Another vote for MrD. My dd just finished prealgebra and we are set for algebra in the fall. She took the live class - zoom classroom. She enjoyed the teacher (Mr Henderson) who was funny and taught well. The live class was one hour and recorded in case you had to miss a session. There are worksheets that she printed for the week and are self graded. Each week there are online quizzes for each chapter. There are online quarterly exams. Extra help is available M-R - these are live sessions as well (my dd did not find them necessary as the main course explained the material well.) This was such a great course for my kiddo. She became more independent and much more excited about math. Good luck finding something that fits your needs!

My sister is an online professor and uses PhysioEx for virtual dissections. This is a Pearson product that costs $30.

I love mine for green smoothies as well. grapefruit, banana, some frozen pineapple, 2 carrots, 2 celery, 1/2 c yogurt, and a huge handful of spinach. in the afternoon, I make fruit smoothies with frozen fruit and vanilla yogurt.

another vote for the magic science kit - we did the germ and human body kits and they were great for this age group.

suggestions from my teen boys: lava lamp movie theatre gift card - there are great movies coming out next year! magnetic flashlight watch private baseball lessons beef jerky

We tried everything mentioned so far on this thread and the T-Gel was the only thing that worked.

I wouldn't do the City Museum sans kids because it's no more my thing than the casinos. I did take my kids there over the summer and they loved it. I needed a chiropractor afterwards. I'd go to the arch if you've never been. http://explorestlouis.com/visit-explore/see-do/see-do-member/?mid=67 I love Forest Park. http://explorestlouis.com/visit-explore/see-do/see-do-member/?mid=229&gclid=CIjYp4LozLICFYNxOgodzFMANg Shaw's Garden is my favorite place in St Louis, even in the winter. http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/ You could tour the Brewery http://explorestlouis.com/visit-explore/see-do/see-do-member/?mid=86 ted drewes frozen custard stand http://www.teddrewes.com/home/default.aspx I also love Soulard's Farmer's Market http://stlouis.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=stlouis&cdn=citiestowns&tm=13&f=20&su=p284.13.342.ip_p554.23.342.ip_&tt=3&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.soulardmarket.com/ Have fun!

My parents are weird like this. They sent 20 bucks to my 12 yr old just last week for his birthday and nothing to my other 3 kids during the year. One year, they sent $5 to my dh for his birthday. If they send any money, we split it with all the kids and tell them it's from their grandparents, even if it's a check addressed to just one kid. This idea makes us all feel like a family with a nutty relative instead of feeling like we got slighted.

this. you invited her over. how is the babysitter to know that you are strange neighbors and not bosom friends?

I went with the vitamix. I agree they are pretty similar. I bought a refurbished vitamix for 320. The woman I spoke to said they refurbished were generally the machines used in photo shoots and the container is always brand new. I love mine and use it every day for smoothies. It heats to make soup. The recipe book is excellent.

this is my kids' favorite dish and it's a breeze to make: chop the cabbage cole slaw style with a knife. I use a small red and green cabbage. Stir fry with some butter. Add sliced chicken sausage - any kind you like. I cook it 20-30 minutes - so the cabbage is sweet and tender.

Have you considered a refurbished Vitamix? They are $320ish. According to the person I spoke to when I purchased mine, they have mostly been used in photo shoots and have nothing wrong with them. I love mine.

matroyshka, he needs more explanation before jumping into problems. He absolutely loved Lial's BCM and so I thought the Alg book would work well. For the last few weeks, he has been dreading the book and trying to put it off. Today he shadowed with a private school and loved the Alg class. He said that it was fun and interesting so I know that I need to find another text. Thanks for the link to Jacob's! Any recommendations on edition?

My 8th grader used SM through 6B. He did Lial's BCM for 7th grade and loved it. I started Lial's Alg 1 this year but he doesn't care for it at all. He's ready for Alg, Lial's just isn't a good fit. Would Jacob's be a better fit for him?

we are a family of 6 and get a suite - 2 queens and a pull out couch. When I had 3 kids, we would get a king size bed and a rollaway bed. drury inn serves breakfast, popcorn and soda all afternoon/evening and a kickback that works for dinner for us. HTH

Have you checked the big and tall section of Penney's? Or King Size Direct? http://www.kingsizedirect.com/?affiliate_id=020&affiliate_location_id=01&WT.srch=1&gclid=CNGGt96lr60CFcNo4AoddQEDmA It's horrible - my 13yr old is a size 13 and we found large men's slippers at Walmart for $15. Good luck!

Spinach quiche or a vegetable stir fry with a peanut sauce. The vegetable stir fry is so easy I used to make it as a demo when I was a WW leader.

My kids picked 7 of their favorite breakfasts and I assigned them each to a day of the week. On Monday, I make pancakes, Tuesday yogurt and granola, etc. Everyone knows what to expect for the breakfast and if they don't like it, they probably like tomorrow's breakfast since they did pick their favorites. There is always pbj if someone doesn't like what I cook.

I have both of those (not the same brand) and never use them. I use a really good blender from daily smoothies and a rice maker for cooking grains. Do you already have a good blender and rice maker?

I have a few more coupon ideas: 1 candy from the checkout lane get out of trouble free sleep in unlimited screen time (not sure if I really would give this one!)

large Olive Garden salad would be my pick. It's easy - you can pick it up the day before, and it's inexpensive ($14.)

My oldest is likely to enter a Catholic high school next year. Here's what I have done to make sure he is ready: 1. 7th grade BCM review, 8th grade Lial's Alg 1 (which will be retaken 9th grade anyway so he'll have a an easy adjustment.) 2. 7th grade: Bravewriter online course for confidence; 8th grade he began a blog for family members and posts weekly. This has been an incredibly good decision for us. The kids post about their birthdays, sports seasons, favorite foods, hobbies, Halloween, vacation, etc. 3. we are finishing a 2 year tour of ancient history. If I didn't have any history planned, I spend the year studying various countries/cultures. 4. For science, he watches TGC The Joy of Science 4 days a week. I planned to have him take notes but he gets distracted and prefers to just watch. 5. Take a thorough standardized test 7th grade (CAT5) to go with the transcript. 6. SLANT (Smile, Sit up, Listen, Ask questions, Nod when spoken to, Track with your eyes.) 7. Finished AAS 8. used Sheppard Software free online games to learn all the countries and their capitals. The only other thing that I wished I'd done was to have enrolled him in 1 or 2 classes so that he'd have a grade from someone else. I did use the Bravewriter Course and piano for external grades. IMO, the hardest "prep" has been adjusting to the idea of not having my kid around all day. :crying:

Gosh that book is inspiring! I'm thinking of getting early communicating with tiles for my 5 and 8 yr old and communicating with tiles for my 5th and 8th grader. Has anyone used this program?

I've tried a lot of things but worked quickest and most pain free for us all was to reward the kid who got bitten. I kept a bucket of suckers and gum and when my kid bit someone, the victim got to pick out a treat with much fanfare. It didn't take more than 2 or 3 times for my kid to get the clue. When my kid didn't bite anyone the whole day, she got a treat. Good luck!