Either one. The official Saxon answer is 87. We chose 87 because I wanted another year of fact drill and mental math. 87 is a challenging text. My ds went into Alg 1 from 87 and is doing quite well.

I would base my decision on if I would be interested in continuing with the Challenge program. It looks like your oldest would be ready for Ch A after next year. If you are interested in pursuing Challenge, then starting with Foundations and Essentials will complement your academics. My youngest has 3 years left in Foundations (including this one). He loves it. I started CC for social and academic reasons when my oldest ones were in 5th and 7th grades. They are both in Challenge now. We have had a very positive experience. After 7 years of homeschooling I started to appreciate the benefits of memory work (even out of context). The writing instruction came at a good time for us. And I value the presentation time in Foundations and the art and science portions (because that never got done at home!) Even though we had not made Foundations the basis of our homeschool I still feel it has only added to our academics and not detracted from it. And we have gained a circle of friends that share the same educational philosophy.

I attributed it to being written in the first person as a middle schooler. I couldn't take it either. But I have other issues with the series and was glad that the interest was short-lived.

It was probably a few years ago that someone linked an article or blog post about why Moms are the only ones to locate their childrens (and husbands) "lost" stuff. The reason is because we have a uterus! Does anyone remember that and have a link? I'm not able to narrow it down on google. It was hysterical and I want to share it with a young mom who is just now starting to experience this phenomenon.

I keep hearing the same thing about the magical age of 14 and 15! I also wanted to add that I thought Saxon 8/7 was definitely more difficult than the other levels. I know that sounds obvious as each level should increase in difficulty. It just seems to me that the difficulty level goes up to higher notch in 8/7.

We are Saxon users, and we also have struggled through 8/7 and the whole pre-teen thing!! A couple of things that I do/have done: 1) For tests - After I grade it, I have them go back and redo the ones they missed. If they get the correct answer with no help, then I know that they just weren't careful or paying attention. If I have to help them, then I might also go back to the applicable lesson and go over the lesson practice problems. 2) I grade all the mixed problem sets and we go over all the ones that were wrong. 3) Doing 30 problems in one day sometimes seems unbearable to them! We do math year-round so at times I will just assign 20 problems per day instead of the whole lesson. In the end if you feel that she does need another year of pre-algebra, you could do Saxon Algebra 1/2. Before going into Algebra. Oh - and I feel the pain about "showing the work!" I try to tell my kids that they need to do it because they will eventually be in a class situation where they can get partial credit, but not if the instructor can't follow their work!!

I'm glad you explained that! I was remembering when the kids did it with just the zip-loc bags and did the shaking outside, they got salt water all over the walkway!!

We have a 1999 Honda. The transmission was replaced under warranty a ouple of times and then a couple of years ago we had to pay for one ourselves. We were in the same situation as you. We went for the repair (I don't remember if it was new or rebuild) for about $2500 with 3 year warranty. Like others said, its cheaper than payments. Also the warranty is good if we are out of the area - they have some sort of system in place to cover out of the area mechanics. It was a place that specifically did transmission work. My husband still can't believe that I don't consider ours "run into the ground" yet. It looks so bad! But we have a great mechanic who is reasonable, and it doesn't make sense to me to pay money for a nicer, newer vehicle when this one does the job of transporting us still. (I am starting to bend though!) BTW - all the extras that they found - I would be inclined to get a second opinion/quote on all that.

I saw that in the preview, and I think I really just need to re-watch every episode. The guy she was with before Pinocchio stepped in and allowed her to be arrested - was that Henry's dad and Bae? I can't keep all this straight - arghh! And Bae is the guy who got the postcard in the first episode of this season? Or do we still not know who that is? (Oh - yeah, so Pinnocchio may have sent him the postcard . . .) So what happened to Pinocchio? The last I remember he had turned back to wood, the curse was broken and then they showed his room was empty - right? Has there been anything else with him?

