Thank you Lori!

I seem to recall that a while back you posted a link to a free old geography book on google books. Can you tell me the title or post a link? (or anyone else who knows of one) Thanks!

double post

And also I noticed several different versions (from different authors) of the Fourth Wiseman book. Which one has the better narrative Henry Van Dyke or Susan Summers? If both are about the same I will go with the one with prettier illustrations, but if not, I want to get the one that is better written.

I can't find the Shoemaker's Christmas on amazon. Is that the exact title?

I saw the thread a few weeks (or months) ago and it had great suggestions for stuff to read this December with our kids and now I can't find it anywhere. Can someone post a link, or if not can people give me their favorite winter holiday read-alouds? Thanks!

Wow. So many to choose from. I'm getting so excited.

Oh and Dmmmetler, I was wondering how did you find out about all those competitions? I don't seem to be around people where competions get discussed much. If you would like to share how you stay informed about competitions I would greatly appreciate it!

all of the above

Wow, that's a great list thank you! My oldest one is 7 too, so I will definitely look into all of these.

Hi everyone, I would like to have a complete list of all the famous organizations that organize competitions that are available to elementary grades children and that allow homeschoolers to participate. I'm interested in all areas: math, writing, science, art, history, geography, latin, whatever! What have your kids participated in and what are they planning on participating in? I am trying to research this topic in depth, so whether you have a book suggestion that lists them all, or personal experience with any particular one, or hear-say etc, I want to hear it all! I don't know if location matters, but we are in the Cleveland area of Ohio. Thanks!

I forgot to mention. This book is a classic and will answer all your running questions (including what to eat!): http://www.amazon.com/Galloways-Book-Running-Jeff-Galloway/dp/0936070277/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352033905&sr=8-1&keywords=galloway%27s+book+on+running

I have not read any of the responses, so this might have been said already, but I just wanted to say that when the goal is weight loss, diet is much more important than exercise. Exercise is great for health, and can contribute towards the goal of weight loss, but the diet change is what makes the biggest difference. I don't understand why you want to cut out beans. Beans and legumes are usually staples for vegans (my husband is vegan btw, so we only cook vegan at home) and they don't interfere with weight loss. Milk (and milk products) and refined sugar are the first things I would cut out of a diet if my goal was weight loss. As for the running, the best way to guarantee that you will stick with it long term, is to do it because you enjoy it and not for weight loss. Stop timing your runs. Set an achievable goal and go SLOW. It doesn't matter how fast you run. You get the most amount of benefit when you are in the aerobic zone (you could benefit from a book about the physiology of running and how it affects the body). For most beginners (especially overweight) that would be probably 13 min/miles or more. So forget about the 5K in 30 mins. I'm sure you could put yourself through hell and achieve it, but it would not serve your long term goals.

bump

how would you build it with legos?

I need more ideas. Bump!

Ok, so this is a problem from Singapore 2A Intensive Practice. It is problem number 3 from "Take the Challenge" for Topic: 2. In my edition of the book it is on page 28. It is complete the pattern problem and it has 3 chains: chain 1: 9 13 5 17 chain 2: 8 12 6 14 chain 3: 10 6 5 ? What's the missing number? My son actually figured out that it is 11, but it was a lucky guess, because when I asked him to explain the pattern to me, he gave me the wrong explanation. So he definitely has not solved the problem. I want to help him get to the solution by himself, but I don't know how. I already gave him the hint that he will need to do some addition and some comparing, but that didn't help him. Does anyone have ideas of how I can guide him through the thinking process, without giving the solution away?

And btw, the reason I recommended the math-u-see dvds is because the guy in the video does a very good job of explaining concepts in a way that kids that have trouble with abstract thinking can understand easily and he does it in a memorable way, so that you don't forget what you heard. My son just watched the video about perimeter (math-u-see gamma) few days ago and has enjoyed practicing his new skill on Khan, even though we have yet to cover perimeter in Singapore.

I do FLL with my oldest. He is also pretty good at remembering the definition, but not always applying it correctly. So for example, if we are supposed to point out all the verbs in a certain sentence and he points out thirsty, I tell him the part of the definition about verb that applies here, in this case "does an action" and I ask him, "Is thirsty an action?" can you say "I thirsty every day?". Putting it this way to him, makes him giggle and he gets it too, it helps him understand what his mistake was and it helps him remember how to check his answer next time. As for math, my suggestion would be trying out the Math-U-See dvds as a supplement to what you are doing. We are using singapore math, but we own all the math-u-see dvds too, and while the kids eat lunch I let them watch the math-u-see dvds and they really enjoy them and it reinforces what they are getting from Singapore. In fact sometimes they get excited about a new concept that they've learned from the Math-U-see videos that we haven't covered yet in Singapore and immediately they want to get on Khan academy (that's pretty great for math too btw) and earn whatever badge they can with their new skill. I really don't teach Math-u-see though. I basically consider it a fun video to watch, just like Bill Nye, or documentaries or whatever, something educational, but that doesn't really feel like school, and I don't even watch it with them. I just put it in and get some work done around the house while they are watching.

We are using it. The kids love it. I've never seen Rosetta Stone, but from people who have done both I have heard that Mango is very much like it, except better (more explanation of grammar, usage and such). I'm doing it with a 7 and 5 year old and it is going great. We try to do half a lesson every other day (that's about 25 slides). There is a lot of repetition and everything is aural (no writing), which is great because my kids are so young, so the repetition helps them remember things even without writing.

which virtual academy?

I don't have teenagers yet, but I read this book a while back and really made sense and was very practical: http://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Teens-Will-Listen/dp/0060741260/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350690446&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+talk+so+teens+will+listen+and+listen+so+teens+will+talk

I used a kitchen timer. You can get one for about 10$ at target.

How does she do that "connect the dots" thing? I mean, what's the pattern? The video is too fast, so I can't see what's connected to what, but I would love to know how to do that. Does that kind of drawing have a name? Are there books about it?

I'm learning python at the moment (programming language) and dabbling in other web development and design related subjects. I have this pretty ambitious dream to do web development from home and earn some money, while homeschooling my littles full time:) I'm also learning Spanish (for the very first time!) together with my kids with Mango and am very excited about that.