Oh my goodness, you have such a treat in front of you. Almost all of what I listed should be available in any decent public library. Here are some additional suggestions from my mother: Harriet the Spy Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

It's more because the publisher has stopped producing the old edition and the bookstore isn't going to go around to used-book sales and buy it for us. Otherwise I would continue using the old one -- I'd say about every 3 editions is when I'd switch to a newer one. Many textbooks for very small populations of students (such as proof-based calculus for freshmen, or graduate textbooks) have been around for decades with very few changes. For example, Spivak's calculus textbook was published in 1967; the fourth edition came out in 2008, and he's specifically released a supplement to the answer book for the fourth edition so that it can still be used with the third edition. Munkres' topology was published in 1975 and the second edition didn't come out until 2000. That leads me to believe it's not really for improvements, but more to alter the homework and ensure a continued market. I would agree on the open-source. I'd like to see more open-source textbooks. I'm not sure how open-source homework software would work, though; I could see a lot of students deciding it was a great idea to modify their homework.

Want your boat, Georgie? I remember my mother telling me once that it was YEARS after she saw Psycho before she could take a shower without wedging a chair under the bathroom door.

Elrond, Gwaihir, and Faramir!

I could see it being very different in biology or other areas with rapid and recent advances, but I do not know a lot of mathematics professors who are clamoring for an nth edition of (insert popular calculus textbook here), when the (n-1)th edition came out 2 years ago. I have to use the most recent edition because that's what the bookstore will order.

I think it's quite a bit milder. I think a lot of kids also skim or self-censor bits that they aren't ready for. I know I've told this story before, but I read all of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonrider books when I was about 10-11. I did not even notice the sex. I re-read them at about 17, and was utterly gobsmacked by how much sex there was in them, and how dark some of it was! I really didn't like King for a long time, but that was because I picked up Pet Semetary when I was quite young. I wasn't traumatized ... but I was repulsed. The only reason I read anything by him again was The Green Mile, and after that, I started reading more of his works.

Chronicles of Narnia. Wrinkle in Time, yes. I actually LOVED Many Waters, but had to mature before I could enjoy A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Phantom Tollbooth. Anything by E.B. White Anything by E. Nesbit Anything by Edward Eager (a little lighter than E. Nesbit, very derivative, but excellent reading anyway) Anything by Elizabeth Enright Anything by Carol Ryrie Brink (most famous for Caddie Woodlawn, but she wrote many other hilarious books) Anything by Meindert de Jong

I started to type a response, but then I thought to look on the math mammoth website. Here's her response: http://www.mathmammoth.com/faq-lightblue.php#20

CTC does have a middle school geometry course intended for grades 7-9 -- so used after MR level G. This is apparently frequently used as a two-year course with algebra/arithmetic comprising the other half of the course. Horizons could be another option -- they are also colorful workbooks which spiral. I would do the placement test here: https://www.aophomeschooling.com/resource/placement/horizons before you ordered anything.

I like The Stand quite a bit, but there's a fair amount of things like rape, gore, etc. involved. I don't think I'd snatch it out of a kid's hand, but I sure don't think I'd hand it to them, either.

This is kinda interesting because I just unpacked a box of antique textbooks from my grandfather's library. For example, in Chrystal's Algebra (a lightly edited 1904 reprint of a classic 1886 textbook), there are several pages of definitions, theorems, and proofs, all involving the elementary operations and order of operations, before we arrive at the first set of exercises. The first exercise is "Point out in what sense the usual arrangement of the multiplication of 365 by 492 is an instance of the law of distribution." Exercise 4: "If the remainder on dividing N by a be R, and the quotient P, and if we divide P by b and find a remainder S, show that the remainder on dividing N by ab will be aS + R". Exercise 6: "Express in the simplest form: -(-(-(-(...(-1)...)))), a) where there are 2n brackets, b) where there are 2n+1 brackets; n being any whole number whatever." He assumes that you've had a course equivalent to what seems to be algebra 1 -- that is, that you can solve linear and possibly quadratic equations, as well as construct formulas for the amount of a sum of money during a given term at simple interest. If you're interested in this text, it's available free online here: http://djm.cc/library/Algebra_Elementary_Text-Book_Part_I_Chrystal_edited.pdf

Another vote for Jayne, Malcolm, and River. With little Jayne hats and brown onesies. It'll be awesome. Or ... James, Leonard, and Scott (yeah, I know it's his surname, BUT). You can then dress them in gold/blue/red onesies and it'll be AWESOME.

Ha. My siblings got their degrees and moved on. I ended up with one major and 3 very different minors.

Exactly the same thing as what regentrude said. For some of my more advanced theoretical classes, I have used a Dover book instead, with hand-made updates on slightly altered information. But there aren't any (that I'm aware of -- please enlighten me if so) that are suitable for freshman classes with average students enrolled. Furthermore, in some courses, the field has shifted enough that what was formerly a graduate course is now considered suitable for advanced undergraduates, but the textbooks used for graduate students are quite unsuitable for undergraduates. In this case, a newer book must be used. We do make sure that the entire calculus sequence uses the same book, so if a student does not fail any classes, they are guaranteed to be able to use the same book through the calculus sequence. (If they fail a course, the book may change).

Saxon elementary is definitely teacher intensive. If you want something similar but less teacher intensive for littles, why not try CLE?

I would much rather have the accommodations in place and not need them than the other way around.

Also, that's a great time to change majors :D

Yep. If the situation really IS dire enough that use of a gun is justified, trying to shoot to wound is likely to get the police officer killed instead and whomever he was shooting at now has access to his weapon. This is not to say that the situation here was dire enough; I am not commenting on that. But that is why they are taught to shoot to kill.

In this case, I would recommend checking after every few problems, so that you can immediately say "this one is wrong. Find and fix the error" rather than allowing him to do the entire set at once and get multiple problems incorrect.

Sounds very civilized and I'm thrilled everything worked out. Since math has been a weak area for him before, make sure you help him stay on top of the subject. It's one of the subjects that it's very, very difficult to catch up once you get a little bit behind, and algebra is absolutely foundational to further mathematical study. Check (as Arcadia said) for missing assignments or for low weekly grades, and help him use the weekend to understand last week's work before moving on into a new week.

Ha! Wegman's has "or fewer" on theirs.

One of the groceries I visit has a 7 items or fewer line. There are enough people who have only a few items that it's reasonable there.

I think your plan of printing out Ray's and going with that is good. Now stop reading math threads until Ray's stops working! :) Seriously ... every program thinks that it has THE answer, and you can convince yourself to go in a thousand different directions easily. Realistically, almost any solid program (and everything you've mentioned is solid) will result in a neurotypical kid learning arithmetic just fine, if applied conscientiously. It is when math is either not taught on a regular basis, the kid has some learning difficulties, or the parent/school jumps from program to program every year or even more frequently (and most commonly it is a combination of the above) that results in a child just not learning arithmetic.

Smaller plates and eating in courses. Soup/salad first, then next course. If you aren't hungry enough to eat soup/salad, you can't be hungry. ETA: The courses also let you frame it as "get in your veggies first for health" rather than "don't eat so many calories"