Would you skip over parts in Singapore Math or do everything? We just raced right through a book as my child seemed to already know it. Now I am worried he might miss out that he did not do all the reviews and practice problems. We just did the lesson portions and then the workbook. The workbook in full. And should I give him the chance to test out of future books? Or figure the extra practice is good for him? He used to be in brick and mortar school and I placed him where he belonged. He struggled over the first book we did. But once through that, he raced through the next one. It was clear he already knew everything in book 4B very well. But he did not know fractions. Now he has done the Keys to Fractions series. Should I let him try to test out of 5A? Or would you still have him do it? I was shocked to realize he already knew everything in 4B. He is not ahead for his age. He is 11. So it feels more like he is behind. But I don't want to skimp. But I also don't want to waste a bunch of time repeating what he knows.

I would stop educating and just have fun. He can read for fun and that will improve his comprehension. But seriously, any 15 yr old reading Plato's Republic must be ahead of grade level.

nt Shoot! I should have posted this on the lower school boards! I will go post it there, sorry for the mistake! I don't know how to delete.

I have a child who drags his feet on everything. As a result, his education is much more like that of an unschooler. This past year, on standardized tests, he showed high abilities (99th percentile) in every area except math. In math, he was just above the 50th percentile. And in math computation, he scored 18th percentile. Would you suspect the low score in math is due to lack of effort? Since one can improve reading scores just by reading, but needs to learn math in order to do it, or would you suspect learning disability?

I would suggest working through Keys to Algebra first and then move on to another program. Or do it concurrently. Get through the first three or four books and then start the algebra program. It sounds like you have tried a lot of programs with little success, so at this point, I would take a different tactic. Sometimes, well, actually, usually, it is better to back up a little and then move forward than it is to keep trying to spin your wheels and getting no where. If you have tried 3 programs with no success, then it probably is not the program anymore. Edited to add: I do not mean you are the problem. I just mean, maybe they need more prep or something for the program. I find Keys to Algebra to make an excellent prep as well as goes along side well. It helps clarify everything more and gives extra practice.

I love Jacob's. It has been my favorite so far.

Jacob's Geometry is not something you would teach a grade schooler. I would consider it to be quite difficult for a child who is great at math and had completed a very strong algebra 1 program. At your children's ages, maybe Right Start Geometry would be a better way to go. It is supposed to be hands on and fun and set for not high school.

When my children were in school, each week, a couple kids or so were picked out of the entire school to receive a citizenship award. Sadly, those awards usually went to the trouble makers to try to "encourage" them to behave better. But it sent an awful message to the rest of the kids! It was one of the nails in the coffin that made me glad to leave. Ok..there are so many nails in that coffin, but that was a biggie. I did go to the principal and pointed out my child was never in trouble, the child who bullied him was given the award while my child never was. Things never changed.

I actually rebooted the computer now and tried again. It seems to be working. That is very odd because I did go over everything with both tech support lines. What gave me the idea to reboot it is I was trying to delete the program from the computer so I could re-install it for a third time but it kept saying it was running. But it wasn't. It was giving me an error message. So I decided to reboot is and voila! It worked! I am not going to commit and purchase the class unless I can get it to work again on another day.

I already spoke to their technical support, the one at Landry and the one at Collaborate. Neither could figure out why it would not run. My finances have limits so I cannot throw money at things that won't work. I am guessing now that I need to just forgo any online classes. Edited to add: my computer is a fairly new MacBook Pro.

The collaborate software is not compatible.

I am wondering if I should give up on all online classes because Landry seems to be incompatible? I am asking because I do not want to waste a bunch of hours trying to get other programs to work, if they are all pretty much the same. Essentually, do they use the same or similar software.

That would likely be enough for us to drop it. Thing is, if that is how they talk or give out written material, then I would guess that they are not very educated and it likely spills over in to other areas. We just dropped an outsourced class. In our case, we are Christians. We are moderate people and it was a secular science class through a public place. The class itself was great. But, apparently, the class was pretty much outspoken atheist children. These children were openly trashing on Christians and God in class. My children reported this to me, but I kind of figured it out before they did because I tried to hang out with some of the moms during the class time where the moms were hanging out. The children were just imitating the parents. I withdrew the kids. I don't know if the staff was even aware what the kids were doing. But, it seemed to me it would be a hard and touchy subject to try to complain about. What were they going to do? Kick the entire class out just so that the only Christian in the class didn't get hated on? Obviously the behavior from the moms and those kids was very bigoted. It was not something that I felt would be resolved because it ran so deep (the moms behaving that way) and wide (large number of moms behaving that way).

