Why do different denominations favor differ versions of the Bible? I just signed my 8 yr old up for church camp (Episcopal) this summer and among the packing list items -- a Bible. We have always used the NRSV (or when I was a kid -- the RSV) - and figure I'd get that version for her too. But I really don't know why we use that one over other versions. I remember going to a Christian school (of the fundamentalist variety) and being told that I didn't have the "real" Bible and had to get the NIV. And I know there are folks who refuse to use anything but the KJV. So... what's the big deal? Which denominations favor which versions? Does it only matter if you take the Bible word-for-word literally? Or is it about the prose or readabilty?

Yes, maybe not trashy teeny-bopper pop, but I intentionally expose them to popular music that I think is important to know .... like the Beatles, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan... I figure it's part of their cultural literacy, right? I also go out of my way to order movies on netflix that I think are part of our American life -- Star Wars, Wizard of Oz, ET, ,... It's not because I love those movies, it's because I think I want them to understand when someone is talking about those films. When they were little, I let them try each of the Disney movies for the same reason. It's not because they're necessarily good or educational, but I do want my kids to be able to not feel like an outsider on the basis of their lack of exposure to pop culture.

I taught from Keys to ... years ago, but I still remember how simple and efficient they were. MM is actually pretty similar, so I can see how both might appeal. They're both user-friendly, systematic, down-to-earth. I'd recommend either.

I would use the blue (not light blue) topical books if I were you. I'd probably start with Addition and Subtraction 2A and Place Value 1. She'll probably be able to skip some lessons, but I'd back up pretty far because it sounds like her gaps in knowledge start with a basic number sense. I doubt she will find the pages babyish at all.

Don't panic -- Story of Science is not a Christian textbook. It is an academic history of science, and the religion and mythology and quotations from the Bible and Qu'ran and other holy books are totally appropriate. I don't see how a person can discuss a history of science (or any history) without involving something as culturally relevant as religion. I'm totally uncomfortable with proselytizing, but this is not what's going on in Hakim's Story of Science.

:iagree:

Our coop is 4ftx4ftx4ft, raised about 2 feet above ground. There are two roosts on either side (2x4's horizontal) and 3 nesting boxes on the inside. The chickens, however, usually use one of them 90% of the time and one of them 10% of the time, so it probably wasn't necessary to have all 3. They do occasionally sleep in them though... The only design flaw was that below one of the roosts, we could put hardware cloth with the idea that the droppings would go right through it onto the ground. This isn't the case! They stuck straight to it, forming a nasty mess. We switched to a "deep litter" method (which can justify laziness...) and I now just stir up the dirty pine bedding weekly and chuck in some clean bedding on top of it. I do have a sense that the hardware cloth allows for air circulation to get to the composting litter, so maybe it's okay...

I've gotten two requests to try posting the photos again. Sorry! Does this work - pasted directly into the message?

My first grader is halfway through book 5. I thought we'd be further along, but since adding CLE LA, I've cut back to only doing one page of ETC. So we're plodding slowly. I have books 6 and 7 ready to go - and thought we'd be through at least book 6 by the end of first grade, but I may decide not to do them, or do them selectively... she's really getting the hang of reading and I think CLE is taking over the phonics and spelling bit. We'll see though.

Yes! We built ours last year: http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=630584925594&set=a.630583837774.2204086.317364&theater (Let me know if you can't see the picture and I'll try again) My partner and I built it ourselves without a plan, though with lots of ideas. It cost way more than I expected, in part because we kept buying the nicest materials. Plus, it's entirely insulated. It happily houses our six chickens, who produce between 2-7 eggs/day (in the summer, usually 5-6 eggs/day, in the winter 3-4). It took us three weeks and, honestly, probably around 800$ or so to build. We are handy and not afraid of table saws... but had never done a project like it. It was very satisfying to finish and I have no issues with the design.

I do it about half the time for my 8 yr old. I still do it for my 6 yr old -- and would imagine I'll continue to do it for a few more years.

I'm okay with the r's and b's... but I hate HWT '6' -- it looks like a b.

Right Start is billed as a Montessori style math curriculum, so you might look into that program and their materials. In my daughter's 1-3rd grade elementary class at a montessori school, they used a lot of different materials, particularly a set of beads... I recall their teacher did use Saxon 54 and higher as the kids progressed,though that was probably a personal preference rather than something recommended through AMI or AMS. Personally, I love Montessori classrooms... I just wish it really could be replicated!

I'd just find out what your local public schools are using and get a copy of that... But, I'd be surprised if you have actual standards in history. Around here it's just lumped together as 'social studies' and (to me) seems to be a pretty arbitrary set of things to learn. In general, I don't think elementary teachers take the standards in content areas very seriously (and I don't necessarily blame them). Around here, K-3 students have no history, 4th grade does some brief units on state history, 5th grade has a unit on US history, 6th grade does ancient history and 7th grade does medieval-modern. Then 9th grade will start up with actual history.

I doubt it. Anecdotally... I recall helping my friend potty-train her 3 1/2 yr old, who has turned into a very academically gifted student. We would put him on the toilet where he would happily read books, oblivious to his bladder and bowels. He was almost 4 by the time he potty trained. It's seems more likely to me that potty training age is related to culture, or to parent persistence, or to personality traits of the child...

