There's something really appealing about dividing academic development into stages, but it is kind of arbitrary where that division is. I mean, the WTM model sets it at 4 yr grade intervals 1-4, 5-8, 9-12. Public schools around here do k-5, 6-8, 9-12. Montessori educators go with three year intervals at 1st-3rd, 4th-6th, 7th-9th, 10-12th. And Steiner (Waldorf), I think, took 7 yr intervals 0-7 yr olds, 7-13, 14-21. Anyway... my feeling is that each of these models makes sense, but I don't think that anything drastic happens when a child enters a new one of these stages. It's more about trends towards certain qualities or abilities in larger populations than about one individual child.

I think jr high or high school sounds right (because that's when I read it). My daughter read the three books at 10. She had finished all of Terry Pratchett's books and many Neil Gaimon and wanted more like it. I don't really censor books much and she tends to reread books, so I have no doubt she'll get more out of them when she's older. But... She did enjoy them. Anyway, I figure a child won't read what they're not ready for. If its too scary or grown up or complicated or difficult, they'll put it down. It's not a big deal.

About 4 hrs of structured learning (excluding electives and documentaries, free reading, crafty things...).

Mine doesn't ask for help or handholding. Instead she sits there with a dreamy dazed look on her face. I have to intervene... Particularly with math, there's a lot of "Do number one. Does that make sense? Ok. Now do number two..." Otherwise math would take well over two hours.

Tonight -- Pancake dinner in honor of Shrove Tuesday.

My 10 yr old has an erratic schedule because of electives at school and ballet, and she does some subjects 2 or 3 times per week... but if I add everything up and divide by five school days it comes out like this: Math -- 90 min. Writing & Grammar -- 25 min. History -- 60 min. Science -- 30 min. Latin -- 15 min. (Electives at school* -- 60 min) *Art, Singing, Computer Science, Creative Writing

Planning for history was easy when the focus was just on Greece and Rome, the European middle ages, and the renaissance and reformation... we dipped now and again into other cultures briefly to talk about things like the crusades or the silk road, but stuck generally to one single thread of European history. But now we're getting into the 17th century and it's getting complicated. How can I help my kids to understand things like the exploration of other continents, the conquistadors, slavery, the British empire, independence movements or world wars without going back and looking more carefully at the cultures that the Europeans were interacting with? With this in mind, I've decided to focus on non-western history for a year or so. I think we'll work continent by continent... ending in North America (so that we're poised to do US history). As a bonus, it'll be a great year to get in the world religions and geography that I've been meaning to teach... I've got Human Odyssey and OUP books and Story of US book 1, so the textbook side is covered, but I'd love to hear about classics from other cultures that can't be missed. Also, exceptionally good historical fiction, documentaries and movies are welcome! This will be for two middle school girls. Thanks in advance!

According to my endocrinologist, it's best to stick to name brands (synthroid or levoxyl or the other ones) because the generics are bought in batches by pharmacies and have slightly different formulations based on the producer. She thinks it's best to choose a name brand and then stick with it to fine tune the dosage.

I think Minimus sounds perfect for your needs. It's written for older elementary but is so accessible that lots of younger kids use it too. We loved it.

We're not exactly a fair sampling of the general population... I mean, this board tends to be made mostly of women who value education and enjoy planning and researching. I'd imagine a lot of us have similar personality traits.

We found it useful... Also, we sold it for the same price we bought it for.

I don't know about the others, but Ashland is a wonderful town. The housing market is higher than surrounding areas, but it's super friendly and beautiful and has a lot to do for a small town.

We loved the book "A child's introduction to poetry". Shell Silverstein and Jack Prelutzky are great fun and culturally important... but for an academic context, I want my kids to read and appreciate deeper themes and multiple types of poetry -- sonnets, villanelle, etc.., Anyway, this book introduces Shakespeare and Frost and Dickinson and Tennyson in a very colorful and kid friendly way.

