This is the error message I receive when trying to view classifieds.

I also found this article fascinating and it reminded me of watching “The Keepers” on Netflix. The women who reignited the investigation of Cathy Cesnik’s death murder were just as dogged and determined, but perhaps their motivations were more personal. It also reminds of this article from the nytimes, in which some family members have become fixated on investigating the management of their trust. It might be with cause, but has fractured the family. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/22/your-money/family-trust-millions-inheritance.html My favorite source for these types of articles is longform.org.

Critical Thinking Company has something similar without the grids https://www.criticalthinking.com/half-n-half-animals-a1-ebook.html

I can’t view any items in the classifieds - I keep getting the error message “Ex0”.

I’ve also found that math talks are an invaluable tool! They are great for developing number sense and committing math facts to memory. Have you read Making Number Talks Matter? https://www.amazon.com/Making-Number-Talks-Matter-Understanding/dp/1571109986 Also, I saw your other post on geometry - funny, I am planning an exploration of geometry for my 3rd grader as well! I have Hands On Geometry and a modular origami book.

I used Miquon with my now 3rd grader (entire series) and my current K’er is using the first two books now (Orange and Red). Even though they do MIF at school, I still consider Miquon their primary curriculum for K-2 because they learned all the concepts through Miquon first. Miquon is visually a bit strange - the worksheets have sparse directions and some look like a 5 year old drew them. It is not organized by chapter. There is no textbook. It’s odd! Miquon is similar to RightStart in that that it encourages your child to think about numbers flexibly. However, instead of explicitly instructing your child to think of 6 as 5+1, Miquon leads your child to discover the relationship on their own through the worksheets. There are no mnemonics or songs and few games. Cuisenaire rods are used with almost every worksheet. They are not demarcated. Although it might seem more instructive to have the rods demarcated or marked with a value, keeping them unmarked adds flexibility in how they can be used in fractions and ratios. The 10 cm rod can represent “1” and the 2 cm rod can represent “1/5”. Miquon assumes that your child can recognize and write numbers. In my opinion, it moves more quickly than MIF and Singapore Earlybirds; as mentioned by PP, it was originally written as a first grade curriculum. The first 24 worksheets involve counting and putting numbers in sequence up to 30. The next 11 sheets introduce adding, starting with number bonds for 4, then 5, then 7, and then 9. Multiplication is introduced a little more than halfway through Orange, followed by division. I had RightStart A, but I never used it because it was too scripted for me and had so many pieces. There were also very few worksheets. If you like the schedule and explicit teaching instructions of RightStart, Miquon will seem too unstructured. There are teaching notes available in a separate book, but it takes a bit of work to plan it out. Each worksheet has a page number that corresponds to its topic, and you can dismantle the book and teach in your own order if you like. One downside of Miquon is that if your child is stuck on a page, you have to figure out for yourself what to move on to instead or how to reinforce the concept. Both my kids stalled at multiplication in the first book (Orange), so we moved on to the second book (Red) and learned about odds and evens and came back. Another downside is that there are very few word problems. And finally, the rods take a little time to get used to for both students and parents. In order for students to really benefit, they need to be very familiar with manipulating and comparing rods. There are not very many problems on each worksheet, so your child can get through several at a time, but I would not describe it as an incremental program. It does promote a truly deep number sense and the ability to visually represent math. Using cuisenaire rods also encourages understanding relationships beyond the basic operations. We now use the rods with fractions, ratios, area, relationships between perfect squares, etc.

Good tip about the online codes! And my 3rd grader also hates Xtra Math, mainly because of that smiling guy. We haven’t tried Sumdog - it it less annoying? It’s not as high tech, but we have an old Flashmaster and my kids don’t mind doing it. I think they like the sensation of pushing actual buttons. It’s not a regular part of our math routine, but I might add it in.

Mille Bornes is terrific! We have also found that Ticket to Ride and Hey! That’s My Fish, which are not billed as “math” games, have encouraged mental math. Ticket to Ride was great for adding 7, 4 and 15 and Hey! That’s My Fish encouraged multiplying by 2 and 3. Our summer math plan is just a continuation of what we do during the year. For my current K’er, it’s Miquon Red and Orange and Singapore IP 1A/1B. I will save the challenge questions in IP for the second half of the school year. My goal for my K’er is to have him develop his number sense and his ability to verbally explain his thought process. For my current 3rd grader, we will start BA 3D, Singapore IP 4A and CWP 4. Both kids do Mindbenders once a week and my 3rd grader also enjoys Balance Benders. It sounds like a lot, but my 3rd grader doesn’t do every problem. We skip at least half the non challenge problems in IP and CWP and concentrate on the meatier stuff. My goal for my 3rd grader is to work on showing her work methodically and to grow as a determined problem solver. My 3rd grader does Xtra Math through school and I am not sure whether we will continue over the summer. Our school doesn’t specifically assign any summer math. Does anyone’s school assign summer math? Edited for typos

I have seen many strategies on this forum and other sites and yes! So many others are struggling with this! On one side of the approach, there are drills and memorizing with memory aids, like xtramath and Times Tales. And on the other side, there is learning through use and composing tables for reference. I use a variety of methods with my 3rd grader. We filled in empty grids, talked about patterns and used trianglular flash cards. But the most effective way was to single out the facts that were not memorized and work specifically on them. We did this by using worksheets with math facts, and if DD didn’t know any right away, she would put a check next to them and move on. At the end of the sheet we would look at the checked facts. We would then do a number talk about each one, where we would both come up with different strategies for solving them. For example, for 9x7, we could think of it as (10x7 - 7) or (9x6 + 9) or (9x7) = (8x8 -1). When we do arithmetic, we are using a mixture of known and derived facts. For example, knowing that 9+7=16 helps us derive 39+7. It makes sense to me that every fact has to start as a derived fact before it becomes a known fact. After deriving 9x7 with these strategies the next 5 or 6 times, it then moves into the known fact part of the brain. And if DD forgets (which she does!) she can derive it again and repeat the process. I don’t know if this is the best approach, but it feels right to me and it has worked so far for my 3rd grader. And for me! I have always gotten 7x8 and 9x6 confused since I was a kid, but knowing that 9x6 = 10x6 - 6 is helpful.

