http://nourishingtraditions.com/

This might work for the high school level: http://healthyhome-ec.blogspot.com/p/abou-this-curriculum.html

We have had a "homeschool room" for about five years now, ever since we moved into this house. When we moved in, the room we chose was already nicely painted (tan), so we just left it that way. We also had a somewhat middle elementary look to the room -- charts, maps, workbox drawers, and so on -- but after five years, it was time for a change. This summer, I emptied, cleaned, and painted the room. I had read that painting a room a pale yellow helps with concentration. I could use all the help I can get with that, and our winters here (NJ) are long and gray. So I painted the ceiling and window trim a nice, bright white and the walls a sunny yellow. It turned out to be a bit brighter than I had envisioned it, but we all love it now. In addition to a good overhaul with the cleaning and painting, I took out everything that we will not use for this year, except for our history bookshelves and our science bookshelves. But everything else has to justify its presence in this room! My homeschool storage space is on very sturdy (homemade) shelving in the (very dry) basement. I keep all of our work, all of it, and always have, so it just goes in a Home Depot box, gets labelled with the year(s), and stored down on the shelves. Materials that we will use again (or later) are also stored in the basement. It would drive me to distraction to have it "all" in the homeschool room. I have a hard time with focusing, so less is more for me. Also, with the make-over, I wanted an older, more "mature" look to the room, with less stuff hung up on the walls and just an overall more "living room" feeling. We have a nice, cushy recliner and carpet in one corner. I sewed some floral valences to dress up the windows, and softened them with lace panels behind the valences. Most of the walls are basic bookshelves (be sure to anchor them!) full of books and bins. We have four sturdy work tables in the center of the room, one for each of us. This allows each student to accomplish her own grade-level work, but since we do so many of our content subjects as a group, it's nice to be able to have that "rectangular table" discussion. There is one computer at another table, a few lamps, a few CD players, a fireplace we have never used, LOL.... some other stuff that I'm too lazy to turn around and see.... It's nice because this room is right next to a bathroom (convenient and quick!), just upstairs from the laundry room (making switch-outs convenient and quick), and near the kitchen (making lunch and supper prep easy to do while still keeping an eye on things). We have another computer at the other end of the house that the girls use for French, typing practice, and composition, but it's locked out for internet access when no one can supervise them there. I will try to post some photos later. At the moment, my camera battery is dead, which means the kids have been using my camera...

A few more thoughts about CLE Math -- We always skip the #1 book (401, 501, 601, etc.), because it is all review. My kids do "slow math" over the summer, so they don't need the review. By "slow math" I mean that they must complete the #2 book (402, 502, 602, etc.) over the summer, at whatever pace they feel like doing (sort of ;)), just so long as we work through it before we start back up again in late August or early September. What this does is take off some pressure, eliminate the need for the #1 book, and remind them that they really do have it easy in the summer time, LOL. We end up working through Light Units 3 through 10 during the school year. So eight books, instead of ten. Also, we skip these lessons: Lesson 5 (Quiz 1, no new content), Lesson 10 (Quiz 2), and Lesson 17 (Just for Fun or Discoveries or something like that?). I do make them do the drills for Lessons 5 and 10 at the levels that have drills, but otherwise they just go straight from Lesson 4 to Lesson 6, for example. So.... this means we have reduced the workload from 170 lessons (17 lessons x 10 books) to 112 lessons (14 lessons x 8 books), plus a bit of summer work (14 lessons). We do not do this to accelerate math, actually. We are not trying to either "catch up" or "get ahead." We use CLE this way to make math a year-long, manageable, meaningful part of our lives, without sacrificing our ability to do other things that we also value. I don't want my students' days to be hours and hours of math (at this level, at least). If they were math-oriented students and it was a matter of their own choice, that would be fine by me. But since that isn't the case with any of my girls (so far), the best approach seems to be to simply and painlessly get math done. CLE has really fit the bill for us for a number of years, and hopefully the transition from CLE 800 into Saxon Algebra won't be too agonizing for my oldest this year. I hope these logistics will help you as you plan, Hobbes. Have a great year!