:iagree: Teaching a language is totally different than teaching any other subject. If you want your child to be able to communicate in another language, you need to have a teacher who can communicate. Think about it in first language acquisition -- your infant won't learn English as a native language if you aren't communicating in English. You can learn a lot of things from a textbook or DVD or audio tape, but you can't learn how to speak a language without actually doing it. With a fluent speaker. The only exception is if you want to learn a language only for translation purposes and not communication -- like Latin or Sanskrit... You don't need (and won't be able to find) a native speaker. If you're persistant and have a grammar and a dictionary, you'll be able to translate. But that's a totally different skill than communicating.

I voted other... I don't think I want to believe in ghosts. So... I would be uncomfortable staying some place which might risk convincing me that ghosts do exist.

When I was a child, it was very definitely a 3rd grade thing to learn. In fact, cursive and multiplication defined the third grade curriculum in my mind. At the local PS here - which uses TERC Investigations, it is introduced in third grade and expected to be mastered in fourth. My older daughter dabbled in multiplication and division in kindergarten and first grade at a montessori school. She mastered it in second (at home). My younger daughter has single digit multiplication mastered in first grade, though only because her big sister did it first and she really, really wanted to learn it. So -- anywhere between kindergarten and fourth grade would seem pretty normal :-)

I've been teaching writing to my 8 yr old daughter and her 10 yr old friend. I'd love to see a great writing program too, but I'm just not satisfied with what is out there. I've taught writing in middle school and community college and in ESL programs, so I'm not new to teaching writing, but... I feel like I have to cobble together something that works for my kids rather than having the luxury of a lovely open-and-go kind of curriculum. What I don't like about a lot of the writing books intended for upper elementary is that they're top-down. Why have a well-organized essay if it's full of mechanical errors or simplistic sentences? I'd rather focus on small bits and build up to essays. So this year, all we've been working on is spelling, mechanics, word usage and building complex sentences. I started off having them create syntax trees and use frames to label parts of speech and imitate words. I'm now using sections from Killgallon's sentence composing and some ESL and developmental writing stuff for adults. It is working - and I've noticed a definite improvement in their ability to create complex and interesting sentences. When they're ready, I hope to bring their writing up to paragraph level. We'll probably focus on organization by working on traditional writing 'types' (descriptive, persuasive, etc...). I'll probably just use some old ESL Writing books like "First Steps in Academic Writing" and some stuff from the internet. I've also been looking at the EPS "paragraph book", though I wonder if it might be too easy / formulaic with the FTNF idea -- but I might start there and move on... Later on, only after they've really got beautiful sentences and organized paragraphs, will I introduce essays.

After a quick google search, I found a nice list of funny/quirky books: http://beckyland.wordpress.com/funny-books-for-kids/

These aren't beginning chapter books, but my 8 yr old daughter thinks that anything by Roald Dahl or Eva Ibbotson is funny. You should also try Daniel Pinkwater. Also with non-fiction, any of the Horrible History/Science/etc... series cracks her up. I think they're accessible for both boys and girls.

My daughter did MM3 and then moved to TT5 and has rarely missed a problem (on lesson 66). I think it's at least a year behind most math textbooks. I'd say TT5 is similar to what I've seen of Saxon 54 (which is mostly used for 4th grade)... And at times, it's two years behind more solid programs like Singapore or MM. Keep the levels in mind when ordering. I probably could have gone with TT6, but my daughter has a very low tolerance for frustration... I didn't want to challenge her too deeply -- I wanted her to be successful without struggle. TT can do that for you. So I do recommend it - at the appropriate level, but with one reservation. I think TT does a good job of teaching algorithms... of teaching the procedure of how to solve problems. It does not, however, address the underlying concepts very well. So, for instance, we're working on long division now. Along with TT, we're also working with base 10 blocks and doing some pages from MM Division 1 and 2 to get a better foundation. I anticipate that she'll start TT6 in the fall and I'm happy to keep going with TT as long as it's working for us -- but I worry that it does need supplementation to make certain that students understand the concepts, not just the procedures.

No - at least, I don't think so. I'd do it if they hated high school or if there were issues of bullying or other problems. But even then, it'd probably be a combination of virtual school and community college rather than true homeschooling. I feel that we've got a great high school in our town, and an even better private high school one town over. My commitment is not to homeschooling through high school, my commitment is to offering my kids the best education possible. Right now, the best education I can give them is a combination of individual elective classes at the alternative school and academic work at home. Later on, I think that in our case, the high school will do a better job of educating than I could. Then again.. if I turn out to be wrong, I have no problem taking them out.

Timez Attack and Arithmemouse and a big, big prize (aka bribe...) encouraged my girls to learn their multiplication tables *really* quickly. The task was really only for my 8 year old last year, but my 6 yr old wanted in on it too. I wouldn't normally expect a 6 yr old to so desperately want to learn multiplication... but I figured, why not strike while the iron was hot. She had them memorized in a few weeks. (The bribe was an American Girl doll)

I'd just take a look at the major publishing houses that cater to public schools and see what's out there that looks appealing. I've taught from Journey across Time and Across the centuries and was quite happy with them. Getting an older addition will reduce the cost a lot! Also, I'm really happy with Oxford's World in Ancient Times series. There are other series that follow the ancient times. It's good history, well written and has a student study guide. It's enough material to take a student from middle school to high school, though I would add more authentic primary texts as supplements by high school.