I've checked out CriticalThinking till I'm blue in the face, but I"m still not sure of some of their products. We own a few of them. What products do you use to teach your kids critical thinking?

I'm looking for a secular history curriculum for 4th grade. Something that adheres closer to "state" standards - not classical education. Not a fan of Mystery of History, Story of the World, Drive thru History, etc. Do you have any suggestions?

According to the World Book website these are the things a 3rd grader should learn in social studies. But i don't see much of anything for curriculum online. What are you using? table { }td { padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-left: 1px; color: windowtext; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: bottom; border: medium none; white-space: nowrap; }ruby { }rt { color: windowtext; font-size: 8pt; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana; display: none; } * Holidays and folk customs * Native Americans * Explorers and pioneers * Appreciation of different cultures, races, religions * History and development of local community * Community helpers * Consumers and producers * Sources of food and clothing * Shelters of animals and people * History and development of transportation * History and development of communication * Citizenship and social responsibility * Basic human needs and wants * Local geography and topography * U. S. geography and regions * The continents * Flat maps and globes

We're one of those 'testing' families - our kid will have to take the SAT every year (divorce issues). My 8 year old tests well, except in 'following instructions'. Her score in these category is about 10 - 15% lower than anything else - and it's bringing down her total score.\ With test season approaching in April, I'm searching for ways to improve her 'following instructions'. Any suggestions?

Thanks for all your help. That's what i remembered from my first student but my newest student is having problems with the concept. What is the HIG?

I have a student doing Singapore math. We're in 1.A and I've misplaced my teachers manual. How do they explain subtraction including borrowing - questions like 17-9? I know they have their own way of explaining things, and would like to maintain their processes. Thanks for your help!

I'm considering getting the History cd for 3rd grade, but i'm wondering.. is it really worth it? It's hard to beleive that a single CD could be worth nearly $80, or that one CD could provide an entire years worth of history curriculum. I would be wanting to use it as the single source of curriculum - especially at that price. On the videos i've watched showing how the CD works, it doesn't seem all that impressive. I have a 3rd grader, and we really want to learn about early American history. What do you guys think?

we want to teach our kids early american history for our 3rd grade student. It doesn't look like History of the World or Story of the World will be a good fit. What do you suggest?

I'm looking for some help with my youngest student. i'm not sure what grade level of the different curriculum subjects to purchase. is there some online tests that could tell me what grade level she's on in the different subject matters? This is for a young student, 1st grade stuff. Any ideas?

thinking i'd rather have secular science for my new 3rd grade student. Any ideas for curriculum?

Thanks Mendy. Lots of moms around here find the curriculum fairs overwhelming and never go. I've gone the last two years - this year had maybe 1/5th of the attendees of last year. So that makes me wonder how are people making those purchasing decisions.

hi ladies, Still feeling like a newbie, we'll be starting our second year homeschooling in the fall - still feeling a bit overwhelmed! So, I have a few questions for you: How do you find out about curriculum - what is available, which is the right one for your student and you? How do you know before you buy that you're making the right purchase? Do you attend curriculum fairs? Do you buy while you're there, or are you there for research? Feeling like i wasted a lot of money last year on curriculum that turned out boring, useless, sub-par and wondering if you're feeling like that too!

Cool! Thanks guys! We'll be taking a hybrid - small confines - but we may just have to make room for a small cooler. Like someone here mentioned, it doesn't have to stay cool forever. also found some snack mixes at recipezaar.com Think we're all set!

Hi, hope everyone is having a relaxing summer so far! Thought you ingenious ladies may be able to help me with a non-homeschool related issue. We'll be taking a few car trips this summer, and I'm looking for food items to keep us from buying each and every meal in a restaurant. Of course, I don't expect to eat ALL meals in this manner, just looking to reduce restaurant meals in general. Please share any car-friendly snacks you have. I'm looking for items that don't require refrigeration, shouldn't melt, shouldn't produce too many crumbs. Drinks are under control. Any ideas? We'll be taking dried mangoes, cherios in bags, etc. Thanks for your help!

thanks, stacey, for your help. It's been a little weird for me - how little instruction there is for the subject!

The kiddos and I will keep ourselves busy and learning this summer, in part, by doing lapbooks. We need to do on Native American life - particularly the Plains Indians, Lakota, Sioux, etc since we may be traveling through the that area this summer. Does anyone have a resource for this?! I've spent hours online looking for curriculum on this subject and have found WOEFULLY little. I'm looking for the basics - food, transportation methods, clothing, housing, etc. This is for a 5 & 7 y/o. Thanks in advance for any help!

This is/was our first year homeschooling, and I was very unorganized. I'm trying to prepare to do better next school year. But i'm a bit confused about scheduling. I'm wondering what your schedule is like through the week. Do you hit every subject every day? Do you look at the number of units (or chapters) and divide that by the number of weeks in your school year? Do you cover everything in each of your textbooks? (I've heard some private, and most public school don't cover everything.) Here are our subjects: Spelling Vocabulary Grammar Handwriting Reading Math Science/Health History/Social Studies What subjects are you planning to cover / did you cover in 2nd grade? Seems like each curriculum provider (Sonlight, Abeka, etc.) offers something different - ie the subject matters don't overlap completely. Thanks for your help!

Doesn't sound like a discipline issue to me. Sounds like self confidence to me. Fits, but then high test scores... When my daughter has had issues like this, we take time away from the book for some fun activities. It's tough, but maybe create some games around the work at hand. With boardwork, i've taken time after each question to congratulate her on getting the answer correct. Make it casual - giving 'hi-fives' etc. I've even made confetti and threw it in the air for correct answers. A mess, but well worth it. We've made grids on the driveway for multiplication problems (7 x 4 = one foot on 2 and the other on 8, kid says 28!") Patty-cake to math problems, etc. We've made a fishing game too - magnet on the end of a clothes hanger (via string), paper clips attached to paper. It's all about the little things you can do to prove to her that she can do this. hope that helps!

Hey everyone, I'd like to get feedback from those who have used Shurley English - specifically for 3rd grade . I particularly like the idea of the jingles. What do think?

Think we're in the same camp. I just asked a question about i-Science. You can take a look at: http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=7LqI88jn2T8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=9789812713445&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=false

ola. I'm wondering if anyone is using i-Science. If so, any comments?

I'm starting to consider which history curriculum to buy for next year, when my DD will be in 2nd grade. This year we tried the Story of the World, but found it a bit boring. It may be too early for this, but i'm inclined to prefer a curriculum that discusses the WHY's and not just the what's. Why a president made a decision, including religious considerations, etc. and not just what decision they made. Has anyone heard of Drive Thru history? Looks good, but i don't see on their site where they list what grades/ages their product is for.

Hi Alley, Until you decide on a curriculum, here are some thinking games we've played. Blindfold yourself, and ask your student to verbally guide you from your location to the next. ie. take two baby steps, turn right (ahh! but how far right?) Cook together! What do we do first? Why? Imagination - just talk about what it would be like .... to ride a bike on the moon (no gravity, cold, etc.) to live in Brazil (climate, language, shopping, etc.) We've had lots of fun doing this. We've done the Critical Thinking stuff, tangrams, too.

i'd be interested in this too. We're only using Singapore, but have heard good things about pairing Singapore and Miquon.

My first grader skipped through 1A and 1B - wasn't challenging enough. We've slowed down in 2A, but are taking our time too. My Pre-K finished up the Kindergarten workbook, but isn't ready for 1A yet.