The levels for 4th grade and below have flash card practice AND speed drills/mastery drills (as separate components, but the reminders to do them are built into the lesson). So those components do take a little extra time. I think the lessons themselves are kept a bit shorter (than later levels), in order to accommodate the time it takes the student to practice the math facts. I'm thinking maybe 30 minutes from start to finish? LOL, that was the year before last, so it's a blur for me. KWIM? CLE Math 500 drops the flash cards, but still has the speed/mastery drills. By CLE Math 600, the separate drills have dropped out, but have been incorporated into the lessons, which are a bit longer (or seem to be so, to the student). I still think the whole thing took my 5th graders about 20-30 minutes? My oldest completed all of CLE Math 600 (except 601) and all of CLE Math 700 (except 701), and there have been times when the lessons take us 45 minutes to complete, from start to finish. But my oldest has always taken a long time to work through math, not because she doesn't concentrate (she does), but because that's just the way she does math. She just plods. I don't think it would make any difference what math program we were using. We're planning to work through CLE Math 800, along with Saxon Algebra I, for 8th grade and into 9th grade. I think it will help her to transition to Saxon, to have CLE as part of her math course this year, and IMO it's okay if she takes longer than one year to complete Algebra I. The way we tend to work through the lessons is as follows: the student independently (a) does the flash cards, if any, (b) completes the speed/mastery drill, if any, (c) reads through the lesson [new material], but does not complete the exercises, (d) does all the "We Remember" and other review sections, and then (e) turns in the work to me. At that point, we go over the drill (if any), the review/practice sections, the lesson, and work through the new problems. We go over it all to check for correctness and understanding, and that's math for that day! HTH.

If that's the case, you might want to take a closer look at CLE Math. We've been using it successfully for years, and it seems to move at the right pace for my three girls. Not too fast, not too slow, but just right. It's also easy to accelerate or slow down, if needed (but we haven't ever needed to adjust it much). HTH.

I am not from the South, so maybe I'm missing something cultural/regional, but this would set off my alarm bells, too. And no, I would not have my child hug that person. In fact, if I witnessed this person doing the same thing to other customers, I would have reported her to management. Seriously. Perhaps nothing would be done about it, but I would still report her. Too weird, IMO.

Thanks, Lori D. and Aurelia. Very helpful!

Summer Science (2018) = [with me] The Elements [Ellen McHenry] Summer Science (2018) = [with Dad] Snap Circuits Semester 1: Group Work = Botany [Ellen McHenry] + How Food Grows website + Hands-On Work Semester 1: Independent Work = Botany [Apologia] + Science Bookshelf (botany books) + Exploring the World of Chemistry [Tiner] + Exploring the World of Physics [Tiner; reading for review] Semester 2: Group Work = Microscope Skills + Cells [Ellen McHenry] + Hands-On Work Semester 2: Independent Work = Human Anatomy & Physiology [Apologia] + Science Bookshelf (cells; microscope; A & P) + Exploring the World of Chemistry [Tiner] + Exploring the World of Physics [Tiner; reading for review] Summer Science (2019) = [with me] Protozoa [Ellen McHenry] Summer Science (2019) = [with Dad] more Snap Circuits

... for example.

Go to your local library and ask a librarian to help you find books on your daughter's reading level that are also available as an audio book (CD). Then check out both the books and the audio books, as a matched set. Your daughter can listen to the story while she follows along in the book. Over time, this will help to build her confidence in using the words she learns. Also look in your library for two books: First Thousand Words in English and First Thousand Words in _______ (your native language). If you can find both books, you can use the "native language" book to compare to the English book, since both versions are the same, except for the languages used.

Any suggestions?

I have no earth-shattering insight into your line-up, but just wanted to pop in to say that I'm doing something similar for summer reading with my rising 8th grader -- that is, giving her a choice of this-or-that book, plus a write-up. I realize that since all the books will be on the shelf, she will probably read BOTH books, but that's also part of the strategy. ;) There must be something about almost-8th graders that makes us feel compelled to give them choices! :) Good luck with your plans and your final homeschool year.

Lexi, I'm always drawn in, too, but to my regret. Plain and simple, MP is boring. However... We do use some of it. We use it for Geography I, but the textbook is so boring. So we add in other things to make it more interesting. We're still going to use it for Geography II next year, though, because it's a simple way to line up a "spine" for memorizing the countries and capitals, doing some map work, doing review, and taking quizzes. I print out "Big Maps" to go along with the continent we're working on, so that adds interest. And the girls are learning their geography. http://www.yourchildlearns.com/megamaps.htm We use MP for Poetry (Poetry for the Grammar Stage). This one is not too bad. We work through about two poems per month, and we'll finish up next year at that pace. I would have to say we've actually enjoyed this resource, so I suppose it isn't all regret with MP. Latin, though... I have a ton of MP Latin in my basement. LOL. At night, I can hear the spiders conjugating. "Amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant." MP Literature Guides -- Story Time Treasures was great for 1st grade, but otherwise, IMO, the guides are a waste of time, IMO. I think that if you selectively use MP, it might be okay. HTH.