I think you've received great advice above. But it's important to remember there's no perfect curriculum. I love the math we use, but it's pretty teacher intensive and I have to tweak it in certain areas. Grammar is okay, but I don't want to switch mid-year. I read about great history curriculum and contemplate switching. Science was on the fly, which didn't work and I found a formal program. So, I continually tweak through the year. Even my friends who are in their second decade of homeschooling change their selections. But they really try to make a curriculum work before hopping.

I recommend you slow the math down. I found my ds was struggling with the way math was presented in the SM style (he too came from a school using Everyday Math). The word problems can be particularly tricky since they can really challenge the child's brain. As an adult, I sometimes have trouble with them! I talked to him about what was expected, but it never seemed to click. I stopped teaching lessons for a week or so and worked on his presentation skills. I gave him one to three word problems of material he knew, required he write neatly, show his work, and box the answer. We did one problem together as an example and then he was sent off to do complete the work. After he finished, I checked his work. If it wasn't to the above specifications (I gave a little leeway on boxing the answer), I erased it and made him rework the problem. This led to HUGE fits for a week. During this whole time, I explained to him that I need to see his thought process. If the answer's wrong, I don't know if it's because he doesn't understand the problem or if he doesn't know his math facts. I can't peer into his head and see him thinking so he has to show me on the paper. I wasn't doing it to be mean or cruel or whatever invective he decided to hurl at me during that time period. It was really tough on both of us. But it worked. After that week, he started showing his work. Even for easy problems, he shows the equation and boxes the answer. He needs occassional reminders, but shows his work. SM encourages a child to explore math and it can be a struggle for kids who've been taught in PS "one right way" to do a problem. It can also be a struggle for children confronted with the myriad of ways to find a problem's solution. Give your dd time to adjust to the SM way of doing math. One thing I've learned from the boards, your child's education is a marathon, not a sprint. If it doesn't work, I think the other posters have given you suggestions for other curriculum that would work as well.

I went through and circled the questions I wanted answered, usually the more "tricky" problems. But we skipped a lot and did only a few reviews for 2A and 2B. We drilled facts separately.

C-Rods Click on the link

I was just getting ready to post this same thread! My child understood simple addition (1+ and 2+) equations, but was getting frustrated with anything higher. Counting on wasn't helping, either. We bought the c-rods and her comprehension has taken a great leap. The minimum set you should buy is 155. I got the smaller set at first and quickly hit its limits. Based on forum's numerous discussions of c-rods, I structure the lesson like so: "Take the light green 3 and the yellow 5 and put them together. What rod is the same as the light green 3 and the yellow 5?" Child pulls out the brown rod and places them on top of the 3 and 5 to compare length. We call this making a train. "Very good. The light green 3 and the yellow 5 together are the same as the brown 8. 3 and 5 make 8 or 3 + 5 equals 8." I always make sure to say the color and the number so the child maintains the association. As an aside, my child likes to make lots of noise, so whenever she makes a train, she says, "Chooo chooo!" with great relish. This wouldn't work so well with my eldest, but my dd enjoys it. Big thank you to SpyCar and all the others promoting this manipulative.

