Thanks for the advice! My guess is that your kids are playing tennis at a much higher national level and we're still solely playing local tournaments (albeit some quite long drives away!) When I look at usta sanctioned jr tournaments in Oregon, they seem to be listed as rookie, challenger, champs and then I see a few that are level 4a, which I'm not sure what that is. And some that are just "open". Her tennis club's youth lessons are also tied to the rookie/challenger/champs groupings. There's also a tournament listed as sectionals, which I've heard is good to try. My daughter plays the challengers, which attracts most of the local tennis kids. The usta rankings are separated between challenger rankings and champs rankings and endorsement. I don't know what endorsement is. Also, she's not ranked in the tennis recruiting network, though apparently has a 1-1 record ;-). I'm guessing those rankings are just more advanced kids playing in a totally different 'league'. Anyway, we'll keep on enjoying tennis... I'm sure I'll have more questions for you. I hope you won't mind if I PM you sometime!

Thanks! My daughter is only ten so not on the rankings for the recruiting. She just started competing last summer and discovered the rankings last month. She's doing pretty well in g12 challengers, but she has big dreams and a lot of passion for the sport. Since you seem to know more about it... At what point does a child try champs? Also, she's been to a Nike tennis camp and loved it and wants to go back again, do they have a good reputation? Besides regular lessons and a decent racquet, is the key to supporting a competitive tennis playing kid to just sign them up for as many tournaments as possible? Thanks for helping a newbie!!

Can you explain the usta jr ranking system? Why does my daughter sometimes gets points from a win but other times not? Is it the rank of the opponent? The points won by? Or is it related to whether it was a quarter or semi or final or in the consolation round? I can't figure it out!

What about something like an apple crumble with a nut topping? Edited to add - I apparently can't read... You said not a dessert... Will keep thinking. Potato salad with vegan mayo? Or vinegar based dressed? Roasted potatoes (cut up potatoes and onions and toss with salt, pepper, olive oil, herbs and bake) Chili Soup - gazpacho is nice in the summer... Or something like cioppino with seafood in it?

Perhaps the 2nd grade testing population didn't match the norming group as well as other grades did? For instance if the norming group had kids from all 50 states, but this year's 2nd graders weren't required to test in some of the higher performing New England states (who perhaps test grades 3 and up) there'd be proportionally more kids from lower performing states (Mississippi, Louisiana etc...) or from states with higher non-native English speakers (California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona) so the national average would appear lower. It's just a guess, but I'd be curious about the national average for third grade next year and see if it evened up.

Glad you found your gear! If she continues, be prepared to sew in elastics into ballet shoes (though not in the Daisy Capezio if I recall). Also check out second hand kids clothing stores for tap shoes. I always see a ton there. In our studio, the kids don't have to start wearing buns until they start the regular ballet program at 6-7ish. The creative movement/pre-ballet crowd just have ponytails or pigtails.

I think it sounds totally reasonable.

Yep, I tell her the plan and she writes it down along with any after school activities or appointments or sometimes a forgotten chore.

I like the keys to idea... Adding in (as needed) their fractions, decimals, percent, geometry, measurement along with algebra makes a good choice for a pre-algebra work text with lots of white space. I'd add in something for word problems though. Also Saxon makes a consumable edition for SN kids called "adaptations". You might look into that.

Assuming it's a general English class for adults, my favorite materials are OUP English File or American English File. The teachers book is scripted (in a good way) and can be a great resource with lots of games and activities to encourage communication. There's also a student book and workbook. Ask if you have questions about leveling or want other ideas.

It might be developmental issue. My 10 yr old was a hopeless speller until the time was right for her to learn... She's picking it up so quickly now! We're using apples and pears. My point though, is that it might be less about the materials and more just about readiness.

Some people like to skip 6a and b but I don't really understand why. Middle school math is a time to strengthen skills, go into greater depth on topics, prepare for algebra, develop stamina for trickier problems... I wouldn't skip either SM 6 or pre-algebra. There is plenty to work on and no need to rush. Use the CWP and Zaccaro for extra challenge if your child feels it's too easy, but I wouldn't miss the opportunity for review and depth and a gentle introduction to more advanced math.

We started off about four years ago using this: http://www.homeschooljourney.com. Almost immediately I realized I wanted to design my own portfolio and have kids work on topics I think are important so I stopped using the teacher pages for ideas. Now I just order blank portfolios with card stock frames. We really kind of like the horizontal binder. You could get the same effect from a scrapbook kind of binder with card stock or a regular three ring binder.

I have my daughter write down the plan for the day in her planner. I think it's helpful for her to stay organized and be ready for the day whether I'm around or not.

You might want to know that Keys to algebra does get significantly harder in book 4 when factoring polynomials is introduced. We've also done Algebra Survival Guide, Real World Algebra and Becoming a Problem Solving Genius and CWP 5 and 6. And some MM grade 7 and Algebra 1 pages too. Now that I think of it, my girl is probably a bit over-prepared ;-) but it was fun and beneficial...

