Does anyone have any thoughts on memory work (lit. related) for the Middle Ages for a 5/6 grader?

Thanks for the advice!

That's a lot of great advice. Thanks, everyone. :) We've been doing what StephZ recommends. He really likes it, so he's not complaining. He's just happy to be doing math. :) I'll look into these options! Thanks!

I have a first grader who is working ahead in math. He is very mathematically minded and is able to pick concepts up quickly as well as remember them... forever. He is finishing Singapore 2B now, but I am not having to "teach" him anything. He remembers all of it from previous books, so I feel like we are just doing busy work. I'm sure we're not working at the correct level, but I'm not sure how to know what the correct level is. Will the placement test really give me a good idea? Should we skip a book or two? I want him to be working at the right level, but I don't want to miss something, either.

We've been using Singapore, and I really prefer the mastery approach. One of my children (oldest) could use a little more frequent review, though. Does anyone know of something we could supplement with? I don't want more busy work. I just want to keep skills fresh. Thanks! :)

We tried WS 3 with my then third grader. He's very verbally gifted, and he found it very tedious. He loves to write, and I have mountains of his writings all over the house. But he wasn't excited to write with this program. We actually haven't found something else we love yet, though, either. We tried WWS this year, and it was also very tedious for him. I don't know if this helps...

Thanks! My oldest will be in 5th grade next year, the logic stage. Do you still recommend waiting?

Has anyone used the Jackdaws SWB recommends? They seem kind of pricey, so I was wondering if they are worth the cost. Thanks!

"I would go light this week and make sure you're eating and hydrating well all week. And just have an open mind going into the event and start SLOW! If you're up to 10 miles, you should be just fine." :iagree: I would take it nice and easy this week. I've been a runner all my life and if you come this far, you'll be fine. Just be sure to eat well and drink lots of water all week. Two nights before the half is the night to worry about getting enough sleep; the night before won't matter. And don't change anything else. Eat what you know works for you; everyone is different. The adrenaline of the day will take you through. I did one in March that was under-prepared for due to injury. The last couple of miles were a challenge, but I felt great. Best wishes and update us on how you do!

:iagree: I know you're supposed to keep it clear so the buyer can envision their things in the space, but I want to feel like a happy family already lives there and loves it. The truth is that we know it's going to be different anyway, so make it cozy.

My dh grew up in Parsippany and we lived there for a few years when we were first married. I taught in Mountain Lakes before I had our first child. None of it felt small town to me, but I'm from PA. It all felt jumbled and congested to me, and I hated the traffic on 80. Having said that, we were recently back there for a visit with a friend who lives in Roseland. I found myself really liking the Caldwells and Verona and seeing them with new eyes. Denville is nice, too. We have some friends who live in Caldwell and hs their five children. She was just telling me recently about all of the wonderful groups in the area. It almost sounds like she has more opportunities there than we do here, which I was surprised at since we have a large hs population here. If you'd like more NJ info, I can check with my dh. It's been a long time (8 years) since we lived there, but we still have lots of friends back there. And he would know the area better than I would. I do remember Wayne flooding all the time. There was a hurricane in the fall of '99 that was really bad. And this past fall it was on the Today show how bad the flooding was there. I was going to ask how you are liking NJ so far, but it sounds like you literally just moved in!

I agree with Bones and Leverage. Both very fun shows. It's not along the same lines and wouldn't be on Netflix (maybe you could find it online), but we like Once Upon a Time.

I have a wiggly 5.5 boy, too, but we also have a little sister, 4, who entertains him well. She goes to preschool two mornings a week. My thought had been that that would allow us to get more schooling done with her out of the way, but the reality is that he is lost without her. When she's here, he plays with her and they usually make a giant mess of toys, but they are happy so I let it go and we clean it up some time later. When she's not here, he can't quite seem to figure out what to do and only wants screen time. I do give him some screen time, with headphones. I limit it to something educational, so I feel "less" guilty about it. When he's on his own, he jumps on the mini-trampoline in the basement, he uses blocks for a little bit, he likes to paint. He likes to construct things, so sometimes giving him a pile of sticks and glue keeps him occupied. He really likes to listen to books on cd. Most things are short-lived, but he'll get there in time. I don't have any great suggestions. Does he have little friends he can have over? Or go there?? I feel your pain! It will get better. :)

We're going to the local zoo tomorrow for our last day. It only takes about an hour to walk through the whole thing, but we'll pack a picnic and maybe go to a playground after. Or Chocolate World. :)

I have a Samsung with a sliding keyboard and camera and I have no complaints about it. I mainly use it for texting, and I much prefer having the sliding board. I used to hate texting. :) It's not a fancy phone, but it's a good phone. My husband adds my minutes every time, so I can't help there. I'll ask him later if he has anything to add to this.