I signed up my son for skating lessons. The rink was also filthy.

I'm a Capricorn and I avoid people.......just the negative ones :001_smile: Since this person is important in your life, you can't easily ignore them. I think it's ok to have the depressing conversations once in a while to satisfy this person. But then he/she needs to give back by listening to your optimistic stories. They probably won't be too thrilled that they listened to you & it made them happy :lol: A Cherokee Legend An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

I've emailed PDF documents to OfficeMax before & they printed it for me.

For Math, I've found the items I needed around the house. I've also collected manipulatives throughout the years by taking advantage of sales at local department stores. I also use homemade card sets which SM recommends. When a local music store was going out of business, I bought a ton of manipulatives there. For English, I use the computer to print out vocabulary/spelling words. I've been using quizlet.com lately.

Last month my son broke One of our several scissors. I pointed it out to my husband and used the opportunity to explain why I buy supplies in bulk. :D I would love to homeschool but am not. I choose to work so that I can provide health insurance for my husband & son who both have chronic diseases/pre existing conditions. Instead of hs, I am focusing on teaching 3 subjects at home. But if I followed my dream, I would be the homeschool 'Coordinator of Education' for my son :001_smile:

We just started to play math games (SM HIG 1a) on a regular basis and this is what we've found to be helpful: Individual dry erase boards :001_smile: Lego 1x1 bricks Deck of cards Also, Target has started to sell their $1 Back-To-School materials. They are selling a set of 100 Colored Foam Cubes for a $1. I picked up a couple of those for future use.

I would actually have to thank her for that post because I never knew that there were homeschoolers who felt that way. I will never refer to myself as a "Part-Time Homeschooler" again. I don't even want to call myself an "After Schooler". I think I will start calling myself an "Intercrossed Schooler" or something like that because I am an amalgam of both Homeschooling & Public Schooling. Those "Homeschoolers" don't know what we "Intercrossed, DiHybrid, Blended, Crossbred" go through!!!! I considered myself a part-time homeschooler because imo, my lifestyle is sooooooo much more different than other homeschoolers. So different. Seriously. Those full-time homeschoolers will never understand.

My son will be in 1st grade in the fall. He goes to his piano lessons 1x per week. Swimming every Saturday. This is my plan for the Fall (I'm already experimenting with it now): Monday through Friday: * Before he goes to school every morning, he'll be schooled with Math OR History. * When he arrives home from school, he'll get 30 minutes for schoolwork review & homework. * After schoolwork, he'll get some free time. Then we will have an English lesson & Piano practice. So in summary he will have Piano, Swimming, English, History & Math.

My son is in 1a and I find the HIG helpful. One of my goals is to teach math using manipulatives and games because imo it will help him solve more complex math problems later. I don't know if the SM method of teaching will help him achieve that, but I do know that I had problems myself when I took a class in Calc 2. The class seemed so foreign to me. I was used to straightforward problems using formulas my entire school career (got all As in math), and then came Calc 2. I couldn't think, my mind froze. So this is why I'm trying different approaches to teaching math. I couldn't rely on my method of teaching and that is why I'm using the HIG to get ideas.

Our summer schedule will remain the same as our Fall schedule although I will try to tweak it a little. We are afterschooling English, Math and Music. English: FLL 1, SWO B, McGuffey Reader Math: SM (text, IP, CWP) Music: Faber, Burnham, Noona Tweaking Math: I'm going to reevaluate SM because ds complains about it. He wants to go back to the Math Skills workbooks. IMO, he loved Math Skills because it was too easy. He liked the idea of moving through the exercises effortlessly and he seemed to only like doing it to "go up" the levels. He was about to start Grade 3 before K started & that's when I decided to look for a more challenging curriculum. I think I'm going to buy the 3rd Math Skills workbook just so that he can have "fun" with Math and at the same time challenge him with SM. Tweaking English: Ds loves SWO, doesn't mind McGuffey and isn't excited about FLL. This summer I will decide whether to drop FLL or not. Activities: He will also be enrolled in the Park District throughout the summer, which is what we did throughout the spring, fall and winter. In June & July he will be enrolled in Tennis & in August he will be in Flag Football.

I never thought I'd come across a former 501st member on these boards! I'm not a member of the 501st but have always enjoyed all the costumes at the SW Celebrations. I've been to C3 & C4 but sadly will miss C5 in Orlando this year :sad:

US ed text, IP, CWP

I give him the entire book but use chip clips to keep the pages from closing.

