I've given general summaries of the results at younger ages. As they get older, I might show them the scores but not make a big deal out of it.

If you have a few minutes, can you stop on by a little quiz I put together here: http://homeschool-curriculum-reviews.com/math-curriculum-selector/ I created a little quiz that is supposed to identify math curriculum that is more likely to work for you in your homeschool. If you are using one that works, can you tell me if this quiz identified your curriculum as one of your top choices? :)

We are moving to the country soon and plan to get a dog. We will be living in tight quarters on a farm next to a road that has very low traffic. There is no fenced in area, but the yard and places to explore are boundless. We are wanting a medium sized dog. For several reasons I can't control, the dog will probably need to be outside most of the time. I don't want to have to chain up the dog, are there certain breeds that are less likely to roam? Also, this will likely be a 1-2 year move. We may end up moving to a suburban fenced in lot in a year or two. Are there any breeds you would recommend?

Thanks Wintermom! We are in Ontario and my oldest son did the Beaver Computing Challenge this year. We hope to do lots of other University of Waterloo contests.

We are hoping to move in the next year. It got to the point where I realized that my kids were watching how I handled a bully so I decided that I needed to do something. Funny thing is that she would never bang on the door when my husband was home because he stood up to her. So now my kids have seen how official channels are available to deal with adult bullies in a calm and logical manner. I don't know if this is the end of the story, but the police officer told me that if she continues they can arrest her for criminal tresspassing or issue her a costly ticket. I didn't even mention what she told me about how I parented in the OP. She mentioned repeatedly that I should let my kids live a normal life when she was telling me about the bangs in her house (i.e. not homeschooling and plenty of organized sports). I refused to engage in the topic with her because my life is none of her business. The city official wondered if she might have a problem with homeschooling.

Update: I started a log of her banging and our activities and after Christmas I posted a sign stating that I was recording the bangs on the door and any further bangs would be reported to the local authorities. She continued for a few days and then started coming to my front door and demanding my landlord's name and phone number. I contacted the police in January and they stopped by and told me that her complaint was ridiculous and told her to stay off our property. She then made a noise complaint with the city, but did so in a way that made it seem like someone in a basement apartment was making noise. The city send me a letter and my landlord a letter. I got in touch with the city about the noise complaint and sent my 8 page log and report of the issue, lol. They filed it with the complaint and today I had a city official come by my place because they needed to check that there wasn't a basement apartment in our house. The city official thinks the lady may have mental issues because she could find no reason for her to hear any banging. My landlord talked to the city as well. Although he didn't know this neighbor he knows my other neighbors who told him how the lady stares at them when they are in their backyard. My landlord is considering putting a camera out at the side of the house....the broken window and broken gate are suspicious and I know we didn't do it, but I can't prove that she did. My city has a mediation service that I am attempting to use as well. They contacted my neighbor to see if she wanted to use a mediation service to work things out. They haven't heard back from her. Oh well...I tried. At least her banging has stopped now....but now I don't like being in our yard anymore :(

My youngest started typing in 2nd grade, but I think my older kids started in 1st due to handwriting issues. They liked it. It is occasional and they make slow and steady progress with the goal of finishing up pretty strong typing skills by the end of 6th grade. My goal was 40-50 words per minute.

My youngest will be in 3rd grade next year! General plans for a very creative kid: Math: Singapore, Zometools Language Arts: Literature (reading and read alouds), Rod and Staff English (grammar only), Rod and Staff Spelling, Classical Writing Aesop, Startwrite Software for handwriting, Mavis Beacon typing, Doodle Definitions Logic: Logic Links, Grid Perplexors, Logic Countdown History: SOTW as a guide with hands-on activities and videos added in Geography: Country unit studies Science: Unit studies Foreign Language: Dabbling in a couple different ones. Main resources are Song School Greek, My First Chinese Words, My First Chinese Reader, Alif Baa, Arabian Sinbad. Fine Arts: Piano, Music Ace Deluxe, art unit study, sewing, digital photography Bible: Illustrated IBC Bible, Fruit of the Spirit unit study, Visual Bible series

Thanks so much AEC and JoanHomeEd! You have been quite helpful.

Just start with the book that is most suitable for his level. I looked at samples and gave my kid words to spell from the different levels. That helped me choose a level where the child wasn't getting most of the words correct.

Singapore, RightStart, or Mathematical Reasoning

I don't eat meat and I don't drink tea, coffee, or alcohol. This isn't for health reasons or religious reasons. I just can't stand the taste of them! I wish I did like them...it would make social get-togethers much easier.

My boys are interested in working with computers in some capacity. Math is definitely something we are focused on, but I was wondering if anyone knew the importance of logic. I have my oldest child working through Introduction to Logic by Gensler and he likes it. The book is big and should take quite a bit of time to go through. Is this worth the investment of time? Traditional Logic by Memoria Press failed miserably. He felt it was all reading comprehension and did not like it at all.

Lol, MCT did not work for us. But Excavating English was a hit. But mostly, my children's favorite things are home-designed unit studies.

