How are the teachers about getting the kids to actually talk back in Spanish? My DS is in online classes with Bon Voyage and the teacher tries to prompt the students to speak but just moves on when they don't.

Derek Owens is all video based, correct?

Right. The few times we've done them he did basic computation easily enough. But he needs practice in application, especially with problems with mixed formats. I don't *think* that is covered in BA5 much but I'll have to take a closer look. Every now and then I have to make him focus on what he considers the boring lessons.

Ratios and percentages. We just haven't focused on them much as they are kind of boring.

Double post

Hi there. My just turned 8yo DS' BA Online will expire in a few months, and while he's definitely still challenging himself occassionally none of the info is new anymore and he's asking to move on to something else. He flew through all the geometry sections, will sit and ponder through the logic questions and puzzle questions, but tends to skip and leave for last anything that leans more towards basic computation. I've seen many suggestions for supplemental math that he would probably like but I would like a spine or two that he could do independently, especially since I've got younger kids and I have to work one on one with him for writing most of the time. He does well with worksheets. I don't think he would have the attention span for AOPS yet (ADHD) unless I were to be monitoring him. Same for LoF (he completed the elementary with me). I've been considering Singapore 6a since it covers arithmetic topics he could use more practice on, rotating with RS Geometry since it has the hands on geo-spatial stuff he seems to gravitate towards for daily math. I would continue to add in math competition practice tests, math read alouds, and project math to do together occassionally. Thoughts? Totally open to suggestions.

I use BFSU as a spine and the very few definitions that haven't been mastered by just discussing, reading, and playing around with concepts I add to our morning basket memory work. Daily Science is very simple output with a focus on vocabulary.

Thanks for letting us know! I hope they are back up and running soon.

Also, do any of the digital flashcard programs have a method of testing the student's knowledge that doesn't rely on the student simply saying they do or don't know it? My son would probably just swipe that he knows it even if he doesn't just to move the card on. So, multiple choice or typing in the answer or something?

I need to focus much more on basic vocabulary memorization in Spanish. I'm leaning towards old school paper flashcards so I can make sure DS is speaking the words as well. But then after the initial learning phase maybe using a digital flashcard platform for long term maintenance. Is there a platform where I can input my own lists based on topic, and format and print paper flashcards, then choose to add lists individually to the digital flashcard practice? That way I don't have to create separate lists for printing and digital.

Both. I teach my kids to say some cartographers say there are five and some say four. It's a valuable lesson to learn that accepted bodies of knowledge differ around the world, through time, etc.

I've been paying more attention the past few days and I feel like he's doing some arithmetic gymnastics sometimes without even thinking about it and that's when he seems to have a hard time explaining what he's doing. Or very basic concepts are so obvious it's hard to explain why it's so. He does ok explaining things he has to think about and find a way to solve it. I'm going to start having him practice explaining more when we're doing read aloud math. Thanks everyone.

Would you expect a second grader to be able to verbally explain why they did what they did on a math problem beyond reciting the steps they took? Or to answer an open ended question such as "But do you understand what you're doing with equivalent fractions?" I know my son knows what he's doing because I can hear and see what he's doing while he's actually doing it, but sometimes our supervising teacher will ask what I think are too open ended questions for a seven year old. But maybe I'm expecting too little? For example, yesterday I watched my son do his math for a bit. He was calculating 4^3 as part of a larger problem, and was talking through it to himself. He goes "4×4 is 16 and 16x4 is...hmmm...ummm....8x8 is easier so...64." I did not teach him to do that and as far as I know Beast Academy didn't either. When I asked him to explain why he did that he could only say it was easier to calculate 8x8 than 16x4. When I prompted him "So you divided one term by 2 and then..." he said "I multiplied the other by 2." But he could not explain why other than to say to keep everything equal/balanced and the calculation was easier that way. There is, of course, no written work of this and if I were to ask him how or what he did days later he would probably simply recite the steps at best or just say something really general like "because that's what it equals." So, does this sound totally fine at this age/stage or should we start working more on explaining the whys and wherefores of math? When does it become more of a critical issue?