I am using McGuffey's third eclectic reader with my 6yo ds. I use it to improve his pronunciation skills & speed reading skills. He currently speaks very clearly. I'm not sure if McGuffey is the main reason for his success. I think my husband and I encourage him to pronounce words clearly all the time, and this is why he does so well. My son definitely knows that when it is time to do "McGuffey", he has to work extra hard on his pronunciation & speed. He also likes it better than grammar lessons (FLL) and spelling lessons (SW). So I think that his success is a combination of our emphasis on pronunciation and his talent for reading. I think McGuffey reinforces his skill.

My son surprises me too because I will read out problems in CWP and IP with topics that we have not yet covered and he gets the right answer. I was also contemplating about skipping a level but decided against it because I'm too afraid that he'll miss something. Currently he is in 1a and we are using the textbook, IP and CWP. We aren't using the workbook because I could not a find a used one to buy. He is doing great with the IP problems so I decided not to pursue the workbook anymore. The SpeedMaths mentioned above sounds interesting. I may have to check it out.

Yes, I do find this to be a problem. I rarely go to the library in my town because they don't carry the books that are recommended by WTM (children books). I occasionally go to a nearby affluent town because they carry most of the books that are recommended. However they are checked out most of the time. I discovered another library which carries a lot of the recommended books but they are available on the shelves more often. :001_smile:

If this is her first time trying to learn piano, my suggestion is to start her at the Beginning levels, this way you can help her explain the staff, notes, etc. I suggest that you go to a music store and browse the different methods. Try to go to a store that has their inventory accessible on the floor. Some stores aren't very consumer friendly because you have to ask the person behind the counter to fetch you the book in order to browse through it. I think that this is crucial because there are many to choose from and you have to decide which method you think will work for your dd. For Theory, I think any method you choose will transition well with a teacher. All the methods cover mostly the same topics but each presents them in their own unique way. I think any piano teacher will appreciate students who know some theory. And if there are some differences with what your dd has learned versus the teacher's methods, it is something that can be tweaked easily since she is still so young. My son started lessons at 5yo. His piano teacher started him with: *Piano Adventures by Faber Level 1 (Lesson book) *Fingerpower by Schaum Primer Level (Technic) *Select pieces that she chose for him for his Repertoire She doesn't require that he learn theory, so I tutor that myself. I am using Playing With Sound by Noona. After my son finished Fingerpower Level 1, she switched methods. She now uses A Dozen a Day by Burnam. Both my son and I love this! She suggested that we buy a metronome, so we did. It is very helpful for me but my son hates it.

I'm still searching for curricula and materials to use for History. I may use SoTW, but I would like to know what are the alternatives. I'm hoping to find something that has has an even amount of Western & Eastern emphasis. Mia

We are in Lockport, IL (Will County).

I have no experience with MusIQ, but have with these methods: Lessons Piano Adventures, Level 2A by Faber (my son's piano teacher chose this. I'm not a big fan of it because it doesn't have as much repetition with the different subjects.) Technic A Dozen a Day, Book One by Edna-Mae Burnam (My son loves this and so do I!) Fingerpower by Schaum, Level Primer & One (This was just so-so. My son's teacher used this for the first 2 levels but switched to A Dozen a Day). Theory My son's teacher doesn't emphasize theory. Maybe because he's only 6yo or maybe because she's restricted to 30 min lessons. We can't afford the 1-hour lessons. However, I use Playing With Sound, Level 1 by Noona and tutor him myself. I try to coincide it with what he's learning in his lesson book.

Here is a tally from the above posts: Textbook: 10 recommendations Workbook: 9 CWP: 3 HIG: 2 IP: 2 For now I will buy the 1A textbook & 1A workbook. Thank you all for responding. This has been so helpful!

Thanks for this. I will look it up.

Based on a few posts in this forum, it seems like the supplements (especially the HIG was a must). I wanted to buy them all so that I could decide which one of the supplements would work for us. For now I will follow almost everyone's advice on this thread & I will only purchase the workbook & textbook for 1A and then go from there. I almost purchased all the bells & whistles last night until it dawned on me that I should ask around first. Thank you everyone! :001_smile:

Math Skills/Flash Kids

To all SM users, I need some help on deciding whether to purchase the us ed. 1A set or 1B. I have been using a math workbook for the past year with my 6yo ds (purchased from Barnes & Noble). He completed grades K,1,2 of that series. However I don't think it is going to prepare him well enough for advanced math and I'm ready to switch programs. I would like to try SM us edition. I had my ds take the placement test for 1A. He was able to answer correctly 14 out of the 20 questions for a score of 70%. According to SM's website: "An overall score of 80% and above on a test is a good indicator that the student has the skills to go on to the next level" This would indicate that we should start on 1A. However, the 6 questions that he missed were all word problems. He has never been exposed to it before. Do you think it is worth the time & money to start on 1A? (I would purchase all the supplements & the cost would be approximately $60). Or should I start with 1B & hope he'll catch up with the word problems? Mia