Bumping back up.😊

Thanks, ladies! We don't use i products either. In my research, I also found the LG g4. It's the one I am most interested in. The other LG is the v10, but it is such a huge camera that I would not want to carry around. The Samsung phones are popular- especially the s5, but the camera isn't as good as the LG g4. It was a relief to read about phones that I've been researching. Thanks for the confirmation. Anyone else?

I have been using a Nokia Lumia 822 for years. It serves its purpose, but I don't like the kind of pics that it takes. They come out just a bit blurry especially if the subject is active. This is a big deal for me. It's the only camera that I really use. Recently, I began looking for a group of pictures that I took a year or so ago. I knew they were supposed to be on this phone, and they were gone. After reading online about similar experiences, I've decided that I would like a new smart phone with a MUCH better camera. What would you recommend?

It has been ten years ago, but it seems like I paid about $30/hour when dd was 8 years old. When that teacher moved away a couple of years later, we found a therapeutic riding facility where dd took lessons. She had a lot of experience and maturity by then, and I didn't pay very long for those lessons. I can't remember the cost. It was not long before dd started volunteering there which compensated for the cost of her lessons. You might look for a similar place where your dd could learn the basics then volunteer. The rule at our place is a minimum age of 12 to volunteer.

Thanks, ladies. I hear some confirmation. Holly, I haven't heard of the Visits To series. I'll check that out. We use the World Map Activities book in high school with MFW. Even then, I am not 100% sure mapping isn't just busy work. Im going to be more relaxed about maps 2nd semester. Math, science, and LA/writing are the priorities. Sometimes it's hard to let go of anything I have written on the schedule. It is written in concrete after all....or so it feels. I bet some of you can identitfy. Thanks for giving me some ideas for mapping. I needed the inspiration.

Thanks so much for the ideas, ladies! I am especially interested in the computer games. Before I explore them, I need to ask if they stream data. I think they probably do. We have satellite internet with LIMITED data. It's so frustrating that we have to be careful how much we stream. I think ds would enjoy games like these (and really learn more)! If they stream data, however, they might be out. He completed Drawing the World with Art last year, so he has certainly been exposed to the big picture. I'll just see how 2nd semester goes and adjust the assignments as needed. I appreciate your help!

Thanks, everyone. I'm listening! I must run a few errands and will be back to read more and respond.

I'm not able to really answer your questions, but I have comments. We used SS when my oldest was in 11th grade. I didn't want to use Apologia because it is so frequently taught in 9th grade (at least that is mostly true in my area.) I wanted a more mature biology. I also liked that it was written for homeschoolers; there is a Parent Companion to integrate parental coaching. There was not a lot of creation lingo in the text. In fact, if you read on the author's website, he addresses this. See "How are creation and evolution handled" http://www.scienceshepherd.com/faq/ Science is science. "Religion" is not used to explain/justify science. He did include three chapters, I think, to cover the creation vs evolution stuff, but we left that out. Dd is taking a Christian Worldview class this year as a senior, and that class should cover the science vs religion aspect. I felt like SS was a very decent course as far as level of difficulty. We had some issues concerning mismatched information between the Parent Companion and text, and we ran across some information that we felt was incorrect. My dd didn't like the way the text was written, so she didn't enjoy the class for these reasons. Even with these issues, however, dd was able to learn HOW to study- to read a TEXT book. SS was a positive text in this regard. It was well organized for implementing the curriculum as well. I REALLY appreciated this. The Potter's School uses SS in their Pre-AP biology class. If we reuse SS again, I'm considering letting a "real" teacher teach the material. There were just too many questions about subject matter when my dd and I worked through it that I could not clarify. I could not tell if certain information really was a mistake or if it was written correctly. You might read the course description they have on their website: https://www.pottersschool.org/course/list/#course-2731

