...

Having no formal training in the department aside from 25 years experience as a male. This is not abnormal, nor does it mean the beginning of impotence. So long as your friends husband can get it up (and keep it up), his erection being, uh...more maleable, isn't an immediate problem. I have some older male friends who say that this will wax and wane, some erections will be harder than others. Your friends husband can always talk to his doctor if he has any concerns.

If you have a kid who is strong in elementary level math and has a lot of interest in the subject but for whatever reason you want to broaden the exposure instead of shoot straight through Algebra, have you done a survey of mathematics type course? Which book did you use? I am planning on easing them into formal Algebra this summer now that we have finally, finally selected a book--and made my summer schedule!--but the first several topics are not new to them so we will have time to do other things, plus I don't want to feed them a strict diet of Algebra for a year. I'm looking for a book that has clear explanations written to the student, lots of examples, applications, problem sets, reviews. Chapter summaries are a bonus. So long as the book is written to the student, we shouldn't need a teachers manual or answer key, but if there is a students solution manual available, that will be nice. Personally I'm okay at math myself, I've just never taken a math class for non majors but I do have experience in the topics that are often covered (logic, number theory, algebra, calculus, business math etc) so I'm hopeful that I can figure it out alongside of the kids. I would like to add in something to round out their exposure to mathematics at this point, especially since they are now saying that they might want to major in math, I'd like to give them a broader view of math and I think a Survey of Mathematics type book, might make a good starting point but I have no idea which ones to look at. Just as a note: AOPS is out at this point It just won't be a good fit for the boys. But if there is a good college, highschool or even middle school level survey of math type book then I would love to find it. (Survey of Math = Liberal Arts Math = Math for Non Majors).

I don't have any answers. We were in the store one time and there was some muscled, beefy guy in front of us and a bunch of lean, muscular college kids and then me and the boys. My son Pal gazed around at all the athletically built, weight lifting fellows and asked me, "Gil, can I be strong when I grow up?" "What? What are you talking about, Pal?" "I said 'can I be strong when I grow up' Like, muscley-strong? or will I have to be like you?" *sigh* "Son," I told him, "you can be whatever you want to be, when you grow up..." "So I don't have to be wimpy looking?" "No, son, you don't." "Even if its in my genes?" "....*sigh*...No, Pal, even if its in your genes." "Okay, good." I have never had body-image issues, but I came pretty close that day!

I have a few tips--most of which are common sense and you have probably already thought of, but maybe one of them will be new to you. 1) Manage your budget in weeks. Don't go anywhere spur of the moment, don't shop in spurts. If you take the time to look up/plan out your trip carefully, then you shop and travel in the most efficient way possible, you just have to organize and plan ahead. In my household, We are a family of 3 and we eat on about $70 dollars a month. We eat lots of rice, beans, fish, pasta etc. I batch cook a lot. (Make rice for the whole week, make potatoes for the whole week. That sort of thing. We have tuperware that makes it easy to cook and sort food by days. The boys do not really eat snacks, they never have. Personally I eat lunch every other day, not every day. I almost never buy anything while I am out and about (fast food). We eat ramen noodles or canned soup a couple of times a week. 2) As a rule, I do not drive on the weekends. We take the bus to my weekend job, the library and or the pool. If we can't get somewhere on the bus, then we don't usually go there on the weekend. 3) With the exception of caffeine/energy waterdrops (such as Mio Energy) for my personal use, I NEVER by drinks--we have clean, running water coming for the sink which is more than almost 800 million people world wide can say. After all, I pay a water bill for a reason and it isn't so that I can go and buy drinks. We refill the same water bottles. 4) We buy staple items such as eggs, rice, oil, etc, in bulk every 4-6 weeks as we run out.

Oh, another I thought of: We were running to the store for something minor. By the door was a fairly attractive woman and some guy with her, possibly her boyfriend/husband. The woman started arguing, yelling and swearing at the guy that she was with. Buddy: Oh, so that is what you meant about being ugly on the inside, right, Gil?

I thought of these and seeing the 'I like your cellulite' thread, I decided to share just one more round. Then I have to go and study! Buddy is absolutely oblivious about compliments. Telling him: If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all, was pointless because he is polite by nature and always wanted say something but many of his attempts at 'saying something nice' just sounded...awful. Some of Buddys complimentary gems: (offered up between the ages of 3 and 5, in a sweet voice and always.always at the most inopportune times!) You are very pretty for a fat, old woman.. You smell very interesting today! Your nose is so big that I really like it! Pal, in case you can't tell, has had me about ready to move...to a country where they don't speak English. I used to shop on the other side of town just so that I didn't run the risk of them embarrassing me and insulting everyone in our immediate area. Worked out perfectly, now that the boys are older they don't say such stuff any more (well, Buddy doesn't!) and we can grocery shop in our area just fine.

