I'll add that I was glad that my son was in 8th grade during our first experience with Challenge. The workload is intense and as an 8th grader I think he was able to get more out of it than some of the younger kids. And I could demand a higher level of quality. My daughter did take it a year later as a 7th grader (also a summer birthday) and she did fine - but wasn't able to keep up with the writing as well as my son. I am sorry that we are missing out on Lost Tools of Writing. One thing for anyone to consider when trying to decide to enroll an 11 year-old (which may not even be allowed anymore) is if the child will be ready for Challenge B. Logic is not easy. Will they be ready for various current event topics? The mock trial content may be a little raw and they really need to be ready to do some hard diligent work for the sake of the team. Overall Ch B requires a greater maturity level of the student that doesn't necessarily correspond to their academic level. Good luck with your year! We are really glad to be using the Challenge program.

Apologia Physical Science will be done in Ch I. We really have not had the extra time to do anything additional. As far as science goes - I decided to stick with the CC progression. He will have the 3 sciences 2 with a lab requirement needed for college admissions. And if we decide to do an extra year before graduating then he will get an additional science. My son also started CH A in 8th grade. Because he has a summer birthday and I know a lot more about him now than I did when he started Kindergarten - we may add the extra year (besides - it looks like CH IV may be the best year and if he graduates after CH III he'd miss it!) Of course things may change over the next couple of years . . .

I tried to find something about a year ago, and had quite a difficult time. The problem is that the classification system seems to be evolving as well! There are various philosophies about how life should be classified. It seemed that every site had a different system. I resorted to a few different resources. One was the Rainbow Science text, one was wikipedia for the various life forms we were researching, and my favorite was this book.

I agree with this post. If you signed the older one up for Essentials as well, then that would take care of your language arts. However, you will probably want to include the optionals in Essentials that may not be covered in your class. The Essentials guide includes spelling and punctuation/grammar rules - but those are not required to be a part of the weekly class. You would need to add math as well. For history and science you could read through Story of the World and any science books of interest as opposed to doing a full curriculum. You will find that the Challenge program is more what you are looking for. Definitely lays everything out for you. If your 12 year old is an enthusiastic student he may be ready for Challenge now. Or maybe you could decide to wait a year before joining CC if you are just too uncertain about this year. If you can go to a practicum this summer - please do - I think you'll be able to get a better perspective. Around here the communities fill up quickly. An appeal from a director to make a decision quickly is essential if you want a space. The "stories" are not sp they can fill all their spots - that'll happen regardless.

I would avoid the value resorts for an anniversary trip. But definitely stay on site! I believe Disney has free dining in September so that will be nice for you! There are travel agents specializing in Disney trips - no cost to you - but would probably be very helpful in your accommodations and meal reservations. Since you aren't bringing any kids - I wouldn't worry about planning out an itinerary (other than dining reservations) - just pick a park and have fun! (But I grew up going to DW, before the culture of planning every minute of a Disney vacation). The Epcot Food and Wine Festival starts Sept. 27 if you want to fit that in. It's lots of fun!

I would do a 3 pronged fork coming off the verb at a slant. At the point draw the horizontal line for the object.

Thanks! I'll be reading the article later. I can't believe that I Kissed Dating Good-Bye has been successfully in print for so long! I really thought that by the time I needed it for my kids, it would be one of the bargain books at CBD.com. Guess I'll be paying full price for it afterall! I didn't even have kids yet, when I first heard him on the radio talking about his book.

That's the best I could come up with for a title! Specifically I'm looking for books with female characters that develop quality friendships with the male characters that are not romantically involved until the two are of marriageable age. Anne of Green Gables comes to mind, and maybe the Betsy-Tacy books (I can't remember the story line there too well). Can you think of any others? And if this has been discussed before, please link the discussion - thanks!

After recently looking at past threads here, I got Hello World (http://www.amazon.com/Hello-World-Computer-Programming-Beginners/dp/1933988495/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367867419&sr=1-1&keywords=hello+world) for my 10 year old from our library. The python software is a free download. He's loving it! And doing it all on his own! He used scratch for a couple of weeks including the Scratch adventure book already mentioned. But he must have gotten bored with it and wanted to learn "real" programming.

I like these by Stan Tekiela. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Stan%20Tekiela&search-alias=books&sort=relevancerank We can always find the bird we are trying to identify.

It will not be a problem. Your child will still be able to participate in the math discussion. It may be a reinforcement of topics previously covered by your child or a preview for material yet to be learned. This pertains whether it is a different curriculum or a different level. My son is finishing Algebra 1; his challenge is finishing Algebra 1/2. The math seminar has benefited him in that it has given him weekly review in skills basic to success in Algebra.

