Given the source of the original article, this does not surprise me at all. However, also given what is being cited....finding something like these quotes doesn't surpise me either. I don't know if I would assume they had been changed...one might hope....but I wouldn't assume. I would like to know WHY these older editions are quoted. Are there more recent editions or not? Did they just accept some free books someone had lying around? I doubt they would want to pay full price for new books, especially as they don't agree with most everything taught in them. Is it an innocent oversight or a nefarious attempt at its own form of propoganda? I can see it both ways. I would love it if someone asked the author of the article. <Personally, I would hope it is a case of sloppy journalism, but don't put anything past anybody.> BTW, I wouldn't defend Abeka or BJU for my own reasons. I think there are so many better curriculum options now, that going with an all BJU or all ABeka shows a certain lack of effort, IMHO. But, with any curriculum, I'm sure there are parts that are just fine and perfect for some people, and if someone is happy with it, good for them. I'm just not one of them...I could probably pull out more examples than those used in the article, in newer editions, of things that bother me about them. Am I going to post a long article about that? No.

In my city, they have vouchers that if you live in an "academic emergency" school area, you can use them at any number of private/charter schools. It is up to the parent to choose which school they want the tax dollars to go to. If that parent wants to send their kid to a school using Abeka, or a Catholic school, French immersion, or any other approved school on the list... they can. If the school district cannot provide a decent education with the $$ they were already given, then I am totally cool with the parents going where they want. Whatever the curriculum or religion. The state had it's chance and failed. The sad part is that my neighborhood is one of these areas, and ALL parents have this same choice, and most choose to leave their kid in a crappy school. :tongue_smilie: They can even send them to any number of high performing public magnets, and don't.

LOL! We are few and far between, that's for sure! :D Except, I am an agnostic.

I grew up with an Ali, short for Alison. Girl. By itself, I would assume it to be a last name, pronounced like it would be by a famous boxer. I would never think it was a male first name.

I do too, albeit a half effort. I am doing this right now!:D

This needs to be my avatar!

Actually, all these thoughts help. I think initially, I was reacting to the comments about being too much.... and tried to show how really, it wasn't...and then it looked wishy-washy. History... I am doing it a bit differently this year, than in the past, and I want to see how that goes. We have done a pretty decent job on history, Ancients, European, U.S., back to ancients last year... but the history that I have used is doing Eastern history in 4 units, and I just don't want to do it this year. I will be able to do them as modules in the future, which I will do. We are going to finish the Roman Empire, the lectures from my class this year... and don't worry... I will go more in depth...Ancient Rome is my favorite. ;) I am ony doing civics-type stuff because of the election. I wanted to focus a bit more on science this year, I think. As far as flitting around like a butterfly from thing to thing, if we don't do that, we will all kill each other. We all get a bit bogged down and instead of slogging through, discouraged and grumpy, we switch to something else for a while. It can be helpful to study things from a different angle every so often. That's sort of the way we do it here, for better or worse. FYI, I didn't list all the lit things, really. MCT has 3 books (one of which is an overlap in EIL), and I will likely do units 1-3, and 1-2 more from Intro to Lit. That is not including free reading and lit that they must read, but I won't have them do any work on. I am so glad you guys gave your input. It is really helping me sort out my thinking. I am not a good planner or scheduler, I sort of rebel against it, and do my best to sobotage it, to boot. I am more of a big picture girl. Trying to get it a bit more together this year, as my quasi-pre-highschool, half highschool adventure looms. I doubt that Lit. Analysis will be covered in IEW class. I hate IEW, lol. I will be doing that with the MCT, some help from Figuratively Speaking, and my own brain. Need to se what I can clump, and what I can spread out, sharpen all my pencils...then drink a bottle of wine and whinge a bit.:D

Actually, I think you might be right. ARG! I just don't know! And my kids are not particularly cooperative, either. What joy! :lol:

Does this make a bit more sense? When I do it this way, it looks like nothing! Also, I will be doing a combo of a clump study and a year long study, depending on the subject.

