The hardest part for me is to deal with a bright but unmotivated kid!

This is exactly what I do.

According to EPGY, every parallelogram is a trapezoid. The program did not give us their definition for a trapezoid, but apparently they are using the first definition. From your posts I see that there is no "right" definition for trapezoids. I was under the impression that math did not have these gray areas but I guess I was wrong. Now I wonder why mathematicians can't agree on what a trapezoid is.....

I found two different definitoins. In some math websites, they define it as "a quadrilateral that has at least one pair of parallel lines". But in Singapore math 5B HIG, it is difined as "a quadrilateral with a pair of unequal parallel sides". Which one is right? Ds's EPGY program asks: Is every parallelogram a trapezoid? If you use the first definition, the answer is yes. But if you use the second definition then the answer is no. What do you think?

I second what Ellie said. However, the weather of the Bay Area can be unpredictable and it could rain in December. If you need some indoor places to go, I recommend: Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose www.thetech.org California Academy of Sciences in SF www.calacademy.org City Beach in Fremont (indoor rockclimbing) www.citybeach.com Jump Sky High in Santa Clara (indoor trampoline dodgeball)www.jumpskyhigh.com I Fly SF in Union City (indoor skydiving) www.iflysfbay.com

I enjoyed: Bertie and Elizabeth Victoria and Albert The Lost Prince All three are about the British Royal family.

I don't have one, but I love reading them. Yours looks great, I'll be following it. Thanks.

If you don't have a zinc plate or a copper plate, you can use paper clips and pennies like this: pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/lemonbattery.html

You need a zinc plate and a copper plate.

You can put them in soups (clear or creamy) or cook them in a little chichen broth until done, or stir fry them with other vegetable. There is really no "right" or "wrong" way to cook them. I am curious, what prompted you to buy them?

I did not start using the reviews in the workbooks until last year when we were using 4B and 5A. What I did was having ds do all the workbook exercises except reviews. Then I used those reviews as "tests" to see if there were places we needed to work on more before we moved on to the next book. I also used the placement tests as our final "review tests" to make sure ds was ready to move on.

I would like to offer you something to look into. We've tried FLL when ds was 6, he did alright until things got more complicated(at the end of first half of the book). I then set it aside and tried some workbook type of program but not very consistently becuase it sure was not registering in his head. This year, we are doing Michael Clay Thompson grammar(thanks to some gals on this board) and it is working wonderfully. The book has made grammar so easy to learn for both him and me. English is my second language and I learned all the grammar in high school but it was my least favorite suject because I often got confused with parts of speech, parts of the sentence, phrases and clauses. Not anymore. We are now almost through with parts of speech and I am looking forward to learning the rest with him. Go to their website @www.rfwp.com. Click on LA curriculum from Michael Clay Thompson and it will lead you to all his books. If your dd has trouble with the most basic stuff, start with Grammar Island(that's what we are using). Buy only the teacher's manual, the student book is not necessary for homeschoolers. If you happen to check their sample pages, don't let the look deceive you. It is going to look very childish and simple but buy it anyway if your dd does not know her parts of speech well. I almost went for the next level grammar book but am glad I did not. The book is simple but makes so much sense that it is easy to learn. Can you tell I really like it?:D

Thank you all. I don't know much about scrapbooking, I only use them to keep my pictures because I was told that my photos will keep for a long time using CM products. Some of you have given me some names that I'd like to check into. I'll also go to local Target and Michael's to look around and compare. Thanks again:)

I have been using Creative Memory albums to keep pictures and short notes (nothing fancy) for the last 8 years. I really need a new album now but don't have a CM consultant near by. Plus, their albums are pretty expensive. Are there good ones out there that I can get easily (not through a consultant) and are priced reasonably? Where do you get those? Thanks in advance. P.S. My son enjoys flipping through his albums a lot so I need sturdy ones. Ruth

I second K-9 filter. We've used it for about half a year, it's free, easy to use, and effective.

Unless it says on the bottle "Naturally brewed without preservatives", you should be able to use it.

We do: Sit ups Push ups Throw and catch a pillow Run up and down stairs Jump on the trampolin Arm wrestle

We are visiting Boston this September (we used to live there) and we are going to visit: Museum of Science www.mos.org New England Aquarium www.neaq.org JFK Library www.jfklibrary.org The Freedom Trail www.thefreedomtrail.org USS Constitution www.ussconstitution.navy.mil

We have a Franklin MWD-1490 that costs about $40.00 from Amazon a year ago. It's been used almost daily.

I believe Singapore's Chinese curriculum requires a native speaking teacher, so I don't know how well that will work for you. Have you tried www.betterchinese.com? I have not personally used their products but have heard good things about them. Do you live near a major university? If you do, you might want to post want-ads there to see if there are any native Chinese speakers willing to tutor your daughter. Good luck!

We were doing Sonlight when I purchased those CDs. Because ds was crazy about history at the time, I used them to supplement/entertain. They are very good and well made. Since we got them about 3 years ago, ds has listened to them at least 10 times each (except vol.1) on his own. He still takes out vol.3 and 4 to listen when he is bored. If that's cheating, we are cheating big time while getting a good education.:tongue_smilie:

123inkjets.com I was so happy I found this website, my cartridges cost me $4.99 each now (Amazon charges $59 for 4) and they often email me different discount offers.

Life of Mammals with David Attenbourough. You can watch instantly online.

We did it everyday along with Singapore math for a couple of months. Day 1 we read the text of chapter 1 together (the text is so funny) and then ds did level 1-3 in one sitting orally (those problems can be easily done using mental math). The second day we did level 4 problems of chapter 1; the third day we read the text of chapter 2 and did level 1-3 in that chapter; the fourth day we did level 4 of chapter 2....... I guess the schedule will depend on how comfortable your dc with the book. We did slow down a bit when we hit percent and algebra concepts because they were new to ds. We finished it in about two months, but because the book is very entertaining, ds took it out to read for fun long after we were done with it.

Caddy Woodlawn. It's about the author's grandmother who was a tom boy.