My 4 year old son used Primary Math Essential Math which he enjoyed. He has not yet started Singapore 1A, so I am using some Miquon with him this summer and fall before we move into Singapore 1A. You may also want to check out MEP Reception level math. That is another one I'm considering after we do Miquon. Although I've only used portions of Level 5 of MEP previously with an older child, I have not had a lot of experience with it at the younger levels. My 4 y.o. is not ready for longer intensive math sessions yet. I want him to play at this level more than anything. :)

Thanks to other suggestions in a previous post, I'm planning to use Mapping the World with Art along with Human Odyssey Ancients and a timeline. I still haven't decided whether to purchase the Human Odyssey student or teacher pages yet. If I don't, I plan to use the ideas that SWB suggests (outlining and Level I-III Outlines). I don't want history to take overwhelming long though, so I'm still refining my plans. :bigear:

Echoes of Glory by Berel Wein, and listening to E.H. Gombrich's Little History of the World: Classic Collection on CD when driving around running errands.

Our PreK plans are here; but my 4 year old sits in on older siblings history unit so his listing may seem a bit much in that area. ;)

I recommend this video: which shows excellent examples of using the "think to spell" and "finger spelling" ideas. It is at the upper levels of Spell to Write and Read, but this will give you a good idea of the where the SWR program is taking you and the depth of the program.

Praying for Julie and family. :grouphug:

I ordered a used copy of K12 Human Odyssey Ancients to look through and to possibly add to my daughter's history for next year. If we use it, I will have a 7th and 5th grader as well as two youngers (2nd and PreK) sitting in as well. Thanks for the lists and ideas. :bigear:

Thanks for sharing the video. The instructor makes some good points which I agree with, although I have never even heard of the butterfly method before. :001_huh: Frankly, I don't remember much about how I was taught elementary math. But I have been fortunate to have had excellent U.S. junior high and high school math teachers.

:iagree: This is what my husband does. I think an actuary is a good career in that you can begin studying for exams right away and can get a job as an actuary after you have a bachelor's degree. Often companies will give paid study time for actuarial analysts to study for higher level exams. Because of this you may have little debt up front to get in the door (as opposed to other professional careers), and as you pass exams your salary goes up quite a bit. It can take several years to reach the fellowship level as an actuary. My husband and I both have graduate degrees in math; and I turned down a software engineering job offer to pursue my doctorate in math. So even with a bachelor's in mathematics alone, I had job offers in computer science. Also, for me, my graduate level mathematics program paid my tuition and gave me a salary to teach two college level math courses (College Algebra and Calculus.) My point is that certain graduate level fields will pay you to go there, as opposed to other fields where you may end up going into debt. When I was working on my doctorate and studying for my PhD qualifying exams in Real and Complex Analysis, Applied Mathematics and Numerical Analysis, we would sometimes spend up to six hours a day at the library studying mathematics. My husband would study for his actuary exams a similar amount of time. We were together at least. :) You can share that with your son, because that is a reality for someone who would like to do graduate level mathematics. The qualifying exams can be difficult, and you must be prepared before you attempt them. But if he likes to study math all day, he will fit right it. ;)

Although my son will only be PreK, his schedule is about at the K level. The only change I may make for my PreK/K son is to add in some more math. He's finished his Singapore EM KB early, so that gives us some extra time to play with Miquon math. I already bought him some C rods last year.

:iagree: with everything you said. I saw LOE recently at a home school conference as well, and I came to a similar conclusion.

Now that I've figured out how to use it, my favorite spelling program continues to be Spell to Write and Read.

I emailed AoPS before we began Intro to Algebra, and I was told that it is intended to be used as a stand-alone program.

In my daughter's experience with AoPS Intro to Algebra, she reads the book on her own. Then she works out the examples in the lessons on a piece of scrap paper as she reads the lesson. After that she begins the exercises in the book. She did the same thing when she worked through Life of Fred Beginning Algebra on her own last summer. My point is that I think AoPS works well for a motivated student who WILL take the time to do this. She has not used the videos yet, because we usually talk about concepts together if she gets stuck, but I think the videos will be helpful for many. As one of my favorite math professors commonly would comment during my undergraduate college math class, "Math is not a spectator sport." Art of Problem Solving seems to take this philosophy to heart. The authors seem to want the student to really think as you go, and not give you the answer too quickly.

:iagree: This is what I use, but I also add in more math facts practice. You can learn more about the IP and CWP and the differences between the Standards and US editions at the Singapore Math website.

:iagree: :iagree:

I am not going to try to convince you that you need Singapore Primary Math 1, especially if you are already covering the concepts in other programs, but what I liked best about that level of SM are the IP1A,1B, and CWP1 books. I thought those books made my children think harder at that level. So another idea is that you could add just those in. Good luck. :)

My 2nd grade plans are in my signature. :)

You are welcome to view my fall schedule in my signature; this will be my second time teaching 5th grade. :)

We use BA in conjunction with SM. My 9yo son does BA3B with CWP4 for our summer schedule which we've already begun. He actually does about 45min of CWP4 and then another 30 minutes per day of BA3B for three days per week. He likes math, though, and he considers BA fun math. So he so far doesn't seem to mind doing two different maths in one day. I wouldn't say my son LOVES to read either, but he does like the cartoon format of BA as he usually reads Calvin and Hobbes for fun. He finds the BA format engaging and the problems interesting. Good luck. :)

I've not read the other posts, but here are my thoughts. Perhaps by making a list of what meals you plan to have for the week and then taking a quick inventory of what items you already have available before you make your shopping list would help reduce what you actually have to purchase. You could also shop with a calculator. I add up everything as I put it in my cart. It helps me in two ways. First, I am able to see if what I am putting in my cart actually adds up to what the prices say I will be charged. Second, it helps me see when I've reached a certain dollar value. I am usually able to keep the total below a certain amount. Although I have not seen any other shoppers in the store do this, so perhaps I do stand out. ;)

:iagree: This is what I buy, too. I also just purchased the Process Skills in Problem Solving books...the heuristic approach. Levels 1 to 4 have just been revised. I like what I see; I don't know that these books are necessary if you do the CWP or IP books though. I am always checking out the new items! ;)

While I would like to take credit for it, I did not take the bridge/fog photo. It's a standard theme page from WordPress. ;) And yes, we all need time to relax. :)

I finally finished and just posted ours in my signature. :)

Yes, my summer 2012 schedule/plans are in my signature. :)