I had a cyst on my thyroid when I was 15. It moved like an adam's apple. It looked like it was about the same place too when I swallowed. Mine was hyperactive. They removed half of it and I still have half which works just fine. Beth

He did the first rainbow section in 5th. I didnt care for it as much - neither did he. Beth

My ds will be in 7th/8th grade next year. This year he is doing Apologia General Science. He likes it enough but it doesn't spark a lot of interest. I'm not sure it challenges him all that much either. I've been looking at BJU middle school science (life and earth/space). I do need a textbook or some sort of laid out plan. I'm not good at implementing random books and videos. I do like the looks of CPO physical science, but there is no way I can afford the lab equipment which seems like the wow/bang of the program. Any suggestions? Beth

My ds will be in 7th/8th grade next year. This year he is doing Apologia General Science. He likes it enough but it doesn't spark a lot of interest. I'm not sure it challenges him all that much either. I've been looking at BJU middle school science (life and earth/space). I do need a textbook or some sort of laid out plan. I'm not good at implementing random books and videos. I do like the looks of CPO physical science, but there is no way I can afford the lab equipment which seems like the wow/bang of the program. Any suggestions? Beth

I have a friend who researched it extensively and had a vbac after 4 c-sections. She had her baby at home also. You have to live with the decision though and to not have peace during a v-delivery would make it that much harder. Beth

I didn't get the kit because I already had half the stuff laying around. That being said, there are reasons curriculums put together kits like that. I've found they usually make your life easier. I would suggest buying everything in the kit. It will just make things go smoother.

Is there a science curriculum that focuses on experiments? Due to my flighty nature, I need a curriculum not a random experiment book. All you people who can through stuff together out of the air amaze me - I am just not that person. I know scientific understanding can be done without the wow-bang experiments, but I have two kids who pretend to be scientists in their lab. Any science experiment is good for them! Beth

I just realized that the BJU DVDs are for lease only. That changes things quite a bit. A program that I thought could be used for multiple children (thus justifying the cost) is now impractical. I'm not liking that they do that! I thought a science class of sorts would be a nice addition, but not at that cost for a lease. Am I correct in this thinking? Beth

I'm assuming you have younger children? The maps make more sense as they hit dialectic level because the location of things starts to matter more. I just use them now to familiarize my 2nd grader with how to find the information. He uses seterra online to memorize countries. I don't use the writing either. Beth

My "solid plan" makes me wonder if this is a crazy path. I have no problem giving control away - ds does well independently. I need to farm out writing since that is my definite weakness and the TOG gives him dialectic discussion. I guess my main concern is the BJU science with DVD - if that would be the thing to send him over the edge between doable and overwhelming. Beth

Do you use the DVD option or just the text? Beth

He's doing algebra 1 right now and takes under an hour to complete the homework and teaching. He is already taking a tog online class and has been handling the workload very well. He's been reading the tog literature also and we've been discussing it every other book. We pulled back on Latin to half speed just because it gave him extra time to memorize the vocab and declensions. Latin is something I'm not thrilled with and can see that being dropped for something better. He's taking notes, learning how to study for tests, and writing up labs for General Science. I think he can handle it. He has plenty of time for outside interests. I guess if I needed to pull back, it would be to take the science at half speed or drop Latin. I'm unsure about how a DVD teacher with 1/2 hour lecture would work every day. He doesn't have a lot if passion for any particular subject. The tog doesnt have the writing of papers. Ds takes enough notes with reference points to be able to have a decent conversation about what he's learned during his online class. He likes to come up with business plans and run with it. He's an entrepreneur at heart. Beth

My dh says when he hears orthodox, he thinks Greek Orthodox and icons. One of my closest friends is Greek Orthodox and some of her beliefs are "extra-biblical". I just chalk it up to difference of belief because the main thing of Jesus as lord and savior is there. So, is there a difference between orthodox and Greek Orthodox? We just want a purposeful faith with meaning and passion. Beth

I've started thinking of next year for ds who will be in 7th (more like 8th in many ways). I've been thinking of having him do an online TOG class - history, an online Potter's school English class (writing, grammar, and literature discussion - the grammar might be a lot of review), Algebra 2 Saxon, and BJU's earth and science with DVD teacher (?). With that schedule just for starters, am I going to totally overwhelm this child? He would also do Second Form Latin at half speed and a possible Logic course of some sort. He's been doing just fine with the subjects listed in my signature so I think he could handle it, but does this sound like a good recipe for homeschool burnout? Beth

I'm looking at science for 3rd grade and 7th grade next year. I was thinking earth and space science for my upcoming 7th grader who has done Apologia General Science without a hitch this year. Beth

