Thanks, it's really helpful. I'm correcting the paper with him, including the "which" . Boscopup, would you please tell me what is the verb you are talking about? Do you mean he should have changed steals to stole? This is for FCAT in Florida. Last year,only about a quarter of the students have passed the test since they implemented the new core standards. After a state meeting,they have lowered the bar though and decided to pass about 75 % of the students. It was a big thing in the news last year. I don't think they have to do a book report in the test but I'm not sure ,so I want to prepare him ,just in case.

Writing is soooooo hard for me! English is my third language and I seriously need help. Is this report ok, did he give enough/too much detail, are the sentences looking like "good English" ? Please ladies,let me know how we can improve this book report. He is in 4th grade and is required to take a standardized state test. With the new ,challenging common core standards, I'm so stressed out and concerned! I saw our neighbor's daughter who is in 3 rd grade at PS and her report was really impressive! I need to find a teacher who is willing to help me with writing, but until then, I appreciate any suggestions, thank you for your time ! This is from Rod & Staff 4 lesson 61. I let him type it in the computer because he does not like to write. ------------------------------------ The Hobbit was written by J.R.R Tolkien. You can buy it from amazon, or borrow it from your local library. The genre of this story is fantasy and it happens in the 15th century, deep in the Mirkwood Forest. In this book ,a boy named Bilbo, 12 dwarves, and a wizard named Gandalf, set out on a journey to retrieve a treasure from a dragon named Smaug , which originally belonged to the hobbits and the dwarves. They face many difficulties, such as fierce battles with Smaug, Spiders,(and I mean GIANT spiders) and goblins. On the bright side, Bilbo steals a ring with magic powers from a goblin named Golum. Later on, the dwarves were captured by the Elvenking. He tried to obtain as much information as he could out of the dwarves , but he was not able to get much . Therefore he put them in prison. My favorite part was when Bilbo was fighting against the king of the spiders and his subjects . He used his magic ring to defeat the spiders. What magic powers did the ring have? Did everything turn out favorable for Bilbo and the dwarves? What was Bilbo’s plan? Did they complete their final task? Grab the book to find out!

My son,who is now 8 and has expressive and receptive speech delay ( mainly expressive) , has learned how to read at 4 and is the best speller in my house. He spells way above average. However, heis very delayed in writing composition . Last year, he was not able to orally narrate from a simple story,but now, after reading a lot of books and using HOD, his oral narration is amazing. His writing is still very poor though. He writes very white/black and very short,choppy sentences. I am hoping this will improve in the next years,as his oral narration is excellent now. So yes, I think speech delay can cause composition writing delay, but I'm not sure if this has anything to do with phonics or the physical act of writing,unless there are other LDs. A least this was my experience.

Not sure if the CCS will lower the bar,but our school district uses Go Math , which is very similar to Singapore math. In fact,some topics in go math are not even taugh until the next level of Singapore. What I've experienced from having my dc in PS for three months, is that the CCS ( which our state has already adopted) has high standards. That said, only about 30-40 % of the kids have passed the standardized state test comparatively to 80% before the CCS were implemented. There are samples of go math here. The computation is relatively easy,but many of the words problem are similar to the ones in Singapore math. Especially the HOT problems . http://ww2.bullittschools.org/ShepherdsvilleEL/?page_id=1592

Bump

Ah,thanks. DM is not for us then. I'm looking for something my son can do by himself,it's self explanatory ,but to Saxon!

Narration is better than comprehension workbooks . Just ask him to tell you about the story he reads, asking him if necessary, who,what,where,how,when questions. I did this for the last two years with my boy who was very delayed in comprehension ( according to the public school) and now in second grade he is reading and comprehending very well charlie and the chocolate factory,which I think it's about a 4th-5th grade level book. So just enjoy reading and discussing the book should be enough for this age.

Singapore we do everything. cle i do cross out about 1/2 of the same computation problems . He loves the speed drills.

I decided to go with Singapore 5 a standards and then continue with either NEM or DM. I need something to be more independent and self-teaching. Do I have to teach these like Singapore elementary? I am ok at math,but terrible right brain explainer who doesn't match my left brainer dc! He prefers to learn from a self teaching book, and some of my friends recommend Saxon,but I don't think we'll like it.

And is it ok to transition to standards from 4B US edition ? My son is doing great with the us edition,but I heard standards is better and has more practice. Also, what do you switch to after Singapore 6 ? I'm a little bit nervous as my oldest is approaching the logic stage

I would like to upload my ipad pics online so my family&friend see them . I dont have time for a blog,but id like to comment something on each photo about what We were doing. Which one is best for that? I'd prefer something free,but I'd pay a couple of $$ for a good one.

You're right, he does have reading comprehension and mild language delay...but he knows all the words in this word problem and most of other word problems . He is not delayed in vocabulary but has trouble comprehending literature, drawing inferences,etc He became better at narrating this year though. I feel like with math problems,the trouble is not hislanguage delay , but lack of thinking. Since he is almost done with 2B, I will keep working, then go back and redo everything he has missed this year. He seems to be doing great with a word problem if I work it with him first,then change the numbers and ask him to teach me...but what good is it if in a few months he forgets how to do it??

