I don't know, but if you don't mind bad language, it's fun to watch these Onion pundits and educators bemoan the lack of lazy role models in modern education: http://www.theonion.com/video/in-the-know-are-tests-biased-against-students-who,17966/

I wish I had seen your post earlier. We're doing pretty a lot of the same stuff too, American Odyssey with a side dish of Crash course US History, American Experience, DBQs, Reading Like a historian, and movies. It's definitely a two year course though!

Now that halloween sewing is over, I'm working on a terrycloth bathrobe for a Christmas gift. The only cloth I could find is so thin, so I'm doing two layers. I hope it'll come out okay. Annoyingly, I saw some huge thick bath sheets on sale recently in a cool color. I'm thinking I should have got some of those instead of this thin terrycloth. Oh well...

I think if you both like the materials he's using and the timing, I'd stick with it and totally ignore the following ;-). But, if this were my schedule, I'd find it kind of choppy and complicated and would want to simplify it. I'd do something like this: - accelerate the math and extend to at least 60 minutes - extend history to an hour. Supplement with outside reading, documentaries, outlining, essays. -extend science to an hour. If you want more independent work, use a textbook/workbook (Power basics? Galore park?) or online (Derek Owens?) - consolidate language arts into a 90 minute period. Continue with daily skills work if needed (penmanship, spelling, grammar), but drop when mastered. Alternate literature unit studies and an academic writing focus monthly. - along with the four main subjects, let him choose one elective to work on each semester (foreign language? Geography? Logic? Computer science? Music? Art?) and spend 30-60 minutes per day on it. - take home ec and PE and reading time out of your school day and make them part of life - take out the readers and worksheets and mind benders.

It sounds good to me! It seems like you're meeting your son's needs, so I wouldn't worry. If you think he's ready for a challenge, you can raise your expectations for him. But it always helps me to remember I'm teaching a student, not teaching a grade level. Grade levels are kind of arbitrary, artificial divisions created by publishers and schools to group students into ages, they're not really all that standardized and no two kids are going to get identical 8th grade educations. So whatever he needs to work on this year is appropriate 8th grade for him. And next year as a ninth grader, he'll be continuing to work on whatever he's ready to tackle and it'll be appropriate 9th grade. At some point there will be an outside standard to aim towards (like AP tests) and that's a little different because you can switch your focus to completion of a syllabus and achievement on a test rather than on individual academic growth, but until then, I would just use your own son's development as your measure and not worry about what other 8th or 9th graders are doing.

Perhaps your husband might consider short term emergency placements or respite care?

For shorter stories and essays, my 7th grader reads and answers the questions from the textbook (we're using a high school american lit book). For longer works, she writes either a long summary or a short essay (1-2 typed pages) based on topics I've found online. We've also done lit guides, but they seem to be too much. My girl reads *fast* and it pains her to keep stopping at every chapter to answer comprehension and vocabulary questions.

Stick with it! My sense is that most families on this board don't follow a strict history rotation as laid out in the WTM and it's totally okay. What always has held true for me is this: If your child is learning and thriving with a certain curriculum, stick with it. Don't let yourself be influenced by some other family or a great review or slick marketing materials. Don't second guess yourself, just put on blinders and keep going with a program until it no longer meets your child's needs.

I just align our literature with whatever we're studying in history. It's not hard and I find it satisfying to only use books I find interesting or important and to skip others.

I disagree with the negative pre-algebra view. It's just a title for a book or course. Like most math classes, it includes a bit of review, a deepening of concepts and applications, an introduction to new areas, and a preview of what's to come. We did a few years of what might be called "Pre Algebra" or "Middle School Math" or "The Tricky Bits of Arithmetic with an Introduction to Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Statistics, etc...". Anyway, it's just a name for the math that typically gets taught in US schools around age 12 and 13 or so; it's not inherently good or bad.

Everyone will get a calendar, themed t-shirt, and slippers. Oldest wants sims 4 and a new ballet bag and a wallet. Middle wants tennis stuff and ?? Youngest wants all sorts of things, but will probably get Legos, a tool belt with small, real tools, and a suction cup bow and arrow set.

I had a "starter" machine (A 130$ Singer from Walmart) for about 10 years. The tension was never right, it was constantly jamming and it sounded like a lawn mower. Two years ago I got myself a Bernina and I'm so much happier. It's an expensive brand, but I got a simpler model, so it wasn't too insanely priced. I can't believe I struggled so long on such a terrible machine. I love having a reliable, solid sewing machine.

I don't know about supplementing Saxon in particular, but we have used Zaccaro Problem solving genius, real world algebra, CWP 5&6, keys to algebra and word problems from hand on equations, plus Patty Paper geometry and Understanding geometry for pre-algebra/algebra supplementation. My guess though, is that Saxon provides plenty of opportunities to practice skills, so I'd focus on what you feel is missing from saxon.

My 6 year old boy spends at least an hour outside. My 10 year old girl spent time outside last summer, but now is too busy. My 12 year old girl has never willingly gone outside and hasn't "played" in years. She's more of a cozy-up-with-a-book-and-cup-of-tea kid than a tree climber.

Congrats on the weight loss! An A1c of 5.7 is really not bad at all. I don't know that it's really a "blood sugar problem" at all.... Just more of a make-healthy-changes-to-reduce-risk-of-diabetes-in-20-years kind of thing. My guess is your blood work (including cholesterol etc..) will be better all around for having lost the weight.

I'm with you. I majored in art history as an undergrad and really regret it. It's just not marketable. I would have enjoyed other subjects too, but I had bought into the idea that I was learning for the sake of learning and as long as I followed my heart, whatever I did would somehow end up in a career. At 18, I hadn't thought about how what I was studying might translate into an actual job four years later or that it was statistically unlikely that I would end up being an art conservator or professor of art history. College is too expensive to simply pursue hobbies. If theater or art or dance or horses are what drives you, do it... But don't spend money on a degree in it. Spend money on degrees that have a good chance of bringing in income.

In our town it's not the Unitarians, but the UCC churches that offer OWL. You might check with them too. Kids of all (or no) religious backgrounds are welcome.

We were doing some other physical science stuff earlier this semester, but now I want to get into a more formal physical science. I have the student workbook and was planning on having my daughter watch the videos on YouTube. Am I right in assuming that each section 1.1, 1.2, etc... is one lesson or do you break it into pieces? I noticed that the videos have like 1.3a, 1.3b, 1.3c, 1.3d, etc... How does that work for you? How long does it take?

" It's perfectly normal" by Robbie Harris is aimed at ages 10+ and not particularly wordy... Lots of cartoons. But it gets into the details of birth control and STDs and such, so it's sort of a step beyond Care and Keeping of You.

I've used old editions of remedial and ESL community college writing textbooks for a few years now. They've been perfect for us and cheap and secular. The topics for writing tend to be more for young adult interests, but thats fine.

I got a copy for $10 used on amazon about 2 years ago. It had a library binding and some writing and smelled musty. Its poor condition probably did have some influence on my choice to use Foerster instead. If you're committed to Jacobs, get a nicer copy than I had.

We used CWP, Zaccaro "Become a Problem Solving Genius" and "Real World Algebra", and Hands on Equations Verbal problems. They were all great (though in different ways).

It sounds like you've tried everything and just need to vent -- I totally get that. One thing that has helped me is to switch my thinking from behavioral-problem to psychiatric-problem. When it's a psych issue (in our case, fetal alcohol), the idea of punishments or consequences is lessened. It's not about behavior that is under your or her control, her issues are symptoms of disease, not maliciousness. I find it much easier for me to remain free of emotions and to have more sympathy when I think of out-of-control raging similar to vomiting or seizing; it becomes more about keeping the child safe until it passes than about consequences or frustrations at behaviors.

No. Also, I only like to commit to things I know I can keep up and there is no way 5am is a sustainable time for me to be awake. If I agreed to it and (inevitably) failed, it'd make me feel even worse about myself.

It sounds like she needs more than they can offer... Is she on medication and does it need adjusting? I have a foster son at a day treatment program and it has made a world of difference. They are just more prepared for his challenges and the staff-student ratio is awesome (currently 6 kids in a class with 1-2 adults) and he gets daily individual and group therapy. He's no longer the 'bad boy' that he had been identifying himself as. Plus, I never have to go pick him up from school for behavioral reasons -- they can handle it all. Anyway, a change in schools and a change in medication may be just the right thing for her to improve. Good luck!