I started reading the free, online pdf and found it interesting. I was confused when I hit pdf page 36 and they talked about evolution, as a fact, that she learned about in Sunday School. The only Sunday School I am familiar with is ones that are Christian based which seem to oppose the idea of evolution. Are, or were, there other sunday schools that teach that? Just curious.

I'm very sorry to hear about your mom. Her faith was an inspiration to me. -Hugs-

We did CPO Earth Science this year. Even though our school year officially ended in May, we are still finishing up the astronomy chapter. I think you could do it earlier and then jump back into the book with no problem. Here is the bathymetric map we used http://www.cposcience.com/ga/downloads/08_3%20bathymetric%20map.pdf I also found a pdf of the latitude longitude map, but I am not sure where I got it. There a lot of good thing right on the CPO website. I also find useful things at school websites which use CPO.

Thanks, Sue - I've added Patty Pan to my RR wishlist. It looks like fun. I even added the paper because my guys are big into making mini paper airplanes. And with 3 younger brothers, they'll get used. I don't have the Foerster's Solution Manual, but I did get a copy of the Teachers Manual used at a curr. sale. I noticed while reading through it that tests are suggested in the middle of many (if not all) chapters. I assume these tests are included in the real expensive Teacher's Resource Book. It seems that students were tested in the middle and end of each chapter. I wonder if we are short changing our students by only having the one big test at the end of each chapter and without the benefit of a practice test first? If I do go with Foersters, maybe I will add a quiz half-way through each chapter. I do like the clean look of the book and the emphasis on challenging real life word problems. I also like how he "talks" to the student about how to work the examples on their own and how to study for a test. matroyshka - I agree, math over the summer is a must. Ds is just about at the end of LOF Pre-Algebra 2, so maybe I will have him start back up with the Aufmann Pre-Algebra text next. He has already made it through the hardest chapter on variable expressions so most of the rest should be somewhat of a review. I like Lial's Introductory Algebra book because it has so many cheap resources and good explanations. Decisions, decisions.....

Thanks for the thoughts. I think I will stay the course and finish the pre-algebra book and then move into algebra. I may be able to go through some chapters more quickly because he has done the material before. Credit-wise I hope I am not complicating things by starting Algebra mid-way through a year. I don't know if we should have stayed with BCM. It just seemed like such a step backward after using Singapore in 5th and 6th grade. I think I should have used the spiral approach with him starting back in 5th grade because he is not good at learning things once and rarely reviewing them.

I wasn't sure where to post this, but I figure I would find more experience here. For 7th grade this year DS started with Lial's BCM for math. About a month into it, I realized it was just too easy so he switched to the Aufmann Pre-Algebra book that Chalkdust uses. We got through to Chapter 6 but there are still 4 more chapters in the book to complete. He also did LOF Pre-Algebra 1 this year. He is doing the Pre-Algebra 2 book over the summer. Choices for 8th grade are ... 1. Continue in August with the Aufmann book, which I determined will take about 80 - 90 school days to complete, and then start an algebra text. I own both Lial's and Foerster. I was thinking of picking one and then allowing a year and a half to complete it, if needed. 2. Do another curriculum such as CLE Math 8, which I would have to buy, to really cement all the basic skills. I like how CLE has the student memorize many formulas and facts that ds probably would not do on his own. I also like that it constantly reviews past concepts. For instance ds has learned about prime numbers since 4th grade with Rightstart, but he still doesn't remember right away what they are. My concern is that this math is a bit easy which may not be all bad for a pubescent boy. I know they teach metric, as my younger son did CLE 5 this year, but I didn't see any in the samples for grade 8. If we went this route, Algebra would wait until 9th. I would appreciate any words of wisdom.

Ick! I see he was suspended without pay. Here in NY, we keep paying them. (Insert head banging Smilie)

My 5th grader did CPO Earth Science this year along with his 7th grade brother. He actually beat older brother on several tests (He has a good memory). We are going to do CPO physical science next year.

Same boat here. I bought both the Lial's and Foerster's texts, and I liked how Foerster's is laid out. But the Foerster SM is backordered and $72 is pretty steep compared to the few dollars I paid for the Lial's SM. I don't plan on starting Algebra till part way through next year, but if I don't find a reasonably priced SM, I am going with Lials.

Same situation here. I put mine in the washer full of hot water at night along with detergent and about a cup of ammonia. I let them soak all night then run the washer in the morning using a vinegar rinse. This is all I have found to work.

My oldest loves the LOF story and has been doing these books along with his regular math. I don't feel the pre-algebra books are enough to stand on their own. They are great for thinking outside the box, but my ds needs a layout that shows what we are learning very clearly. He is doing the Aufmann Pre-Algebra book as his main text. I did really like the economics thrown in with the math in the second book. I learned a lot.

