My daughter got the Gold medal for 100% on the exam! :D Perhaps her success will inspire her to try the Latin exam next year...

My first grader has loved doing the coloring maps from enchantedlearning.com. I just print them off and then she happily follows the directions to color the different countries and geographical landmarks different colors. I wish there was a book of them though... the pages don't print all that well.

I like TT and I think it's a great solution for some families... I think it is particularly great for parents who are not confident with their own math skills or teaching ability or with kids who are having trouble working with their parents on math. Or just for kids who really like working independently on a computer. But (and I've said this before) -- it does not offer a good conceptual foundation. If you use TT, I think it's really important to supplement with manipulatives or with another program. It's good at describing *how* to do math, but not so good at explaining *why* we do it that way.

Care and Keeping of You is really for girls (published by American Girl). It's not religious, but unlikely to be offensive to conservative Christians.

The only thing that works for me is sudafed (the real stuff from the pharmacist, not the fake stuff).

:iagree:

If he's entering a 4 year university as a freshman, I'd look more at the reputation of the university rather than the reputation of the department. Lots of kids change majors midway through their undergrad years (sometimes more than once). The reputation of the department absolutely matters once he's looking for a grad school.

I was attracted to CLE LA's all-in-one-ness. I love that it requires no planning. I like that it spirals around. It is very easy and doable. There are two things I don't like: I don't care for the religiousness of it. I thought it wouldn't matter, that it would be close enough to our own religion that it would be fine, but it isn't really. Also, I don't care for the weird diacritic marks that are used. Why did they need to create their own marks? Why not use the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet -- what is used in most dictionaries)?

We've had two au pairs and I've worked as a liaison between au pairs and host families in the U.S. Where is your child hoping to work? I've seen amazing au pair - family experiences and horrible ones. It can be a tricky situation sometimes, but a great one at other times...

I think teaching textbooks is very easy for my daughter to understand. It does focus heavily on "how" to do math and not really on the concepts underlying "why" you do an algorithm the way you do it. I think it's worth supplementing with some manipulatives and further explanations. I'd just check out samples from a variety of TT levels and see how you and your kids feel about it.

I think it's reasonable to skip English grammar and use Latin in order to learn about language in general. But, I would make sure that whatever English writing instruction that she had included a focus in mechanics and sentence structure.

I've sat in bookstores looking at the latest travel guides and taking notes... Check out tripadvisor.com too. It's good to check out reviews before you book.

:iagree: I have an out-of-proportion dislike of talking animal books.

I'd probably go with a brine. In the morning I would mix hot water with salt and honey until it dissolves, then chuck in some herbs (fresh or dried). Add some ice to cool it off and drop in the chicken. Let her soak until you're ready to bake in the late afternoon. I'd rub with butter or olive oil and sprinkle some pepper and dried herbs over the top. You could stuff it with stuffing if you like it...

Thank you so much! I think we'll just start with the textbook and workbook and add on when/if necessary.

I suppose we are using Story of Science as our history for the moment... although we're going heavy on 'bunny trails' this semester. We were reading SOTW 1 and I really felt that we were missing out on learning about the intellectual history of the Greeks - about philosophy and mathematics and physics and such... So we set SOTW aside and have happily spent the past two months on the Story of Science.

I know this is a common question.... but what would you recommend if starting Singapore? Textbook? Workbook? IP? CWP? I've never held the books in my hands, so I don't know how much work is in each one. Here's our situation: My younger daughter likes math (more or less) and is very successful at it. I usually have her do 2 pages in MM. She placed into 1b, but I think she'll get through it pretty easily. My older daughter hates math but is also pretty good at it. She struggles with word problems most of all. She catches on quickly and retains knowledge well. She despises repetitive problems, drill and busy work. I currently have her doing one lesson per day in TT, which she has recently decided is boring. I'm having her finish the year with it, but told her I would find something different at the end of the year. She (weirdly) placed into 5a, but I only gave her the 4a and b tests. I think she's missing the measurement from 3b, so we'll work on that this summer and re-evaluate. I know this sounds strange, but I want structured math to be as minimal as possible. We're really not in any hurry. My younger daughter plays math games and my older daughter happily reads books like Murderous Maths... and I just want math to be a pleasant (yet brief) challenge, not a mind-numbing exercise in repetitiveness. So with this in mind, which components of the Singapore math program would you suggest? Could I get away with just using the Textbook? Or with just one supplementary book? If so, which one?

I'd just make one myself if I were you. Choose your favorite font and color and make a table! I like the 0-99 charts better than 1-100 charts too.

You definitely can if you have two different computers. I think you can if you just have the one computer. Here's a link that might help... http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59316

I forgot to add -- Step 9 -- Buy serious airtight containers for all foods not kept in the fridge.

We had yearly infestations when we lived on the East Coast. It hasn't been too bad so far now, but I'm paranoid. My only successful (albeit drastic) solution was this: Step 1- Toss out all infested stuff. If there are those webby things, it goes to the trash (or compost). Step 2 - Set up those pantry moth pheromone traps -- not too many -- one in the kitchen and one or two in another part of the house. Apparently too many will confuse the moths. Step 3 - Freeze everything else in the pantry and cupboards. Borrow a friend's freezer or rent a big one if you feel like you need to keep more stuff. Keep it there for 4 days (or indefinitely if there is room). Step 4 - Wipe down the surfaces and walls with lysol or bleach. (I don't know if this really helps, but it made me feel good about the depth to which I, as a pacifist and proponent of organic cleaning supplies, would go to kill these creatures.) Step 5 - With no food in your kitchen, clear out all family and pets for an overnight. Close kitchen door and set off bug bombs with open cabinets and pantry. Alternatively, with a mask and a bottle of raid, get to work. I was willing to risk shortening my own lifespan for the cause. Step 6 - Wash surfaces to get rid of toxic bugspray. Step 7 - Repaint inside of pantry (ours was walk-in), being sure to caulk any crevices. Lay new cupboard liners. Step 8 - Buy a gigantic container of bay leaves and keep in pantry (supposedly it repels them).

Kids will adapt. And actually, I had few (if any) traditional textbooks for either undergrad or grad school.

I loved the town of Moab -- with Arches and Canyonlands right nearby... Add in Zion and Bryce and the Grand Canyon and you're set!

I'm also thinking about 4th grade too... One thing I notice is that you've got a lot of workbooks. Are you and your daughter happy with those? I think they're convenient, but my daughter thinks it's all busywork - which it sometimes is. So for this next year, we'll read lots of primary sources and historical fiction related to the middle ages and I'll be limiting workbooks to math (Singapore/MM) and maybe some handwriting. On the other hand, if what you have is working well, then stick with it!

My 7 yr old plays it constantly. First she got herself to the "Times Tables Master" level. Then she decided that everyone else ought to become masters too, so she created other users and plays for each of us. Then it was the cat, then the dog. She obviously knows her times tables backwards and forwards, but today I saw her getting questions wrong. I asked her why, she said "I want to get the chickens to become Times Tables Masters but I don't think they actually know their times tables. So I'm getting them wrong intentionally."