This is a little embarrassing, but I really don't know what narration is. I would like to try it as an aid for reading comprehension for my 10 and 12 yo dd's, particularly in reading the History of US by Joy Hakim. And I don't have time right now to read WTM. What does it look like when you do it with middle schoolers?

Thank you. I've been reading about narration on these boards for months now. I think it's time I tried. it.

I just had my daughters (11 and 12 yo) read from Hakim's History of US, the chapter about the Battle of Gettysburg. It's probably 5 pages with several illustrations and sidebars. I asked them to tell me about the battle, and their recall was less than impressive. "A lot of people died." "Some people had to climb a hill." :glare: My husband recalls using some sort of system that involves reading and re-reading and taking notes in a highly specific manner. It was time-consuming, but very effective. I would like to institute some sort of exercise like this with future history reading assignments, one which specifically prescribes what they should do during and after reading. ETA: my DH's system was called SQ3R: skim, question, read, wRite, re-read. Does anyone still do this? I'm open to any ideas!

Sorry, we took algebra in 8th grade.

I'm a huge fan of lining up my equal signs! I picked this up from our high school math teacher years ago. I also like to underline terms as they are combined or rearranged, so we don't lose any along the way. While I'm on the subject, I find it helpful when dealing with 2-3 equations at once is to number them, and keep them labeled as I use them.

This is interesting. My high school didn't offer a class called "precalculus" so I'm not even sure what that means. I had 2 algebra classes in school: algebra (LOL) and a year long course titled "Advanced Algebra and Trigonometry." I wonder if my AAT class would be considered what is now called Algebra 2 (or Algebra 3?) and precalculus? The typical 4 year math sequence at my high school was: geometry functions + analytic geometry advanced algebra and trig calculus

I just learned something new!

Do you happen to know, if Intro to Algebra covers Algebra 1 and 2, what school courses are covered in the AOPS Intermediate Algebra text?

Not necessarily. If you prefer to host only your kids and their friends or people you know well, you may want to keep your center private. At my site, anyone can sign up. Plus I field emails all year long from desperate parents who beg me to make extra room for their kids because every place else is full!

You need a location. I use a community room at the library. If your son/daughter is taking the exam, you need a person to proctor. I hire a local homeschooled teen to do this job. (I wait outside the exam room while he's inside. Then after the exam he hands the scantrons to me to mail in. I know, I know.) You email Maria or whoever is in charge at MK HQ that you want to host a center. She'll thank you profusely and walk you through the process of getting the registration process set up at their website. The best thing is you can pick how many students to host. I only take a dozen, since that's about as many as I can manage. Plus, we only have that many tables. ETA: If your site is public, you will receive emails for every student who registers at your site. As a bonus, your children will be able to register for free. Ask Maria how to arrange this. A few weeks before the exam they mail to you the exams, t shirts, toys, pencils, etc.. Bring all that stuff on exam day, meet up with your proctor, greet all the kids. After the exam, you mail the scantrons to MK HQ. Since we admin the exam relatively early in the day, we can't let the students go home with their exams, so I mail it to them later. If you host your exam in the evening I believe you can let them take their exams home. If you do decide to go through with it, I have a bunch more detailed info I can share with you.

(I'm catching up on old WTM posts, so I'm a little late here.) I've hosted a public center at the local library for 3 years now. MK is very homeschool-friendly, and if you have any questions, you can email them and you will receive a response very quickly. I've really appreciated that. You shouldn't feel uncomfortable for their sake about attending a public center. My center is public, and I understand that anyone can sign up, anyone can show up. I didn't host a private center because I didn't want the hassle of collecting fees and all the admin work. I give up some control over who shows up in return for them keeping track of everything. Overall, I've found hosting MK to be relatively easy. They are organized and I've received my materials in a timely fashion. They are very responsive to email communication. I suspect English isn't the first language for the folks organizing, so sometimes I've had a little difficulty parsing their communications, but it's been more humorous than inconvenient. All the kids get token toys as prizes, so it's very fun. If you have more questions about MK, let me know.

