He's almost nine. Sometimes he flounders on "what is the purpose of this question?" or "Why do I have to answer it this way?" He has ADHD and can get distracted and emotional about stuff like that. So I was just thinking of introducing him to a variety of question/test styles so he can get the whys and wherefores out of the way at home and when actual test time comes it won't be something new to meltdown about.

I'm looking to introduce different test style formats and to emotionally practice through sitting for a designated time, following the rules, etc. more than to boost test scores, but I'll take a look.

Any good sources for practice tests for exams like the cogat test? Preferably free because I'm not sure yet if/when we'll pursue testing. Thanks

I'm sorry to hear you can't find them. I was planning on getting more. It's not fine art, but my craftsy/artsy kiddos like the Prescripts series available on Rainbow Resource. The two we have include a drawing or coloring page on a topic with each cursive worksheet. Alternatively, perhaps you can find a fine arts printable package and the kids can make up their own sentences about the picture.

We just keep going at full pace unless we have a reason to slow down. This helps because it gives me time to cover the vast majority of our schooling the way I want for each subject for each kid, plus I have time to squeeze in the more public schooly, state testing type material.

My 8yo just began checking his own math work, and proudly. Like actually writing down the verification. This is an ADHD kid who would often meltdown at things like that. My 5yo will sit down and do his workbooks on his own, and do a bunch of pages, and is really careful about his work. This isn't really a milestone because it's just his personality, but it feels like a huge win. And my 3yo learned how to use a mouse on the computer. My little baby. By the way, my kids love The Bears on Hemlock Mountain. I love it for a first independent school book.

Thank you everyone. It's for my three year old who has already been playing Starfall and Teach Your Monster to Read. He's loving Progressive Phonics too. Last little guy to teach to read *sniff*.

It's a complete math program but it doesn't cover some traditional "problem styles" that a kid might see on public schoolish state or diagnostic testing. If that matters to you for whatever reason (it matters to me) you may need to add something along those lines just for familiarity, but that could be a mini unit when the need arises.

Oh my gosh thank you!

It has stories that start with a simple word family like at, cat, etc. The words the child is learning is in red I believe while the rest are in black for the parent to read. These are silly stories and there's many of them that build on each other. I believe the website also has a letter sounds section prior to the CVC/VC section but I can't remember for sure. It's recommended on here frequently, completely free, and can be used online or I think downloaded for printing. I used it with my older two kids and I have one more kid to teach and I'm completely blanking on the name of the website!

We're already extra cautious and everyone knows it, so it won't be any surprise to anyone that we won't go anywhere or invite anyone. We'll have a virtual meetup with the little cousins though.

I'm not much of a console gamer but my kids would probably play that. They like all the Zeldas and play retro games anyway.

My infusion this week! Really hoping I'll be able to eat more than plain chicken and white rice afterwards and sit on the sofa instead of lay in bed. Also, some writing contest submissions I plan to work on.

Yes, I have but not really by choice. And it is absolutely possible for an overweight person to have serious side effects from rapid weight loss, but probably just 24 hours is ok. Just be careful because you can still be technically overweight but experience muscle atrophy and heart problems from rapid weight loss. Anyway, when I have to fast I use half doses of cannabis to calm my intestines. This helps with the nausea from not eating and the pain of intestinal cysts (Crohn's Disease). When you do eat, it helps to eat small frequent meals and wait until all the gas and stuff clears out before eating again. If you're having immune issues, is there an infusion or something that might help you in addition to diet plans? I had an ostomy for almost three years that I just had reversed (Yay!) but I almost needed it again and was barely able to get back on immunosuppressant infusions in time.

My colon has been removed so I drink a few hundred ounces of water all day with a few slurps of Gatorade for the electrolytes. I looooove coffee though, miss it so much. We have an espresso machine and when my Crohn's is under control I can sometimes have a latte.

My three kids share one small room that's just for sleeping, reading, and dressing. We have four desks jammed into one small bedroom so they (kids+DH) each have a place to work. The kids have laptops they can easily move off their desks if they need table space, but usually they use the dining table for that. When they need/want privacy for school they can take their stuff outside to our backyard table, "treehouse" (literally like a 3x3 platform), or swingset tower or use a lap desk in the master bedroom. We have the soft lap desks for cuddling in chairs or on the bed or the hard kind which can be set up pretty much anywhere.

Thanks! And no wonder I couldn't find anything for Romans. I didn't realize this developed so much later than numeral systems. How interesting!

DS8 asked what symbols Ancient Roman's used with their Roman Numerals to denote operations (what did they use for the addition symbol, for instance). Web searches are failing me on this as everything seems to be about Roman numerals and the logic behind number systems. He's also interested in the history behind mathematical operation symbols in general from ancient times to what we use now throughout the world. Has anyone happen to come across this information anywhere? I've never once thought about this so I have no clue where even our own symbols came from.

My kids do one workbook math page in the morning with their table work and then one to two lessons in BA Online in the afternoon. I sometimes use MM Blue for the morning math. I print out the pages I want depending on what I want each kid to review or practice or learn more explicitly, which is usually about half of the work text. My 8yo is currently doing Division 2, one page a day, for review. Then he does either two short lessons or one long lesson in BA 4 or one lesson in BA 5. This does not feel like too much here, but we are using MM for review/rote practice. If you were using MM for new teaching and wanted to let them play with BA Online too, you might let them do an easier BA level.

Love this! Thanks

For third grade I started to look for complete science programs, but then realized the programs I was interested in generally had a Level 1 series for about grades 1-4 and a Level 2 series for about grades 5-8. I decided to wait another year and start a Level 2 series at the beginning. We did BFSU, books, kits, and Daily Science for first and second grade. In third grade DS is doing Beautiful Feet History of Science (not secular, but so far easy to skip the religion) and working on independence skills so he'll be ready for a full program next year.

What you have in mind sounds great. We primarily did read alouds, crafts, and kits. We also added in Daily Science because he likes them and its handwriting/worksheet practice and I used BFSU as a guide. In those subjects I also introduced some independent output skills in second grade like creative notebooking, recording labs, simple paragraphs...just occasionally so he could transition to more output in third/fourth. It seems to be going well so far.

I'm interested in this as well. The content looks great but I cannot, will not, don't wanna write out lesson plans for my older kid. It would be awesome if the author, or someone, separated out the levels so an independent kid could follow along independently. So we personally went with Beautiful Feet for now (History of Science, not comparable content) because my third grader can follow that manual on his own. Still a great balance of literature, notebooking, and hands on stuff but I only have to glance over his shoulder.

Since you mentioned foreign language... We often combine reading aloud in foreign language. One reads one side of the page, the other the opposite. The older gets the task of looking up unfamiliar words in the dictionary. Sometimes I have the older translate whole sentences to English but would only ask for a few words from the younger.

We do both, not simultaneously. I have resources for combining and resources where each kid sits and discusses with me separately. What we do each day depends largely on everyone's mood and what they've been up to so far, especially the three year old.