My son just can't take another year of rod and staff. I'm thinking if switching the either shurley grammar or easy grammar. He is doing rod and staff 3 right now. Could I move straight into 4, or do I need to do some catchup work?

What exactly is the common core?

I am looking into singapore for my k/1st grader. THe website completely overwhelms me. So much to choose from!! What is a must? Which manipulatives do I need? I'm not sure why they sell them in pieces when I'll need a whole set? Any help would be appreciated! Jessica

Do you need the cd rom for singapore? I was learning towards singapore, but the website completely overwhelmed me! jessica

My daughter has a late birthday and is going to be 6 in November. She is halfway through K but not quite ready for 1st grade yet. She can count to 1,000, count by 2's, 5's, 10's, and 20's. What math would you recommend for a very hand on type child? Please no saxon...I used that with my oldest and HATED it. Jessica

I have a rising k/1st grader. She is well over half-way through on math in K, but not quite ready for 1st grade. She will be 6 in November and we've not pushed much. I'm looking for a math and McRuffy caught my eye. My son used saxon and we both cried everyday! We finally switched to teaching textbooks and its been all roses ever since. Tell me your opinion on McRuffy math! Jessica

I do things out of principle. So, for me, I would not pay for those books. I know its only .76 more...but she didn't list that upfront.

So let me start by saying I HATE saxon! HATE IT! I did it my 7 year old and we both hated it. He's doing teaching textbooks now and is doing great! However, my dd5 is to young for that. I've looked at MUS and I must be totally stupid because it makes NO sense to me at all! Seems like it makes math far more complicated. Any other suggestions? My dd is very dingy. Very social, athletic, sweet...but so very dingy! I think she will do best with as much hands on as possible to help her understand the concepts. She'll likely excel in the science and history world and struggle with math...which is a total opposite of my son! So, sell me on your math program for you k'er and why! I don't want just a workbook from walmart. I want something she can continue to use and grow with. Thanks! Jessica

I was looking at this today and wondering the same! ANYONE OUT THERE??

IEW looks amazing...but it totally overwhelmed me when I saw it at a convention. Is it really that difficult to get the hang of it? JEssica

IT doesn't seem that my 2nd grader (age 7) is getting much writing in. Am I supposed to be adding anything to the Rod and Staff grammar? Jessica

Yea...I usually just lurk here and never thought about my siggy! HA! I'll attempt to update it. I have called the pedi, but haven't heard back. I'll call again this morning. Thanks :)

I need some input here. My paranoia tends to get me going crazy, and the dr hasn't called me back. Hannah is 5. She's very dingy, lovable, and such a sweet girl. I mention she is dingy because sometimes I just don't know why she does what she does! 2 weeks ago she came in the living room and said something weird had happened. She said she just started shaking and it knocked over her picnic basket that was in her hand. I asked if she did it on purpose and she said no, but Micah (who is 18 months) was so loud that she couldn't stand it anymore. I kept a close eye on her, but she was fine after all that. My friend, who is an RN at childrens hospital, said it wasn't a seizure or she wouldn't remember it. So, this morning she wakes up and says she's dizzy. Of course, this was after she was told to clean her room. Well, she turned to walk to her room, and ran into the wall. About 10 minutes later she said she didn't understand why she was so dizzy because she didn't even turn around in circles. I made her sit down for a few minutes, and then she was fine. Just now, she covered her ears and said that her brother (the 18 month old) was so loud and hurting her ears. She's never complained on this before the first time a few weeks ago when she started shaking, as she put it. So...what do you think? Chiari Malformation does run in the family. My husbands sister was diagnosed with it as an adult. DR's here seem to dismiss us as patients because we don't vaccinate, so we see a new dr every time she's sick. Sucks, but nothing I can do about it. Thoughts? Jessica

I called yesterday and they told me it would be out in November of 2012, but level 3 and 4 will be out within a year after that.

I filed last tuesday (so a week ago) with TT and my DD date was supposed to be tomorrow (2/15). The WMR says they have no info on me, so I called the IRS today and they said they have no record of anything being or even trying to be submitted. I have to turbo tax email that says it was accepted, but the IRS says they never accepted it. I'm starting to panic a bit! This has never happened before!