Dave, We only did the Fred Fraction. We read the book together and we did help him with some of the calculations. For example he could figure out how to calculate the number of reasons for a new bike in a year, but he couldn't do the calculation himself. He could tell me what to multiply, but it was me doing the multiplication (he can do it on his own now but not back in fall).

I know that according to the author the long division is a requirement for this book and DS5 couldn't do it then (he just learned it with 1 digit divisor last week), but I cared about the concept. He eventually lost the interest and we didn't finish reading the book. Do I think he is ready for the book? Yes, I do.

He is in Montessori right now and even though they were usually a few steps behind what he could do home, he got a good practice there. I must admit that he got lots of good practice there. We are all for explaining new concepts and bringing new ideas, but not that good when it comes to practicing. I guess new things and new problems is where the fun and excitement is. We will homeschool next year and we will have to change our attitude a little bit smile

As for math geeks. In my books anybody with PhD in theoretical physics must be one smile As for us think gifted math & science schools, a prestigious math university (neither one of us did BS or MS in US, DH got PhD in US), advanced degrees in math related fields. You know people who think that evening spent trying to solve a problem from IMO is a well spent evening smile PM for you with more info.

I don't know how to make them love math. I hope they will and I hope they will find it fascinating. I am not really sure how one gets there. We kind of hope that it will sort of happen. Judging by my DH's family, it is possible. You are years ahead of us and you have much more insight. Have you tried any of the logic puzzle books by Raymond Smullyan? I use to love them back in middle school. I think they show the beauty of math and logic.

We usually talk about math during dinner time and not much beyond that. We do bring up new thinks and even sort of out of the order (probably not a good idea), sometimes he can do it, sometimes it's just too much. It's fun to test what he is ready for. I am all for learning math on their own level. Forget the age, they can and should learn whatever they are ready for.

I hear you on more than one resource. How does one manage that? I fully understand where you are coming from, but I can see myself overdoing it and trying to do way too much, like reading about the same things from more books and perhaps creating double the work just because each book is slightly different.

Kimck, exactly. I would like a teacher which cares about math. A teacher who makes him figure it out instead of giving him the solution. Somebody who understands why the algorithm works not only that it works.

Last edited by LMom; 03/16/08 07:05 PM.

LMom