as last year. I hope they don't mind this or automatically see me as a "problem parent" because of it or anything. Last year was my son's first year with teeball and the main problem was that the coach was just HORRIBLE about communicating with the parents. 1) There were a bunch of rained out practices and he was ALWAYS saying to the parents, "I'm going to call you guys this week about scheduling an extra practice," and then he'd never call. 2) There was a 4th of July parade listed as starting at X location on the paperwork and the start location got changed to somewhere else. He never called the parents to tell them. Granted it was listed in the newspaper, but we don't get that, and he could have given the parents on his team a heads up. I only found out because my mother saw it in the newspaper and randomly happened to mention it to me, or I'd have gone to the wrong place. 3) The straw that broke the camel's back for me. The paperwork they handed out at the beginning of the season listed the end of the season pool party being "tentatively scheduled" on such and such a date. So it's nearing the season's end and I see I had this "tentative" notation on my calendar. I happened to have the league president's email in my contacts (the coach never gave us one), and I was at my computer, so I emailed the league president and said, "Hey, I have this tentative date written down on my calendar, can you confirm if this is definitely the date." He wrote me back and said, "No, it was changed and we already HAD the party. Your coach should have notified you." And he never did. We had NO opportunity to attend the end of season pool party for all the teams because our coach never bothered to inform us of the new date. That was SO disappointing. I'm going in a half hour or so to register for this summer and there is NO way I'm going to allow them to put my son back on that guy's team, I can't deal with another frustrating season of his lack of communication and potentially missing out on another end of the year party because he doesn't bother to let the parents know what's going on and couldn't care less if his kids make it over to the party and so on. No way. What do you think, can I just tell them straight up we don't want him and why without raising eyebrows and making it seem like drama?

I agree that it isn't cheap! Of course, one benefit is that it holds its resale value really well! I tend to look for it used (possible with some patience lol) and save a few bucks, it always seems to sell fast and for not a WHOLE lot less than new price though)! Now that I can't answer as I've never seen or used Singapore myself!

Thank you all for making me feel a bit better. I knew you would!

And you are exactly the sort of person I hope my responses make a difference for when these threads come up. You liked the demo. So did your husband. You have a son it sounds perfect for. You think this might be the thing for him. You're probably right. But the negative hype is making you second guess yourself. You're why I post. :)

Oh, what about a Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse for dinner? Or one of those drafthouse type theaters where they serve lunch or dinner while you're watching the movie? Or finding a place with an indoor pool for swimming? Or an indoor water park kind of thing? Or ice skating? Or tickets to a show or sports event or concert?

:iagree: It doesn't bother me, it's humorous, and tongue-in-cheek, and there's a lot of stuff my husband's had to adjust to since I started homeschooling. I've never heard of this book so I don't know if it's about how to help the dad adjust or how to help the dad be a help, but either way I can certainly understand it! :D

The thing is, I've been having a bit of a tough time lately. I know a few people in my real life right now who have been sharing news of pregnancy (one with twins recently no less), and in the past few weeks especially I keep finding myself thinking, "I was supposed to be due NEXT MONTH" and tearing up. Knowing my due date was supposed to have been so soon...next month, holy cow! has been especially rough on me lately. :( I guess February will be kind of hard on me. In case anyone doesn't know and wants an update, I stopped trying for a while. It turns out that between being kind of depressed about the ectopic and my natural genes and lifelong struggles with weight anyway I gained quite a bit and ended up being the highest I've ever been in my life. I went to my doctor for some help finally in November, and he ran some tests, and it turned out that I had high insulin levels. He put me on two medications...one to help with weight loss even though it's "off label use" (a generic version of topamax) and one that is a diabetes medication (metformin) as he knows I will be 39 in four months now, REALLY want one more baby, have high insulin levels, was at my highest weight ever and was depressed about the ectopic and the weight, and really just wanted to get to a healthier weight as soon as possible so that I could start TTC again. I have been taking the two medications in conjunction with a South Beach type diet...doing the low/healthy carb thing since mid November. This is quite embarrassing but any of you on the Weight Loss Challenge social group forum already know my weight :P I started at 247.6 pounds (at 5'7"). Ugh. I know. I was horrified too. This morning with a combination of medication, healthy diet, and treadmill, I weighed myself at 217.2 lbs. I've lost about 30 lbs so far. I can't wait to get under 200 and start thinking about TTC again. Meanwhile hoping that my age doesn't deter it from happening and trying not to think about how the last time I tried, five months of trying led to an ectopic pregnancy, that should have been a baby next month. If I'm a little snappy with some of you sometimes in my responses, and I know I probably am these days (TT anyone? :P) well, this is probably part of it. So if that's been you, I apologize. And hey speaking of the Weight Loss Challenge social group...it's been really active and supportive. Come join us if you're trying to lose weight. :) And if you've been dealing with miscarriage/ectopic/pregnancy loss, too, even if it was a long time ago and you should've been "over it" by now... yeah. I know. It's not always that easy. :grouphug:

