A couple of suggestions: (1) Simplify the problem slightly to get a feel for it. Here you might go with: okay... let's say he has 20 ice cream cones. 15 are chocolate, 2 are vanilla, how many are strawberry? You can use that to get the feel of the actual problem. (2) Use manipulatives or draw pictures. No, not 500... but thinking through what she'd draw or how she'd represent it can help with seeing the arithmetic. (3) I generally push "USE WORDS". First, write down the information from the problem so you're not staring at (gasp) a word problem! Instead, you're staring (on an otherwise blank sheet of paper) the information: 517 cones; 357 choc, 85 vanilla, ?? strawberry. Then (after sometimes thinking through the simplified problem) see what equation you can come up with. (I use the illustration with many of my students: "How would you explain it to your child?" May work for a younger sibling?). In this case, I'd be leading to: (# choc cones) + (# vanilla cones) + (# straw. cones) = (total cones). THen you can substitute in numbers, solve the equation, and go back to the set up in words to check and see if your answer makes sense. It's a slow process to get good at word problems, but it really pays off to put in the time. Good luck!

We got to see an interactive version of Princess Bride this summer. Actors on stage while the movie played; audience calling out lines. It was great! :lol:

It's HOT here in the summer, so I wear as little as possible then. My body thermostat seems set to be most comfortable in the heat. Winter is miserable for me. Heat is on, I'm upstairs, it's 66F. I have on long underwear (silk), blue jeans, socks, slippers, under a blanket. Turtleneck, sweatshirt, heating pad. So I don't have the third sweater that I've normally been wearing. :glare: I wear layers, but it probably doesn't matter how many I've got. If I were in your house, I'd be wanting another and I'd still be chilly. :D

I so wish the US would just move to metric entirely. Most of the students I teach at the cc don't know the US system. :glare: Metric is SO much easier. I almost didn't teach imperial to my son, but I've caved and we are doing some and I'm having him memorize the relations. I am doing my best to warp him though and I'm pleased seeing him say "Yuck," when we do work with the US system.

:grouphug: Hope tomorrow goes well and that you can get the help and support you need. It sounds like you're doing the right things. Not easy. :grouphug:

We're keeping it at 66 in the winter. Two story house, thermostat upstairs, very open (to the 2nd story) great room, so that's the coldest room. Going downstairs, at about the 3rd step from the bottom, you feel the temperature difference. I wear long underwear and generally 3 layers. Still cold. Sigh. I miss California weather - I don't think we even had a thermostat in the apartment.... Summer we keep it at 83, but I'm comfortable there!

We're using Rosetta Stone for Spanish. My son had difficulty getting started with it and a lot of frustration at age 7 - and he plays a ton of computer games, so it wasn't a technology issue. He's finished up level 1 and it's a much better fit this year at age 8. I do like it for Spanish. I'm planning on starting with Latin next year, but I won't use Rosetta Stone. My purpose with Latin is so that he'll learn more grammar and be able to translate later on (basically training the mind) and I want a parts to whole approach. Rosetta Stone won't do that. There are a LOT of threads on Latin and many are tagged, so a tag search may help with other opinions too.

This. I just use a big backpack. Math texts seem to continue to get larger and heavier through the years. I take stairs, so a rolling bag is overkill. I can wear the backpack over both shoulders to ease the strain (although leaning back can overbalance me just like a turtle). I would agree with MomofOneFunOne - if you think there's a chance that you'd be attempting to go full time at some point and if you're around people who would be on a hiring committee. I teach nights and never see anyone. Get something you'll enjoy! (Meanwhile, my first WEEK of classes has been canceled due to weather. I am so cranky at my schedule being all messed up. I'm having trouble finding a :chillpill:. And I had my backpack all packed too! Since Sunday!)

:iagree: I teach algebra and am very used to teaching "how to solve word problems" in certain ways. Using bar models has been a shift in my thinking. What's really cool though is how the bar models will help ease the transition to algebra. I can see how my son will have a lot less trouble with word problems than I did from a solid familiarity with the model approach. There are also some problems I've run across (Bk 3) that are significantly easier to solve with bar models than algebra! However, I have reached the point where I'm working the problems in the CWP so I've got the model for the solution and not just the solution. It does take time... :glare:

Decades ago, but when I was in high school, I took AP US History and did not take a regular US history course. I believe students at our school did have a traditional biology course first before taking the AP Bio course though.

I pushed using the tiles because my son needed practice with the idea of segmenting a word. We're using AAS to do some phonics work, so I see the segmenting as important for that. I don't generally do the word review each lesson. I'll write the words he has trouble with in one lesson (and it can be due to a handwriting problem rather than a spelling problem) in the next lesson and I just include them when we're doing the day's dictation. For the overall review, we use the cards and do the spelling orally. It's a game where he tries to catch me - take a step forward if he gets the word right, back if he gets the word wrong.

