Daily Grams is just daily review work and does not include teaching. Both are not necessary.

They may also be using the test to pick up early on possible problem areas. I a child in speech therapy and there are similar tests there where they test not just for pronunciation but also for comprehension.

I had a long talk with their key convention employee at our last convention. I usually don't talk with him because I just come in and get whatever is next for us, but I was there early so he helped me. He was a bit resistant at first because I was buying the second Critical Thinking book for a ninth grader. It became clear he was concerned my son was too young. If you have not done the Building Think series you might take a look at those two volumes: http://www.criticalthinking.com/getProductDetails.do?id=05243&code=p http://www.criticalthinking.com/getProductDetails.do?id=05244&code=p The difference in a older child isn't always comprehension but appreciation.

This just indicates that there are more than the two systems I've run into. Does the source not show their system? If not can you contact them to ask what it is?

What you are seeing is differening forms of talking about how a plot works in a work of literature. Here's a thread over on the TOG forum that includes debate over when a climax occurs in Much Ado. You'll see this in post by CJ Summerville that summarizes the different systems: I always heard the five-part system until I started using tapestry, but since then I've run into the seven-part system.

Here's a post over on their forum: http://www.singaporemaths.com/forums/showthread.php?335-CWP5-p.10-20&highlight=magazines I reject the idea that there is some special "Singapore way." They actually teach a lot of things to help students break down word problems and you'll see that several are offered in the thread attached.

Evernote maybe the way to go. http://www.evernote.com/ is a free note taking program available across platforms. He can use the camera of a cell phone to capture quotes in a book he wants to use. Using tags and notebooks to organize these he can shuffle to his heart's content and if need be print them all out. Here's some blog posts that will help get him started: http://blog.evernote.com/2011/02/11/evernote-for-students-the-ultimate-research-tool-education-series/ http://blog.evernote.com/2011/09/01/student-ryan-kessler-transformed-his-workflow-raised-his-gpa-and-left-his-textbooks-at-home-back-to-school-series/

It depends on the school and schools often don't really go into details like this so it is hard to get good information. However in the few books written from the admissions side of the table (here and here), colleges do not use GPA at all. Instead they want to see class rank and they rate toughness of the course load. They do sometimes look at a a pattern of a student on the edge of their acceptance zone to see if they are doing better or worse over the four years of school. So, I'm not sure waiting will really help. However, you could include a midterm report of grades in classes taken this fall.

Luxe ones at Pottery Barn: http://www.potterybarn.com/products/paper-dreidel-vase-filler/?pkey=e|driedel|3|best|0|1|24||1&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-

I know this is an old thread, but as I begin to think about next year, I'd love to get feedback on this program. I'd like a general response, but do have some more specific questions: Do you use another resource as a text or just use the program? Do the experiments lend themselves to home use (safe and easily obtainable stuff)? And can you really do it in 8 - 10 weeks or would you suggest a longer period of time?

Depending on what you want the American Chemical Society has programs that would be safer for you to do: http://www.inquiryinaction.org/ http://www.middleschoolchemistry.com/ For the second link, if you search on the logic stage forum, a user posted a list of materials used in the program. Here's the link to that list: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226507

This book is geared to adults: http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Better-Handwriting-New/dp/0071636382/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1318248759&sr=8-6 They walk you through analyzing your handwriting and changing it to something better. Not just more readable but more adult as well.

The link originally provide does not say that Singapore did not make their cut for an effective math program, but rather it says no studies have been done on it that make whatever standard they have decided to use to compare programs. The link you provide does not go to a study but just a summary page with a lot of studies. Can you provide a more direct link?

There is a second part that covers Christiana. I don't think I've ever seen it without both parts in one volume.

Tapestry of Grace has a strong UG or D program. Either could work for your child. They do inter weave Bible with history but you study the other cultures thoroughly, but they get you asking questions about how they all intersect. For instance, since Moses was raised in Egypt, you study that first and then when you study the books of the Bible Moses wrote you ask what do we see in these books that came from Egypt or is a rebuke of Egypt and encouragement to the people who led out? It's very interesting.

