I don't see how Singapore makes transitioning to higher maths a challenge. I've been teaching math at the cc since 96. I pointed out to my son last week how some of the word problems he was doing from 4B HiG (Standards) are solving a system of two equations and how this will later generalize to more equations in more unknowns and leads to linear algebra. I have seen other materials that I think will work for many kids and won't harm them, but I also have looked at some that I think are setting kids up for a world of hurt later with inaccurate analogies in the teaching videos. I'm very pleased with Singapore and haven't seen any places where I foresee it causing problems (only slight exception is that I did cover up the pages with the trick of multiplication with 9s using hands; I want my son to have his times tables memorized and immediate and not be slowed down).

I'll be the dissenter and side with your husband. Even if you know the ending, the wrapping up is important and if you put the book down, picking it up again just loses something if you're wrapped up in the book. Hope everything went well with the other child & letting the mother know. Glad everyone is okay.

I sent my husband an email today that included... "whine... whine... wine?" Had to wait until I was home from work... but I think I will have wine with dinner and see if it cuts down on my whine tomorrow. Rough day yesterday when I managed to break a glass over the freshly-baked banana muffins on the counter. My son was very disappointed this morning that they were thrown away (small glass shards). So whines today were appropriate. Hoping tomorrow is sunny and calm :)

I've read that with food allergies you can have false negatives with blood tests and even with skin tests. The true test is a food challenge. Your son's reactions sure sound like a dairy allergy to me. My son has a dairy allergy. I'd cut out the dairy.

3/5 (money) = spent Translation for 3/5 of money was spent on food. Then put in numbers. Using words first is often very helpful in figuring out where numbers should go.

Wait on a calculator unless you know which type will be required. It'd be a shame to buy one and then need to get a different one.

:iagree: They did lose this one though :glare:

:grouphug:

My son was diagnosed with a milk allergy at 3 months. We did skin testing at 8 years and he's still highly allergic. Sigh. Food Allergies for Dummies has been one of the best books I've read on living with allergies. It'll give you some good information and possibly some questions to ask your allergist. FAAN is a good organization for food allergies. There may be a support group near you. Have an allergy action plan and practice. My son developed a nut allergy and had an anaphylactic reaction at age 5. We were so very lucky that he knew symptoms of allergic reactions and that we had the plan and the Epi-pens. Before that anaphylaxis, we only knew of his dairy allergy. Enjoy Life has safe chocolate bars and chocolate chips. Earth Balance is good for cooking. Read labels and read them every time you open a new package. Product lines do change. Prior to the nut reaction, our son's worst reaction was to bread. Avoid bakeries. You do adapt. It does get easier. :grouphug: Feel free to PM me with any questions. The cookbooks that I use regularly are: The Milk-Free Kitchen What's to Eat and What Else is to Eat You can also see what cookbooks your library has. These do have some good baked goods :) And from a prior poster... we used to use Silk, but we can't now that they make almond milk due to possible contamination issues. Also, some soy yogurt uses dairy as a starter culture and it can be an issue.

Depending on the textbook uses and the college, there may be online support for her text. If so, use it. Our cc uses MyMathLabs which uses this software. The full version of it tracks grades and has videos, but the "help me solve this" feature is really good for going through a problem step by step. She can also back up to an earlier book for more review. Just look for the topic. Purplemath has good explanations too. It's okay to be nervous about math. You can't let it slide though and the only way to learn it is to practice it. Understanding in class means nothing without extra practice. Most colleges have a tutoring center with free tutoring. She should also take advantage of that.

I like the Standards edition much better than the US edition. I like the additional topics. The HiGs are also better. Regarding the "busy-ness" of the pages, I generally use a folded piece of paper as a guide when we're doing work and move it down the page in the textbook. It helps my son focus on just the problem we're doing and not on extraneous stuff. I'd do this with any math text & find it helps us.

I'd say it'd depend on how much time you want to devote to science. We really only got through the Diversity text and a bit of Systems in 3rd grade. We're doing the other 3 books after finishing Systems in 4th, so it could be possible to do 3/4 in 4th grade and continue on in 5th, then move to 5/6. In my opinion, the level of 5/6 looks like it'll require a pretty solid grounding from 3/4. It's definitely a continuation of the earlier books. So I'd start with 3/4. But I haven't taught from 5/6 yet... just looked over the books (and thought... wow...)

In Columbia, SC, Riverbanks Zoo is neat. Their Adventure Tours are good. Sandy's has good hot dogs.

:iagree: I did some jaw clenching/teeth grinding in college and had TMJ flareups. Major pain. I had to wear a nightguard and that helped with the TMJ. There are also some exercises/activities you can do that will help. The biggest is being aware that you are doing it. When I notice myself clenching my jaw, I drop it a couple of times to go to an "at rest" position rather than tense. I imagine your dentist would have more suggestions. Not fun.

