Answer from the publisher to a RS4K Yahoo group question today, and they said Pre-level physics should be available early summer.

My 9 year old 4th grader is doing book F right now, but he has done it from the beginning so has most of the spelling rules down. By book F there is more work on prefixes and suffixes and that kind of stuff. Also, there is a proofreading assignment at the end of every lesson so if he has never done any of that, he will have a little learning curve. Does he read cursive well? All of the lists are written in cursive at this level. Here are some of the topics covered in book F: /k/ /kw/ /n/; hard and soft c and g, dge; gn, wr, tch; silent consonants; ways to make the /s/, /z/, /zh/ sounds; spellings of the long o sound; spellings of the oo sound; spellings of the long a sound; prefixes, suffixes, rules for adding suffixes, plurals, homonyms, abbreviations.

Good point - thanks

The most bizarre thing happened to my daughter. She just put 4 new snow tires on her car. Yesterday when she went to get in she noticed the front tires had been replaced with old, cheap bald tires. The passenger side hub cap was missing but the drivers side one was on. She was parked at a bowling alley Saturday night and thinks that is where it had to have happened. It is so weird we don't even know what to think or do. Have you ever heard of this? Her insurance deductible won't cover the theft so she is just out $$ she cannot afford. She called the police last night and they gave her a different number to call this morning, after she spent a few minutes trying to make them understand what happened. Picture the scenario - someone with old tires drives around looking for a car like theirs, with new tires, jacks up their car, takes off the tire, jacks up my daughters car, switches the tires and then does the same on the other side? And they take the time to put the hubcap back on? Would they have done all four if she hadn't come out? And what if she comes out while they are replacing the tires? Do they leave the jack behind and drive away? At first we thought it was a practical joke by a friend but no one has fessed up. It is so weird...and maddening. :001_huh::glare::cursing::banghead:

Thanks for the post because I am dealing with the same thing with a friends child that I teach. He is six and I have had to talk to him several times recently about laughing at inappropriate things. He laughs all the time at everything. Your post makes me think it is just the age, that he is kind of unsure about how to react to things and so just laughs?

http://www.thequartermile.com/programs/gradesk9_cross.shtml We have the cross-section CD which costs 39.95. It has most topics from K-9, and certainly more topics and review then we will ever be able to use.

I have Pre-Level Chemistry and Biology. Physics isn't done yet. Here is the page link http://www.gravitaspublications.com/store/catalog/Pre_Level_1_K_3rd_Grade-1-1.html

As I was reading through all of the posts I couldn't help thinking, holy cow, if I had to start this over today I would be totally overwhelmed. We started homeschooling 18 years ago and there wasn't much to choose from. You are lucky but it would be really easy to drown. Most curriculum has sample pages on the website. There is no rush to pick curriculum - spend a lot of time looking and looking again and comparing and thinking. And reading and asking here. How fun, I envy you. And we love Bob Books. Great little first readers.

We have Earth Science and like it very much. We bought it because it was very hands on.

www.paulaschoice.com

We have been on both sides of the coin - sometimes I was afraid the social services people would take my kids away because it was such a disaster at our house after babies were born! We pretty much have things under control now. A couple things that helped... a place for everything and everything in its place don't put it down, put it away keep the love, lose the stuff do it, do it now - it isn't going to be easier later and we made a list of all, all, all the chores that ever need to be done and decided how often they needed to be done and made sure we did the daily ones every single day without fail. Sometimes school didn't get done at our house because the house was so chaotic I had to clean before I could do anything else. :tongue_smilie:

Evan-Moor

spiral - learn pieces of the puzzle, a little at a time and eventually all of the pieces fall into place to make a complete picture. You keep using the pieces as you move along and add others. mastery - doesn't mean you learn everything there is about addition before you move on, just that you master everything appropriate to the age and grade level about that subject and then move on to another subject. The next year you add more information about the subject.

We have A History of European Art. It shows the art work he is discussing most of the time he is talking. He is more interesting to listen to than some of the Teaching Company teachers. And the course is filled with actual information - we have many of the TC courses and are sometimes frustrated by how much they talk about what they are going to teach and never actually get to the facts. :001_huh: This course is very fact filled.

