I second sewing when we can't find what we want at thrift stores. A-line skirts and tiered skirts are simple without a pattern. Michelle has a good site for how to measure. And there are some really easy skirt patterns you can buy. You can use one pattern and change it up a bit to get different looks. Sewing skirts for LO's is really easy and doesn't take much fabric. I have even taken apart a skirt I really liked and used it for a pattern to make my dd skirts.

I am going with my 18 year old daughter to see Cinderella in Nashville tomorrow. Anyone know of a great place to stay for the night? Thanks! Nicole

Oh this is great! My daughter is going to be so surprised. Thank-you all so much. I love the idea about doing it as you go through the year. I didn't realize you could save as you go, then order the book. I also love the idea of blogging to keep a record of your homeschooling days. I never thought of that. Maybe I'll start a blog.... Thank you Ladies so much! You are always so wonderful. Nicole

Does anyone know if you can take your blog posts and pictures and make it into a book? Is any one place better than others? If you have been successful, any advice? I'm looking to do this for my daughter's blog. Thank-you so much! Nicole

Thanks so much for answering! I needed that confirmation!

DD is 17 and not sure when she will graduate. Either 2012 or 2013. It depends on what path she takes. I'm signing her up for the SAT and wondering what I should put for expected graduation date? Will it matter which date? I guess I'm wondering if I put 2013, but she ends up being able to graduate in 2012, will this matter? Hope this makes sense! Thank-you, Nicole

Hi Chrystal! I'm chiming in late, but had a thought I wanted to share. College Plus is a way for her to get credit for high school courses as well as credit for college. She can do it without outside help, but it is more work for the both of you to plan it all out. Especially since you have to be careful with cleps since not all colleges accept all of the tests. We are just now looking into it as a possibility, so I don't know all of the ins and outs, but our friends LOVE it. College Plus has walked their dd through the process of having a plan... which courses to take for dual credit and her degree.... which courses she can clep....which she needs to take on line, etc. She will graduate in May at 19 with a degree and some of it was done while in high-school, so she received dual credit. An option especially since she is smart and motivated to excel. She can also set the pace, so she doesn't have to get burned out and can spend time with her dad and family. I think our friend was able to do it all for about $12,000........finish Highschool AND get a college degree by 19!

WOW! You were up late last night. I wanted and needed to be up, but I was just way too tired. I'll look into Nutrition 101. I was thinking about something along those lines.... nutrition/health. Ds is into sports and meds and maybe fitness, health, nutrition would be a good add in or elective type course. Hmmm... more to think about. Thanks so much, Jennifer for your thoughts! Nicole

jibaker, I just checked out the website you listed. It is great! I love some of her ideas to include with Anatomy. And I think her schedule will be helpful if I tweek it a bit as you are doing. I love the free printables as well. Thanks a bunch! Nicole

Thank-you all for taking the time to reply! I see it must be doable to work thru the whole text this year. I do have the workbook and love how it is written out, but it does seem like so much in each chapter. Maybe I will supplement with it as well. I'll have to think about that. I'm not sure how much he should learn if he is wanting to go in a medical field. I did spend some time yesterday with the books during my nephews naptimes and I think it will be easy enough to plan out the main text and try to supplement as we go with the others as neccessary. Lagirl, I'm happy to see your dd is enjoying it, my ds is 15 and is excited about science this year! What do you all think about the BODIES exhibit? Maybe that should be a different post......But, I don't know if I could stomach it and I think as tough as my ds can be...he may be able to only take so much! Ofcourse, that is my thought. He may say different.LOL Thank-you again! Nicole

There isn't anyone using these books for Anatomy? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks~ Nicole

I am trying to work out a schedule for the year. We unexpectedly have my 6yo nephew living with us for a while. He has been through a lot and needs a lot of attention. We have a 2yo living with us as well. I'm having a hard time finding time to figure out some of our schedules for the year. I have a senoir and a 10th grader this year and I think I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I can work out this book alone, but he is also going to use Body by Design, The DK Human Body Book and DVD and an anatomy coloring book. Does anyone already have a schedule for combining these and wouldn't mind sharing? Are you going to do all of the Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology? It seems like a lot and was also wondering if this was going to be too much. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Many many thanks in advance, Nicole

My dd just finished WHL. She chose to write about honey bees. I am horrible about choosing topics myself, so I suggested she write about something she wanted to learn more about. She has always wanted our family to have bee hives and thought this might encourage us to get on the ball! It worked and since we all learned so much from her research, we are going to have our own honey! Choosing to research something she was interested in really helped her stay motivated while learning the ropes to research papers.

