Soon to be 10. It doesn't have to be completely independent (I can help with experiments), but I don't have time to read everything to her so I wanted video or audio. I will check out BJU.

I did end up taking my dd out of school. We are doing interest based science for the rest of the year with a lot of dvd's and books from Learning Ally. But I am looking for options for next year. This is one subject I don't like to teach or create so I need something that she can be more independent with. I am looking for something audio/video/ or computer based. I can't do something pricey like supercharged science. I like the looks of the Apologia elementary because they have some on CD but not all. I looked through the archives with Aha Science being recommended, but can't get any links or searches to work for it. Maybe they are out of business? Any ideas?

I make my own. Super easy. I buy an old wool sweater for the inside of the ball because if you make them with just carded wool, they are expensive to make.

My 6th grader is in private school. He does Ela ( which includes grammar, spelling, writing, literature, and vocabulary), math, science, history/geography, Latin, religion, physical education, and music (1x per week, art was last semester)

I am not homeschooling anyone at the moment, and I am very involved in the school/classroom. I think after homeschooling so long I just feel the need to be involved. Also, she is at a private school, no remediation there, but accommodations thus the need for the tutor.

Everything I read on school refusal says not to let them stay home and don't homeschool.

After I wrote my post this morning, I got my daughter up for school only to be greeted with the same tears from last night and a flat out refusal to go. As the morning progressed, she screamed, cried, and wouldn't get dressed. After 30 minutes or so she agreed to get into the car in her pajamas. I grabbed her clothes and when we got there I explained what was going on. I briefly talked with the counselor. She then came out to the car, and told my daughter she was supposed to be in school. My daughter is very shy, fearful,and normally obedient so she got out. The counselor didn't have time to continue talking with me, but she said she would talk with my daughter. I am exhausted.

Actually her tutor thinks she is being manipulative not the school...or at least they haven't said that.

Update:things haven't improved yet. (I realize it hasn't been hat long) She continues to cry and melt down often. Her dyslexia tutor thinks she is manipulating us so we will give in and homeschool her. I was upset to say the least. My daughter is obviously stressed, and her advice is for us to tell her that "we know this is hard, but school is what we have chosen for you." That doesn't sit well with me. Could it be that she is just putting on a show and manipulating us?

I think many teens (and boys especially) need some outside accountability. That could be dual credit classes, coops, public or private school, or even a online correspondence school or several classes. Answering to someone else is so helpful. Teens need to be kept busy during their non-school times with a job, sports, or other outside classes and opportunities for social activities. We had no outside accountability with our first 2, and it was hard for me. #3 and 4 are in high school at a private school (it has been wonderful for them). My last 3 I am not sure what we will do yet. My now 8th grader is not going to be able to go to the same high school as the older 2 because it is a classical, VERY academically challenging school. That is not her. So it will be public school or homeschooling with lots of outsourcing.

I think it is a great program for moms who need something to lighten the load, for math-resistant kids, those that have a hard time paying attention or like computers, etc. I do think it is behind so use the placement tests. My ds, now a senior in private school, used TT for many years including algebra. He was able to pass and receive credit for high school for algebra 1 so TT helped him enough.

I find her stuff quite annoying. She has some views like this regarding unschooling as well.

My problem was the enforcement. If I gave them chores for whining, they would melt down and whine more! Usually the best thing was to ignore (usually in my locked room) and then proceed once they got themselves together because they knew there was no play time until it was done.

He is immature and blames everyone and everything except himself for his troubles. I get tired of hearing it. I have a feeling if I would have sent him to school he would have still blamed me.

Do they ever question, doubt, or blame you for their unconventional education? I saw on a blog post by someone with adult homeschooled children saying that her children at times disagreed with being homeschooled (after the fact) My 22 year old son blames me for his poor social skills and what he says is an inferior education. I am just wondering if this is a common phase.

I hate AR! I really think it is a dumb way to try to motivate children to love reading. My dc goals are set and they find that level by some type of testing they did. No real punishment for not reaching it, (if they do some) but rewards for reaching it.

I used Great Schools as a starting place for my info. Lots of detailed info on demographics.

Thought I'd post an update. All the teacher's did an ADHD eval as well as us. Nothing indicated that she should be tested for it. Special ed teacher observed her in 2 different classes and says she is fidgeting a lot thinks it's from being anxious. They are going to implement a few more accommodations to see if that helps. I felt good after talking with the special ed teacher, but my dd is still crying a lot and begging to stay home. We are going to see if she improves with these changes. Thanks for the help.

Burnout will usually go away with time (relatively quickly) and the normal suggestions of changing things up, taking a break, etc. Depression doesn't usually just go away. I have a lot on my blog about depression and burnout. Here are a few to get you started. burnout or something more depression and the homeschool mom

If you homeschool, make sure he has lots of social opportunities. I know from my teens that I homeschooled, they needed lots of that. If you are in a small town or rural, that will be hard and will further limit your work. I personally think going to high school is good for a lot of boys. I have done both.

I wish I could do that. Her tutor is the dyslexia coordinator in a school district in another town so she is in school all day. I am going to see about the other evaluations too.

Just remembered I had this on my pinterest page. I haven't read through it. painting tile floors

I would love to know. I hate the color of my tile, but there is no money to replace it.

I had her evaluated last spring, when she was homeschooling, through the school district. It was a test for dyslexia only because that is what I thought was going on so we started there. I may look into some outside testing. Thanks