I might do what we're doing now with a bunch of different resources about the renaissance and reformation. The kids have a portfolio (currently History Portfolio -- but I'm guessing I'll just use the same idea and do it myself) and they will read something from a textbook and then write a paragraph or definition or outline or essay and draw a picture or color a map or something like that. Today, for instance, they read a short encyclopedia article on the counter reformation and wrote a paragraph on it and a paragraph about the Council of Trent and then drew a picture of Loyola and St. Theresa of Avila. Tomorrow, they might watch a short video if I can find something... I like the portfolio idea because it gives us some structure and gives them something they are very proud of. Other than that, I do also have the entire set of Story of US and also a test book, which I'll probably assign to keep us on track. But who knows? I tend to figure these things as I go along...

I predict we're going to do: Math: Foerster's Algebra Science: McHenry Elements and Carbon Chem History/Literature/Geography/Religion: Non-western history / unit studies with K12HO and OUP Literature (possibly w/ study guides) related to history studies World Religions related to history studies Mapping the world with art Latin: Latiin Prep 2 Ballet and art outsourced

My daughter just got her first pointe shoes recently and would *love* to go to a SI one day. But her own studio does a summer program and they don't like students to go away for the summer. I'm concerned that casting and promotion might be influenced if she did do a SI. It all seems a bit off, but it's a great studio otherwise and truly the only serious option within a few hours drive. Do you think that not going to a SI will matter in the long run?

Nope - we were specifically told no pictures/names/mention we are even fostering on FB.

At least in our area, taking a child away from a family is the last in a long series of steps that CPS will go through. The case workers don't want that to happen. Drug use or neglect alone won't trigger removal. Their goal is to get the parent functional and keep the child safe, not break up families. If there is a chance that the girl isn't safe, it's good that CPS has been notified!

Ellen j McHenry's materials

We've gone DIY with the pre-algebra. After SM6a/b, we have been doing a mix of different pre-algebra books and are happy. We mix galore park SYRWL Maths 2 with AOPS videos and MM grade 7 and algebra worksheets and the algebra survival guide. We're moving along nicely and I think she'll be ready for algebra in the fall.

Our dentist told my shark-toothed daughter that when the adult teeth coming in are taller than the baby teeth, it's time to pull them. So we waited and then had them pulled. Interestingly, others of her teeth (not just those first bottom two) had trouble also. She grew her canines in front of the baby teeth on the top, and behind on the bottom. Her orthodontist keeps having baby teeth pulled in order to reduce the amount of work to move the adult teeth into place. At nearly 11, I think she's naturally lost only 2 teeth!

My partner hates reading... But she has plenty of other endearing qualities so that it doesn't really matter. She fixes things and cleans much better than me. She likes gardening and fishing and mushroom hunting - things that I find a little boring, but I love the veggies and fruits and nuts and salmon and trout and morels she can bring home. For her, reading is a non-productive task... A time wasted... not something to do for enjoyment. She will read a medical journal to look something up but otherwise avoids all books. One of our girls is like her, one is not. It does seem genetic I think since we used the same donor and each had one.

Ellen J McHenry's Mapping the World with Art is awesome for middle schoolers.

We've finished the medieval one and are in the middle of the renaissance one and Jr. Ancients. I like them a lot, but I tend to change the topics regularly. So, for instance, I'll have the kids read something (a biography or chapter in a textbook or a primary source), then watch a documentary or something on YouTube, then they'll draw a picture and write a paragraph in the portfolio. If I was short on money, I'd just do it myself with card stock and a cheaper binder, but I do like having it all prepared for me... And sometimes I do use the ideas. I love having something to show for our hard work. My kids and I are proud of it. I would add that if you exclusively follow the teachers guide, you'll end up focusing on only western history from a Christian perspective... But it's flexible if you have different plans.

Steck-Vaughn used to publish some workbook type history books, I don't know if they still do. The ones we used when I was teaching were written at pretty low level for remedial students. An average 10 yr old could totally have handled it. Galore Park Jr History is probably a bit young and the SYRWL History is very UK centered... Critical thinking company has a few workbooks, but not a full program. Maybe K12 or something online? You might consider using a school textbook that comes with a workbook. Look at the major publishers - Glencoe, Holt, Prentice Hall, Mcdougal, Harcourt, Longman, Houghton Mifflin, Scott Foresman,.. I can't think of any others. You could assign a chapter from the book and then activities from the workbook... Or you could do SOTW or OUP or Hakim's Story of US and use the test bank questions or student activity guide as a workbook. Good luck!