:iagree: I read this version as a child several times, I liked it so much. Save the real Pilgrim's Progress for high school and I think you'll get more out of it both now and then.

I have two boys, the older is finishing up NEM 4A at which point he will do DM Additional Math (since NEM Additional Math is no longer available). My younger is just starting NEM 1 and is in chapter 4. I agree with your comments about the first chapters seeming to take forever then speeding up. I absolutely loved how NEM handled geometry. They learned the geometry but problem solving utilized the algebra they had already learned. It was amazing. It was much, much better than the proofs we did in high school. We do pretty much everything in the text and half the workbook problems. The first year this caused us to run a few weeks longer, but last year we finished two months earlier and looking back I think maybe we should have done Additional Math then (we did the AoPS book entitled The Art of Problem Solving, instead). In Singapore they do NEM 3 and 4 concurrently with the Additional Math books.

Depends, has he done all the other lit in the first two years of TOG at R level? Did he balk at any of that? If not, I'd be inclined to require the book. I have a son who is a strong reader and if he had been going along with TOG R level lit and this was the first book he balked at then I'd figure it would be good experience to read something he dislikes. First, if he winds up in a college course, he won't get to reject a book, he'll have to tackle it period. Second, most literature is male driven. Pride and Prejudice is one of the few works anyone working through R level TOG would have come to thus far that has a heroine. For a boy to balk at that is narrow-minded and I'd feel that he needed some expansion. If on the other hand, he's struggled all along with lit from TOG's R level then I would be quicker to cut Pride and Prejudice as I would want to encourage continued enjoyment of lit.

I can't tell if it is the same as this: http://www.singaporemath.com/Handbook_for_Secondary_Mathematics_Teachers_p/hbsm.htm Pages match so probably so, I have not found it particularly wonderful, but if you used and liked the primary publication (greenish blue in color) then you may like it. It's more of a mind set book than a hand-holding guide. It contains ideas for motivating students, tying the math to nature, and games. If I might put a plug in for the Singapore Math forums, I would suggest asking there. Jenny, the moderator is very honest and she'll tell you her opinion if you ask for it especially if you ask about the specifics of why you would buy this book.

For electives, TOG provides philosophy, visual arts, music history, government, and religious history. They won't count as a full credit in any given year but each is countable as a one year credit if you do them through a four year rotation.

I would get an email through the service you already have, but have your child email his assignments to an evernote account you will set up for him. You won't lose anything if you switch email providers and if you learn to use the evernote email "tags" evernote will organize work by subject, date, etc. Also, if your child has a cell phone with a camera (and is allowed to use it in school) they can simply snap a photo of the board and send the photo to evernote (no miscopies).

Don't talk to the other kid's mother except to say, "It's up to them," but do have a talk with your son and leave it to him. If others see this problem as well you might suggest them as people for him to talk to (make sure they do see it and will also suggest getting a different roommate before suggesting them).

WUNC just did a report on the Wake school board: http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/Whats_Next_For_Wake_County_Schools.mp3/view I'm not sure what it means to teachers and as you'll see if you listen, other counties in the state aren't having the same level of turmoil. I suspect all states are cutting back on education.

We've had good results with Singapore in our household. We must test and math is above the 80th percentile early on and as my kids got older it went to the above the 90th. We are now using NEM 4A and will use DM Additional when 4A is completed. I have a ninth grader. He is not a mathy child nor am I a mathy mom although I was good in math and did some grad level stat classes in college inside my major. My younger has just started on NEM 1 this year. I think the shock and awe value of NEM or even all Singapore upper level maths is over-rated. YOU can do them. If anything I've found NEM easier to teach and understand and do than the complex word problems in the late primary levels. The other thing I've grappled with is the nonstandard sequence, but my ninth grader is doing trig and pre-calc topics (remember I'm not mathy so I'm mostly relying on others for that level evaluation). He did get started a year earlier than some because he has a fall birthday so if you like you can compare that to tenth grade. That nonstandard sequence didn't dawdle but pushed through a lot of material. Further I absolutely loved the way geometry and algebra were integrated. You learned geometry while using your algebra. It was amazing.