[moved by original author]

Oh! One more: A friend of mine plays the lottery all the time. My Friend: Man, I got so excited earlier, I thought I'd won the lottery. Now I'm just depressed Me: What?! Friend: (explained about how he'd gotten confused/misheard the numbers) We laughed about it, I told him he should probably quit playing since it upsets him so much and later friend remarked: Man, I just feel like the day I stop playing is the day I would've won. Me: Thats how they hook you in to playing. Friend: Thats what my brother in law always, him and my wife, but man... Buddy: recites a string of numbers. Friend: What? Buddy: /Repeats the string of numbers/ Buddy: When Gambling becomes a problem: 1888 Admit it. You are not alone. (there is a billboard along our commute that says that. Buddy, apparently, memorized it.)

I don't know how much these count as 'funny' as in haha or funny as in a euphemism for 'I, the parent, was mortified and wanted to crawl under the earth' Disclaimer: Pal is a trip. You have been warned. This past March: Mr. Tom, my friend: Man, Gil, I can't believe some of the things you let your boys do! Thats so neat, man. Pal: Actually, Gil is only this nice when you are here. When no one is around, Gil tells us 'hell no' and makes me do what he wants. (And I do, but sheesh! give up the family secrets why don't ya!) Some time last summer: Pal: ...Daaaddy? Me: Yes, Pal? Pal: Can we have a squirrel for a pet. Me: ???...No, Pal, where would we even get a squirrel? Pal: Outside of Nanas house there are squirrels. Me: *sigh* No, Pal. We don't get pets, remember? Besides even if I did want a pet, those squirrels at Nanas are wild animals. They aren't safe to have in the house. Pal: What would you do if there were a squirrel in the house? Like, for pretend or something? Me: BBBBUUUUDDDDDDDDY!!!! Get that thing out of this house.right.now! Buddy: Aaaww man! A couple of years ago: Random Woman: Oh, wow, you are just cute as a muffin! You look like your daddy! Pal (pleasantly): You are as big as a house! You like Mrs. Dee (a woman, who is actually rather large and who'd been described as 'big as a house'!) Last summer: Nana: No one wants to get old because they're gonna die. Buddy: I don't want to get old because then I'll look all melty. Random Woman: You look tired...like you could use a nap. Pal: You look scary...like a monster. Man at Park: Hey, whats your name? Pal: Why? Are you a pervert? The man was trying to get his young daughter to play with my kids and was telling her to give 'that to the boy, give that to the boy...' so he asked Pal his name so that he could distinguish which boy was which. Girl: Haha! Even though you're a boy I can run faster than you! Pal: So what? I can pee standing up! Girl just arriving to the park: When you are done I want to swing! (Some of the swings had been removed, there was only one and Pal was on it. She said it in a snooty sort of way.) Pal: I want you to go away. Girl: When is my turn? (she'd waited a few minutes) Pal: I don't know, tomorrow? Me: Paaal! Pal: She was bratty to me first! Girl: (ran to get her mom) I could see the girl talking to her mom, pointing at Pal and after several more minutes The mom came over and asked, rather politely, if Pal would mind giving her daughter a turn on the swings. Pal: Normally I don't mind, but today I do. Me: Pal! Get off the d4mn swing and give someone else a turn! Pal: Aaaw! Buddy: Dad, I know how to catch a chipmunk. Me: How, Buddy? Buddy: Roll on the ground and act like a nut. Me: Which one of you boys broke this jar? Pal: I thought you said we shouldn't tattle? (spoken in a very betrayed and nervous tone) Pal: I don't want to ever have kids. Buddy: Why not? Pal: Because then I'll have to share all my toys even in my own house! Me: Boys, are you ready to go? Pal: No, *big sigh* but you are going to make us anyway... My eldest came to me in the middle of the night about 2 years ago. Buddy: Daddy...daddy...gil! Me: Whats the matter, bud? Buddy: When I move out as a man, can I take the spiderman nightlight with me? Me: ....Yes, Buddy, you can.... Buddy: Can I take the spiderman alarm clock too? Me: Sure, Buddy, if you want you can the darn clock!!! Buddy very loudly, with a tone of victory in his voice: SEE PAL! I TOOOOLLLD YOU! Dad said yes! Pal, running into the room and wailing: But daddy, you said we had to share them! Me: GO.TO.SLEEP.RIGHT.NOW!!! Pal, kept fidgeting and squirming when we were at a family reunion. He was about 3 at the time. Aunt Kay: Oh, honey, whats the matter? Pal: I miss my penis! The stuff that comes out of Pals mouth man! I just wish he came with a mute button and a 7second real-time delay or something!

