This suggestion is off-topic, as not having to do with the rods, but maybe helpful anyway? (I hope!) David M. Schwartz has several picture books dealing with large numbers that do a really nice job of helping kids grasp the concept of large numbers: How Much is a Million, On Beyond a Million, Millions to Measure, If You Made a Million...here's a link to the first one: http://www.amazon.com/Million-Anniversary-Edition-Reading-Rainbow/dp/0688099335/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y Sorry to go off on a tangent, but hoped it might help.

Dear RootAnn, I'm a bit late here, but maybe you are still looking for some fun things? Some time ago, Stripe mentioned the Living Library of Modern Mathematics (thanks, Stripe!); we used the three colour problem sets from the Nuffield Mathematics Project (in order of difficulty, it's Green, Purple, Red). At the time, I just copied the questions onto index cards for the kids and handed them a few cards when we wanted some problem-solving practice. (Maybe writing them on cards would be a bit of a pain for you? I didn't mind though--I don't like doing stuff on screens, either; also, this was free! Free is good.) There are solutions and various teaching notes included in each set. There are some really nice, thought-provoking problems in those sets; some are quickly done, some take more time, lots inspire further exploration. Also, you can easily mix up the order of them if there's a particular type of problem she likes. There are other things there, too, but we only tried the colour sets. Here's the link: http://ceure.buffalostate.edu/~dltl/NewMath/ (Hmm, not sure that's going to go right to where I want it to--click on 1960s, then on Nuffield, then on the "colour" problem sets.) Hope that helps! Edited to add this link to a bunch of websites with "problems of the week" sorts of things; we've tried some of these, too, and they're fun and offer a lot of variety: http://mathforum.org/pow/other.html Also, might she like some recreational math, like Martin Gardner, for instance? http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Gardner/e/B000AP8X8G

There are several other Attic Greek textbooks; I've only seen samples of these, but maybe some might work for younger learners? There's this one by Luschnig and Mitchell: http://books.google.ca/books/about/An_Introduction_to_Ancient_Greek_A_Liter.html?id=aKULU8vaD_IC&redir_esc=y This one by Shelmerdine: http://www.amazon.ca/Introduction-Greek-Cynthia-W-Shelmerdine/dp/1585101842 This one by Groton: http://focusbookstore.com/alphatoomega4e.aspx This one by Keller and Russell: http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300167719 There are also Mastronarde: http://www.amazon.ca/Introduction-Attic-Greek-Donald-Mastronarde/dp/0520275713/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391468267&sr=1-2&keywords=mastronarde+greek and Hansen & Quinn: http://www.amazon.ca/Greek-Intensive-Course-Hardy-Hansen/dp/0823216632/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391468319&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=hanson+quinn+greek and I'm sure some others I'm forgetting...Plus all of the oldies at Textkit and archived various places online. There are reviews of most, if not all, of these on the Bryn Mawr Classical Review site. PS If you really want to do Koine, Christophe Rico's Polis might be fun to look at, too. http://poliskoine.com/site/ I expect you already also know the other Homeric book, by Pharr: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1432533967 ETA: I knew I'd forget some! There's Rouse's First Greek Course, revised by Anne Mahoney: http://focusbookstore.com/firstgreekcourse.aspx And Crosby and Schaeffer: http://www.bolchazy.com/An-Introduction-to-Greek-P3348.aspx This one is designed for high school students (Taylor's Greek to GCSE):http://www.amazon.co.uk/Greek-GCSE-Part-John-Taylor/dp/1853996564 Another option is Seligson's book: http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Reading-Gerda-Seligson/dp/0472082663 There's another one whose name escapes me that has both Koine and Attic; I will come back with the link if I can think of the author's name!! Got it--Stephen Paine's Beginning Greek: http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Greek-A-Functional-Approach/dp/0195010132 I think that's all I know! Edited again--I remembered a couple more: Vernhes: http://books.google.ca/books?id=T1RHfgokAcYC&pg=PR20&lpg=PR20&dq=vernhes+greek&source=bl&ots=QeL5NsWhu1&sig=_4VsSk8Rp0_kO4czx1yxtpagIQU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=binwUuXLEZTFoASU0IHADg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=vernhes%20greek&f=false and the volume from the Teach Yourself series: http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Ancient-Greek-Gavin/dp/0658021397 I think that really is all I know now!

I like this one, by Chakerian, Crabill, & Stein: http://www.morton-pub.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=98 (Chakerian and Stein were math profs at UC Davis, I believe.) I like other ones, too: we also have the James Tanton book and Jacobs (first edition), both also good (although I myself like the Tanton more as a source of cool problems, and would rather use one of the others for a primary text). Lots of possibilities in this thread! Hope you find something you both like.

