I have issues with my library's email system. I miss reminders because it emails me about 3 library emails a day about stuff I can't attend. Lots of book clubs and things like that. So I often delete them right away. And sometimes miss my reminder. My library does have an app which comes in handy. I have just recently started trying to keep all the library books in 1 place. Often then end up all over the house. Now they sit by the front door in a carry on suitcase or 2, depending on how many we have. I also don't mind fines. I see them as a contribution to the library system.

Ok. :) I think you are right about the lack of interactive games like that. I don't recall see them. And I do agree that the layout of discovery streaming is not really user friendly. Thanks.

Peter Weatherall's Human Biology. Real Science Series. There are lots of shows that cover human body. DK eyewitness Human Machine Rock n Learn Human Body. Makemegenius on YouTube has some good clips also.

I use BFSU. I just borrow books from my library for my son to read on each topic each week. This is working best for us. We also supplement with YouTube clips and shows from Discovery Streaming. But some libraries how DVDs to borrow that might work. I tried aligning R.E.A.L science odyssey but the writing is not really of good quality. And it is very shallowly written.

I wondered about the difference between discover science and streaming. I have streaming and it has all those bells and whistles I believe you mentioned. All the folders. lesson plans, student assigning. And it does the segments.

We have it and use it daily. We don't have cable, and can't get free to air TV. So this is our TV. We paid $99 for the year and that worked out cheaper than netflix I have a TV hooked up to a cheap computer tower which I use for TV watching. Yes, many of the shows are dated and the quality is low. Old VHS quality. But my son doesn't know any difference so it worlds for us.

For hurt my first thought was pleasure. The soothe, assuage, make better, unhurt.

I am Australian married to an American raising a son in America. I also teach my son that there are two ways to say it. Tuesday, due, and even dew are other words that use the yoo sound.

Maybe this will help. http://youtu.be/qva8BG13Klc Here is more information. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casting_out_nines

I love Edward Lear. The Quangle Wangles hat really flows.

Oops. For Australian book recommendation you should be able to get Wombat Divine for Australia. Also there is a 12 days of Christmas Australian book. I also recommend the YouTube songs Six White Boomers by Rolf Harris (I think) and Australian Jingle Bells by Bucko and Chaps?

I would say Go Math. It takes the best of Singapore and Saxon and finds a way to blend it. My only complaint is that it is very thorough. Which appeals to many, but my son is flying through it and picks things up easily.

For some reason I thought Charlotte's web was set in New England. I actually thought it was set in the south and I was shocked to find it was so far north. However....I might have gotten the New England part from the movie which may have taken certain liberties as I couldn't find any mention of locacation while quickly perusing it last night. Edited to add: The 2006 movie is set in Maine.

My friend Flicka and the sequels in Wyoming.

We use discovery streaming and there are amazing programs on there that cover a full curriculum.

My almost 4 year old loves the following series: Madeline Little House Books (there is a great picture book series too) Babar Anything by: Virginia Lee Burton (Katy the steam plow, The Little House, and more...) Robert Mcclosky (Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine, and more...) Mem Fox (Possum Magic, Koala Lou, and more.... ) Julia Donaldson (The Gruffalo, The Highway Rat, and more....) Jan Brett (The Hat, The Mitten and more....) For chapter books Charlotte's Web Five Little Pepper and how they Grew All of a Kind Family

If this becomes a long standing thing you could read any of the Great Illustrated Classics. They take 90 minutes to read aloud... Ideally 3-4 weeks. They are abridged versions of many classics. Many classics that many children may never be exposed to. I also like the idea of reading short stories. My reasoning for this is because some kids may forget what happens in each book each week.

Hahaha. I like this.

My son (4y.o in 2 months) asks for, Sour cream A caterpillar A real live pig that he will call Wilbur. Overalls like Fern from Charlotte's Web. It is very difficult to find overalls!

There are a lot of readers on kindle now. There are also books online via websites like we give books.

How they jump to chapter books is kind of mysterious to me also. It has just happened to my son. I can't say it was 1 thing. It was an accumulation of many things. Once my son was reading sentences we started buddy reading a lot. We just read read read. I explain unfamiliar words. And when he takes his turn we would sound out words together. Or he would sound them out. I would read a page, he would read a sentence, then we worked up to a whole paragraph, then we were alternating whole pages each. We read a LOT of readers. We devoured a bunch of level 1, then the level 2 then level 3. At this point we moved to pretty much any picture book we could get our hands on. Many of them have more advanced structure and vocabulary that many early chapter books. Next big thing that helped a lot; was that I was able to get my hands on large print books. The print sized mattered a lot to my son. Oh and something else I did was to give him a little nudge. He would be at a 1st grade level for reading so we would work through a 3rd or 4th grade level book, or often just a chapter, together. It was slow going. However, when we went back to a1st grade level book, he found it less overwhelming and breezed through it.

I think algebra or algebraic thinking is taught much earlier than many realise. Solving ? For basic sentences like 5+?=7 or 5+2=3+? are covered in 1st grade in quite a few math curriculums I know. I think the focus in lower grades is to teach kids to have strong number sense and real world math before introducing more formal algebra. I grew up with intergrated maths in Australia. I want the same kind of program for my son. Frankly I am not really sure where all the different mathematical disciplines differentiate. For years I thought I never studied trigonometry or calculus, but I did. It was just called Maths. In highschool we had Maths A, B or C. Maths A was just easier level, every day Maths. Maths C was more advanced and essential for students going into a field that needed Maths. Most students opted for. Maths B. I did read some reasearch recently about how students that study intergrated math do better than what is commonly used in the US.

Piano or violin. You can start with a keyboard rather than a piano. And you can rent violins. I would look at a music program like Little Musician so that he gets some good simple theory, music appreciation, and pitch and rhythm training first. It can be done comfortable at home. That I show my son started.

I agree about the younger grades needing the stability. I like the ideas of teachers keeping the same children for a few years. Possibly grade 1 to 3. I had the same teacher in 3rd and 4th grade and her students from the prior years excelled in 4th grade. I loved that she knew where I was academically and was immediately able to send my right to extension programs while she was benchmarking unfamiliar children. And frankly teaching elementary subjects shouldn't be too demanding for any teaching graduate. However, I do think that there needs to be more math education in college before they graduate.

MindSet by Carol Dweck Nurtureshock by Po Bronson and Merriweather How Children Succeed by Paul Tough The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mom by Amy Chau. This is more of a parenting style book.