We are studying the states. I orginally purchased Cantering the Country, but I cannot recommend it. The information was incomplete, the books suggested were often unavailable, and the structure was more unit study than geography. So I did the following: * Purchased a Rand McNally Kids Road Atlas for the states. $3.95 * Purchased a globe: $15 at Target (don't spend a lot of money as they break easily) * Print out black line map for the world * Print out black line map for the United States * Print out black line maps for all the states We do history mapwork once a week and state geography mapwork once a week: * After reading history, we pull out the globe and talk about the countries we studied last week and the countries we are studying this week. We look at the city we live in and trace along the globe to the countries we're studying, pointing out major oceans or continents we're flying over. Time: 5-10 minutes * If it's the country is on a new continent, we outline the continental area on a world map and label it LARGE letters to distinguish from the smaller countries. We also label the adjacent oceans and ocassionally large mountain ranges. Time: 10-15 minutes * After our formal state study, we pull out the US map and color the state we are studying. The kids started at Maine and are working their way south, then west. We review the US states by pointing at the colored states and reciting the name. Time: 5 minutes * We then pull out the state's black line map and the road atlas. We label the capital and major US cities. I also like to add other items labeled in the atlas, like major rivers, oceans, bays, and land masses (5-10 items max), but I don't think this is necessary. My kids just like doing it. Time: 15-20 minutes So twice a week, we spend 15 to 20 minutes on map work. The description sounds like a lot of work, but I'm adding a lot of detail. What makes it easy is I printed out all the maps before school started and put them in order of when we'll study (see below). My kids' papers are sorted in weekly manila folders, so I just pull out the map as part of their weekly work. The US map and world map are carried over week to week and orally reviewed, but the state maps go into a binder with their other completed school work. We occasionally pull it out and look at the pages. My youngest just colors the maps and participates in discussions. She likes pointing out major waterways, which is why we added labeling rivers. Order of state mapwork: Northeast Region: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachussetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut Mid-Atlantic Region: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C. Southern Region: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana Midwest Region: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas Southwest Region: Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona Rockies Region: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Nevada Pacific Coast: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii Sorry to be so long winded, but given the resources available, I don't think you need to purchase a formal curriculum unless you are interested in pursuing a unit study approach. If it's strictly geography study, an atlas, a globe, and free blackline maps are all you need.

Khan Academy! Very helpful and gives tips on ways to balance without getting into endless fine-tuning of the equation.

:iagree: My son used EM in PS and it's not a SM program. I think you should go back a grade level; anymore and she might get bored. Take your time, use the HIG, and play the games. There's no need to rush through the year. Once you get her confidence up, she can pick up her pace. Are there areas you've identified as weak? I would concentrate on those areas separate from the daily lesson. Again, play games, look for patterns, find different activities to do with math. Here's hoping you get lots of good advice from this thread. My children are younger, but I saw my oldest struggle with math daily in PS and he has great math sense. We went back to the beginning of the year prior and flew through the books. It really built him up and helped him view math the SM way.

I've been watching his chemistry lessons and I love the way he teaches. Perhaps, I need to brush up on my calculus.

That's a lot of money for a ring! My father's parents didn't buy him a class ring so he felt strongly I should have one. I got the cheapest one and I haven't worn it since graduating. If your dd is going to college, she probably won't wear the ring very long. I purchased a college ring, because my university has a very distinctive style and former students identify each other with the ring. An alternative would be a real ring. she would always know it is her "class" ring but it wouldn't be so dated. My parents gave me a birthstone ring my senior year. It wasn't anything fancy, but I treasured it. I even had the stones mounted in my wedding ring. It might help as an alternative suggestion.

We started doing as CWP as a daily challenge. It's on level but helps ds to think through multi-step problems. There aren't many problems for each subject so the daily review is nice.

For information about gaps and for the future. In case he goes back to public school, test scores are a straightforward answer to questions regarding his abilities. Like other commenters, I don't sweat gaps in science or social studies. We study these on our own time table. If your child plans on college, they will need to take at least one standardized test. Taking a test once a year gets them used to the process. My children are in elementary school so I don't test for anything else. Once they have concept, we move on and don't take time out of schooling to adminster a test. As they move out of the grammar stage, I plan on adminstering more tests, but not the fill-in-the-bubbles. College will have short answer and essay tests so I want my children to be used to responding in this manner.

