This sums up nicely how I felt about our time spent on long division.

Why? Is there something inappropriate in the content? I thought Beth and Halcyon were both already doing this?

You are about a 45 to an hour drive from the Kemah Boardwalk, Galveston (beach, schlitterbahn water park, moody gardens), Space Center Houston and various other things to do in Houston. I'm on vacation and short on time but if you pm me I can get you more information when I get back home. I live in Houston.

This happened to my dd last month during long division. She could do it but it was torture. I went through all the emotions and thoughts you mentioned but we kept slogging along. I made a point to sit with her during math to keep her focused. I always sit near her but sometimes work on my computer or other things. I had to sit there and say, "what's the next step" a lot. Since she was so dreading math I added a few fun supplements that she did on her own like Life of Fred and books from the library but we didn't stop the long division. Her attitude about math was spilling over to a lack of interest in reading or doing anything that required mental energy. It lasted about two weeks. We moved past it and on to fractions and she is back to spending half her day reading. I love math, it was my favorite subject in school but I do not love doing long division with my daughter.:D

I'm considering it for when we complete WWE 3. I think dd is ready for another jump but we still have half of the book left so I'll decide in a few months. She has made a lot of improvement in her output the last few months. If we use it next dd will be young but probably working on the equivalent of a 4th grade level. We would probably plan for it to be a two year curriculum.

I bought the Before the Code book A and we didn't finish it because dd already knew her letters and sounds. We ended up starting with ETC Book 1 and it was fine. That being said, if they are cheap and your child likes workbooks and coloring they might still like doing them.

I've never heard of this book or memory palaces but I'm going to put it on my list to read. I've always been great at memorization. I could read or see something once and remember it. Lately...not so much:confused: I've commented on other threads that Greek studies in particular are really challenging me memory wise. I could use some help keeping up with dd who has all that natural ability I used to have.

Check with the websites for the various curricula you are interested in for their specific placement tests. I would recommend starting with one or two subjects and building from there. There are also samples for most things so you can try out a few lessons to see if it's a good fit. Story of the World for history can be used with both kids together and is an easy choice. After that I would pick what you plan to use for Grammar/Language Arts and Math. In addition to reading the WTM you can search on here for threads about curriculum you are considering to get a variety of opinions. Be sure to check out the abbreviations thread so you can understand what everyone is talking about and what to search for.. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1501

Thanks. It looks great and I'm adding it to my list of things to check out.

We are using it as a supplement and enjoying it so far. DD is a big reader and wanted to start at the beginning so we haven't hit any math that she didn't already know yet but it has definately made her enjoy math more. After we finish the books we loan them to a friend with a first grader. He told me in the car the other day that he is learning subtraction with his MUS lessons but Fred taught him a little multiplication the other day and he really liked it.:lol:

I didn't feel like you were trying to convince anyone to test. Your post just made me consider why I hadn't done it yet. It also made me realize that everyone's situation is different and I need to keep open to the idea for the future. I try hard to keep an open mind because the more I go down this road the more I learn and I have changed my perspective on several things.

At this point I like everything we're doing but wish we'd found Life of Fred earlier. It has really made dd like math more.

I am considering a similar approach. We use mus as our spine mostly because it's easy to accelerate and straight forward which dd likes. We also use LOF as a supplement. Dd loves to read and wanted to start from the beginning of th story so we started with the elementary books but she'll probably finish all 16 in a month or two. We also use Singapore cwp. I planned to move away from mus after Zeta because their higher level courses aren't as advanced but someone suggested the other day using their algebra with a young student so I might do that. Whichever way we go we'll continue with the Fred books because she loves them.

Reading Zaichiki's post makes it clear to me that testing was and is beneficial in her situation but I still don't feel compelled to test. I am on the same page with whichever pp said you find yourself unwilling to discuss what work your child is doing and their accomplishments but i don't think it's impacting what I do or how I push her. It might have if I hadn't found this board. Reading here gives me good perspective and keeps me grounded. I read about other kids who are about on the same level and some who seem farther ahead. Several times after reading about what others are doing here I've skipped levels or stepped up the challenge for dd and discovered that I wasn't expecting enough. Other times I've been reminded about the asynchronous behavior all of you are dealing with which reminds me not to be surprised when my six year old acts six. I can't say I won't change my mind about testing next week or next year but for now I'm okay without it. If we ever have another child and that child is struggling to learn to read I would probably do exactly what Zaichiki did.

Dd is currently a big fan of the electric company app. I think it's called Feel Electric. She also likes Toontastic. They are educational but Stack the States, Presidents vs Aliens and Math Bingo are what she plays the most.