I'm dealing with the exact same thing. Routines with less creative output helps immensely particularly in writing, like dictation instead of original sentences, or a worksheet instead of a story. So I rotate types of work, or will scribe creative output for him and have him write only dictation. Beast Academy Online is great for him. He still gets distracted or sometimes will get sucked into reading the comics and forgetting the lessons, but at least he's engaged and I don't get the stress of waiting for him since its independent. Also, I try to get the critical stuff done right before fun time. If he's actually working but just taking longer then we'll wait for him to finish. If he's dilly-dallying (99% of the time), then the rest of us will start the fun project without him. I give him plenty of warnings on how much time until the fun thing. If he's doing something teacher dependent, I will just walk away if he's acting up. I tell him I'm not going to sit there wasting my time while he goofs off or refuses to work, but I'm happy to stay with him to help him if he's actually working. I'm not going to argue or persuade him. He does really well with read aloud time, wiggly but he does interact happily in that setting. I have resources in all subjects with oral output for read aloud time.

Our charter school paid for it. May as well try and if they say no you could just pay for it out of pocket at that time.

I'm atheist and while in theory I don't have a problem attending events in religious spaces I do get tired of it always being Christian in particular.

I started Sustained Silent Reading (we call it that to be like Ramona Quimby) with DS for second grade. He has a box of books he can choose from ranging from high level picture books of myths and fairy tales to fiction series. He's currently reading Percy Jackson and usually reads one chapter a day and orally narrates during SSR time. Sometimes he'll free read more. He spends a couple hours a day free reading series at a lower reading level. I just strew books around. We also have a fiction book we buddy read aloud with plots that are perhaps not so exciting. These are the types of books found with literature guides from various programs but I don't use guides. I figure in a couple years I can move this book category into assigned independent reading and perhaps at that point a guide will be helpful occasionally.

I take a hot bath every single day. It immensely helps with my Crohn's/Sweet's symptoms. I wish they would look into hot baths for treatments in hospitals more.

Thank you. I'll sit with him and go through the wikipedia page. I've been meaning to show him how to poke around on the web anyway.

Could the slant come naturally once fluency and speed is reached? My DS writes his cursive without a slant when he's free writing but when he's doing copy work (and not stopping to think about spelling) I've seen a bit of slant come through.

Any shortish, preferably hands on or videos, resources for all the US wars, especially the lesser known ones? DS was flipping through Living Memory and is curious about the ones he hadn't heard of. Or is there perhaps a comparative picture book that goes through all of them together?

The book finally arrived. Here's DS' rewrite for lesson 1. He gets a little carried away with extraneous details, especially near the end of his stories. The Mouse and the Spider A mouse lay asleep in his mouse hole resting his little head on his paws. A spider crawled up on top of the mouse's back fur and settled down to sleep. Awoken from his nap, the mouse seized the spider and got ready to devour it. The spider pleaded for mercy. "Oh, please don't eat me and some day I'll help you." The mouse laughed so hard that you could hear it in every room of the mouse tunnel. But since he was a kind mouse he let the spider go. One day the mouse was stealing a bit of cheese from the pantry and saw a little more on a mysterious wood plank. As he raced for the cheese the second he put his paw on the cheese a horseshoe-shaped metal object slapped over his back. Up above on the ceiling the spider was watching all the commotion. He slid down by his web and spun two strands from the corners of the mouse trap to the plank, forcing it open. "Now you know even a spider can help a mouse," said the spider.

I don't think the format is similar to CC but we use Living Memory: A Classical Memory Work Companion. It's one big book divided by subjects but it is not scheduled out by grade/age. I don't see spelling rules in it but it does cover grammar, history, math, geography, science, religion, literature, Latin, and Greek.

My DS also works primarily left to right but in his head. When I make him write his work down he doesn't notate anything besides partial sums and final answers. Is it necessary for your child to notate? Perhaps show a few ways and let your kiddo figure out whatever makes sense.

I just bought W&R Fable (haven't received it yet) and I'm looking forward to replacing most of our LA pieces with it. That's part of the appeal for me. We'll probably end up rotating about every three weeks between Fable and our pieced-together LA. Maybe do both on a loop?