This is so good to know. I wish I would have paid with credit card.

You can normally go to your local school web site and pull up a 5th grade teacher and normally there is a list of the homework due there. It should give you an idea of what they are doing and learning.

We started a virtual school this year and there is a lot more cross-curricular activities such as essays required in multiple subjects. That takes up a lot of our time. The science is way more than we did in homeschool. We have a lot of labs as well. I agree that in the younger grades history and science gets pushed to the side. My oldest did b&m for k-3rd. So you do have kids suddenly being expected to utilize science that they haven't been taught. There is a big step up in 4th and 5th. They do start switching classes and the teachers quit holding their hands. It is an hour long lecture normally with an assignment to complete on your own time. I will say that my kids could go back to school without problems. The level of work and intensity of it is overwhelming sometimes, but it is definitely a great education. Being completely honest, that would not have been true with our traditional homeschooling. It would have been a huge shock for us in both work load and the quality of the education that the public school expected. My 6th grader is taking fundamentals of geometry and algebra, physical science (which is more like my high school chemistry class was), World History-History of the Human Odyssey, Music, World History Art, Language Skills-Grammar Usage and Mechanics, Vocabulary from the Classical Roots, and Composition;Literature-lots of reading and analyzing and writing goes with this as well as in-depth book studies, strategies for success, test-taking skills, and she takes French. My 4th grader's math is the equivalent of what we used for 6th grade for the girls (traditionally homeschooling) in scope and sequence. He takes math, language skills-grammar usage and mechanics, sadlier oxford vocabulary, and composition; Literature-lots of discussion and analytical thinking as well as book studies, American History with Geography, Science, Spelling, Art, Music, Strategies for Success, and Test taking skills as well as having to keep up with Study Island. He is often required to write a lot for each subject. It is a very long day sometimes and we are at home. Group work in public school is not done at all unless it is something fun (not academic). The focus is on the kids being able to take the state test and do well. They aren't taking the test as a group so group work has been phased out a lot nowadays. They are honestly covering a lot and from 4th on up they aren't holding back to the children who are struggling. They are moving through and are able to fail kids. In elementary, they can only hold a kid back once no matter their grades. That ends in 4th here with the state test. So the class is at the pace for the grade level and you either hire a tutor or stay up all night with your kid doing the work. I did have a lot of preconceived ideas about the public school and how it works based on prior prejudices and from reading other people's horror stories, but the truth of it is that there are some great, tough schools out there. Since we have been under an umbrella school, I have realized that my kids would have had difficulty going back to public school and they wouldn't have been as prepared as I previously thought they were. I would not be comfortable doing middle school now as a traditional homeschooler as I was before we started the virtual school. I guess it looks differently from both sides of the fence. I thought what we did was plenty for 4th-6th with my oldest dd when we were homeschooling, but now that I have seen what is expected of the 4th-6th graders in the b&m up the road and what the virtual school expects...well I would have a totally different perspective.

The book and cd together are the $49 one.

Cheap and easy-The Reading Lesson. I sprung for the fun cd also.

Beta testing is normally free. I have done it many times. It is normally done for a long period of time with a group of people giving feedback and them tweaking based off feedback and then when it is free of all bugs...they put it on market and charge $$$ for it. This was highway robbery. It is like a baker promising to bake you a perfect wedding cake and giving you a box of cake mix and frosting and telling you it is almost complete on your wedding day. This was a program you could not even plan with before the school year started. It really put a lot of people behind on planning and hurt a lot of people's school budget.