Thanks J! Is anything popping out at you as missing? I have been seriously burned out this year. It feels like I am leaning pretty heavily on online/outside classes/content...which I can't quite figure out. Am I doing that to take a load off, am I being lazy, is it best for my kids? Ugh. Just feeling lost. :tongue_smilie:

Can you guys please look over my choices for my sons' 7th grade, 8th/9th hybrid combo list? Am I forgetting anything? Am I crazy? :D Language Arts MCT level 5 (ML 2, WWW 2) with Online G3 Parts of EIL Intro to Lit MCT Time Traveler Trilogy Lit Logic of English Spelling (I was a beta tester on this), Apples & Pears supplement for my horrid speller Math Life of Fred Begininning Algebra Zaccaro Real World Algebra Kahn Academy, Vi Hart videos History Continue Roman history (finish up last year's stuff) Presidents, elections etc. Thinkwell Government (DVD) Discovering Music (this seems to be more history than music) Science First part of year... Plato Earth & Space Science second part of year... Thinkwell Biology Plato life science Misc. Visual Latin Italian Typing Logic Fencing Co-op Classes* IEW writing Spy Academy 7th grade- battles of the world 8th- Apologia physical science*, acting *don't know how this will go. This is a Christian co-op (I'm Agnostic, my kids are Athiests), but they are slightly inclusive. I am a bit curious how it turns out. Part of what I hope they learn is to get along with people they wouldn't normally be around, and being tolerant of other ideas. If it doesn't pan out, we will do MCT AAW 1. I will have Brainpop and Discovery Ed streaming through OG3 as well. Am I missing something vital? Am I overdoing something else? I doubt I will finish everything, anyway. I am hitting a wall with my thinking....and I need to plan at least 6 weeks of stuff. :banghead: THANKS IN ADVANCE~:D

Isn't it a drag looking for good Italian curriculum? EVERYTHING is Spanish. Ugh. I bought this last week, from a woman whose son used it in a CC class. My husband (native Italian) gave it a big thumbs up. http://www.amazon.com/Oggi-In-Italia-Course-Italian/dp/0618678123/ref=pd_sim_b_1

I agree with the above poster. If you are nervous, get a nice and easy, or just for gray type color....there are also some at the store that are more "natural" than others. But really, it's hair dye, you are not going to get away from chemicals. ;) Otherwise they just won't work, or might stain your skin. Dying your hair is no big deal. You'll do fine. If you want to do a professional job first, go for it. The only real way it will look abviously dyed is if you go with a serious black. Do not do highlights at home.

I couldn't vote...as that gated community doesn't do anything for me....but would say to try to be "in the city." I don't consider Athens a city, lol. I consider it a college town. I live in Cincinnati and I consider this a small city, and it is at least 3X the size of Athens, likely more. The country sounds nice, but it has some serious drawbacks. Considering that your husband is leaning towards that commute...you should really look at it, though. He might not like it after a few months of driving it though! You kids might also want something more. Oh well. Seriously, that gated community sounds like a version of my personal nightmare, though. ;)

It's easy. Letter of intent (which states that you have a high school diploma, will provide a minimum or 900 hours of instruction, list of general coursework), list of resources and list of curriculum both for informational purposes only. End of year, you send in an assessment (with new notification- otherwise not needed, school will assess) that is one of 3 things. Comp score only of a nationally normed test 25th percentile and above, signed letter from an Ohio certified teacher or someone else mutually agreed upon. I can send you a copy of my stuff as an example. I only change dates and tweak some stuff each year. Takes like, 6 minutes. :D

There are lots of different people who did that. Some who were very religious types, some who were unschooler/hippie types, some who were in the middle. Are you implying that HSLDA had something to do with this directly? I doubt that, but honestly, I haven't looked it up. Heck, my dad started a thing called "The Parent's School" in Chicago in the mid 1960's. A group of 10 or so like minded parents who didn't want to send their kids to either a private, public or parochial inner city school. My brothers did this until 4th & 5th grade. Also, people should still try to find out about their state options first, before going to any nationwide "Agency."

