Below is the list of American and British authors whose translated works are included in high school "Literature" textbooks in South Korea: T.E.Hulme Robert Lee Frost William Blake Kilmer Emily Dickinson William Wordsworth William Butler Yeats William shakespears Milton E.A. Poe T.S. Eliot Geoffrey chaucer Ernest M. Hemingway J. Steinbeck O. Henry A. Miller Tennessee Williams

I'm from Korea as you guessed. :) I have never been to any American K-12 school and my kids are still little so I can't really compare between two... but I'll try my best to show you what I learned in math at school anyway. It's been so long since I took math at public schools in Korea so there might be some changes in current mathematics curriculum. The 'grade 1 to 10' compulsory math curriculum in Korea consists of the following six content domains: 'Numbers and Operations', 'Geometric Figures', 'Measuring', 'Probability and Statistics', 'Letters and Expressions', and 'Patterns and Functions.' These domains are all combined into one math textbook and taught simultaneously each semester. Factorization first appears in grade 9 and we learn quadratic polynomials then. In grade 10, we learn to factor other polynomials (from 3th to nth powers), like the ones you see in the second pic I posted. The geometric problems in the third pic are of grade 7, During grade 11 and 12, most students take 'Mathematics I' and 'Differentiation and Integration (Calculus)', and the ones who choose the Science Track (and wish to major in STEM or medicine in college) further take 'Mathematics II' and 'Advanced Differentiation and Integration'. You can see the contents of these as below: <Contents of ‘Mathematics I’> 1. Algebra - exponent and logarithm: exponents / logarithms - Matrix: matrices and operations on matrices / systems of linear equations and matrices - Sequence: arithmetic sequences and geometric sequences / various sequences / mathematical induction / algorithms and flowcharts 2. Analysis - limit of sequence: limits of infinite sequences / infinite series - exponential function: exponential functions and their graphs / exponential equations and their inequalities - logarithmic function: logarithmic functions and their graphs / logarithmic equations and their inequalities 3. Probability and Statistics - permutation and combination: number of cases / permutations / combinations / binomial theorem - Probability: meaning of probability / computations in probabilities - Statistics: probability distribution / statistical estimation < Contents of 'Differentiation and Integration'> - trigonometric functions: The addition theorem of a trigonometric functions / trigonometric equations - the limits of a function: The limit of trigonometric functions / the limit of exponential and logarithmic functions - differentiation: The differentiation of various functions / the application of differentiation - integration: indefinite integrals / definite integrals / applying definite integrals <Contents of 'Mathematics II'> 1. Algebra - Equations: Fractional equations / irrational equations - Inequalities: cubic and biquadratic inequalities / fractional inequalities 2. Analysis - the limit and continuity of a function: limits of a function / continuity of a function - The differentiation of a polynomial function: differential coefficients / derivatives / applications of derivatives - the integration of a polynomial function: indefinite integrals / definite integrals / applications of definite integrals 3. Geometry - quadratic curves: parabola / ellipse / hyperbola - space figures: a line and a plane in space / parallels and perpendiculars / orthogonal projections - coordinates in space: coordinates of a point / distance between two points / internal division point and external division point / equation of a sphere - Vectors: operations of vectors / inner products of vectors / equations of a line and a plane

Well, my Ph.D friend asked me same questions when I told her I was considering of homeschooling my kids. And honestly I had the same ignorant questions in my mind when I visited my sister-in-law and saw her homeschooling four children before I had my first baby. I guess it is something you truly don't understand until you are "in" it. It is so new to most people and takes time and effort for them to learn in detail about how possible it is.

The attached pics are a few examples of math note taking that are similar to what I did at school in my home country and what I would expect from my students.

:iagree: Primary TB 1A tells you to practice math facts with flash cards separately. XtraMath(http://www.xtramath.org) is a good website for math fact drills and it's free.

:bigear: IMO $14.50 for a Singapore Primary Textbook (Standards) is a ripoff. I was shocked how thin and short the book was when I received it. <_< Haven't found what's so special about TB so far. (I didn't need to get HIG and WB.) IP seems worth its price, though. I printed out the sample pages of MM and really like the look of it. Seriously considering of switching to MM and looking forward to its August sale.