Can I ask another question about last night's episode. Was that really Regina or was it Cora? I can't remember what happened between them during the last episode. You can PM me if you don't want to reply here with any spoilers.

Alane, My son also is in Ch B as a ninth grader (actually - I am undecided when he will graduate - he has a summer bday - and I can see where a 5th year of high school could do him some good!) But he was not new to CC, so I didn't reply to your first post. I wanted to tell you that you probably don't need to worry about the math text or reviewing what is discussed in class. Our experience has been that the kids are all over the place with different texts and levels, yet - they can all participate in the discussion without specifically reviewing the Saxon lessons during the week. It sounds like you have got a great plan and that you have realistic expectations. Good luck!

Staunton, VA?

I couldn't remember the titles when I first posted. They printed the "Growing Up in _______" titles. Ancient Egypt, Viking Times, etc.

I've heard of Troll Press. I believe all their titles are out of print and have been for quite some time. At one tome they were on several book lists.

I'm going to let others answer most of your questions, but I wanted to address getting to the parks quickly. We almost always drive our own car to the parks when we stay onsite. No waiting for the bus - no potential long walks from bus to room with tired children. Unless their policies have changed, if you are an on-site guess, parking is free at the parks.

When my older ones were in Essentials, I still used First Language Lessons with my youngest. I just love FLL. We stareted CC when the middle child was in 5th grade. FLL prepared her well for Essentials - it wasn't overwhelming at all. I also think your plan that you have outlined above is a great plan. I am an Essentials tutor and it looks like you are on the right track! BTW - the one room schoolhouse webinar was for Essential tutors which is probably why you can't find it. I think the TT webinar was also for tutors and rthey decided to m ake it available to families. Basically - once you start Essentials - you could have all your kids around the whiteboard parsing the days sentence - the younger kids learning from the older kids - just like you state in your post!

This was my thought as well. And though I agree the story is ridiculous, I lean more towards Mary's point of view and so I might attend the seminar (in fact - I probably have in the past!) If a parent leans more towards Suzy - then there's no sense in them attending. There are so many flavors of parenting philosophy - but in the end - mom knows best how she should raise her children. Thankfully, there's lot's of support out there for all the different philosophies.

We also did it with Classical Conversations. We had 1/2 hour allotted. Each child had their own pellet. The pellets were not large and the bones were small, so it was best for each child to have their own. We had a handout to help identify the bones they found.

:lurk5: :bigear:

Check that you've got the right airport. With the deal you got, I'm wondering if you are flying into Sanford and not Orlando. It's considerably further away. If you aren't talking about Allegiant air, then you should check it out - but then you may need to add in a rental car . . .

I agree with staying onsite and getting the early admission to Harry Potter and the fast passes. I would also consider the two day ticket and just enjoy staying on site. We stayed at the Royal Pacific in late November. The pool was heated and the kids enjoyed swimming in the evening and watching the poolside movie. We walked to Islands of Adventure and City Walk from the hotel.

Early in May is best. For both crowds and temperatures. We often went in the beginning of May and it was quite pleasant. We went towards the end of the month once and I was surprised at the jump in the heat in just a couple of weeks! (And I'm a Florida girl.) If you want to stay off-site and rely on the hotel shuttle, then I would check out the hotels at Lake Buena Vista (is it still called that?) - the area of hotels near Downtown Disney. Any further away, and I agree with others that you will want a car. Staying on-site will be much more convenient without a car, you'll have more meal options that way as well.

There are flashcards for the spelling rules, but I did not find any for the punctuation and capitalization rules. i also did not see anything for phonograms (I did not expect to.)

http://www.amazon.com/Canterbury-Tales-Geoffrey-Chaucer/dp/0140424385/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355439021&sr=1-1&keywords=coghill+canterbury+tales I believe she is suggesting that just the prologue be read.

I think I found it: http://www.teachingmom.com/features/advent.html At least this is one that I've used after running across it here.