Does anyone else get this? We just got our first issue, and I am very impressed with it. It has: An interview with UoO prof. Marie Vitulli An article called Finding the Maximum Subsequence A fictionalization story about ancient Indian mathematician Brahmagupta One girl's sample of her math journal showing her exploration of paraboloidal cross sections Math in your world article A section of problem sets, the solutions of which will be in the next issue They welcome submissions from readers. It is definitely written toward pre-teen girls, but the math level is really quite high. www.girlsangle.org

That was smart. I didn't realize they gave free shipping. Did you get the pack, or just the student guide? teacher's guide? I guess I need to revisit it.

Dmmettler, please post how it goes with LL. I was very tempted to do LL7 with my younger daughter, but didn't since she had already done Alice last year. I'm leaning towards LL8 for next year. She sounds a lot like your daughter, in that she sits down and reads a book cover to cover before I realize she has started it.

Some people have found the physics one easier to do after the biology one, but we did the physics one first with no problem, followed by the biology one. Economics is a weird one, and I wanted to skip it, but dd didn't want to miss any of Fred's story, so we read it out loud. If you do that one, don't just hand it to your kid to do alone. Do it together so that you can talk about some of the things in there that we thought were unnecessarily conservative and slanted. Others might not have any issues with it, but we sure did.

http://www.everyday-education.com/literature/eng1.shtml EIL Intro to Lit sounds just right. Starts with short stories, then goes to novels. There are additional books assigned for honors option. Not too expensive ($29) and the books are things that you can find in the library or free online, so no book sets to buy.

I'm glad you posted, and don't feel like an impostor. Post wherever you feel you can get the best advice or wherever you feel you have something to offer. I also feel that way sometimes, but that is what I tell myself.

You have gotten a lot of good advice. I just wanted to comment that your son is right about skipping the Fred PreAlg 2 book. It is awful.

Pre-algebra didn't exist when I was in school. If your kid understands and is confident with fractions, decimals, and percents, then he is probably ready for algebra. At this age he can do it quickly or slowly, either way you are ahead of the game.

I started with my daughter home in 4th. I didn't know what grammar she knew, so I got FLL 4 to find out. It reviewed a lot, so we went quickly, but she also learned a lot. It is scripted and held my hand which I needed as a newbie, and she found out that she loved poetry memorization. We did not use WWE. I have to say though, that if I was just starting now, I would probably look at the new Treasured Conversations everyone is talking about. The samples look so neat. Take some spelling tests online (various programs have them), and see if you need to do spelling. Some kids do and some don't. For vocabulary, I love MCT's Caesar's English. It is an introduction to stems that you can use with both of them. The Classical edition has a lot of ancient history in it, which is nice if you are going to start them with ancient history. It also has some writing assignments in it, so you can see where they are with writing. Don't feel like you have to start with everything at once. Get a feel for what they know, print out samples of programs, ask your girls to try them out, see what they like. Decide what you want them to learn (diagramming or not; vocab by stems or by word lists, etc.) and listen to them about what they want to learn. Figure out their learning styles before you invest a lot of money. Let them help you figure this out. Read out loud to them, and talk to them about the book. Have them read a book silently (you read it too), and talk to them about it. Do they seem to have better comprehension when they read it, or when you read it? Use this time to connect with your girls and understand them. You might feel like you are wasting time they need to be learning, but you will save time and money in the long run if you do this. The single most important thing IMO is to read aloud to them as much as you can. Enjoy this time with them!

Yes, project based schools seem to be using this a lot to help students manage their projects. I know people who use it, but haven't yet myself.

Oh, yes! I am stealing this one! My future starship captain will love it!

We used "balance math teaches algebra", "keys to algebra," and "hands on equations" last year (5th grade) while she finished PreAlgebra. Now she is doing Algebra. If he is ready, there is no reason to hold him back.

Pajama day is one we do often, LOL. Also movie days (often a documentary, but my girls love them), with popcorn. If combined with a pajama day, dd 10 is in heaven!

We did. I just added the stories in FMoR to our days as a read aloud and then used some of the questions from the teacher's guide to discuss them a little. I did not require them to know the history for the quizzes or tests though. The kids really liked the stories.

Yes, Project Foundry is the name of a program. Microsoft Project is another common one.

