Our whole state has a "uniform grading policy" that also applies to homeschoolers. You want to talk f-ed up, this is it. 85 is the lowest B. 84 is a C. What's really bad is that they do the GPA based on course NUMBER GRADES! (Seriously... check out the policy... you've never seen anything as dreadful.)

:grouphug:

I plan the course materials for the year. I print out my plans and use a highlighter to mark what we've accomplished. I have goals for each quarter and that helps me keep on track.

I'd sing along to my folk's album of Jesus Christ Superstar. "I don't know how to love him" has some lyrics that aren't so great coming from a preteen :) My father did take exception to my singing along to my mother's copy of Hair while driving as a teenager.

You may want to do a search and see what comes up. There were quite a lot of threads when the iPads first came out :) I have some teacher's manuals/answer keys on the iPad and use it for checking work. We have our Latin CD on the iPad so when listening to chants we use the iPad ('cause you know... it's so much work to turn on the CD player :glare:) It's great for trips or for waiting around at classes, but that's more for me. :) I like ours, but I sure don't use it a ton in our school. (Although we do sometimes watch Netflix on it...)

Yup. That's also the theory behind allergy shots: desensitization. Lots of research being done... hopefully they'll figure some stuff out. My son's got food allergies. :(

Looks like it's available through Netflix on disc too!

Sorry :( Some websites that can be good for a laugh (note: language warnings apply) Cake Wrecks Not Always Right Frazz (comic that I heard about through Robert Parker's last book) 1974 Weight Watchers Cards (definite language issues)

I think there's a significant difference between a polite response (which is expected here) and expecting a child to be happy as they pick up their toys.

If you have a TI graphing calculator, you can buy a datalogger through Vernier (this one connects to the TI-84, I think). If you have LEGO Mindstorms, I believe their sensors function as dataloggers (I sure hope they do... that's how I'm planning on using them). I like the idea of a datalogger for getting real world data collected, then plotting the graphs and seeing what mathematical graphs fit it. I think you should also be able to accomplish the same goals using a table where you collect the data (pencil/paper) and then graph on your own. You'll likely lose some accuracy, but if the point is to collect and interpret data, then you're meeting the goal :) If the goal is to learn the software (how to use a spreadsheet to make graphs), you can also accomplish that with different approaches.

I worked briefly as a copy editor. Different projects would have different style guides (at that time we generally used the Chicago Manual of Style, I think). We went by whatever that style guide said. So pick your family style guide and go with it. You could mix it up some too so your kids get used to changes. My understanding is that most colleges now are MLA or APA with the occasional Chicago tossed in. And in some cases, you could have papers due using two different style guides since different programs use different guides. :D

I'd argue that because then you know where the basic math will be useful if students continue on with math. At a math meet, I heard someone from the state dept of education say she'd observed a teacher who told her students not to worry about the distributive property "because you can just use order of operations". I was appalled and asked what the observer had done. She said she asked about 3(x+2) (something with a variable) and the teacher said, "Oh, I hadn't thought of that!" Someone who took calculus and beyond wouldn't (shouldn't) have said that the distributive property isn't important. Linear algebra is one of the clear places where you see that not everything is commutative (let's hear it for matrix multiplication). If you don't have teachers who really know their subject, in some cases they do active harm to students by teaching them things that aren't true. In others, you simply put up more roadblocks to the success of students who would be able to go further if they had a solid foundation at the start. I taught at one cc for a time where an instructor taught math without even a math degree. I wasn't impressed with the caliber of students exiting his course. I want instructors who know where their subject will lead.

Didn't think of multiple choice. :blushing: Still... first poll & all... I did some tutoring as an undergrad and learned that I was good at teaching & I really enjoyed it. Decided to get a MAT degree and attended a uni where I took graduate level courses in math and education and got credentialed. I had no undergrad education courses. My graduate education courses were such a joke that it was just depressing. The fact that I have the graduate hours in math is what got me hired at the cc and lets me continue to teach part time at the cc. I have friends who did teach in "good" high schools here (some that make the national lists). They've both left and teach lower level classes at the cc and avoid the type of infighting that goes on at the hs. (You've still got politics at the cc but not at the same levels... at least that's my impression here...). Sorry for not having multiple options... I did have one course from the education department that wasn't just a waste... but that was only one out of two years! My experience would have me do away with education programs and only have content areas. But I also am aware that there may be good education programs out there; I just wasn't exposed to one.

Here's also the LEGO homeschool (US) site. I've bought from them before.

From Moira's thread here I'm curious how many of us have taken education courses and what our experiences were with them. (attempting a poll here... first time making a poll... ha.. got it to work... and yes, I know ridiculous is a loaded word, but that's how my graduate education courses were... I would be surprised if my son couldn't pass them now.)

12/x = 4 is a RATIONAL equation, not a linear equation. When you solve a rational equation, you clear fractions to get in a simpler form. We do that here by multiplying both sides of the equation by x. BUT since you can't multiply by 0 and since we don't know what x is, we have to check our answer once we've solved - because we didn't solve our original equation, we solved an equivalent equation. We need to be sure in our solution we didn't do anything illegal - like multiplying both sides by 0. x = 3 is a linear equation; but that's not what you had initially.

Uh oh... my son turns 9 next week... (Was reading posts to my husband & he says our son is advanced, so it'll be okay.... but uh oh!)

I think it is only if something is seriously backordered that it'd be on site. My recent order had backorders (a couple things are still out) and I had to call to get dates.

Explanation also halfway down the page here on purplemath. I show it using exponential rules: If you are okay with a^m * a^n = a^(m+n) then to avoid contradiction, a^0 = 1 (as long as a isn't 0) 2^0 * 2^1 = 2^(0+1) = 2^1 so (?)(2) = 2 The only thing that'll work is if ? is 1, so 2^0 has to be 1.

I'd forgotten about that. I do remember measuring from the cap. My husband recently got a bottle of vinegar from the store and it was back in the glass bottle. That surprised me. The one thing I think works much better in plastic is ketchup. Definitely nicer to squeeze the bottle rather than whapping on the back.

:iagree:

My son takes Zyrtec daily and when we're in an area where he has allergen exposure, he takes Allegra and a nasal spray (Cromolyn Sodium). It helps, but I definitely would be sleeping elsewhere.

My experience was that my education courses in grad school were what I'd consider at an average high school level. I have a MAT degree where half of my credits were in education and half in math. The math courses were not gimmie courses. The education courses I am sure I could have passed while in high school. There may be good schools of education out there, but I sure didn't attend one. So I think you've got to look at the major too. And the online only schools have significant problems - along with the for-profit schools.

I modify the 4-level analysis by having my son draw arrows showing any modifiers. That's the one thing I find lacking with 4-level analysis that diagramming has.

Thanks for the info.