I used La Clase Divertida with my kids when they were young and they loved it!

Welcome! I'm sure you'll have a wonderful year homeschooling your little one.

That's fantastic! :hurray:

Base Ten Blocks might help. You can usually find printable versions on the web.

I'm not sure which algorithms you mean, but sometimes manipulatives are the best tools for demonstrating why something works. Also, drawing pictures for the problem being solved can help demonstrate algorithms.

Morning Madness Morning Mayhem Morning Mission Morning Merriness Morning Amusements Daily Goodness Everyday Excellence Our Time

Thanks, everyone. I'm looking into your suggestions.

Didelizabeth, If you can speak to your children in Spanish, you can encourage them to speak it back to you. Ask them simple questions in Spanish that they can respond to (depending on what vocab they have learned). All languages are made up of 4 key components: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Find ways to incorporate those 4 skills into your teaching. I used La Clase Divertida and Learn Spanish with Grace plus a bit of my own stuff to teach my children Spanish when they were young. There are also some free online resources for teaching Spanish here: http://www.learningonlineblog.com/2014/02/19/teach-spanish-websites/. I hope they help you.

Not sure what age your child is but Chicken Soup for the Soul has some cat books.

Hi all! I'm looking for high school curriculum, specifically American Government and Economics, for my 12 grader. I'm looking for something that is NOT boring like the textbooks in public schools (Lol), doesn't have an excessive amount of essay writing (that's what her writing course is for), and is mostly self-teaching (she's a pretty independent learner). Thank you so much in advance for your suggestions.

Nice! Thanks.

I agree with you on the sugar issue. That's why we quit buying most processed foods and make most of our meals homemade. I'm a major water drinker and am encouraging my teens to do the same. We only buy milk (almond milk for some of us who are dairy free) to go on cereal. We get orange juice, but don't drink it every day. Occasionally we have tea or coffee, otherwise it's just water. I read a statistic that our bodies are made up of about 75-80% water which is why we're supposed to drink a lot of it. It takes a little getting used to at first, but after a while, you don't miss the sweet stuff. Good luck with dropping the sugar and thanks for reminding us!:)

How about teaching them a new fun skill like wood burning, photography, or balloon sculpting? There's a whole load of suggested activities here. Fun Summer Learning Activities for Your Kids and Teens

Looks great! Thanks.

I love to bless people! :001_smile:

I started blogging about homeschooling. I really enjoy it.

I love the list. But it does seem like too much to get done. Have you allowed plenty of time for discussion each day? That really helps to solidify learning and make the books more interesting.

Life of Fred or Singapore? Using manipulatives with any math program can sometimes really help struggling learners.

I'm not sure about Math in Focus, but we used Life of Fred Trigonometry one year to supplement our K12 math curriculum. It was pretty funny. Just what my older math-hating dd needed.;)

The Humpties is a fun, hands on approach to teaching grammar. Each part of speech is an egg in the family like Father Noun and Mother Verb. It's really neat.

When kids tease, it's to get a rise out of the other person, make them angry. I've always taught my kids to try not to get angry when someone teases, but instead, laugh about the situation and themselves. It's no fun for a teaser if the teasee doesn't get mad. (yes, I know I made up a word there, :D)

I've always taught it as dividing into equal groups and showed that with manipulatives. That seemed to make the most sense to kids. Timez Attack is a software program that helps kids memorize math facts like multiplication and division. They do a wonderful job of showing the division concept (dividing into groups) with their graphics. My youngest daughter loved that program when she was younger.

Sometimes it isn't that writing is boring, it's the topic that they have to write is boring. Try giving your child something interesting to write. It can still be used as a tool for teaching writing. Here are some articles with 30 writing suggestions: 30 Creative Writing Ideas to Inspire Your Child and 30 Practical Writing Ideas for Everyday Use. There are also some fun writing activities you can do to expand on his sentence writing. Here are some ideas: Fun Sentence Writing Activities Often we can take monotonous tasks in learning and doctor them up to make them fun. I hope this helps.:)

Have you tried breaking down his work into smaller chunks with rewards? I used to tell my kids that when they got 1-2 subjects done, they would get a 10-15 min. break. To earn recess, they had to get 3 subjects done. In the afternoon, I did something similar, earn a small break, then computer or Wii time after everything was done. They got bonus time for getting everything done by supper.