I only have one DD so it's either get it right first time or never. Agh, the pressure! D: She's already behind according to Saxon's placement tests but I got the 8/7 one, and we're going to work through that, skipping stuff she already knows while doing hippocampus algebra 1 simultaniously then hopefully, we'll get through saxon's algebra 1 quicker then we can move on to algebra 2. That's my hope, anyway. Unfortunately DD hates algebra thanks to when she was in school but she also hated science and is now paying for the kinetic books physics web license out of her own money. Woo! :3 Anyway, rambling, sorry. If it took a while to get used to the saxon way, did he have difficulty doing maths with either another curriculum later on or with college level maths? I don't want to get to the end & start A Level maths and find she's not doing it the 'A Level way' and have to start all over again. ]:

Sorry to steal your thread a little but what would you class as the most difficult program, Orthodox? :]

My DD (with no pressure from us) started looking into colleges this past year and she was in 9th grade. We leave a lot of her educational-planning to her and she's very capable and independent because of it (not that I'd recommend that, it's a very risky method xD) so when the idea occured to her, she researched it and looked into admission requirements, etc because high school started this year and she needed to know what requirements she would have for the next few years. Turns out, we don't have any, we just list exams since we're international but she found out all of this herself. She did find out she had to think about references eventually, she's been figuring out her GCSEs/A Levels on her own according to requirements from Unis here (England) and the US and working out how she'll do it, contacting schools. She's been very active in her education, more than she ever would have been at school. (:

We're waiting for our first Saxon curriculum to arrive. We managed to get it madly cheap ($10ish) so for that price, we're willing to test it. ;D Life of Fred is apparently good as a supplement and can be used as a primary curriculum, but not with everyone. My DD said she didn't want to use it because she'd read it once and would want to know the answers, but she'd only remember half of what she learnt and wouldn't want to go back and read it so therefore it was ruled out as an option for us too. S: They might be useful as a supplement though? (: Saxon wise, this was in their FAQs:

Thanks for that Kiana, maybe that would be a better idea. My worry is whether we'll have this all finished before she's 18. She's always wanted to finish her GCSEs and A Levels before she turned 16 but I doubt she'll have the knowledge required that soon. We'll see how quickly she gets through GCSE anyway. We're entering her for November for Religious Studies & General Studies as a 'trial run' and she'll be using the same exam centre for other GCSEs so it'll get her used to it and comfortable with the people in the school so cross you fingers for us & thank you so much for your help! DD says thanks too! (:

Thank you so much for your answers, I really appreciate it. I bookmarked the terminology file for when we need it. (: Booking in to exams and such we already know about - we're having to do the same for GCSE/IGCSE so we already know how to do that. At least that's one thing covered. Haha! DD would be doing C1, C2, C3, C4, S1 & M1. She made a decision from what you mentioned. She's going to go to sixth form college for physics, she thinks but she's already decided she'll be supplementing it with the Kinetic course because physics isn't her strong point. MEP-wise, I love it but DD's not impressed. We have two sets of A Level maths books that DD would be okay with using but I think she'd prefer the routine of using Saxon (it's a program we can get cheaply and easily over here). We can also get Lial's but I think it'd take too much switching around for Geometry, etc. That's really why we chose Saxon (plus we're getting it for $10. ;D). So would a good idea be to use Saxon Calculus alongside the A Level books & practise papers? Would that prepare her for it?

Does you neice go to school? If so, maybe she was just doubting her abilities and as she became more aware that she could do it, she went for it. Or maybe she wanted time to settle into a new routine, a new school, etc? It depends. :]