Motivation to get school work done - homework. What they don't get done because of dawdling (not when it is my fault for having assigned too much) they have to do it for homework. That rarely happens, because they have other things they would rather do in the evenings! Chores, hmmm. I need to find motivation for that myself. Pretty much, they do whatever I ask them to do without attitude. If they give me attitude, then the list of what they have to do gets longer. I'd say we are a pretty relaxed house, overall. But I did put a big sign on the door that reads, "Stop! Think! Do you have EVERYTHING you need? Mom is not gathering your stuff for you, nor bringing you anything that you forget!" When my older daughter forgot her flute for flute lesson and had to spend the entire lesson working on theory stuff with her teacher, or when she forgot her skating socks and had to skate without socks on her feet, she learned her lesson. (Younger daughter never forgets anything, so this tool was primarily for my eldest.). Everyone who comes in my house comments on that sign as they leave and say that they need one on their door, too!

Introduction to literary analysis is very doable with young kids using picture books. Get Teaching the Classics, Reading Roadmaps, and/or Ready Readers 1 (green cover) from centerforlit.com. At this level you are not looking for them to write about lit, you are just talking about it with them and introducing them to the concepts. It will be fun (they will love looking for style things like alliteration and onomatopoeia!) If you do this, by the time your kids get to middle school, literary analysis will be no big deal. Teaching the Classics will train you in how to do this if you don't already know how. Ready Readers will hold your hand for you completely on a few stories. Reading Roadmaps will lay out books for you to cover every year of school whether you want to do this daily, every six weeks, only in the summer, whatever works for you. I highly recommend doing this! Have fun!

I second the living math books suggestion. There are wonderful picture books that introduce big, deep math ideas. They feel like you are using age appropriate material, and picture books don't come with an age range stamped on them, so they don't scream at you, "my kid is different!" At these ages, reading to them and with them is much more formative for language arts than using a workbook approach. Plus snuggling is easier with books than workbooks. 😊

Which Classical Astronomy book are you referring to?

I just requested the book Connections from my library. Maybe start with the book?

We had a similar experience with Montessori PK. Since my younger dd could already read, they didn't do any academics with her. She spent all her time on practical life stuff, ie. washing cloths by hand and grinding nutmeg, or reading silently to herself. I understand the why of it in theory, but in reality, a kid who is ahead of the peers will get ignored in Montessori. They get presented the work, can do it without practice, or are not interested in practicing it because it bores them, but as long as they cause no trouble, nothing extra gets done for them. My poor dear spent 3 years in that school before I wised up. I was blind because it had been so terrific for her older sister, who is bright, but not as asynchronous as my younger one.

This is exactly what happens with my points; they get used on Amazon to buy whatever book or curriculum I can't resist!

My daughter used this last year. The books are editions that have vocabulary definitions at the bottom of the page, because MCT wants kids to just read and enjoy literature without feeling like they have to get a dictionary out to define a word they don't know. There are sections of grammar or poetics highlighted occasionally to draw attention to something the author has done particularly effectively. The parent guide is a thin volume that contains an essay about each book, quote quizzes (a fun way to check their retention and understanding), a short list of questions and activities you can use for discussion and assignments, and a list of possible essay topics. There are no lists of vocabulary for kids to study, fill in the blank comprehension questions, or other things you might expect in a literature guide. It is much more geared to reading enjoyment and then thinking about them. The students are expected to read the books in the order presented, because the discussion questions and essay questions build so that the stories can be compared and contrasted. For example, after having read both Treasure Island and Call of the Wild, one of the questions asked is, "Imagine that Long John Silver arrives at Buck's Northland, and he enters one of the scenes that is in Call of the Wild. What happens?" Hope that helps.

Maybe you could introduce him to a project management software, and project number one could be to learn how to use the software. He could come up with a project and then you could help him brainstorm some of the steps that would need to be accomplished to see the project to completion. Then he can enter them in the software and track his progress. As he goes along, he will see steps that he missed planning for, steps that went faster than he thought, steps that took much longer. In the process, he will gain incredible project management skills that are sorely lacking in the "real" world, because very few people ever learn how to do this. Project foundry is one way to track projects for school, but you could use any number of different software options.

My dd13 did AstroTech last semester, will be doing Imagining Other Earths this semester, and Astrobiology next semester.