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freerange

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Everything posted by freerange

  1. The BBC is putting together a lot of resources on their website - http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww1 & http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/
  2. It passes. Eventually. sigh... In the meantime, plenty of sleep, hydration, protein and fruit & vegetables all seem to help. Hang in there!
  3. I'm not going to post names of series, since sometimes they're given different titles over there, but you might look out for material by Brian Cox or Michael Mosley. A little different, but still be enjoyable - Bang Goes the Theory, which you might be able to get on BBC America
  4. My DD writes her Japanese in the air with her nose & it seems to work for her.
  5. We used Pearsons' Exploring Science series (7-9) before we moved on to IGCSE. They have lots of worksheets & excel spreadsheets on the cdrom that comes with the book. My youngest has very strong opinions and does not hesitate to tell me if she thinks a book is below par - these were her favorites of all the books we looked at for this level. Editing to add - We worked through the 3 books in a bit under 2 years, just working through them in order, or there's also a scheme of work on the Pearson website for a different approach rearranging the sections.
  6. So interesting to read how all of you are approaching this! We're in the UK, so don't have the requirement for a transcript, which means we can adjust the distribution of each child's study time to suit their needs. The flip side is that A levels are much more time consuming, so for each subject we work on at A level we'd need to give up 2 at IGCSE. Adding an extra thing into our mix - DD1 has just finished vision therapy which tripled her reading speed, so I'm thinking about easing up in some areas to give her extra reading time now that she's so much more efficient. The hard part is deciding which areas we could cut back on without losing the skills & understanding she's gained so far. Ruth, thanks for reminding me about history documentaries! We seem to have gone heavily into science related stuff & history is being neglected - must get DH on board with watching history. Hmm, yesterday we went to a Doctor Who based science day. Perhaps, if they paid close enough attention, they could build a tardis so we can fit in extra subjects?!
  7. I'd be :willy_nilly: and :unsure: , not to mention needing a very large mug of coffee & a chocolate biscuit! Could they perhaps mean the Intermediate Olympiad? If not, contact the UKMT to see if they could send you a pdf, or suggest alternative resources you could use. Oh, this might be useful - intermediate mentoring
  8. If you have a child that is particularly advanced/talented in a subject, how do you decide how much time to allocate to that field so they can develop their potential. Do you try to keep the subjects in balance so they're not neglecting other areas? Do you allow them to really go for it & squeeze everything else into whatever time is left? Or do you try to give each subject equal weighting?
  9. Does he find it easier to work quickly if the problems are more varied? I find more than just 2 or 3 questions of the same type, particularly if there is no escalation of difficulty, causes their minds to wander. I would assign 3 of the questions, plus something else & then come back to do perhaps another couple the next day, and again a couple of days later. Alternately, if I felt it was a simple procedure that didn't require so much repetition, I'd look for related questions that built on the concept but required thinking which took it to the next level.
  10. Solutions we have used include scribing for them, using a large whiteboard, typing answers, using an ipad to zoom in on the pdf to enlarge the answer field whilst they write on it with a stylus, using interactive maths, e.g. Khan acadamy, manga high, the interactive worksheets for MEP.
  11. How about taking turns reading? Then he gets a bit of the best of both.
  12. You might also like CSI Web Adventures - I showed my DD this website after we'd covered some forensic entomology in her integrated science text, thinking she'd like to do a case. She liked it so much that she finished the rest of the cases the same day in her free time.
  13. Please do! I often find your posts thought provoking.
  14. there are only very minor differences between IGCSE and GCSE, so you could use almost any English textbook intended for years 7-9. DD2 is using Essential Maths 8h as the spine with added AOPS PreA and Algebra when we want some variety. I misplaced EM8h, so whilst we waited for the replacement to arrive we filled in with MEP year 8 - I just went through the scheme of work with a highlighter and picked out the sections I wanted to add. Last year it was EM with MEP year 7, AOPS PreA and Singapore's Primary Maths workbooks 6a & b. DD1 worked through the Essential Maths series before starting her GCSE text, which she complained was really easy, so I had her try a previous year's paper & she got a solid B. So depending on your point of view, either it gave her a really solid foundation that set her up for exam success, or it did the job too well and too fast. I'm going with the first and adding in Additional Maths to our plans. I'm typing on an ipad & can't remember the code to add a clickable link, but I suppose you can cut & paste! elmwoodpress.co.uk/keystage3.html I plan it all out in skedtrak a few weeks at a time & then tweak as needed.
  15. There's a UK stockist for AOPS, maybe they can order it for you? http://www.ukmt.org.uk/publications/index.php?type=Yearbook
  16. MEP is strong on conceptual understanding, so complements Singapore materials well, plus you can just print off the bits you want so the cost is minimal. Definately look at the lesson plans, not just the worksheets. Edward Zaccaro's books are great fun to use, but that can mean you need to watch them carefully if you want to space it out. For example, DD2 went off to read the first chapter of Ten Things All Future Mathematicians & Scientists Must Know (but are rarely taught) & 'accidentally' finished the book. As to how - in the early years we just worked through each book we wanted to use, switching between them when we felt like a change. Now that we're heading towards exams (we're in the UK & working toward IGCSEs) we use one book as a spine & add in other resources when I think they add interest or explain something better. And no, I don't think having two textbooks is overkill - you don't only have one cookery book, do you?
  17. David Walliams is a more recent author with a similar style who proved very popular at our book club.
  18. Ruth, I think I love you. This thread is so very timely for us - the Pearson's IGCSE textbook has been declared painfully dull, so I'm looking for ways to engage & entertain, whilst still covering the required material.
  19. If you think about the detail involved, it makes sense that maths would throw up more problems than reading in someone with a minor issue. In reading there are lots of contextual clues to help you figure out a word if you can't see it 100% clearly for whatever reason. Maths requires you to see every little dot, exponent or sign with perfect clarity & misreading can change the entire meaning. This week I'm having my youngest tested by the same optician. I haven't noticed any issues yet with her vision, but she's due for a test & the optician had a slot right before our appointment for her sister.
  20. I'd go to the COVD. My dd has recently been found to have a minor issue with convergence & tracking. It only showed in her reading as a limit to her reading speed, and in her maths when there was a large block of questions together with small font and not much white space. Not every vision problem manifests as a major reading difficulty.
  21. :seeya: Welcome. I've known 3 dads who were the primary educator in our little corner of the world.
  22. Anyone else having problems accessing the site?
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