I've never smoked in my life, so it definately wasn't the cause of my DD's asthma but whether mine was caused by that or not, I guess I'll never know. My DD was at my mother's for an awful lot of her childhood since I was a single mother working full time which is why I think the asthma is most likely to be caused by my mother's smoking. It's been proven that passive smoking is a cause of asthma now. I've always comforted & encouraged her despite some of the mistakes I might have made with her. Since we started homeschooling her though, our relationship has got a lot better which I'm overjoyed about, obviously. DD's always been very independent & she refuses to cry when she's upset which makes me misread her a lot but I think I get it right most of the time. My brother (who DD gets along with really well when he isn't annoyed about something) lives with my mother though he's moving out in a week or so and he has three kids. An 18 year old, a 6 year old and a 4 year old. The first child was born when he was 17 and he abandoned her and her mother because he got scared. Then his marriage broke up with the mother of the 6 & 4 y/o and since then he's refused contact with them. My DD was staying with my mother during the week when they were both born & my brother & his wife were both working nights until 1am so my neices were left with my mother but by then, my mother had lost her patience with babies and after the oldest (the 6 y/o) had grown up a little (or at least past the bottle & nappy phase) I think she was hoping that was it. And then they had the 4 y/o and my mother took a disliking too her. DD loves her little cousins to death and acted like their big sister but my mother didn't like the youngest and when she got annoyed with the baby she'd put her in her moses basket and put her out in the hall. My DD looked after her a lot of the time which I really regret letting her do but I knew that if DD wasn't doing it, the baby would be left in the hall on her own. When I was staying there for a couple of months my mother, every night when the baby would cry she'd get up and go downstairs to have a cup of coffee while she left the baby upstairs crying so I'd calm her normally. After my brother refused to see the children though, DD didn't see her little cousins much again. She's seen them about five times since and I think it upsets her a lot more than she lets on. She told me today that my mother, when she sees the children (their mother's fiance lives nearby) says that the baby's a whinger and she hates children like that. My mother's behaviour seems to sound a lot more erratic when down on paper. S:

A gifted & talented program means different things to different people so you should ask whether it's academic or not if that's important to you. You could also ask if she could go in for a couple of hours & if she likes it, she can stay and if she doesn't you can leave. Good luck. (:

I didn't take maths at A Level but my DD wants to when she's older & I was wondering whether Saxon will prepare her for it & if so, what level will we have to get up to to prepare her for it? Thanks (:

DD doesn't have to be in my mother's ever if she didn't want to be. She's been more than capable of being left in the house on her own for years but she likes my mother, when she isn't being like this. My mother can have nice moments when she wants to but she smokes around DD and since DD doesn't like it (it's also caused both mine & DD's asthma), it causes a lot of arguments between them. I've no idea what the best thing to do is...

Just a suggestion but running through with him what to say when he walks up to them might be a good idea. It'll increase his confidence a little since he doesn't have to come up with a sentence on the spot. Sounds silly but my DD's the same and she tells me she prepares sentences for certain situations ahead of time. It's like when you've forgotten your homework & you're nervous but if you practise your reason enough you can say it much more calmly. That's how my DD puts it anyway. I don't know if that's any help. :]

DD's set on wanting to do math independently but I don't know until it arrives whether I'll be able to do that or not. But basically the plan was - skip ahead to exercises, going back to the lesson if needed - if she scores less than 95% (I said 90% but DD wants 95%) she goes back to the lesson - we go over any problems she still can't get right together until she understands it & can explain it to me. She's done algebra in school but she's never done well with it (because she doesn't have good foundations in it, evidently) so we're going back to it while we still can. I think within a couple of days we'll have an idea of how much we can get through in a day so we'll be able to work it out. Thank you so much. (:

Massive congratulations to you & DD! <3 :grouphug:

I made the jump & ordered the 8/7 on that page used. At approx $10 for a years worth of curriculum I doubt you can really go wrong. Woo! :] How quickly do you reckon we could get through 8/7 though? We're going to be skipping over stuff she already understands but ideally I'd like her to catch up with Algebra I before the end of the school year. We're going to go through the summer of next year since DD finds it boring for the most part & enjoys doing 'school' out in the sun. Do you think we could get back on track? S:

I'm gonna post this in a seperate thread in the hope it'll get some answers. :]

