I received this email today. Thought might benefit everyone on board here. Hands-on Equations have just announced the release of *The Fun Way to Learn Algebra - FREE - Hands-On Equations 1 Lite* app for the iPad! Those of you who own an iPad, please *download this free app today*<http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fun-way-to-learn-algebra-free/id505954972?ls=1&mt=8>from'>http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fun-way-to-learn-algebra-free/id505954972?ls=1&mt=8>from'>http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fun-way-to-learn-algebra-free/id505954972?ls=1&mt=8>from'>http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fun-way-to-learn-algebra-free/id505954972?ls=1&mt=8>from the App Store (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fun-way-to-learn-algebra-free/id505954972?ls=1&mt=8) *And that's not all!* They have a *RAFFLE*! - Download the free app, try it out, RATE it (hopefully five stars), and provide a comment on the App Store prior to *midnight on Tuesday, August 14th* Pacific time. ..and of those who provide a comment and a rating, *thirty* will be selected at random and offered their choice of - *A.* A free Hands-On Equations Level 1 or Level 2 app and a $50 credit toward any Hands-On Equations physical product, or - *B.* A free Hands-On Equations Level 1 or Level 2 app and a $25 cash check. In order for the folks at Hands-on Equations to be able to contact the winners, please sign up at this link<http://forms.aweber.com/form/32/1122030832.htm>. See this video < to see an overview by Dr. Borenson of the Hands-On Equations Level 1 app. ------------------------------ ALSO... 35% Discount on the Hands-On Equations Home Packet! In celebration of completing a quarter of a century of Making Algebra Child's Play, the sales price of the Home Packet of *Hands-On equations* is reduced from $95 to $79.95! And... as a SPECIAL OFFER to the readers of this newsletter, they are offering a *35% discount* on this *already* reduced Home Packet price so that now you can get it *for 35% off* of the $79.95 if purchased online at Hands-On Equations website <http://www.borenson.com/> with a credit card prior to August 14th, 2012. You only pay $52! Use the special code: *MariaPromo*. The Home Packet includes the Hands-On Equations Learning System, the instructional DVD and the Hands-On Equations Introductory Verbal Problems Workbook. LOTS OF STUFF for $52!

I think when not on sale, you have to buy it together with a curriculum package to get this price, $30 (add $5 shipping). Wonder whether MCT would do a Back-To-School Sale. That'll be a better deal for most of us here on this forum.

This is what I got from the email.... Through Sunday August 12, we are offering a special price on the newly published Michael Clay Thompson’s Search Trilogy: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Call of the Wild by Jack London, and The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells, and the Teacher Manual. This is his third trilogy in his Literature series which consists of sets of three classic novels, (complete and unabridged), together with a teacher manual. To celebrate the publication you are able to purchase the Search Trilogy: three novels plus the Teacher Manual, at this special price of $30.00. If you require an additional set of novels, this is available at $25.00 Both offers will end in the middle of the night on Sunday night/Monday morning, when the prices will be $40 and $27.

Thanks, Melissa. So if I get it right, there's no way she'll have a record to keep track of her progress all in the same place. She'll have two different student ID? And when she gets to upper levels, I think especially high school, an official transcripts would be very handy. So, may be we should switch back to private enrollment when we get to that.

We were on EPGY through private enrollment but plan to switch over to open enrollment to save cost. I wonder whether we need to apply for new Student ID and start all over (loosing the history of our academic record). I wonder anyone can shade some light on this?

I just found out that you can do open enrollment through charter school eg. Ocean Grove, if you were in CA

Down To Earth Geography Grade 3 seems to me very easy to use and very much open and go type.

I love avacado and nuts.

I face similar problem with Science. It has the day-to-day lesson planned out too, but I just can't get myself down to shop for the materials. I was using NOEO and it does come with a kit. But I'm more stumped by the part where it needs household stuff which I don't usually store at home. I wonder anyone know of a Science program which is really pick and go and does come with a kit that contains everything you need.

