Ladies, I need your suggestion for our higher math sequence. Currently my 10.5 yo son and 8.5 yo daughter are doing Horizons 5 and Math Mammoth 5. This combination is working well in terms of depth, challenge, and retention. I even often find that they're able to discover how to do new things themselves without me showing the algorithm/shortcut. So I've been pleased with this. We're planning on going on with Math Mammoth 6 but not HOrizons 6 because I heard that Horizons 6 is mainly review. Chances are we will finish with MM 6 anytime between mid -end of 2013, depending how well everything goes. So by that time, ds will be almost 12, and daughter will be 9.5. I'm toying between going straight to algebra or doing prealgebra first. I have Foerster but it looks 'serious' and while I have no doubt that it's solid, I have an impression that it's not as challenging as what MM is to my children (I might be wrong in this though). I'm also thinking of Singapore DM (don't have this yet), but I'm worried the integrative aspect of it. Another candidate would be AOPS Prealgebra, but I don't think my children are that passionate with math - they're good at it and like it, but not crazy for it. Any advice ? Thanks

My fourth grade plan: - Math: Horizon 5 with Math Mammoth 5. - Language art: a. General (poetry, reading, usage, writing, dictation): ILL b. Grammar: KISS grammar. c. SPelling: Spelling workout D d. Others: daily paragraph editing (evan moor), steck vaughan reading comprehension, and Mc. Guffey 4. - Content subjects plus more writing/researching: Five in a Row products (including Beyond) as a springboard. - French: Nallenart. - Arabic: Medina Arabic Reader.

If I were to re-learn algebra till calc conceptually (as opposed to just algorithmically), which books should I buy ? I'm pretty good at math, and in early 90s took Cambridge Math A Level (i.e. up to calculus level) and passed with full mark. This is, I believe, equivalent, to AP in the US. However, it was pretty formulaic, and didn't lead to deep understanding. I never took any math in college since my major was biochem and in England you just go straight to your major. So, I am never exposed to higher level math and physics. My children are doing v. well w/ conceptual math and are now becoming v. intuitive in math. I discover more and more that sometimes I don't even need to teach the algorithm because they figure it out themselves. I want this to continue at higher level. So, pleas help me. Which books shoudl I buy for ME so that I will be able to teach and guide them come high school. AOPS ? Singapore ? Foerster's ? Thanks

- Billy bookcase - Expedit bookcase - dinnerware - kitchenware- I find their kitchen tools v. sturdy, durable, and functional. - boxes: Kasette and Branas-type boxes (ratan boxes which fit into expedit) - trofast for toys

I did this last year ... worked well !!

Horizons looks more standardized, doesn't it ? I personally never switch 100% to Horizons. I use it in its entirety starting book 4 this year (well, almost entirety) but I use Math Mammoth conceptual worksheet when needed. Plus I add more in-depth problems from Math mammoth. It's v. easy to add some MM to Horizons. But I use Horizons as a spine since kiddos do better with spiral. One thing I notice iwith Horizons is its severe lack of mental math and tricks. So you may want to do something to prevent your kids losing their ability to do mental math. E.g. iinstead of doing 45+71 in column, cross the problem and re-write it horizontally.

For skill subjects, if the curriculum works, then I don't switch. For content subjects - well, the scope and sequence for these are v. arbitrary. So switching is not detrimental, IMHO. For me, I look more at our enjoyment (kiddos and me), flexibility, and variation. If you look at my signature, I'm currently using mainly FIAR (lit-based unit study) products because of those 3 things I mention. Each unit of FIAR lasts 1-2 weeks (short enough), and after one unit finishes, we can pick and choose another unit. We can even insert any study between unit as interest arises. This invigorates us and prevents boredom. Every unit is so different. Plus, the topics discussed in FIAR are not v. conventional and are interesting. E.g. when learning about tomato, we talked about history of tomato, the great debate about tomato (veggie vs fruit), and the implication of tomato classification in laws. You won't get that kind of lesson with a curriculum using standard science syllabus. Using FIAR products (including beyond FIAR) keep our (especially mom's) interest high. Finally, as a teacher, we know our personality fully well. Choose a curriculum which matches your personality well.

Do you mean that UT Austin will only admit the top 8% for automatic admission because if they use the top 10% rule, all of the students would be from automatic submission ? So essentially, forget about UT Austin if you're not the nation's brightest unless you go to a not-so-good high school and manage to be the top 8% ?

