My kids are constantly stealing my iPad. Dragon box, Shakespeare in Bits, Hands on Equations, Google, geography Bee by National Geographic, Ticket to Ride, reading their PDF textbooks... I cannot wait for the iPad mini to arrive, if it ever does.

Good luck!

Love it!

NOEO Chem 1 has lots of hands-on; one of the books is all experiments, and there are more in the other books as well, plus the YSC kits. You can always add in the outstanding Science Wiz kits (Chem, Chem+, DNA) for under $20 each (they have wonderful components, directions, easy to read explanations, and your supplies. You might need to supply a 9V battery, or 70% alcohol for the DNA kit, but they supply even things like squares of aluminum foil and feathers).

Again as a self-defense instructor, I would have to agree with this statement. Any type of smile or cutesy statement would be inappropriate. There is no need to try to laugh this off or be apologetic about the situation-- it is inappropriate, and it should be dealt with in a professional, no-nonsense manner. There is no way to be both flirty and unequivocally say "no" at the same time. Just say no.

It's good to know what you have on your hands with a gifted kid. Not for the sake of a label or bragging rights, but for 1) the sake of understanding, 2) glimpses into potential planning as you get to know her better as she grows and 3) if any life upheavals happen that result in school placement, documentation that can assist with placement in the gifted program with as little delay as possible is a good thing. 1) understanding. Gifted kids are not just regular kids who learn things earlier. They generally learn and process information differently, so particularly as an experienced parent, you may find that you might, or might not, get to recycle all of the curriculum you have used. Don't toss it yet, just be ready to have an open mind and really pay attention to her cues. Also, gifted intellectually can sometimes lead to faster maturity, but does not mean "all grown up," even when they talk like it. They can still sometimes enjoy the little kid cartoons, the fun little kid board games and the little kid rides at the amusement park. It can be easy to get sucked into forgetting how little they are if they are discussing Kirkegaard at age 5 or programming C++ games on the PC, but they are still little and like Elmo bandaids, sometimes. Keep your ears open. It's double jeopardy for you since it's a youngest, who will already want to keep up with what the older ones are doing. 2) Planning. Kind of doubles up with one a little. But there are other opportunities to consider. If you don't have passports, you might consider a passport or the card ID you can get instead. There are programs like the John's Hopkins CTY and the Davidson program, and many of these require kids to take bizarre tests like the SAT at an unusually young age-- and you then need some type of ID. Great if they're in public school and you can produce a class photo with names printed on it; more difficult if you homeschool. Passports are convenient. Many states will also issue a state ID card. Be flexible when planning curriculum. She may sail through math at the speed of light, then suddenly plateau out. This is pretty normal for a young kid working well above grade level. Think carefully about a young reader reading well above grade level-- content matters, though again, some gifted kids are also mentally more mature than their years-- but you should still choose carefully. If you try to hold back by providing unsatisfying reading material, she will find her own, which may be more eye-opening than you intended. Trust me, I was that kid. 3) There are good reasons why in some states, gifted kids qualify for an IEP, as special needs kids. They don't thrive in a normal classroom. What worked for your first two may not work for her. Or, as a homeschooler, and an experienced one, you may have the routine of figuring out how to meet her where she is down pretty well. But document everything and keep some records and samples, even if porfolios are not required in your state. If something unthinkable should happen and you were forced or chose to put her in school for any reason, you want backup for any academic choices you wish to make for her, whether that be grade skipping, entrance to advanced classes, or the gifted program, without any undue delay. A bored kid is a frustrated kid is a kid who really dislikes school and gets turned off to learning, even though she might have tremendous potential. At two, just about all kids crave learning; we are wired for it. Put a kid in a stultifying environment, and a kid as young as 9 or 10 will start to dislike learning and tune out. It sounds romantic and enlightened to eschew the label, but the label is there for a good reason. I have a son who is 2E-- he has learning disabilities AND he is gifted. If I did not respect both aspects of who he is and how he learns, he'd be frustrated even in a homeschool environment, guaranteed. Good luck :D. All of your kids have the potential to wow you. This one will just have her own unique way of keeping you on your toes!

You can find links to many of those places in that blog post I made. I try to make it easy for folks to find the stuff I am talking about.