I think it is terribly strange for the Dad to give in to a tantrum and drive to the dance studio to sign his child up that same day. A child without boundaries can be a lot more than irritating. I agree with the pp that less is more and not to try to calm the boy or to let him know you will be gone for longer than he thinks or such. Every answer from here on out when I left would be...We are going to run some errands...We are not sure how long we will be out.... Does your dd know about the dance yet? It sounds in your original post that your dd may be relieved to get a breather from this child during the school year. How does she feel about him joining the dance class? I feel for the family's pain, but I agree that this could become an issue for you. It is fine for kids to want to do everything together, but when that feeling isn't reciprocated by one of the children...it is an awkward position for a small person to be in without the life skills and experience to deal with it. You are going to wind up being the buffer to keep this from effecting your dd's enjoyment of the dance class. That will get draining for you over time. I do think it is stalking. I do think you will get asked to help his son at dance class or to look after his son whether or not you are gone when the bus gets there or not. I would check and make sure he hasn't put you down as emergency contact. That happened to me with a particular family without my knowledge. I don't think this boy will give up on dance as it gives him more time with your dd. My husband would also be a bit peeved at this point if a man was following our family to everything and joining it (be it as a family or his son joining every thing our dd does). I had one friend that wanted to join things and then ask me to take her son to it all. I started having my dh take my dd's and when she would ask for my help after that I would say dh is taking them. She was not inclined to ask the same things of my dh that she was more than willing to encroach upon me for help with her son. You may have to see if your dh can swing some of the time at the dance studio or such. I doubt the father would be inclined to encroach upon your husband's generosity as much. In our situation, we had to change our activities and become very busy. DH had to start answering the phone. DH had to take the girls to activities for a while. We were lucky that the child did not live in our neighborhood. The real reason it went away was that I had to go home (3 states away) for a family emergency for 3 months. When we were gone, they seemed to find other activities and the child quit stalking my child. I do think it was stalking and it had escalated over 2 years from them being 9 and 10 year olds (the boy was older) to 11 and 12 year olds and there was a whole new can of worms with the boy having such an attachment to my dd. Honestly, if it were me...I would be looking for a different class time and switch classes or I would start shopping for a new dance studio. I can't see it going away otherwise and I have been there done that with a Mom that did the same thing with her son and my dd. I can't imagine trying to talk it out with the Dad in the same situation. I would definitely be changing dance class times and not give a reason and tell the dance studio not to give my information or dd's information out. If a class time change couldn't happen, I would change studios. This family needs more counseling and therapy than a friendship with your dd can provide and I know that dealing with this every dance class will start to put strain on you.

If my child had always done well or advanced on the test, then yes I would be reevaluating TT. I will tell you that we went from traditional homeschoolers to virtual schoolers with a charter this year. I found that TT wasn't up to par in scope and sequence for the state test. My 4th grader who did TT3 last year in 3rd scored below 3rd grade level on his math test. Yikes! They are letting him stay in 4th grade math, but it is a big struggle. My then 5th and 6th graders used TT6 and TT7 last year and just barely scored on grade level for the school. The TT that lines up in scope and sequence to our new 4th grade math with k12 is TT6. So TT6 is the equivalent of my son's 4th grade math this year. That was eye opening. I would either find a scope and sequence for math in your state that the test is based off and then find the TT grade level that lines up with that scope and sequence or I would look into a different math. I don't think spectrum tests will help to a certain extent as you aren't taking the CAT or ITBS. Maybe pick up a STAR test prep book at your local teacher's store. You are taking your state test which assumes you are following the state's scope and sequence. My son did get a lot from TT. My daughters did as well. It just wasn't as much as their peers got in terms of scope and sequence. So they weren't prepared for the test as well as their peers. Knowing what I know now, if we were still picking our own math textbooks...then I would not choose Teaching Textbooks as our main math program.

If my child were enjoying school, I wouldn't pull them out. It can be very hard to have a child at home who does not want to be there and is enjoying school. I would reevaluate at Christmas, but would only pull her if there were true issues at the school or she was unhappy. If she wanted to finish the year at school, then we would.

My dd had similar mouth issues with teeth behind other teeth and had to have 5 baby and 4 adult teeth removed. She had a spacer after the baby teeth and she has had springs and now a chain. We are seeing dramatic improvement in just a few months with braces. If you have been going a year and aren't seeing improvements somewhere...then I would see another ortho. With each visit, they go over with me what the adjustments and if they add a spring or chain or whatever to the braces...they tell me what it is supposed to be doing to her teeth and what it is going to fix. If your ortho isn't doing this at each adjustment...then you need to find out where you are in the ortho plan and go for a 2nd opinion somewhere.

