This makes sense. The cases are probably more subtle, and will become recognizable after the verbs are easier. DD12 is picking up a lot more about German cases now, and her vocabulary is pretty good (started at 4, but not immersion).

Yes, not sure how far you would get trying to explain Russian cases from English. My experience is in learning German, and those cases only partly map to English grammar. There are some patterns that are internal to German as far as I can tell. I’m guessing that she’ll pick them up from patterns as you go along, at least my daughter is doing that in German. Maybe highlight for her that cases exist, and then she can look for them in phrases she hears & you can talk it out.

I haven’t, but when we were trying to see what the schottische dance was like during The Mysterious Howling (Incorrigible Children) it was easy to find a few versions ranging from period dress to modern country-western on YouTube, so I expect you’d be able to find all sorts of material there. So many enthusiasts!

I love this idea, and I have a plan for read aloud for my daughter from approximately this period for next year, so I may add something like this... I was already going to read something by Austen.

I’m wondering if it could be a confidence issue, and maybe working up slowly in difficulty might help? For example, set him a shape that is quite simple, but no side lengths given, and increase his confidence that he can get these right, to encourage him to count carefully. Then, slowly increase the shape complexity. Maybe you are already doing this.

My in-laws blocked up a door to put bookshelves in place on both sides. Another door that opened had a bookshelf above the doorframe. Lots of possibilities! Also, Thrifty guide medieval arrived and it’s a hit, thanks for the suggestion.

Exceptions for windows? Hey there, I mainly like to talk about math...and occasionally books & foreign languages... I’m trying to learn Welsh, and there is a Welsh translation of the first book, but it is too odd for the local library, alas. Stories are great for learning vocabulary, though that’s off topic, really. Fortunately, the library does have some of the Thrifty guides, so that is not too odd, and already on hold.

This is a continuous problem here too. How many walls can you put bookshelves on, anyway? These look like fun books, I will see if I can find them at the library. This helps a bit, but there are some our library does not carry (e.g., Harry Potter in Welsh).

Yes, it could actually reinforce this issue if they didn’t have a good understanding to start with. That’s great, because it will give him a reason to work hard at this. He’s lucky to have you there teaching him!

Yes, looks like you’re right. I looked them up, and I think you cover up a corner, and then you’re using number bonds. I think this would work better if they understand why, like you said. I am asking my kids to “undo”operations and explain why it works, and their explanations are getting better. Thanks, a video is worth 1005 words, at least!

How do triangle flash cards work? Or, how do you use them?

I looked at the middle grades placement test just now, and pretty near everything that my oldest has covered, she’d be able to do. There didn’t seem to be much with unusual format or funny tricks. We’ve never used Saxon or similar programs.

Do you find it useful for your daughter in addition to Singapore? How do you use it with her? Your approach seems really logical, especially in combination with the Khan videos and test prep opportunities. It sounds like your goal is not a smooth transition to Saxon, but to pass that test, which is quite different. There are some different approaches to math, but I haven’t heard that Saxon is so different in terms of content that another program, with adequate understanding, wouldn’t transfer.

How did you get Khan results? I have not used this at all but was looking at the website. Is it the Course challenge section? His quiz results are quite encouraging, maybe he is actually mathy and just never had the tools to learn effectively. The results will also help to encourage him, I hope.

This sounds like a real challenge! I don’t know if the people involved would be open to this, and my situation has less time pressure, but I have been getting some good progress with my kids recently doing practice with counters to get them to explain all the operations using place value. The counters make it way easier to see what is going on conceptually and are easy & cheap to get. I got this idea from @Not_a_Number, it takes a bit of practice, but I think it would help with the problem you have described in the quote.

Thanks so much, I’ll let you know how it goes!

Something in the single digits or teens range, with a honeycomb shape, please!

I clicked on one knight’s tour, which was differences of 63. I think she would need smaller numbers to be able to do the puzzle, and I’m not sure if she’d get the knight’s tour pattern, but maybe.

Dd7 loves honeycomb puzzles that put numbers in order, but she’s also done addition, subtraction and low number multiplication (up to 6x6). Would any of those work with a honeycomb?

My son will probably take about the same amount of time for level 3. We started in December 2019 and he has 3D still to go. 3C was easier than 3B, that one took ages. I think he’ll be ok with 3D. He doesn’t do the online questions, instead, we supplemented with other activities, but recently I’ve started using manipulatives (place value counters) actively I think this is helping him remember multiplication & division clearly as he starts fractions.

This reminds me of a curious feature of Welsh, only slightly related, that many nouns have the plural form as the base, and the singular is formed by adding a suffix that means “one”.

I did try to learn Russian once upon a time, but didn’t get very far. It was to talk to a girl from Belarus who was over on exchange and living with my cousins.

That’s ok, I don’t really have a use for this info anyway, I was just curious.

Does Russian have a way to communicate a definite article concept, or is the idea not present?

This is really fun, that they all mean the same thing and also that you calculated the number. Does Russian have no articles at all? I’ve been studying Welsh and like (some? maybe all?) other Celtic languages it has no indefinite articles, but does have definite ones.