I'm struggling with making my 7th grader make up work in his mapping activities. He got behind in first semester because he took time to keep up in his significiant subjects: pre-algebra, BJU Life Science, and Language Arts/writing. Math, science, and English are so much more important than mapping activities. I have two high school students now, and I required/am requiring them to complete maps, but I'm beginning to think this is kind of pointless because there is most likely little to no long-term memory potential to justify the time it takes to complete maps. I would love to know what all of you do for mapping activities. Is there a better way to get the same thing done? Should we just skip mapping because this skill is likely to be learned along the way as they grow up and get exposed naturally to geography? Don't misunderstand me; I believe it IS important to know where places/geographical features are. (And learning these along with historical events is how we're doing maps.) I simply don't want learning this to become busy work and quickly forgotten. I posted this same question on the Logic Board since my child in question is in 7th grade this year. This same question, however, has implications for high school. I'd love to hear all of your perspectives. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/581578-mapping-activities-im-beginning-to-see-them-as-busy-work/

but I'm not ready to throw them out altogether. My 7th grader is working on medieval history, and I have mapping scheduled throughout the year. (He lables cities/geographical features on printed maps.) He is behind in these assignments because he is keeping up with harder subjects- pre-algebra, BJU Life Science, and Language Arts/writing. Math, science, and English are MUCH more important to me than mapping. However, if I totally omit the mapping assignments, he will lose a lot of exposure to where certain places are on a map. What do all of you do for mapping? Is there any other way to translate that a certain place/geographical feature is here on the map? I'd love to tell him to skip these assignments because although the information may be relevant, I REALLY don't think he'll have long term memory for this particular activity. The bottom line becomes that mapping activities are a waste of time. Please give me inspiration. Help me think out-of-the-box. Share what has worked for you. Or tell me we should skip mapping altogether. Thanks! :) Oh.... For those of you who also have high school students....This very topic has implications for high school as well. Have you required mapping for your high schoolers or have you found a way to teach the same skills in a better way? I'm trying to avoid the feeling of busy-work.

It's OTC. Check any pharmacy.

For car sickness, look at Bonine. I've used it, and it worked well for me. I would think that it has doseages for kids. It did not make me sleepy. I would much prefer it over Dramamine.

Aimee, I don't fully understand part of your question, but maybe I can get the ball rolling. We used MFW for ancient and world history. Those had steady output required. In 11th grade, when it was time to do American history, I bought The Great Courses History of the United States 2nd edition. http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/history/history-of-the-united-states-2nd-edition.html As for output. That year, dd had pre-calculus, honors biology, and an outsourced Comp II (American lit) class. Because we homeschool, I could tailor the history class to fit our situation. The goal for dd's American history was to listen to the lecturers, take notes, and discuss the topic with her dad and/or me. I did not test. For dd, this course hit the nail on the head. She LOVED it, and she learned so much. (ETA: By doing American history this way, dd had time to focus on her heavier coursework. History did not have to be unnecessarily hard or time consuming.) I did borrow an idea from MFW. In 11th grade, dd listened to half of the Amreican history course and then completed the Notgrass Government course. This year in 12th grade, she is completing the American history course and pairing that with economics and personal finance. I have made a slight change to history in 12th grade. There are around six big topics covered this year.... Civil War, WWI, Great Depression, WWII, Vietnam War, Present-day situation....With each one I'm having her complete a project of her own choosing. She has to research the topic, create a workable thesis around a primary issue/person, and make some sort of presentation or paper. She can incorporate art and/or music, and she can use the computer.... Powerpoint, for example. The sky in the limit. She is LOVING this as well. The bottom line.... I think that the output can be variable. We learned the value of discussion when we used MFW. If the student can discuss a topic showing a grasp of knowledge, you can say that a level of mastery has been achieved. History is a content subject. As such, you can treat it differently from a subject that is skill based- math, for example. Obviously, there are some who prefer AP American history. I think you just have to decide how important history is in the grand scheme. If your student is going to major in history in college, you would want to tailor your high school class to require the kind of output that would prepare for college. For us, dd isn't planning for history to be her major. She loves the stories of history, and that is how she wanted to studey high school history. The way we've done American history has been a good fit for us. What I didn't understand about your post.... You will finish BF EA history in 9th and you don't want to change programs for American history? I didn't use BF, so maybe this is why I'm having trouble with that point. I sympathize with you for trying so many programs. It can be hard to find something that is a good fit. I'm not sure how to offer help within BF. Maybe someone else can chime in for that.

