We started at the end of A with DS11 this year. He struggled with the amount of writing, and the dry presentation, at first, but it has improved his spelling dramatically. If I knew he could already spell or write something, I just had him do it once. It was starting to seem very easy for him around the second assessment test in Level B, so when I gave him the assessment, I went ahead and gave him the next one (10 lessons later), which he passed without missing any words. I think that A&P truly changed the way he was thinking about spelling, above and beyond the specific words and rules he had learned. We skipped those 10 lessons and he's been doing fine. I agree that there should be very few mistakes. The program is designed that way.

We are very informal. I tried to make an organized day of the week morning basket schedule but dropped it and just read what we feel like. Right now it's: winter moon, jean craighead George, the further adventures of Penrose, thioni Pappas, the century, peter Jennings, and a wwi picture book or read aloud (goodbye billy radish). We've read fairy tales and Shakespeare. We cover art sppreciation and music during tea time and current events, music inspiration (current youtubes of great musicians) and spanish during lunch. We aren't very structured, but I'm happy with the additional interest it's added to our day. Sorry about the lack of capitalization above :)

Have you done elements already? I would do that before carbon chemistry. It's a lot of fun!

Although the topic titles "repeat" in BA, the content doesn't repeat at all. I think 3a is my favorite BA book, even the second time arund.

We have worked through most of the recommended books, except we haven't ventured into raspberry pi yet. I wanted to recommend a favorite of ours. Homemade Electronic Music http://www.nicolascollins.com/handmade.htm

We've read both the first and the third and enjoyed both, particularly my dog lover!

Try khan academy during the break. My 5th grader loves it and thought his videos on decimals we're very good.

I had a similar experience, and ultimately gave up on MM after 3A. Not only were there too many problems for each lesson, but too many lessons for each concept. Now, in 5th, we use Beast Academy and Khan Academy, and he's thriving. We love the challenge and thinking of BA and the thoroughness and simplicity of Khan (particularly that only one problem is visible at a time).

Instant snow too! Perfect!

We're reading it for the first time and the boys are loving it!

The chemistry one looks pretty great too! Morning basket just got longer :hurray:

We are loving Professor Carol! Thank you for suggesting it. DS11 is trying to fold a Moravian Star right now! Now I need to check out the chemistry one too.

We love all of them. The ones most often listened to are the bedtime CDs and Tell Me a Story.

Those look great!

I'm very grateful to the board for Apples &Pears spelling this year! And Ellen McHenry! And Beast! Some things didn't work, AAS and Math Mammoth, but I'm not sorry I tried them. Some things that I learned about here, FLL and WWE, didn't work for my oldest and work great for my youngest. It's all so individual. That's one of the great things about homeschooling.

Make, although I'm off to check out Robot. There's also an online http://makercamp.com going on all summer. Different theme each week.

nope, he says he didn't do that one, but wants to. :)

I totally understand. I honestly don't post much and worry that I'm going to offend someone. The homeschooling community is so diverse, which is awesome and intimidating at the same time. I've got one really passionate kid, and its so hard to get him to do anything he's not passionate about, and one who really isn't passionate about anything (except maybe bodily noises, he's 8), but he'll do whatever curriculum I put in front of him with minimal fuss. I expose mine to plenty of stuff they don't love too, just in case it lights a spark that otherwise wouldn't have had a chance. If you don't get Make magazine, you should check it out. There's so much more cool stuff in there that kids can get excited about (and adults too).

Oh yeah, definitely buy the kit. We didn't and it cost us a lot of shipping and way too many trips to Radio Shack (he is well loved there). quote: ETA: We did buy the kit from Makershed. It was wonderful to know that he had whatever he needed at his fingertips and I didn't have to drive him all over looking for parts.

I apologize if you found my statement offensive. My impression was the the OP's kids were younger. The Make book, and other books that I referenced are written way above elementary level, and my son would have been very frustrated with them if he wasn't personally motivated to learn the stuff. There are also experiments in the book that just don't work. There are adults with blogs totally dedicated to these experiments and we cross referenced with them. Again, hugely frustrating unless you're pretty motivated. I thinks its an awesome resource, but far from a "required" one here.

My son has used both, started with Snap Circuits when he was 9. I wouldn't skip this step. Found the middle school curriculum to be very easy, but worthwhile. Got a intro to soldering kit and he was off and running. He worked through most of the Make Electronics book on his own. Some of the projects worked great, others didn't, but he learned a lot from all of them. He also uses the book Handmade Electronic Music extensively. Hacking is very fun. What I love is how he combines all of it. He uses Snap Circuits to prototype circuits before he builds them. They provide a very visual, logical, way to do electronics. Now he's 10 and Arduino is his passion. Have you done Squishy Circuits? Definitely do that! There's a lot of good stuff here: http://www.makershed.com/Intro_Electronics_s/49.htm DS10 earned a Arduino Robotics kit and I'm going to order a couple silly fun kits, like brushbots, for my younger son, who isn't into this stuff. I would never make a kid read any of these books though, and I only help when I'm asked. If I made it part of a curriculum the joy would promptly leave it. But if they do develop a passion for it you'll need to sacrifice a corner of your house to disassembled, partially assembled, and never to be assembled electronics. Good luck!

Great thread! DS10 and I are reading The Book of Three We just finished Cricket in Times Square. We're listening to the Disappearing Spoon and the Two Towers in the car. And numerous picture books!

Thank you for posting this! A wonderful music teacher taught me to counter the comment that "talented young musicians burn out" with the reply that "sometimes they decide to do something other than music with their lives, and when they do they apply the discipline and precision that they learned from music and they do it very very well."

Aduino - he's been anticipating this for most of the year. Last year he got Make magazine and a soldering kit.

The Raft - Jim LaMarche for Wisconsin Tar Beach - Faith Ringgold for NY The Man Who Walked Between the Towers - Mordicai Gerstein also for NY We were looking for book club inspiration and found it in this thread! Starting next week in PA with "The Cabin Faces West" and then traveling to NJ with "Cheaper by the Dozen" then outward across the US. I'm thinking about a state map sticker passport for DS7, and a map journal for DS10. Combine that with the United States Cookbook and The Scrambled States of America and we have a geography book club plan! Keep them coming, I'm taking notes. Thanks!