I am interested as well. My husband works in CH during the week.

Hi everybody, its me, the OP. back again, I just wanted to thank everyone who weighed in and expressed their opinion, but particularly those who offered sisterly, constructive advice. :grouphug: . It could be that God does not want this particular curriculum for my child and he is giving me this visceral feeling in order to deter me (not others, but me). For others out there, the materials may be completely neutral and that is great. Several of my daughter's beloved teenage and young adult German cousins, and quite a few people in the part of Germany where we live, are pretty deep into the hard rock scene (with associated dragon, demon, skull, Baphomet, etc. imagery). They go to Wacken every year http://www.wacken.com/en/, a heavy metal open air concert that bills itself as "Louder Than Hell". Perhaps for my daughter, this relatively innocent imagery in BA would be a gateway to that dark scene and that is why the Lord wants us to avoid using it. I'm going with the Lord's guidance for me on this one. I am happy that the overwhelming majority of you do not have a conflict with the materials. I wish I could use them with a clear conscience, because the teaching looks great. I will be going back to Singapore Math and check out CLE and math apps (I just received an Ipad for the first time today :laugh: !) Best regards, Frechesmaedl

Hello Everybody, Thank you very much for your very thoughtful and insightful answers! I really appreciate it! :thumbup: I am glad that you all chose to discuss this with me in a serious manner and given me a great deal of useful food for thought. I have had a hard week, without much sleep due to an ill child. So maybe I need to have a rethink and perhaps order one of the books so that I can have a better look at the curriculum. I spoke to a Christian friend of mine and she said that the actions and intents of the BA characters should carry more weight than their appearance and their name. This is pretty much what most of you have said as well. I also take the point that one can find anything on the internet if they look hard enough and perhaps that is just what I have done. I will update this thread when I have more data! Thanks again!!!

Thank you all very much!!!

Thank you for your respectful responses! :001_smile:

Is there anyone else who is disturbed by Beast Academy and its satanic connotations? I remember when it came out and how much praise it received. The name was a bit perturbing - Beast Academy - hmmm, sounds familiar...mark of the beast in Revelation? Then, I viewed the materials: demon-like, dragon, monster creatures, but made to look "cute". I tried to shrug it off. After all, the materials looked as if they would really boost my child's interest in math and she loved Life of Fred, so maybe this would be the ticket. However, I have hesitated to buy them. I have searched far and wide on the WWW to find someone else who had the same concerns that I I do - that BA is making the satanic seem palatable to young children (like Harry Potter did with witchcraft). But my search yielded more mothers, and Christian mothers, who actually pooh-poohed or ignored these concerns and actively embraced the curriculum for their children. So right when my resolve not to buy it was being worn down, by my child's (hopefully temporary) hate relationship with math, I decided to pray about Beast Academy. I subsequently did an internet search and the Lord led me to a Wiki run by the publishers of Beast Academy (Art of Problem Solving) and to this passage explaining about the Golden Ratio and the Pentagram (scroll to the bottom or the page to see it): http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Wiki/index.php?title=Pentagon&oldid=60815 Am I reading more into this than is there or does it seem that the author assumes matter-of-factly that the pentagram really does do as he/she describes. I guess that I have made my decision to not purchase Beast Academy. I now open up the floor for discussion. Please keep it friendly :laugh:. What do you all think about Beast Academy?

I am American and my husband is German. We use OPOL. I would suggest that you do as the others have said, the kids should speak English to both of you when he is in the same room. If he is in a different room, then they can continue chatting in German with you and in English with him, when you are absent from the room. It is not worth alienating your husband. Also, train your children to establish eye contact with BOTH of you when they are having a conversation with only you. They can still speak with you, but make eye contact with both of you, for example, at the dinner table. Though I cannot generalize over the entire country of Germany, I have noticed that people there tend to make only eye contact with those they are directly speaking, even if there are others in the same vicinity/group. Maybe this is a cultural trait that you have unwittingly passed on to your kids that is irking your husband... food for thought :-). Although I am not German, I used to do this as a child too (only focus eye contact on the person with whom I was directly speaking) and it irked my dear mom to no end...

Thank you for the links deanna1ynne!!! There workbooks that I linked are for German Rechtschreibung.

I just replied to you too!

Hi Everybody, I have been scheming to get German workbooks for my 1st grade daughter for our afterschool studies and I found some great books as e-book downloads on this website: http://www.school-scout.de/ I ordered these books: http://www.school-scout.de/48388-mufti-der-kleine-freche-dinosaurier-literaturblaet http://www.school-scout.de/48384-rechtschreiben-ernst-und-heiter-lustige-rechtschre http://www.school-scout.de/48666-schmunzeldiktate-rechtschreibtrainer-fuer-die-grun You can see samples by clicking on "Blick ins Materal" and, frankly, one could just download all of the samples and use them without having to buy the books. Have fun!