Well, you know what? You don't get to ask a question on a public message board and then dictate whether people answer it with a "simple yes or no" rather than explaining their reasoning behind it, or responding to other people and elaborating and so on. That's ridiculous. And no, you did NOT phrase it as "Is TT behind or am I seeing things," but even if you DID phrase it that way, people could still say, "No, I disagree, and here's why." That's how a forum works. People discuss things. If you don't want a discussion, don't post on a forum. I am flabbergasted as to why you would be so bothered as to people posting their various opinions and experiences with this program. Why would this POSSIBLY be so upsetting to you that some people are posting that they had great experiences with it and that it made a positive difference in their children's lives?! (WITHOUT putting them "behind" no less!) I explained again and again that it wasn't out of defensiveness and I explained where I was coming from. If my particular response wasn't helpful to YOU, you could always just skim over it and read the next person's, but, again, my particular response might be helpful to somebody ELSE reading this thread. I also completely disagree with you about this thread getting off track. It was completely on track, in my humble opinion. Oh wait, maybe I should throw in a kilt pic to keep it even MORE on track, because that's the way we do things here! :P

Seriously? Are you for real? You asked a question, you got different answers, people explained their answers, and now you're bothered by that, and feel like you should never ask about it again, and now you're explaining that all you were trying to do was get your opinion across and weren't asking an honest question after all and you just wanted people to agree with you? You've got to be kidding. Be more clear next time. ETA: Sorry the variety in responses was so bothersome for you and wasn't what YOU were looking for, but perhaps other people reading this thread in the future will appreciate it some day.

Voted! Good luck! :)

At that age it doesn't have to be a "birthday party" per se but just you taking him and a couple of friends to do something fun "for his birthday." You could take them to play laser tag, to go see a movie they want to see, to go glow-bowling at night if they have it by you, to a video game arcade, see if there's a place that has rock climbing or a big rope obstacle course and stuff like that. If he wants a couple of friends to come over and maybe rent videos or play video games or do a sleep over, do you have a relative or another friend at whose house younger brother can go have a sleepover at, so as to not invade big brother's space?

