I completely missed the boat on teaching my DS (now 8) cursive. frown He utterly begged me to teach him cursive in Kindergarten. An older boy on the block showed it to him and he became completely entranced. The Kindergarten teacher literally forbade me from teaching it to him. His left-handed scribbles were readable, but she wanted him to practice printing in order to master it. Same thing occurred in first grade. In second grade his handwriting was still rather poor, comparatively. Then he was accelerated mid-year, missing the second grade instruction on cursive. I don't know if it is because he feels slightly behind, but he as lost all interest in learning cursive. And his handwriting in 4th grade is noticeably abysmal. Any suggestions anyone?

Ahhh. The things we would change if we could go back in time....

As far as physics references... My DH, who teaches Conceptual Physics on occasion, recommended the author Paul Hewitt. He is a physicist and a cartoonist who has a knack for taking difficult concepts and explaining them simply. Conceptual Physics is what we would have called 'Physics for Poets' many years ago. It focuses on the big ideas of physics and uses very little math. (only algebra on occasion, as opposed to engineering physics which uses calculus). Hewitt writes many of the high school and college text books (for non-science, english major types), so they may be a little dry and dense for younger kids if they are used to flashy cartoons and images. But they do convey the ideas quite clearly and easily for this crowd. I wouldn't plunk down serious cash for any of his books for fear of it being too dry, but they would be great finds for ebay, a used book store, or the library. I just noticed that Amazon has a cartoon version (paperback) aimed at kids. I haven't read it yet (big disclaimer!), but I might see if the library has it.

Touch This! Conceptual Physics for Everyone (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/Touch-This-Co...p;s=books&qid=1219585397&sr=1-10

Other books that looked interesting were:
Physics, Fun, and Beyond: Electrifying Projects and Inventions from Recycled and Low-Cost Materials (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Fun-Beyond-Electrifying-Inventions/dp/0131856731/ref=pd_sim_b_njs_4

The Flying Circus of Physics (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/Flying-Circus-Physics-Jearl-Walker/dp/0471762733/ref=pd_sim_b_njs_3

The Flying Circus looks like it is less of a textbook on physics and more of a "wow... look at all the cool things about physics" kind of book. It could be kind of cheesy, but sometimes cheese is necessary in order to hold their attention. Again, I haven't read any of these books, and would probably try to get them from the library.

Another reference that I found on Amazon is a list for "Introductory Physics for Homeschoolers":

http://www.amazon.com/Introductory-...IKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0F8HMEZTHSDD6FAJ36TE

Hopefully it will have some useful suggestions for physics!! Both DH and I are physicists, so if you run across any material that you have questions about during the year, please feel free to PM me.


Mom to DS12 and DD3