, though I still leaning very much in favor of MEP which does seem to address the ideas that make sense to me (ensuring mastery with small numbers first) without doing away with curriculum or structure or whatever you want to call it. The idea of not having a plan does terrible things to my nerves, but as a former teacher it is oooooh soooooo easy to slip into old paradigms. Thanks for all the input! :grouphug:

Ironically I am finding more threads on this here through a Google search than I am the built in search. Speaking of, I found your Grube's Method post. I was thinking of using MEP before I saw these studies. You think they are that similar?

See my previous on current research. Newer does not automatically equal better. Especially in education.

Right. :glare: Maybe we should go with "formal arithmetic?" Or perhaps "arithmetic our of context." So instead of 2+5 it is always "these apples and those apples are how many?" Does that make sense? I know it's hard to come to an answer when the question is ambiguous so I am trying.

Another study/experiment. Probably the one that most caught my attention and got me thinking about it: http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/mathcs/compass/storyI-III.htm

To make sure we are clear, let me change the phrase "formal math education" to "arithmetic." There would still be a lot of emphasis on math skills, again like money, time telling, measuring, etc. just not formal addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Here is a good synopsis: http://www.triviumpursuit.com/articles/research_on_teaching_math.php though that is not my only source. I can provide more if you really want them, but it will take some time to collect them all again. And I do not disagree that current literature shows that "delaying" formal mathematics training are not best practices, but current best practices are also leaving three out of five high school graduates unprepared for college according to ACT results released today. As a rule, I do not trust government funded studies that show more government paid for teachers teaching lessons earlier and earlier is the answer.

Thanks Doodler. By "formal" I would mean textbook/curriculum based things: teaching operations and the such. What you are describing is very much like what I am thinking. There is no disability for my 6 y/o that I have noticed, but I am a research based kind of guy and go where the methods point me. She's the first one I had that I could do this with and wondered how many others had done the same. Thanks for the input!

Has anyone ever tried postponing formal math until the child is 10-12 years old? There is a significant amount of research that shows that there is no benefit, and perhaps a detriment, to starting formal mathematics training before around age 10, and I was curious if anyone had tried this. Also please note this is formal mathematics training. All of the studies have seen still advocate for informal math training via money, measurement, etc.

Try changing it into words and maybe that will help. -4 should be properly read "the negative of four," not "negative four." You have to remember that numbers are merely symbols that represent an amount of something. There is no such thing as "negative four" because there is no such thing as "four." There are "four apples" and "four hats" but there is no "4," it is a symbol we made up. Once you see it that way, you begin to understand that there cannot be "negative four apples" or "negative four hats." We can owe someone four apples or hats, but that does not create a situation where there are negative apples or hats. It just isn't possible. So we represent that owing as the negative of the amount, or -4 in this case. I took a long way to get here, but here's the pay off. If you add the square to the "proper" reading of the number, it becomes "the negative of four squared." That explains why the answer is -16. At least I hope that makes sense.

Stylistically it is very nice. His vocabulary skills are very apparent. Structurally there are some problems that need to be addressed at this age. The use of multiple punctuation marks is one. Double exclamation points should be discouraged immediately as that is a nasty habit to develop. This sentence: should not have the period at the end as the punctuation mark always goes within the quotation marks when it ends the sentence. Also, the general overuse of exclamation points is to be discouraged, but that's not a huge deal for a 9 y/o. Some minor tweaks and he will be soaring above grade level. Nice work!

We've been using Spelling Power for four years now. This is correct. It starts to flow well as you use it more. Now it's like old hat to us. Just follow the directions in the book as you come to each type of test and you'll be fine!

Thanks for the input everyone. I did forget to add that we are also taking Latin this year as well, so the idea was since they were doing formal study in two languages (Latin and of course English) and with Spanish being a romance language, we thought a year of more "relaxed" Spanish might be the way to go. Any thoughts on that?