We did / will do 2nd & 3rd Ancient Europe 4th medieval Europe 5th Renaissance Europe 6th World history (loosely geographical unit based, semi-chronological) 7th US history (through civil war probably?) 8th US history

Saxon isn't considered a "mastery" program, so I do understand what your friend is suggesting... it will spiral back around and your child might be more ready to understand next time. But... I wouldn't do it that way. What's the point of homeschooling if you're not meeting your daughter at exactly where she is? If she doesn't understand how to work with exponents or graph equations, why not stop and try to work on those specific areas she struggles with? Start the next book when you finish the current one and have fixed up any areas that need fixing. It probably won't take more than a few weeks and you'll feel better knowing she's 100% ready to move on.

We've been working on world history this year and have made it around the world and back into modern Europe. Lately we've been doing little mini-units on different topics and I'd like to spend a few days introducing some of the more famous philosophers of the 18th-20th century. I'm looking for something really, really light just to get a taste of some names and ideas. Do you know of a video or website or book or activity that could be interesting? I don't have time to dedicate more than a few hours to the topic. I should add -- she read Sophie's World earlier this year -- though that is sort of what I'm looking for in terms of accessibility and lightness.

I think that's a bank policy - both my kids (10 & 12 yr olds) have accounts with debit cards from Bank of America. My 12 year old works in the church nursery and does babysitting and such so she needs to be able to deposit checks and withdraw her money. She uses the debit card for lunches and birthday presents and treats with friends and such when she's out. My younger (the one who spent $70 in one week on candy) does not have access to her debit card (which I keep in my purse) for obvious reasons. Plus, she has very little money and frankly is just not ready yet for a debit card.

You'll get a huge range of opinions from everyone here... But I probably would go for the primary care appointment rather than the emergency room if you're just feeling a bit off. I've come close to a thyroid storm and it's unmissable. Out of breath all the time, super fast pulse, high blood pressure, temperature, tremors, crazy high thyroid levels, etc... And I don't think that was even a real full-on thyroid storm.

I guess the question then is... Do I toss out the flyer or do I take one for the team and actually agree to participate? Pros: I can find out if pee can be actually sent through the mail. I can get more pseudo-scientific mail to amuse myself and my kids Cons: It might be a marketing ploy and I'll be asked to pay for the results of my urinalysis It could be some weird loophole in law and I'll have inadvertently "donated" to his political campaign. He could use or sell my private information He could be using my urine for nefarious purposes such as building a zombie army or creating weapons of mass destruction He could have some creepy pee fetish and I'll have encouraged him in his perversion

At 9, my younger daughter went to a 2 week tennis camp on a college campus and it was recommended we send $30/week for incidentals and student store purchases and movie tickets etc... I sent $70. She spent all $70 on candy at the student store in the first week. I learned a lesson about my daughter and money and candy. This year will involve much less money and much more direction about what is okay to buy.

Here's someone's link to the front page of the flyer we received. The middle pages are even more awesome... http://www.kdrv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/robinson-pg-1.jpg

I haven't done it, but my mom, grandma and brothers have reported T2b4 haplogroup and between 3.0-3.2% Neanderthal DNA.

Yep - the Robinson curriculum guy... And apparently my pee is to be sent through the post.

Today I got a flyer addressed to 'postal customer' in the mail from Art Robinson at the "Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine". My kids had fun looking for logical fallacies and enjoying the particularly pointless graphs... But I still can't figure out why he wants me to submit a urine sample. Is he trying to sell me something? Regain his lost reputation as a scientist? Is he just a total nutcase? I thought he'd be too busy denying global warming and picketing abortion clinics or running for office or building underground bunkers or something to want my neighborhood's bodily fluids. According to the flyer "We need samples of your urine in order to calibrate analytical procedures that can revolutionize the evaluation of personal chemistry - and thereby improve our health, our happiness and prosperity, and even the academic performance of our children in school." Thoughts??

Not a big deal here. My kids don't speak the language of my in-laws and they don't speak English. I wouldn't be offended if my kids moved to another country and their kids didn't speak a language I spoke. We'd sort it out.

The "It's not the stork" and "Care and a keeping of You" are great suggestions for books. But a few thoughts... First, my daughter had first signs of puberty at 7 at about the same time as she lost her first tooth. At 12, she still hasn't lost or grown in as many teeth as other kids... So I don't know that there is a tooth/puberty connection. Also, I remember when she was 7 worrying that she'd start her period like at 9 or something... And while her development has been a bit on the early side, it was nothing concerning.

We liked Galore Park SYRWL Maths 2 & 3 after SM 6b. I think any pre-algebra would be appropriate. Dolciani is popular, but you could probably do Saxon Algebra 1/2 or Holt pre-algebra, etc... Some people jump to Algebra, but I think it's nicer to ease in gently.

If it's any consolation to the parents of non-academic 3-4 year olds... We live in a fairly affluent community and I have a foster child in public Kindergarten. It's a great school full of friendly people and the focus in Kindergarten is really on social and classroom skills. Our little guy came with no pre-school experiences and he still fit right in, learning the ABCs and counting and sharing and playing and singing and music and art and PE. I know there is a trend towards early academics, but there are still some awesome schools where kindergarten is a half-day program developmentally appropriate for 5 year olds.

I have small fiber peripheral neuropathy and am familiar with burning hands and feet. I find that it helps if you cool it down with an ice pack. Unfortunately there are a ton of reasons why a person could have neuropathy and about half the time they can't figure out why.

I just don't buy clothes I'm not okay with. Occasionally something tacky or too short sneaks in via a bag of hand-me-downs or a gift, but I reroute those to the goodwill quickly. If anything, my 12 yr old is more modest than me. It's the 10 yr old who needs help...

K12 Human Odyssey is pretty good. So is Joy Hakim's Story of US and Story of Science.

School publishing companies are always going to align scope and sequence to the market. Whether it's a common set of state standards (common core) or the standards of a particular state (usually Texas or California) makes little difference. As homeschoolers, we can look at the material for what it is and ignore whose standards it meets - if you like it and think it'll work well for your student, use it. If not, don't use it. Rejecting something awesome because you're concerned that it does or doesn't meets someone else's standards is a loss for your child. Instead, choose materials because they meet your own standards.

Double post sorry...

Sounds like SLI - Specific Language Impairment. I'd get an evaluation through your school district and/or with a private speech/language pathologist along with the rest of the testing.

I'm no endocrinologist, but from my own experience, TSH looks pretty stable. I'd just watch it if she has no symptoms and her T4 is still in the normal range. Honestly, there's not much to be done if she is hyperthyroid other than try to find out why. Still it sounds like she's tolerating a slightly low TSH fine. I personally never noticed symptoms until TSH is like under 0.05.

I went to grad school at Yale - I'm pretty sure we all had all of our health care needs taken care of at Yale. I remember thinking it was pretty cool - I don't remember any copays or premiums or deductibles... As for the anorexia issue - no idea. I'd like to think maybe there's more to the story, but who knows. I didn't find the university or the health care system particularly intrusive in any way.

I've taken two kids through SM 6a and 6b and wouldn't hesitate to use it again. I think it's good practice and worthwhile in solidifying elementary math. Plus, they're pretty quick. I think we did both between like July and December. If SM5a and 5b are working, I'd suggest just plowing on.

The first few chapters of Foersters have some review of easier algebra topics - probably taught in most pre-algebra books. I think a ninth grader should do fine. You could always slow down when necessary.