A 4-year Bachelors degree will open more doors than a 2-year Associates (or perhaps it is that the 2yr will close the doors while a 4yr leaves them open?). What certifications are being discussed? I don't remember there being too many that will replace a 4 year degree, unless they are backed up with multiple years (2+) of real world experience. With the job market being what it is, an employer will likely take a 4 yr over a 2 yr, so there may not be any experience to back up those certs. Note also that the base starting salary will be higher for BS as a general rule. For a CS major there will be discrete math course requirements in addition to the usual Calculus (1,2,3, diff eq sometimes), so NT in high school is a good idea. There's not a lot of C&P work unless you take them as electives.

Do you have any recommended specs for the binoculars? Would a stand be needed? Last time I tried using our binoculars it was very shaky and we could not really focus on anything.

DS is doing Pre-A. I like the problems as they are interesting and provide a good challenge. However it takes forever to finish a chapter (6 weeks on average). DS seems to understand the material and gets most review and majority of challenge problems correct. My concern with skipping is I feel like that's shirking the program. Also I worry that skipping will cause issues with understanding in later years.

I was really digging this article until it said "Long division now properly belongs to the history of mathematics." And then this gem: "For those students still required to do problems in which the divisor has two or more digits, we include the following example." Now I want my two minutes back.

I asked my kid and he did fine. He studies MCT and those Latin roots come in handy for 'interrupting'. He's always been fairly decent at spelling though.

regentrude, Thanks for the information. I have Halliday so I'll just use that.

Horsepower is not an issue unless he plans to tow things around. Other drivers will cut around as needed. Not sure where you live but CA doesn't have a Pass on the left only rule. Traffic wise a motorcycle is fastest (lane splitting is legal and can use carpool lanes). Otherwise any later model 4 cylinder car should be fine since the freeways are mostly a parking lot most of the time anyway, especially around the West side (UCLA).

I'm going to try and (re)learn classical mechanics and possibly also EM. I'd like recommendations on textbooks. So far I have discovered: Principles of physics 5ed (Serway) Fundamentals of physics (halliday,resnik, Walker) University physics (young, freedman) TIA!

The irony is that in the interest of security they created a product that no one will buy. FWIW, Adobe has PDF security encryption built in that can curb casually sharing. Hardcore theft cannot be stopped, but that is true of most products.

It says the license renews annually, not that you have to pay each year. If that is all it says, I would interpret it as "you can use it until we change the terms or go out of business." If course it would be better if they were more clear. Is there no detail in their FAQs?

Is this statistic similar to the one that says 90% of accidents happen within 20 miles of your house? Simply because you drive around there so often, and not because your neighborhood has the world's worst drivers?

There are 6 bars because half of Abby's bars is 2 bars.

Have a look at Process Skills In Problem Solving, available at lots of vendors. Those books teach the bar model method, as well as provide instruction on problem solving in general.

What about past exams from competition math such as MathCounts or MOEMS? There's lots available and some of the questions are quite fun.

I'm answering the question in your topic. I am a big fan of SM. My kid used it for several years. That said, I found SMK Standards Ed. a big waste of time. It was almost like K was written after 1-6 as an 'Oh wait there's a market for this book in the US. Let's slap our name on it and see what happens."

My kid likes this one: http://www.amazon.com/How-Beat-Your-Chess-Gambit/dp/1901983056 He hasn't managed it yet :D

To me the site seems like some half baked attempt to ask for money and promote their product by lambasting CC and dressing up the site with some random words. There are better resources for explaining why CC is not great, and plenty of better methods for learning vocab.

What age is the child and what level of detail is needed? These topics are complex and highly technical in nature. There have literally been reams of pages written on these topics. If only a superficial overview is needed, you can probably just read the investopedia entry and distill for him. A more in-depth analysis would require strong comprehension skills (all topics), facility with algebra (all topics) and statistics (stocks if dividends are being studied, otherwise just bonds). Also a passing familiarity with basic economics might be useful as background for the fundamental analysis discussions. 'Trading' is a very broad topic that could encompass just about anything related to financial markets. Again an overview could be obtained via Google.

If you dislike juggling books then SM may not be your best option. In addition to the HIG, TB, and WB, there's also the Intensive practice and Challenging word problems books. While not all the books are necessary, you'll probably find that your student needs more or less, and end up having to juggle three or four.

I'm no help on the current line of thought to this thread, but have you looked at the Elephant and Piggie series by Williams? Shorter and easier than Lobel, but funny and engaging. My kid at the same age loved those. Even if not challenging these books will provide exposure, and at this point exposure to real writing is beneficial.

After the analyst years an MBA is needed for advancement to associate, and pedigree matters for b school admission. Don't know about undergrad and I don't know CMC either, but for MBA west coast grads have difficulty competing with east coast schools for some reason. Could be proximity,could be alum bias, etc.

The letters 'USC' is a registered trademark owned by the University of Southern California. File that under 'pointless but true' :p

My kid is pretty good at math in general, but can't do mental math to save his life (what's 6 plus 9? 17! 14?). I'm not familiar with MEP, but SM has mental math strategies throughout the lower levels. He sucked at them. Every time. Finally I just let that go. Years later, it has not hindered him one bit in his ability to learn and apply higher level math. Honestly I don't think it is that big a deal. Yes it needs to be practiced and proficiency should be a goal, but I think as long as the child understands concepts and can correctly perform the necessary operations in some form (oral, mental, written, etc.) it will be fine.

For my kid the CWP was definitely worth it. The problems not only reinforced the idea that math is not simply a collection of isolated ideas, but also fostered in him a sense of committment and accomplishment that elementary word problems just didn't provide. I'm also with you on the need to clearly show the thought process behind the answer. We have a slogan: "No Work = No Points". Now he is finally starting the see the value in organizing his work, and I am hoping it carries on throughout the higher levels.

Having gone through the IP and CWP, I would not classify either book as 'too easy' (in the context of what the child is supposed to have learned up to that level; of course, if you are using Algebra for the L5/L6 CWP they are easy). I think the IP and CWP are integral parts of the program, and wouldn't dream of depriving my kid the satisfaction of cracking a really tough problem. I especially loved those 'final review' parts of the IP. Some of those questions in L5 and L6 were so hard! Don't think my kid ever made an 80 on any exam. I remember one time he made a 75 and was jumping up and down. :lol: