That's what I was thinking ... sign up for a less expensive one to try it. I saw some that were only in the $20 range. My older girls have used Shmoop's literary analysis info for several books (just the written material - not the online\interactive stuff) and they really like the humor and wit. I feel they do a good job of leading the child through a work without it feeling heavy or boring. I also appreciate the essay suggestions that we also use as discussion points.

Has anyone used any of these? I just came across the American Lit. and it has me very curious.

Mine have been in ps and homeschooled. I don't miss me time because I still get it. When I feel the need for a couple hours of uninterrupted, quite time I tell the kids that I'm not to be disturbed and they all go to their rooms and entertain themselves. Even the 5 year old can find something to do or the older kids make sure to occupy her so that she doesn't immediately come to me if she wants something. Now, I do have to threaten death upon those who bother me ... they won't just naturally leave me alone for 2 hours. I'll often hear someone call out..."Someone grab T, she's about to wake the dragon!" Not that I'm sleeping, but they find that analogy comparing my wraith to that of a fire breathing dragon funny. :lol: Sometimes I'm actually productive but sometimes I just sit and stair at the wall. :)

All of my kids have done that. When they were still working on learning and becoming fluent they never skipped those words but then later did, so I realized that they were ready to read silently so they could read more quickly. I didn't correct it every single time ... more like at the beginning of their reading aloud point out that they needed to watch for those words and slow down a bit so that they didn't breeze over them. I also explained that for their own silent reading their brain wouldn't always "say" those little words but when reading aloud they were important to include so that they person you are reading to won't be confused. They all have grown out of it. Except dd5 who isn't there yet. ;)

As my kids have gotten older and as I've been doing this longer I've gotten away from scheduling anything in regards to times or days. Which is a total 180 from what I used to do ... scheduling what page what day and for a specific amount of time....UGH, it was a time and energy waster for me. I found that I spent way too much time constantly tweaking my schedule. If something came up during the day that caused us to get off schedule I'd have to tweak the schedule, if we ended up taking an impromptu day off I'd have to tweak the schedule, if someone ended up taking longer on a concept than I had anticipated I'd have to tweak the schedule....it was a never ending endeavor to keep the schedule current. We were ruled by that schedule and it caused us to become box checkers. It created an atmosphere of "doing what's on the schedule" instead of educating ourselves. Now, my older kids know what their subjects are and have assignments but they determine for the most part when and for how long they work on them. With the older 3 I give due dates for certain assignments and give them goals to work toward - for example: be to lesson X by then end of X month. One of them works on subjects in chunks a lot of the time, doing 2 hours of a subject one day and none the next. One of them prefers to do a lesson a day in each of her subjects, and the younger of my "olders" has just recently started to find her own rhythm that works best for her. I do still follow a routine with my younger two but that's mostly so that I can get their work done without interruption ... the olders know when I'm available to help them and so adjust their own day accordingly. This new way of living with homeschooling feels more organic and natural to us. Our studies feel like a natural part of our day now instead of it feeling like we have to set aside this chunk of our lives daily to devote to "work". I think the key to making a schedule work for you is just that, it needs to work FOR you...it shouldn't rule you or hold you hostage.

Asking for someone else. I looked through their website but can't find info on this. For the record...I don't care if it is or not ... just trying to help someone else get this info. Thanks.

Title says it all. :)

I normally always recommend MM to people. I adore it. However, something you said up thread makes me think that MUS might be a better fit for you right now. Here's why: MM moves quickly through a progression of skills and different concepts. Typically you will have a new concept or skill presented, do a page or two of practice and then move to a new concept or skill (or add to the concept or skill) the next day or at the very most, the day after. MUS teaches one new concept or skill per week. You watch the dvd and go over the concept with the child at the beginning of the week and then they do a page of practice and\or review each day for the rest of the week. Considering your work schedule and that your children will be doing much of their work at grandparent's house I think the MUS would be more conducive IF you don't want to have to rely on Grandma to actually teach the concepts. Just a thought.

It isn't the same thing. I did a quick google search and the name of the person who founded Discovery K12 is Sheri Wells. She lives in Orange County, CA and has this info listed on her LinkedIn account: I'm currently working on a variety of projects in transmedia including mobile games, e-books, and technology platforms. Specialties: - K12 Education - Transmedia Storytelling - ARGs (Alternative Reality Games) - 20 years C-level exec for digital media companies - 20+ years application development - 10 years mobile and SMS expertise Her website is only a year old. It's a work in progress I'm sure.

I would expect a child, adult or not, to help out if they are living in your home. I would sit down with the adult child and work out what you both feel is a fair and adequate amount of helping out. Obviously, any workload that has been increased due to the adult child being home needs to be top on the priority list. For example, the adult child's laundry, cleaning the bathroom the adult child uses, and either helping with meal prep or kitchen clean up. Once those chores are completed then they should be left to do with their time what they want. If you have something specific you want them to participate in then extend the invitation; otherwise let them enjoy their summer in whatever way they like. As for your other children. They are children and shouldn't expect to have the same privileges that an adult has. They haven't earned the right to have free reign over what they do with their free time...your adult child has. If your young children persist in nagging about screen time and whining about things needing to be fair between them and their adult sibling I would explain to them that they apparently aren't mature enough to appreciate the screen time you do allow them so you'll be taking away ALL of their screen time. I do not allow my children to try to control situations with the fairness card. I tell them all the time that I don't parent them based on what's fair, I parent them based on what I feel is best for each of them individually...it often is not equal or "fair" in their eyes.

It was a scheduled part of our day for awhile when dd5 was younger. My 3 oldest would each take 30 - 40 minutes to do preK type activities with her. She was so high maintenance at the time and it was the only way I could get un-interrupted one on one with others. Now I will occasionally ask one of the 3 older dc to help with the younger 2 if it's just something that just requires supervision, not instruction and I'm busy with something else. I don't have the need to schedule it anymore though.

Yes, a friend's mother will pick her up from the airport, drive her to Canada and then back to the airport 2 weeks later. Thanks for the responses.

I'm considering this for my 9th and 11th graders. Anyone experienced with it? http://www.zeezok.com/A-Noble-Experiment-The-History-and-Nature-of-the-American-Government-Student-Activity-Book_p_65.html

She will be flying into Buffalo and then driving to Welland, Ontario so I believe she only has to have a passport card (not a book). Does she need a letter of consent, birth certificate ... any other documentation since she is only 16? Thanks!

I used to but sadly he passed away years ago. His name was Bob. :) I also had a parakeet that would fetch a jingle bell, bring it back and toss it against my leg so I would throw it again. :tongue_smilie:

I'm not interested in purchasing a complete program since I have a spine ... what I'm really looking for are the plans or syllabus of a program that already has planned out the use of and resources for primary source documents, literature, geography, biographies and art. Does this exist?

Just saw this. Words seem inefficient and useless to convey the sorrow I feel for you Rosie. :grouphug:

I print off A or B, divide into chapters with colored dividers and then proclick. I like having the chapters divided so that I can have them do work from a couple different chapters at a time ... breaks up the monotony. They do 2 or more pages a day at their own pace. I don't schedule it at all.

Dd15 went through Analytical Grammar over 1 1/2 years and I was very pleased with the straightforward, no fluff presentation of skills. The explanations were clear and to the point, and there was enough review due to the requirement to parse all known parts of speech in every lesson. We didn't need to do all the diagramming but I was glad to have it for those times when we did. The paraphrasing exercises were also invaluable for this particular child. Based on my experience with this program I plan to have the remainder of my dc study grammar informally through composition from 3rd to 5th and then start AG in 6th grade.

It did in the sense that it made me look more closely at what we were doing and analyze WHY it is working - something that will help as we continue to practice writing skills in all forms. So, thank you! :)

I can only speak from my own experience with these two dc, but I don't think this holds true for them. They both struggle painfully with writing argumentative essays ... we are actually in the middle of re-visiting LAoW as we speak due to them being almost paralyzed to write about any topic that they must come up with on their own. We've tried writing about their interests, and while they can write a decent report type paper, they don't enjoy writing arguments about the things they're passionate about. I'm not saying they don't understand the form to do so, they just lack the ability to create good, convincing arguments that don't sound childish or contrived to them. If I'm reading your posts correctly you are saying that these response type papers are more difficult than writing an argumentative essay, and I might be totally missing something due to my lack of experience with teaching at this level, but the different types of essays I outlined in my op (in their simplest forms) seem to me to be easier than writing a good argumentative essay in which you have to to come up with your own evidence to support your opinion. With these response papers the evidence is already there. My dc have been more willing in the last few days to produce various response papers using the guidelines I've gleaned here than they have been to write about the random topics they must come up with in LAoW. In fact, my oldest scratched a paragraph in her response paper today and started over because she said that the quotes she used were weak examples of the mood she wanted to write about. This is big for the child who normally worries more about word count than she does about the message she's trying to convey. More over, these written responses are helping them put pen to paper more often. I don't like busy work, but when it comes to writing I feel, for my own dc, that they must write in order to improve. I'm not sure if we are doing these response papers correctly, or if there even is a correct way of doing them but I do know that they've given us a few things. My girls have written more in this past week than they have in the past month. They are actually enjoying the process of focusing on what drew their attention to a story or passage (versus what mom or a program tell them to focus on) and finding quotes to illustrate that, and I'm finding that they are putting more thought into thinking about their readings knowing that they will write about it versus how much thought they put into verbal responses when we just discuss literature. So, we may be skipping an important step in the writing process by jumping to literary writing before perfecting argumentative essays, but I think we are gaining something in the area of exploring literature. I'll take it. :D

The first picture I took wasnt accepted. The second picture was, and the only difference was the second picture showed her neck and tops of her shoulders instead of just her face.

Oldest used the OM World Geography as well. We added a world religions and mythology text to add more to the cultures aspect of it, and I added some work from the Ultimate Timeline and Geography Guide for extra political geography. Neither of those needs to be added to the program though. I did get the TM and was glad that I did since I was not confident in geography myself. I wouldn't say it was an amazing geography course - it's a text book after all - but it definitely got the job done and was easy to implement and stay on track with. :)

These are my 2 main reasons. The second being the big one. Language arts done in the traditional out of context, different book for each subject way absolutely makes my skin itch so we do as much LA through history, science and literature as we can. Doing LA through history has actually made a huge difference in my young dc's ability to retain what they learn in their content subjects. If my kids didn't like it so much I might still be inclined to do it just for the LA integration, but if I did LA separately and my kids didn't care one way or the other about history then I wouldn't bother until middle school (5th grade) other than as interest about historical people or events came up from natural curiosity.

Hello! :) I'm not in Nashville, but I am about 30 minutes south east of there. I am the director of a co-op that supports about 70-80 children and we have a couple dads that teach classes.:) I definitely don't think that dad doing the majority of the homeschooling is more prevalent around here but I do know of many families that share the responsibility either short or long term due to working situations. Middle Tn. is a great place to homeschool in regards to lots of groups, tutorials, co-ops, enrichment and academic opportunities. There are also very few hoops to jump through if you register with the LEA, even less so if you register with a cover school. I, and a large majority of those I know irl are registered with HomeLife and we couldn't be happier with their willingness to support and advise yet not interfere in the least. Their high school counselors are wonderful about listening to what you've done\are doing and help you figure out how that applies to courses and credits. Registration is online, grade reporting and attendance are online (twice a year), and there is no testing required.