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5Wizards

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Everything posted by 5Wizards

  1. You might want to check out the Ready Readers instead of the Reading Roadmaps.
  2. My 11 year old does it independently, but she only does the actual mapping. We don't do any of the extra activities, and I haven't really looked at them, so I couldn't say if a child would need help with the extras or not. The first week I went through it with her, and that was all that was needed (and really, she probably could have figured the first week out on her own as well). ETA: It takes her anywhere from about 10-40 minutes depending on the day.
  3. For kindergarten science with my 2nd child, we did ES Intro. to Science, which uses More Mudpies to Magnets. https://elementalsci...gory&path=60_64 She really enjoyed it, and I will be doing it again with my next one. My kids also sit on on science for their older siblings when they want to (which is often).
  4. We put the max into our 401K every year. We're in our 40s. We also have been discussing starting a Roth IRA and putting whatever we can in there as well. I'm not comfortable discussing how much we have saved total on a public message board though. :tongue_smilie:
  5. Here are some math and science courses that can be taken online. http://www.derekowens.com/course_info_prealgebra.php
  6. DH and I were both raised RC. I'm pretty lucky in that I don't get too much pressure from either side. My ILs occasionally ask about when our kids will be baptized (they ask DH, not me), and they sometimes give the kids religious books or things, but it's not a big deal. I don't discuss religion with them though, so they don't really know where I stand. If they ever asked me directly, I'd let them know that I'm an atheist. I think they'd rather try to stay in denial though, and it's easier for me to just not say anything. Anyway, my kids are nonbelievers at this point too. We talk about respecting the views of others, etc...., but I also stress to them that it's important that others respect their views as well. I want them to feel secure in whatever they choose to believe and not have to feel so torn for so many years like I was. I've known since I was fairly young that I didn't buy into religion, but the process to fully accept that within myself was difficult for me. It's hard to explain, but I know what it is that I want to do with my own kids to avoid it. As for middle school history, we are liking the K12 Human Odyssey books (we're in the 1st one). I bought mine used for a few dollars. Anyway, hello everyone. :seeya:
  7. We used Nous (another book in the set) last year with 2 5th grade girls. We didn't really use the book itself (although I had it), but instead used the TM (Deciding What To Do - Instructional Manual to Accompany Nous). They loved it! I didn't feel like it was difficult to implement at all, but maybe I'm missing something. We would just focus on one section at a time, discussing their thoughts on the topics, etc... I never prepped for this - I'd just grab the TM, look over what we were discussing for the day for a few minutes, then jump right in. It was one of their favorite things to do last year. It is completely secular (although I don't think someone from a religious viewpoint would object to it?). A larger group would probably work even better, but it worked just fine with just the three of us. This year we're using Philosophy for Kids, and they're enjoying it, but I feel like it's a step down from what we did last year. With my next child, I think we'll go more slowly with Nous and spread it out over 2 years as there is just so much covered. I was lucky because I found a used TM for about $10 just by doing online searches. I haven't been able to find any more, but I haven't looked for awhile. Next year I will probably suck it up and buy the TM for a higher level. In my TM, there are 9 Chapters, with each chapter having 7-22 "Leading Ideas." Some of the leading ideas for chapter 1 include Right, Lying, Making up stories, Having rights, Fairness, possible, growth, etc....... For each leading idea, there's a brief introduction to the topic, connecting it to the student book, and several exercises that can be completed (questions or scenarios to make everyone think about the topic). We did most of the exercises orally. I hope this explanation helps a little bit. Using the TM really spurred some interesting conversations for us last year and like I said, I will be buying another level for next year even if I have to pay full price. ETA: The student book is a story, so there are no exercises or anything in it.
  8. I hear ya on that one. I have 3 kids, so I'm hoping that by the 3rd I'll finally have what I want to do with science figured out. :laugh: For 7th grade next year I'm planning to outsource it - she'll have a lab/lecture once/week with a group and then have work to do at home before the next meeting. I'm considering looking at Derek Owens for 8th grade science (my DD will be doing Derek Owens pre-algebra in 7th, so we'll see what we think of that first). I wouldn't say that ES is "exciting", but I think it is pretty well-balanced. My daughter likes to have weekly labs, and there are suggestions for further study if you are interested each week (we never seemed to find the time to add much more). This year we switched to Exploration Education Physics (hoping for a really fun, hands-on program with everything included) , and although I had high hopes in the beginning of the year, it's just so-so for my DD. She seems to have fun with it, but she says that it's way too easy (and that she enjoyed ES more). If she had wanted to do Earth Science this year, we would have stayed with ES probably (and if my outsourced class falls through next year, we'll prob. go with ES again). Anyway, good luck picking something!
  9. It seems like a lifetime ago right now even though it was only last year, but I'll try my best to answer some of your questions. :) Once she got the hang of how the program was set up, she did most of it independently. My husband did the labs with her and a friend once/week. I liked that there were discussion questions in the teacher's manual with answers provided. There were weekly drawings, and the program was flexible with the amount of writing required. It was well-organized and secular. We bought dissection materials (frog, worm, etc...) and maybe a few other things (again, not remembering everything). My DD was grossed our about the idea of dissection, but in the end, she ended up deciding that it was interesting/worth it. If you don't want to dissect, there are other options listed. We already had a microscope which was gifted to us, but I would have bought one if needed. I have multiple children who will use it, presumably in multiple grades. I ordered these items before the year began from one company - she has a list of the big items for dissection somewhere in the beginning of the curriculum. Other than that, I think that most things were easy to find. That's about all I can remember at this point. I hope that it helped at least a little bit - perhaps someone else will join in and offer more insight.
  10. We did logic stage Biology last year, and my daughter enjoyed it. I switched to something else this year that I had high hopes for, but she doesn't like it as much. Next year I'm planning to outsource science, but if that doesn't happen, I will most likely return to ES Logic Earth Science.
  11. I have the entire download, and I've also used the actual books. I never print in color and we haven't had any problems (I've used or am in the process of using all grade levels 1st-6th). MM is a solid program, and I have been very happy with it. The teaching instructions are excellent, I like that it's mastery, and I love the mental math aspect of it. We use the light blue series.
  12. I'm just in the beginning stages of thinking about next year, but so far this is where I am. Math: Derek Owens pre-algebra Science: Outsourced - Earth Science (probably) History: K12 Human Odyssey Volume 2 as the spine Geography: Trail Guide to World Geography (maybe) Writing: WWS 2 combined with our own thing Lit.: Our own thing, combination of things (unless I end up going with LL) Spanish: unknown Logic/Philosophy: probably Reasoning in Ethics: Lisa (IAPC curriculum) /media/montclairedu/cehs/documents/iapc/Curriculum_Brochure.pdf Continue on with dance, piano, speech class, etc....
  13. Yes! :tongue_smilie: I've gone back and forth about getting it before, but have never purchased it. I'll live vicariously through you. :laugh:
  14. I received one for Christmas but I haven't used it yet. I think we're going to try to use it tomorrow, so if we do, I'll post again then. :)
  15. 5Wizards