The discount code applies to any one item that is not on sale (with a green tap saying "Our Price")... Been looking but could not make the free shipping cut ($75). If you've been waiting to purchase IEW, FYI, I saw the price of the Deluxe Combo Writing Package of each level goes from $299 down to $179 with the code.

:iagree: I'm a newbie and have already dropped many HS materials because they were not worth my time. Think I see a much wider variety of quality items in homeschooling programs, and my biggest frustration is that, except for math, there seems no HS curriculum in each subject that covers everything needed for the grade. They are all too different from each other. I mix and match to make a good fit for us, but am still left unsure whether we have done "enough" before moving on to the next grade level.

I agree with PP. I'm glad I didn't get HIG because my DS "gets" it as I just read the textbook for him and then gives me right answers for the problems. No manipulatives nor activities needed. I use a separate math fact drill program to review the topic but he works independently on it. We are a dual-language family and his verbal skills are a bit behind so if I keep asking him to explain how he got his answer back to me, he gets frustrated; it's easier to assign him a lot, let him work through at his pace and give him more explanation when he gets stuck.

When I studied English as a foreign language, this is how I did it; I first read a book from cover to cover without dictionary to see the forest for the trees while guessing the meaning of new words I came across. And then I reread the book with a paper dictionary (since there was no electronic one back then) and looked up the unfamiliar words for the details. I wrote them down in a notebook with definition and examples and reviewed them until I memorized all. Using an electronic dictionary has significantly reduced the time consumed by this process. And last year I bought a Kindle Paperwhite and it's a godsend! I still write the words down and review them so retention is not a problem for me.

If you have a fire tv, go to YouTube app, log in and search for "Design Squad Nation," then either subscribe to the channel or save the playlists to your Favorite. The whole videos will be saved and you can stream them on your phone or fire tv any time.

I haven't read all comments, but I just wanted to show you all what the real "drill and kill" math program looks like, lol. This Korean math drill program has A (preschool) to M (algebra2) levels and each level has 5 books. Each book has about 140 pages and, for example, the first book of C level has about 140 x 8 = 1120 problems entirely devoted to teaching "+ 1", that is, from "1 + 1 =" to "999 + 1 =." The next book (C-2) is all about "+ 2," and so on. Subtraction doesn't start until E level. It's incredibly slow and repetitive with little challenge yet no gaps. So far, DS hasn't found it painful since we drill it a little bit everyday. I believe Saxon is nothing like this one? I'm combining this "drill 'em to death" stuff with Singapore Primary and Intensive Practice for DS, in order to slow his accelerated pace down and reach excellent arithmetic mastery. If I was just using Singapore Math alone, he would have finished each textbook within two weeks (since there are only about 10 lessons in each book and, yes, I think DS is mathy.) with sloppy calculation skills. I plan to eventually add LOF and BA along the way... yet, after reading this thread I'm tempted to look into Saxon which I'd never considered before. Sounds like a through program that builds a good foundation. I'd like to avoid being fixated on a certain approach in teaching math. Has anyone used both of Singapore and Saxon at the same time?

Are these self-published stuff? I skimmed through a few items but nothing stands out so far. And, of course, Intellego is not part of the sale... ETA: I downloaded "Igniting Your Writing" for later use. Thanks!

Following. And I agree with OP that grades (even the ones given by mom) can be a motivating factor for some kids.

Oh, I just realized that Intellego only offers a preview of the Evolution Unit (http://www.intellegounitstudies.com/samples/K-2Evolution.pdf) in K-2 Science... bummer!

I haven't used it but you might want to take a look at this. K-2 Earth and Space: Astronomy | Intellego Unit Studies - Core Curriculum and Independent Study : http://www.intellegounitstudies.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16

Following this, too. I got the AAS teacher's manual only (no tiles, no cards, etc) for next yr and like the look of it. I'll just have my DS write words down on paper/whiteboard/app and lessons will take place during my younger DD's nap time. R&S Spelling also looks good but too religious for my taste.

