I have been gone from home 11 weeks due to multiple deaths and almost life ending injury to my mom. We cut school short. And we may start late. I am so behind planning. I did buy some curriculum this week and hopefully it will be there when I get home. My kids have been in another state with friends this last month, and DH is ready for me to be home. I'm mentally not in school mode. I may not be for awhile. Hoping the kids will jump in and do what they need to do this year. I'm just mentally exhausted from funerals and estate dealings. I still have a house 3k miles away from me to sell.... So no, school and the fact it is Aug isn't on my radar at all. I've been gone since May. Missed all of summer. I may not recognize my kids when I finally get home!

My kids are thriving with this company. We did IEW in middle school, but tried the SoVerbose essay classes and am pleased with the course and cost. They are now Lantern English. It is now 8 weeks for $60. They revamped the organization so what my kids took overlaps a few class titles now. You get an email on your day of the week and the assignment is written out with some examples(full essays in most cases). You then have 1 to 2 assignments due a week later. You email it back by end of day. Within a few days you get a graded report. Their rubric is super detailed. Many categories and levels so the score is easy to figure out where you are needing more work/help. The teacher then points out positives and things to work on. My kids emailed more than once to ask more specific questions about assignments. In one case the teacher approved my DS's idea, but agreed she didn't think it through when she read the final paper lol. She was fair about the grade since she had said he could proceed with the idea. They will give links to citation help but now have a citation class(yay!). Mine are taking the Citations in the fall, and will do Argumentative and Advanced essays this spring. I like the simplicity of this course. I like how easy it is to email questions. I like the report they get back. My writing phobic kid is doing great with this format. My writer is doing well with this format. It just works for us. I highly recommend. They do discounts for referrals, so if you decide to try it Teressa LaPrade is my name ?

everything I know about is mentioned above. Crossroads was on my list but expensive. Signs & Seasons(classical astronomy) wasn't what my dd wanted. She has this other program that was expensive and came with an astroglobe, but again was focused on the night sky and not so much all of astronomy. We bought the Masterbooks Survey of Astronomy. She's excited about it. I found and saved these but haven't used them. Thinking if the interest continues it gives us somewhere to go after the Survey course. http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/video/bettsclass/ https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-282j-introduction-to-astronomy-spring-2006/

my DS did Year 1 in 6th grade and loved it. he opted not to do Year 2. My DD did Year 1 in 8th grade. She liked the physics stuff only. She had done BJU Life in 7th, so no need to consider Year 2 for her. I wouldn't just plan 2 years of it. I would do the first year, and then try to find the 2nd to look at. I wasn't impressed with the 2nd year and I know someone who also felt the same way.

It is $54 for a standard ID card so two kids I'm at $108.

hmm ok maybe I'll just pay for the ID. It will cost me about $100 so I was hoping to avoid it for now. But I can see a need at this age. thanks

we aren't doing that test. my 9th and 10th grader will take the ACT this June for the first time. And try the SAT perhaps this fall. And then figure out which test they like better, study on that one and take it a few more times.

Be open to other ideas. My son took Environmental science in 9th. Biology for 10th. He will do Chemistry for 11th AND Geology. I don't know if he will take a science his 12th grade year since by then he will have 4 sciences. I just ask what he wanted to study. Biology was a main one colleges want to see so he had to do it. It's been a good year with Apologia and the student notebook. I asked for either chemistry or physics and he chose chemistry. The environmental science was his favorite and he's looking forward to Geology. So be open to other ideas than just the traditional ones.

My teens do not have a gov't issued ID. Neither have driver permits yet so they haven't needed an ID. I saw you can print out a form and get a photo with notarization. They are pretty nervous being their first big group test, so I don't want the ID thing to be a bigger issue. Is it better to just pay to get an ID or will the alternative photo form go smoothly? any other tips for taking the ACT for the first time you want to share? My DS wasn't able to do the PSAT this fall, so both my teens are new to this big testing in the PS.

Yep, been there, did that, and wish I had done it sooner. Heavy periods, serious PMS. I had cysts over the years, fibroids, and PCOS. And the endometriosis. My female parts were a mess. I had a Dr tell me about her hysterectomy and how happy she was. I met her OB Dr and this Dr agreed it needed to be done. Left my ovaries. Supposedly my cervix according to records but no Dr has been able to see one at check ups LOL. I haven't had any sudden menopause. My kids were younger and it was a hard 8 weeks of no driving, but in hindsight I'm glad I did it. I did have random bleeding for half a year. During s*x for over a year. Eventually it stopped. But the pain and heavy bleeding are over! I feel so much better now. The recovery was painful. Definitely don't drive for 8 weeks. It's so easy to hurt yourself if you push it sooner. My kids watched a lot of tv those weeks. They ate a lot of cereal and sandwiches they made for themselves. It's worth the effort to do the surgery.

LOL, well my neighbor and I just had this conversation. We were outside anyway and I went over to say hi. She asked me if we had decided to renew our rent...and I said yes, but sure enough I had to decide soon about another year. I asked if they were able to get another year and she said they were hoping for a long term lease. I asked her if she minded sharing what the new rate was. She did, and I shared mine. I do hope to use the info when I have to give a yes/no upcoming b/c she is paying a lot less than me. So in the right context it can help you both.

