I like the stylus. I can't play nonograms without it :) It also helps a lot with surfing since I seem to really dislike enlarging the screen size to click on the dratted little check mark to go to new posts.

Don't get discouraged yet. You may find that it won't work out of order... But you also may just need to do a bit of tweaking to get it to work for you.

Electric water heater to electric tankless. We don't have gas in the neighborhood - everything is electric.

When I've talked with people at our power company (and I think electricians but can't be sure), I was told that the electricity for a tankless heater would be a huge draw if you're electric only and that it's really only efficient if you use gas. Kind of like how the heat pump when it's in emergency heat draws a ton of kWh. Does anyone use electric rather than gas on a tankless heater? (We talked about running gas line to get one, but going solar would probably make more sense...)

INTJ and pretty strongly draconian :D

We did the handwashing experiment with glo gel and blacklight. In the bathroom. Blech. Not too bad... but I only saw part of one wall. I don't intend to look at any others.

Singapore (even standards edition) really doesn't have much with negatives. We're in 4A and they start talking about negatives, but only the basics. No addition or subtraction.

I don't think the tests are just to see whether the material is understood. They're kind of in between the HW and the HOTS. Yes, it does check whether material is understood, but it also checks whether the student can go further with the concepts and synthesize the topics. I have been very impressed with the tests and see them as part of the learning experience as well - not just a check off. Again, with math, I don't use the tests except for one at the end of each book. Science is different and these tests are really worth it IMO.

I would go in the order of the TG. I think some of the later books are going to be more interesting than the earlier books, but they do sometimes refer to things from earlier books. Also, if you use the tests, they have some tests that are over multiple books. I think More Notes is not necessary (and I'm the sort who gets every book). It has a couple of additional experiments, some extra websites, and more information for the teacher. The info in the TG is enough. More Notes goes a bit beyond that, so it depends on how much background info you want. We do the text and activity book (with websites and books suggested in the TG and from More Notes). I supplement with books from the library and some videos. Then we do the Homework (referring to the text if necessary). It's at a level where it's basically reinforcement of the material. Next, I have my son do HOTS, without looking back at anything. It's definitely at a higher level. Then I have him take the test (if there is one) for the section. The tests do add something IMO. They are more difficult than the HW, not as difficult as the HOTS, but they do require more thought at a higher level than just regurgitation of facts. (And I don't use tests for Singapore math.)

:grouphug:

There is quite a difference between brick and mortar schools and online only ones. Check out loan and completion rates...

For Island with the first edition, we had the TM only for all the books except for Practice Island. All the Practice books have the student book with the sentences and the TM with the answers and some additional comments. I did retype a couple of pages in Sentence Island and I covered a couple of notes, but the TM was enough. We're using the 2nd edition of Grammar Town now. I could see doing some cuddling with the Student Edition, but I don't see how it'd work with using only the TM. Have you checked at RFWP and looked at the samples of the new editions? I'd probably just get the basic edition of the new version if I were buying the Island level at this stage. Grammar Island moves quickly and it looks like there's still only one TM for Sentence Island.

I used the originals for Island level and have bought the new editions of Town level. When they say you need student and teacher's manual, they're on target, IMO. If they say you can get by with just the TM, there will be notes in the margin to the teacher and some things in the back of the book as well. With Sentence Island, there were a few margin notes I covered with Post-its. For Grammar Town, the TM has answers to the problems in the text in a way that you couldn't just cover the answers. In that case, you'd need to retype the page to give to your student. Definitely working better for us to have the student book instead of trying to just use the TM.

My husband tells me I do this. I'm not even aware of it. I see it as trying to be polite instead of just saying "Would you..." I'm working on changing it. My son has said, "No, I wouldn't like to," a couple of times. I think that keeps me more aware of my word choice. :lol:

With the new versions, there are a LOT of notes added in the TG and answers to questions (like labeling parts of speech). CE the teacher notes and quizzes are in the back of the book rather than in the text. Same with Paragraph Town.

Just got JetPens email. Apparently when they pulled the Pilot Petit Fountain pens, the company changed the pen construction some. Looks like they have replaceable heads (fountain, brush, or marker). I haven't confirmed with the company, but the replacement ink looks the same as the old pens. Here's the link. :D It does look like they don't have as many ink colors as before and there are some new ones (black).

When I look at them by search on the kindle ap, they aren't showing up... but they are online through the link. Did you get them?

I generally agree with these comments. However, it looked like the linked thread was published in 1998, so it would have been when the Standards were just coming out. I don't know if the same comments would be made today. Singapore math has a comparison between the US, Standards (and I think? third edition) so people can see the changes between the versions.

They have an explanation of the differences in pronunciation here. We're using classical. The books also have a page in the front that explains how letters are pronounced in each version.

In the fun website vein: cakewrecks (some language - but also sometimes laugh really hard posts - good cakes on Sunday Sweets) Jan :D Thanks! I'll call next time :)

As Time Goes By (Judi Dench, Geoffrey Palmer - British tv series) generally cheers me up. Or at least after watching any episode, I sigh and say, "That was good." :D Hope you feel better. I've been grumpy all weekend. Tried to go out yesterday but couldn't think of anywhere to go. :glare:

I think HOTS is appropriate to use with the text. We're using 3/4. It's definitely a step up from the activity questions and the homework questions. Stacey - my initial thought was simply, "No, don't use HOTS without the rest of the program." Looking closer at it, I think it could be possible, but I think it meshes much better with the whole program. One of the things HOTS does is give an experiment in writing, then has the students interpret results. For instance, with cycles they have a recording of observations of seed germination. Questions include just analysis (which seeds took longest) and interpretation (why did some seeds not germinate? student writes something, is he correct?). There's one book for HOTS that goes through all 5 MPH 3/4 books. The difficulty of the questions seems to ramp up as you progress through the HOTS book. At the front of each book section in HOTS, they have one page that illustrates some of the topics that are from the text. It wouldn't be useful in teaching, but it could be useful in helping you map out topics to cover before using the HOTS. You can see samples of one HOTS section at singapore's site here. It gives a good illustration of how the book is set up.

I used the US edition for first grade and then switched to Standards for second. Standards has extra review which is good. I like the additional topics (negative numbers early).

My son was a self-taught reader. He actively resisted sounding words out and consequently made some really strange errors when guessing at words. In 2nd grade we switched to All About Spelling and that has given him the phonics foundation he needed. So if separate phonics aren't working, you may be able to slip them in through spelling :)

We have just started. I'm learning along with my son, so we each have our own text and we're taking tests together :) We started lesson 3 today. I'm pleased with the program so far. We are using all components. The video is good and helps with the teaching. We use classical pronunciation and the CD gives the practice. My son gets to see me model study behavior as I make out notecards and try to learn vocabulary. I heard Christopher Perrin speak at a convention this year and was impressed as well. I think we'll have a good foundation with LfC. My son likes "How the West was Unum" on the video and is enjoying the mazes in the activity book.