My kindergartner uses MIF at school and I am supplementing at home with Miquon (orange and red) and Singapore IP 1A. We are also using a variety of board games, card games, and logic puzzles. Over the summer, we will continue at the same pace, which is about 15 minutes, five times a week. My main focus is developing number sense and getting my kindergartner very comfortable with talking about math. We have C rods and base ten blocks at the table and they are available for use at all times. I used the same materials with my now 3rd grader and I am very happy with the results. Miquon is so different from any of the traditional math curriculums, so it felt interesting and novel, rather than just a rehash of what is done already at school.

Critical Thinking Company has a book called Thinking Skills for Tests. Has anyone tried it? https://www.criticalthinking.com/thinking-skills-for-tests-upper-elementary.html

OneStep and fralala, thanks for the input! I agree that there plenty of material to keep us busy and that there’s no reason to hurry through. I try to act excited and enthusiastic when we come across a particularly tricky problem and hope that my child will learn to embrace a challenge. I have seen that tackling difficult problems has increased her resiliency and frustration tolerance. When we started Miquon, my goal was for my child to have a deep understanding of math. But as we added IP, CWP, and then BA, I also added the goal of learning patience and persistence. I am so impressed with both BA and the IP and CWP series for presenting complex and thoughtful problems that really encourage our kids to think flexibly. OneStep, I agree that working behind primary material is helpful. I haven’t done this intentionally, but I will start to schedule BA topics to follow the IP and CWP topics. We have been mixing them up as sort of a way to review, but it might be better to stack them.

Hi everyone, I usually post on the afterschoolers board, but I thought I would get more replies here. My 9yo DD is in 3rd grade and uses MiF at school. At home, we afterschooled with Miquon and Singapore IP and CWP. After finishing Miquon last year, we added BA. So far, it’s working well! Right now, we are halfway through IP 3B, 2/3 of the way through CWP 3 and will start BA 3D next week. We still have to go back to 3A to finish the area/perimeter chapter. I have seen advice here to use CWP, IP, and sometimes BA half a year to a year behind, and I’m trying to figure out the pros and cons of doing that. My child is grasping the material well, but she can’t do all of them independently. In CWP and IP, we do half the regular problems and all of the ‘Take the Challenge’ and ‘Challenging’ problems. Of the latter, she asks for help 40% of the time, and of the 40%, she is eventually able to solve them on her own about 40% of the time if I ask her to take her time and reread the question. So about 25% of the time, we work through the problem together. Do some people delay using these books with the goal that their kids can most of problems on their own? Is there a sweet spot of where kids struggle a bit but can also feel successful? I really like working through the problems together and even on problems she has answered correctly, we often discuss her thought process and other ways to approach it. My plan was to continue through the books until there’s too much struggle and not enough success, but when? I assume Singapore and BA ramp up after 3rd grade. Thanks for listening! I have learned so much from this board!

Anything other than cloth ribbons are put in the craft box for kids to play with. Many years ago I bought several 50 yard spools of grosgrain ribbons in various widths and colors from a wholesaler that was liquidating. Fifteeen years later, I am still using the ribbon to wrap gifts. I have seen recipients reuse the ribbons on gifts, as hair ribbons, on suitcases, as loops for cameras, etc.

Upromise is offering 10% back from Columbia online! And if this works, you can sign up for the Columbia rewards program to receive free shipping and $5 off https://dealspotr.com/deal/-ds-sign-up-for-rewards-and-get-5-free-shipping-always-at

What is her inseam? If it’s less than 31â€, it will be hard to find a suitable pair. I would look at boys’ plus size snow pants or altering women’s pants. For women’s pant, ask the tailor to hem the pants by removing material between the knee and top of gaiter rather than the bottom.

Try Columbia’s Omni Heat Line https://www.columbia.com/womens-voodoo-falls-590-turbodown-jacket-1698311.html

So sorry about this tragedy. I think you have to wait and try to ascertain whether this would add or relieve the niece’s burden. One option could be that you stay at a hotel so you can limit your visiting time. Are you bringing any children of your own? Perhaps MIL thinks having you there will make it easier for the young boy? What a terrible thing to happen.

A gift subscription to a flower service like this is a lovely idea, especially since it's one that most of us would never get for ourselves! https://www.freddiesflowers.com/

I would consider the procedure if it were my DC. The asymmetry may not become less noticeable over time and it’s a simple procedure.

Somehow we are on the opposite end here. I am sending our last batch of 20 from a total of 92. Last year we received about 80 cards!

Survive! is a great, albeit cutthroat game. We enjoy Karuba, King of Tokyo, Ticket to Ride, and Pandemic. If your kids are into Marvel superheroes, Legendary is a great game.

What about classics like Pride and Prejudice Emma Sense and sensibility Or sports/competition movies like Akeelah and the Bee Rudy Or documentaries Mad hot ballroom (about NYC elementary aged ballroom dancers) Spellbound I thought Hidden Figures was excellent and tame enough for kids.

The candles were such an issue that insurance companies refused to cover them. I can’t believe I know so much about Christmas lights now. http://mentalfloss.com/article/26585/brief-history-christmas-tree-lights

Perhaps the “intentional†fires are set by kids or grownups with poor judgement who are playing with candles or matches near the tree? I could see a mischievous kid hold up a candle to a tree branch to see if it will light.