Make sure they have a solid foundation. If they can do problems by plugging in numbers, but don't really understand, then they need to work on it more. Exposure to hard problems that make the student think. Don't rush. Some students can breeze through a lot math - make sure they are challenged and they can go as fast as they are ready to go. Take it more slowly with students that need to go slower. Don't be afraid to set aside a hard topic and come back to it later - sometimes it just needs to gel.

I teach out of the Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments. Not cheap and takes a lot of time, but it is a great book. Ask if you have specific questions.

On the Arbor Scientific website there are lots of free conceptual physics labs written by Paul Hewitt. http://www.arborsci.com/conceptual-physics-supplementary-labs (These are listed under conceptual physics and then supplementary labs.) Some of these labs require specilized equipement, buy many are simple.

I'd also move onto AoPS Algebra. If this gets too hard you want to slow it down you could do AoPS Number Theory or Counting and Probability alongside it. My son started algebra, but as we wanted to take it more slowly he also started the other Introduction level books. He does about a chapter a week from one of the four books and we just tend to spiral them or do whatever hits our fancy next.

It is designed as a full curriculum. If you did it all (text and workbook) then you'd be doing a lot of math and I don't expect to need to supplement.

By the way, for anyone ordering other AoPS books, you can order BA from the AoPS website and get free shipping if the order is greater than $100.

I just ordered Beast Academy.:001_smile: I've been a very happy SM user over the years, but I've been much more impressed with AoPS for instruction. Getting to work through the sample chapter of BA (yes I was one of the lucky ones!) with my dyslexic daughter made me sure that I want to use BA with her. It was impressive how she interacted with the material and manipulated tough problems to solve them. I wouldn't be surprised if Rainbow Resources carries this before too long as the carry the AoPS texts.

Is there no value in driving a car if I can't explain how the car works?

I disagree. It doesn't mean that the student doesn't "comprehend" the math, just because he can't explain it. I think learning how to explain the math is a different skill than doing the the math. It may be that I come from the perspective of kids gifted in math with language disorders. My oldest is brilliant at math but is just beginning to be able to explain it. He "sees" math and does proofs of things never exposed to before - that is he lays in bed "thinking" about math and then comes to me and says that he just proved xyz. When exposed to most tough problems, he spits out an answer very quickly. Sometimes I'm slow to figure it out and he has to struggle to figure out how to explain it.

Sounds like my oldest. I wouldn't worry too much if he's accurate and relatively quick. I would intermittantly ask if he can explain, although this often takes more mature thinking than actually doing the math. I would also intermittantly show him "another way" whether it be the Singapore method or how to do it on paper, or any other way you want to demonstrate. I don't force the kids to do it my way, if they are doing it accurately, but I keep showing them if I think they need to be show another way.

I'm not too familiar with TT, but the AoPS PreAlgebra would be considered more like algebra by many of my friends. I look at what their kids are doing for algebra and I think it doesn't even resemble algebra because it is too easy. As far as I am concerned the AoPS PreAlgebra is just prealgebra on a deeper level than most go. It would be a solid foundation for any future math classes.

I think I might make a bedroom off limits. However, I would say that at certain times of the day the girls must play with him - in his room, family room, outside, wherever.

Mathcounts is awesome. It fuels my son to learn more math so he can do better on mathcounts competition. Last year my son competed as an individual. It was a fantastic experience. This year we recruited a few homeschool friends to do math with us. We entered a team of three. I asked the national office if it mattered if we had four people - they said three was fine. They didn't bother to tell me that we'd have a zero averaged in as our fourth score. Even with a zero, our homeschool team beat half the public school teams. My son made it to state this year and is hoping to go to national next year (or maybe even this year). The number of teams and individuals that move on to state vary by region. It is based on the total number of people participating in the chapter. We had 150 students (19 teams) this year. Three teams and the top seven inididuals not on those teams make it to state. The national team members often come out of our chapter so it is a competitive chapter. Art of Problem Solving has great resources for preparing for mathcounts.

I use the book only. I love the videos, but my oldest has worked through the books before the videos were put out. We've done some of the Mathcounts classes online, so I'm somewhat familiar with the online classes. The book is written to the student. Some students do it on their own. My oldest went from SM 5 to AoPS Algebra (he's gifted in math). I read the textbook to my oldest and then he/we work the problems. We've done the Introductory level books and are looking forward to moving on. My second is in SM6 and will start AoPS PreAlgebra soon. I suspect he'll read the text and do everything on his own unless he has a question. I might have been able to skip SM 6 with him, but I'm worried about the time he needs to mature to understand algebra. He needs to take things a little slower and hit algebra more like 8th grade, which is still early for many.

I love Make: Electronics http://www.amazon.com/Make-Electronics-Discovery-Charles-Platt/dp/0596153740 It gets expensive to buy the components to do everything, but it is fantastic hand's on learning as well as a fantastic textbook.

SL makes some changes every year - trying to improve. Sometimes they are big changes, but usually they are small. They have been (and usually are) very vague about changes until soon before the new catalog comes out. I think it is very difficult to judge that you don't like the changes if you don't know what they are - maybe you do know specific things and then you should do whatever is best for your family.

No, my son wishes I could homeschool him through college.

I love the readers as well.

I often use Math Mammoth or Key to ... for specific review and reinforcement.

I would say that the AoPS Prealgebra course covers prealgebra. It is done in a deep and challenging way. It is more rigorous than many algebra courses since the problems are HARD. The topics that cross over with algebra may be taught better than some algebra courses, but it is still pre-algebra. Many typical algebra students would find the prealgebra book a great review (and teacher) of concepts that they are not solid on.

I also received the sample last fall. My math struggling daughter loved it and worked hard on even the most challenging problems. I'll have to be careful to go at her pace, but she was learning great concepts. My older boys also loved it and even picked up a few new ideas. I've used SM for years and use AoPS with my oldest. I found the teaching (of the sample) to be better than SM, though the format might be distracting to some. I thought the challenging problems were tough, but followed more logically than some of the SM challenging word problems. I am very excited to buy Beast Academy soon for my daughter, and I'll have my older boys read it for "fun".

I would have a problem with that and I think they are inviting new problems.

I don't think kids need to be "advanced" to use AoPS. I do think it is crazy to start young and push fast on AoPS with a kid that isn't wild about math. AoPS has posted on their blog that part of their goal with beast academy (for elementary) is to reach more students to train them up to be more ready, willing and eager to face the rigors of AoPS.

Tell me more about CPO science. What do you like/dislike about it? What do you need to buy? I'm looking at it for a middle schooler. Probably my sixth grader that is very independent. Do you like earth science/astronomy or life science?

I'd donate it to homeschoolers or our local library.