Do you have any no-kill shelters in your area? It's a very hard thing you're doing. I do applaud you for taking the health of your daughter seriously. My husband's asthma is under control now that we don't have a cat. I think the only humane options are either to find someone to adopt your cat yourself, find a no-kill shelter or fostering organization, or the kinder death would be to have her put to sleep at your vet with you there. That's much kinder than sending her to a shelter where she'd be killed. :grouphug: for a tough time.

I have the middle ages (still waiting on these to go on sale). The primary source volume for it has primary source documents from the different time periods and locations. It also references where it would match up in the volumes. Hakim's History of US Sourcebook is very similar. I think you'd be able to use it without the other volumes if you're just looking for primary sources in one place. Otherwise, you could probably get them all separately through other sources (google books, Project Gutenberg, etc). So I'd think it'd depend on what you'd be looking for the sourcebook for.

You can get it by itself at Amazon or at the Oxford site. The set is available on amazon but it's pricey and hasn't dropped in over 6 months (sigh). It's also not available for amazon prime (no idea why).

As you've heard, this is a common error. One possible help is using a different color for a + than a - sign. (Or hilighting all negative signs before the next step.)

:lol: But then we don't get much school done because I often nap. I do feel calmer though!

I haven't looked at NEM, but I have taught algebra for a number of years. A couple of ideas.... (1) Was he making errors when you were working with him? When grading his work, was he making similar mistakes? For instance - are his mistakes conceptual (not understanding like terms, "moving" terms from one side of an equation instead of adding the same thing to both sides) or careless (basic arithmetic errors). A possible solution here is to sit with him while he does the work and be sure he is getting the problems correct before letting him practice on his own. Another possibility is to do a few problems for him - giving explanations as you go - then have him explain what to do while you write out the work, and only then let him try a few on his own (with you checking step by step), and then give him an assignment to do on his own. (2) Manipulatives! Algebra tiles may be useful. Two of my difficult points with algebra (where I clearly remember being in tears) were with understanding like terms (I couldn't see why x and x^2 were different - both had an x) and with solving linear equations (I wanted to do many steps in my head or with really sloppy scratch work). I think seeing a physical representation and writing the mathematical representation may have helped me with the transition. Good luck!

There's a test bank for the whole series. There are 15 mc questions for each section of the book. I use it for reading comprehension, but some of the questions are pretty picky. There are instructor guides too. These have some workbook pages in the back (making graphs, filling in maps, etc) and some teaching suggestions. I'm not sure how useful they are overall. I haven't seen the student study guides.

Math is the type of subject that you really really need the foundation solid to move on. Otherwise there's a lot of magical hand-waving and "ta da - the answer!" but with no reason behind WHY the answer is what it is. I think the whys are what are interesting about algebra. Here's another explanation (even using the same example). Exponential rules pop up over and over once you've started using them. This is one of the places where the exponential rules give the "why".

I used to cross-stitch. Now I crochet. (Actually, now I look at curriculum and have crochet projects littered through the house. But I hold out hope that I'll get back to crochet!)

We're using GD handwriting. Working with cursive now :) What I've done is have my son read my handwriting, read postcards his grandma sends him, and read any cursive handwriting I find in books. He's getting the experience reading cursive and reading different handwriting styles. He's getting better at reading the traditional cursive. We've also been able to talk about how people adapt traditional cursive to their own writing styles (very few people I've seen use traditional capital letters - many turn to print for uppercase).

Yup to above. This is also a very good place to see exponential rules in use (although it can be tricky for many students). Since i^4 is 1, divide 17 by 4. 17 = 4*4+1 So i^17 = i^(4*4+1) Since a^(m+n) = a^m * a^n, i^17 = i^(4*4) * i^1 Now, since a^(m*n) = (a^m)^n, we can write (i^4)^4 * i^1 Simplifying: i^4=1, so we have 1^4 * i^1 = i. This would be how you could show what i raised to any power (like 8642) would be. Divide by 4, use exponential rules to rewrite, and you can find the answer in terms of i.

I KNOW!!! It's not available through amazon prime shipping. No idea why. Whoever sees it should post a new thread with a CLEAR note! (I want the set.)

I've heard good things about The Mayan Adventure (and similar books). I've thought about getting them when we eventually get the set (we only have used WeDo so far).

I'm no help with the BFSU - but I am using MPH. You'd start with the Diversity text (yup - the book that just says Diversity). Read it, use it as a springboard into reading any other books, looking at websites, etc. Do the Activities in the Activity book (or what you can of them). I'm at the point where I don't line it up when the text has Activity with the arrow... we'll just do them along with the text chapter and when it feels right. Then do the Homework (probably with referring to the text as needed). Then the HOTS. Then the tests. There's a test for each chapter, then larger tests periodically.