Yes, that is it! When I first read about what TT was all about, I was thinking, Oh, this sounds great! This sounds like it could be just what we need in this house! And then I read so many bad things about it right off the bat, about it just not being good enough, being SO behind, that even I was a bit intimidated (and I'm a relatively relaxed homeschooler who is quite confident in her educational style and who doesn't seek a lot of "approval" from the over-achiever types somebody else mentioned when it comes to curriculum stuff...I DO however want something that I think will be effective for MY children). It made me hesitate, all the negative stuff I read about it, thinking it wasn't going to work and was going to set my daughter back so much that it might not be worth even trying, despite the things that were attracting me to it. But I kept digging and came across a page online somewhere of some positive reviews. Mostly people talking about how much it had changed the attitude about math in their house- no more tears, no more "math is too hard, I'm bad at math" comments, no more dreading math; that math had become "fun" and confidence was boosting. And finally I shrugged and said, "I'm going to try it anyway." And I did, and there was an INSTANT change in attitude about math in my house. Suddenly she LIKED it. It wasn't a struggle anymore. She didn't see herself as "bad" at it anymore. Did I sometimes think it looked a little too easy? Yes, but I kept telling myself, "I don't care. Even if this program really IS a year behind and all she does is get back her confidence in math this year and learns to like it and to believe that she can do it, that's good enough for me." But that easy stuff must have been the review and they must keep sneaking new stuff in there, too, because then, as if all that weren't already good enough for me, she scored in the 82nd percentile on her standardized test that year (way better than the previous year's score) and we hadn't even supplemented with a single thing that first year, and I was like, "Wait, what? That's not the score of a kid who is "behind." That's better than average and she loves math now. And *I* don't dread math anymore! Why do people give this program such a bad rap?!" So, yes, like you said, when you find something that you feel can work for your child, and then read that almost everybody else hates it, and blasts it for not being "good enough" and being anywhere from a year to "a few years" behind every other math program out there, that can be intimidating. And a LOT of people would just not buy it based on that. And in this case, because it did so much good for my child, and because my personal experience found that stuff to not actually be the case, I like to be that person who says, hey, don't worry, this can work, give it a shot if you think you have a child who can benefit from it. If that is polarizing...okay. :) People will still keep posting their bad reviews about it. I'll still keep posting my glowing recommendations about it. The board will go on. :lol: Dolphin! LMAO! :lol::lol: You mean I AM one of the math gurus on this board?! LOL! Anyway. Yeah. Seriously, there have been quite a few people who have told me they tried TT based on either my review of it on my blog, or based on that thread I started here after we got our standardized test results here, and that they were happy they did and wish they had sooner and that it has made their kids happier, math less of a struggle in their house etc etc. And THAT is why I still "stick up for" TT when threads like these come up. Not to try to prove somebody wrong. Not because I like to debate math programs in my spare time for fun (ick!). Simply because I hope it helps somebody make a decision they might otherwise have been too worried to make like I almost was once upon a time. And because it really has made THAT much of a difference in our house. And because it's not just my daughter's math curriculum, it's her whole personality that has changed because of it in a way (all of us know what it can be like for a girl who grows up into a young woman with an "I'm bad at math" mindset, right? She can start believing that from an early age and keep believing it her entire life).

Hm. That was interesting armchair psycho-analyzing, but I most definitely don't feel like a failure as a parent or have any sort of "less than" feeling over my choice of math curriculum no matter what the "math gurus" on this board think of it. In fact, I probably couldn't even name more than one of the "math gurus" on this board" as I've only paid attention to what works for my child when it comes to math and shared that experience for no other reason than to hopefully help others who might also benefit from it. If people get something out of that (and I already know for a fact some have), great! If not, they'll move on to something else, and that's fine, too. I'm glad we all have options open to us and the opportunity to hear about these different experiences in making our decisions. Why question those motives? I don't get it.

Rose, Some people tend to worry about things being behind public schools or state standards when they say "behind" and don't necessarily mean behind more specifically advanced homeschool curricula, otherwise I would think the question would be "Is TT advanced?" (no), not "Is TT behind?" (also no). I think it's on the level, not behind. It's not that I feel defensive of it, it's that I don't want people who would truly benefit from it to miss out because of misguided fears. Until you've had a child who hangs their head telling you they're no good at math, math is too hard, and they're bad at it, and then see this amazing transformation, and it's because of this program, which didn't put them "behind" at all but caught them up, maybe it's hard to get, but maybe that's why it's so polarizing. It's hard not to want to explain that to parents you see being "warned off" all the time, just so they can hear the other side, too.

Maybe people worry it might be "behind" because they're comparing it to something advanced. Maybe they worry it might be "behind" because the program does such a good job of explaining it, that kids tend to find it easy. (Personally, I think that's great)! Maybe they worry it might be "behind" because the program constantly reviews stuff previously introduced, while simultaneously introducing new stuff each lesson, so parents might see some of that review stuff and think "they're still doing that?" Maybe they worry it might be "behind" because it keeps getting a bad rap on the Internet with a bunch of people going "I heard it's behind...." I don't know. But a lot of our kid's test scores are saying otherwise. A lot of parents and kids are saying good things about it. Again, I won't claim it's advanced. But I won't believe it's years behind like so many try to say. If it was, my daughter wouldn't have done so well on her standardized test. I also saw the math homework a cousin of hers was doing from same grade public school and it looked no more advanced than what she was doing. My suggestion is if you have reason to be interested in this program, try it for yourself without letting the naysayers scare you off. I'm really glad that's what I did!

