We are doing Saxon 7/6 right now and are halfway through. My daughter NEEDS constant review. She will forget stuff constantly; even from day to day. The problem is - she gets really frustrated really easily. Math was the only reason I sent her to school and even with going to school, every night I re-taught her math. I have the ability to teach her math but every day I am getting a headache because she is constantly huffing and puffing. I think the number of problems defeats her a bit. I need something a little more straightforward and something with less problems. Her dream is to be a marine biologist so she will need math. I need something that will get her to decent math scores eventually while not making me want to rip out my hair. Would Math U See fit? Nothing computer related.

Colorado always has big wildfires. It just depends where. In august, it gets pretty dry here and usually something is on fire somewhere.

I basically bucked the system. I told my dd how to do math problems the "old fashioned way" aka the easy way. I told her to ignore everything her teacher was telling her. The way I see common core math is that they give a child five different ways to do the same problem and then assume they will pick the one that makes the most sense. And then to add to the confusion, the student is responsible to understand how to do the five different ways and not mix them up in their head. Yes. Great idea. Obviously, the people who created this have no idea how kid's minds work.

I never understood why the United States was so behind other countries in education until my daughter went to school. Especially math. Common core math was such a joke. She got all As in math and learned absolutely nothing.

Yup this--thankfully, we didn't have sidewalks on both sides of the corner lot, but we had a lot extra. It was also a pain to keep the sidewalk cleared where the snowplow went through on the crosswalk. The people who had two sides of sidewalks on the corner lot to take care of? That was a lot more work.

So, due to COVID and the insanity, we decided that the most stable education we could give our kids was homeschooling again. So, 13 years on, 2 years off, and now back in the saddle again. I woke up this morning knowing that my kid’s old school was going to try in person education and see what happens. All I know, is that my morning was calm and relaxed. No getting breakfast and lunches ready, no wrangling kids out of bed, and no driving to school to get everyone there by 7:35. No drama on the way home. No having to solve issues like I had to before school even got started last year when I saw that my daughter’s bully was in her class again. My youngest is in 7th grade and is actually able to complete most of her work ON HER OWN!!! I had forgotten how much easier/ less mom involved homeschooling an older child can be (granted, there are other challenges like not being able to concentrate on math because of menstrual cramps or the teen attitude in general). She was excited to see her new science book that I thought looked a little dry. She brought it to her room so she could read through all the things that seemed interesting to her. Ironically, one of the main reasons we sent her to school was math. I was tired of trying to teach her and just needed someone else to shoulder that with me. The thing that I had to re-teach her every.single.day she went to school? Math. So, I’ve just learned to relax about her learning math and not worry about finishing the textbook like I had been in the past. Like today, the math lesson was a bust. Tomorrow? We get to do the same lesson. No big deal. I have also learned that I had much higher expectations for my kid’s education than the public school ever had. I can relax quite a bit and still give them a much higher education than they were receiving. Just having my daughter write papers even monthly is a step up. My 15 year old ds will be a little shocked at the level of work he will need to accomplish with his online homeschool classes, but it will be good for him. He’s used to getting straight As without any effort. So, maybe things can be better this time around. Maybe everyone is in a honeymoon stage? At least I’m not as apprehensive as I was last week thinking I had made a horrible decision.

What about when your child is behind you and says, “Mom! Look at this!” You look behind you and pull a neck muscle. Recovery time? One week.

Childhood injuries: Fell off my bike Fell out of a tree Twisted my ankle Adult injuries: Slept wrong Sat down too long Sneezed too hard

Does the solutions guide contain the answers to the study guide?

There’s a live cultures brand (?) that is Dr. Peppered flavored. I also like some of the GT varieties like watermelon. I do make my own and flavor it with fruit juices. It does become an acquired taste somewhat because you have to let your microbiome in your gut to change a bit. I crave it now. There are some varieties like mint or lemon that I think are horrid.

Kombucha—fruit flavored.

This is pretty good. It's a more robust tea I would say. It's a pre-biotic meaning that it feeds all the good guys in your intestinal track. https://www.amazon.com/Teeccino-Alternative-Caffeine-Substitute-Prebiotic/dp/B01J28N138/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1EP7R21CSWXHB&dchild=1&keywords=teechino+vanilla+nut+herbal+coffee&qid=1595809967&sprefix=tech%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExM1o3WVFONEY1UzZNJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDQ1OTg1VzRaVlBHU1hWM0tJJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwNjI2NjEzSFpKV01DUVE1OVFUJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I’m looking for an easy to do writing program for 7th. Something that teaches a variety of essay types. I have done IEW extensively, but I’m not sure that’s what I want this time. I am doing a Sonlight core and am wondering it their language arts would fit this the best? Thanks!

This is a great idea too!

This really does look like more her speed. I can see her enjoying it a lot more than Apologia General Science. I do understand their philosophy but it really goes against everything I ever did with my kids in the past. It's not rigorous. But having my kids in the public school has really shown me how I can relax quite a bit and still be ahead. She loves science in general and I don't want to squash that. I have a Tiner book already but it's the physics one and I think it's a bit much for her. If I could get her just studying nature, she would be a happy kid. I'm assuming you would complete two sets?