You might look at MEP (at least you wouldn't have to buy anything new!). Negative numbers are in 7B (chapter 15); exponents are in 9A (chapter 3).

Another thing that occurs to me is to have a look at some books intended for adult writers--possibly not now, but in two, three, four years, perhaps? Something like this: Ursula LeGuin, Steering the Craft: http://www.amazon.ca/Steering-Craft-Exercises-Discussions-Navigator/dp/0933377460/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390619453&sr=1-1&keywords=ursula+le+guin+steering This book deals with fiction, but there are undoubtedly similar books concerning literary nonfiction (and poetry, and drama, etc.) aimed at an adult audience, parts of which might possibly be used profitably by a teen.

Lots of workbooks here: https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/Student/books (Laura recommended some of the writing workbooks once, as I recall.) We've used a few; they're cheap and cheerful.

That's magical. She has a real gift, as you say. If it were my child (and she's not, I do realise!), I would be hesitant to mess too much with the gift by having her do anything too formulaic (and I am unfamiliar with all of the resources mentioned earlier in the thread, so I am not commenting specifically on those). I think programmes that would nurture that gift and let it grow organically might be worth trying to find. Have you seen any of these? Ralph Fletcher's writing books, Patricia Zaballos's blog, the Don't Forget to Write books, Spilling Ink? Maybe Bravewriter or Michael Clay Thompson? Oh, and the wonderful, wonderful Kenneth Koch books on poetry? (I'll come back and add links in a minute...) Thank her for me; reading her piece was one of the highlights of my day today. http://ralphfletcher.com/rf/ http://patriciazaballos.com/category/writing/ http://www.826national.org/826store/451/ http://www.spillinginkthebook.com/ http://www.amazon.com/Wishes-Lies-Dreams-Teaching-Children/dp/0060955090 http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Where-Did-You-That/dp/0679724710/ref=pd_sim_b_1#_ http://www.rfwp.com/pages/michael-clay-thompson/ http://www.bravewriter.com/ ETA another favourite: Marjorie Frank, "If You're Trying to Teach Kids to Write, You've Gotta Have This Book!" (the first edition is less "schooly" than the revised edition) Thought of one more!: Sarah Ellis's "From Reader to Writer" http://www.amazon.ca/From-reader-writer-Teaching-childrens/dp/0888994400

Here are a couple more hands-on ideas: TOPS Math Lab: http://topscience.org/books/math07.html#Activity Cuisenaire Rod Problem-Solving puzzles: http://www.hand2mind.com/catalog/product?deptId=MIDDLESCHOOLRESOURCE&d0=MATH&d1=MIDDLESCHOOLRESOURCE&d2=40251&prodId=40251 Your girls are crafty, aren't they? (It seems to me that I've seen some cute projects on your blog.) Do you think she would like some sort of quilting math books? There are quite a few of those sorts of resources out there--also some origami and math books. I know that those don't really address arithmetic issues, but it might make a nice break and/or confidence-builder once in a while. I can dig around in my links if that has any appeal.

Hi, Cyndi, Some ideas for things that might possibly be worth looking at (I am only familiar with the first two, but thought I'd throw in a couple of other Google results, too): JUMP math http://www.jumpmath.org/cms/ Key To... series http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/cms_content?page=1181118&sp=102656&event=1016DPL I haven't seen these, but Walch has some life skills math resources: http://walch.com/alternative-and-special-education-text-books/ I haven't seen these either; Saddleback Educational Publishing: http://www.sdlback.com/search/?hsr=1&CAT=A&CAT=G&CAT=26&CAT=32&M=32.1

Connie, I don't know if this would work for the universities you are considering or not, but I have read that Sarah Rainsberger suggests taking a few courses from Athabasca and then applying as a transfer student to your university of choice; maybe, possibly, an Option 4? They appear to have articulation agreements all over the place; they also have open admissions from age 16 up, so that looks on the face of it like a decent possibility, but I haven't looked into all the potential ins and outs of it yet. I'm Canadian, but not in Ontario, so am not quite sure what specific barriers you might be facing there (I haven't even looked closely into those in my own province yet!). My homeschooling friends on the prairies all sent their kids to school for grade 12, which I'd prefer to avoid as well. Can private candidates in Canada write GCSEs and A-levels?? Option 5???

I was looking for something else and happened across this and thought of you: http://www.amazon.com/Math-Masterpieces-Grades-Gunter-Schymkiw/dp/1583242368/ref=pd_sim_b_45 There are several other interesting possibilities in the "customers also bought" list below.

