I must be in the minority here, because I do care about that sort of thing. I am always careful to pronounce people's names correctly (Ahn-drea vs Andrea, Caroline vs Carolyn, Alic-ee-uh vs Ali-sha). I have to say that my background is that I have seen many many examples of people mispronouncing or abbreviating names, particularly non western names, because they were "too difficult" to pronounce and I find it very disrespectful. This is a different matter, but related, in my opinion. I never nickname other children's names because I assume the parents and children have chosen their name for a purpose. Also, even if I see parents call their children nicknames, I stick to their given names if it seems like the nicknames are terms of endearment. I understand that other people might not mind, but I believe other people should respect my wishes to have my kids called by their proper names. I think she could said to you, " if you don't mind, I would prefer that you call him Xxxx" and I would hope no one would have a problem with that. I have done that before. In this case, the lady overreacted and seems like one of those people who allows resentment to build up and then it explodes. You were more than gracious in your apology. To the posters who say "Benji is a cute nickname and if the child likes it, then what's the big deal?", I would say that kids often will not tell adults they don't like something because they are seeking approval and trying to fit in. And the cuteness of a name is an opinion.

Following! We do one for number bonds for 10, sung to the tune of row row row your boat 9 and 1 are number bonds 8 and 2 are friends 7 and 3 6 and 4 5 and 5 are twins I would love to find some for skip counting!

I am working through this for myself. It's very good so far. It is by the same author who wrote A Little History of the World http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0714832472/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1407190624&sr=8-1

You can see the algebraic proof above, but if you actually make models of the squares it becomes more clear. Using base 10 unit cubes, you can make a 2x2 square and place a 3x3 square beside it. You can see that the 3x3 square has 3+2 more squares (3 on one side and 2 on the top). Then place a 4x4 square next to it. You can see that it is 4+3 bigger. And so forth. So the next square is the original unsquared number plus the same number add 1, which is always odd. This is exactly what is above, but without the algebraic notation! In fact , you can give DD the blocks and let her work it out!

Good luck. I am having DD5 use the crossover grip the majority of the time and only allowing her to write without the grip while supervised. I am going to try the twist and write pens that others have posted about http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000XHNQ4C/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A3G2RBEZBLAJ53

Oops, forgot to mention that I posted my original pencil grip post because in it, Iron Ethel Flint mentioned that she retaught a nine year old with an improper grip- perhaps you can PM her. See post #16. It sounds like it was a difficult experience. I didn't mean to derail your original question! http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/522439-pencil-grip/

I posted about pencil grips here http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/522439-pencil-grip/ I have been using the crossover grip linked to above and so far so good. I am curious to hear about children for whom the grips successfully established or corrected an improper grip. How long did it take?

Thank you!! That is just what I was looking for!

Is anybody else waiting for code.org's elementary class? http://code.org/educate/k5 I was hoping to have DD do it this summer, but summer is nearly over! I will email them to ask when they plan to release it. Anybody know of any other online coding class for the elementary set? We have Lightbot, daisy the dinosaur and other coding apps.

I would do a lovely summer salad with tomato, avocado, a big roast chicken, fresh asparagus, corn, and other vegetables, cornbread, and strawberry or apple pie for dessert.

Hearing that the US is bringing the patients home for treatment makes me feel proud to be an American. Not many countries, if any, would fly their citizens back for treatment. I hope the efforts of the compassionate health care workers pay off and that the current outbreak is quickly arrested.

Evan Moor has a daily word problem book, starting in grade 1. Does anyone have any opinions of it?

Sippingtea, it sounds as though it will be very frustrating for you to have your child at this school. Is it possible to send her elsewhere? Regardless of anybody else's opinion of the schedule there, if you are unhappy and irritated by the amount of time spent doing academic work, your attitude may even affect how your daughter views school. How do you feel about giving the school a chance and seeing how your DD does? Since she is ahead of her peer group, it probably won't take much time at home to keep up with math and language arts. You may be pleasantly surprised at how she thrives in a school setting. If not, at least you gave it a chance.

It can be frustrating to think about how much time in school is "wasted" on nonacademic areas, but I agree with the posters above regarding the value of those activities. She may relate better to adults, but for her future happiness, she will benefit greatly from learning how to be friends with her peers. Free play with loads of other children, music, art, even sitting quietly in mass, are all skills that are hard to replicate at home and will help her grow and stretch. The name of the game in kindergarten, as far as I'm concerned, is not to accelerate them to their limit, but to show them how much fun learning can be, and to teach them that making an effort, whether it is in developing friendships or learning their numbers, pays off.

It depends on what her schedule is- how many hours she sleeps, how long her day is, etc. We leave for school at 745, and DD5 wakes at 6 most days so we can easily do 15 min in the morning. Personally, I wouldn't before school if she wasn't already an early riser. She goes to bed at 745 so she always wakes up easily and on her own.

I agree- if you would like to use this room as a work room, the move out some of the bookcases and keep only the essential there. That will give you wall space for a whiteboard and more room in general. I would also pare down the chairs and surfaces in the room. One big work surface and slimmer lighter chairs will help.

We try to do no more than 1 or 2 pages a day. I think the exercises are pretty thoughtful so I don't want to rush through. Most of the time, after we complete a page or two, I will come up with my own exercises to try to cement the concept. Like after the concept of making 10's is introduced I will stop to do our own exercises to solidify it. I've found that with DD, it might seem like she has mastered it, but it's superficial and needs so more time to percolate. If I were in your shoes, I would move more briskly since it sounds like your child requires less review, but I would still set a deliberate pace. You can always go deeper before going further.

In a dark room, multiple sources of light are better than one big bright light. How high are your ceilings? A light fixture that shines light upward as well as downward will let the light reflect off the ceiling and make the room seem much brighter than a bright light shining only downward. If you have bookcases lining the walls you can put upward lighting on top. I can't post links at the moment but I will come back later to do so.

I afterschool, so I planned to use miquon alongside math in focus, which is what they teach at school. Happy to hear that combining miquon and Singapore worked for you. So far, I am really enjoying the way miquon is unfolding.

Thank you! And why did you move on to Singapore? Did your kids not benefit as much from the discovery method as they had before?

While perusing the board for threads on Miquon, I realized that most of them were about Orange and Red and very few mentioned the other books. Do many people drop Miquon after Orange and Red in favor of other series? If so, why? I was about to buy the other books to see what lies ahead but I wanted to hear from you experienced parents!

So how do you wean a child off the grip? Do you have them write without the grip and then immediately move back should their grip start to deteriorate? I got the crossover grip and so far so good. In fact, I wouldn't mind using one myself!

I was dairy and soy free for 1.5 years while nursing. I didn't notice any difference other than weight loss because I was eating fewer sweets (no chocolate or pastries).

My DD loves popular mechanics for kids on amazon prime. Also, magic school bus on netflix.

You have a lot of good suggestions here! I would suggest a variety of games from different genres - abstract like chess, cooperative like forbidden island, party like dixit or apples to apples, resource management like Catan. Castle Panic is a great cooperative game that is a lot of fun for this age as it involves protecting a castle against monsters. I would choose games that go beyond simple turn taking and reliance on luck, and require complex decision making, risk taking, and resource management. Incan Gold is another fun "push your luck" type of game. You can look at dicetower.com for great reviews as well as boardgamegeek.com.