I agree. Don't worry about it. I wouldn't even mention it to her. She'll naturally pick one probably by the time she is 7 or so. My 3rd son switched until he was about 6. It was really funny because in 1st grade, he did the left hand page of phonics with his left hand, and the right page with his right hand. They looked identical!

High school age. I've seen things for younger ages but maybe nobody does it for high school. I might attempt it anyway.

If you wanted to design a physics course around Lego (more specifically Technic Lego, not something like Mindstorms), how would you go about doing that? Any books, websites, videos I could check out? I was planning on having DS do Conceptual Physics, so I'm not looking for super advanced type stuff. On the other hand, Lego Education's Simple Machine kit would maybe be too simple for him. If anyone's used it, I'd appreciate reviews. He's built some incredible things but he thinks he hates physics, so I'm trying to see if I could bring the two together, at least for the mechanics part of physics. I found this one: Unofficial Lego Technic Builder's Guide Some of the reviews say it would have been helpful in engineering classes and it's a good intro to mechanics. Anyone know anything about this one?

If you use a different publisher for algebra and geometry (algebra 1 and 2 from one company and geometry from another), which one do you go with when it comes to precalculus? Does it make sense that we would like the precalc from the same company we did geometry with? I'm not American, so I'm not totally familiar with the high school math sequence, but it seems like precalc is maybe a continuation of geometry (with the trig and such) in the same way that algebra 2 is a continuation of algebra 1. Is this true at all? Or doesn't it matter?

I'll give it a shot, as I have used Science in the Beginning and one of mine has used some Apologia Zoology books. I don't know how much botany or zoology the Berean Builders series has in it. I know that Science in the Beginning has a large variety of topics in it, whereas Apologia Zoology is just animals. Zoology also has fewer hands-on things and more reading, where as SITB has an experiment every lesson. When we used SITB, I had the same experience where it was over my 1st grader's head. I thought it was better for about 3rd grade and up, and probably the rest of the series is similar. Opinions will vary if Apologia would be above their heads at 5 and 7, but I would venture to say that yes, it might be over their heads. My son who loves animals is using the zoology books for 6th and 7th grade. He could have done them earlier (obviously) but I'm not sure I would do them sooner than about 3rd grade. There is a LOT of info packed into those books. If you want to use an Apologia book, I think Astronomy is the one written to the youngest audience. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I have a recommendation for botany or zoology for those ages. The Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature is awesome if you can find it but it's not a curriculum. Rod & Staff's 2nd grade science, Patterns of Nature, is really cute. I would do all the questions orally and pair it with nature walks, if possible. You could also look at Considering God's Creation, but I have no experience with that one.

This may not be helpful, but we switched from MM to TT and it was a very smooth transition. We just used the books and not the computer element. But then we've stuck with it into high school, so I'm not sure how it would be switching again. But the spiral approach of TT was perfect for my guys after having issues with MM.

I really want a logic stage Canadian history book that's narrative and more balanced than what is currently available. Still hoping that SWB will write a NA history book for this age group! I think it would be perfect.

I never add supplemental reading and activities to any of our subjects. If it's not in the lesson plans, it's not happening. Maybe it's just me, but I like things to be fairly simple! I try to keep planning simple. Before the school year begins, I figure out how many lessons/chapters/pages of each curriculum we need to do per week to finish it in 36 weeks. So, for example, R&S Spelling needs one lesson done per week and there are 3 sections in each lesson (A, B and C). So I schedule spelling for 3x a week. I do this for all our curricula, then I make a weekly schedule based on how many times per week each subject needs doing. Then, throughout the year, I plan weekly, writing down which chapter or which lesson of what we're going to do, but at that point, it's mostly just "do the next thing". I don't plan more than a week in advance just in case we take an unexpected day off.

I never use teacher's guides if I can help it. The only thing I've used them for so far is to correct work if they have answers. If a program has a teacher's guide that is integral to the curriculum, I am less likely to use that curriculum. I guess I just like things simple and all-in-one if possible. My one exception is the WWE teacher book. I love it as a reference.

Could you find a used copy of Mystery of History Volume 1 somewhere? The two mesh up nicely and MOH does a really good job putting biblical events in order with the rest of history. I don't know if it has thought-provoking questions, though. Some of the activities might lend themselves to discussion topics.

I'm not completely sure how to categorize what they are doing. I think it's some of both. They will say things like "such-and-such is bad for you and causes this and this" when there is no factual basis for it, or there isn't sufficient evidence to say either way. Yes, they are family. Yup, we feel completely disrespected, but I think they are bizarre enough that they wouldn't realize that's what they're doing even if we point it out to them. Sometimes I think the right thing to do is to be honest, establish the boundary, and then if they respond poorly, it's their responsibility. And yet, then there's the whole maintaining the relationship for the sake of business part. But maybe I'm counting chickens before they hatch.

