Because of schooling right now and my sons first ever baseball practice tonight, I can't read all the responses here, but I'm super interested in this topic! Being pregnant with #4 (31 weeks) I'm starting to feel like it's a lot. I'd be dishonest if I said I wasn't terrified to have 4 children! I am very nervous. My biggest issue is finding babysitters for when I go to my OB appointments, especially towards the end of my pregnancy when they want you there every 2 weeks. I do feel limited by having 3+ kids! but I'm also thankful that I have friends with 5+ children, so most have been supportive. I don't believe in not using BC, but I'd prefer not to be on it. However, I also don't know that I could handle many more than what I have now. That's likely my anxiety/OCD issues speaking though. I get easily overwhelmed.

Same here! I think I'm anxious because of it, I want him to be able to do what I couldn't/can't, but he's already proven he can :)

He has always "understood" it, but it's the larger numbers he gets stuck on, he can do them, but finds them frustrating! I am bad at mental math, I have improved since beginning SM with him, and I'm so happy about they. DH is fantastic at math, but he has trouble expressing how he went about it, he just knows it, but confuses DS when explaining. I personally find the making 9 a 10 easiest for me, DS I believe does this, but when I explain that to him, he gets flustered, I don't know if it's because he feels I'm interrupting his flow or not. However, when he goes word problems he doesn't always show his work, when I ask him to please show his work, he says that some parts were so easy they didn't need to be written. One thing I've noticed with him is that if a math problem is "easy" he tends to get frustrated making it more difficult than it truly is. I certainly want to allow him to continue in math as he is, he rarely struggles with it, it has come "easy" to him. I just wasn't sure how "easy" it should be to. The IP workbooks are a bit more challenging, so I think we'll focus more there, and continue on with 3B, but I won't have him move into 4 until he has done the 3B IP book and brushed up on some CWP.

Thank you, I did notice 3B has a mental calculation section. I try to have him do the mental math sheets in the back of the teacher guide and decided not to begin 3B until he completes them, he'll do 2-3 per day and I'll have him do some more IP pages that focus on mental calculations.

My son just completed Singapore 3A. He's very good at math overall. I've always thought his mental math abilities were very good. My DH quizzes him often, throwing out numbers (addition & subtraction) and he fairs very well. However, when it comes to 3 & 4 digit numbers +/- another 2, 3, or 4 digit numbers, he can do it, but he insists it's "hard." I've looked over/read the guide on strategies, but me, being terrible at math feels frustrated because of all the different ways to so it. I do to think in those ways, and I recall from an earlier level that however the child feels comfortable getting the answer is ok. Sometimes he rattles answers off quickly, other times he's picturing the equation in verticle form and trying to carry/borrow in his head, which takes too long. I guess what it comes down to is, I am confident in his math abilities, I'm just not sure how to help him be confident in the larger numbers. I feel like I failed somewhere along the way! He was having trouble with subtraction, not fully understanding borrowing, and after a 15 minute review it totally clicked and understood the reason behind it (helped me too). He always managed very well subtracting large numbers, but he didn't fully understand the why, but he knows it now, no problem! I'm just not sure how to address the mental math issue, I want him to have more confidence, but it's not my strong area. I guess my issue is, the guide doesn't seem to give enough examples to help me help him.

This type of wait is average for most schools in my area. When my oldest was in kinder for a month, I actually picked him up 45 minutes past the end time of school to avoid the car line, his school was located behind another school, so both schools shared a line! I pulled him and started homeschooling, not because of the car line, but it was a contributing factor, it was absolutely ridiculous!

Charleston is much better if you're wanting to go to SC. It's much more laid back, but still has tourist things. Isle of Palms and Downtown Charleston are beautiful!

We just traded in our '07 Hyundai Entourage which is the same vehicle as the Kia Sedona. I hated that thing. Granted we had it 3.5 years. For as long as we had it, the shocks didn't fair well in cold weather, it squeaked going over bumps, had lots of road noise and just was not a fan. Auto doors didn't always work properly and one of the doors started failing us completely in the last month we owned it. We purchased a 2013 Honda Pilot. The newer Kia's may be better, we always liked the Soul, but completely impractical for our family.

I'm interested!

Thank you everyone! I have SM Stds levels 1-3. I also have US Edition levels 1 and 3. It would be easy for me to sell the US Edition of both, I'm more invested in Standards! Also, realizing I wouldn't HAVE to do level 6, I may as well stick to standards...

Our 2007 van was heavily smoked in, but the dealership had cleaned it, and they paid us to trade in our 2006 Honda Pilot. At that time we NEEDED the money and it was a huge blessing practically dropped in our lap (though I SWORE I would NEVER drive a van). Never say never! We then had the interior cleaned again, I just like to be thorough! It didn't smell like smoke anymore, but it did have some smoke damage on the ceiling. Still, we drove it for nearly 4 years and just got the full KBB trade amount for its condition a month ago, we now have a 2013 Honda Pilot. I wouldn't want to purchase another smoked in vehicle, but I get what you mean about the search being hard for a used car in great condition. DH needed a car a few years ago and purchased one for a decent price but it had high miles, and we put as much money into it that we spent on it. It was a complete loss after having to replace the transmission. When it started failing us again and he feared his safety, we got rid of it, we just couldn't afford the risk or his life or shelling out that much more. He ended up paying much more for his next used car. Because of "cash for clunkers" older but good cars are so much harder to come by. It really puts a damper on people saving money.

I'm so, so sorry :( I pray you will feel peace in such a hard time, hugs to you and your family.

Me too! It's slightly over my 5 yr olds head, like the terms are hard to grasp, but she gets the general idea.

I don't know that I want to have to fill in with another program for negative numbers, I'd rather just have it included if it's needed for pre-algebra.

The negative numbers thing is what I was worried about. I wasn't sure if it would be a problem to not cover negative numbers before pre-algebra.

Ok, thanks!! I've gone back and forth. In fact, we did 2B Standards, but didn't feel it was enough of a difference to stick with standards, so switched back to US and now I'm second guessing it again!

Just curious. I know Standards covers a little bit more, but curious if it has any impact?

I haven't used it, but I say go for it!! I've seen a lot of good reviews when I find a google search and good reviews on Pinterest.

Thanks for the responses! We've considered Greenville ourselves.

How does the Greenville Zoo compare to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia?

We love them! However, my son did get burnt out. I like them best for the beginner levels, they've helped my 2 school age kids to read, but by book 5 or so, my oldest said he didn't like them anymore.

I don't know about DM, but there was a recent post saying that there are only 2 levels of DM that don't be discontinued, I may be mistaken! As for the edition, many prefer the Standards, the HIG is somewhat better. The lay out and teaching tips. There are a few extra topics and the workbooks have extra practice pages. With all that said, I have used both but prefer US edition.

I'd say no for sure. I know people offer to help, but I appreciate more hands off help. Like today, I went shopping with my 3 and we parked far from the cart return. The kids were already loaded up in their seats, a man with his wife and son noticed as they were getting ready to leave, so he offered to return the cart for me! I was very thankful!

Thank you! I'll definitely be requesting some from the library for him!

My son devours books. Today alone he read a 200 page book. He reads a lot and I'm not sure what to have him read next. He likes Mystery stories but not scary ones. He enjoys Encyclopedia Brown but they are easy for him. I'm looking for higher level reading, but still have age appropriate topics!