Jump to content

Menu

MASHomeschooler

Members
  • Posts

    333
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by MASHomeschooler

  1. Once I got through, I was able to get to both the user data and the results page (and even sort through the results options - state/national, by level, etc.)
  2. Thanks! It took me a lot of tries to get through, but I finally did. I had looked over their answers already, so we knew their scores, but glad to see them verified and get their placements. Older 2 both placed well (my son's first time placing). Ice cream sounds like a good idea!
  3. My kids first did some visual-language programming (Scratch, etc.), and are now learning Python. They are nearing the end of the book they are working through, and we are not sure what to have them learn next. I am considering the KidCoder series or JavaScript (probably using Khan Academy), but I can't decide and am not sure what the respective benefits are - or if there's something better I'm missing. They are late elementary/middle school aged, and finding Python somewhat "boring", so a resource that makes it more fun would be ideal. (I think the activities in the book are just not as engaging for them as Super Scratch Programming or the online tutorials for the other visual languages, or of course programming LEGO robots. Understandable, but still, something a little more fun than the Python book would be nice.) Any thoughts on these 2 choices, or any others, would be appreciated.
  4. I missed that it was one multi-age class. So I would think he could definitely be accommodated next year, and may connect better with the older kids as well. And, like Mike said, you could go ahead and give it a try, and just bring him back home if it doesn't work out. Even if it does, you might have trouble in a year or two, though. If he's working at the highest level of the class next year, then it might not work as well when everyone else is working 1-3 or 2-4 years below him. Some (rare) teachers can pull it off, though, and if that teacher is one of those, and he enjoys the environment and activities, it could continue to work.
  5. I would definitely apply, look into it, hear what they have to say, talk to parents currently in it if possible, and consider your son's personality. I would be concerned about the IQ disparity. Even in our district's gifted classes with a 97th percentile cutoff, my two highly gifted (99.9+) kids were as out of place as those kids are in a regular classroom. They chose to homeschool. My youngest is less gifted (99), less driven, and more social. We are sending her next year to the same classes that were not a good fit for the older two, and we expect it will be a good fit overall. Our gifted classes are 1 year above level across the board, no differentiation except reading groups, which was a big part of the problem for my older 2, so I would definitely want to know if that's the way your program works if your son is more advanced than that. ETA: There are definite benefits to programs like this, and when I see Facebook posts from parents of kids they went to school with about the cool projects they do, I do have thoughts of wishing they could be part of those things, even though I know they would be bored 90% of the time, and not really connecting with the other kids, since that is what happened when they did go.
  6. We didn't start homeschooling until they were further along, but my older 2 used Math Mammoth from where they were (MM5 and MM2) through MM6, then went on to AoPS. The older used the old series, and the younger the new series, and both were well prepared. I believe the new series moves some of the old 6 to 7, and then adds a good amount to make a full pre-algebra (but I have not even looked at 7).
  7. We centered our American history study at that level on History Pockets. We used Native Americans, Explorers of North America, Colonial America, The American Revolution, Moving West, and The American Civil War. Some of those say grades 1-3 and some 4-6, but they were able to do them all fine.
  8. We found the same thing with Right Start. We switched to Math Mammoth, which was great and easy (and inexpensive) to accelerate, and from there went on to AoPS.
  9. I don't think it's selfish to homeschool, assuming you consider all the pros and cons (both from your perspective and your son's). In that situation, I would take the kid to check it out, ask your friend more about the things that concern you and the things you think would be better there, discuss the pros and cons with your son and any co-parents, and make a joint informed decision.
  10. That's a good point. I guess I'm thinking more about the subject tests. If she takes, say 3 subject tests before 13, but only scores high enough that we want to keep them on 2, can we just save those 2?
  11. I know if you take SAT's before a certain age, you have to specify that you want them saved; otherwise they disappear. Is this selective, or is it all or nothing? In other words, if a student takes the regular SAT twice, as well as some subject tests, before that age, can we choose to just save the better SAT score and the subject tests with scores that we are happy with?
