I don't have anymore suggestions for you but I just need to say soroban is fabulous. We were stationed in Japan the last two years and my son was part of the soroban club sponsored by the school. He learned how to use the soroban and participated in the yearly soroban contest. I want my other kids to learn to use it as well.

Thank you. I ordered the first book. I figured we can try it out and if we need to move on to another book then I can still use it for her two younger brothers. They all seem to have math minds and her next younger brother is quickly catching up to her (because he loves to do his math and will often do more than assigned). Thanks again!

This is our first year homeschooling and my DD is finishing up MM 3B this school year. She seems to pick up on the math concepts relatively easily but she fights me just about every day to do her math. I like math mammoth myself. Anyway, I was online looking at the Beast Academy sight and she saw the comic book look to it over my shoulder and has now expressed interest in trying that for next year. So, my question is where to start? Should I begin at the beginning with 3A? My original plan for next year was going to be MM 4A&B plus some math minutes for review. Thank you.

This isn't entirely true and very much depends on the state you're in. While the schools don't need to report until 3rd grade many schools are testing beginning in Kindergarten. We are currently stationed in Japan. Here at the DOD schools TerraNova testing begins in 3rd grade but all the many assessments begin in Kindergarten. Before living here we were station in NJ. All of my kids were in school then. My daughter took the TerraNova in Kindergarten. Those are the only two situations I know about.

Thank you so much for your help thus far. As soon as I have more details I'll be back with more questions I'm sure!

He's AF and I'm not sure how it is going to work. He would be working on the new tanker program. So, I don't know if he'd technically be assigned to JBLM and just work over at Boeing Field. Hopefully we'll get an official answer soon about the job and then again hopefully I'll know the answers to some of your questions. Thanks!

We're military so we'd rather rent (if we can) since we'll be there 3 years at most unless we decide to retire there (almost time to make that decision :001_smile: ). If he gets this job he'll be working at Boeing (at the King Co. Airport). To add complications we are moving from overseas (Japan). He will have some co-workers that he'll be able to talk to about where to live etc. once we know for sure that we are going there. Thank you so much for all of your help so far. I would like to homeschool all of the kids but I still need to convince DH of that. He is just worried that it is too much. Our kids are 11, 9, 7 and 4. We will get BAH (basic allowance for housing) to offset housing costs but I don't know how much that is yet.

My husband has the possibility of a job with Boeing and would be working at Boeing Field. I have never even been to Washington other than a layover at the Seattle airport so I do not even know where to begin. We have 4 kids. We are planning to homeschool some if not all (right now 2 are homeschooled and 2 attend school). I want to homeschool them all but he's not quite on board with that yet. So, I guess we should be looking somewhere that the schools are ok as well or if there is a Catholic school option. Would any of you be able to help?

We are a military family overseas. As far as I know my husband will still be getting his paycheck however the "non-essential" civilian workers are furloughed. Our commissary will stay open but many other services we rely on will not be. Our school teachers ( I have 2 at home and 1 in school) are expected to work without pay in the hopes of being back paid when it is over. Some things will continue to be open because we have many local Japanese that work on this base and their paychecks are not paid by our government. Even though we will be getting a paycheck things are not operating as usual. The planes are not flying etc.

Is this really a common problem with 10-11 year olds? This is our first year homeschooling, second if you count the now 11 year olds kinder year. My 8 year old is great at getting her work done except when said 11 year old is bugging her but my son, goodness gracious! None of his teachers have ever mention distracted, hard to focus or anything like that when talking about him. He needs constant reminders to stay on task. He used to be so independent. I mean I never had to keep after him to do his homework before. It is about driving me batty. Do any of you have any advice on tactics to help with this possible stage?

I am a long time lurker and I think have only written a post once but I just couldn't ignore this one. I agree with the other posters. I have been a military spouse for over 15 years and have been stationed in Germany and currently we are in Japan. I have never known another military spouse or their kids to shun a civilian family. I think if anything we jump into friendships perhaps quicker and perhaps more intensely than others. We know we don't have the time to let a friendship simmer because by that time we'll be packing up again. Perhaps that makes some people uncomfortable. And some people are just negative nellies. As for bringing stuff with you, if there are particular brands of shampoo or toothpaste or something that you just can't live without then you could stock up on that. If you're not picky you can find everything you need "on the economy" or at the PX/BX/NEX. WIll you have access to the military post office? If so then don't worry. I get anything I order from Amazon in less than two weeks. Many other stores ship APO too. If there is something you really need you could ask a family member to send it to you. Living overseas is stressful at the beginning. And you may very well be homesick for a bit. But it gets better and often times by the end of your tour you don't want to leave. Good luck, you can do it. You and your kids will do awesome. Just make the effort and you will have friends.

Hello. My DS(11) just finished 5th grade at PS and will be coming home for 6th grade next year. I am looking for suggestions for math to start this summer and continue through the school year. He is good at math and enjoys it. He was in the gifted program at his school but I wouldn't really consider him necessarily gifted in math but definitely bright and picks up math concepts quickly. After having him home with me I am sure I will have a better grasp on where he is but in the mean time I need some suggestions. I was originally going to use Saxon and he placed into 8/7 but that seems high to me. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.