Elderly family friend to my then 5yo son, Buddy: I really like your hat, you look very handsome. Buddy, in a very polite and serious voice: Thank you, I like your wrinkles. You look like an owl! (It took a moment to decode this but what I got out of him is: old = wise = owl, you see!) Oi! I can't wait until this kid is old enough to want to flirt and finally, finally realizes what a nut he is!

I have never really lost the boys, not for more than a few moments anyway. Whether they are gone for 30secs of 30minutes, it feels like a lifetime. A parent can live and die in the span of a heart beat when their child is in peril. I have had the distinct pleasure of watching my child get run over by a truck in the parking lot. Right after I'd snapped at him and his brother. The thought, immediately before him being hit was: "I'm so sick and tired of this kid!" Imagine, if you will snapping at your kid, thinking that you are 'sick and tired of them' and then turning and seeing them get run over. I felt like less than sh!t for weeks. It was the most bizarre and traumatizing event of my life and I couldn't believe that I'd just gone and let my toddler--with whom I was extremely frustrated with, right up to that point--get himself run over. Like...run over. As in, hit, knocked down, and run over....by a truck. I don't know who was more freaked out--me, Pal, or the driver. All 3 of us just kept screaming! It was utter bedlam for about 40 seconds. Then other people joined in the screaming and gasping and 'oh my god'ing and the cops got there pretty quick. It was one of those trucks that roars and is very loud. I could hear my child screaming even over the engine. Lucky for everyone involved, it was a truck with very big wheels and besides some superficial cuts, Pal was perfectly okay. Rattled, but ok. I took a lot away from that day in general. And Pal finally learned that 'no running in the parking lot' is not an arbitrary rule made up to impede his development and both boys finally began to believe me when I tell them that rules are there to keep us safe. Whenever we were shopping the boys wanted candy and I would tell them no. That time they asked again and again and again and again! Finally, I told them with great impatience, 'Guys, I don't have a dollar to spend on candy right now, okay?!' So, later in the parking lot, Pal thought he'd seen a dollar and run--very suddenly--to go and get it. When I was hugging and scolding and kissing my boy and asked him what in the world he'd been thinking and why would he do that he said: I wanted a dollar for candy! The driver gave him a $20. The officer game him a twix. I gave him another hug. I just remember what a shitty dad I was a being. I can't even say how horrible I felt about the way that I'd been to Pal that afternoon. I literally told myself that I was 'sick and tired' of him. Who does that? Pal just remembers it as: I almost got killed but daddy saved me. Gil is my hero. I still cry sometimes when I think about that day, when I remember hearing my son scream in terror and I am ashamed of how angry/annoyed I was with them both leading up to that exact moment. I just couldn't process it. Whenever I think about it, I hug my guys and tell them I love them. Parenting is overwhelming and nerve wracking and painful and so stressful that it is a wonder that I'd rather die myself than lose my kids.

If something creeps you out, you should react accordingly. I went to the theater when I was young with friends sometimes. I remember once we were in a group of boys aged 9-14. There was only us in the theater and we sat kind of spaced out so we could goof around/throw stuff. There was one older guy in the theater and we didn't think anything of him. The 9yo was playing on the chairs mostly and going up and down the rows because we 'big boys' were playing and mostly ignoring him. My friends little brother (about 9 or 10yo at the time) and came over and told his brother he needed to pee. His brother told him to go do so. Every few minutes, the little guy just insisted that someone take him to the bathroom please and finally, when my friend took his brother, the police came in several minutes later and the grown man got up and bolted out of the emergency exit. Turns out old uncle Perv had fondled the little guy in the dark theater in exchange for candy + $1. He left some condoms behind. He was a total and utter pervert. I have taught my boys that if they are uncomfortable for any reason in a situation to get help. Immediately. It doesn't matter what they did to get there. If it makes *you* uncomfortable, uneasy, scared or nervous then *you* have the right and the responsibility to remove yourself from that situation. My boys like to wander off and I always tell them to stay with me/where I can see and hear them without yelling. I think that you did the right thing, 110%. If it feels right to you when you are in the situation, then it probably is. Don't overthink it now that it is over. YOU DID THE RIGHT THING, AT THE RIGHT TIME! Know how I know? 1) You got in some mother-daughter shopping/bonding time 2) You enjoyed the film anyway 3) You will never know if the old guy was a pervert. (Trust me, the cost of knowing whether or not someone is a creep is pretty steep!) I call that a win-win-win!