  12. She will definitely be one of the oldest (my kids have been/will be 9 when they take it, and I think most are 9-10), but many kids would be fine with that, and the other kids don't care. But I wanted to mention that they only offer LL8 second semester, so if she is finishing LL7 (which G3 offers first semester) now, she would have to wait a semester to take LL8.
  13. My girls take this iron gummy in addition to their multi: http://www.amazon.com/Vitamin-Friends-Iron-Supplement-Count/dp/B005CC3X2I
  14. Coursera's Dino 101 would probably be a good thing to include if doing your own.
  15. Thanks; I thought so! I questioned it to the teacher, and she replied that no comma was correct. She also sent a worksheet for her to practice commas, which does include examples of using commas in nonrestrictive clauses, although it doesn't use the term. I think I'm going to ask to switch teachers since, in three (small) assignments, she's only told her two things to "improve", and one was this. She also missed an actual extra comma in another assignment!
  16. My daughter wrote this sentence: It is home to the Liberty Bell, which would be cool to see in person. The grader said the comma should be left out. That seems completely wrong to me. Can anyone help with which is actually correct, and why? Thanks!
  17. We used these: http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Eight-Pocket-Organizer-Embossed-99656/dp/B001TQ814G (but they were only $2 when we bought them) or just attached some regular folders together in the same way (inner ones inside out).
  18. We've never been, but will be going this year. We're looking forward it. Have you looked at the site showing the activities?
  19. I believe there was one planned, to be called "Writing with Style", but I have no idea if it's still happening and, if so, when.
  20. I need to vent! I wanted to have my fifth grader take the STB to get a better feel for/verification of her spatial abilities. I went to the CTY site for info and read up on it. The $75 test fee seemed high for the format, but I was still planning to go through with it. The instructions say "To obtain your seven-digit eligibility number log in to your MyCTY account." She qualified for CTY in third grade, so I logged into her account and found a place that said STB Eligibility Number, but it was blank. So I contacted CTY and they told me she would have to re-enroll in the talent search as a fifth grader (to be fair, the wording of one bit on the instruction page made me wonder if this was the case, but since that makes no sense, I figured it did not mean that). This is another $40 just to register, and it's not clear to me if this means she also needs to take the SCAT again, with it's $60 fee, too. She's already qualified with the talent search; why should she need to register for it again?! Since I don't have an urgent need for the data, I think I'll wait until she needs to re-qualify with SAT or ACT and take the STB that year (assuming we're still interested in both), but I just find this annoying. I've felt that they're way too money-centered before (kind of the opposite of Davidson, which seems to limit costs to families as much as they can), but I could justify them to an extent - but this just seems to have no justification other than giving them more money. (And we could afford it, that's not the issue - although it certainly would be for many - it's just the principle!) Please let me know if there is a better explanation I'm not seeing.
  21. We like this one: http://smile.amazon.com/Geography-Picture-Glossary-Trophy-Paperback/dp/0064460991/
  22. Thanks to this post, I had my older two take the qualifier. They both qualified for the regional bee, which was tonight, and my oldest qualified for nationals! Not sure if we'll go yet. If we do, I'll have to have her study. They didn't prep at all for the qualifier, and just a little for the regional, and the top 3 qualifiers were noticeably more well prepared than the rest of them, including my daughter. I was somewhat disappointed that less than a third of the participants were girls, and my daughter was the only one of the 8 qualifiers. Overall a good experience, and my daughter is happy I made her go even though she was feeling nervous and wanting to back out the last couple days.
  23. I keep different shelves with various topics (most changed each year - different science topics, etc.) and then each day that we're home in the afternoon they read from one for about half an hour. I tell them which topic/shelf (same each week by day), but they can pick anything from that shelf. I have put a good selection on each shelf (and supplement from the library), and they can choose which ones they read. Over the course of the year, they read enough of them that I feel good about their exposure, even if they don't get to all of them, and they enjoy having the choice.
×
×
  • Create New...