Hey all, My nephew is really into art and wants to focus on animation and digital art. Does anyone know of any good programs out there for this? I am also looking for online or government programs that are low in cost or ones that you can apply for for free. Thanks for any advice, because I am clueless in this field. TIA!

I am not a fan of memorizing spelling lists. My kids could easily "memorize" a list and then forget it the next day in their writing. We do dictation lessons where I select a passage that doesn't have more than 4-5 words my child doesn't know how to spell and you could use your kids books they are reading. Have them scan the passage (we use this as a time to discuss grammar as well) and highlight words they are not sure they can spell. Make them visualize the word and see it before writing it when they think they have it then I find parts of the passage and dictate to them. (It could take a couple days before having those words and grammar down which is fine...) We have had great success with this! Also, not sure if your child is a reader but reading good material will help build your kids vocabulary and spelling!

How true and yet if we do in my experience nothing sticks....to pick the best is my goal! Learning is a lifelong adventure!

wathe- Would you choose Penrose or Math with Bad drawings as your favorite? So many choices!! 🙂

Thanks for your insights! Yes, I saw the discount and why I was looking into it. It seemed to be more geared for the classroom and wondering if it would work with only one kid. My other boys are gone and so I am only teaching one right now. 🙂 Thanks for your detailed reply helpful!

I have such a tendency to over load my book choices for the year and then I get overwhelmed....so can anyone recommend which book would be best for a smart 9 yr. old boy? I wanted to incorporate one day of reading a fun living math book for Friday's (something to look forward to and know I should probably pick one to make it last for the whole year) otherwise it would be read in a day and his takeaway wouldn't be much! 😛 Which do you find best for the age and for the material learned? Thanks!! · The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure OR The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat

I can see that!

Also check out Marilyn Burns books I have used a lot of hers and I like Hands on Equations and he also offers Fraction sense which I have looked at that looks promising I plan on using if for my. Fourth grader next year https://www.borenson.com

Math has definitely changed it seems like they are focusing more on children’s way of getting to a problem - “the ideas” and less on it being strictly obeying a set of rules. I do you find this fascinating that there are many ways to arrive at a problem and to encourage and explore this with our children. I have incorporated this in my kids learning and I am often amazed that the way they arrive at a problem is not the same as how I would conqueror a problem. I think since I was taught the more rule based way I don’t look for other ideas on how to solve a problem and how many ways could be done a lot easier. I think it’s vital that we listen to our kids and their thinking and how they arrive at a problem and not to always have them want to answer in a way that we are instructing... to be open to other ideas. That is what I see is the push right now and I also find that this helps and instill the love of math and not quenching our kids spirits. I have taken a peek at her books but it seems more geared for the classroom. I am however a fan of Marilyn Burns works and try to incorporate those ideas.

Curious to see if anyone has used these books for each grade? They look intriguing but I was curious to see if anyone has used them and how they went about it. Thanks!

Great, thanks! We have used Strayer-Upton and it has worked great but he has moved on quite quickly and I thought adding in HOE and possibly the fractions for grade 4&5 would add some more variations to our lessons and slow his speed down a bit. He is technically finishing 3rd grade but we finished book 1 this year. (for grades 3-4) We teach concrete to abstract and master based with review. I would love to hear any other things you like or how you implement the program....thanks for those who have responded!!

Wondering how it is going with this curriculum and how you all liked it. Is it worth it?

Great, thanks that's helpful!