I once stayed in a house with 23 other people ages 3-77. There was one bathroom and we all lived just fine. Of course it helped that kids under ten bathed in the sprinkler/water hose because it was summer and that all males could easily pee outside. Or in a bottle.

Just to be clear, the notes that I have were some that I made up gradually over time. The list was never meant to be published/shared and really I started it to A--help me keep track of what they could and could not do and B--help me plan ahead of what I wanted them to be able to do. The list grew as they did and their may be a few scenarios that are not fully fleshed out because it is part diary/part lesson plan/part over-tired, highly caffeinated Gil ramblings. Anyone who wants to get a copy, just let me know and when I dig it out, I'll distribute it to everyone.

Actually, I have seen it. I don't get it. Like...at all. But I'm the dad of 2 boys, so maybe its not for me... Edited to Add: I have been known to tell my boys to "Quiet down and quit being bossy." or "stop bossing people around" and "stop nagging him/her/them." and to my beloved but 'spirited' youngest son Pal: "You are not the omnipotent lord and master of the universe, get out of my/his/her space and stop trying to boss people around." Especially my younger child. My mom would tell me that I was "not the boss" and such, my girl friends weren't 'bossy' because they were girls. If they were bossy it was because they were, in fact, bossy. My middle school nemesis was a know-it-all, bossy-boss boy.

Some where on my hard-drive is a file of a couple hundred of these types of questions on a roughly K-5 level. When I find it, I will PM it to you. If you don't here from me in by the 2nd week of May, please email me to remind me. My finals are over May 2nd, so I should be able to get it for you by May 5th. Just REMIND.ME...

Well, is there anything you can do to change how you use MM? Buddy, my oldest, can just plow right through. Pal, my youngest, sometimes skips half the problems in 2 or 3 sections, then goes back and does them later. Each boy is doing all of the problems, but not always in one sitting/day. I know what you mean about not wanting to jump ship/change programs. We have been doing MM since the beginning, but it is rarely the boys first exposure to a concept. I have always taught them math concepts freestyle ahead of the work-text. They use Math Mammoth to go more in depth and do more practice to really get something down. We have also used Keys to...to get the execution of algorithms fluid and continue to use it for extra practice. I would be tempted, very, very tempted to try and finish MM up through MM6, especially since we are so close and it is working. Even if she doesn't like it, if it is working I would be tempted to dig in. Can you alter the way you are doing it so that you are completing the pages in waves (maybe touching on 3 lessons a week, but only completing 1/2 the problems in each, then going back and gradually doing those problems while doing 2 new lessons the next week) it might help with long term retention/review. What kind of review do you think she needs anyway? Cumulative, gradual review or daily math fact fluency or something in between? We do reviews that consist of everything from definitions/concepts/key words to fact practice. So I might quiz the boys orally and say any or all of the following: How would you solve this problem: Tom is making a garden and only has 35 sq. feet to work with in his yard but he wants to plant 5 different vegetables. How many feet does he have for each vegetable? DO NOT GIVE ME A NUMBER (They might say something like "you could multiply/divide or draw a picture and break up the area") Or what does it mean to multiply? (they will give me their understanding/explanation of it) or I might say What are the factors of 8? Or I might say, what are some of the key words that clue you in to use subtraction in a real life situation? (they will say things like: how many more, difference, subtract, minus, take away, decrease..." Or I might ask them: when would you want to add to solve a problem? (and they will say things like "when you want to find a total, when you have multiple groups that need to be combined...") What is a composite number? (a number that has factors besides 1 and itself/ a number that is NOT prime) What do you call a number that only has 1 and itself as a factor? (prime) give me the first 12 multiples of 7 (7, 14, 21, 28...) How can you tell if a number is divisible by 2? (the digit in the 1s place is 0 or even.) Is 3+ 4+ 7 the same as 7 + 4+ 2 +1 and why? (Yes, because real numbers are associative and commutative--the order doesn't matter and you just broke up the 3!) What is a triangular number? (a number whose quantity can be made into an equilateral triangle) What does it mean to be commutative? (that the order doesn't matter) Can you think of something in real life that is commutative? (Putting on your L and R socks is commutative! But putting on your pants and underwear isn't!) All of those are scenarios that I consider review and we do most of that type of stuff orally and we usually do it every day. We can get through several of those in about 5 minutes so we can cover a lot of ground relatively quickly. I might also look at a random worksheet of +,-,*,/ problems and call them out and let the boys shout out their answers. We can usually get through a couple hundred problems like that as it turns into a race between them to get the answer first. (It sounds like a combo of a beehive and an auction house...2+2,6/3,86/2...)