In fifth grade we did lots of paragraphs in history -- usually biographical, but sometimes describing an event or theme or artwork (The role of medieval women, the crusades, the plague, the ceiling of the Sistine chapel) The rules were; 1. they should research and use facts, but needed to restate them rather than blatantly plagiarize 2. they must start their paragraph with a sentence that embodied why the person or event was famous/infamous/evil/inspiring etc... So a topic sentence like "Charlemagne was born in the year 742." was generally not okay, but something like "Charlemagne is known by many as the greatest emperor of the middle ages." at least got the kids writing in the direction of "why might people think he is famous" rather than "why was he born in 742". 3. The final sentence also needed to go back to the "why was he/she/it is famous" to tie it together. Focusing on paragraphs in 5th grade made it easy in 6th grade to slide into short 5 paragraph type essays. I much prefer reading tight, well-organized short writings than rambling multi-page monstrosities as they sometimes do in public school. We also used the binders and cardstock from History Portfolio and the girls glued in their paragraphs and other writings into it. Having a portfolio helped them to make the writing neat and something they were proud of. We chose topics based on whatever topic they were working on in history. I had them do a paragraph maybe every 2 or 3 days.... so I might have had them read from the textbook, watch a documentary, then write a paragraph, then add in pictures or lists or documents or something interesting on the topic in their portfolio. In the end the portfolio looks like a textbook or something they created themselves. It's kind of cool.

We only used TT for one year, but it's generally accepted that it runs about a year behind other programs. For that reason, I'd give it a whirl and see what you think. When he's done, however, don't assume he'll necessarily be ready for a standard algebra 1 course. He might benefit from another year of middle school math before tackling it.

My homeschooled daughter does ballet daily in the late afternoon and evenings but just gets dressed in tights and leotard in the morning. She likes to wear cute skirts over them, but otherwise manages all day in dance gear rather than change. She also wears a bun all day... Not sure why. The only plus is that it saves on undies, bras and socks... We usually buy leotards from discount dance. Camisoles or cap sleeves with interesting strappy backs are popular. Black shorts over the top for contemporary and jazz and Convertible tights if she's doing pointe work.

Cool website! The two books I've found most useful in providing activities for primary sources are the Reading like a historian website and book http://sheg.stanford.edu/us and http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Like-Historian-Teaching-Classrooms/dp/080775403X/ref=dp_ob_image_bk and DBQ writing assignments like this: http://www.amazon.com/Document-Based-Assessment-History-Middle-School/dp/0825159040/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407825325&sr=8-1&keywords=dbq+us+history

My daughter's ballet school uses this song in a production they put on every year. It's beautiful! Let me know in PM if you'd like to see it. I think I have a little clip.

My daughter has two impacted canines and will have oral surgery in two weeks to chain them and bring them down. I know it's different from completely missing teeth, but still cool what orthodontists can do.

I wouldn't say vision therapy is in its infancy. My parents bought into the idea of vision therapy for my brother and me over 30 years ago. I didn't mind it -- there were interesting activities and lots of pseudo-scientific jargon, but it didn't solve my brother's dyslexia and I don't have any vision problems except nearsightedness, which is easily correctable with lenses. Regrettably, my parents paid a lot of money for it. I think the developmental optometrists preyed on worried parents... Basically selling them on an interesting placebo.

I never have.

Our house is about that size and takes about 5 hrs to clean. We currently pay $100. We've done as low as $60 and as high as $125.

We did something similar last year... I'll try and remember: For Africa, we read African folk tales and from the OUP history series We watched the series Human Journey and Lost Kingdoms of Africa We did some west african drumming and made Ghanian food one day and Ethiopian another. We wrote an essay on reasons for early human migration. For India, we read the Mahabharata and from human odyssey and OUP. We watched the story of India series and Gandhi We learned how to wear a sari, listened to Indian music and went out for Indian food. We learned about Hinduism For China, we read five versions of the Mulan story (and watched the Disney movie) and wrote a compare/contrast essay We read from human odyssey and OUP We watched legacy: Mandate of Heaven We ate a Buddhist monk's meal and listened to Chinese music and went out for Chinese food. We played the bbc game "high tea" about the opium wars and watched the last emperor We studied about Buddhism For the Middle East, we read Gilgamesh and 1001 Arabian nights and excerpts from the Koran. We read from human odyssey and OUP We studied about Islam and visited a mosque We watched legacy and East to West We ate middle eastern food and listened to music We went to an exhibit on ancient art at a college For Australia, we read and watched Rabbit Proof Fence We watched the First Australians We ate a modern Australian meal while watching some recent Australian movies for fun (girls had a sleepover) We wrote essays on the effects of colonialism on Australia. For South America, we read from the Popol vuh. We watched guns, germs and steel and engineering an empire and other documentaries We ate an Aztec meal (including soaking in ash and grinding our own corn for tortillas) We wrote an essay on effects of colonialism on s America. We went to an anthropology museum that focused on the Americas. Finally we swung back to Europe to connect some pieces about imperialism and independence movements and World Wars. Throughout the whole year, our focus was on what happens to language and religion apand food and music and art when two cultures come into contact with each other. What were the effects of colonialism in Africa and India and S America and China and Australia? How & why were they different? Also -- We watched all of Crash Course world history and also used MP Geography 1 & 2, and tried (though not necessarily succeeded) to align everything to geographic area.