It is sad, though not surpising, that H$LDA comes up so quickly when people first start looking for HS resources. I wish that wasn't the case. Look for state and local homeschool groups first. No state has laws that are too confusing or difficult. Heck, anyone on this board can do a very good job of answering any state questions you might have. All you need to do is to know your states rules and regs. Know them well. Print them out and keep them in a binder near the door if you must. If you follow your states rules and regs, and know them, that's all you really need. If you are involved in a nasty divorce, or dealing with CPS or a crazy district, you might need some help...but not from HSLDA, IMHO. There are other people better suited to that, and why put the cart before the horse? 99.8% of HSers have no real problems that would require legal assistance. Good luck with your HS journey! Don't be afraid to ask any questions here!:D

Wow, that's some extra shiny customer service. :tongue_smilie:

I just picked that out of a hat out of many that I would consider difficult to get a job in a field with that degree. All the people who I know with philosopy degrees are doing something totally different. One owns a company that fabricates museum installations, another teaches 7th grade English. I could have picked something else...it doesn't really matter what....my point was somewhat nebulous...

To play devil's advocate....is it possible that your kid isn't in those classes, as he showed proficiency? There might be a whole slew of lower level clases that you don't know about (or aren't listed that way, but are), or I am just totally wrong. Either is perfectly legitimate. I have many friends who teach at colleges and unversities and they are horrified by the level of ability kids come in with. Also, the best professors usually don't teach 1st or 2nd year classes anyway, right? ;)

Isn't the first 2 years of most colleges (obviously not all) now almost considered remedial? I keep hearing stories about freshmen and sophomores needing to do intro classes that are basically high school level content. I think that as so many kids now go to college that wouldn't have in the past, it has changed what that degree actually means. It is sort of like high school plus, or making sure you learned what used to be standard high school content....and a higher degree is the one that starts to mean something. I find it quite sad. Due to this general dumbing down, I think that the education my kids will eventually receive will be superior to many high school graduates. I plan on having mine test out of, get credit for, be creative and flexible when it comes to a bachelor's degree. I want them to have a good handle on what they might really want to do beforehand, as I won't tolerate or help pay for wishy-washy degrees. If my kid is really into philosophy, he can study that on his own time. ;) I hope to raise autodidacts. I also could care less about college in one way, as I know for a fact you can have a great life without the degree. I would prefer them to be self-made anyway. So, I don't really fit. I educate for academic reasons, and plan on giving my kids the chance to do many things....one of which can be go to college. Hopefully, I can give them enough skills and knowledge that if they choose not to play that particular game...they will still be exceptionally well educated. Does this make sense?:D

I would say that the Sherlock Holmes series from the 80s with Jeremy Brett is a great series. Totally age appropriate. And excellent.

Just so you know, a feature I just figured out on my nook.... There is a setting where you can block all images when on the net. I am doing this from memory, so you'll need to figure it out yourself...but if you go on web, then click on the little list thing in the R hand upper corner and select one of the settings....can't remember which. When you find the right menu there is a setting for "load images" click OFF. Even if the kid gets to a p* *n site, the images will not come up. Wish I found that feature sooner! :tongue_smilie:

I am pretty sure it is NOT being offered again. I am signed up for a class in the fall and seem to remember after reading a letter or registration page saying to myself..."Wow! I'm glad I signed up for a class!" as I was looking into the DE/brainpop thingy. They also raised their normal class price by $25.

LOL, I moved out of Chicago in '92. How funny. I'll be in town probably Wed. & Thursday, then back in again after my trip to Wisconsin. I'll wave. :D