Hi Eva, I just checked the Zahlenfuchs book and I see that, yes, basic division is covered in Grade 2 in Germany. I will send you a private message about my background. :) :) :)

Hi Eva, By the way, I LOVE your blog!!! I do not live in the US and have not for over 20 years. However, the WAY that her math is taught is very similar to Singapore Math IMO. Knowing how to mentally add and subtract using a variety of methods (compliments of 10, doubles, doubles plus one, making ten and adding or subtracting the rest, etc) are virtually the same as in Singapore Math. Also they started out with manipulatives, before moving on to pictorial representations and now on to just numbers, combined with 10 frames, which is reminiscent of SM. As you know, German kids do not use calculators, so they have to do the calculations mentally and this is exactly the basis premise of Singapore Math. I can only speak for the first and second grades and not beyond that. I would characterize German math at the following for 1st and 2nd grade: First Grade 1-20 Addition and Subtraction Second Grade 20-100 Addition and Subtraction/Basic Multiplication Would you agree?

My daughter is attending a German school and I afterschool her at home. I would say that German math pretty much parallels what is done in Singapore Math (Primary Mathmatics). We did the majority of PM Grade 1 before she entered 1st grade and she is well ahead of the class now. Her class is using this curriculum: https://www.mildenberger-verlag.de/page.php?modul=GoShopping&op=show_rubrik&cid=487 . At home we have been using Das Ãœbungsheft https://www.mildenberger-verlag.de/page.php?modul=GoShopping&op=show_article&aid=6110&cid=48 and Zahlenfuchs (Grade 1 and Grade 2) http://www.jandorfverlag.de/artikel/rechnen.html . I find that the latter is sufficient to explaining the German way of doing math. It has numerous examples and lots of practice. But the kids may like Ãœbungsheft more because it is colorful and has a sticker poster for the kids to complete as they finish their lessons. Hope this helps!

Until the holiday break, dd was in KG from 7:30 until 2 pm. KG in Germany is almost wholly non-academic, i.e. just play. We got in maybe 1 hour of afterschooling (not including snack breaks). We did the following: English - Funnix 2 - 1 lesson twice a week and Handwriting without Tears twice a week Math - random worksheets from the internet, Miquon, pages from and old math textbook I found online, do dot-to-to sheets, counting to 50 in German and English on a number line. German - do 2 pages in a 1st grade workbook Before we go to bed, depending on how tired she is, I have her read either a German or English story to me and then I do a read aloud from the Sonlight KG curriculum. She would often balk, but then got so much into the rhythm that if Mommy was tired, she would ask me to do HWT or Funnix with her :laugh:

We subscribe to "Die Sendung mit der Maus" on iTunes for free. It is part of a nice a nice, scientific children's tv show that is shown in Germany every Sunday.

One word: layering. Germans layer, layer, layer to keep warm and then they are able to shed clothes to keep cool as need be. The first layer is an undershirt/t-shirt/tank top, followed by a long sleeved cotton shirt, followed by a thin wool sweater, followed by a thicker button down wool sweater and a coat. They then top this off with a thick scarf that can be worn indoors if necessary. Some people wear little cotton kerchiefs around their necks to keep out the cold too. My secret to keep warm was to weak Silk/wool long underwear and wool socks. They hold the heat so well that one does not need a lot of additional layers after that. At the least, I would ensure that your daughter has the wool socks and buys her shoes in Germany. German shoes are sturdier because they are made for walkers, while American shoes are built for people who will be driving and just want their feet to look good. She should also invest in a good deodorant and wear her clothes many more times than she would in the US, because most people do not use clothes dryers. Hanging up clothes in the winter can sometimes take up to a week for them to dry. If she wears t-shirt under all of her layers then this first layer can then be washed and she can then put on a fresh t-shirt the next day. Her clothes on top of this layer consequently can be worn more often than in the US. HTH! Good luck!

We are doing Funnix Math. While it is a struggle for me to keep my eyes open, my daughter loves it. She is on Lesson 53 of Funnix reading and it has really helped her fluency, so we will slog it out with Funnix Math. She will be 4 at the end of September. She already knows how to count, but the repetition will help her with knowing the exact places the numbers are located so that she can do mental math. My goal would be to use Math Mammoth with her after we get to say Lesson 50. We just finished Lesson 8 today.

Check out http://www.amazon.de/ABC-Tiere-1-Neubearbeitung-Lesezirkus/dp/3619143927/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308270088&sr=1-5