I am homeschooling again because Covid is messing up any stability in the public school. My 7th grade dd likes reading about nature —mostly animals. I have some Apologia animal books (Zoology) laying around and am wondering if that would be enough. I also have apologia General Science but am concerned that will be too much. She had a pretty easy science in public school last year. I’m thinking I may return her to public school for 8th or 9th grade and know they have a full program with the huge biology textbook so I do want her to be prepared. So, I’m looking at making it easier and doing a couple of the Apologia zoology books Or going a little slower with Apologia General science. Or....other suggestions?

I call two years ago my crash and burn year. I was a mess. Physically, I still have issues, but I feel like they are on a better path. I've also learned how incredibly ahead of the learning curve I was with my children so I know I can relax quite a bit and still know they are ahead of anything that is going to get learned with the chaotic e-learning/ in school system that Covid is bringing. The school they are at is not good at e-learning. They did an OK job considering, but toward the last month, I was telling my dd to ignore about half of what they were telling her to do because it didn't contribute to learning and just made her frustrated. The school sent out an email telling us the dress up day policies which include a peter pan collar for my daughter (who hates dressing up. Both will need dress shoes (which both hate). I feel like this should be the least of their concerns at this point. Telling kids to make sure they have their uniform all ready to go for pictures? While the whole county is trying to make contingency plans for school not even starting?!?! During all the Covid preparations, the school was sending out surveys asking everyone if they wanted to have a dress up day for the kids. I'm thinking, shouldn't you be focusing on and discussion about how you're going to stay open with craziness?!?!? Anyway, getting out of it and letting crazy happen around me rather than being in the thick of it will be better. Dh and I both felt that life will be much easier if we're not in constant flux. Things may go smoothly and no one in the school gets Covid. I'll be happy for them. But, just stepping off crazy train will be nice.

I am homeschooling again and will have a 7th grader. She loves to read a bunch of books about different subjects. On my shelves (I never really got rid of my junior high/high school books), I have Apologia General Science and some Exploring Creation by Jeanie Fulbright books. I think she would like the Exploring Creation books more due to her interest in animals and sea creatures, but I'm not sure how to use them at the 7th grade level. Would I have her go through two of those books? Would I get notebooks for any of the above listed books? I've got everything else pretty much set in my mind. I don't want to fight her to complete a dry science book and would rather make her excited about it. I'm open to other suggestions too.

They are both older. My 15 year old is now an independent learner and I think my 13 year old can get there pretty quickly. That makes homeschooling a lot easier. I crashed and burned two years ago and am in a better place. Homeschooling at this point is the much easier path.

Two years ago, we enrolled our last two children in a Charter school. Dh said, "You are not allowed to homeschool again ever". Then Covid hit. Then all sorts of interruptions to school and now it's looking like constant interruptions to school proceeding normally. They still haven't figured out if school is going to start again in August. Added to that are all sorts of pretty restrictive rules. One Covid case? Three days off. Second Covid case? Another three days off. Third Covid case? Two weeks off. I get it - they are trying to keep this from spreading. Added to that, our kids are at a school that cannot transition to e-learning easily. I can't see the three days at home while they disinfect the school as being productive. It will take the teachers at least a day to do anything of value online. So, we are homeschooling again. There is no other stable option at this time. At least I have a 13 year rut that I developed so I know exactly how and what. Ironically, we have had enough problems with this school that we were letting our dd go to school with the knowledge that we may have to pull her out mid year. We had a lot of contingencies for her going back. Then, a week ago, our ds mentioned that school was really easy and boring for him. He gets straight A+ without much effort. So, we were questioning his attendance there also.

For most of my breakfasts, I eat a coconut kefir smoothie with organic blueberries, strawberries, spinach or kale, and various powder supplements (right now it is magnesium, ashwaganda, and collagen). I'm also eating a "brownie" that is made of almond butter and zucchini mostly (no flour). Mostly my kids will eat kefir smoothies with organic fruits and organic eggs.

We have a 10+ year old brother laser printer that needs $175 worth of replacement parts and ink and an hp printer that is 4 years old and has bit the dust. We like the hp instant ink program, but since our internet company changed hands, our hp printer WiFi connection started not working that great. Our WiFi goes in and out all day (10 seconds out for example) and hat seems to mess with the printer connections. Now the whole thing is broken so it’s a moot point anyway. We have apple products so it needs to work with those. We don’t print a ton so a continuous ink system doesn’t make much sense at this point. We would prefer color but don’t want to spend a ton on ink. Thanks for any suggestions!

That is such a great idea for wearing it around the neck! I like that!

Has anyone found a decent face shield that is comfortable to wear with glasses? Our school district is now requiring face masks and my daughter in particular has a facial deformity that makes breathing through one side of her nose more difficult. I do not want her wearing a mask all day. I'm going to go the face shield route for her. And so help me, if any kid in her class makes fun of her like she thinks they will, I will get VERY mother bear on them.