I'd suggest going for a PhD rather than a terminal masters. PhD programs usually offer an MA or MPhil or something else along the way. Plus, academic PhD programs should be funded. The standard where I went was 6 years at $2000/month... plus tuition and health insurance. Other universities offered assistance based on teaching or research assistant work. Regardless, you really shouldn't pay tuition for an good academic graduate degree -- the job market is hard enough!

You might look at Oxford University Press's "The Medieval and Early Modern World".

Sweet Baby James by James Taylor

Most people have subjects which they are better at or worse at... I wouldn't be necessarily worried. Are you concerned your son is missing some knowledge/skills in punctuation and writing mechanics that are typically taught by fifth grade and you'd like to remediate? Have you noticed a problem with his writing or is it just a testing issue? If it's a concern about writing, there are lots of workbooks aimed at upper elementary students targeting mechanics. Scholastic and Evan-Moor and EPS all publish such books. If it's just a testing issue (as in, he didn't understand the question format...) I wouldn't worry at all. Or... Are you concerned because your son performs above grade level on standardized tests in math and you want him to perform equally well in Language Arts? If so, you might consider how much value and emphasis you want to put on the results of any particular standardized test. Is the assessment actually testing what you have been teaching? Who is your son being compared with? Do you feel that the end-goal should be high performance on a multiple choice standardized test or is your goal for your son actual ability to write coherently and correctly? If your goal is high performance on a test, I'd suggest you do test prep for the specific test. If your goal for your son is writing ability (which is what the Explore is trying to get at in asking those English usage questions), then I suggest you look to a writing curriculum (do a search on these forums for some ideas... Winning with Writing just came out and looks easy to implement).

I'm looking for an alternative to CLE LA (which I like except for the religious elements and the weird diacritical marks) and am considering something like GWG/SWS/WWW. My 7 yr old is very solidly at grade level and will have completed CLE LA 1 in a month. She's been very successful with it and likes it, so I'm a little reluctant to change. If I do, should I start her on the second book in the series or the first? I notice that this series is changing from "Grade" to "Level"... does GWG and SWS say "Grade 1" or "Level 1" on the bottom of the page and the front cover? The sample I looked at says "Grade 1"... but I know she'd balk at the idea of a first grade book when she's starting second grade. Is there a big difference between the two? I'm not 100% sure what I want to do, so any suggestions are welcome!

My stepbrother at 16 had a lot of those behaviors (and some other destructive ones too). He was even in juvenile hall for a short time. His counselor recommended that he needed to be away from my dad and stepmom and they needed to be away from him. He spent one summer at a wilderness type camp for troubled teens and then lived for a year or two in a group home in Washington. It was really a turning point for him. When he came back home, he was really polite and friendly and so much more mature. I think if things are that bad and you have the resources... residential programs could be the way to go.

We do about 1 per person per week. So I only do wash on one day. But... 1 - We re-wear jeans and shirts and jackets that aren't truly dirty. 2 - We only wash sheets when they're actually dirty. (Except the guest bed!) 3 - We use the same towel throughout the week.

Stage 1: Roast Chicken Stage 2: Chicken burritos or Chicken fried rice or Chicken stir fry Stage 3: Chicken stock Sometimes we'll drop the roast chicken carcass into the chicken run and let them feast... The hens do love their protein!

Have you looked at the Story of Science by Hakim? We're really impressed here about the way it ties science into history... giving it a context and connecting it with culture and religion and math and politics and everything. My older daughter and I love it.

I wouldn't take reading level very seriously. Readability indexes usually come from a simple formula where the average numbers of letters per word and words per paragraph are calculated. It's unlikely a book listed at a reading level of 5.0 is noticeably any easier to one at 6.0. And really... once your child is reading fluently, it doesn't really matter what grade level the books are... I'd look for content and writing style over reading level.

:iagree: I just do what works. Grade level is artificial anyway. There's nothing inherently 'grade level' about history or science or writing or even math or foreign language. It's about how you approach a topic and the depth you give it... There are plenty of things to learn. I promise you won't run out! ;-)

I think if you want to test your child using a test intended and normed for 8th graders, you probably ought to use materials that align to typical state standards for 8th graders.

Also, what about this? http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Early-Modern-World-Reference/dp/0195178483#_ It's aimed at middle school, so it should provide some accessible sources.

