Yep, it sure is. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I can't remember and I can't seem to google search for the website often recommended on here for drilling math facts. It's the one with the teacher who makes funny faces and gestures and there's a grid that shows which facts you've gotten right and which you need to work on more. You can select the four groups separately. It doesn't teach, only drill. I don't know where my memory is lately. Thanks!

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly, quiet but intriguing contemporary middle grade novel told by multiple perspectives with Asian American and deaf representation.

Many children's authors will write back. Is that something kids would like if the authors weren't necessarily super famous?

I have used/will use again Beautiful Feet Around the World with Picture Books. It's designed for K-2 but it can be aged up easily by requiring a paragraph or folk tale retelling and/or country research in the journal instead of just pasting the animals. It's also easy to add independent reading for the fourth grader.

I have every lost tooth in a baggy for each kid. I keep them in my sock drawer so everyday I'll remember to enjoy childhood. Mine and theirs together.

What approaches did you find useful? What were/are your goals in the middle grades and what do you think/did you do for history in high school? My oldest is going into fourth grade. He's very, very loosely done a history cycle largely with picture books, read alouds, and now some history novels. I'd say he has a good grasp on the big picture transformation of human societies over time but not the details. He's currently in the middle of BF History of Science then I was considering either BF Geography through Mapping or History of California, and always topical readings (right now he's reading History Smashers Women's Rights). I'm trying to get an idea of what approach I want to take after that, in the middle grades to prepare for high school. I'm leaning towards doing a solid, consistent History cycle with output, for instance something like History Odyssey Intermediate, then leaving High School open for in depth topical studies or whatever time periods he's interested in using resources specific to that and/or dual enrollment in CC. I'm leaning against a four year cycle in high school to keep that flexibility, which makes me think I should have at least one solid cycle at some point. Thoughts?

Mostly vocabulary. What's a quotient? What's a prime factorization? Once I tell him what they are he's good to go. With procedures he might forget the different ways to expand or do partial multiplication or something if a question asks for something a specific way.

I decided to go with Singapore 6. The fact that it's repetitive works well for us because my son skipped around a lot in BA plus he tends to need refreshers often, mostly on terms and procedures. But the cut to the chase style of Singapore while still being solid will allow him time to pursue more supplemental math things. I think this stage in math is a great place to slow down, explore, let things simmer and cement.

For an 8yo boy who has taken Outschool classes? I'm wondering if it's a good course for practicing social skills on live web classes before taking regular Athena courses.

Well, my kids are younger than yours but I usually whine and complain louder than them about the things I have to do. You know, the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle defense.

Oh sorry forgot to answer your other questions. There is definitely progression in his free writing. At around 8.5yo his creative stories introduced tension and buildup. They began to contain a better grasp of POV and perspective. They have more character emotion and growth. They still lack in setting though. While there are things that inspired individual writing projects there hasn't been anything that inspired writing interest overall. All three of my kids have written stories and things in some fashion since they could hold a pen. My 3yo makes books in which he draws pictures and strings of letters or scribbles. Then he tells me the stories verbally, drawing in the necessary details as he goes along. These are this happened then this happened stories. My 6yo is really big into drawing and graphic novels. He usually writes/draws comic style books and his are more focused on characterization, emotion, and action sequences than overarching plots. He mimics and models characters and stories into new forms. They all have pride in their writings. My 9yo seems to have pride in how he shows something, how he reveals information to the reader. My 6yo has pride in the shape, perspective, and emotion of his characters. My 3yo is just proud of making something and handling the stapler on his own, I think!

My third grader has handwritten stories, instruction manuals, game stories (board games and role playing games), travel journals, letters to family members and authors, recipes, creative encyclopedia type books, lists of things he wants or books he's waiting to come out, daily journals for a few weeks or charts/progress reports of some goal he's working on. He types stories in Minecraft journals, type chats via Zoom, and types posts on discussion boards for Outschool classes. A few times he's tried Word for stories but resorts to handwriting usually or considerably shortens the story so he's not typing as long. I've always thought of him as an able but reluctant writer but now I see that's not true. I'm also a professional fiction author so it could be that I'm modeling behavior that he's picking up on.

It can be lots of different things. In BF it can range from definitions, reports, drawing pictures or diagrams, coloring (younger ones). It's all detailed as to what to put in the notebook in the BF guide.

I've used Fable, Narrative 1 and now on Narrative 2. The first three levels are definitely great with those things. IIRC, Fable has all of the same elements as the other two levels but with a bigger picture framework. The others get into some specifics such as outlining that Fable doesn't have, but they all present information from the perspective of communicating ideas in different ways, how words can change meanings, how sentence organization can influence what the reader understands, etc. I can't remember just how much Fable focuses on word choice and strong sentences. That kind of thing is usually just one portion in each lesson so it's not everyday. Not like a workbook designed specifically for those things.

She sounds like my son who likes CAP W&R. He also accepted EM Daily 6 Trait Writing but I wouldn't consider that a full program.

My third grader is in Narrative 2. I would consider him a reluctant writer when it's assigned but not a struggling writer. He has ADHD and does great with the routine of the varied output, if that makes any kind of sense.

My third grader has been doing Beautiful Feet History of Science which is mostly independent reading with notebooking and the occasional experiment. BF has other history subjects that focus around a reading list.

I wonder if she'd like Writing and Rhetoric by Classical Academic Press? It contains stories to read and discuss and lots of sentence play and light grammar. It's all integrated fairly well. There is a call to narrate but it's just the story that was just read and would be easy to skip. There is no practice of academic writing such as reports in the first few books, though I think that does come up at some point.

Rotate. Do a unit on drawing then switch to painting then switch to handicrafts as interest waxes and wanes. Math, writing, PE, and maybe music (if child loves it) should be near-daily. Everything else can be rotated or mixed with the other stuff.

I'm in a similar spot and decided to go with Singapore 6. The main reason is because I'm sure he doesn't have the focus needed to sit through the AOPS books without me and I simply don't have time to sit with him. I do teach new concepts and help with foundational skills but not everyday. This way he can firm up on anything spotty and whatever he goes to next will be easier despite his young age.

I think my rising first grader will continue Singapore 1/2 MP Simply Classical Writing Song School Latin MCT Island Maps, Charts, Graphs Daily Science World History read alouds/units American history readings/units/activities ART...this is my art kid. Online Draw Clubs, Home Art Studio, Artistic Pursuits, local classes (depending on Covid) Some kind of mom-led random Spanish

I'm sure your daughter will get it quickly.

Ratio word problems. Some of these are so hard for me to comprehend but thankfully DS is flying through them without needing help, so far.

My 6yo loved the class on Friday. He plans on attending weekly.