I did a break with RightStart when DD was done with C, we detour to Singapore Maths. I was exhausted with RS I guess, and need a break. No doubt SM is less teacher intensive. It did not take us long to realize that something is missing in SM. The sparks and enthusiasm in Maths or whatever you call it seems to diminish as we get each lesson done. Finally, we are all very relieved to return to RS D ... What I'm very impressed with SM is the pace and curriculum structure, very no-nonsense, and straight to the point. One can advance very fast with SM. Just a little dry to us.

DS5 is using ETC, but he is finding it boring when he's nearing the end of ETC3 (he started with ETC2). I think ETC taught him the basics to spell. But in order to spice things up a bit, you'll still need some sort of fun program like AAS or SWR. I'm thinking of starting AAS1 with him this fall.

Just to add to my previous post, I think if we didn't use AAS when DD was beginning to spell, she wouldn't have achieved this level of proficiency now. So I still think I owe AAS my thanks! - Ann

I think it was worthwhile for me. It empowers me, gives me the confidence that I can teach phonics without going through the learning curve. There was so much going on in my life that I could not just sit for hours planning, reading, researching and practicing in private. I really like SWR, but I never have the time to glue everything together. In that sense, AAS gave me that hand-holding I badly needed. But when I get the hang of it, especially for a natural speller like my DD, I think we might not need the higher levels any more. We've whisked through Level1 till Level3, and 4,5,6 are still sitting in the shelves still in shrink wraps. But we don't have a serious problem with spelling these days, so it does not seem an absolute necessity to continue with it. AAS is expensive, so I'm taking mental notes that I should get back to it to finish it up....Ann

We lived 2 years in South East Asia before coming back to the US. After going through that, I learn to appreciate the stability, the dynamics and the openness towards homeschooling. I appreciate the vast of opportunity made possible by K12, Calvert, Stanford EPGY and JHU CTY programs. I also appreciate the diversity in culture and education ideals between these two worlds.

We used to start the bedtime routine at 9am. Now that we have added a lengthy prayer on top of it, we usually end up at 10pm, but they still wake up automatically at 8.30am.

The lessons/worksheets together with the book is just the right thing for us too! And not as pricey as MCT!

I'm interested in Caesar's English as well. Which, in your opinion, should we be getting? The Classical edition or the Regular edition?

Just thought some of you might be interested in the latest release of AAS7 Order Level 7 at 15% off now. Clues for knowing when to use ANCE or ENCE for the sound of /ĕnts/ as in significance and conference Strategies for spelling words with Latin and Greek elements as in deductible and hydroscope Loan words from French, Spanish, and Italian such as camouflage and scenario

On a whim, DD picked SM 4A to work on (a friend gave us a stack of SM bcoz she's done with homeschool). At that time, she has just completed RS C and was looking for something different. There's a gap btw SM 4A and RS C. I think 4A expects you to already learned multiplication, division and a some fraction. The first chapter is easy, but the next about fraction requires some knowledge of common factor, addition and subtraction of different denumerator etc. I think RS D might be a better fit if I were to use 4A again.

We are/were using NOEO Chemistry 1. We're taking a break now but might come back to it when the school starts again. It has some literature and lots of experiments in it. It's very open-ended and very easy to tweak. I read that Sonlight Science is great. That's next on my shopping list. If you can find classes with lots of labs/experiments, that might be easier on you too. In our community they have RockItScience and MadScience. The interaction and discussion in such class settings is invaluable.

We like RightStart Maths. It tends to get more drills in the upper levels, but the fair amount of games keep their enthusiasm high. We did Singapore Primary Maths 4B before Summer break. It was good a dose of speedy Maths. But because I feel that some foundation is not as solid as I wish, so we switch over to RS D. I thought it might be way too easy. But DD said she's learning new things. The games work better than any drills.

I know it might sound absurd for me to suggest unschooling. But sometimes boredom comes when they haven't found what interest them.