I love Singapore. Used Saxon with my older kids but since we started using Singapore, Saxon seems boring and slow and we have completely phased it out. I like that it is easy to personalize - add challenging word problems, do some intensive practice, or skip those and just use the workbook if it is something that they understand readily. I like that the lessons are short and to the point. As far as I am concerned there are just enough practice problems to understand but not so many that it becomes tedious. I like the look of the books. Most of all I like that it teaches the theory and and understanding of what the numbers mean, not just how to get the answer. I was always in the smarty pants math class in school and got good grades but I think I understand math better now after using Singapore. But then I went to school during that whole new math business... ::shudder:: No cons really for us. We do use Quarter Mile Math on the computer to drill the facts just because I want them fast at that so they can work on the theory and not spend time on arithmetic and that is the most painless way we have found to drill.

but ideas, maybe. write the two words that make up the contraction on a strip of paper and then use three folds to fold the paper so that the words come together and the missing parts disappear into the fold. Works for most contractions but obviously not ones like will not to won't Practice saying the two words, fold the paper, say the contraction. Open, close, open, close. Some contractions are hard to even say, like the 'll ones, and need lots of practice. Make up a chant for the parts to contraction - do not, don't, will not, won't, can not, can't...helps if it is kind of rhymey. Find or write a little paragraph with a lot of potential contractions in it and read it both ways and let them hear that contractions sound normal and they are really just words we use all of the time. Without the contractions it sounds funny, to formal. Worksheets with a list of the whole words down one column and the contractions down a 2nd column and then draw a line to connect the two words. Explaining that the apostrophes job is to hold the place in line for the missing letters.

Depends on how well she understands what she is doing when she multiplies because the theory will matter more as the problems get harder. I am on 2B with a borrowed child at the moment so all of this is fresh in my mind. Does she understand that 4 x 5 is one more group than 4 x 4, or does she just know the answers. Can she apply the multiplication to a story problem? Does she understand that mult. and div. are the reverse of each other? If so, then sure, skip it. The thing I like about Singapore is the little by little theory that is introduced in each lesson, not just the how but the why. Maybe she just understands that intuitively and doesn't need more of it?

The ones I would be embarassed to admit to? Al Stewart, Leo Sayer, Pablo Cruise, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Jackson Browne, Bay City Rollers, Steve Miller Band, America, Hall & Oats - so much nerdy goodness. I am off to Youtube to relive my youth.

http://www.amazon.com/Math-Manipulatives-Magic-Wands-Hands/dp/0929895495/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233963970&sr=8-9 Math, Manipulatives and Magic Wands http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Standards-Photo-Illustrated-Manipulatives-Grades/dp/1569112738/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1233963970&sr=8-2 Hand-on Standards - they are available for PreK-K, 1-2, 3-4, 5-6. VERY public schooly but lots of ways to teach math concepts with manipulatives. You do have to buy every manipulative under the sun though. (for me, not a problem...:glare: I think I only like teaching math because of the stuff)

http://www.designastudy.com/products/socialstudies.html#1891975080 Maybe still not exactly what you are looking for but the closest thing I know of.

The book has some additional information and activities but nothing you need, just extra tid-bits of info.

Just to add something else into the mix, Explode the Code, starting around Level 4 I think, does a good job of explaining why syllables sound they way they do and what makes the vowel short or long.

It is a book and/or flashcards that have latin and greek roots and words made from those roots. The flash cards are a copy of the root on the front and english words and breakdown of the parts of those words to define it on the back. The book contains some additional information about explaining the meanings and some demonstrations and activities. There are 100 words in the first set but often two pages will be the same meaning, just greek and latin roots. For example page 95 is biblos, greek for book and page 96 is liber/libri, latin for book. The words include bible, bibliography (bible-book, graph-write - a list of books on a particular subject), library, libretto, libel etc. A little bit about the history of the words (they came from words meaning bark or papyrus). There is a 2nd volume also. We have never used the flash cards - I have the kids copy the root on a set of spiral bound flash cards and write the meaning on the back. The only little tiny problem I have with using them with younger kids is that the example words they give (biblioclast, bibliolatry) are often words they will probably never run across in any reading they do. It certainly helps them with vocabulary and meanings of words as they get older though and theoretically improves SAT scores.

No reason not to change them. We did. We never start on the regular school calendar, which is what the meeting books are geared to. They are just a tool to help learn counting, counting on, and calendars.

I have used it for years and like it fine for what it does. It is mentioned as the main (I think) suggested writing program in TWTM. But it isn't necessarily the most well like program out there. We use it for learning the technical skills of writing, the terminology etc. but also use other programs to become a 'good' writer. A lot of people don't like it because it is very specific about what you will be writing the particular assignment about and it doesn't provide a ton of teacher support or direction, just guidelines on what to tell them to write about and some general support regarding problems they might have, no detail on how to do it well. It works for what it is - just a basic writing program covering skills of writing. Most either like it or hate it I think. As I read over this it seemed a little negative. We like WS fine - it is the only official "writing program" my oldest ever wanted to use. She is about to graduate with a journalism degree and has always done well in college with her writing, so it does work. It has also been around for at least 20 years so is just kind of settled in, not the latest and greatest.