:lurk5:

:iagree: We've always used a combination of texts and other resources. Unfortunately, in the homeschool world textbooks have become stigmatized. There are some atrocious textbooks out there but there are some very good ones too. You'll just have to do research to see which meets your needs best and is most accurate. Texts are a useful tool just like anything else we use in the hs journey. If they can make things easier, more cohesive or the student prefers them etc. then that is all that counts. :)

Calvert also has an interactive CD to go along with the curriculum. It is very good! :)

No. At 17 it is unusual to be hanging around with such younger children unless he is related, babysitting, mentoring, tutoring etc. It would be better if his parents encouraged him to find more age appropriate friends. Maybe you could help them along those lines by recommending some volunteer or summer work possibilities for the young man.

I don't assume anything if I can help it. ;) I was responding to the original question but I'll clarify further. We don't make a distinction between time with the family and 'dates'. Our 'dates' include everyone. It is just how it is. There is no inference that those that have adult only dates do not enjoy spending time with the children so hopefully nobody else assumed that meaning from my post. Hope this clarifies! :D

Wow! I'll have to check that out too! :D

This has probably been posted somewhere before but here goes: I've been fascinated by SmartBoard technology. I would never invest in one because they are really geared to large audiences like a classroom. But I've been trying to figure out if there was a way to access the Smartboard free lessons that are exchanged by teachers on the internet and I've found a way! It is free too! I've been playing UnitedStreaming videos and Powerpoint presentations through a cable feed to our large screen TV and I'm so excited to have access to Smartboard files now. Yippee! You can go to: http://express.smarttech.com/# This is a site where you can view, save and interact with Smartboard Notebook files online at no charge. This is not a download. What I did was find a file (from an exchange site) I wanted and downloaded it. Then I went to the free express.smarttech site and picked the 'existing' file button and searched for the file I downloaded. It came up and all the links worked too! It was thrilling! The files can be used as is and saved or can be edited and saved. Here are some nice Smartboard curriculum exchange sites I've found: http://exchange.smarttech.com/index.html#tab=0 http://www.bobsedulinks.com/Smart_Board_Links.htm

We don't need dates. We spend time together at home and we love spending time with the children as a family. :)

No way. I think the camp is creating a dangerous situation for those teens. Bad Bad Bad idea!

We belong to Audible. We use our 'free points' and get books to listen to mostly for history. We are currently listening to The Cat of Busbastes. We make audible listening part of our day. The girls get a snack and we listen for an hour between other work. It is a relaxing part of the school day.

We didn't choose MUS because our children don't like the manipulatives and the video would have bored them to tears. I didn't like the sequence either. We SAT test yearly and we choose a more traditional sequenced text for that reason. When I researched MUS I didn't read very encouraging feedback on college readiness. That could have changed by now though. It was fairly new when we were making our math decisions and I didn't want my children to be a test market. :)

The freedom, planning and buying curriculum, learning new things along with the children, getting the SAT test results at the end of the year. :D

OMG! This was happening to us! It started after 9/11 and I read that the postal service was opening packages randomly so as long as nothing was missing we put up with it. Well earlier this year I started getting almost EVERYTHING torn open that was delivered by postal service (not UPS or FedEx). Finally I got angry and called the main customer service and was told that it should not be happening at all. They told me they were opening an investigation and that they would make sure it would stop happening. After that call, NONE at all have arrived opened. I don't think it was neighborhood kids because I would go out and get the packages right away. I'm pretty sure someone in the postal service was responsible. Our delivery man never said anything about the obviously torn open packages so I suspected something there. It was pretty strange that since that call we've not had a package tampered with since. I should have called earlier! Grrrr! You need to call the postal authorities.

We're doing the Middle School Spanish along with the worksheets this summer as a way to keep it fresh for Spanish II with FLVS in the fall. But if we weren't doing FLVS I would consider it a full course. We're also doing Space Files and WeatherSmart this summer. The WeatherSmart is planned to go along with a study we're doing on Monster Storms through the Jason Project. You can get the Jason Project science curriculum free at : http://www.jason.org/public/whatis/start.aspx The link to the Monster Storms curriculum is: http://www.jason.org/public/WhatIs/CurrOMSIndex.aspx I thought that the Monster Storms Mission curriculum along with WeatherSmart videos and worksheets through Unitedstreaming would be a nice summer weather unit. :)

Strawberry Watermelon Smoothie INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries 1 1/2 cups frozen diced watermelon 1/4 cup cream 1/4 cup plain yogurt 2 tablespoons orange juice 1 tablespoon white sugar (optional) 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract DIRECTIONS: Blend the strawberries, watermelon, cream, yogurt, orange juice, sugar, and vanilla in a blender until smooth.

Oh my! 16 is more than old enough to know better than to throw a tantrum or act ungrateful. That simply wouldn't fly in my house. At her age she also needs to get used to being flexible and trying new things. Not everyone is going to cater to her like a baby. Her parents have done her a disservice by allowing this behavior. You might have a rough 2 weeks but you would be doing her a favor by giving her a boot camp experience in stepping outside her comfort zone....and requiring her to be polite about it too. Be very cautious about giving her special consideration that you don't give to your children because it can lead to resentments. My advice: Treat her like one of your own and hold her to the same behavior expectations as well.

Love my Mac! Once I figured out how to work all the programs it was smooth sailing! It does take a while to fully get used to it but once you do it is fantastic.

Martial Arts, Yoga, classes at the Y, swimming, hiking. We count any of that and more.

Math facts and formulas. World and US Geography (as in being able to name the countries, flags and capitals as well as locations). Important dates in history and how they relate to the timeline. As far as reciting poems and lit goes, we don't do that. I prefer to study the works and have the children know what is happening and why the work is significant rather than devote time on memorizing (not necessarily saying those that memorize aren't spending time on the meaning). I have seen children that can recite but unfortunately don't have a good grasp of what the importance of the work is that they have spend a great deal of time memorizing.

I personally have found that what works best for us is to be consistent in the areas of math and grammar. Those areas I don't like switching the core curriculum. I do add a lot of extra though to provide variety and different points of view. Subjects like science and history we like to use lots of different curriculum but we finish what we use. I think that frequent starting and quitting curriculum choices midstream can be confusing and counterproductive unless the curriculum is hopelessly not working or is objectionable for some reason. I try to avoid this as much as possible and will only do so if even tweeking won't salvage it.

We've done HOAC and enjoyed them. We haven't done any for awhile and I think the girls are over lapbooks but when they were younger they were really proud of the finished product. They are easy to make yourself too. But sometimes it is nice to have the planned ones too. :)

CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!!! They make a lovely couple! :)

I've been keeping you all in my thoughts. :grouphug:

Thanks!!!

Awesome! Thank you!!!!