Go for a breast hat like the one shown in the nursing thread. :D

Ours came down this past weekend (artificial). Once we left it up until just a couple weeks before Easter. :001_huh: So we're getting it down early.

Hope you'll be happy with it. As an FYI, there was one test question in Cycles (I think) that we had to skip because it was about some types of fruit that we just don't know anything about. Other than that, it's gone well. And 5/6 really does look like it steps things up a bit. I agree with Tress that it looks pretty neat.

And for general awareness: keep a close eye on any moles on the palms of hands or soles of feet. They can turn to skin cancer very quickly, so watch for any changes or if they're dark, get them out.

If it's just some practice problems, Interact software is what is used by Pearson in their MyMathLabs. Your son could just work through some of the chapter problems. In the Woodbury Elementary & Intermediate Algebra text, Ch 1-7 is an okay Algebra I sequence. The price is right for now with the software :) Drawback is that nothing is saved, so he'd need to be motivated.

I'd be surprised if there are under 10 different Lial's books currently in print by Pearson. I'd guess it's closer to 20ish - and multiple ones for different courses. About a decade ago, I taught out of Lial for Elementary Algebra and that was an excellent text but the Lial Intermediate Algebra was really poor. At that school and time we wanted separate books for the two courses. I'm currently using Developmental Mathematics: Basic Mathematics and Algebra by Lial (and others) and I really really don't like it. For prealgebra, I like Jordan's Integrated Arithmetic and Basic Algebra. For algebra I & II, I like Woodbury's Elementary and Intermediate Algebra. Both have problems available on InterAct software (free but scores don't record). These are both books I have taught from at the community college level. I like the explanations in Woodbury especially. I think the 3rd edition of Woodbury is better than the earlier ones, but I think any edition would be fine. (Of course, I'm looking to use AoPS when we get there... but these are texts I'm happy to still have hanging around the house while I'll be happy to toss this Lial and look forward to the department switching texts... but I really liked the Beginning Algebra book I used. I have no idea if the current edition is as good and don't remember which edition I taught from.)

We're about to finish up with MPH 3/4. I definitely recommend the Teacher's Guide along with the textbook and activity book. The TG is where the teaching information is. I don't find it open and go, but I am impressed with the program. I think More Notes is definitely optional at the 3/4 level. I think I'll be glad to have it in 5/6. More Notes has additional information at a deeper level than the TG Notes for Teachers section. It also has websites with more information. You won't get that in the TG but at the 3/4 level, I think you're fine without More Notes. The text and activity book are also supposed to be springboards for reading other books on the topic and the TG will also have some other activities and ideas. After doing a chapter (or two) in the text, there's an assignment in the Homework book. This is basically note-taking and questioning whether the child understands at a basic level what was just covered. I have my son do the HW without his book, mark what's wrong, then have him use the book to correct any mistakes. If you want to cut down on what you use, the HW would be what I'd skip. After the HW, I have my son do the HOTS for the chapters. The HOTS really stretches thinking. It's comparable IMO to the CWP and IP of the math books. The Tests do the same. They aren't quite as difficult as the HOTS but they are significantly more challenging than the HW and definitely aren't just regurgitation of material. They do extend and go deeper on a topic. I am comfortable using the Singapore grading scale with the HOTS and Tests. So I would get the Tests if I were you (but I did get everything for 3/4 and did again for 5/6). Skip More Notes and HW if you're skipping (but I do like the HW... just not as much as the HOTS and Tests).

I started my son with AAS when he was almost done with second grade. Spelling Workout was not a good fit here! We did start AAS at Level 1 and that was the best for him. So I would go with Level 1 of AAS and then move as quickly as you are comfortable. We're actually going pretty slowly, but he'd never done any phonics since he's a self-taught reader. I've been very pleased with AAS.

I don't like Lial's prealgebra texts. I'm teaching from a Lial text at the cc and although here explanations of algebra are good, I find the prealgebra topics generally poorly explained. I'd go with the Dolciani if you don't use AoPS.

My grandfather didn't like nicknames. My father has a given name but ended up going by a completely different nickname. He did tell his friends from school to ask for him by his given name when calling for him. A friend called and asked for my father by his given name. My grandfather said, "there's no one here by that name," and hung up. My grandmother had to remind him that was his son. :D I think after that his friends were able to ask for him by his nickname.

I really found using base ten blocks to be helpful. When learning long division, after the initial teaching with the blocks, if my son made a mistake or would be stuck, I'd have him pull out he blocks and demonstrate the problem. Then he could write each step along with the blocks.