I would not leave mine in the car alone at all. I live in a pretty big area though where there are some pretty creepy people who would not think twice about breaking a window and doing horrible things even in the good neighborhoods. I would leave them home before I would leave them in the car. Just last week I let the girls go in the minute market while I pumped gas to get some sodas for us all. I parked after getting the gas in front of the store doors. I texted my oldest to see what was taking so long and she texted me back to come in to the store please. I thought there was an issue with my debit card. Nope, some 20 something year old clean cut grown man was hitting on my 12 and 11 year old girls who could not pass for over 12 in any one's imagination. Nope, I would never, ever leave them in the car no matter what. I thought about what if I would have went in to quickly get the sodas and this creep had approached the car instead of him approaching them in a store where they knew to go to the cashier and stall for time. The man was not leaving and was going to approach them again until I came in and well made a scene that wasn't too pretty with the cashier backing me up the whole way. The store was in an area where kids from school are coming in off the bus to get sodas on the way home. I can't imagine this guy trolling for middle school girls at this minute market daily, but I don't doubt that is what he does. I doubt I let them go in the minute market together without me for a very long time again. I never really thought about what I envisioned a pervert or child predator to look like in real life, but it wouldn't have been the guy that approached my 2 daughters together. I didn't wait to go in with them b/c we had been at the water park and the boys were in swim trunks and flip flops. Every one was thirsty and they were together. Instead, I wound up storming into the minute market over a text about a creepy guy with my half dressed boys making the biggest scene I have ever made and being really loud asking the girls what man was bothering them. At home with our dog and a deadbolt, I will leave them any day. If we are out and about any more, they are with me.

Make yourself a free homeschool teacher ID with homeschool buyer's co-op. Give your school a good sounding name and you get less hassle from publishers. I found I got more hassle when it was just our last name family homeschool compared to ____ Preparatory Academy. I didn't use my name for it. I found a cool Latin phrase. Also, set up a free yahoo or gmail email with your school name. It seems to help to have an email that looks like it is a school even if it doesn't have an .edu ending. ___prepacademy@___.com seems to do the trick every time. I have not had any problems getting publisher approval for purchases with my "teacher" ID and my "school" email.

Is he under 18? We took our dd to a pediatic dentist instead of an oral surgeon. She had gas and was oblivious to it all. We too were referred to an oral surgeon, but were having oral work done on younger sons and I asked if they could do the extractions there with sedation (gas). They said of course. They also did it over 2 visits. I would suggest finding a pediatric dentist office instead.

Summer 2000-Grade 7-graduating 17 yrs old Summer 2001-Grade 6-graduating 17 yrs old Winter 2002-Grade 4-graduating 18 yrs old Winter 2006-Grade K-graduating 18 yrs old School cut-off is September 30 here and school runs Aug-May. Sports are ran by birthday cut-offs so they always play sports with the same age levels. Church is the same way. It is separated by grade but they do look at birthdays when setting up classes. It is more based on actual age than grade level. So if your child is held back in school, they don't have to stay in the younger Sunday School class. Likewise, if your child is grades advanced, they are still put in with their age group peers in Sunday School and youth groups. Red-shirting is really big here for whatever reason. So when kids were in ps most k'ers were 6 or 6 turning 7. My girls with the summer bdays were the youngest in their classes by years in some cases. There were kids 2 years older than them. My boys, who I thought would be the oldest in the class b/c they missed the birthday cutoff, were often a year to a year and a half younger than kids in their class. Homeschool co-ops seem to follow the same pattern. It isn't unusual for a 6 yr old to be just starting kindergarten at the parent's discretion and turn 7 during the school year or the summer before 1st. I think it is a region thing. We try to place our children with age group peers in social settings and sports. We don't go by actual grade levels here b/c there are too many kids in grade 7 who are 14 not 12 or grade 6 who are 13 not 11...and so on. 10 and August 2002 would be grade 5 to me. So I think you have her placed well.

