We're planning to follow up CC and CtRD (the two JA books that are considered "algebra") with AoPS Algebra. I wouldn't do two different PRE-algebra programs unless I had a kid who really needed more time to mature cognitively in order to handle the abstractions of algebra, but my understanding is that AoPS Algebra goes broad and deep enough that it won't be overly repetitive to do it next. I'm assuming we'll skate quickly through some sections and spend more time on the complex ones. Maybe it's just because Alex is young (she's barely ten), but she really seems to thrive on the whimsy and

My kindergartener has been feeling a little sad that his sister placed and he didn't. It boosted him up tremendously to know that he was 17th in the state, especially compared to FIRST GRADERS. :tongue_smilie: Overall, I think it was a huge learning experience for him and I'm proud that he was willing to go sit in a college lecture hall with 150 kids and some strange adults, and without his Mom, and take a hard test. That's a big deal for a newly-6-year-old!

So, I know NOBODY who sells or touts essential oils.My homeschooling community and my facebook are EO free. (I do get invited to MLM parties, but it's always Jamberry nail wraps.) Is Young Living, etc. primarily a thing that's happening within evangelical Christian culture? I was asked to speak at a Classical Conversations-focused homeschool resource fair. My talk was "Learning Disabilities: An Introduction for Homeschooling Families." Nobody came, but the side room that had a YL essential oils presentation had eight or nine people in it. http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/f

I finally got our notification! I figured that if we hadn't heard by now it meant Alex didn't do as well as we thought. But they were just slow sending out the email. She scored 7th in Maryland and 13th nationwide at the fourth grade level. There are two kids in her program who got perfect scores at the 6th grade level! I am very impressed.

Not THAT kind of hijinks! :tongue_smilie:

Also? I knew Linus in college. We may or may not have engaged in hijinks and shenanigans of the type one does not normally associate with one's curriculum provider.

I will say that we do most of the narrative questions orally. I do have Alex write the "Notes to Self," and I think those are helpful, but yeah - she's not expected to write multiple sentences about "how do you know that X is blah blah blah." It's enough of a struggle to get her to articulate it orally. ("It just IS! It's OBVIOUS!" "Well, Linus wants you to put it into words.")

We did MEP through 4b, and then compacted MEP 5-6 together only doing selected portions. The only part of Jousting Armadillos I felt comfortable skipping was the negative numbers chapter. MEP covers operations with negative numbers really well. The introduction to variables was pretty easy for Alex because we'd had some of that in MEP as well, but I really enjoyed the way JA developed the concepts and she enjoyed the whimsical questions. Now we are about halfway through Crocodiles and Coconuts and I am breathless with admiration for what a fantastic book it is. I love the way that Linu

I take the same approach as Laura Corin - I expect my kids to put in an age-appropriate amount of time on schoolwork, regardless of how far above level they are. In my family, advanced math ability has not come with advanced patience, advanced frustration tolerance, or advanced ability to sit still. In general, gifted kids need less review and less practice. If they can do 10 practice problems perfectly, I don't see an advantage to doing 30.

Not necessarily true. I'm a psychologist, not a neuropsychologist, and I can do a full battery of cognitive tests to diagnose learning disabilities. Most of the people I know who do LD testing are psychologists. I would definitely want to see a neuropsychologist involved for a case in which there's a known insult to the brain, like a head injury or a brain tumor, but for most other purposes a clinical or educational psychologist who specializes in assessment is able to do all of the necessary testing. I wonder what was involved in the school's decision that she didn't have an LD. Was there

Repelled. ...But totally fantasizing about a week's vacation by myself. That sounds like heaven.

I am too old and too busy to do flamewars anymore. I am likely to unfriend or unfollow someone who posts really provocative stuff to stir up argument or who wants to get in big FB battles. That said, I don't use FB just for trivial stuff, either. I have really good, really long conversations on my FB page, and I appreciate them.