Homeschoolers - have a link!
Sep. 15th, 2011 08:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fiberaddictWe're doing Singapore Math. When you get past the elementary books (excuse me - Primary books :snerk:), you get 2 choices - NEM, or DM. (New Elementary Mathematics, or Discovering Mathematics). Both sets cover the same things, but in different orders/levels of difficulty. I chose DM, because it "looks" more friendly - which Herself needed. (By the time you finish all 4 levels (8 books), you're ready for Calculus. It's an integrated curriculum - you don't do Algebra, then Algebra 2, then Geometry, etc - you do it all at the same time, as it "makes sense". No chance of forgetting something that you need later this way. :grin:)
Anyway. Singapore recommends that you download a program called "Geometer's Sketchpad". I looked at it....$69.95 for a SINGLE copy. You can get a "student's" version for $29.95....not sure it has everything, but still - you can put it on 3 computers, but you can only use it on 1 at a time.
I need to be able to use it on 2 at a time - I can foresee a time when both kids will be at a point that they both need it.....but I can't afford $60 (or $140!)
I joined the Singapore forums (for a different reason - I'm trying to find a schedule for DM 1A....it's in the Teacher's Guide, but I can't spend $30/guide - there's 2/year. $60 PER YEAR for the guide. I...there's 4 years....$240 for the teacher's manuals, just for schedules. Can't do that!) - someone mentioned Geogebra as a substitute for Geometer's Sketchpad.
I checked it out - it's FREE. From what I understand, some of the commands are different, but - FREE. Unlimited use, from what I can tell - I have it on my MacBook, on the kids' mini-Mac, and a portable copy on my external harddrive.
Himself's been playing with it this morning - said it's "Cool! When do we get to use it?" :lol:
I don't know if any of y'all'll need this, but I was happy to find it! (And, if you need a scientific calculator, Wal-Mart has TI ones for UNDER $20. They have the more expensive ones, too - but these have everything we need. Just wanted to pass that one on, too!)
Gotta go start school - we start at 9 now, to give Herself's meds time to work.
Anyway. Singapore recommends that you download a program called "Geometer's Sketchpad". I looked at it....$69.95 for a SINGLE copy. You can get a "student's" version for $29.95....not sure it has everything, but still - you can put it on 3 computers, but you can only use it on 1 at a time.
I need to be able to use it on 2 at a time - I can foresee a time when both kids will be at a point that they both need it.....but I can't afford $60 (or $140!)
I joined the Singapore forums (for a different reason - I'm trying to find a schedule for DM 1A....it's in the Teacher's Guide, but I can't spend $30/guide - there's 2/year. $60 PER YEAR for the guide. I...there's 4 years....$240 for the teacher's manuals, just for schedules. Can't do that!) - someone mentioned Geogebra as a substitute for Geometer's Sketchpad.
I checked it out - it's FREE. From what I understand, some of the commands are different, but - FREE. Unlimited use, from what I can tell - I have it on my MacBook, on the kids' mini-Mac, and a portable copy on my external harddrive.
Himself's been playing with it this morning - said it's "Cool! When do we get to use it?" :lol:
I don't know if any of y'all'll need this, but I was happy to find it! (And, if you need a scientific calculator, Wal-Mart has TI ones for UNDER $20. They have the more expensive ones, too - but these have everything we need. Just wanted to pass that one on, too!)
Gotta go start school - we start at 9 now, to give Herself's meds time to work.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-15 01:46 pm (UTC)Secondary schools used to be called grammar schools -- which was a medieval term and used to distinguish them as teaching mainly the 3Rs while church schools taught the 3Rs and a lot of theology and church doctrine. Then some time around WW2 (IIRC) they started a more vocational set of secondary schools which catered to kids who weren't either not particularly smart or who didn't want an academic education. These were called secondary modern schools. If you wanted to go to university, you needed to go to grammar school first.
In the 60s they got all touchy-feely and ended streaming by ability and aptitude and created huge secondary schools that covered all abilities which were called "comprehensive" -- mainly because they comprehensively failed the majority of students. This was much more along the lines of the standard US school system and has been pretty much a disaster in both countries. It's great if you want to turn out people who are capable of consuming stuff and following orders. Unfortunately it's not so good when you need to turn out adults who can invent new stuff, adapt to changing circumstances, and make informed choices about what they buy.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-15 03:12 pm (UTC)i am shocked at how fast Himself is moving up in math. He blew thru 6a/b (which is SUPPOSED to equal 7th grade US math, although some people say no, it's 6th - whatever; according to the public school calendar, he's JUST NOW entering 6th grade), and he's breezed thru the first 2 lessons in DM. Not that I needed confirmation, but PS would NOT have been able to deal with him much longer - he was going to get bored. (He had no problems switching from Saxon Math (which sucks, but that's a whole 'nother post) which is a spiral-based program to Singapore, which is mastery-based.......and he's eating it up. I think I need to try and find what comes AFTER DM 4b.....because I'm pretty sure he'll need it. (Lord willing, of course! :wink:)