1. Go back to FIAR products for content subjects for both kids. Then enrich the framework w/ materials already in my home and in the internet. This makes our day much more fun. Kids are happy and enjoy the lessons. They also retain (a biggie !)and understand the materials. I manage to work on children's skills (research, making list, summarizing, etc) via FIAR and they're happy to do it. 2. Unplanned delight-directed social studies/science. I never plan this. Whenever this occurs, I promptly get to the internet and we search on that particular topics together. We also look at the books in our shelves and most of the time, we can get the information we're looking for. I don't make any unit studies out of my children's curiosity (unless it persists, then I'll think about that) - we just read whatever we can find and sometimes stretches that topics for 2-3 days, even when we're 'supposed to do FIAR' (in this case, I put FIAR on hold for 2-3 days). That's it. It invigorates our homeschool and fosters love of learning and curiosity. 3. Not planning ..:). Well almost ! Our curricula (LA, math, foreign language) are do the next thing kind of things; I just need to keep up w/ the printing (math mammoth, L'art de Lire, KISS grammar, and ILL). For FIAR (beyond and FIAR ), I ask both kids what they'd like to do for the next two weeks, and then plan. My planning is simple - I just put different colors of stickies on the manual, write in the manuals what kind of lesson I want my kids to do (e.g. make a diagram of this process, summarize, list of facts, search the answer for this question, draw a map, etc) and pull appropriate books/encyclopedias from my shelves (no trip to the library - it's too exhausting for me to plan, put the go-along books on hold, pick the books up, make a back-up plan just in case the books don't arrive, etc). Also, since #1&2 are bigger, they don't need templates anymore, so I don't print much for their content notebooks. I let them decorate and make flip books, etc themselves if they want to. That's it. Simple, fun, effective (for our household, that is).

:iagree: This, and TCOO ....:001_smile:

Me me me ... and no regret ! The best moment (fun, joy, retention) we have is through: - Five in a Row products (including Beyond and Before) - interest-delight study a.k.a pick any non-fiction on the shelves and read it together or choose any Bill Nye movie and watch it together. Someetimes, we even read something after watching NOVA/American Experience or other things from PBS the night before. I'm now using this approach at least through 6th grade (may be through 8th grade, but don't know yet). We usually do any FIAR/Beyond FIAR book interspersed with unplanned interest-delight study. It prevents the HS from becoming predictable and takes into account spontaneity. Plus it's easy to customize that way. FYI, I tried SOTW, Ambleside, HOD bigger (minus the Bible) and 1st Step to get some kind of chronological history going when kiddos were young (when #1 was 6-9 years and #2 was 5-7) as well as FIAR. FIAR wins hands down in terms of maintaining the fun aspect, understanding, retention, and interest/enthusiasm level.

Camy, try 'RC'

Thanks. May be if my hubby gets an interview, I will go around looking at the suburbs.

There's a good job opening in Austin at the moment. Hubby got that news from his boss who is friend to the one who's recruiting in Austin. Hubby knows this guy too. It's v. possible that he would get an offer, because it matches him like a glove. Location would be North Austin, but not in the suburb (still south of ROund Rock). If we indeed move there, which location would be affordable (home 180K or below), yet not in the middle of nowhere ? I'd like a decent proximity to HS-er events (good YMCA, good support group, ACC, HS-er class/co-op if these exist, etc) and shopping center. Also, in North Austin area, is there a good Asian store and vegan restaurant ? Where I live right now is in immigrant area, so right now it's only 5 min drive to a couple of Asian stores (full of Asian veggies and snacks), HEB, Walmart, and 15 mins to various Asian vegan restaurants.

.... can I buy them, instead of making them or joining a co-op/swap to make them ?

We have those coloring book for our Saturday school. The salah one is actually a book which teaches salah, but it contains coloring paper with pictures of people performing salah as well. It's good.

I love Islam picks up around 3rd grade. I didn't teach the kiddos much during first and part of second grade because I was concentrating on making sure they can offer salah, memorize the du'a, short surah, etc. At that stage, it's easy for me to teach about ALlah and prophet Muhammad through daily activities. Starting around the end of second grade and third grade, I use I love Islam 2-3, and now 4 once a week at home for a review because the kid's Saturday school uses it. It works really well this way. On top of that, daily I get my kiddos to: - read Quran w/ tajweed 1/2-1 page, but on Fridays we read Al Kahf together. - listen to me reading Quran aloud (there's a v. good Quran read aloud book for kids by Yahiya Emerick which you can get from Amazon which has the WHOLE Quran in it, not just the juz amma. We learn a lot this way, because Yahiya Emerick also includes some tafseer in it) or seerah/story of companion (except Fridays). They get to choose whatever they want me to read. Lots of discussion have sprung up from this reading. - Arabic twice a week. - once a week I lvoe Islam review (a review from what is learned in Sturday school). - daily memorization of Quran. Plus, when when we're doing FIAR/Beyond FIAR, I always manage to inject Islamic study in it. You know how this unit study has Bible study ? That's how I got my idea - I just need to tweak it. E.g. we're learning about bird in FIAr/Beyond FIAR, so I ask the kiddos what bird stories they know from Quran/seerah. They came up with: prophet IBrahim and the cut-up bird, Al Feel story, hoopoo bird and prophet Sulayman, the pigeon which saved prophet Muhammad and Abu Bakr in the cave, bird description in Quran (Allah supports the bird so they can fly). They don't knwo the story of manna and salwa, though, so they didn't mention it. Now, I love Islam may look basic at first (although as I said, it ramps up around 3rd grade). But what I love about I love Islam is that it gives children motivation to do the deeds, e.g. why do we pray sunnah prayers ? why is it good to utter the du'a after wudu' ? Why is it better to pray together ? And all of the references from Quran and hadeeth are there. With Islamic Studies, what is important is not just the knowledge of seerah, 5 pillars of Islam, how to do this and that (the rituals), etc. But also the whys. They whys give them (and me) motivation to do the 'extras'. The whys touch the heart more than the how. Reading Quran aloud serves this purpose also. It doesn't only give them (and me) knowledge, but also the whys. The seerah study, story of the companion, and story of all the prophets don't need to be v. detail at young age, but we should be able to 'milk' the moral of the story. E.g. what can we learn from Abil and Qobil incident ? Jealousy and anger are lethal ! What should we do/don't do when we're angry (Islamically) ? How do we seek protection from shaytan when we're angry ? The framework is there with I love Islam. I usually expand more on the topic, and we talk about it again and again and again - each time the discussion got deeper. We talk about shaytan and its trick. Who is shaytan. How we 'beat' him. What is the story behind ayatul Kursi. You can even start discussing about jinn (and look up at surah Jinn, ar Rahman and I think ad Dukhan). Why we're not supposed to talk to it, etc. Once, we went out of town for a weekend. Oldest son told me he forgot to lock the front door. I said that I've already locked it, but he said that after I locked it, he opened the door because he wanted to get something from outside, and then forgot to lock it back. I scolded him and said that thief could come. He said, "Didn't we recite the bismillahi tawakaltu du'a ? Allah is going to put angels to protect our home and to protect us during the journey. " I said, "That's true, but we better tie our camel first, right ?" Anyway, it shows to some extent, that my son remembers what was taught. Hope this helps.