I like the idea of a heartfelt note to the effect that you've really cherished these memories and looked forward to having this in your home, that he's been promising it to you for two and a half years now and you find it hurtful that he keeps going back on his word and that his brusque attitude and statement about it recently really hurt you and you cannot understand where it's coming from, and if he no longer wants to give it to you, you understand if he's just not ready to let go, but you would appreciate if he would be straightforward about it and not keep getting your hopes up and stringing you along. Except use more periods than I just did. :P Your idea is funny to ME btw. I just don't know that it would be to HIM!

I was gonna say, I guess I missed it by a year lol. My younger two are five years apart (6 and 11) and sometimes play nicely and other times bicker and get on each others nerves! Hoping to have one more one of these days so will have to see if that holds true next time! :P

For something that was for fun? 30 min would be my limit and even then I'd prefer not to have to go that far regularly (10-20 would be better). We drive further for field trips all the time but if I had to go somewhere every week, I'd want it as close to home as possible. If it was something that I thought was going to help advance them in their goals for their future as opposed to a just for fun thing I would be willing to go further and extend that to an hour maybe. But two hours? Like four hour round trips every week? And then do that twice for two kids? There's just no way. I'd feel wistful for the lost opportunity and maybe even see if there was any way I could find or recruit something like it closer to home, but I wouldn't do that kind of driving every week. Too exhausting, too costly in gas, too hard having to take younger son on that kind of ride, too much wear and tear on vehicle, too far in wintry weather etc etc.

I already have my blog and blog name but if I didn't, I like the name "Educating Everywhere" because of the fact that we're not tied to being in one classroom, building, desk, etc and go on tons of outings, field trips, can learn indoors, outdoors, and everywhere we go, really. Feel free to use it if it applies; it occurred to me too late...I won't be changing my blog name. :D

never mind, figured it out! Not near me though. :( It sounds awesome! Glad you guys had such a good time!

We have two malls near our house (and we're in a fairly small city) and one of them has one kid's pedicure chair in the nail place in the mall). It's cute, it looks like a princess seat. But even the others I imagine would easily be able to put some sort of cushion there to boost the kids forward a little if they wanted a pedicure and had trouble reaching. None of them would turn us away even if we just walked in with three little girls wanting manicures and pedicures as they all take walk in appointments. I would just try one of the nail places in your local mall!