Tell the teacher to look into Headsprout. My ds9's kindy class used it and it is great. I am not stressing finishing Reading Eggs if it is just a sales pitch at the end to get you to keep using them for Reading Eggspress. My ds9 did the Reading Eggspress a little last year with a trial and I would much rather him read chapter books from the library. The changing of the discount on HSBC turned me off last year too. They have done a lot this past year which just screams give me the money and bad customer service.

The thing is Reading Eggs is our side instruction. It was our only instruction last year. This year he is doing actual reading with school. He is really past phonics and I just wanted him to complete the program and have all the certificates saying he had completed phonics instruction. I emailed them explaining that we had no need for the extras and weren't planning to continue into Reading Eggspress and asked very nicely if we could just get a month for him to finish. They were adamant that we couldn't and that b/c they offered all the things we haven't used and do not need that we would be required to buy 6 months in order for him to finish the Reading Eggs. Frankly, I don't understand why they wouldn't want to take my money and get a good review of the program. Up until today, I spoke highly of the company at every turn and recommended Reading Eggs. My son is just now in kindergarten and all I needed was phonics instruction. It just seems to me that they are more interested in hooking you in to pay for more months of service than you may want or need for your goals. It is great for those that are looking for all the bells and whistles and to continue into Reading Eggspress, but a year ago when we bought our subscription there wasn't Reading Eggspress and Reading Eggs was for phonics instruction. I won't recommend Reading Eggs for phonics instruction unless someone knows that they can finish all the lessons in exactly one year or are willing to spend $50-$100 to extend their subscription for a handful of lessons. I just don't think that you should have to pay for 6 months when you just want to finish the phonics instruction which was what you purchased for in the first place. We just have no need for all the game style extras they have added. We just want to finish the phonics and activity sheets. I don't see what it would hurt the company to offer a subscriber who had paid for a year a one month subscription to complete the program. I wasn't asking for a free month. I just wanted to pay for the time we need to complete the program that I purchased not all the video game style extras they have added since my original purchase. They didn't seem concerned that my son really wants the certificate of completion. They just seemed concerned to get 6 months of my money when I will only need 1 month of their services.

We purchased Reading Eggs last year for a year's subscription. My k'er is shy of completing all of Reading Eggs by 25 lessons. They used to have monthly subscriptions and I had planned to utilize a $9 monthly to get us through those last 25 lessons after our subscription expired on Aug. 31. They have discontinued the monthly option. You now have to commit to a new 6 month or year subscription if you do not complete the program in your initial subscription. I did think they might be willing to work something out since my ds was so close to completing the program, but the bottom line of money was more important than my child completing his reading education through them. I did not want to pay for 1/2 a year when my ds was finishing 2-3 lessons a day of Reading Eggs. He would be through with the 25 lessons in less than a month and I would have been out that money. They would not work with me in any way to pay for anything less than a six month subscription. I just wanted to pass the word along to anyone who has a subscription coming to a close. They will not offer anything shorter than a new 6 months subscription no matter how close your child is to finishing the program. Apparently, their bottom line is more important than the educational gains and sense of accomplishment that a child would receive by completing their program.

Well, we got his evaluation results today in the mail. At the actual evaluation, she was able to tell us that he has visible tracking issues. Today, the novel we received elaborated. He has dysgraphia and vision tracking issues which effect his motor skills. It went lots more in-depth, but that was the gist of it. He is very behind developmentally in motor skills areas. He is a candidate for the HWOT print and reversals program and we have a list of short term goals and long term goals. he will have a dyslexia screener within a month of starting OT. So he will do weekly OT this entire school year. At the end of the OT, they will decide whether he needs to be referred to s psychologist for dyslexia.

