You can't go wrong with anything by Regina Jennings. She is a homeschool mom friend of mine and has written around 16 or so books. Hers are historical Christian fiction, but not overly heavy on the cheesy Christian stuff like a lot of authors are. I've read several and they are all very good quality writing, clean and lighthearted, but always with an element of light romance and mystery. Lana

These are great ideas! Thank you for sharing them. I write out a planner for her each week, but it's not big enough to write detailed assignments so I may need to rethink that. A couple of times she's done the wrong thing because she wasn't sure and didn't bother to ask. We have been trying a "bell schedule" the last week or two but I have not been consistent with following it. Next week I'm not going to allow her to work in her room so that I can redirect her focus when necessary. I think we might also try setting a stopwatch to see exactly how long it *does* take her to finish. She would

Yes, we're using the combined TTC/WTTW syllabus. It includes reading To Kill a Mockingbird, Jane Eyre, and Hamlet. There are homework assignments, an allusions project, a couple of mini-essays, and 2-3 full length essays included in the syllabus, and it's definitely a full credit's worth of work. You're probably right, though, that most days will not require a full hour to complete.

Yes, my dd is 14, almost 15. I have had to change my habit of sleeping in, because I could see how my actions were affecting how long our school day was. Would you mind sharing some of the habits you changed? What skills did you help your daughter work on? I think this is an area we (probably mostly me) need to work on.

We started out trying to do too many of the choices in the geography. The videos and books are great but she could spend half a day just on that one subject. And she was neglecting her other subjects in favor of geography. So I am assigning less, but she can always pick up the unassigned books/ videos in her spare time and read them for fun.

That is so helpful to see it spelled out like that! I had not considered giving two credits for the geography. I also forgot to add that she has a half credit study skills class. It should be pretty low-key - we started with the Great Courses How to Be a Superstar Student videos and will move into reading some books like 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. Next semester she will have a half credit computer technology class. I think y'all are right about doubling up on the writing. She needs the deliberate instruction of IEW but we'll need to set those assignments aside when she has a Wtt

She needs the explicit instruction of IEW. We've just started the WTTW, so haven't gotten into any writing assignments yet. But my plan is to stagger the assignments so that if she's writing for one class, she's not writing in the other. The IEW is fairly easy for her, she just needs the practice.

I think I may be putting too much on my 9th grader's plate, but she also tends to dawdle on assignments and get distracted by everything else but what she's supposed to be doing. She's also a very methodical, slow worker and I can't make her rush no matter what I do! 😄 I need an outside perspective to help me see if it's too much and what I can do to reduce her load. Bible - devotional book, no more than 5 pages of easy reading per day, and some days there are only 2-3 questions to answer. I estimate this should take about 30 minutes at the most. Math - CLE Algebra 1 textbook. I assig

That's not mean at all, that is natural consequences. I'm mean. If my kids did that, not only would they be washing their own dishes, they would be hand-washing ALL the dishes for a day or two.

I have no patience for people like that. With absolutely no communication from that parent for the past five months, *and* wanting me to make special accommodations for them, I would be HIGHLY inclined to drop that student completely. The parent obviously knew you weren't doing in-person lessons, since she didn't show up on your doorstep at the regularly scheduled time in the spring. So she's aware of the steps you took to adjust and accommodate for three months. There's no reason she couldn't have contacted you before now, even if there was a personal/family crisis she could have sent a quick

Central Oklahoma Homeschool Choirs is offering an online Broadway voice class. It's open to any student, not just those in Oklahoma. Here's the link to that class and the other online electives we're offering this year. COHC Online Electives

They are NOT cheap, but I loooove Hanky Panky Signature Lace French Bikini. They come up higher on my tummy (but not like granny panties) and don't fall down under my mom pooch. Don't ride up in the back either! The lace is very soft and they are the most comfortable *sexy* panty I've ever worn. Amazon carries them, but I found the cheapest price at my local Dillards.

If you are not picking up the car at an airport location, you should be okay with just a debit card at most rental companies. Airport rentals require you to either pay with a credit card or provide an itinerary (airline tickets or cruise). Hotel reservations don't count (ask me how I found that out. 😡😂) Lana

We had cheesy potatoes with smoked sausage and peas. It was so yummy!

Semi-related: Are the free videos available right now the same as the DVD seminar? I had planned to buy TTC for next year, but I don't want to spend extra money if I don't need to! I've watched the first 3 of the videos that are available for free right now, and they are great! Lana