If she misses, is it worse than before, or just like never having been on it? As in, do you think there is some kind of withdrawal effect? I ask, because I had always avoided fish oil/flax oil for DS, because although he is in a category of kids who could benefit from it, but one doc he has worked with hinted at "not yet published, but coming soon" studies she was privvy to that showed profoundly bad effects of fish oil on kids with seizure disorders, and she warned me not to give him any, and I had listened. Well . . . several years have gone by, and I have yet to see any such study actually reach publication, so my suspicious radar on the truth of that statement is kind of pinging, and I'm considering giving it a try after talking to his neurologist soon to check on interactions with his other issues/meds first (the neuro was not the doc who warned off of it). But I would want to know first if it's something that you can't leave once you start it.

If you have a Mac, you can try Olly. They will have an iPad app out soon, too.

The German worksheets line up really well with the program. The grammar has been in the program, but it is subtle, rather than explicit. For example, correctly using pronouns happens throughout the dialogues and in the examples, but the kids may not realize they are using pronouns and gender markers in the correct case, because they aren't directly thinking about it. They are just speaking it in response to hearing it over and over, and internalizing it (kind of the way native English speakers often don't have a clue about why something is "me" or "I" until they study it in a grammar class. As the kids will say, "You just know it sounds right." I have told my kids to go back and listen to several units a second time to try to deliberately spot patterns before attempting the worksheets (they are 8 and 11) and they can see that the grammar is, in fact, there; they just aren't being directly instructed in it. Instead, they are being steeped in it.

I used NOEO for my kids for chem last year, and we had an absolute blast (levels 1 and 2, for boys ages 7/8 and 10/11). About 1/4 or fewer of the experiments were in the Young Scientist Club kits, and they worked pretty well. The bulk of the experiments were in the recommended books, and they generally worked extremely well, and only involved very basic, easy to get items-- baking soda, vinegar, paper cups, soda, that kind of thing. You can see ahead of time what you will need for any given week and plan ahead; the schedule is very organized and well-laid out. I love the flexibility in the notebooking sheets-- you can write, draw, write and draw, copy definitions, or any combination of the above, and for labs, there are lab sheets for writing or drawing as well. You can mix & match as you wish. (and yes, some days I did let them just read and not fill out sheets). I did augment the program a little bit, but you can do just fine without feeling that you must do that. I added in the $20 Science WIz kits-- several experiments per kit, and very well put together, with very clear instructions (Chem, Chem+, DNA) and a few extra books, and another chemistry set, just because we are major science geeks. But like I said, it doesn't actually need the supplementation. We do also love the Happy Scientist website-- $20 for an annual subscription is well worth the price of admission. Or if you have an ipod or ipad, $6/month gets you full access to the entire library of BrainPop videos, which are pretty entertaining for the kids (and have post-video quizzes). The Happy Scientist has a couple of great unit studies on Rocks and Minerals that we had a ball with, as well as a great unit study on thinking like a scientist. I don't have experience with the Bio or Physics units, but I can definitely vouch for chem levels 1 & 2. As a former bench scientist who essentially did biochemistry for a living (as a research assistant doing human genetics, tissue culture, and other cool stuff) I was pleased with it. You can see photos of the kids working on some of the experiments by poking around in my blog.

Very well stated, Mathwonk. The only person who knows what the best choice of program for your child is, would be . . . you, and your children. I've watched too many people on these boards ditch programs that they and their kids were enjoying and doing well with just because something else became popular, new, and shiny. One should never switch curricula because of what "everyone else is doing." However, it does make sense to evaluate things side by side, to know what it is that you want out of a program, and see which program accomplishes your goals. Do you want to see more examples? Do you need something scripted? Do you want endless repetition because of a child's learning style (keeping in mind that there are plenty of free worksheet generators and online programs for that available as well)? Do you want programs that explain why things relate to one another? Do you want a program that shows things graphically, ore more abstractly? Do you want a program that is written to the student, or to the teacher? A homeschool specific program or a traditional school program? Do you want an applied focus (lots of applications for the type of math you are studying) or a program that just focuses on the math itself? Once you know more about what you want and what your child needs, figuring out the appropriate program for your family is much easier. I have a 9YO who is gifted in mathematical ability, but cannot process busy pages and colorful pictures and text mixed together very easily-- Beast Academy would be a complete nightmare for him. The two-color US-Edition Singpore, however, works very well, as does the black and white Life of Fred. Both programs focus on conceptual understanding, graphical manipulation, and abstract reasoning, but in a carefully constructed manner, which is perfect for him. DS11 likes to work independently in math, but check in with me now and then for a conversation. So he works primarily in Life of Fred, and for "conversation," I pull out an old copy of Dolciani and have him "teach" it to me. Those approaches would not work at all for another family. There is no "this one is best" answer for a math program. There are a handful that are known to be really good. There are kids who have done really well in some programs that get some bad press around here. The key is to match up your kids with the program that works well for them. But I still wouldn't put a super bright math enthusiast through Saxon-- as I said before, I read those books, and I just see mechanics; I don't feel the love for math coming through at all.

