What I came in to post :D

Roll of Thunder *is* an amazing book but if injustice makes your child upset it may be worth saving for later. Superb book though and one I think every student should read.

Not really, in my personal opinion. It is so topically oriented that it is absolutely ideal for compacting and acceleration, as well as filling in holes for a child who has had a rather scattered math education so far. It is less optimal for a child who has received instruction and can do the procedures but needs reminders every time. I would be more inclined to go for something like Saxon, and just go wherever the placement test says. I think that the mixed review is ideal for "which procedure do I use here?" as well as giving enough distributed practice to give longer retention.

Science Shepherd also has a middle school course.

Same name?

Hm. I don't think that a gap because a skill has not yet been taught is a reason to worry. I *do* think that a gap in understanding when the child is just going through the motions but really doesn't understand what they are doing and why is a reason to not move on to more advanced skills until they understand the basic skills. For example, if someone really doesn't understand two-digit multiplication, it is stupid to try to move on to three-digit multiplication in a monkey-see-monkey-do fashion.

If you've done Singapore, you could do DM through grade 8 (they intend to keep publishing that) and then switch to an IGCSE text for grades 9-10 if nothing else shows up that you want to do.

I actually think that BCM could work quite well for following up math-hopping. What I'd do is start with glancing over the chapter and asking your dd if she knows it already. If she thinks she does, give the chapter test. If she gets an A, correct missed problems together and move on. If she gets a B/C, provide topical instruction on the problems she missed and do the chapter review before moving on. If she gets lower than that, do the whole chapter.

This is so important. I don't think that kids should have no science education at all, but I really think that until somewhere between 7-9th grades it should be something scientific that the kids and the educator can get excited about, even if it means that almost nothing other than one specific topic gets formally done in those years. Any real gaps can easily be filled in with middle school science books.

I think this is it. Only you can know how your son will respond, but some conditions on "you can stay in PS if you get rid of the disrespectful behavior and maintain a 2.0" or something like that would seem reasonable to me.

The only ones that stick in my memory are 3:4:5, 5:12:13, 7:24:25, 8:15:17 BUT -- if he knows that one side is 3a and another side is 3b, he should be able to reason through and get that that the third side must be 3c, where a:b:c are the sidelengths of a right triangle.

Mine has golden toasty colors on the top and bottom, except for grill-mark-looking parts on the bottom where it was resting on the wire rack.

I would definitely absolutely positively ask Jann for advice as well. She is very familiar with high school math programs and will know just how much algebra a student really needs to move forward with her class. I had not realized you were aiming at her class

You know, there are times when (in my OWN work) I write "duh" for a part of a proof that is absolutely obvious. In graduate school, one of my friends jestingly called it the "property of duh"

Not really, but my mother mentioned that she used to do massive long division problems to kill time in boring classes. I didn't "get" long division. I had my own algorithm involving fractions, that really was mathematically equivalent and is still how I do division. When I was taught polynomial long division, it was as if a lightbulb went off over my head -- "oh! That's what they were trying to explain before! Just all the x's were 10s before!"

Tabletclass or TT would probably be a good choice, but I would actively avoid enrolling for online geometry in the fall if she has not yet begun algebra 1 (she is still really in the pre-algebra part of Jacobs). A student with a poor and/or rushed foundation in algebra 1 tends to struggle in algebra 2 and precalculus, and it is not really worth it to rush through algebra only to have to repeat algebra 2. I would definitely move through algebra at the most rapid pace that she is capable of understanding, but I think planning for summer school completion is overly ambitious. It would be reasonable to work through something like TT algebra 1 + 2 and then do geometry the next year. She'd have two summers and a whole school year to get through two classes.

Yah, mine heats from both top and bottom -- just the bottom gets strips from the metal rack, but that's ok by me. Are there ones that don't?

I like mine for lots of little things. It makes absolute crap toast if you use the pan but I find the toast without the pan quite ok. It is lovely for toasted cheese open-faced sandwiches (gently toast bread, then top with cheese and re-toast), cheeseburger toast (same as above but top with raw hamburger, re-toast until cooked, then add a little cheese and re-toast -- caveat, spread the hamburger to the edge of the toast or the edges will burn) and similar things. I also use it for very small portions of tater tots or the like -- I know if I cook a whole pan in the oven they will all get eaten, but in the toaster oven it is easier to control portions.

That is funny, because for me they are a very strong ... ahem ... anti-laxative. I spent an incredibly miserable 4 days after finding that out.

You don't have to do C+P/NT at all, or you could easily save them for a fun senior year elective while having done the calculus as a junior for college applications.

I think there's a big difference between "Does he need Latin?" and "Is Latin a bad idea?" Studying enriching subjects is never a bad idea, but there's only a finite amount of time and an infinite amount of stuff to study. So no. Latin's not a bad idea. But he doesn't need Latin specifically, and if he or his mom doesn't want to do it, there's no real reason to do it (beyond a roots study for vocabulary) instead of other enriching subjects.

No, it is totally normal for the first couple of weeks to have a very rapid drop. Most of this is unfortunately water and not fat, although of course some of it is fat. Be happy and encouraged, but do not expect it to continue. Here's a website explaining why: http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/19058097.php-- it is aimed at low carb dieters, but anyone who is eating at a significant calorie deficit will also experience glycogen depletion.

I love this idea! I might actually start having more greens in my soups this way.

Wow, I've never seen her site before but I like it a lot.

Agree with sparkly. I'd suspect it's something IN the store bread. I used to love cheerios and SOMETHING in them now gives me horrible digestive symptoms. I don't know what but it's not the oats and it's not the milk.