It sounds likes BJU earth and space would be more appropriate. I'm assuming that apologia physical science is more appropriate for 8th grade and that BJU is more suited to 9th grade. Is BJU a better science curriculum overall? I do like that the Physical Science concentrates on Chemistry and Physics only. Beth

Can you do BJU's physical science after completing Apologia's General Science or would you go to their earth and space science? This would be for a 7th/8th grader who will have completed Algebra. Beth

I've been doing just kwo with my second grader. There's no need to do all units when you're starting out. Beth

If you sign up with IEW, you can get some nice downloads to help with teaching IEW. Today's offering is a free download speech from Andrew Pudewa (Fairy Tales and the Moral Imagination) and Unit 3 story sequence helps including stories to use and a step by step guide. Those two alone are almost $20 worth of freebies. Beth

I think if you had a walk- out basement with separate access, that could give you two houses in one easily without added expense. You could set up the basement area for future kitchen access or just put one in. I have a friend who did this with her adult son. The only issue they had was that she could hear him through the venting system even though they were separate central air systems. Another idea is how they have made those victorian homes into duplexes. They split the entrance giving an additional set of doors to get into the house with an apartment up and the family space down. We too are thinking this way with our disabled son. Our solution right now is to build a large room off to the side of our home with a bathroom and small kitchen - a little bit of a studio apartment feel. Beth

I was reading a book by a Jewish author who was outlining the reasons why he decided to become an Orthodox Jew. There is something about the rituals that really has been appealing to me. I know that doing things in a certain way will not gain us more favor with God, but there's something about being intentional with our faith that we really long for. We are evangelical Christians with a sudo non-demoninational church. I grew up Lutheran and the faith walk my family practiced for the most part was church going. Advent just meant more times at church. Holy week just meant more times at church. Without the church going, our life would have been just as normal during those holidays as everything else. There's just something about having Sabbath days mean something - having religious festivals mean something. Part of it is that dh and I are just burnt out with same old same old. We are just looking for "different" but are unsure of what that looks like and thus unsure about how to go about it. We don't want legalism and we don't want loosey goosey Christianity either. We've considered going to a Messianic congregation just to see what it's like, but it's an hour drive and we know we couldn't commit to that. Maybe there's a part of it that wants to be a "thinker" about our faith. To discuss the questions and find the answers - not just listen to a sermon, go home, and not have any of it affect the day to day. Anybody deal with this? Beth

I've had these thoughts also - especially at the beginning of this year. I really wanted to put my daughter into a Christian preschool because I thought she would benefit from it. She's an intense child and the best thing going for her is her faith in God, but there are no Christian preschools in our very liberal college town. I've also wanted my oldest to benefit from an academically rigorous school. Again, we don't even have the option of a private school in our town even if we did make the money to pay for it. LIke the op, public school is not an option. So, I have felt stuck because there are no other options. This is not true school choice. It irritates me to no end. Around here, you either homeschool or send them to public school where they will be mocked by teachers and students for being a Christian. That's not as big of a deal as an adult, but for a child - having to stand up for their faith when they are still wanting to fit in can be very difficult. Sigh ---I'm OK now since I've resigned myself to the situation and am looking at more online classes for my oldest, but there are days when I just want to stop fighting the system. Beth

It sounds to me that you still want to do your own thing and not "lose control". I think with Challenge, the people it works best for are people who buy into most of the program. If you want the social time, why don't you find some other homeschoolers who have children the same age and have a literature discussion group or a speech group? I have a three family co-op doing science labs and a logic course. It's academic enough and gets something done that we would have to do anyway. I usually find that if you offer homeschoolers a free academic course, someone usually jumps at that opportunity. Beth

I like that: I can keep all my different aged kids in the same curriculum studying the same thing - it even schedules out Story of the World if I want that option. The assigned books are interesting and diverse I can tweak the curriculum to my liking or my children's bent without having to search. For example, if I have a kid who likes lapbooks, they are available - a kid who likes a lot of crafts, they are available - a kid who devours books, there are alternate book lists available If I have a strong reader, I can go up a level in just literature. If I have a child who struggles with reading, I can go down a level. They offer online classes for Dialectic and Rhetoric students. My son is taking a class and I think it's great! If you want writing assignments that correspond to the period of history they are studying, it's there. I don't get bored with it myself and the thought of going through it another time with another kid doesn't make me run for the nearest curriculum store. Beth

I got the k program for $15 and can most likely resell the whole thing for the same amount or close to it so it didn't bug me. I had most of the manipulatives already. Beth