Ah, the conflicting views S: Haha! I suppose it's like anywhere really, isn't it? Some schools are good, some are bad. The school DD was attending was supposed to be the best school in our area but it seems it all went downhill within the few years she was there. A fire was started in her form tutor's classroom, one of the children two years above her murdered another from the school & smoking and drinking was a casual and everyday thing. The results went down so much that it was a failing school. I've always encouraged DD to travel. I wish I'd have done it when I was younger. She wants to, at the very least, volunteer over in Uganda in the orphanages there and I've no doubt she'll do it. She's always been one of those charitable people. <3 I think you've got to be over 16 though, or possibly over 18 so she wants to do it when she finishes school or when she finishes sixth form. She's also keen to intern with invisible children & wants to volunteer for citizens advice over here because she's very interested in helping people with debt management, etc. She was also interested in psychology too but doesn't think she'd be able to do it. She likes predictability, for the most part, and that's definately not a career where you can get that. Qualification-wise, we actually have the books we need for IGCSEs but it's the cost that's an issue. We've got these: CIE First Language English - the book & the workbook Longman Business Studies for IGCSE Biology (the M Jones & G Jones one for IGCSE?) Religion & Life A Complete Course In Business Accounting DD could work through all of these except Biology I think. She hates science, with a passion. But she wants to go into computer science? She's a complicated girl. Haha! So she knows she has to do it, but she finds it really hard to get into her head. She read the first page of the biology textbook & had a headache from it. ;D I've no idea what to do about that? Kinetic Books Physics is supposed to be equivelant to A Level so would definately equip her for GCSE but I don't know whether I should get her to do Biology which is supposed to be easier or Physics where it's not just a dry textbook.

Thanks for that link Meryl. (: DD's placed in Pre-Algebra Proficiency but within fifteen minutes she's frustrated with it. It's only showing us the answer & working for the first practice question over and over again no matter what problem DD works. Any ideas? Jo

I won custody over my ex nineteen times over which wasn't fun in the slightest. DD's dad was violent, abusive & everything under the sun so I got full custody and he had a restraining order (twice over) that he never took any notice of. None the less, DD met him for the first time a little over a year ago and then in July, he passed away. I'm pretty sure the heart attack was drug related & unfortunately, so is my DD. She even wants to see the coroners report when it comes out & legally she's entitled to see it, I think. At the time, she was very worried about money-matters since we're sure they got into a lot of debt over the funeral. I'd insist on a funeral plan/life insurance too. I don't have any experience of divorce though, sorry. Me and DD's dad weren't married (a stroke of luck). Good luck & hugs for you and ds. :grouphug:

Sorry, another maths question here too. We were thinking of purchasing the saxon math 8/7 for DD to go through since she doesn't have good foundations in a lot of concepts in the book but we haven't used Saxon before and was wondering if those who have could look at this link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Math-Incremental-Development-Stephen-Hake/dp/0939798549/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252671174&sr=8-3 and tell me whether I'd need to purchase anything on top of that (tests, answers, etc)? Thank you so much! Jo

Hi Laura, I wish I could have provided for DD what you have for your children where they experienced a foreign way of living but we've never managed it. Are there any places you think are more rigorous than the UK education-wise? DD hated it in school here because it never challenged her. Qualification-wise the plan is money-depending basically. I'd prefer DD to try GCSEs that don't have coursework as well as those with a little amount of coursework whereas DD would rather do the GCSEs without coursework and IGCSEs but I doubt we'll have the money for IGCSEs. We can't afford distance learning courses DD's cut me off here. We might actually have a plan! ;D She's calculated that from doing the GCSEs without coursework (she reckons there's at least three) and pulling together the £150 for an ICS GCSE course then doing the ECDL (and praying they accept it) we might be okay... She's already decided that basically, if they don't accept her based on that then screw sixth form college, she'll do it herself but... I'm still worried & I have no idea why. Haha! We do have next year as well but the internal assessment rubbish starts then which is bad news. We might just pull this off though... We have spoke to the 14-16 coordinator at a local college (or rather, DD has xD) and she was very helpful with DD and DD was very happy & suprised that the woman didn't speak to her like a child and she told her that she knew there was a chance DD could get onto the GCSE course but she'd be liable for the fees which were £3000+ so we can't afford that but she told DD that she knew there were some formal qualifications available for home educators and that DD should try her best to secure them to make she she didn't end up in a level 1 course when it's not her 'true academic level'. I was suprised to hear that myself, to be honest! She told DD about the diplomas they had available that they'd be more than happy to have DD on but they were based in schools & DD doesn't want to go back into a school setting just yet. Anway, I've rambled enough to you, sorry about that. (: I was just getting ideas sorted in my head as I typed. Hehe. Jo