My 2nd grader son can remember very well all four arithmetic operation and any kind of computation,like subtracting/renaming ( borrowing) addition with carrying,etc But heis Extremly weak in word problems! I am soooooo frustrated! He is now in the middle of Singapore 2 B and Math mammoth 2 B , but today I went back in 2A to redo everything he had missed in the previous semester . He did not do ONE right! It seems that he just sees the numbers in the problems and adds,subtracts or divides whatever, without any thinking. For ex. The total length of two ropes is 18 in . One rope is 3 in, how much is the other? He first multiplied 18x 2 Then 18\2 Then 18/3 Then finally 18-3 ( it took 45 min for him to come to this answer because I didn't want to show him, but with a little prompting he did it) I always tell him to draw, use the cuisenaire rods or the abacus, but he doesn't know what to do! Like I said,he sees the numbers in the problems and just guesses which computation to do,and most of the time he is wrong! We had already done this problem a few months ago, I drew it for him, I gave him a similar one and he solved it...but now he couldn't do it. I thought it would be good to keep going on with math since he was getting the computation, but what do I do if he is weak in word problems??? Should I keep him behind until he masters the problems? I should say that in addition to Singapore and Math mammoth, he is also doing CLE math alternatively. He does two math programs everyday,but he never complains of too much work. CLE comes easy for him because the problems are not challenging at all, he rarely misses one. How do you improve mathematical thinking, or rather thinking in general because he seems he lacks that in all the aspects of his learning... He is doing Building Thinking Skills...it doesn't seem to help at all! I appreciate any suggestions/input.

I like them too. Basically, they are supposed to be more rigorous than the previous standards ,much higher expectations with higher order thinking skills and , at least in our state, a math program inspired from Singapore math, it's called Go Math and you can find samples online. As a homeschooler, you don't have to worry about , except if you are required to take a standardized state test and be aware than the act/sat will be much more challenging than before and also colleges expect more too. At least that's what I was told and I experimented that myself when my dc took a state test.

Great idea, thanks! That's what I'll do.

I'm on safari too. Anyone else on the ipad having the same problem?

These are his narrations, is it typical for a fourth grader, or should he write more? any tips on how to improve it? I have a " math brain" and cannot help him with writing at all! I don't know what will happen when he will be in high school! Also, should I make him rewrite his narrations the next days? I see a few sentences that I'd like corrected, but he hates to write again... He hates any writing in general, but especially rewriting anything.

I had way over 50 posts ( about 2000) and many positive feedback before the new site and now I don't have the option to click on NEW POST on the for sale board... How do I post? I am using an ipad , I don't think this is the problem...

Ok, I'm so slow to get it! Finally after drawing it, we got it, buthe loved Pythagoras better :):)

Would you explain how do you draw the right angles without a protractor? I just ordered one :) I assumed you don't need one for 4th grade. He tried drawing,but he never got 13 for the other side.

But she doesn't give the total perimeter (30), so I don't understand how do you get 13? She only gives the two sides and then asks to find the perimeter. I am using MM randomly as a supplement to Singapore so maybe I am missing something...

No,it says perimeter ,not area, which would have made sense. It's strange because in MM 4 Pythagoras wasn't introduced yet,so I'm not sure if there would be another way to solve it . Area will be introduced in next chapter ,so I think the author meant perimeter.

The two sides of a right triangle that are perpendicular to each other, measure 5cm and 12 cm . What is the perimeter? --------- Math mammoth 4b The answer is 30 How do you get that? Thanks!

I am doing beyond with a 6.5 and a 7 yo. Perfect fit. The spelling in beyond is way too easy,so I add a different spelling program. They are also beyond the guide's math and LA's skills, so I do 2nd grade math and rod&staff 2 . You can change the program to suit your children needs. I am also doing preparing with a 9 yo and it is more challenging. I love the skills HOD builds upon each guide.

Update I went to the ER after having almost non stop palpitations with cough. They admitted me for 1 day and had tons of blood tests , chest xray,EKG and cardiac ultrasound. Thyroid is good as well as everything else. They wanted to put me on a blood thinner ,but I declined. My blood pressure is normal (100/60), cholesterol and triglycerides are low and I am active,not overweight .I couldn't understand the reason why they wanted me on a blood thinner when my blood is already thin enough! The nurse explainedthatthey do that as a routine to everybody. They also put me on a no salt diet, when my family doctor recommended the opposite since I tend to have low blood pressure. It's crazy!!! I come from Europe and I am used to a more personalized care . Especially they do not give not blood thinner to everybody since it can have serious side effects. Everything looked normal,so I requested to go home. I still have bad palpitations and it's hard to breath . I took the recommendation of some of you and bought magnesium, also calcium, valeriane,nothing helps! The palpitations seem to come especially when I move, and yes, they stop when I push down and hold my breath,but sometimes I am too tired to push. The diagnosis is supra ventricular tachycardia. If someone went through this, I'd appreciate any advice!