Natasha is right, FixIt really only takes 15 minutes and only a moment to check. IEW is pretty easy to divide up so that it doesn't take more than half an hour or so a day (sometimes less) and we still made it all the way through the SWI-A this year. Start of the week, watch the video (or only part of the video if it's a long one). Day two, finish the video and write your outline. Day 3 composition (if it's a short one, which they are for quite a while, this won't take long). Day 4 it editing, Day 5 is a nice finished handwritten or typed copy for your notebook. My daughter is a reluctant writer and major procrastinator and still managed to get this done without complaint.

Yes, we are a few weeks into the prealgebra book now. We start Chapter 3 on Monday and she is enjoying it. I feel like she was really well prepared even though we only completed through 5A. She misses the Beasts and is insisting that we pick up the new book when it is released at the end of the month. In place of the Beasts she likes the videos on the AoPS website that match up with the lessons in the book. The book is written to the student, but we enjoy doing math together so we've been working the problems on the whiteboard (plus it's a lot of text for my ADHD kiddo to sort through). Probably the most challenging aspect for her so far has been using proofs to explain her work. She's never done anything like that and finds the process a little puzzling. Other than that, it's been pretty smooth sailing (knock on wood as we have only completed two chapters and it's a pretty big book).

I couldn't finish it either. In addition to just not maintaining my interest, I felt like she overused her handy dandy thesaurus. Maybe her vocabulary is really like that, but it felt very pretentious to me. I think the concept was fun, but the execution left something to be desired. Of course, my opinion is completely irrelevant and she definitely accomplished her goals.

I've used LoE Essentials, AAS, Sequential Spelling, and Apples and Pears. I think LoE and AAS are equally parent intensive. Sequential Spelling probably takes the least amount of time and Apples and Pears has been the most effective for my poor speller. LOE was enjoyed more than AAS by my oldest, but I don't think it was any less work than AAS if you are looking for something less parent intensive. As far as method, LoE and AAS are both phonogram and rules based. Sequential Spelling is patterns and Apples and Pears is morphemes and repetition. If you have a natural speller, Apples and Pears could be overkill. If you like rules based but want a little less involvement, maybe Rod and Staff.

What level of Beast is he doing, I think that would make a difference.

Apples and Pears here too. My oldest does two pages a day and my youngest does one. I had the same problem getting around to AAS and LoE Essentials plus my oldest just wasn't retaining.

We've got three weeks of theater camp lined up with a couple of weeks of summer dance intensives. After that we are off to Ireland as a family! I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this summer.

Either. We have used it on the computer and the iPad.

If you do start AoPS, I would choose the prealgebra book. We've started it this year (5th grade) after finishing Beast Academy 5A but we came all the way through Beast Academy so I feel like we have a bit of a heads up on what to expect. The prealgebra book is challenging. Part of using the book successfully I think is having the maturity to struggle with problems that you have no idea how to solve. Beast Academy has really helped my daughter work on her tendency to look at a problem and immediately decide if she can solve it or if she should just cry instead (i wish I was kidding...she was so used to everything coming easily that it was a hard habit to break). Anyway, I would probably check out beast academy first and move forward from there. Even if you feel you have covered the same material based on the BA scope and sequence, I can pretty much promise you will find things there that you have not seen before.

We use reflex math. It tracks which facts you know and which ones you need to work on. It lets the student know when they have completed enough practice for the day by turning on a green light in the upper corner of the screen. It is game based which you would think kids would enjoy and at first my kids did, but I'm not going to lie to you--timed fact drill is still timed fact drill no matter how you cut it. I haven't found anything more effective and I feel like I've tried the all. Xtra math, Quick Math, Times Tales, TimezAttack. I would say that you really need to be consistent with it for it to be effective. The only days we skip are the weekends. My oldest has finally, finally, finally mastered her multiplication facts(did I mention that we tried everything) and I'm still going to make her use reflex math over the summer because I'm tired of the summer math fact brain dump.

Just wanted to add, I just saw an Anki app in the app store on my iPad. It was 24.99. Holy moly!!! We use the free version on the computer.

Seconding Anki. The spaced repetition has been great for my kids.