Thank you, Mr. Piland. I hope I can add it in next year.

I hope someone answers. My 7th grader will be finishing Critical Thinking 1 soon, and I really would like to switch to something like Traditional Logic. I never had logic training so I don't know if we should do Book 2 first or not.

My guys like the Redwall books. I don't know much about them, but they really like them. I guess there is like 23 books in the series.

I have to redeem our Odyssey's reputation. I said our cruise control quit working. Well, this thread reminded me that we needed to get that checked out before we go on vacation next month. I am soooo glad I googled for ideas before we took it somewhere. Come to find out, there is a master cruise control switch on the dashboard that must have been accidentally pushed to off. So whatever you get, make sure you look at the operators manual. I cannot believe how long I have been driving without it. Control-wise, everything in this Odyssey is opposite to our old Town and Country. Even after 7 months, I still keep turning on the window spray when I go to adjust the high beams.

I do. I have worked hard this year to keep my perspective. I thank God for every single day. I know these are very busy times, bit I firmly believe they are the ones I will look back on and smile on.

I downloaded it to both. Safari on my Mac and Firefox on my PC so I could put it on my MP3. You should be right clicking on Save link as.. This time it did take me a few tries first but I was just clicking on it.

I never followed up with my Odyssey question I had back in Sept. We ended up buying the 2004 Odyssey which now has over 90,000 miles on it. It really is a nice vehicle, but it helps that it had great care before we got it. The power doors do sometimes not close. I think the sensor might be dirty. The biggest problem we've had is that the cruise control quit working. I am hoping it just blew a fuse. Unfortunately, we don't have a garage so it just had its first hard winter of snow and mud. That's why we don't buy newer vehicles (plus we just cannot afford them).

I have all of these. I don't know if there is any real order needed. I have them all on my MP3 and usually listen to them when I am physically busy or cannot sleep. I fell asleep halfway through SWB's new talk last night so I am looking forward to hearing the rest tonight. I woke up this morning telling myself "They're little humans, they're little humans". We had a good day.

I feel better. We are not using CD, but DS is going through the Auffman Pre-Algebra text that CD uses. We are only in Chp. 6, so there is no way we will finish this year (which is no big deal) but I was really starting to wonder about the difficulty of these chapters. DS is doing OK with it, but I had to help him "get it". We started this year with Lial's BCM and it was too easy. On the other hand, I have found this text to be quite challenging. I do plan on going back to Lial's for Algebra.

Our motto: "You got some weird ones dude" That's what a guy said to us one wet night when he was standing outside the video store smoking his cigarette watching my oldest (who wasn't even school age yet) desperately try to get across the worm covered parking lot without stepping on them. My oldest is just plain strange. I am pretty sure that a school environment would be tough on him. My DH was home-schooled and he is the reason I was always on board for it. Up to when I had met him, I had always dated guys who were either my age or older and they all seemed so immature. Then I met DH, who is three years my junior, and even though he was still in college I found him to be responsible and caring and one that would do his duty. When I married DH, I was working as an engineer, and he was delivering pizzas. Now, he has worked his way to a supervisor position for our county and I can comfortably stay at home. I do think that he is a bit thinner-skinned than his coworkers (he cares about people), but he is working through that and is a very responsible leader. Even though I was public schooled, I have always thought of myself as a little odd. DH is much more "normal" than I am.

I think I remember going through this too. I ended up pulling out the Key To Percents booklets I had and had him work through them.

My boys all like to play with makeshift ball rollers. We would find pipes, old gutters, blocks, whatever and they could spend hours making different set-ups. We also own marble runs, but I have always liked our made up ones better. In fact, for Christmas this year we went to Home Depot and got our youngest a whole bunch of 3/4" PVC pipe and cut it into about 2' sections. We added a bunch of connections, some velcro zip ties, duct tape and put it all in a flat tote labeled as his invention box. We did this out of necessity because with 3 older brothers, we own tons of legos, match box cars, wooden trains, and so forth.

OK, I read more of the handbook. Here is what it says about the word "so". The word "so" can be both a coordinating conjunction and a subordinating conjunction. It is coordinating when it shows a cause and effect. It is subordinating when "so that" could be substituted. From reading this, I think the ", so" is being used as a coordinating conjunction and therefore would be a compound sentence not complex. BTW, this is more for my own education, ds's grade really will not change no matter if he gets points for this or not. But, I think he will remember better next time.

I am glad I asked. Four more points for DS. Thanks.