I don't just consider it, I do it. The last thing I want is a smart child who is unmotivated. Btdt myself and it's heck to overcome when you become an adult. It's one of the main reasons I homeschool and challenge her. I feel like the worse thing I could do for my daughter would be to let her ease her way through her education. Hard work is important.

I am really thinking dmmetler has a point about the language tie in to math. My dd who is 6 also reads on a high school level and has demonstrated a high ability in reading comprehension since she was around 3. She is also advanced in math but has never really liked it. Over the last few months I realized a lot of our struggles were because I was making her do too much repetition and she was bored. We picked up the pace a lot and she seemed happier and more engaged. Because of her language skills I am expecting as we move in to more problem solving and algebra she will enjoy math more. Interestingly, this week I started supplementing our mus with Singapore cwp and she actually asked to do more problems because she enjoys them so much. It is fascinating to read other parents' post about their similar children. I too have been telling people for the last three years that I didn't think there was anything that different about my child...every child could read at Magic Treehouse at 3 and Chronicles of Narnia at 4 if their parents taught them, etc. The more I read here and other places the more I realize how "not normal" some of her skills are. ETA: btw at 2 dd had obviously advanced verbal skills. I chalked it up to spending all day with adults who engaged her in conversation (we have a family business and at the time both sets of grandparents were at the office with dh and I all day...she was rather spoiled). When your two year old carries on conversations with people they inevitably say "you are so smart". My mom taught her the word precocious and she often responded to the smart comments with, "i'm just precocious"

You might consider using Prima Latina with your daughter first and then moving on to LFC. After we completed Song School Latin I didn't want to take any time off from Latin and LFC seemed like too big of a jump for my daughter at the time. I decided to use Prima Latina as sort of a bridge between the two. It discusses grammar but on a very basic level (more like this is a list of nouns...this is a list of prepositions) and covers lots of derivatives but doesn't get in to more complex grammar. It's a nice reinforcement of English grammar and a good basic program to use before LFC in my opinion. The next level, Latina Christiana, recovers everything in Prima Latina and could be used for extra practice.

Can you buy an ipad to be used for school? If so, I would buy a refurbished first generation ipad from apple.com with 64gb of memory for $399. It comes with the same warranty as a new one.

This sums up where I am right now, too. I am going to start learning ahead of dd soon. I can probably stay ahead of her without much work in math for a few years but she is already doing better than me with Latin & Greek. I am planning to spend time this summer (when we don't have homeschool p.e., AWANA class and Art/Drama) to take some iTunes courses on Latin & Greek aimed at adults. I am keeping up in Latin but Greek isn't sticking so I'm hoping if I use college material (rather than Song School Greek) I can get a better basic understanding and stay ahead of dd.

I played basketball all 4 years and ran cross-country & track for a 2. My senior year the cheerleading coach talked the school in to buying a bunch of equipment and starting a tv broadcasting class. We wrote and produced weekly shows and learned how to use all the technical equipment. I worked both behind and in front of the camera. It was a lot of fun. Basketball and TV class were about the only part of school I liked. I was pretty bored and over the whole school thing during high school. I wasn't particularly popular but my best friend (and future sil) was a cheerleader, track star and class president so it wasn't like I was left out socially, I just really wasn't that excited about high school.

I might have to put my self on time-out from the boards to stop myself from buying and/or considering any additional math curriculum. The latest version of my plans for young pre-algebra student are to use mus as the spine with Life of Fred and possibly TT and/or Hands on Equations as supplements. DD doesn't care for math but is good at it and quite accelerated. I too am hoping that getting to algebra will make her like it more. She is really liking Singapore CWP which we use to supplement our MUS spine.

In addition to using the blocks I created a game we played with index cards. I had several sets with 0-9 written on indiviual cards. I also had cards with +,-,= on them. We played a game where we made math sentences with several variations. Sometimes I would give dd a set of cards like 3,5 & 8 with the + and equal sign and ask her to make me 2 sentences (3+5=8 and 5+3=8). Other times I would place the cards on the table and say what plus 3 = 8 and have her pick the right card to add to the sentence. We would do the current facts we were working on and all those we alread learned. We did this all the way through alpha and then again while learning the subtraction facts in Beta. Once we started on subtraction I would ask her to make me 4 sentences with the set of three numbers instead of two. 8-3=5 3+5=8 etc.

Dd6 likes a lot of the series mentioned already but I'll add Hank the Cowdog. There are quite silly but the vocabulary is relatively good and there are a lot of books in the series. The author has been at several conferences i've attended and since discovering them dd has read 20 or more in the series.

I don't have mm but recall a thread about needing a work-around to get it on a mac or iPad. I think they mentioned instructions on the website for the curriculum. You might try searching previous threads.