Alan Cumyn, The Secret Life of Owen Skye (and the two sequels). Tim Wynne-Jones, Rex Zero series. Howard Whitehouse, The Strictest School in the World, The Faceless Fiend, The Island of Mad Scientists. John Fardell, Seven Professors of the Far North, Flight of the Silver Turtle, Secret of the Black Moon Moth. Polly Horvath, The Pepins and their Problems, The Trolls, Everything on a Waffle, Mr and Mrs Bunny Detectives Extraordinaire...etc. Noel Langley, Land of Green Ginger Iain Lawrence, The Seance Rachna Gilmore, That Boy Red ETA a couple of suggestions from a junior member of the household: Alan Snow's Ratbridge Chronicles and Kaye Umansky's books (The Silver Spoon of Solomon Snow et al.).

The Virtual Museum of Canada has a huge list of lesson plans and learning resources tied to the online offerings of dozens of different museums (several art-related ones): http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/edu/Directory.do?method=getAll&lang=en Maybe something there? This is a fun thread!

Just a couple of links to go along with Martha's excellent suggestion about art gallery websites; it looks as though there are lots of lesson plans out there! http://www.metmuseum.org/learn/for-educators/lesson-plans-and-pre-visit-guides/science-and-the-art-of-the-islamic-world http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/learning/teachers-and-schools/teaching-english-and-drama/ http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/index.html http://www.louvre.fr/en/minisite

What an interesting idea, Kim! Here are a couple of ideas: Math and Art books: http://mathartfun.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/index.html ; http://www.tarquingroup.com/tabs/books.php?main=Books&sub=Art History and Art books: Exploring History through Art series ( Knights & Castles by Alex Martin, The Trail West by Ellen Galford, Transportation by Land Sea & Air by Ellen Galford). Art and Poetry: Talking to the Sun, edited by Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell. Music and Art: Metropolitan Museum songbooks (ed. Dan Fox, Go In and Out the Window, Lullabies, A Treasury of Children's Songs). Logic and Art (maybe??): Anna Nilsen books (Art Fraud Detective, Art Auction Mystery, etc.). There must be other things, but that's just what I can see on the shelves from here right now. I'll be watching this thread with interest, too.

Primo Levi's The Periodic Table is a wonderful book.

Seconding this...I love your blog, Cyndi! Your family sounds so sweet--all the best to all of you.

If you like Jane Nissen books and the NYRB children's collection (as do we), you might also like Faber Finds and Red Fox Classics.

The Chakerian/Crabill/Stein Geometry: A Guided Inquiry is an excellent book with very straightforward explanations; there are lots of good mastery exercises at the ends of sections, as well as some very challenging problems in the projects segments. It is not in any way "basic," and I think it might be interesting for you to have a look at that one. It is still in print, published by Morton. We have also used the first edition of the Jacobs book (ordered from abebooks) and James Tanton's Geometry (available at Lulu), which are very good books, too. The Chakerian, etc., book is my favourite one, though. I hope that helps!

I had a couple of other ideas overnight... Do you think she would like the Murderous Maths books, Cmm? Those are just a supplement, of course, but they are a lot of fun, and there is a lot of good math in them. http://www.murderousmaths.co.uk/ http://www.horriblebooks.com/ is one US site for ordering those. For after fractions, decimals and percents, have you looked at the Jousting Armadillos series? I haven't used them, but a few people on the logic board are using them currently (there are some good threads from users over there), and they sound quite interesting. There are generous samples on their website: http://www.arborcenterforteaching.org/publications/books/jousting-armadillos/ Hope you find something you both like!

Cmm, I wonder if this sort of book would be useful? http://www.ams.org/bookstore?fn=20&arg1=mathed&ikey=MCL-10 I've only seen the sample, but it looks as though it might help you have at your fingertips those answers as to why something works. Similarly the second and third volumes of Kitchen Table Math (available at the AoPS site) might do the same sort of thing for you. Somebody I like a lot is James Tanton; the table of contents for his Learning to Think is here: http://www.jamestanton.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/exp_0_toc_lulu-20092.pdf His home page is here: http://www.jamestanton.com/ There are also lots of excellent videos linked from his site. I think it's wonderful how you and and she have dived into this with both feet! I think maybe you have a budding math-lover on your hands after all!

Slightly off-topic, but those of you who are concerned about binders and paper size and so on might be interested in ordering the printed MEP workbooks from CIMT. Here's the order form: http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/ordform.pdf They're not free, but they are quite cheap at 3 pounds each, and shipping is not too bad at all to North America (you have to contact them for a shipping quote). Not sure if that will help anybody, but I hope so!

nm

Do you know Sally Gardner's books? She has two French Revolution novels for young readers, The Red Necklace and The Silver Blade: http://www.sallygardner.net/books/red-necklace-silver-blade/ . We've not read those, but have read a couple of her others, and she is a very good writer indeed. Maybe worth a look? Is he interested in the Jacobite Rising? Rosemary Sutcliff wrote Bonnie Dundee and Flame-Coloured Taffeta (there may be others, she was so prolific, but those two are on our shelves).