    nm

    Hi, When we first bought our used pop-up, I frequented the forum linked below for information. There were a number of people who posted pictures of the work they did on their pop-ups, so if you do a search, I'm sure you can find some. http://www.popupportal.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=h1v3baa58pp6i2d2ql4psh3ks3&action=forum We took our van to the dealer and had the part needed to tow placed by them. I think we only paid about $50, but it was some time ago, so I might be wrong. I think that your car's manual will have information about the maximum towing capacity, or perhaps you could google for that information. Do you know how heavy your pop-up is? If you don't have the manual for it, you can also try to google that info. as well. You can also ask your questions on the forum I linked to as the people there are very passionate about pop-ups and seem to try to be as helpful as they can. I hope you enjoy your camping adventures in the future!
  16. I would say that yes, a lot of it is just time passing, practice, and aging. I stressed about many things with my first that I learned to let go on with my second. My current 2nd grader still does occasional number reversals, but it only happens occasionally now, not all of the time like last year at 6. When doing math, I would just remind her that her number was backwards and have her correct it (I didn't make her write it multiple times like many people seem to do). I also just corrected along the way with writing. When they are young, they frequently need someone there right beside them constantly, correcting as they go. It is very age appropriate to have number and letter reversals at 6. :001_smile: My youngest child, who is just learning how to write her letters, loves to write on the whiteboard. I highly recommend this as an option when learning how to write letters correctly. Good luck!
  17. :iagree: I'm very happy with MM as is. I'm glad that I have the download for the future.
  18. We've been with Kaiser for over 12 years. We've had the same pediatrician for the past 10.5 years, and I love her. We have seen a few other pediatricians over the years when our doctor has not been available, and I have liked almost all of them (but in general, we are usually able to get in to see our own ped). I have had high risk pregnancies and felt that I received excellent care. For the most part, it has been convenient and has met most of our needs so far. Our plan is to continue with Kaiser if possible until our children are grown, and then we will re-evaluate based upon whether or not we feel our needs are being met as we age.
  19. My oldest DD got hers at 7, and she still "plays" with it now at 11. This is mostly changing clothes, doing her hair, etc.... We have friends with an older daughter who does the same. To answer one of the original questions as well, both girls have a Generation doll from Target, which they received as a gift at a younger age (5 maybe?). AG hair is MUCH nicer and easier to care for, but my DD enjoys spending the time to put the OG hair in braids, etc.. The Generation dolls get played with right along with the AG dolls and are well-loved by my kids, even if the hair isn't as nice. They're great for the price IMO.
  20. http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Stories-Guides-Childrens-Literature/dp/1593630778/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_3
  21. My 6th grader is actually have a very good year. She particularly enjoys Mapping the World by Art (McHenry), Exploration Education Science (Intermediate), and all of the literature that we read/discuss/etc... We read The Giver and Gathering Blue by the same author - she's working on a paper comparing the two books. She does not enjoy math or grammar (although she's good at both), but she never has, so that's not shocking to me. I'm sorry that the year isn't pleasant for you so far. I really do hope that it improves soon!
  22. Biggest Hits: McHenry's Mapping the World by Art Exploration Education Intermediate level science Draw Write Now My 4 year old is loving Get Ready for the Code, etc... Misses: Nothing has been a complete dud so far. I'm not sure if I will continue with WWE next year though as I'm not loving it (2nd year into it). My oldest didn't use it but is doing well with WWS this year.
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