Hubby is a computer guy and if he wants to change his job, it's likely that he would end up in Austin. Actually, after I told him about college cost, my husband thought that it's better to move to Austin so that our family can be within driving distance to a 1st tier public univ. We're in Houston currently, and while UH is pretty good ( I heard that it's competing with Texas Tech for research funding in an effort to move up 'the ladder'), we want (or aspire) our children to go to 1st tier public univ in Texas (TAMU in College Station or UT-Austin) or a good private univ. Rice univ. in Houston is excellent, but it's hard to get into, while UT-Austin is more within reach. THere's Southwestern as well which we heard is good academically. Plus, my husband said that nowadays, parents are 'following' their children to univ. Apparently, his colleague is moving to Mass. because his son is accepted in one of prestigious univ there. It's not clear whether he moves there in an effort to get a free tuition for his son, or to get an in-state tuition rate. So hubby has been 'inspired' by it. I thought, why not, if Austin is good for raising family and homeschooling. But Austin is rather expensive, right ? I wonder whether the salary is a bit higher than Tx average, considering that the cost of living is higher. I never heard that ACC is that good to homeschoolers. So that's a good news. I wonder whether the credit will transfer to colleges in Austin area. If you all don't mind, which part of Austin or its suburb is good and affordable ? Thanks.

Yes, like that (Wabi Sabi). Sautee garlic and ginger (optional), throw in bokchoy (the stalk goes first). Add some water, salt, pepper and a little bit of soy sauce. At the end, throw in a bit of sesame oil. Don't overcook bokchoy - cook till it wilts a little, but still crispy. I occasionally add in peeled shrimp as well. It goes well w/ broiled tofu or tempeh marinated w/ garlic, pepper, and salt. Btw, I have those for breakfast .... (i'm Asian, by the way).It's v. easy and quickly to prepare, and I live v. close to a big Vietnamese store, so I cook that pretty often.

bump ...

Do you know if the majority of students in TAMU (college station) is from the automatic admission process or from the holistic review one ?

Do you know if the majority of students in TAMU is from the automatic admission process or from the holistic review one ?

living and homeschooling there ? Thanks

I school in our dining room. To prevent it to look like a classroom, I don't put any whiteboard, map, calendar, bulletin board and whatnot on the wall. In fact, we only have a smaller size whiteboard which is stored easily between bookcases. I only put the book we're currently using (binders, TMs, living books, workbooks, a couple of reference books/encyclopedias) in the dining room. The rest are stored in kiddos' and my bedrooms. In our dining room, we have a small expedit and a tall and narrow billy bookcases from ikea. We also have another wooden bookcase. All the small pieces and loose paper (art supply, office supply) are contained in various IKEA Kassett boxes. Thin and smaller books (think vintage readers, S-pore scienc books), science supply, math manipulative, as well as preschool toys (Mighty Mind, lacing toys, Lauri Toys, etc) are in IKEA boxes which fit the Expedit bookcase perfectly and look like this: http://www.ikea.com/be/nl/catalog/products/20145479/ The two oldest each gets their own Rubbermaid basket to hold their pencil case + workbook/notebook which then I put on the shelf. We also have one sofa, one dinner table and one IKEA Pongea chair (sp) in our dining room. So far so good, except our dinner table is a bit small - I bought it when I first moved to the US and had no child. So it's a 4-chair dinner table, but there's no way we buy a bigger one for our current house. No space. Hopefully we can move to a bigger house next year.

I wouldn't buy this. Three FIAR volumes + Bible supplement will be as big as WWE at least. Plus if you will use this for at least two years (or more if you're re-rowing), the book will be subjected to more wear and tear.