Things are going well in these parts.  My youngest is well again.  He is coming along nicely on his times tables.  We are using Professor B Math with him and I'm pleased with the out come I have experienced over the last two years.  This is year three with the program.  It's a different way of thinking and doing for me so it's a little more difficult again for me.  My son on the other hand is doing wonderfully.  He doesn't know that he is doing thing that people his age and grade aren't supposed to be doing yet.  He is able to add and subtract into the trillions and is now multiplying 10 digit numbers by 2 and 3.  He understands that multiplying any number by 1 gives you the number that you started with and that no matter how many times you give someone nothing you still get nothing.  Not bad for a second grader in his second week of school.

My ninth grader is using Teaching Textbook's Algebra I course.  He is doing well.  Granted some of it is review of last years work but in two weeks of school I've only had to have him correct two problems.  I really like this curriculum.  It is clear and thorough in it’s instruction to the point that, while we bought the CDs as well as the books, our son has only used the book and is doing fine.  With the exception of my grading his work, I just hand him the book and he runs with it.  I haven't had to explain anything.  This is important to me because he only has four years left before college.  He needs to learn to be self directed if he is going to make it. 

My two college boys are doing well also.  My eldest, who always had a little trouble fitting in when he was younger because he is such a geek, is a "little" less geeky and amazingly enough it's OK because he is surrounded by people just as nerdy as he is so he fits in just fine.  He is doing well in his classes.  I am a little troubled by his Calculus II class though.  When he was at the local community college his math classes ran pretty much the way we did them at home.  He would work on a lesson, bring his finished work to class where it would be discussed and any difficulties explained and corrected.  The only thing handed in for grades were tests.  At OSU his work has to be e-mailed to his instructor to be graded.  This means that he may not understand that his is doing his work incorrectly until the paper is handed back.  Then he doesn't necessarily know why it was wrong and how to do it correctly.  If he doesn't know any of this before a test he could be in real trouble.

As for his younger brother, He has gotten a substantial raise at work.  He was able to get all his classes scheduled for two days a week.  This means that he can work three days a week.  This made his boss a little happier.  He was hinting hard and heavy that he didn't want him to go part time again this year.  I know that he can use the help and that my son is reliable but this isn't what he wants to do with the rest of his life.  His boss knew this when he hired him; he really can't expect our son to set aside his goals.  This year our son is taking Film Arts to meet his Fine Arts requirement, New Student Orientation (yes it's his second semester but it will fill his Psyc, requirement without messing with his head,) Eng. Comp II, and Photograph (just because he has inherited his fathers love of photograph.)  The math courses were all filled so he will have to catch that next semester.