This is not surprising to me as I have tutored my classmates all the way from school days until my college days. People here have mentioned that the self-esteem of the student who tutors will rise. It really depends on the students being tutored. In my case, I was always asked to tutor the students at the bottom end of the class (now I think that they must be dyslexic or dyscalculia or some sort of learning disabilities). When they couldn't learn I have always felt miserable and I thought that I don't have the capability to teach (mind that I was so young when I got this feeling). So it is not always good IMHO.

Thank you for the suggestions.

All about spelling does not ship their packages to European countries. So where else can I buy AAS level 1? Is it available in digital download format? What are the must need items to buy for level 1.

Thanks a lot. I will go with Singapore CWP.

I am interested in buying some math word problems workbook. I came across Singapore Challenging word problems and Singapore Asia publishers' 100 Challenging Maths word problems book. It is easier and cheaper for me to get the SAP word problems book. But I would like to know if it is better, worse or equivalent to the Singapore CWP books. So, if any of you have used Singapore CWP books, can you kindly go through the sample pages of the SAP 100 challenging maths books at http://sapgrp.com/shop/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&zenid=204aa97f6a0f6f94e3b1ced76ee4fb2d&keyword=challenging+word and let me know their opinions. I can afford either Singapore CWP or SAP cWP, but not both. TIA

My DS is thoroughly enjoying the Orange workbook in Miquon. He tries to come up with his own equations and solves those problems instead of doing the workbook problems. Yesterday, he asked me how to do equations like 1-10, 2-10, etc using cuisenaire rods. I checked the Lab annotations book and I don't see it covers negative numbers. Can someone explain to me how to do negative number solutions using the rods?

Several months ago, someone posted a thread saying that her DC was confused with phonics rules. So, instead of reading 'please', her DC was reading it as 'place', reading 'stale' instead of 'steal' etc. Can you help me find that thread or a thread similar to this problem. One of my DC is also making the same mistake. Reading 'lafe' instead of 'leaf' etc. I was taught the whole word method and I find it difficult how to help her learn these rules and apply it to new words. For eg, when I see a new word 'rutabaga' how can I be sure that the 'u' is to be sounded as 'oo' instead of short /u/ sound. Btw, I am using OPGTR. Any help regarding this is appreciated.

The inhaler has helped a lot for the cough. But it still persists. My doc. said it is infection caused asthma and it will come again after I have an infection/flu.

I have severe cough for more than a month after having flu. It is mostly a dry cough and I have ticklish throat all the time. It worsens when I try to speak. After consulting with a doctor, I am taking some antibiotics and asthma inhaler and the doctor said that she thinks it could be asthma. But I don't have any shortness of breath or anything of that sort and all the lab reports proved that everything is normal, even the breathing tests. I get this kind of severe cough usually when the spring arrives and it is not every year. The last time I got this kind of cough was 6 years ago. I guess this could be a pollen allergy as I was smelling flowers few weeks before. So what do you think, is this asthma? If so, how can I take preventive measures to avoid this type of cough in future? Or is it just allergy and should I ask for some tests to be done to find out the cause of allergy?

Thanks for sharing your experience, Ester. I understand your point. My idea is very theoritical and quite impractical. It is quite stressful financially and emotionally. To add to the complexity, we are not native English speakers either :) I love your suggestion of choosing ONE option/language until school age. We also would get some kind of a host country language in the international school. Now off to research one of the language options for the preschool.

I have some (crazy) plans in my mind. I do not know if it will work or not. Can someone give their suggestions or thoughts on this. My youngest is 2 years old. School starts only at age 7 where I live. So there are 5 years in between. My plan for my youngest is this: 2-3 years old - put in French preschool/daycare 3-4 years old - put in Spanish preschool/daycare 4-5 years old - put in local European language preschool/daycare 5-7 years old - put in English preschool/daycare Eventually I want DS to go to an English international school and I want him to have an ear for the foreign languages (I'm not expecting any mastery in any of those). But want him to be fluent in English ultimately. What do you think about this plan? Will it confuse him? His speech has already developed, so I'm not worried about it. Or am I being over-crazy? PS: We don't speak any of the languages listed above except for English.

By politics I mean the common negative connotations that are associated with words like 'politicians' and 'politics'. My DC are too young but in the list of what I would want them to learn in future, I am thinking about adding politics as a subject. In my career, I have faced lots of cheating, back-stabbing etc just so that the other person could climb on the corporate ladder. Being a very soft natured person, I tend not to mind it but I don't want this to happen to my DC. I want them to know how to play the game (even if the game is mean?, I am not sure just thinking aloud). I would like to know others opinion on this. Would you be allowing your DC to read books like 'The Prince' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince (when they can handle it, of course). I am just quoting the book's essence here: The descriptions within The Prince have the general theme of accepting that the aims of princes, such as glory, and indeed survival, can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends. Please note that I am not writing this for creating a controversy, but just looking for honest opinions and I hope I am not breaking any forum rules (as far as I read).

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. I don't know what is base ten flat. Can someone help me here.

I am new to this forum. I am from Europe and I am planning to purchase this product: http://www.cuisenaire.co.uk/Products.aspx?PageId=40&ButtonClicked=NewPage for my kindergartner. Can someone tell me how many cuisenaire rods are sufficient? Are 304 rods too many? I do not know anything about cuisenaire rods. Before purchasing those textbooks, what should I look for in those textbooks. TIA