How long was the movie? I'm in Canada, so it'll no doubt be a few more days before I get mine.

This "cult" mindset is a big part of why I no longer call myself an unschooler. Not being able to question things without being told the problem is with you, the questioner, is the EXACT OPPOSITE of the mindset I want to support/instill in my children.

I've yet to use a curriculum the way it was intended; I constantly tweak. I used to wonder about this, and using curriculum at all (many of my friends don't) but came to the realization this year that I am a far better editor than I am a creator. Give me something to work from, and I adapt, spin, tweak, draw new connections, etc. etc. Give me a "blank slate", and I find it quite stressful. One of my latest adaptations has been with AAS. I'm not teaching the spelling rules in a "here's the rule; now let's memorize it" way; rather, I'm using "guided discovery" (Socratic questioning) so the boys are looking for patterns and discovering the rules together. It covers the same material, but for my kids, it's far more fun to brainstorm a list of "oy" and "oi" words, and then notice that "oy" is used at the end of the word, "oi" in the middle, than to to "told" that rule.

There are several in Peggy Kaye's book Games for Math. There are also good suggestions in Lynette Long's books. We've used both.

Bill, forgive me if this has been discussed--I haven't read through all the messages--but do you have a good reference/book/source on cuisinaire rod activities? I was asked in a PM the other day, but I don't have one. I've just been playing around with various math manipulatives for so long it's kind of second nature to me now. TIA! BTW, I _loved_ the Monkees spoof. How about doing one to the Beatles tune "Help" next: :tongue_smilie: When I was younger, so much younger than today, I never understood my maths, I needed help most everyday. But now those days are gone; I'm not student, I'm teacher, Now I find, I'm losing my mind, explaining number bonds and more. Help me if you can I'm feeling down.... (feel free to continue, revise, etc. :D)

Is it the one I linked here, from Lynette Long's Dealing With Addition? http://educatingrisa.com/2011/01/21/dealing-with-addition-math-game-part-2/

Homeschooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream, 2nd edition. The most detailed study of homeschooling I know. You can find the PDF link here (study is from 2007): http://www.fraserinstitute.org/research-news/display.aspx?id=13089

Pick the room that matters to YOU most for mental health and recharging. For me, in my old house this was the master bedroom; in our new place it's the family room with the view of nature / birds in the yard. Doesn't matter--it's about YOU. Clean that room. Declutter (stick stuff in boxes to deal with 'later' if you need to), but get that one space clean and decluttered. Now, s-l-o-w-l-y start working across the house. You can do one room at a time, you can go by chore (vacuum, picking up, windows, whatever) but start picking at the rest. I use a timer--it is amazing how much you can do in 15-20 minutes of focused, high-energy work. I also feel no guilt taking this short amount of time away from homeschooling or my kids, hubby, rest of life. Now--one caveat--you start that 15-20 minutes touching up your "recharging" room first. The idea is to have somewhere you can retreat to to (re)gain mental/emotional equilibrium whenever you need (and take at least a temporary break from "overwhelm"). Anyway, that's what works for me. Sanctuary space and a timer for the rest. Good luck!

Yes, you are correct.

You'll have to find the rhythm that works for you, but yes--playing games or reading living math books is totally legit as a "math lesson" sometimes. Here, we tend to do some sort of "worksheet math" (MUS, various things from CTC or that I bought on the Scholastic $1 PDF sale), and then do some kind of game/reading activity once done. (This also encourages my two not to dawdle, but work efficiently so we maximize time for the "fun math"). But some days we scrap the worksheets and just play. A couple other resources for you. xtramath.org is an online math practice site that adapts to your child's answers, giving him more practice on facts not yet mastered. It's basic 'drill and kill', but short (takes my kids 5-10 minutes to do, and we do not do it every day) and to the point, and being on a computer and clicking answers is a nice change of pace. You may also want to look into math DVDs (like Mathtacular in particular; Sonlight has had the cheapest price on these in the past) and/or CDs (lots at my library on skip counting, addition, multiplication, and more). We listen to them in the car. My kids really like one called Crazy 4 Math that blends in all kinds of history and science--I blogged about it here (scroll down a bit).

If he understands the concept of addition, move on. Keep practicing the facts and using them as you learn new things. Mastery will come. But expecting instant recall when the concept are understood is--IMNSHO--like not allowing a kid to read novels he is clearly ready for (as a fluent reader) because he can't instantly recall the 4 sounds the letter O makes. Not all kids learn math in an order that matches the curriculum; my oldest has mastered multiplication, but not addition yet. I've worked as a math teacher/tutor for much of my life, and can tell you that many kids need years of using math facts (in lots of different math contexts) to master them. Don't allow calculators, move on, play games and/or drill in other ways, and he'll likely be fine. Games from Peggy Kaye and Lynette Long, like this one, have been hits here. Or good old Addition War. I'd also suggest looking at some living math readers on the topic of addition. There's a helpful list here.

The Enormous Egg by Oliver Butterworth was loved by both my boys at that age.

It varies. Here's things we do to 'break up' the day: a true, go play for a while break gym (let's go do something physical--the Xbox is a sanity-saver in winter!) snack read aloud drawing / piano / typing or other "skill-based" activity. This is a helpful break between "content-based" learning, and vice versa. videos playing games (board, card, apps, etc.) baking / cooking household chores

Mine enjoyed many of the titles offered by farrarwilliams, along with Cam Jansen, Dinosaur Cove, and Franny K Stein series. The latter two are really hybrids between picture books and chapter books (lots of drawings on each page, but in chapter book format); Cam Jansen is a mystery series--harder than Nate the Great, but not as difficult as Encyclopedia Brown for an new reader.

We use: MUS blocks (a version of cuisinaire rods) Base 10 blocks tangrams geoboards dice money (real money--just pocket change put aside for a while) cards (remove face cards) dominoes a geometry set (compass, protractor, ruler, etc.) number chips/tokens, which we use for doing puzzles (see here) and more a teaching clock (Tomy owl clock, the red one) popsicle sticks (to make our own 'counting' type manipulatives) I will be adding some kind of fraction manipulative, and algebra manipulative shortly. I wouldn't worry about these until your child is older. As for order, if you follow a curriculum it will lay out an order, but I don't think it matters much as long as each step in the journey makes sense to your child. Being able to count by 5s will make learning both money and time easier, but which one you do first? -- Doesn't matter.