Here are my comments. Humanist Ideals in Machiavelli’s The Prince In the Renaissance period, many changes in religion and beliefs were taking place. A new belief system called Humanism was gaining prominence. Renaissance Humanism can be defined simply as the belief that man, not God, holds power over humans’ everyday affairs. Humanists believed that the intellectual and artistic abilities of humanity were incredibly important. [more important than what? after life, spiritual growth, moral edification?] Thus, knowledge became synonymous with popularity and power. [is is it that knowledge was synonymous or that knowledge led to] One man demonstrating the values of Humanism was Niccolo Machiavelli, author of The Prince. [i would reword this sentence for clarity: Was Machiavelli demonstrating Humanist ideals or writing about them? The Prince isn't about Machiavelli; it outlines a philosophy for a leader to follow to gain and hold power.] Machiavelli believed the arts to be exceedingly important for the city as a whole. He wrote that, "A prince must… honor those who excel in every art. Moreover he must encourage his citizens to follow their callings…whether in commerce, or agriculture, or any other trade that men follow... [The prince] should offer rewards to whoever does these things, and to whoever seeks in any way to improve his city or state." This fits with the Humanist idea that the arts and intelligence in general are important to demonstrate a high level of advancement in society. [The quote is too long for the paragraph. It should be pulled out as a block quote or summarized. Since there are only three sentences (Topic, Quote, Conclusion), I would recommend more for this paragraph. Why were tradesmen and artists important? Is it because they have great influence in society?] One largely Humanist ideal Machiavelli showed in his works was the recurring stress on the importance of popularity, specifically as a tool to gain power. He stated not only that, “…above all a prince must endeavor in every action to obtain fame for being great and excellent,†but also that “…he ought to pay attention to all these groups, mingle with them from time to time and give them an example of his humanity and munificence, always upholding, however, the majesty of his dignity, which must never be allowed to fail in anything whatever.†Machiavelli seems to believe that fame and power are among the most important things in life, and that relationships are simply the stepping stones to these accomplishments. [Again, the quotes take up a substantial portion of this paragraph. Paraphrase the last quote and analyze it. Why was mingling important? What did he gain from popularity? How did this support the Humanist ideal? Did it help the leader control his own fate?] Possibly the most notably Humanist concept in Machiavelli’s The Prince was that “the end justifies the means.†While Machiavelli never said that exact statement, some of his content seems to lean toward this idea. For example, with his statement, “…a prince wishing to keep his state is very often forced to do evil…†he appears to condone evil works, as long as the prince is able to keep his state! This is clearly an example of Humanism, as in these circumstances, man is trying to maintain control at any cost and rejects the will of God. [i would add clarification re: "ends justifies..." making it clear it's a trope and not a direct quote. This is probably the best paragraph of the three. There's an opening, a supporting quote, analysis, and then a closing statement.] Machiavelli felt that knowledge and creativity were important because they enabled a man to gain recognition for his accomplishments. With the “right†relationships, a man could rise to power [The previous sentence makes it clear "right" is Machiavelli's opinion, not the author's; no need to add quotation marks]. A leader’s power must be maintained and his status increased whatever the cost. To Machiavelli, a man was in command of his own destiny--he could attain greatness through his own efforts. [i think this conclusion is fine. The sentences tie into the previous paragraphs (knowledge, popularity, determination) and it's a good closing.] [Overall, I believe it's a good essay. The voice comes through, there's variety in sentence structure and word usage, and quotes are used to support the theme. Add a bit more analysis to the supporting quotes, and it should be complete.]

I'm sure as others have said, IMHO it goes downhill in book 4 and 5. Enjoy the first three though!

So true! I always approach the situation as, "I don't know what happened but I wanted you to know." For example, my daughter and a friend were caught in a neighbor's backyard, which has a pool. They claimed the neighbor's child let them in the yard. I told the parents my child was in the backyard and we have talked to her about not going back there (dangerous, wrong, etc.) THEN, I mention my child's claim with the caveat that I don't know what happened but I wanted to keep you informed. if my child was texting in appropriately, I would want to know. Since the OP doesn't know the full story, she should only say what she discovered and that she's talked to her own child about it. Kids that age say nasty things to each other, but children need to know this behavior is dangerous and could get them in trouble.

