We struggle getting all our hs work done because I help run our family business and get called away a lot. We started Latin for Children A last year and I let it go by the wayside after several weeks for the sake of priorities. Same with French in 10 Minutes a Day. I need a pep talk that we can do it. How do you squeeze languages in your schedule? Is there a minimum time commitment that works for you but your dc are still making progress? Any suggestions?

My son is in a co-op this year and for his writing class, the leader chose IEW's Rockets, Radar and Robotics. Ds and I worked through SWI-A last year so we are familiar with KWO and dress-ups, etc. I don't know if I'm getting sick of the IEW format, or if we are completely uninspired by the excerpts in Rockets, Radar & Robotics. Any experience or opinions?

We have only read Sutcliff but wow, that is still one of our favorite books of all time.

Our local swim club, a chapter of the USA swim organization, is starting up this week and our 11 yr ds qualified to be in the bronze group. Practice is 3 nights/week and the cost will be over $1,000 for the year. Dh and I are reviewing the level of commitment they want from the kids. Our son has lots of other activities going on but I'm excited for ds to be on in the swim club. Any comments on your experiences as a swim parent?

After reading words like "torture", "fear" and trembling in the kids' reactions to WWS, whether Week 1 or Week 17, is it really worth it? I've put it away once this year already and I sold WWE4 last year because it didn't work well for my son who loves to write. Are there good things to be said? It sounds like my son's reaction to Saxon which he said "sucked the life right out of him."

Can I sorta highjack the thread for a moment and ask how KB Pre-Algebra compares to ChalkDust and Thinkwell?

Feeling better already.....

Please tell me that your kids who loved Goosebumps books when they were younger grew up to be okay and intelligent.

Don't forget Liping Ma's remedial text which she co-authored with Cathy Kessel titled Knowing Mathematics It reviews conceptual approaches to elementary math, covers the bases with your student, and it's cheap through Amazon. I'm using it for review as we open the school year. I also want to put a plug in for Hung Hsi-Wu's prolific writings on math education which you might find very helpful. I'm reading his book right now, but you can get a great sense of his ideas from his web page through UC Berkeley. Check out those pertaining to getting students ready for algebra. I don't see his name mentioned enough on this forum and I'd like to hear what you think after you read some of articles.

We're in Grammar town and I am just not digging it. When I flip through the upcoming books in the series, I am not responding any better and I'm not appreciating the artwork. What am I missing? I put WWS on hold since I thought my right-brained boy would get into MCT but he's remembering grammar principles we covered long ago in FLL, and IEW gave him a good start in writing. Is MCT overkill anyway? I bought R&S just to cover our bases so I've overbought for this year.

We live outside of our little town and I used to think our son might not have many friends growing because of location and being homeschooled. He has groups of kids over here all the time, sleepover parties, camp outs in the back yard, etc. Very unsocialized.

To set the stage: I'm pondering this morning how close we hs moms are to our kids. Day in, day out for them it's mom, mom, mom in their faces, at least during the week. I am very close to my 11 yr ds and as a result may be biased about how he relates to the world and his developing character traits. Bear with me here to explain more. I, for example, am a woman very eager to help anyone who looks like they are struggling. "Here, let me help you," or "Let me get that for you," etc. I understand this could cause the other person to feel like I think they are incompetent, but my goal is to be of service and for them to feel the world is a little softer than it might sometime seem because someone cares. Of course my son is not exempt from this so I find it very hard to let him struggle with anything without stepping in. I need to discern the right time to allow him to be uncomfortable and struggle to success. I realize this is an important area for me to work on. In relation to this, I'm thinking parents with kids in ps get feedback from teachers and if seasoned with wisdom, those comments could be helpful in setting the compass for character development. Is it unheard of for a group of homeschool moms who observe other mom's kids to provide supportive feedback on such matters? We belong to a hs co-op where I started to envision something along those lines. I realize it might be very subjective, but if one already suspects her child needs to develop in a certain area, hearing it from another mom might help flesh that out. (As an aside, I would like to tell a mom friend who I like, that her son has demonstrated on several occasions some very hurtful and sneaky behaviors that she may not be aware of but that's for another thread.) So what do you think? Is it possible to have a situation where moms have observed each others' kids and could provide mutual constructive feedback without it turning into an emotional mess?

:bigear::bigear:

Anyone??

Medieval Mom, call Memoria Press and explain your circumstances. They are good to work with and will prob let you return. Also point out mistakes.

Can anyone give me a comparison b/w Trail Guide to Learning vs TOG American years? I've got a rising 6th grader who is very interested in Paths of Settlement. I think he might be liking the pleasing graphics and great booth we saw at a convention. He says he likes the idea of having everything organized in one book. As you can see from my signature, I've been eclectic.

What are your favorite paleo "go-to" meals? What does a typical day look like?

I vote chicken. We did it a few years ago for elementary, thus mom did all the work, but for logic, I think it would be neat for a student project. It's just not the same mummifying a fruit imo. We didn't wrap it in gauze at the end because I had was sick of the thing by then, but it's a cool memory.

Our 10 yr old son absolutely loves D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths. Check out the wonderful illustrations. http://www.amazon.com/DAulaires-Greek-Myths-Ingri-dAulaire/dp/0440406943 He is now reading their book on Norse Myths.

We have become friends with an Amish family whose dd's have their 2nd and 6th birthdays coming up. We would like to get them gifts but are not sure what to give. Ideas?

I do read alouds while ds moves around the room or sits nearby. For bedtime read alouds I'm propped up on a pillow next to him. We "buddy" read sometimes, but overall he prefers just a boy and his book.

Thanks, Angela...I was hoping you would chime in. Hope everything is good up your way. It was great meeting you in Cinci.

You're getting lots of great answers. Another thought is the Veritas Press Bible cards

We are slowly working through SWI-A with our 5th grader and he really enjoys it. It is very step-by-step method working first through key word outlines (summarizing passages of non-fiction text), re-writing in the student's own words with lots of practice and reinforcement, ending with a cleaned-up final draft. Then comes the section on writing stories, followed by lots of practice. Outlining is covered, along with note taking and toward the end, report and composition writing. The criticism used against IEW is that the "formula" method of teaching writing creates cookie-cutter student prose. I will be working with our son on his own stylistic technique later, but having a framework on which to build at this age is just what he needs. The DVDs are helpful to both of us. As far as cost, I bought our set used from this forum and am happy all around. :001_smile:

Our 10 yr ds is asking why we need to have read aloud time. He is not an auditory learner but neither am I, so I understand. I would rather read a book than listen. I explained, however, that there are still some books in which the language is probably more difficult than he is used to reading: Roger Lancelyn Green's King Arthur or the Lamb's Shakespeare, for example. He is not a voracious reader and needs to be reminded to read. He likes being outside and playing in the tree house or on the trampoline, but he's a good student overall. Any thoughts or experience with this?