How do you handle people who try to indoctrinate or evangelize your children behind your back? It's about food, health and lifestyle - not religion - but it still contradicts our beliefs about those things. It's all things they definitely would not say in our presence because they know our opinion of what they are saying, but they have no reserve when talking to our kids if we aren't there, and the subject seems to come up often because they are so passionate about their alternative beliefs. I'm not really worried that our kids will fall for it, especially our teens, and it makes for good conversations about discernment and not believing everything you hear, but it's still really concerning to me that they are doing this behind our backs. Normally, I'm pretty sure you would ask them nicely to stop doing it, and if they didn't stop, you would put some distance between you. But maintaining distance is not an option. We work together in a family business so avoiding contact isn't really possible. We have not yet asked them to stop, even though I know we should, because DH is so nervous about the consequences of such a conversation if they don't see our point and don't stop doing it. He has much more contact with them than I do, and from past experience, I think he is fairly sure that they will not listen or see our point. Has anyone been in a situation like this? What could we teach our kids to say when these types of subjects come up when we're not there? Or do we just tell our kids to not believe anything they say, which seems terrible?

Well, for the record, I've used levels Orange through Gray and not found any mistakes. It would really bother me if I did. Also, they just came out with new editions of all the levels, so maybe this isn't a problem anymore? I'm not sure I would let this scare you off.

As a mom of average kids who are likely headed to the trades, I think your plan looks great. I will say, though, that neither Notgrass or LLATL have very much literary analysis, if that is important to you, and if you are using LLATL Gray instead of the Gold levels. So finding a couple lit guides to go with some books might be a good idea, if that's something you need to do. Also, Notgrass doesn't have any writing instruction and LLATL has some in the Gray level, but it's not super detailed. So if she needs something more explicitly taught, you might think about getting an actual writing curriculum, like WWS (lots of people use WWS for high school so no worries there). If you go that direction, you might want to skip LLATL and just focus on literature and composition, but the grammar in LLATL Gray is not at all long or overwhelming so you could probably still fit it in if you feel it's important for her.

16yo - one essay per week plus 4x a week summaries (2-3 paragraphs) in other subjects (except for the day he writes the first draft of the essay). 14yo - daily summaries across all subjects, usually 2-3 paragraphs (earlier in the year he was doing two summaries plus one 3-level outline and one rewrite). We will begin transitioning summaries to essays in fall and I'm thinking we'll probably alternate a week of daily summaries with a week of working on a single essay. 12yo - two summaries per week in whatever subject he chooses (usually 1-3 paragraphs), one outline per week and then one day rewriting that outline back into a composition. In fall I will probably add some sort of writing about books once per week, in the style of a SWB lit essay. 10yo - two summaries per week (still doing 3-4 sentence paragraphs, occasionally longer), and two one-level outlines

Rod & Staff Spelling does this in the 7th and 8th books. Not sure if that would be too advanced for your kid (it would be for mine) but it might be worth a look at samples.

Wow, those are some crazy stories. It really doesn't matter to me, but I was curious if anyone had heard of such a thing. I have a long history with this person and I do not doubt that orthorexia could be the cause, but I could never say for sure.

... That they could only eat organic food because conventional food makes them sick? My first thought is doubt, but is it possible that this could be a real thing? I'm trying to give benefit of the doubt. I've never heard of anything like this. Thoughts?

I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't. I think it's a great idea to go with their interests.

Thank you!

HomeAgain, how old was your child when you did Mr. Q?

DS16 is going to do this in fall. Just wondering if anyone else has done it recently (or not recently) and what you thought of it? I'm not looking to do a super rigorous chem so I'm hoping it's doable for average folk. ?

I tried the questions for awhile but my son had a hard time with them for some reason. He did much better writing summaries of the lessons. We have not used the quiz and exam book.

I used their list as a starting point but I substituted some and added some. I substituted the Shakespeare with a biography of Julius Caesar, I did an easier Martin Luther bio, Seeking and Finding God instead of the Imitation of Christ, Hard Times instead of North and South, skipped A Tale of Two Cities and the C. S. Lewis. Wow, looking at the list now, I actually didn't follow their list much at all!

I've been homeschooling 11 years and I've been taking all summer off for the last 5 years (since my youngest was born). When my kids were smaller, it was easier to go through summer because their school work was more fun. One summer we did a botany science book with lots of hands-on, because summer is when the plants are around. That kind of thing. But as they get older, they want the break, and now I would feel bad taking that away from them. Also, since my youngest was born, I have needed the break because schooling four with an extra little one was hectic enough for nine months of the year. And then I was diagnosed with a chronic condition involving fatigue, so that didn't help either. And honestly, I haven't had too many problems with retention over summer. Each family is different, so figure out what works for you and go with that.