American Chemical Society has a free middle school curriculum you might take a look at. It isn't a full year of work, and there are some supply costs. We are incorporating parts of it in next year's science.

Wow, you go! I am suddenly so hungry!

Yay! I tuned in specifically because "Geezle" always makes me smile. What a great feeling to see your kids succeed.

We did, and enjoyed, GSWL starting in 3rd. I bought the soft-cover book for $20. It is a nice, gentle program. However, after a while I added days of English to Latin translation, and I split some of the lessons into two parts. It took longer, but each lesson was only about 15 minutes, which was a nice way to introduce it to my students without overwhelming them.

Listening in!

Yay!

Yes. You should have received a few emails? ETA it is being recorded, no active questions so far, don't let it stress you.

Okra flowers are surprisingly pretty!

Well, it is a weed once it gets going, but I'm hoping for a good crop of ground cherries. I planted paw-paw trees in an understory space last year, but it will be 3-5 years before I even Jennie if these will set fruit. I ordered some more wintergreen this year. The two and a half plants I have haven't died, but haven't thrived. Dill and chamomile fall into that category of annuals that only need to be planted once, don't they? I much prefer pulling out excess dill to non-edible plants, though. Something about the fact that I know what it is and I COULD use it makes it less painful for me to weed.

Sentence Composing and Grammar are very, very similar. I use Sentence Composing as an alternate some weeks to WWE 4 to encourage better sentences. I just found a friend using it for grammar. I prefer more explicit instruction and examples in a grammar program because I feel weak in that area. Sentence Composing is helping us look more deeply at sentences, but I would prefer more, higher-level goals and discussion in a writing curriculum, but again, writing is not my strength. Perhaps Sentence Composing and the Middle School Paragraphs book would be enough for a year while waiting for my child to mature to WWS capability.

My experience with people like this says that you are going to have to be direct. We would like to be able to resolve things politely and discreetly, but as WTMCassandra said, that really only works with other people that share the same boundaries add we do. Be firm and clear and follow through. "We can no longer have contact with you." Then don't respond except to repeat that message. I don't feel like I knew anybody like this before high school, and now I've become a bit paranoid that they are everywhere.

"I have not yet learned to appreciate this. Could I have more salad?" Is a popular one here.

((Hugs))

I was surprisingly saddened to see a car with two members of the stick family scratched off. :-(

I have always been a bit dismayed by my childrens' love of graphic novels, bemoaning the choppy stories and "lite" feel. However, if that turns out to be the case with your ds, have hope! There are an increasing number of decent to good history themed graphic novels. Keep an eye out for author/illustrators such as Nathan Hale (my dc have read his WWI graphic novel multiple times) and Gary Jeffrey, no way I could have gotten my dc to read a text description of the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, but add full-page illustrations and voila! everybody is an expert. T-Minus is a graphic novel about the space race, and Boxers & Saints takes the reader through the Boxer Rebellion. These are all at a higher level of maturity than I assume your 8 y.o. is right now, but here they are for future reference. If you want to try to encourage more text reading, you might check out Travels of Thelonius, which alternates graphic novel chapters with text chapters. Other than I agree with some of the previous posters, Amulet, Zita, Rapunzel's Revenge, all popular here. ETA: Captain Raptor books. I don't think they are full-color, but you might try Squish and BabyMouse.

I can't help except, perhaps, to link Coville's Twelfth Night (awkwardly, since I'm on my phone). http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0803723180/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?qid=1431542468&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=bruce+coville+shakespeare&dpPl=1&dpID=61qX2uOEzvL&ref=plSrch

Following, as right now we are on the same track as Daijobu and these are some eye-opening ideas.

They're all right. Go with whatever style interests you, and recognize that you can change midyear if that feels right later. I love the organized survey of world history, so I went with that expecting to follow any rabbit trails, but my kids, or our dynamic, don't do a lot of rabbit trails. I have a folder of mini-books about the great explorers, though. When we studied that part of history it made sense to me to do a survey forward and back to review with something more tangible. So, you could do both! Sort of.

Forgive my ignorance, will you release him our raise him yourselves for a while?

Yep, BFSU. I'll be starting the third book in the fall with my 5th graders and the first book (again) with my 1st grader. In my mind it is a really complete spine. You can jump off from there into detailed unit studies, or you can just do the next thing in the book. Books 2 and 3 are not particularly "open and go", but no matter what program we used I would be tweaking anyway, it is like BFSU is already set up for that. It does not work for everyone, though, so you may want to spend $20 on the first book and look through it ahead if time. I think there is even a $5 e-book available if those work for you.

Somewhere in the ethernet you can find the Pizzazz workbooks. Those are not work texts like MM, though. My kids like to work through a page once in a while for variety. The series covers a range of math topics, but I think a few are specifically pre-algebra.

We have a large box hardware store that carries a lot of "food" and I feel the same about that place. Sort of "huh? No."

LOL!!! In addition you would be laughing at the confused look on my face as I tried to figure out the "Head of Homeland Security" reference AND the whole humping weirdness. Great name! If we ever get a pet....

Trader Joe's sells a deodorant I like. Occasionally, when the deodorant seems to be failing, I spritz the area with vinegar. The smell fades quickly and seems to "reset" the flora. So, you might try that before changing and sees if it helps.

Aww, that sounds really rough! Can you hire a babysitter for a couple hours? You could fill out visa paperwork, or take a nap in your car. It is surprisingly refreshing. ((Hugs))