There is a history book out that claims the Native American children were quite pleased to be forced off to boarding schools, forced to give up their tribal cultures and forced to never speak their own languages in favor of English, and that they were, in fact, very grateful for being treated so well and taught to be "productive." I would call that 'revisionist history.' It bears little resemblance to what actually took place in the minds of the people involved (except for the conquering people) and is a rather sickening whitewashing (literally) of what really took place. That kind of re-writing of history to suit your own agenda, comfort, world view, etc, is precisely "revisionist history." (and no, I won't name the history program in question. I refuse to give it any publicity).

I refuse to answer, but I am just waiting for someone to start tabulating results of responses and correlating yea/nay according to number of children in the signature line :lol::lol::lol::lol:

They might also enjoy Life of Fred. We are a very strong math/science focused family, and my older son uses Fred now as his program and is thriving with it (he has finished Fractions through the Pre-Algebras and is half way through Algebra, though the physics book was only just published; we'll circle back and do that next year when we study physics). I have also read through the Saxon books, and would probably not choose them for very bright kids-- IMHO, too much drill, not enough love of math, and not enough conceptual understanding of why we do what we do and how numbers relate to each other and tell the stories that they do. Saxon is fine for the kind of student who just needs numbers to get a job done for them competently and no more.

I feel kind of guilty posting this again, but it at least a different board :) Here's a link to the blog I just posted on what we are doing for science this year-- I came up with a kind of hybrid for bio this year-- I lecture, they read and outline, they do labs, they do some independent reading, then they get a chance to research and read about something that grabbed them during all of that during the week, and present what they found to the rest of us. You could easily adapt this plan to any set of resource books, another subject, or another schedule; it isn't dependent upon any special setup. (that's the nutshell version; here's the blog, with an example of what an actual week looks like): Biology: Fostering Exploration in a Classical Model

Here is one idea for giving some more structure to science, without eating up all of your time. You could adapt I easily to a different branch of science or a different schedule, and use the books you have on hand; none of what is described here depends strictly upon a specific set of books or number of weeks. Your time input would focus on Monday discussion, Wednesday lab set up, and Friday listening to his presentation; the rest of the work would be his. My take on Fostering Exploration in the Classical Model of Sciences. That is my most recent blog post.

You could all be, with the addition of low muscle tone, describing my son. For us, getting a genetic test done and discovering he had a not-at-all-rare chromosomal arrangement (1/500 boys has an extra X or Y chromosome; mine has the extra X, which is the most common-- this is more common than Down's Syndrome) was a huge relief, because now we had an explanation of what was going on (not to mention, there are treatments, and we were in time to get them). expressive language disorder, speech delays, low muscle tone, difficulty writing (or dysgraphia, a more severe complication that not everyone has), executive function issues, auditory processing issues, sensory sensitivities, but still the capacity to be quite bright, in various combinations, are hallmarks of the possibility of an extra X chromosome. (note, i did say the possibility; lots of other stuff can make those things happen too, including someone just being on his own curve. However, having an extra X and not knowing it can delay critical treatment, and fewer than 25% of kids with this arrangement are identified during childhood at present time, because docs are not very good at catching it right now-- there is no physical "look" to them, though some have a slightly inward-bent joint on one or both pinkies).