Anglo-saxon riddles would be fun for a 6th grader. You might consider the Dream of the Rood. (Try to find connections between pre-Christian and Christian imagery) Abelard and Heloise? What about something by Petrarch?

I was a girl scout camp counselor and got kids from all sorts of backgrounds and with all sorts of levels of maturity. The youngest for a 5 day session was just 5 1/2! My kids both love camp and I have no issues sending them to a short well-supervised camp. My older is very mature and went to a mom-and-me church camp at 5, a mini-camp at 6 and a full week from age 7. My younger has the potential to be quite naughty and defiant, so I worried too. However, the way she behaves around me is entirely different than how she behaves in a group of kids and counselors. I took her to a mom-and-me camp at 6 and she did great. She was so eager to help clean the dishes and sweep the floor and follow the rules in a way that she isn't at home. The dynamics of power are different, the expectations are different, the situation is different. And now, at age 7, I'll let her attend a mini-camp (3 days, 2 nights). I have some worries, but I trust that she will hold her own, and if she falters, I trust the camp staff to be able to handle it.

I think breast buds at 7-8 are early, but not considered precocious puberty. My daughter had them at 7 and more now at 9, but I suspect she won't start her period for at least another year. She's all of 55 pounds for one thing. I apparently followed the same path. As did my mom. So anecdotally, I don't think the age of puberty has changed much recently. However, I understand that in the 1800's, girls used to start at a later age. I would imagine nutrition has a lot to do with it...

:grouphug: You have a lot of different points of view and a lot to think about! I will offer you mine too -- Sometimes it happens that parents who have a love of sports end up having an unathletic child... or parents who love opera have a child who don't see what the fuss is about.... bibliophiles occasionally have kids who hate reading... Our kids come to us with personalities and abilities and likes and dislikes that we ultimately won't be able to change. It sounds to me that you love and value academics. You like reading and learning... And you have a daughter who just doesn't. She probably doesn't even understand why you do. I wouldn't say you should give up trying to help her become a well-read, thinking, educated person. But I'd be surprised if any amount of curriculum changing or disciplining will make it easier for her to want to learn. As she gets older, you may consider shifting her education to something more vocational... not everyone wants to go (or should go) to college. In your place, I would try to come to accept that her personality and opinions and future may not be aligned with your plans for her. She has all the potential to be successful in life, but it may not be the way you would envision.

What books or programs can you think of which intentionally bring several subjects together? Like... Math - Science : LOF Pre-Algebra with Biology Science - History, philosophy: Story of Science Latin - History: Lively latin Handwriting - Art History: Pictures in Cursive What else?

If you've got a quick worker, an hour in second grade is probably just fine. I think the answers to how much time is spent homeschooling can never be very accurate. Some people consider only direct instructional time, others include time that kids spend reading or working independently, some people add in history projects, science experiments or art projects that take considerable time, others include piano practice, or time spent doing home economics, or physical activity, or watching an interesting documentary... So... as long as you feel that your child is happy and learning... it's not worth comparing with anyone else.

I think many people use LOF as a supplement -- especially at the lower levels. If I were you, for middle school math, I'd do something like this to make it more complete: Life of Fred Fractions with Key to Fractions Life of Fred Decimals with Key to Decimals and Key to Percents Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 1 & 2 with Key to Algebra (or at least some topics from the series) As soon as she finished Fractions and Key to Fractions, I'd move into Decimals, regardless of whether it took a month or a year.

I think one year is reasonable for a third grader. We started in January, haven't gone particularly fast, and will be on lesson 8 this week. I expect to finish by the end of summer.

We work downstairs if nobody is around... that way I can clean up the kitchen or whatever. But more often we work at a table in a little alcove at the top of our stairs.

My daughter says she never thinks about any spelling rules, she just imagines the word in her mind as if it was in a book and that's how she writes it. There has been a word or two, though, that she has consistently misspelled... I think she's seen her own spelling of it too often. Otherwise she is a great speller... naturally.

In our Montessori school, they taught the sounds rather than the alphabet. In fact, I remember my girls' teacher telling us an anecdote about how she took her 5 year old to the optometrist and instead of naming the letters on the eye chart, he sounded them out.

My 3rd grader does about 2-3 hours per day (5 days per week). My 1st grader does about an hour per day (5 days per week). But... they also get some classes at our PS... though mostly elective type classes.