From about 5th through 11th grade, my oldest took riding lessons and volunteered at a theraputic riding center. This was her passion, and it is showing up on her transcript as both extracurriculur/volunteer work and as part of her PE grade. My second is participating in NCFCA: National Christian Forensics Communication Association. This lends itself for high school credit, but it is largely extracurriculur since it is an add-on. IOW, his priorities are his graduation requirement courses. NCFCA is a time committment. We attend weekly meetings and participate in a couple of tournaments. He works on both speeches and debate for homework during the week. It is a trememdous organization, and the students involved gain a wealth of experience!

These: http://www.amazon.com/Ariat-Womens-Heritage-Western-Toe/dp/B002T1G5AM I bought my locally so that I could get the right size. I normally wear a 6 1/2 in most any shoe, but I got the size 6 in this boot. If you want to make them water resistant, use mink oil.

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. It was one of our absolute favorites many years ago when I read to my little children. They are so much bigger now, and those story nights are only a memory now.... a WONDERFUL memory!

Karen, we could run to our local library. It is not always convenient to stop what we're doing to go there. I really don't know anything about using Coursera. Is it the type of thing that we could go to our library at the beginning of the course and download everything we would need? Or even go once a week or every two weeks? If we had to go every day, I would think that to be too hard. Since you are familiar with other courses, would you tell me how difficult they are? What are assignments like? My ds knows a great deal about dinosaurs, but I have no idea what level class the dino class is.

Just curious... Is there a lot of streaming in the Coursera class? We have satellite internet with limited monthly data; we have to be careful. Ds, 10th grade, LOVES dinosaurs and would enjoy a class like this.

Oh yes, DIVE! Debbie, Dr. Shoreman provides such a great service, but if I were the student, I don't think I could enjoy a whole year of his DVDs. He has a monotone voice. Did your younger one strugle at all with this? DIVE may be a great way for us to get biology done, but I would certainly have to let my dc see a sample and agree to it first.

Sebastian, thanks for replying. I should mention that we only have satellite internet, and we ALWAYS go over our monthly allowance of data. This slows our internet down noticeably but not in a crippling way. Is this something that would be a red flag if we went with the ML on-line virtual lab access?

Thanks, ladies! I'm very grateful for your responses. I guess I picked a bad day to ask a question because I was out for so much of the day. I don't know anything about Pacworks/Timberdoodle, but I'll take a look at it. Debbie, I've thought about ML with Kolbe. What about the online parts? Would those be required? Seems like you have to jump through several hoops in order to secure that. For both of these, how much were you as the parent involved in teaching the material? When my oldest used SS, I was much more a facilitator since there was a Parent Companion. This worked for us. I would make a poor "teacher".

Please get me started researching in the right direction. Given that I need biology on an 11th grade level, which ones are more homeschool/parent friendly??? I'm thinking on the lines of Apologia and Science Shepherd as far as ease of implementation. I don't want to do Apologia. We used SS last year, and I think I want to do something different. I know about the Biology tag, but I wanted to begin through an ease-of-implementatin filter. I'm not a science person, and I need something that I can handle along with ds. We've used the Physics first approach to science. Ds had Conceptual Physics in 9th grade, and he is outsourcing chemistry using Apologia this year in 10th grade.

Thanks very much, ladies!

What if Alg. II has not been taken? Consequences? How hard would the course be? Ds had Alg. I last year and is taking geometry this year.

I had to ask my dd. The class is set up to allow the students to use an online chat to help each other with questions; this is the first thing to try when there are questions with the problems. If that doesn't work, students can email the teacher.