I think I'll rewrite this post. Anyone have any ideas between these two? Thanks so much!

Thanks Jan. My dd is also interested in Botany. What did your dd use for this coarse?

If you aren't going into a science field in college, do you have to take Chemistry in high school to graduate from high school? If you do, will you have to take chemistry in college s part of the core classes? Thanks in advance. My dd is asking these questions. Nicole

We have always told our kids to call us if they ever want or need to come home if they are away. I don't see it as failure at all. Especially if they are only 11. We have always had a rule you finish what you start, but overnighters are different here. There may be serious reasons they want to come home and can't verbalize it. They may just not be ready to be gone from us for that long at that stage. I think it also takes away some of the fear or anxiety knowing they can come home if they need to. Nicole

Sorry, I meant to add, that I am not familar with ambleside, so I am not sure if the figures would be a good match. But, my guess would be you could use any set of figures for the time period you are studying. I'm not sure though.... There are a few MFW highschool users around, so maybe they will give better help. Nicole

We have used MFW timeline for ancients and world, and I think you could easily use a different one or make your own. My kids don't like how long the MFW timeline book is anyway. They say it is awkward and doesn't fit on the shelf easily. If I could do it over again, I would probably just put up a long roll of paper down the hallway. ( I am very visual) Or, get a drawing pad, because it has sturdier paper, and add in the timeline figures in the order they are supposed to go. Make sure you put the correct dates at the top corners. The MFW timeline book does have colored lines for help with placement and that did help. But, I don't see why you couldn't do that yourself. HTH Nicole

Me too.:bigear:

Thank-you for the suggestion, Sue! I will look into it. Any physical therapists out there who could give some ideas?

sports medicine and/or physical therapy degree? He wants to pursue this and I want to plan out the rest of HS. Besides what subjects to cover, any ideas on hands on learning, jobs, mentoring, etc? Thanks so much! Nicole

My dd has done MUS geometry in about 3 months. She is 17, though, and wasn't doing any other subject during that time. She made A's and B's through the whole course.

Maybe you and your daughter could read the book.... I kissed Dating Goodbye by Josh Harris It has some wonderful examples of how to deal with girl boy friendships, courting, etc. I wish this book was out when I was a teen. It would have answered sooo many of my questions and confirmed so much of how I wanted to handle things. Nicole

I once had a phobia of spiders. At home, I would frequently have nightmares and would actually be standing on my bed pointing hysterically to a huge non realistic spider thing I imagined was dangling from my ceiling. But, I grew up camping with my family and my parents loved primitive camping. As far off the beaten path the better. We never used tents. Always slept on the ground in sleeping bags or army cots. Although when we went camping, I never had those nightmares. Maybe because I didn't feel trapped in the house with a huge spider, I felt safe. I don't really know why. I have never thought about it until I read your post. Now I'm intrigued, because we were out in the deep woods in the mountains a lot. We camp with our children now, but even though we have primitive camped a few times, I much prefer sleeping in a tent without holes :) and camping in a campground that is maintained. Other than a few ants and mosquitos they are pretty much safe. Depending on the time of year when bugs seem more plentiful, we have sprayed around the outside of the tent at night to keep little pests out. And bring peace of mind. Wearing long light weight pants and shirts and the pants tucked into your boots or socks will help if your concerned about ticks while hiking. But, if you stay on a well beaten trail and stay out of tall grasses or brush you should be fine. We try not to use bug sprays, but when we are going to be hiking in a more wild area, I make everyone spray it on. We even spray around the bottom of our pants and socks. It does help. My last thought would be to try a state park to camp. They are very manicured. Most ticks and spiders like more wild areas or tall brush. I liked the idea of another poster who suggested taking small steps. Maybe put up the tent on a porch or deck then try the backyard for a night. You could get more used to it without being far from home, then try a campground. My kids love it when we "camp" at home. Best wishes and hope some of this helps.