We are actually pretty happy with our math. We're beyond Beast's current offerings (although there are things to glean, the cost is too high for said gleaning) we've done about 1/2 of Alcumus for Pre A. We are on eastern time and the PreA class is too late for my youngish DD. I'm really looking for a valid option if I need to step out of dd's schooling for awhile, so as to not strangle her. I think she could do three months at the 6th- 7th grade level, but the samples, reviews, trails are quite scarce. Basically I need a consequence for not cooperating with me that isn't as permanent as enrolling her in school (not truly an option), and is something she might actually benefit from.

Dolciani does involve copying into a notebook. You may want to stick with options that are workbook or work text- based for a kid who is shutting down. That makes a big difference for some of my tutoring students. Or focus on using a whiteboard for Dolciani.

I may switch. I do want her to have a mostly review year in Latin next year as we will likely be adding French back in. It seems to me there is some review at the beginning of LA!2, as well. We're still making progress in BBLL2. I'll re-evaluate at the end of Chapter 5. I kind of wish there was a DragonBox or Duolingo for Latin. Some sort of "hook" to hang Latin grammar on.

We are getting bogged down in Lively Latin 2 (we're finishing the 4th chapter, I think others had the same trouble at about the same spot.) We're still trudging along, and getting it done, but aren't really having as much fun with it as we were. I know we are probably using Latin Alive! 1 next year, which will be almost all review, except maybe for translating. I'm considering getting it now and doing it two days a week, continuing with LL2 the other 3. We've got Minimus 1 and 2, and while we enjoy them, my dd just doesn't learn that way. Thoughts?

For practical purposes, the solutions don't really exist. The last copy I saw ran about $100. For many, the odd answers are enough. It would be nice if there a classics edition Dolciani like they've done with Forester.

We are more middle school, as well.

Aside from disliking the name of the site, has anyone used this for any length of time? We've undergone a long haul battle of wills. I need a break to regroup. Reviews? thought? BTDT?

Other half will be out in time for second half of year if you are starting now. Maria's been pretty good about sticking to projected release dates. We'll be adding in CTC Discovering Geometry and Zaccaro's Real World Algebra, so lots to do in the unlikely event of delay.

No solution manual. We could do it here, but are using Math Mammoth instead. I wrote the schedule before Math Mammoth 7 came out.

Yes. The two day topics are either longer, more varied problem sets or new and possibly complicated topics.

We've already done some PreA, and stepped back into MM6A/B, because we found we needed the appropriately worded, "minutia of calculations". We came from Singapore. I've come to the conclusion that "6th grade math" is mostly necessary, but there's merit to using 6th grade math from a different program than the one you did 1-5 in. Because it's generally review, you're getting a whole new point of view on a number of topics. We generally are doing 1/3-1/2 of the problems with a focus on story problems and puzzles. We also do other fun math and logic, MM is about 2/3 of what we do weekly.

This is a BTDT ramble. Use what parts you find useful. Ignore the rest. We got bogged down in Singapore about the same time. It was just boring, really. As it was, we floundered around for a while and ended up back at Singapore. I think when it came down to it, she doesn't like arithmetic. Who does? If I had it to do over, I would keep going in Singapore or pick another spine for math with intent on finishing up an elementary series. However, I'd do maybe 1/2 the problems in the spine curriculum and only do spine math 3 days a week (M, W, Th) and do a fun math on Wednesday and Friday. Which is what we ended up doing, but lost a year fiddling around. Our fun math was AoPS Alcumus, Zacarro Elementary Challenge Math, a MOEMs book, DragonBox apps, set theory from a Dolciani New Edition PreA book and Logic Liftoff. The reason I would do this is because my DD was getting very used to me switching math curriculum because she "hated" whatever we were using, or needed to mix things up or whatever. The issue really wasn't math, it was getting her to stop complaining about math (and becoming automatic on her math facts. Speed has improved her opinion of arithmetic). I do make sure there are lots of interesting math books around from the library. ETA: We never did do Singapore 3. We jumped back in and did the IP for 3b, moved on to 4 Standards (every problem on every page), and did 75% of the problems in 5 a/b.) Another option might be to look at Derek Owens PreA, and do it as sort of a PrePreAlgebra, alternating it with fun math and CWP type books. HTH

We went through this a few years ago (including major problems with Montessori school) We sold our house and everything. And ended up staying put. Life got in the way, and we only moved about 5 miles when everything else, except schooling for dd, suddenly fell into place. We like our house and are near (enough) family. We came to the conclusion that with a few expensive exceptions, HG/PG kids are unlikely to find a good fit for school, especially at the elementary level. There is a residential Gifted High School in our state, and other good online options, and I can keep her busy until then. She has lots of friends, of all ages, although no best friend "soul mate". We are in a math contest Black Hole, even though we are in a college town, and are an hour from any large city, so we go into the city once a week. But our cost of living is low, and we are 2-3 hours from 3 of the cities on this list. We've defiantly taken the road less traveled around here, but so far so good. We homeschool. Good luck.