I'd agree with the Standards HIG, textbook, and workbook. I used to buy the Extra Practice and Tests, but found I didn't need them. I either find other resources if my children needed additional practice or make up my own problems. I wouldn't worry about Intensive Practice or Challenging Word Problems. Most people use these a year behind their child's current math level and at first grade, your child should be focused on mastery of the first level.

I don't believe college is all about the "experience." Perhaps if the child is at a top-twenty university AND graduates with excellent marks, there might be an argument for the experience. But the vast majority of college graduates are from state university or lower tier/small LACs with little name recognition. Having lived in many different parts of the US, I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say, "Such-and-Such college is so prestigious" and I felt certain very few people outside the region would have heard of it. I went to one of the largest undergraduate schools in the US and had educated people outside the region claim they had never heard of it. College is about getting a job. If you don't believe college is about gainful employment, send your child backpacking through a few countries for four years. It would cost about as much and your child would experience far more. I know anecdotal evidence doesn't mean squat, but I have a close friend who wants to be a writer. Several friends, including myself, recommended she take English courses, but get a double degree, with an emphasis on computing. She was and is good at computers. She chose to get an English degree and pursue her passion. For two years after graduation, she couldn't get a full-time job. Finally, she found a job: in computing. She acknowledged last year she should have studied computing in college. I don't know if I would restrict my child's degree choice. Right now, I know I would struggle with the decision if my child pursued a liberal arts degree without certification or post-graduate plans. Perhaps when the time comes, I'll mellow. However, I would counsel them to talk to people with jobs in their chosen major and make sure they are completely aware of the ease or difficulty in getting a job. My husband and I worked all through high school and college and I think it gave us more clarity on the working world. I would encourage my child to start working in their field in high school and through college, then decide if it is a viable career path for them. One final note and I'll get off my soap box. University is not the end of your child's education. If it's a good university, it would be a great enhancement. But your child will probably have forty, fifty, sixty and perhaps even more years to pursue knowledge and follow their dreams. As an added bonus, if you have a job, you have greater means to support your passion.

Going to PS doesn't prep you for the SAT. Even if the school offers a prep course, it takes initiative on the student's part to learn the test. I studied several SAT prep books in my own. For math, it's helpful to remember all the trig and geometry formulas. For the verbal, there are certain "tells" that make answers easier. Of course, there are diminishing returns so I wouldn't recommend taking the exam more than twice. For what it's worth, I was a National Merit Scholar so I speak from experience. A great many students I considered smarter than me didn't get near my scores because they assumed they knew the material.

What Sahamamama said! I set up a classical curriculum, but I'm pretty relaxed day to day. The three R's are the most critical subjects, and we take the time to pursue other interests.

Very much as my parents raised me except my mother was the breadwinner and I'm a SAHM. However, my impression of my parents is different from my siblings. Being the middle child, I got the best of my parents. The eldest had a very strict set of rules; the youngest could get away with anything (and did). My parents were just right for me.

For bedding mulch, I prefer shredded hardwood. It breaks down into the soil. Where I've mulched consistently, my beds have the best soil. Pine needles don't break down as quickly. I would use slate or brick (whatever your preference) for paths and sitting areas. Barefoot walking on mulch or pine needles leads to splinters. Slate is more expensive but will probably shift less over time than brick.

I was wondering this as well. We were invited to join a geography coop and I didn't see the point other than an opportunity to socialize with other families.

I absolutely agree! If someone on this board were to call their own child these profane names, even if spoken in a loving tone, I think a vast majority would agree it's verbal abuse. Words aren't just words.

If the family is Hispanic, its el-LEE-us. One of my best childhood friends is of Argentinian descent and he hates it when people pronounce his name wrong. I've met a couple Hispanic Eliases and they have always commented on the fact I pronounce the name right. I would take the cue from the person.

Thanks for sharing your story. It is so uplifting.