*Grr! I had type up a nice reply and then my computer ate it!* You have my sympathies. Math struggles can be frustrating. I don't know that going from one mastery-based curriculum, to another is the best idea. I personally love Math Mammoth, it works so well for the way that we do math in our home, the boys enjoy it and think that Maria Miller is the best thing since...since...wait, there were good things before Maria Miller? huh, imagine that! Math Mammoth sells review books for grades 1-6, so it might be a good idea to look into some of those things rather just focus on one topic. I would probably work through the review materials for grades 2-5 and see which areas give him trouble and work exclusively on those number of topics every day for as long as it takes. Often, once kids can get out of the 'rut' they can continue on without a problem. How is his understanding of place value? I find that tying place value and fractions together works nicely for kids who 'get' place value but not equivalent fractions. Can he use money? I would switch focus to place value, and money--just do some refresher work on it and then start in on equivalent fractions using money as your avenue. There are many ways to show the same thing in money and at his age, money may seem a lot more tangible. Next, do time. 30 minutes = 1/2 hour = 1800 seconds, that type of thing. Slowly start blending in explicit fraction work again and see how it goes. If he is still struggling, and even if he isn't then I find that at this stage, it can really help to make your own reference chart in words that you can understand. This is to be our big, post MM math project: The boys are going to each make their own mathematics reference books. I used to encourage my grade 5-7 students to do this. Its a bonus in homeschool because you can always use it as your own handy reference. Now might be a great time for your son to do this. Its easy, just pick a couple of concepts a week and have your son 'teach them' to you or a sibling, have him go to the white board and work a examples of his own and make some annotated note pages on the concept. Let him use a pencil, pen and highlighter to make the pages on looseleaf notebook paper. It should touch on all the major concepts of elementary math (counting, place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, properties of real numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, geometry, applications of math in the real world, etc, etc, etc...) Starting out, it will be easy, because the basics are usually very easy to explain, as he gets into the parts that he's struggling with he will slow down, wrestle with the material and as he goes about learning and teaching it will cement and this experience can really, really help and it makes a great project and its a craft thats not utterly useless after the glue dries (bonus!)

I am far, far, far from being an expert in anything, but I have to ask: Why is prealgebra in 7th so important? Trying to make that your ultimate goal could be a part of the problem/anxiety that you feel or could be causing a little of the trouble in how you go about this whole thing. My boys are only a little ahead of you now, and I am not an expert or anything. Take everything with a grain of salt. I have been intentionally mixing in prealgebra type stuff for the last couple of years. At the rate that they are going and how they are developing, when they finish 6th grade, they really wont need a separate prealgebra course. They will need to work more exercises that will allow them to stretch themselves in problem solving, mental endurance, mathematical stamina, more exposure type stuff. But just "Prealgebra"? No. Is it possible for you to sort of start blending in prealgebra stuff now and just mix it in in 5th and 6th grade? If she is capable, I would start mixing in some prealgebra stuff right now and continue next year alongside 6th grade math and probably do some sort of accelerated runthrough PreAlgebra in the summer after 6th to see how much of "prealgebra" she actually needs when the time comes. For what it is worth: we love math, and we love Math Mammoth. The boys talk about Maria Miller the way some kids talk about pop stars--what she said or thinks about math, how they want to meet her...Its a little embarrassing! Anyway, we use MM and have had a load of success with it. There have been times when the boys need more drill/review and I just print a ton of worksheets offline. We have gone through times when we have done at least some blatant drill every day for a month (or three) to really automate or maintain something. If your kid struggles with math, then gearing all of your plans toward achieving some goals based on something too arbitrary may only serve to bring stress for you and for them. The boys set their own pace for math. I actively encourage it, I love to see them working on something and we have a pretty strong family-culture that praises hard work/persistence, so they are kind of groomed for that, but still. I don't think I could say "I want you to get to algebra by X grade" and work backwards unless the kids could actually be bothered to care. However, because they have said "We want Algebra by X grade" we can (and do) push to get there. If they were struggling to meet their goal, I would probably have to say something/step in.

How big were those pockets? I think we have had unifix cubes and I can't imagine 16 of them fitting in my kids tiny pockets.... For what its worth, no, I'm fairly confident that they will not ruin the washer but the noise would make me crazy. We've had several of those mega-blocks and other fairly small plastic toys go into the washer over the years and even go through the whole cycle and our machine never broke.