Couple of links that you may find helpful: Hoagie's Gifted Davidson Database- articles (and their forums are also good) Schools should have access to the Iowa Acceleration Scale which can give you more information about whether a skip may be appropriate for a specific child. I skipped first grade. Never had a problem with academics, was top of the class without a ton of work, even in the most advanced classes when grouped by ability. By 7th grade I was suicidal. So for me, acceleration wasn't helpful. I may have been suicidal if I'd stayed in the correct grade, but being a year younger in that area - and without having kids in our neighborhood (bussed to magnet schools), and being latch-key, and no family in the area.... it was bad. I think things would have to be really really bad for me to consider skipping my son. Everything I have read talking about studies seems to say that the data is that acceleration is typically really good for students. It wasn't for me. I repeated 7th grade and switched schools (got into a different program) and I started to have friends for the first time. I am convinced that I would have made an attempt the next year if I'd stayed ahead and in that environment. Completely anecdotal, but it was my experience. I am aware that the research says that my experience is not the norm. We do have some posters here who do manage to homeschool while having an academic career... but it's got it's own set of issues, and their kids are older. Do check out some of the links - and the Iowa Acceleration Scale may be a really useful tool in making your decision. Best of luck to you all!

My aunt and uncle were missionaries in Bolivia for about 10 years while my cousins were growing up. I read Poisonwood Bible and mentioned it to them. They agreed that some of it matched their experiences very closely. I'm thinking about some scenes in supermarkets in the states and observations about differences. It's a really well written book. If you're easily offended, you may want to read some reviews of the book first, but it did ring true in a number of ways to my cousins.

Of course, they're about 1/3 as expensive as the uni....

Ours is 16 yo.

So glad you made it through the crash. Heal up quick!

Read it in 1984 :) Yes, it's bleak, but I think it's excellent. It does give some images that stay with you.

Thanks! That'll help! Looking at link...I miss EM. Really liked her opinions.

Any suggestions of good translations?

I got it at one of the Great Homeschool conventions in the vendor hall. Couldn't pass it up!

:) I'm wearing a shirt with this on it... http://www.pinterest.com/pin/112378953174204207/ Wouldn't have bought it if it weren't for this board.

Due to ds's allergies, I wouldn't want a school letting him apply sunscreen that I hadn't provided for him. I've seen all sorts of products that you wouldn't think of as containing allergens (shampoo, soap, ....)

I tend to go by time spent on math. Sometimes you'll move quickly and other times go really slowly.

18/21

Thanks for letting us know. I'll miss him.

She's adorable!

It also makes God a trickster.

FWIW, in the Intro Algebra AoPS book, every time I pause and comment to my son with a warning or suggestion to watch out for, the book says it shortly after, so you may be okay with just the texts...

It'll take some time to scan, but I'll have some time next week...send me a pm with your email. May still be some errors but think I've got them all.

Oh sure, edit while I'm posting.... :D Off to teach boy....will check in later!

Based on their site, I'm assuming book 0....just the 15 chapters (courses) online. Again, I'm not sure how they'll handle the geometry and trig, and the logic was helpful to me with an understanding of formal proofs, but when I moved to a different school, there was nothing I learned in the year and a half before taking AB calc that I didn't already know. When I was in the MEGSSS classes, there were a couple of times where I needed some extra help and had some misunderstandings...solving equations was actually a bit tough for me initially since I didn't clearly understand like terms. My mom helped me with those, so there may be some places where kids need extra support or some extra practice. We also did a lot of extra factoring in class. However, I see that as an issue with most math programs and I often get extra books or worksheets so ds can have more practice with drill. (I don't think understanding is good enough. I want over learning for mastery and automatic recall, although I do want understanding first.)

Seriously...it won't be review. In some of the next chapters, there's review (integers...but it's handled in a more formal mathematical way). But ch 1 (their first course...operational systems) is going to be like almost nothing she's seen before. It is cool.

I thought the multiple sex partners and swapping going on in some of his books is more than I'm willing to let my son read at this point...and we don't censor much! To sail beyond the sunset is the one that stands out as most clearly a no!

Vinegar baths used to help me some. Cool water, add a lot of vinegar. I never went to the doctor for sunburn although I did burn, blister, and peel most summers. Sleeping with a damp towel may be helpful. If it were my child, I'd give our pediatrician a call to see what her thoughts were about when to get checked out. I would let her stay home tomorrow...my burns typically took a week to be better. It may be one or two days out before going back to school is possible.

I appreciate your discussion! My only exposure to Orthodox Judaism has been through Faye Kellerman's books. The Ritual Bath was where I first heard about some of the strictures. In a later book, she does talk about the benefits :D Thanks for your posts and explanations.

Books 1 and 2 are separate, but that's where you get to formal proofs. When I took the classes, it was just in 7th and 8th grade. We did probably what's listed on the project MEGSSS pages. We did not do any formal geometry or trig. I'll need to take a look at the books again and see where that is introduced. I felt that Bk 1 and 2 (logic) was very helpful when I took geometry in high school. Unfortunately, at that point we had a different teacher and weren't using the EM books any more. At the local school that still teaches MEGSSS here, they go through much of Book 0, but they still do a separate geometry course, so it seems like they think something is missing in the books for geometry or they just want a more "typical" course for students. The first 7 or so books (chapters of book 0... what is done in EM courses) are all pretty short. Ch 1 is the longest. The others are only about 100 pages. I don't know if they'll include all examples and problems as a result. Ch 10, Algebra in Operatinal Systems, is about 250 pages. It's chapters are groups, rings, relations, fields, mappings and equations over fields, relational systems, and ordered groups, rings, and fields. I next saw that in my abstract algebra course in my 3rd year of my undergrad math degree. I can't see how that course can cost the same as the earlier ones.... I'm curious how they'll handle it. Ch 11 is where the quadratic formula is derived. By that time, I had a very solid understanding of the math before it (and a good foundation in set theory). That's another thick book that I'm not sure how it'll translate. If I didn't have the books, I'd be really pushing my son to take the online courses...but I also would be able to help him pretty easily. As it is, I'm not sure about trig and geometry, but that's because I didn't do those using the EM books. (Wonder if I should see if they want tutors.... ;). )