Me, too...it and some CM books guide me...

Meatloaf. Talk about a mid-western kind of guy.

Thanks, Nan--we listen to books on CD in the car...I'm thinking about some language CDs--wonder what's available...hmmm.

I love the portrait idea--we cherish a picture that we have with my son and mother--on a train to Grand Canyon! But it's all three of us..and we'll never have the opportunity again, since she died in June.

You're awesome, Cynde!

Just wondering, and trying to think like a college-admissions person...could you break up the US History/Government into 1 credit history and 1/2 credit government? I'd be wondering if the two were combined...

Well, I was sort of a classics major in college (English/German/Latin/French), and I've never read it--I'm old, and I enjoy my life :-)...I'm not going to have my son read it, either...FWIW.

Finally remembered the name--it's called the Gathering of Nations...supposed to be the biggest powwow in the U.S...it's pretty impressive.

Um...do you have foreign language materials that you use in the car?

Wow--do you do more than one foreign language? I'd like him to continue with Latin, but he'd probably rather just continue with German...in 9th grade, which was my jr. high, I did Biology, Latin, French, English, Home Ec, and Algebra...and PE twice/week, I think it was...back in the dark ages. (I think PE and Home Ec shared a time slot...)

Thanks, Jane...that's what I'm leaning towards, I think...we do a lot of books on tape--got Great Gatsby and Nick Adams stories (as well as WWII) scheduled for our trip to Utah to the Rocky Mtn District Select Camp...my husband wants us to drive. That would be me and the boy...and maybe my "other son"--my son's hockey buddy...

I'm wondering the "how" of teaching highschool...in 8th grade, we float (with a general schedule, but we're not rigidly adhered to it)--language arts, literature, history, and health or geography in the morning (with the unit study approach of Trisms); algebra, science, foreign languages, logic, art, music in the afternoons (not all on the same day!) I'm wondering if I want to keep my mornings less structured, using, again, Trisms Ancients, and go to "formal periods" in the afternoons? I'm waffling, and I'd like any opinions on what has worked or not worked for you all...my son is an "only," but we usually have to leave the house late afternoons for various sports activities...

Boy, I'm with you--we pass my husband on his way home on most days...we take the back road up usually, but, if we're in Alb, or bringing up a buddy from Alb, we're seeing you!

I like Deconstructing Penguins, too...and I have Teaching the Classics--just got to wrap my brain around it....

EMMA!

I'm not a reading specialist, but I'm an instructional designer...I'd start with modeling, and constructed examples...maybe even cloze passages (so the child could begin by "filling in the blanks," develop some confidence (which is probably also lacking), and gradually become more and more able to complete the process on his or her own...

Well, I was sort of teasing...but it doesn't exactly follow a traditional WTM approach (if you consider reading excerpts from encyclopedias and outlining...)

I think IEW has something called "The Elegant Essay"--you might want to take a look...

Interested in the answer, too...we've used narration with my son (going into 9th grade)--next year, we'll use Lightning Lit with Shakespeare to introduce literary analysis. I was a lit major in college (undergrad and M.A.), and I'm so afraid of ruining reading by overkill of analysis...I have the same fear of diagramming, because I enjoy it myself (spent some time in a Ph.D. program in linguistics and had a blast--I know I'm weird...I love grammar!)

The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque has dances; the giant powwow is at the Pit at the end of April..not sure when the corn dances are at the pueblos...

We live east of Albuquerque, Cheryl (Cedar Crest), and my son has virtually no "mountain" friends (a couple of guys from church). He is so busy with hockey and baseball in Albuquerque (and hockey in Taos, too...don't ask!) and his friends from Alb and Taos that we have to limit his stay-overs and movie/skating dates...new for us this year are all the girls who text him, too (yikes!) We could be in Alb every day of the week, but we try to stay home at least one evening--yesterday, this week. Tonight, stick and puck, tomorrow, baseball or hockey in SF, Thursday, highschool pickup hockey (he's been asked to play goalie for St. Pius in Alb for next year), Friday--take a breath! Saturday, hockey and baseball, Sunday, USSSA baseball in Rio Rancho...all I do is drive. We listen to a lot of books on CD!

I have to get grades in on Mondays for my university courses, so we have a lighter start to our week...my son starts his day with reading and viola practice, and we usually watch a movie or read aloud...we use the day for math review (Carmen Sandiego on computer), and have music lessons and PE in the afternoon...then, T-Fr become more rigorous...

Me, too--now, I have to request extensions for my mother's taxes from 2006 and 2007--I had an extension from 2006; she died in June of 2007...eiii, what a mess. Good news is that I goofed up on ours, so we're getting money back this year!

One of the theme-based books from IEW?

I do the same, Carol...we've read a lot of LMA aloud (even though I have a 13 yos; my favorite author was always LMA, and I have most of her books...) He enjoyed Little Men and Jo's Boys; I haven't tried an Old Fashioned Girl with him, but that's not a bad idea. We're currently reading Robinson Crusoe aloud, along with Gay Neck (pigeon training for WWI--fascinating)...he's reading Roll of Thunder and loving it...along with his Warrior Cats books for fun...