I think it is fine as a regular level algebra course for the child not going any further really in math. There are a lot of programs I would consider it to be equal to, such as Teaching Textbooks. But again, I would not use Teaching Textbooks for a child who is college bound in a STEM field. Every child has different objectives and needs something different. Amazingly, Texas is changing their TEKS. Everyone is in an uproar over the new TEKS being so hard. But, I found that everything in the new TEKS that others consider to be too hard are things that were covered in the easier problem set even of the Jacob's algebra.

Spelling Workout. I think it was what was recommended in the original WTM book. It is what I had and what I use. I love it.

ACT scores do not match grades. If every child took the same classes with the same rigor and presentation, then it might. But, a child who takes all remedial classes might earn all A's and have a 21 on the ACT. Another child who has all heavy rigorous courses, advanced and with a lot of hard work, might earn B's and get a 32 on the ACT.

My child is 14 and in 8th grade so I don't need this until next year. However, I would like to get a start on it maybe after Christmas, so I have some time, but don't want to wait a long time. I had planned to do Apologia. The person who taught my children used something called God's Design I think. She added a lot to the program and did a great job. But for high school, her children use Landry so she stopped teaching. I cannot really afford Landry. And I do not think my children would like an online class at all. We tried to use ck12.org this year, but it did not go over well at all. They hated it. It left me wondering if it is their skill level in science or the fact that the books were online, or if it was work ethic. They say they want to go back to using a real book and such. "They" is referring to both my children. The younger one is a few years away from middle school. I need them to have life science, but biology is good too. Physics and chemistry. I would not mind an IPC type course. However, they are both college bound and I had hoped to inspire an interest in the sciences. So far, they have none. I am worried this is because I have not done a good enough job. Right now, they love languages, history, art, that sort of thing. For math, since I know what level you are at in math affects what you can do for science, the 11 yr old is doing Singapore Math and the 14 yr old is doing Jurgenson's Geometry. He completed Forester's Algebra.

College Board and Bill Gates seem to set a lot. Pearson Learning only makes the books that follows what they are told to put in them. College Board sets a lot of standards, but so does the government, aka whoever gives the most money in congress. Bill Gates has been one of the biggies in this.

I am hoping for ideas here. I sent my children to a person's house for science. But, this year, the person was not teaching it anymore. I need something more independent. I am also looking in to other outsourcing ideas, but it would be great if we could go independent. I was planning on Apologia. But, I am hoping to hear other good, workable options.

My oldest child is loving Latin. He is 14 years old and in 8th grade. He has 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Form Latin from Memoria Press. But he has been studying the books, not doing the workbooks. We own the workbooks. He has done part of First Form workbook, but none since. Since he is only 8th grade, I allowed him to continue to do as he please with the Latin as I mostly want him to enjoy it for now. We did it in the past with a different program, one for grade school called Minimus. He did that at a private school actually. I saw that someone else gives credit for Latin for high school, with 1st and 2nd form being one credit and so on. I am thinking that, if he wants to be serious about the Latin for high school credit, I should require the entire workbook to be done? Does this sound reasonable? Right now, he enjoys trying to interpret things, like The Hobbit, translating it in to Latin. A few other things too. He has a spiral notebook where he is re-writing these books in to. Would you seek out a test and place him? Or figure the extra practice won't hurt him and have him do all the work books before giving him any credit? I am referring to for high school. Thank you.

The person cannot possibly know if the children are actually behind. So, they should keep their mouth shut. On that note, would they approach someone with a public schooled child about being behind? Not likely.

We have the Duke Tip program which I am very excited about. But, my son acted like he might die if he has to watch the video. Reading what others have to say here, it sounds like many feel the same way. He started to watch the video, got upset and said he really hated it. He has little tolerance for things he hates, but he is quite smart and I am trying to push his comfort zone a little further. He has ASD. I am trying to decide if -I should tell him he has to watch the video anyway, and push our way through it -watch the videos with him and talk him through it -teach him Jurgensen's geometry myself. I used to be a sec ed math teacher and actually enjoy teaching it. I am a little short on time with my other children, but, math is my favorite subject and I enjoy teaching it. -go with a different program for Jurgensen's such as Seton's. Money is limited so it won't me Wilson Hill Academy -go with a different curriculum altogether. While I wait to solve this, we are reviewing algebra 1

I like what Cornerstone has. I use that and love it. We also go to the local community orchestra programs and browse other websites online.

http://issuu.com/eswi/docs/gattegno-math-textbook-1

I have gotten the children interested in history through researching our genealogy and making a family tree, sort of anyway. Turns out, we are mostly from the British Isles, with a little bit of Irish and Scandinavia. I thought we were more Irish and Scandinavia due to our very Irish surname and Danish grandparents and cousins, but I guess not. Also, I thought I would find tons of in depth history in these areas online with ease, but I have not. Plus, my Irish and Scottish heritage cuts off as soon as it hits Ireland and/or Scotland. I would love websites or books appropriate to upper grade school and middle school ages. I would also like to read myself, but don't have tons of time. Thank you.