Here is my very early review of 7a: I like it. I'm not using it with my dd yet, although it's bite-sized enough I think it could follow Singapore 5b for an older/ strong student. She's on the young side and I want to increase her speed and reading-to-learn skills, first. She's already done some PreA, but I want her more independent before we hit Algebra. We'll probably start MM7 around Thanksgiving, adding in Real World Algebra and CTC Understanding Geometry. What can be a weakness in earlier levels of Math Mammoth is an asset here: Maria explains the minute details of each step and explains why. Somehow it seems a little chattier than 6, but flipping back and forth, I can't put my finger on why I think so. She walks the students through a simple proof of why negative times negative equals positive. She has a few links to more information right in the text. Because the student writes on the pages, I think the interaction with the instructions is better than copying to a notebook. I think she's done a nice job relating to a student what they would hear in a lecture portion of a class, something missing from most PreA texts, which assume the student is part of a teacher-led class. How I think it compares to other PreA options: Singapore 7: (I own). MM7 does a better job of explaining the why's for student and teacher. MM7 takes smaller steps. There are more problems to work (I don't have the Singapore workbook, though. It might be about even) The advanced story problems in Singapore 7 are more challenging. The answer key in Singapore 7 assumes a math teacher is using, so there are lots of "logical leaps." Dolciani: (I just sold Accelerated Course and own New Edition). The most obvious difference is that the student works directly in the book for MM. For a younger student, that is an advantage. My dd worked through a few chapters of New Edition last year. MM7 is more difficult than New Edition. I would say about the same as an Accelerated Course. An obvious advantage for MM is the answer key for all problems with explanations when necessary. Horizons: (I seriously considered for dd, so have looked over it carefully, but I don't own it). MM7 does a better job of explaining why something is done and seems to have better word problems. MM is much less pretty. Auffman (Caulk Dust's book- I own): Caulk Dust has the advantage of the videos. The edition of this book I have (and similar to Lial's?) has lots of visual busy-ness. I don't like how the college texts teach the whole concept at the beginning of the chapter. It seems to require a lot of flipping to the front of the chapter. I think the pages do pull out of some editions of the college texts, and solution keys are fairly easy to track down. AoPS: (I don't own- DD has worked through the first half of Alcumus and videos for PreA, but was not interested in looking at text after seeing samples.) AoPS excels at the discovery method. Although MM7 leads students through the process, AoPS is far more whole-to-parts. The two might actually complement each other well for some students. Hope this helps someone. I will update around the first of the year when we've worked in it for a few weeks. I hope someone who is more of a mathematician than I am will look at the samples and comment.

Stripe is right. I've tutored kids who do not have internet access. It's a real issue among the rural poor, where the only internet they an get is slow dish or antenna internet that starts around $75 a month. We actually sold a house and moved, in part, because we were tired of having no internet. I was telecommuting for work, and we wanted access for homeschool.

That is a good question. I do not know the answer. For $4 shipped, it's hard to justify the need for a digital copy, though. I don't know how much buying power a forum like this might produce. For now, the used copies seem very plentiful.

I think that could be overkill. Both are very thorough.

I bought a hard copy of this for $4 with shipping. Well worth it, if just for the nursery rhyme and poetry sections. Paper is nicer than most anthologies. All of the chapter books are excerpts.

We have. We haven't started it yet. Reviewing a few things in 6, first. I think I'm going to work through it first, though. I'll probably use it for tutoring too.

This is a little OT, but I wanted to thank you for posting about this in the past. It changed the way we would have approached grade 6 math and PreAlgebra.

Reluctant Dragon! I didn't realize it was in the public domain, but Gutenberg has the audio. It's been a family favorite. Same author as Wind in the Willows. ETA LINK: http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/book/the-reluctant-dragon-by-kenneth-grahame

What resources did you use? I have 6th edition on my shelf.

A few I had in my google books to share: Ray's Key: http://books.google.com/books/reader?id=TAIAAAAAYAAJ&num=11&printsec=frontcover&output=reader Eye and Ear Speller (phonetic) https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=2rUAAAAAYAAJ Inductive Grammar: This is a brief English grammar, intended to prepare students for beginning Latin grammar. It is available on Amazon in a paperback: https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=R4gSAAAAIAAJ Teachers "Eclectic" Manual. I haven't read all the way through it: https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=FMkKAQAAIAAJ&pg=GBS.PA16 Also, easy steps in Spelling- sort of combo Primer/ Speller: https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=2pMAAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA11 Hope this are useful to someone.

Also, I suppose you've been to Don Potter's page? http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/

Have you looked at Wheeler's readers? Eta, I know they haven't been reprinted though.