With one child, he did every problem except for maybe a handful of challenge problems in the entire book. I'm accelerating my other child through it right now so I don't have him doing all of the problems. He probably does 75% of them though. HTH

We have been very happy with our documentary-focused history studies. It is different, but it works well for us. Here is one I put together for the modern time period: http://eclectic-homeschool.com/documentary-based-modern-world-history-study/ My 6th and 8th graders are doing that one.

Human Japanese app is a great way to get started. My middle schooler made some good progress with that. Dr. Moku apps are also good to help learn how to read Japanese. Now my son has started on the Genki textbook.

Block scheduling as worked well for us - even when my kids were in elementary school. We don't do it all the time though. It works best for us to switch around how we schedule our days every couple months. Block schedules are one of our working options.

Startwrite software has saved me a bunch of money on handwriting curriculum over the years. You can design the worksheets with the handwriting style you choose. Size of letters and traceable letters are also an option. My kid likes it when I add pictures of her favorite characters and make sentences up about them.

I used MCT Grammar Island several years ago. I think the poetry book is the stronger book at that level. I chose MCT for the writing, but that is the part that I liked the least. Writing assignments were quite open ended and I think they would work best for a child who is very creative. As for grammar, we have found Rod and Staff to work well.

The problems I referenced weren't from AOPS. It was my feeble attempt to demonstrate how easy is hard and hard is easy. I do understand and agree that AOPS can be done without a calculator. When my older child went through the book, I only had him use a calculator for the statistics chapter. It could have been done without it though. I agree that most things require thinking to figure out rather than long calculations. We don't do long calculations - not unless I want 1 small problem to take an hour! It is the small calculations required that take a long time. He would sit there staring at something like 13x6 for 5 minutes (even though he could do it relatively quickly in his head as 60+18, figuring out 6x3 rather than knowing it automatically)...daydreaming because he is not finding it engaging. Now when there is a word problem, my child finds the solution quickly or if we encounter math in day-to-day life, he is usually the first to answer - quicker than my child who knows his math facts quickly. This kid is a puzzle! I'm probably going to let him loose on Alcumus for awhile while I attempt to accelerate him through Pre-Algebra. I'll see how he does with Alcumus to determine the next step and how fast we should go. As for math facts, I think I'm going to try out accelerating him first. That worked when he had difficulty with addition/subtraction facts. Taking time to focus on math facts last year instead of going forward with concepts may have been a mistake. I think he needs the concept depth to learn the facts. At least that is my working theory now. So, no calculator plans here. His younger sibling has a multiplication chart on the wall that he will look at sometimes. I guess I won't stop him from doing that for now. Thanks for all your suggestions!

Thanks all! Lewelma, it is nice to hear from someone with a similar child. You all have given me much to think about.

I should say that last school year, I focused on helping my kid learn multiplication tables and practice them with mental calculations. I put conceptual studies to the back burner and it didn't seem to help.

Thanks for all of your suggestions. You have given me much to think about. I believe that even if my child does have the multiplication facts down cold, we would still have issues here....I think it is only part of the issue. I thought there might be some learning difficulties in the past, but the educational psychologist felt any issues were related to his very strong visual-spatial learning style. Engagement is a must for this kid. Let me explain, hoping that you all can give further suggestions or insight. If I give him a problem like 375/13 and have him turn it into a decimal - it will take him a long time. His mind wanders. He does calculations quite slowly and I often see him daydreaming. I sit next to him for math almost all the time. However, if I give him a problem like 37634889342/2432 he is much more engaged and focused. Calculations may be slow, but no where near as slow as the easier problem. This kid is a poster child for easy is hard and hard is easy - and this shows up in many subjects. He prefers mental calculations over showing his work and can manipulate numbers quite well. He doesn't often make errors and seems to have good number sense. He will often come up with the correct answer by doing a problem in his head in a way that he can't explain - at least I don't understand the way he explains it. However, multiplication tables are not automatic. We have worked on them for years. Addition and subtraction were also issues at one point, but it seemed to go away when I accelerated him through his curriculum. He was having difficulty with subtraction with regrouping and would make tons of errors - until I accelerated him and he made it to more difficult problems. I don't question AOPS as choice because it really suits him. The figure it out for yourself (top-down) methods and the abundance of word problems are right up his alley. He would wilt if given pages of similar problems to do. Does anyone else have a kid like this? This kid is a constant puzzle. Maybe a multiplication chart would be the best move here.

I have a almost 12 year old PG visual-spatial learner who is currently working through AOPS Pre-Algebra. Concept-wise, math comes easy to this kid. The hardest parts on AOPS so far have been problems that require lots of standard calculations. He could probably speed through the book if given a calculator to use. Math facts have been quite slow because he figures out the answer in his head each time (6x6 is worked out in his head rather than known immediately). We worked on math facts for YEARS and if we don't continue to practice, his speed significantly slows down. Part of the issue is math facts and part of the issue is engagement. He does not find rote problems engaging - even if they are part of a greater puzzle. If he is not engaged, his mind wanders. Memorization has been difficult. I wonder if giving him a calculator to use for rote problems would hurt or help him at this point. He has a huge interest in a future with STEM and spends his free time pursuing his computer interests (mostly creative like modeling). It seems like he needs to speed ahead conceptually to be engaged with the content, but I'm hesitant because math facts seem so important. What would you do?