I agree that the age is too young to be done independently. Even if all were reading well, there is still a lot of foundational work to be done in those ages. I can't imagine trying to learn spelling and all the exceptions independently. Math would be better served with some hands on activities. You don't say why you don't want to teach them, but independent study is difficult for some teens, much less a child under age 10. You have to teach them to learn before they strive to do it themselves. Homeschooling doesn't have to be traditional school like either. Just playing together and talking about things can teach so much. Counting, drawing, writing, reading...you could give an excellent elementary education without a lot of curriculum for those ages and it would be just hanging out as mom with your kids instead of feeling like a teacher role.

obviously my recommendation goes with their history, but my Dd has learned so much with the Biblioplan Advanced Maps. It's a 4 year cycle, and it has a list at the bottom of the page of what to label each week...relating to the history they were studying. She can name rivers and mountain ranges and more easily now just glancing at a world map. They do sell the map workbooks on their site or you can even get a pdf I believe.

work on handwriting, cursive, doing longer bouts of copywork

We enjoyed their Latin. We did Prima Latina, Latina Christian, First & Second Form Latin. My kids also did some literature guides from them in middle school and enjoyed them very much. We did these with friends. The girls did a book and the work on their own, and did discussion together once a week. The boys the same way. It was a fun way to share lit with another homeschool family. After finishing, both groups watched a movie for their book. I would get more of those lit books. It's definitely more workbook style, but my kids enjoyed that kind of learning.

A VBS played it long ago and i left with my kids. I contacted the church about it and they said they needed pop songs to appeal to kids. And told me lots of churches in the area would probably welcome me. I volunteered a lot here, so i was shocked.

Evan Moore has Daily Geography for 1-6th. My kids loved these workbooks. Community to world, it was a large variety. And the Geography songs.

this is how we dealt with it. DS took Algebra 1. I learned it again with him and he truly earned the grade he got that year. I thought he would go into geometry. About 6 weeks in he begged to stop. He wasn't up for the challenge. Since math needs to happen yearly I though why not do an algebra review workbook. Critical Thinking had a book. Nope, a few weeks in he was struggling and wanted me to answer too many questions for a kid who passed this class just the previous year. At that point I put him in an online class that review algebra concepts for a semester. It was perfect. It proved to him he knew it already. It proved to me he was ready to go into geometry and I just needed to push him a little. on the transcript this actually is MS. I have it listed under credits earned before HS. Algebra 1 1cr. Solidifying Foundations of Algebra 1/2cr. I think any admissions person is going to see he had a review class and not question it.

trust your instinct. My son cried a lot as a baby, had stomach issues, constant runny nose. When we went on vacation the runny nose disappeared. It was about the same time as solid foods being introduced and I noticed some foods really upset him more. It took me weeks to convince the Dr to refer me to an allergy office. They made me feel horrible for putting my baby through a blood draw for allergies. Dr apologized to me saying he'd never seen a baby with pet allergies at such a young age. He also apologized about the food stuff b/c he just thought I was overreacting. My kid was allergic to milk and eggs and nursing wasn't good for him. I had to change my diet to keep breastfeeding. I had another allergist tell me years later he didn't believe any kid had food allergies and was willing to send me to Baltimore with Dr Wood to prove it. We left his practice, just a horrible doctor. So find one willing to listen, willing to test. Our current one asks what all you want tested while they are doing it . You don't need symptoms, just ask and they will test it.

I know people who do it but it is multiple days a week and one day is a different time due to late start that day. It controls their schedule. Not all states give access.

If you have multiple kids it's worth learning it alongside them. I had forgotten all my algebra knowledge so when DS did Algebra I got a video program with email support(askdrcallahan.com) and found that with videos questions came up that he couldn't wait on an email reply. We have used DO in the past and found the same situation. Email reply is often multiple days later. Instead I looked at the answer, figured out how they got there and then taught my son. I did the same thing through geometry (and this time the kids chose different programs and how it was taught but I learned both ways!) And now in Algebra 2 we started with a live class but my kids didn't like it. We are back to video based program and have had to wait for email answers, which means I'm looking at it, trying to work backward to find the answer. Today I was helping and looked for a practice problem that was the same kind of problem as the one they needed help with, and I just played with it until I could show them how to do it. I don't think math can ever be completely hands off unless you are willing to wait days for answers. I think it's worth learning alongside them. it shows them learning never ends. I try very hard to help them through a problem before we go to the email option. It's our last resort. We find youtube videos or Khan videos to help us figure things out before emailing. If you do DO just pay for the self grading option. It's cheaper. You grade. You have all the answers and now you can work backward to help them work through problems. And you will be so proud of yourself for learning it!!! You can still email for help.

Biblioplan splits US over 2 years. It would be Year 3 and then Year 4. it is with World History as well, but they have a companion text and now a younger kid text as well. But family discussions would be the same questions, just building to harder questions for the older kids. You can purchase extras for different age groups for more output as well. I think it works better for a split in ages than SL. You could just get the basic companion text and family guide. Then use the library for read aloud and readers. The family guide has plenty of options for all ages and it also lists movies and other ideas to add on. Like I said, they also have extras like maps and coloring pages and crafts, but it's not needed.

Evan Moore History Pockets would be a fun co-op thing to go through

I took my 8 week old on a 6 hour flight long ago...it was nerve-racking to feed and keep him quiet on that flight. Babies sleep a lot, so super young you could probably drive quite a bit in a day. If anything it's the dogs you will need to stop for. The baby is going to be held or sleeping if they weren't in the car...so it's not like a toddler who needs a stop every few hours to run around. Just plan the trip around the dog stops and I truly think the baby will be fine. Some of our best traveling was when we had a super young baby...simply b/c they slept!

Interesting b/c my dd puts back a lot of books at the library for sexual stuff she doesn't want to read about. Her choices. She always tells me if a book isn't something she wants to read and why. Some I had picked out from reading the jacket cover so she can let me know hahaha She feels like it all has too much sex in it. She just wants to read about a good hero and their adventure