Hi there!

I want to comment about the last sentence specifically... I found at one time, but cannot find now, a note about grading for their online classes. They had 80-95% being an A on practice and review problems and 30-50% an A on challenge problems. (I wanted to remember this, so I copied it down onto the first page of our copy of the book.) So I wouldn't say that being unable to do most of the challenge problems without assistance means that the book is not right for the student. I did find this on their website related to grading: "Grades are primarily determined by student performance on the homework. We take a holistic approach to grading; we don't have strict percentage levels for grades. Our courses are structured much like courses at top-tier colleges in that the assignments are extremely challenging, so students can earn high grades with a lower percentage correct than they would need in less rigorous classes." It's supposed to be hard. Having it be a challenge makes it fun for my daughter, but if that's not the kind of thing your child enjoys, then it might not be for her. I've also heard a couple of people on the boards here say that the first few chapters are the most challenging and then it gets easier. (Or maybe the student adjusts?) Anyway, here's a pretty good review chapter by chapter that I found helpful: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/536672-aops-pre-algebra-detailed-review/ As for which book to start with, we are currently using the prealgebra book so I'm not much help there.

That's very odd. Just checked and I have all of the pages.

It's here: http://downloads.peacehillpress.com/samples/pdf/WWEandWWSexplanation.pdf?utm_source=Catalog&utm_medium=Print&utm_content=Page%2B9&utm_campaign=2014%2BCatalog&page=10

This exactly sums it up for me. There is a school less than 3 miles from us that most consider VERY good. It's just not for us.

We have, and really enjoy, homeschool in the woods timeline. http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/timelinematerials.html We paired it with their cd of timeline figures and it's fantastic. It's a little pricey but it was a good investment for us.

This looks really good! Thanks for helping me spend money I should be saving. ;)

We mostly do it on the whiteboard because it seems more fun that way. It's one of the few things we do together as a lot of her other work is independent. (Besides, I like doing math with her because it means I'm not getting left behind. I've forgotten a lot of my college level math and could definitely use a pre-algebra refresher...though I never learned AoPS style anyway.) All of that to say, I write the problem on the whiteboard and we take turns at the board. I'll write what she tells me to for a problem and then she'll take a turn on the next problem "teaching it to me". She really likes being the teacher. She has written them on paper, but she doesn't like to. She prefers to do things in her head when she can, and sometimes the book asks you to do things that way which makes her happy, but in general I insist she write it down and show me the steps clearly (on the whiteboard). I've explained to her that even if she feels like it takes too much time and writing, it takes less time than if you get it wrong and have to start all over. At least if you have it written down you have a chance of finding your mistake. I also like to remind her that in b&m school she'd have points deducted for now showing her steps. She doesn't like to think about not receiving full credit. ;)

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/594478-whos-up-for-a-pantryfreezer-challenge/ I'm definitely not interested in a Panty Freezer challenge. Sounds very uncomfortable.

Well, Scalini's Italian Restaurant in Marietta GA is supposed to have an eggplant parmesan that does the trick. ;) http://www.scalinis.com/main-babies.html It didn't work for me but it was still really yummy. I walked...I walked a lot. That didn't seem to do the trick. I wasn't on board for any of the other "tricks". I wish you the best. My youngest came two weeks late in late August. It was miserable, but I'm sure you know how much it's worth the wait. Best of luck to you.

We switched over entirely and if that's what you want to do then I would just continue on from where you are. As someone else said, BA 5 isn't finished and the work in 3 and 4 is pretty challenging so I don't think it would be a waste of your time. What happened to us (since we started Beast when it first came out) was that we ran out of material and had to find other ways to occupy our time. If you just continued with Beast from where you are, you would be unlikely to run into that problem, at least for quite a while.

I vote Logic of English Essentials. It's geared toward older students and moves pretty quickly.

You didn't ask, but I just thought I would throw in that the Gifted Homeschool Forum runs a year-long class for each of the first two books in series and they coordinate that with some work from the workbook, weekly lectures (which are great) and fun projects. It's a little pricey, but it's been so worth it to me because the teacher is fabulous and I have to do very little except make sure project materials are available and homework gets turned in.