Have you finished the 1st grade book (My Printing Book) of HWOT? We plan to move on to WWE1 once we get done with it. I have WWE1 book and the copywork doesn't look that much more challenging than My Printing Book's, mostly simple sentences.

I'm using Primary Standards Textbook 1A for my DS now. I plan to add Math Mammoth instead of Primary Workbooks because MM comes with much more review at less cost of WBs alone. Waiting for its sale in Aug now. :) I don't think IP alone offers enough practice, even for mathy kids. I'm going to add IP and separate math facts drills along with MM (and CWP, Zaccaro, BA or other challenging materials from 2nd/3rd grade), hoping in this way his accelerated pace would slow down for in-depth mastery.

Although now I live literally one block away from our local library and greatly appreciate its convenience and money-saving advantages, I mostly check out the literature for kids. I still like to buy all curriculums and references for education new. I just do a lot of research on them before I order. This forum has been very helpful for that. :) I've seen a few other active forum members in other threads who live overseas and are in the similar situation with you. Even with careful research, I already have many materials I've dropped and put away on shelve waiting for my younger kid or resale (or garbage can) because they were simply not a good fit for my DS. I take it as the cost of trial and error and it's worth it IMO. The public library system was not so nice in my home country, where I had lived until last year, so my mom bought me LOTS of children's literature books during my childhood. It was the one thing she did not save money on and I'm forever grateful for her decision. I also bought hundreds of various books for kids in my native language when I was there and shipped them all to the U.S. with our move since it's very hard to find them or too expensive here. I think ordering books in English in the country you reside in would be easier (by Amazon, online bookstores, e-books, etc.) than this. While I highly recommend the literature from Sonlight, FIAR and other boxed curriculums, I much prefer choosing my own curriculum for each subject to buying a whole package due to my DS' asynchronous abilities, material quality and cost efficiency. You can just buy the literature alone from Rainbow Resource Center, which I believe also offers overseas shipping.

Oh, that sounds like a deal breaker to me as my DS is already asynchronous in academics.

Yes, my DS was also doing HWOT K book which he breezed through, but it was more about letter formation and copy work. We have been doing phonics with HOP K - 1G orally and he's way past the point of building cvc words, so we only skimmed through the Evan-Moor book but we liked it much better than ETC. He also likes the handwriting practices in the Kumon books (Rhyming Words, Writings Words, Writing Sentences, etc.) which are similar to ETC but lighter and colorful.

We dropped ETC immediately because it involves too much writing (too much even for my son who actually enjoys handwriting practice) with weird pictures. IMO, it's too old-fashioned, repetitive and dry. You might want to check out Evan-Moor's Spell & Write K (http://www.amazon.com/Skill-Sharpeners-Spell-Write-Kindergarten/dp/1596730447/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1403712863&sr=8-2&keywords=evan+moor+spell+and+write) that has good cvc word building practices in various fun ways and a much better colorful presentation.

It may be too early to swear but my unnegotiable rule is "NO video/computer game under my roof." I let my kids watch some TV shows and play a few iPad apps that I find educational, but that'd be as far as it goes. My DH and I both grew up playing way too much video games and I was even a Starcraft addict in college. So, we both are too well aware of the harm that had been caused and can't do the same to our children; it's a total waste of time at the very least. I remember I read an article about Silicon Valley engineers sending their own kids to Waldort School because they prefer its computer-free environment. I'm a former engineer and definitely agree technology can wait.

My 4yo and 2yo are both naturally early birds, who have never slept in past 7 AM since they were born. Usually they wake up at 6 AM sharp (sometimes at 5 AM). As soon as they open their eyes, they don't even waste a second, jump out of their beds, come straight to my bed and wake me up adamantly. At 8:30 PM, before I even ask them to, they both go to bed, pick out a few books they want to read and fall asleep on their own while listening to me and my DH reading aloud. They both still take a nap during the day, too. Before I had my kids, I had been a night owl for all my life, who hardly went to sleep before midnight and always had a hard time waking up in the morning. My kids have changed me and I've had to force myself to sleep before 10 PM so that I don't feel too tired and cranky the next day. It is still hard for me to wake up so early in the morning everyday... Wish I had a half of their energy!