Does anyone happen to know when MCT covers citing sources and what format to use, etc? Is it Essay Voyage or at a later level? TIA!

I have the current edition of Hello World. Would you happen to know what is different in the new edition?

We'll have to agree to disagree. I don't have the higher level books, but in looking at my PreAlgebra book, I see that out of the 14 Review Problems (pp. 438-9) for Chapter 11, half are competition math problems. That is, the cited sources are MathCounts, MOEMS, AMC, etc. The OP wanted to eliminate the competition math problems. Actually, that would not be hard to do, since those problems are clearly labeled and easy to skip. But why skip half of the problems? And really, is there anything materially different between those problems labeled as originating from MathCounts, and those just made up by the author?

I agree. I think many students waste their time trying to attain a top SAT score, when they are already achieving a very good score. I think the difference between a 90th %ile score and a 98th %ile score is not worth the effort. But getting an oustanding AMC score is a real boost to your college application...not to mention really great preparation for college coursework.

Are there Challenge Problems at the end of each chapter? (PreAlgebra and Algebra texts have them.) You will save time by skipping those. But really, if you are aiming to skip the "competition math" aspect of AOPS, that's really all of AOPS. Maybe you should use a different curriculum?

The trouble is, these state schools with their low tuitions and excellent education are often more competitive than comparable private schools that can leave student in serious debt. This is what I've been hearing from parents who would like to send their kids to state schools in California. The private schools have plenty of spots...it's the state schools that are hard to get admitted to.

Ooh! Can I come over to play? Seriously, as someone who homeschools at a dining table, your classroom sounds like heaven. When I come to visit, you'll need to handcuff me to a chair to keep me out! I don't know about everyone else, but I'd love to see a photo!

Wait, what? You have a homeschool store??? Please elaborate. I've never seen one before.

For those who are using AOPS Algebra on their own (not the online class): How long is it taking students to typically finish?

The AMC8 is hosted at a local university and my dd participated last year. It was okay. The room was crowded. They wrote their exams on those little hinged mini-desks you see so often in college lecture halls. It took place in the evening when we're normally eating dinner, and perhaps not the ideal test-taking time. If I hosted my own AMC8, I could reserve a nice room the library, where each student would have a nice wide workspace of their own. There would be fewer students in the room, maybe a dozen. We could meet up in the afternoon, during daylight hours. Am I crazy to think I ought to host my own AMC exam? It's not like the test-taking conditions last year were terrible. Just less than ideal. Or am I asking for a lot of extra work and headache?

You want to add time to your student's day? Here's what you can do: Before each subject, have him sit quietly at his desk for 5 minutes doing nothing. This will take the place of a ps teacher quieting down the other students. If he finishes his work early, have him sit quietly at the table for an extra 15 minutes to wait for the PS children to finish their work. Before lunch, have your child stand at the kitchen door and wait for 5-10 minutes before sitting down at the table. If he finishes lunch early, make him continue sitting there for the full 30 minutes. Before you leave the house, have him stand by the front door for 5 minutes as if he were waiting for all the other kids to line up as well. If you're taking the car, have him sit in the car for 10 minutes or so before you actually drive away. I think you get the picture. I agree with other posters to ignore the nosy people and let your child enjoy his homeschooling life!

This sounds familiar. I can't tell you how many times I had to tell dd that am = a*a*a*a... (m times). over and over again. We didn't use Abeka, but I would argue that AOPS Pre Algebra does get easier in the second half. I think it's a matter of getting the hang of doing the problem sets without memorizing too much. If you love AOPS, I would stick with it and see if it doesn't get better. Go slow now, and then pick up speed later.

I taught dd to use an RPN calculator about a year ago because some MathCounts rounds assume the use of a calculator. This was about a year ago when in the midst of AOPS pre algebra, but not necessary for the textbook.

A few years back we bought a 1 year subscription from homeschool buyers co-op, and I was very disappointed. I thought the videos were uninspired, particularly compared with all the cool educational videos available on youtube for free. But maybe I was looking in the wrong places. I agree, their UI is very clunky.