I would wait for a separate time, and then professionally address it to let him know I was serious. I would not instigate any drama over the incident, but I would be very clear and firm-- I would say, "Although I am sure you meant nothing by that gesture, it made me uncomfortable. I need your assurance it will not be repeated." I would shake hands on the way out, thank him for his time, and let him know the matter was closed. Then I would confidentially document everything-- the incident, and the subsequent conversation, including exactly what was said, with dates and times, and keep it somewhere secure (preferably not on the worksite). Just in case. Assuming he took the conversation seriously, I would assume the matter to be closed and not go out of my way to give him the cold shoulder or treat him any differently. Okay, I just went back and read the rest of the thread. This guy does sound creepy. I would still do the above, but I would also be looking for another job in the meantime. I still disagree with the PP who have said they would instantly invoke violence over a butt slap. I teach self defense for women, and that is not a life-threatening situation; escalating the situation would not be in your best interest from a personal safety standpoint, particularly if this guy has a demeaning attitude towards women. Stay professional, and if he does not respond in kind, remove yourself from the situation and document the daylights out of all of it.

I wanted to start my son in Kindergarten at 4 1/2. He had already completed a private, fully accredited kindergarten program, because his preschool had said he was so bright that he was going to go crazy in another year of preschool, so we plopped him into Kindergarten, and he did well-- they told us he was pretty much in the head of the class (whatever that means, in kindergarten :lol: that he didn't eat the paste?? I think it meant he didn't struggle despite his young age, starting at 4 1/2). Anyway, ALL of our friends and family, and even unsolicited friends of family members told us we HAD to wait until he was 6 1/2 to start first grade, "to give him the gift of time" because he would be miserable in first grade, as he was sooooo little. Inexperienced parents, we listened to them instead of to ourselves. What a mistake that was. We placed him in Kindergarten at 5 1/2 instead of in first grade. We did NOT give him "the gift of time." We gave him the gift of stultifying boredom and senseless rules that, little rule-follower he was, he followed to the letter. As in, already a reader at a 3rd or 4th grade level, and an advanced speller, he was instructed to not worry about how to spell words, but to only spell words how they sound. He interpreted this to mean, don't spell words correctly any more, even if you know how to spell them. It was years before he began spelling correctly again, because his teacher, who of course knows all, told him not to. Do over again, I would put him in first grade.

A note on worrying about the tests: Give your kids a solid, classical education, give your kids fun books to read (like "You Wouldn't Want to be a...") don't worry about matching test content; the tests will take care of themselves. We have not done any 'social studies,' we have not begun any American History yet, and we are just starting biology (proper bio, not just "life science") this year for DS9 and 11. I gave them the Stanford 10 last year, and they blew it out of the water, even my special needs kid. Let your educational plan drive your days, and testing will take care of itself. What truly matters in testing is not any specific year anyway, but trends over time. Relax, breathe, plan. You will be okay.

Hugs to you. I had HELLP with both of mine, and was never able to have any more, so I feel your pain. Keeping fingers crossed.

I was told to cook chicken thighs, mix with rice and taurine. I was not given proportions, though.

For Biology this year, we structure our science weeks this way (we alternate science/math focus weeks with language/history focus weeks, so science can take two hours per day or more (if needed) during the appropriate weeks): Monday: group discussion/mom led lecture Tuesday: individually assigned readings and outlining Wednesday: lab Thursday: additional reading (no outlining; notes/pictures encouraged) Friday: Each child picks one idea or fact they learned during the week to find out more about. They may use our myriad in-house resources, the Internet, or our Friday library time. It does not need to be on the main topic. They make an outline, take notes, draw a picture, make a PowerPoint, do a project or start an additional experiment, and orally present their new information and why it was exciting to the rest of us. Example: (the kids, 9 and 11, have had chemistry already) this past week, we introduced classification... Kingdom, phylum, class, etc. in order to make classification make sense, I first discussed the idea of a cell, and introduced the most basic cell structures: cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus. I explained not every cell has each of these, and we would learn more later, but that these were important for today. Short discussion of each. Then discussion of classification and its usefulness (eg bacterial responsiveness to different classes of antibiotics, being able to organize lots of stuff, identifying species). DS9 completed an exercise online where he picked different organisms and walked down the classification system to see how closely related they were. DS11 started with more technical reading on the biochemistry of cell membranes before outlining the classification system. DS9 has to list the six major kingdoms. By Friday, they were both excited about their individual topics. DS11, who has been dreading "icky" biology for a year, could not wait to tell us all about cytoplasm. DS9 was bursting with information about the poison dart frog, one of the animals he had traced on Tuesday. On our 40-42 week school year, we may only hit 20-21 topics in this fashion. However, at ages 9 and 11, my goal is to get them excited and interested, and give them some depth about a broad base of topics in the field. I think this plan will achieve those goals, and we'll have a lot of fun along the way.

Casserole!