Me & DD have a pretty bad relationship with my mother to be honest. My mother, in basically everyone that's ever met her's words 'isn't happy unless she's complaining'. She's always been like that since when I was a kid. We had another incident yesterday where DD locked herself in the bathroom in my mother's house and I had to go pick her up. Someone had knocked at the door & my mother had threw a paintbrush at the fence she was painting because DD didn't answer it for her and instead came to tell her there was someone at the door. She told DD she was 'becoming a social recluse' so DD locked herself in the bathroom and disolved into tears. I don't know what to do about her. D:

Ok, me and DD are starting our first day of classical ed today. Well, tommorow. DD's keen to start today but it's 12:36 and we don't have the time left in the day. ;D Math-wise though, DD's doing Algebra I. Now, I'm currently off work until at least the end of October, at the very earliest & it's definately not by choice (my version of walking with the pain I'm in looks pretty much like a duck ;D) so we don't have a lot of money to spare and therefore we're basically using free materials and some other stuff we got our hands on. Now, anyway, next month we'll be ordering Kinetic Algebra I at the very beginning of the month but DD wants to start math now. So our plan wassss... Either use the hippo campus algebra IA lessons and then look up materials to solidify the facts in her mind then do the homework or find a list of algebra I topics that should be covered and base it off that doing the corresponding hippo campus lesson, looking it up again and finding other materials, probably using some GCSE revision books, then doing the hippo campus homework. She's tried using hippo campus alone in the past & she never 'got it' enough to get over 75% on the homework but today she watched the hippo campus lesson, looked it up in her GCSE revision book, played a game she found online, watched the lesson again, then did the homework & managed 100% on the homework so she's really proud ;D My question is though, is this going to be too much to do with every topic? I know she's not going to remember it 100% with hippo campus alone... Help a new homeschooler out? (: Jo

DD's always been interested in american high schools & the way they work differently. I'm not sure why. England was 2nd on your list, Ann and that's where we live already. DD attended school here from aged 3 to 14 and at no point did she not sit in a lesson thinking 'I already know this' which is worrying. I'm just sorry I wasted 11 years of hers. I think she's also interested in the amount of homework and the whole 'grading' system. Over here, the homework was rare and when it was given it wasn't for any reason (it was rarely marked, never returned & she had a list of excuses for not doing it that were as long as the great wall of China). I wouldn't send her to a public school, though it is impossible anyway, I think. I was hoping to send her to a boarding school & obviously we wouldn't just send her anywhere. We'd be looking into the school, the area & the academic standards of course. I wouldn't send my DD anywhere :] Thanks for the suggestion of Monte Vista but DD's actually agnostic but once again, thank you so much for the suggestion. (: Perhaps we do need to consider somewhere other than the US though... is your experience unique to that area because my cousin visited the US a year ago and really enjoyed it? She's actually hoping to move there herself in the future so she definately did enjoy it. ------------- Right, I had DD read your message because I didn't think she'd take it seriously if I told her. She's now doing some research on an exchange to France since it's the only language she can read/write relatively fluently. She's also read about how rigorous french schools are which had her keener. I'm glad to see school hasn't dragged that all out of her. And if we do go ahead with this, I'll let you all know how it goes. Thank you for your messages. (:

I know this is a board for home-education but I've heard some of you have hosted foreign students, etc so I was wondering if you could offer some advice? DD has always wanted to go to college in the US, but now she's debating staying here instead now. But now she's decided she'd like to try high school in the US. We found out that the Youth For Understanding exchange program to the US would cost more than £5000 and although that's cheap for a year (still too expensive for us) I doubt she could stay for any longer than a year so therefore... we were thinking scholarships. She tried the practice test on the SSAT site and got 84% when she was thrown in cold and did it really half-heartedly so I've no doubt she could do well on the test so merit based scholarships to save all of the income messing-around would be better. Any ideas anyone?