Sept 3 - after vacation and labor day when their friends go back. CB

I have the NEM books and would have no problem teaching them but there is very little instructio in the book, more just pages of problems so there would be no self learning or self review. I love the NEM problems and kept the books to supplement with however NEM does not provide lists of theorems and postulates for algebra and do "proofs or show tha this equals this" which I think is really improtant in algebra. They also don't follow the traditional high school math sequence so you would have to watch out if public school is in your future or SAT's etc. Finally the layout of the books is absolutely unispiring - no color, no blocks, little indentation. Its hard to pick thinks out or distinguish 1 page from the next. I really do like it the problems though. CoffeeBean

CWP are tough sometimes, you see people posting questions about specific problems here all the time. You could always post a problem here and ask for help. I think Jacob's website might have help too? It has lots of extras for geometry. CoffeeBean

MY kids read multple books at one time too. I however can't (tetbooks not included). Maybe we need a c;ub. Mothers who only/..... CoffeeBEan

Anybody going into any science major in college should have 1 year each of biology, chemistry and physics. The other year of science could be just about anything but should be a lab course (could be 9th grade earth science or AP bio or high school level anatomy & physiology for example). Vet school, like med school is graduate school and people go into it from all sorts of undergraduate majors. Your child should find a college with a program they are interested in and look at their entrance requirements. Coffee Bean

I'd finish were you left off. Otherwise you'll miss things. Used to be 1 book for 2 years, so I wouldn't worry about getting behind. Coffee Bean

Its cheaper than piano lessons, swimming lessons, etc. I don't think you have to do it for eery week of the year - just like swimming. You get the basics and then practice on your own until you need to get more pointers. CoffeeBean

We went in the morning for the core subjects and afternoons for music,art, foreign language projects etc. COffeeBean

The Story of Science by Hakim - its both history and science (3 volumes) CoffeeBean

Mansa Musa by burns is a biography - its a beautiful book CoffeeBean

I think the phrase was coined by CT Governor who read the aforementioned book and want all CT kids to get outdoors and play. I think they have increased budgets for nature centers and such and it pretty much ended there. CoffeeBean

Singapore math 1a-6b CoffeeBean

Concepts and Connections is what our public school uses for 9-10 grade accelerated Bology. Biology is the book for AP bio. CC is definetely doable in 9th grade. I love these books. CoffeeBean

I don't think I'd do challenging word progblems with a kid who is struggling. I'd stick with singapore since she likes it and supplement with MUS or Saxon. My kids thought MUS was babyish too. Saxon is a lot of staright forward practice. If you can find the right level and combine it with singapore they would provide the practice. However, fun drills on the computer or one of those hand helds from walmart you can do on car trips really makes doing math facts doable. CoffeeBean

We loved the Broken BLade by Durbin(?). Its historical fiction abour Voyageurs. It was something my son, then 8, could relate to instead of "girl" stories. CoffeeBean

I did all sinapore 1a-6b and always used the Challenging word problems a year behind the textbook. The bar method, I believe starts in 3. I'd try 4 .The bar method is simply to get someone thinking algebraically without having algebra. If they've had algebra they can solve those problems without the bar method. It sort of takes the icing off the cake but a solution is a solution. By the way, the books aren't really boring, I liked trying to solve them without algebra just to see if I could do it so don't worry about it being too baby-ish. CoffeeBean

I used the Challenging Word Problems, a year behind where we were in the text. They are just as they sound, hard word problems like the ones in the workbook and then some. They cover the same topics as the corresponding text for those that mastered the material and want a bigger challenge. The intesive practice is more of the same practice as the workbook for someone who hasn't picked the material up yet and needs more practice. The singapore website has descriptions too. CoffeeBean

I'd go for it. I think I learned amd retained more from The Great Little Madison and Traitor by Jean Fritz then I did from any spine. Give us a list of great bios when you all done! CoffeeBean

We never used the extra material - just STOW book, library books for fiction and nonfiction, some vidoes They never took a test but we talked about the material. They are middle schoool aged and seem to have reatined more than I did. We did occasional projects which they usually came up with (sometinhg they saw and asked to do) and we kept a timeline. I won't force they to do worksheets for history anymore than I would force tham to do worksheets for math. If they get it, they get and you can move on. Have Fun CoffeeBean

I second Voice of the People by Betsy Maestro - looks like a picutre book but full of info, especially charts at the back. I used it with my upper elementary kids. CoffeeBean

In 1st through 6th I tried to read everything first, in the spring or summer before when I was planning the year out. It got to be a prety big chore when the kids hit abput 4th grade and in all honesty I ended up doing History if US along with them but did read all the historical fiction and some I didn't use. Then we all just learn toegether. I'm sure they will learn things I don't know before their education is done. That really is the goal, to have a better education than I had and to find their passion and run with it. CoffeeBean

Children of the Great Depression by Russel Freedman is a book of photographs of kids during the depression. I love his books. My 8 & 10 year olds looked at it. I don't remeber anything in their that would upset a 6 year old but just preview it first. CoffeBean

I'm older than the above but had algebra, geometry, algebra with trigonmetry (=precalc), and then calculus each of which is 1 year long. After Calculus, (I'm an engineer( their was another semester of calculus in college, and then differential equations. I'm not sure what algebra 2 is these days.I think they split up what is in Dolciani's Modern algebra Structure and method 1. I have Dolciani's Modern algebra books from the 70's and Structure and method 2 is the same as modern precalculus books with the exception that it doesn't have as much graphing (no graphing calcultors then). Tigonometry is defintely in precalculus, you need geometry before you attempt it. You will get the definitions of sines & cosines in geometery and then use them to solve all sorts of problems in precalculus.

Lots of other fun stuff for my language loving daughter as well CoffeeBEan

I would think you'll be fine without it. CoffeeBean