I have 2 middle schoolers, an elementary schooler, and a kindergartener. Last year was the first year that I really had to start watching our commitments. The girls really needed to get their work finished. We had always done a co-op and dropped it mid-year. The big thing was activities during the day when you need to be schooling. We picked up after school 4H last year that worked well. Our son does scouts which is also after school. We were able to make it to some of the big field trips of the year such as the Corn Maze at Halloween. We did the Christmas Cantata. We did basketball and soccer in the winter and spring. Again, all of that was after school hours. Basketball practice and soccer practice was after school and games were on the weekend. We could not be on the go all the time and get it all done. They didn't want to work diligently after the fun of being gone all morning. It was also overwhelming and they were doing poor work just to get it done. My suggestion would be to only be out and about during school hours 1x a week if necessary. You are going to be seriously burnt out or you are going to have to school until 9pm to get it all done. Is the basketball on Mondays after school? Anything before 3:30 pm needs to be re-evaluated. You have already said no one will miss the Tuesday class. If I were looking at your schedule, I would say you have to choose between Wed.'s service club and Thurs.'s co-op. Only keep one on the schedule. Don't feel bad for putting your family's needs ahead of another commitment. I felt bad dropping co-op mid-year last year, but we had accomplished so little of our actual school work. We had to school through the summer and that wasn't fun at all. If you don't cut back now, then you will be so far behind at Christmas. I know. Christmas was the breaking point for me last year. We were only 1/2 way through where we should have been with our school work. We try not to be out at all during the school day, but are doing a co-op again this year as long as the kids are on track with school work. I make sure that the load is light on Wednesday so we can finish our school work before co-op. It is the only day we leave the house during school hours. We don't join any field trips that are before lunch time and we only go to park days that start at 1 on Fridays. We only go then if all the school is done. I no longer commit way in advance. I am vague. I see how our school week is going. I learned to pass the baton to others. There were commitments that I started last year that I had to get someone to take over. They did a great job. There is just no way to get through a middle school academic day and be out of the house that much.

Are you sure the post office didn't lose your invite? It has been known to happen. It seems odd that the mom would go to all the trouble to tell you about the party and get an address and then snub your child. It would be much simpler to never mention the party to you. I would honestly ask the mom what happened.

I have often not done parties for my kids b/c it is overwhelming, but even when we did not do a full blown party...we did a birthday lunch or took them out or something. I would not have taken my birthday child to a birthday party on their birthday. The mom sounds a bit out of it b/c she knows her child is going to misconstrue things and it does sound to me like she wants in on the birthday action. Otherwise, she would have politely declined the invitation saying it is her child's birthday and the family is going to be celebrating the special day. It sounds completely odd that the Mom is not celebrating the birthday at all. Her wording does not sound like full disclosure. It sounds like a nudge that her child is going to raise a stink. The description of the child sounds like this child is going to raise a stink. Bottom line-we would not be going to another child's birthday party on any of our kid's birthdays or our birthdays. That is just odd. Even if you don't do birthday parties, most people celebrate birthdays at home with family or they take the kid out to eat or something. :001_huh:

I would politely inform the other mom that you didn't realize it was her child's actual birthday and that they should feel in no way obligated to come to your dd's party and that you understand that they probably have special plans for their child's birthday. I would sort of leave it as an uninviting and hope they get the hint.

I was raised in private, Christian schools until high school. I was taught with both Abeka and Bob Jones through the 8th grade. We were taught all the theories as theories. Public high school was the same. It was all theories. I never heard the term young earth until I began to home school. I do think that it will cause your child issues in a secular college if this is all that you teach your child. I have seen this in students coming out of private, Christian schools and home schoolers coming from a totally YE education. They struggle and feel that science courses are great places for religious debates over this issue. They are trying to defend their faith in science class and it does not go over well with professors. Unless your child is going to attend a religious college, then you will need to teach them the other theories. No, I do not believe that there is enough scientific evidence to say that the earth is only a few thousand years old. I do not know that any of the other theories are any more correct either. My approach is to teach them as theories and not relate science to religion. Not everyone has this approach and you have to do what is right for your family and your child's future educational pursuits.

From the American Heritage dictionary- home-school tr.v. home-schooled, home-schooling, home-schools--to educate (a pupil, for example) at home rather than in an established school. --home'school'er n. :auto: