Actually Saxon has been teaching it in 54 a long time. It may even begin earlier but I can't say that for sure. My one in 54 is my youngest (we do 54 in third grade) and I also work with pre-calc and calc around here so my life is a blur. But Saxon has done this for quite a while. This is the old 54 and it was my sons. He graduated from college a year ago. I do pull in several techniques in the first few years, but this is definitely in the Saxon 54 books. Linda

That's funny. We have always done Saxon. Saxon does teach just what you are doing starting in Saxon 54 at least. It may be sooner, but since we just finished 54 and I have been teaching this method all year, I do know that Saxon does teach it. By the way 15-8=7, not 13. You would break 8 into 5 and 3, subtract 5 from 15 to get 10 then subtract another 3 to get 7. Linda

I pick Saxon. I've already graduated 2 who have gone through Saxon Calculus. My third is in the middle of Advanced Math and the tag-a-long is starting 6/5 this year. They are all strong in math (one even got his EE degree) so it works for us. Linda

We did not do the coloring pages or many of the crafts that related to the gods. However, my youngest at six could read the creation stories of many cultures and see where they wer alike and were different from the Christian creation story. It brought about many conversations about how people can see the same things and interpret it different ways. The only thing that upset her is if we were reading a book comparing religions ans she though the explanation of Christianity was not quite right. She has even written letters to the authors (on her own and brought them to me to mail) explaining what she thought they had explained incorrectly! Linda

I have skipped 8/7 and gone into Algebra 1/2 for two of mine. We also have the older editions. I think you will be fine. Linda

Have you tried Pond's cold cream? My daughter who has done some acting uses this to get her stage make-up off. Linda

I actually started my oldest the February after he turned 4. (would have started in January but we were all sick with th flu). In Feb. we will start year 20 and my youngest is 9 (4th grade) so 9 years to go. Linda

:grouphug: Lorraine I am so sorry for your loss. Linda

A few questions. Where is he in 54? Can he take a placement test on line and determine which level he tests into? There is quite alot of review in Saxon. If he can add and subtract (with renaming) and do multiplying by two numbers and simple division, I think he could go into 65. Saxon 54 does go further than this, but there is quite a bit of review at he beginning of 65 that I think he would be fine with it. Give the placement test to be sure. You may have to go slower at the beginning of 65 to make certain he understands the concepts but I think it will help him not feel so far behind to move to the next book. How is your baby girl doing now? Linda

I don't have all the answers. I do know that a few stories are new in the latest editions and you cannot get the workbooks that go with the old green editions. I use the old green ones with my youngest. I do like the additions I've seen for the new editions, but it wasn't worth my money to buy everthing again just for those few items. Much of it is the same, even down to the workbook pages. I have not looked through the new teacher's manuals. Not much help, but it is all I know. Linda

I find it usually takes 6-8 weeks. I sent mine back the end of June and don't expect them until at least mid-August. Linda

Well I don't have any experience. My first two did it in one year, but this one is taking two. We also planned on doing some this summer but did not. My plan is to start back the first week of August and to give her the test for the material we have covered. I want her to do it without the book first, and then give her the book for correcting her mistakes. Maybe something like that would work for you? Linda

Thanks everyone. I needed to vent and really appreciate the sympathy. Linda

I wish she would learn this. I know it is the hormones, since she just said she is having her monthly this afternoon. I still get so tired of her venom!

today. My 16yo is screamingvenom at me again. I just want everyone to know that I am absolutely the worst mom in the world and I am ruining her life and totally controling her every move. My lastest sin -- I said why don't you clean up all that stuff from the one drawer you emptied before youi dump anything else out to clean. Oh and the other sin of the day happened at 7 this morning on our morning walk together when I told her to step one step away from the edge of the road (this is a country road with very uneven pavement at the edges) so she would not twist her ankle for the fourth time this summer. Yes her life is now ruined and if I hear the words "I hate you" screamed at me once more today I think I will scrteam them back.

No we did not use the DIVE CD. They were not even available when I taught it to him (at least I don't think it was). Linda

We stayed with Saxon for Calculus and my son had an easy time with Calculus in college. Since he was an engineering major, I had him retake Calc I in college. I wanted him to make an easy transition to math there, but he says it was the third semester of Calc before he saw anything he did not know. Linda

When I started homeschooling many (many) years ago, I had an older lady tell me how I was ruining my son. She kept at me for about 30 minutes. She finally told me (when I used the argument that socialization would actually be better because he would be around all ages) that in real life we only interact with people the same age as we are. I looked at this lady who was my mother's age and politely told her we could not possibly be having this conversation since we obviously were not the same age. She gave me a blank look and finally had nothing to say. I took my son and continued to school him. Linda

We have done this twice -- the last time was last month and we donated to Salvation Army. This one was running and they came it picked it up. They sold it at auction and sent us some paperwork that said the price they got for it so we could claim that amount on our taxex for a donation. They worked with us very well. The other time was 7 years ago and that one was totaled (can you say the frame was bent so badly that the hood could not be pried open with a crowbar -- kid nosedived the thing into a ditch and called to say "Mom I slid the car off the road and can't get it out of the ditch" Anyway, they also picked this one up, but I don't remember the organization. I do remember it wasn't a problem and we wrote some amount off on our taxes, but I don't know the details. Linda

The switch to having to write the problems out is hard. I don't know how old your daughter is, but we started Math 54 at 8 and for the first half of the book I mainly wrote the problems out for her (it only takes a few minutes) and gradually let her write out more and more. Along about Math 76 I made the rule that if more than two problems were copied incorrectly, the entire lesson was redone the next day. This only happened a few times and they started paying attention while doing their math. My favorite saying..."My job is to grade your work, not to proofread it. Proofreading is your job." Linda

We taught Sunday School years ago and had a painfully shy girl in our class. She never talked to anyone but her siblings. I even remember acting out Bible stories with them and told the girl that she did not have to talk but I wanted her to participate. She was the fordidden tree in the Garden of Eden. Fast forward to today. She is now 15 and talks to everyone. She is a joy to be around and very confident of who she is. My opinion is to just let them be themselves, especially at 5. Linda

We have bought textbook at Amazon for several years now. Are these college texts? It is actually our preferred way to buy college texts. They have always come in the condition described. We don't always go for the cheapest price, but buy from people that have good ratings. We have also bought a few that were from people that had just launched. We only had a problem once when we wre sold an international edition for one that should have been a U.S. version, but we were refunded our money. Linda

What a beautiful story. Enjoy those babies. They do grow fast! Linda

a few suggestions. Since this is new to her, start slowly. Go through a cookbook and make a menu plan together. Then the two of you cook together in the kitchen -- you talking and showing and letting her do the actual work. Prepare the entire meal together and make it a special one. Do the clean up together and instruct her on how it shpild be done. Tell her this is training and that soon you expect her to be able to do this herself. After making that first meal together, praise the meal to her dad, making sure he knows she made it. My girls are required to plan and prepare one meal a week entirely on their own. They need to plan early so they have the ingredients they need. In a few months (or sooner, depending on her) this should be the goal. Let her know the expectation. And assign her one night a week that is her responsiblility. At first I was at home so I could help if they ran into problems, but now I plan their nights around when I have to be out until almost dinner time. For other household responsibilities, make a list of what she needs to learn and decide how to teach her. Rotate the chores with the younger daughter (maybe change chores each week, or each month). Plan a reward when she meets a goal and don't make the rewards too far apart at first or she will be discouraged. Hope this helps some. Linda

I so know this feeling. Our church is almost 100% homeschooled and even has homeschool classes. But I get comments on how my kids are not available during the day for ministry. Actually, they are -- but not every day and not at the drop of a hat so the young mothers can have free babysitting to enjoy lunch together. And the church has a youth group which my children do not attend because it is so peer dependant. We take education seriously and there are several 11-12 year olds who barely read, not because of learning difficulties, but because moms are too busy doing everything else. And don't get me started on daughters who have graduated and are just sitting around waiting for the right guy to find them -- no work, no school, nothing. Linda