I know it's not an "advanced" math curriculum. I get that. Really. And yet I always kind of hate to see it getting criticized for being so "BEHIND," potentially scaring people off from using it, and here's why: At the end of last year (5th grade), after one year (our first) of using TT (at grade level, with NO supplements), my pretty non-mathy daughter took a standardized test and her total score was: Total Mathematics - Stanine 7; National Percentile 82. That meant she did as well as or better than 82 percent of other kids who took that standardized test nationwide (and you can be assured they used all different sorts of math curricula, not just "behind" ones like TT- yet she held her own, especially for a non-mathy kid). Those scores were much improved over her previous years scores, but it wasn't just her scores that had improved by leaps and bounds that year. It was her confidence in math. It was her liking for math. It was her willingness to do math without complaining. Without crying. Without hanging her head and going, "I'm no good at math. This is too hard." If you have a kid who is great at math and likes math and thinks they are good at math, by all means, pick out some "advanced" math curriculum and do your thing. But if you have a kid who feels like maybe they aren't so good at it, like it's hard, or if YOU aren't mathy, or if math is a daily struggle in your house, and you're tired of it, and you've been looking into TT and thinking, "Wow, that could be the answer...." In my experience...you're right. Go for it! DON'T let threads like these put you off and make you feel like, "Oh, no, it's too BEHIND, I'll ruin my kid." You won't. And if you don't want to take just MY word for it, check out this thread I started at the end of last year after I got those standardized test results back. Because a bunch of other people chimed in, too, with their positive results and outcomes after using TT. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259625&highlight=teaching+textbooks+standardized+test But in case you don't want to click on a link or sort through all the replies on that other thread, here are some excerpts for you: "We started using TT last year. This year my daughter's highest standardized test scores were in math. She does not like math at all but she is 2 years above grade level now and I believe it's because of TT. That has never been the case before. My youngest son really likes math so instead of starting him with TT3 for third grade we started with level 4. He is also doing well and his highest scores were in math. I am a firm believer in TT now! Blessings, Elise in NC" *** "We love Teaching Textbooks here too. Ds16 did TT Alg1, TT Alg2, and TT Geo. He took Integrated pre-calc in 10th grade at a public school and hated it. At 16yo he tested firmly into college Calculus. He used to show kids in his calculus class how to do basic algebra, because the way the ps taught it was ridiculous. He is a mathy kid, and the program worked for him too. He just went at a faster pace than non-mathy kids would. He excelled at all of his assesment tests, and understands how to use math out side of the text book." *** "My Teaching Textbooks graduate got a 212 on his PSAT (98th percentile in math) and is doing well in Calculus. I don't even think he quite finished Algebra 2" *** "I'll add fuel to this; my son has used TT 4, 5, and 6. He scored in the 97th percentile in math on the Terra Nova this year. Last year he was 96th percentile on the Terra Nova, after using TT. Just so you know it is consistent, not just a fluke. I would not consider him a mathy child at all, he has always been a very strong reader, writer, and talker LOL. He is good at math, but it isn't his strongest area. YAY TT!" *** "My youngest son loves TT! He's used TT Math 5, 6, and 7 and is now using TT PreAlgebra. He earned perfect scores on the math section of his 6th grade CAT test just a few weeks ago!" *** "We also just got our scores back from the CAT 5. DD 12 Math Computation-94/ Math concepts- 91..She is one who has struggled in the past with math. DS 8 Math computation-95/ Math concepts-96... I have one in college that used TT all the way through Pre-calc and she did well in her college calculus class. Can you tell I am sold." *** And those are just some of the threads about testing (there are more, go check the thread out for yourself if you're interested). You should read all the posts about kids gaining confidence, about math no longer being hated, feared, a struggle and so on. Again, I GET that it's not for everyone. But I HATE seeing the people it IS for being scared off by stuff that isn't even necessarily true or half as true as people make it out to be. This is a GREAT program for a lot of kids. I know, mine's one of them.

4-H. But other than having the word "God" in the Girl Scout promise (which they basically tell you to interpret how you want) and having an annual Christmas party, my daughter's girl scouts group is run very secularly.

Well, as hands on or off as you want to be... My daughter listens to the lecture at the computer, then reads the short page in the textbook to reinforce it, then does the practice problems at the computer (five of them), and then the main lesson problems (20-24 of them). The whole thing takes about 30-35 minutes. Usually I am nearby in the main living area where the computer is and I can hear what's going on and I'll check in on her, and if she has a question she asks me, and if I think there's a problem I'll come oversee it (there usually isn't), and I'll check her paper when she's done and so on. But if you wanted to sit there and watch the whole thing and comment/help, you could. If you wanted to add more problems, you could. If you wanted to add your own commentary, you could. If you were busy one day and didn't want to be involved at all and knew she was getting it, you could leave her to it. There's a gradebook that when you view it will tell you if it took them one or two tries to get each problem right and if they viewed the solution for a given problem. (if they get a problem wrong once, they get another chance at getting it right, probably to allow for typos etc. If they get it wrong again they are asked if they want to view the solution. If they view the solution, it will tell them and show them step by step how to get the right answer next time so they know what they did wrong). It's really worked well for my daughter. And she likes it.

Love Teaching Textbooks. I started a thread a while back about our standardized test scores after our first full year of using Teaching Textbooks in 5th grade in this thread, and a bunch of other people chimed in with positive things to say about it, too. I think you should read this thread. :) http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259625&highlight=teaching+textbooks+standardized+test (We're using it again for 6th grade this year; still love it)!