Thanks Colleen. That's good to know. We watched two or three more online videos about square roots today. I think we'll move on after this.

In answer to what regentrude asked, this is what his math book said: "The square root of a number that is not on the table (table in the book index) can be found through the process known as extracting the square root. This process is somewhat similar to division." Then it went on to give 8 steps to follow to find the square root. In the next lesson it says, "The process of extracting square roots can be used when the radicand is not a perfect square. A square root can be calculated to as many decimal places as desired, the same as the quotient of a division problem." Then he was given 4 or 5 digit numbers to find the square roots. Thank you for all of the suggestions given here. We had already come across a previous thread with links to AoPS videos, so we watched those. We'll look at some of the links in the threads here and see what we can figure out.

My ds came across this lesson dealing with extracting square roots in his R&S Math 8 textbook, and was quite confused over the explanation. Their explanation confused me as well. Is there anyone else who has used R&S math 8 who can help clarify how to go about teaching this? How important is this for him to understand this concept now? Does he need it before algebra I? Thanks.

would be http://gardenofpraise.com/art.htm

Hi Marsha, The link for Apologia book extras is http://www.apologiaonline.com/bookextras/ There's a place on that page to type in the password listed in the front of the book. For example, for the Zoology II book the password is "Godmadethemswim". You can log in and find all the links for that book, as well as the notebook pages. Hope that helps.

Thanks, Sue. I read your review, which was very helpful. I was looking at Megawords for my up-and-coming 4th grade son, who I believe would benefit from this type of study. My oldest son, who is more of a natural speller, could perhaps listen in at times, and absorb some info that way. The other vocab-type thing I was looking at, which is also by the same company, is Vocabulary from Classical Roots. But I think we'll stick with Megawords. (Thanks for your response -- I had searched for threads including Megawords, but didn't come up with much.):)

Can you tell me if all Megawords books are the same level of difficulty, but each address different areas of spelling & vocab? I know there is an assessment book that can be purchased, but I would end up paying almost $25 for that and would like to hear from those who have used the program if possible. Thanks!

Games we enjoy... SET -- a card game for 1 or more players Uno Chess & Checkers Dutch Blitz -- 2-4 players Greed or Zonk -- a dice game (math skills) There are also different games using playing cards that work on math skills. Othello Pente Battleship Monopoly or Monopoly Jr. Scrabble Boggle Memory

We don't use the teacher key or the tests. (I didn't even realize that there were teachers guides and tests:001_smile:) Now, my oldest son is just in 5th grade, so he's using the grade 5 level. I'm not sure how challenging the upper levels get. I checked out their website a bit, and it looks like you can view sample pages. (You can google Vocabulary from Classical Roots, and it should bring you to the site.) Here's what we do... I have him read over the words for that week, work through the exercises day by day, and at the end of the week we do a little spelling test that includes words from that week, plus challenge words. He also needs to tell me the meaning of the roots studied that week. Doing it this way has worked for us. As dc learns different roots, you could play games with that to see how much they are retaining. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply. Keeping a reading journal is a great idea. He does love reading, and this would also be a good way to keep track of what is read. Thanks.

I'm wondering which direction to head with my ds11. I had gotten a TLP study for him to do, but it was pretty overwhelming, with the vocab and writing assignments. He LOVES to read and along with that we've done copywork, narration (not a lot of written, though), and dictation. We haven't done a solid year of grammar, though. When "writing" questions come up, it's a struggle. I'm working through FLL1&2 with my ds8 and dd6 this year, so along with that I decided to review parts of speech with ds11, punctuation, etc, and pull from what we are currently reading. I was reading threads about writing yesterday, and did some research on Meaningful Composition. I like what I see there, but does anyone know how it compares with WTM method? I found the sample pages, but I'd like a "review" from someone who has used it! I also read in SWB article on writing reports, that Abeka Grammar is recommended. I read of MC that you can make it take an entire year and use it alongside of a grammar curriculum. So I guess those are the options I'm looking at. There are so many writing curriculums out there (as with any subject these days) and it's hard to choose. I'm sorry for the long, rambling post. I'm going off now to get my dc ready for the day, but I'll check back in a while. Thanks!

Welcome, Rachel! I want to echo what Christy said. Back when my oldest was in K & 1st, we did keep it pretty simple. For example, I did have him working from an Abeka math text. However, we played lots of games together -- Memory, Yahtzee, Chutes & Ladders, checkers, Battleship, stuff like that. We also would read lots of library books for science & history, and then do a hands-on to go with it. The younger ones were just included in what we did, and we had fun with it. We read, read, and read some more together. I know that it's easy to look at everything that's out there and think it should all be done! Pray & seek what God wants for each of your children, and then go with that, trusting that He will show you what to do. Then have fun with your precious children! (As a side note, I've never used Sonlight, but I have looked at parts of it, and they do have your lessons all planned out -- saves a step in planning.)

There are also many different ways to "tell what happened", and express thoughts. Younger ones can dictate to you, and then draw a picture. They can act out a scene. Here's a website with some more ideas. You could also Google "ideas for narration" or something similar. Using different forms of narration will help keep it interesting. http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/narration/ We did Apologia Zoology II last year. Narration questions were included at the end of each lesson. I would have them take turns answering questions. If it was their turn and they didn't remember the answer, they would say "open floor" and then anyone could answer the question. It worked well for that type of book. Hope this helps.

We're here in PA -- Sellersville, south of the Lehigh Valley and Quakertown areas.

We did a bit of Zoo I and all of Zoo II last year with all 3 dc, which worked very well. This year I was reading through Zoo III with just ds8 and dd6, but though the content is thorough, I think Zoo II did a better job at explaining Latin & Greek terms. Also, dd was having issues with her ears, so having her sit & listen to a read-aloud like Zoo III was not working very well. I put Zoo III on hold for a bit, and am planning to work through Botany this spring into summer. If you are going through 5 books in 3 years, where do you fit in history? It seems like a lot.