For us - Challenge level has become their sole coursework. Perhaps if I had one child, or all kids at the same level, we'd be able to manage extra coursework. But we don't. At any rate - I have been very satisfied with the level and quality of the academics my kids are experiencing. Be sure to speak with your tutors and other CC people to make sure you and the tutors understand and embrace the CC philosophy. In my opinion it is not the books and texts that make the program successful - it is the implementation of the classical approach across all the academic subjects. The price does not include the books. If you want an idea on the (full retail) cost of books, check out the CC bookstore online - they sell packages of all the needed books for each level. You can use your math text and level of your choice. In class the math concepts are discussed, but there are no assignments or tests to turn in to the tutor. The math discussion is a great supplement/review/introduction/reinforcement regardless of where your child may be. I don't believe that Streams of Civilization is used at all in CC. History is studied via Literature and related seminars with a historical tie-in.

I think this is the only way to get IEW at a discount. I also purchased several Dover paperbacks and the Bluestocking economics books. Even with shipping, my total was still less than it would have been through Amazon.

People use it both ways. Your best bet is to give your child the placement test and place him/her accordingly.

You are referring specifically to the fact sheets and not the regular practice worksheet, right? I've had 3 kids go through Saxon and they never got to the point where they embraced having to do the fact sheets! Who wants to drill fact sheets? And for a 6 year old - they look at that work sheet and think, "It'll take me FOREVER to finish all those problems!" But I didn't give up or in. You have options - Use flashcards instead of the drill sheet. Let them use the flashcards to answer the fact sheet. Time them for a minute. Then time them for another minute to see if they beat their time. Don't worry if they don't finish the fact sheet after a certain length of time (3 minutes?). Reward them for doing it - Our current system: 1 small gummy worm for getting less than half correct in the time frame, 2 for getting more than half, 3 for completing it. (Truthfully - it wasn't until I offered candy as a reward that they stopped complaining!) If the fact drill is the only issue, then I wouldn't be too quick to switch to a different curriculum.

I have had two in Ch A. For the animal research papers, We did some additional reading on the classifications per animal using the Rainbow Science text. For the human body study we supplemented with readings from Apologia's Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology - elementary book. For the second student I purchased these books: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Human-Body-Book-DVD-ROM/dp/075666733X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364186649&sr=8-1&keywords=dk+human+body http://www.amazon.com/Natural-History-Smithsonian-DK-Publishing/dp/0756667526/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364186678&sr=1-1&keywords=smithsonian+natural+history+the+ultimate+visual+guide+to+everything+on+earth We did not add history. But I do want to mention that the number of books for Ch A has increased for next year. They will be reading all the books from Ch A and the books from Ch B. You may find the pace and schedule for Challenge to be a bit challenging in itself! My advice is to be flexible, if supplementing works for your family than great! But don't allow it to cause stress. The content in the Challenge program is sufficient on it's own.

Oh my - I must be a fashion misfit - no one else mentioned crocs? I just bought two new pair of sandals yesterday. I don't care though - I can wear them with a casual skirt/dress and also spend all day in the theme parks. (Oh and if anyone isn't familiar with their styles - I am not talking about the clogs!)

I would reconsider, unless you've done it before and it worked. The plastic eggs and coins will probably break open as they fall to the ground (or in the pinata as it's beaten), and the Hot wheels may bonk the kids on the head if they fly too far in the air before falling on the ground.

For K we used Saxon 1 without the worksheets. The Meeting time and the lesson activities really are enough to prepare a K'er to go on to Saxon 2 in first grade. We also did flashcards - but I didn't focus too much on getting all the math facts memorized that year.

So, does this work well on the devices? I have to admit that I haven't tried it yet, although we use it on our home computers.

You can set restrictions on the ipod touch. I don't allow safari (web browser) or youtube on my kids' touches. I also don't give our wifi password out to their friends when they are visiting. It's working for now. If they need to use the internet - they can use the other computers in our home that are filtered. You will also want to check the restrictions for the apple store and itunes - you can set allowed content for in-app purchases.

I no longer check the one that is in Alg. 1. He checks his own answers and lets me know if there are some that he still needs help on. (In Alg. 1 and I assume Alg 1/2 - there is an answer key and a solutions manual.) He uses the answer key to check his work and rework problems that he got wrong. I grade his tests. I'm sticking to checking the assignments for the middle grades myself. Especially since I don't usually teach the lesson. Then it gives me a chance to make sure they understand it.

I've been under/near trees that have been loaded with larvae before and they actually fall out of the tree in to unsuspecting people. Maybe that's a possibility.

We joined CC three years ago - a brand new group and a brand new to CC director. It was a fabulous year and we have a very successful group! CC is a very academic complement to what we do at home and its great being with other families that classically homeschool. We have been involved with all levels foundations to Ch. B so far. We love it! Has the director been homeschooling for long? Has she been homeschooling classically? How old are her oldest kids that are homeschooled? Those would all be considerations for me with a new group. Our director had already gotten one of her children into college! And I'm pretty sure she was already classically homeschooling. She's phenomenal! And I think you are spot on as far as the group dynamics - not just for the adults but also for the kids. My oldest has an extremely difficult time fitting in with his peers. But with CC - none of the kids knew each other and the small class aided in a tight community for them. We have a great group!

Is it one of the Basher books? http://www.amazon.com/Simon-Basher/e/B0034Q44MM/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_2