I require 6 hours of work per day 9-12 & 2-5 pm. There is a 10 min break during the first 3 hours and 10 min break in the second 3 hours. Lunch is pretty long but sometimes we read aloud during lunch time. I had way too much flex time last year and we didn't finish all of our lessons.

My 10th grader is using Lightning Literature Lit & Comp Week 5 Opinion Paper Week 8 Compare/Contrast of poetry by William Cullen Bryant Week 13 Persuasive Writing - analyze arguments in newspaper editorial Week 15 writing about tone in literary work Week 21 essay on character conflict in The Scarlet Letter Week 32 essay on character development in Moby Dick Week 36 research paper possibly (we have several topics to choose from each week. I haven't decided on this topic yet. The curriculum also gives you the option of choosing more than 1 topic in these given weeks. In addition, my 10th grader to a 8 week SAT Essay Writing class through Time4Writing.com in Aug/Sept.

We are just in Week 2 so I don't have too much to add yet. I have a 6th & 8th grader. We have combined days especially to get more from Bible. I usually end up reading the whole chapter instead of just the verses assigned. We just read the 2nd day of Kingdom T:)ales and we are all drawn in. This is the 2nd thing we do after bible reading. My 10th grader joins us and we read aloud. They like to add in "voices." I even teared up after the Orphan story today b/c children are my passion. We have foster kids. Can't wait to read tomorrow's story. In the coming weeks I've added add'l map work (as I do have older kids). This mapwork was taken from the Ultimate Guide to Geography from Bright Ideas press. The mapwork is geared to middle/high students. My expectations are a little different as I'm not looking to get most of my meat from the Geography. My 6th grader is doing Progeny Press Guide (not in its entirety) for The Giver and my 8th grader is doing Excellence in Literature's Intro to Literature course. So we are plenty busy. For us, so far so good.

I would wait to see if you get any non contingent offers. I don't know your market but how long comp homes stay on the market in your area is key to knowing how you should respond. But in any market 2-3 weeks is nothing for a home to be on market. I would wait. You could always go back to them later if they are still interested or make them a back up to a first contract you enter into with someone else. I was a realtor in my former life (you know the life you had before you homeschooled.:D

Ours is more of an electronic envelope system. We keep an Excel spreadsheet of all of our fixed and variable costs. When the bills come in for these items we plug in the amount in the spreadsheet and every payday electronically pay (through our bank) all of the bill amounts entered in the spreadsheet. We are able to scroll from month to month to see trends (what bills have gone up/down and plan accordingly). For example, my husband noticed that the electric bill was substantially higher one month as compared to the same month the previous year. He called the electric company and they credited him the difference saying it was a "mistake.":glare: Likewise if our cell phone bills go up he will adjust our calling plan if we consistently go over, etc. It is really a good system. I had to edit to add that all household bills are in one account. My husband and I have separate debit/credit cards for our individual gas and allowance. There is another debit card just for grocery that I carry. We write in sharpie "GROCERY" on the card so it isn't mixed up with the gas/allowance card. The banker often asks "do you want us to combine some of these accounts for you?" When I explain to them why we have it they go "OH...that's smart." No mixing of $$. Fixed Costs: Mortgage Cell Phone Internet, cable, home phone bundle Gas Electric Water/Sewer Our so called variable costs are even fixed. We budget $100 per pay period for gas for each spouse. We budget $600 month for food and we both get a fixed allowance each pay period. Homeschool is budgeted $"x" per month as well. This system forces me to watch where I drive, to combine trips, to coupon and plan meals around food sales, etc. My homeschool purchases are carefully thought out as well based on my budget. We have an "envelope" for savings, vacations, and a small buffer for "go overs" (i.e. unexpected guests we have to feed, out of town trips, etc.) The credit card is reserved for true emergencies or car repairs. Our system has allowed us not to live feast to famine. I often say no to some things I really want to do to make sure I stay in my categories. Although there is $$ somewhere to do these things (like savings or the buffer) I can't use it b/c my budget is my budget. There are no spur of the moment purchases or fast food drive through purchases (less $1 coffee or if I have coupons). All of these types of purchases come out of my allowance and I don't like blowing it on food when I can eat at home. Clothing is the only thing we don't budget for. I usually just tell my husband when someone needs a new something and he makes adjustments on the spreadsheet to account for it. I do have one Kohl's card that I manage and pay with my allowance so that I can take advantage of clearance sales or on the spot deals I can't pass up. If the deals are for the kids I tell him and he reimburses my allowances from a upcoming check or from savings. This is a lot but our system has really worked over the years and allows us freedom to do a lot of things. People think we have a lot of $$ but it really is in the managing. My friends laugh when I can tell them exactly where every dime in my house goes - literally! :lol:

Luckymama........can you link me directly to where you are referring to on College Confidential? I don't see this information.

This is all very helpful. Thanks!

My nephew got a full ride to a state school. He was homeschooled grades 1-7, private school 7-8 and public high school. My bro n law mentioned to my husband that he thought his son got a full ride b/c the public school was a objective evaluator of his grades that confirmed his solid foundation from home school.:glare: So my husband says "should we consider not homeschooling all the way through?" How do universities decide if they give a student a full academic scholarship (tuition, room & board)?

Why isn't this sale ever advertised? I posted on these boards about whether such sales existed as recently as a month or so ago. :glare: Another consultant on the board told me she didn't know if another sale was coming for the fall (this was 7/17). Since then, the sale has come and gone?

Are you attempting this on your own or with the DVD program?

I was in the industry from 2001-2008 but I live in the DC Metro area which is a very lucrative market because of a stronger job market than most areas in the country (fed gov't, military installations, etc). I started with a company that offered a lot of training and support. They also allowed me to "put on account" marketing materials and pay it back once my first check came. This helped me out tremendously so that I didn't have to spend money upfront on (marketing cards, etc.). There are upfront fees (lockbox keys, association dues, business cards, etc.) I remember fixed costs being around $1000/year. I did 3 deals in my first 6-8 months. One was a relative, one was a person I met in an exercise class, another a stranger from phone duty at the office. I think real estate is the best job for a person that doesn't have to make "x" amount of dollars every year. Someone in the home has to make a steady income for it to be worth the effort. I was a stay at home mom and my 8 year career turned so successful, I had to question my "stay at home" status. My husband & I even opened our own office for 2 years right before things slowed down tremendously during the economic downturn:001_huh: I don't regret one single moment it was a great ride. I would do it again in a minute or perhaps when I finish homeschooling. I say go for it - after speaking with agents in your area to see how active your market is. Are there mainly first time buyers, move up buyers, military buyers/renters, how long are properties sitting on market before selling, etc.

Look into time4writing.com My rising 10th grader is doing the SAT Writing class right now. I know they have other high school writing classes but not sure of the details.

:party:Dancing with you. Way to go!

Really? :glare: I see things so differently. Why can't a person be taken seriously just b/c their human? Someone who speaks bad grammar hasn't been taught proper grammar, is that a crime? Or if they've been taught in theory it doesn't translate if the proper grammar isn't reinforced at home or in appropriate social circles. Sometimes individuals speak properly in circles where that is expected like on the job but have to go home and fit in with relatives who fall in another circle. In this case they ARE "choosing to speak outside the bounds of proper grammar" but in a lot of cases it isn't a choice. Ask me how I know! Okay...I need to go to a homeschooling thread ...b/c I am getting charged.:tongue_smilie:

You forgot race. It is SLANG....used within circles where slang is the order of the day. This term belongs to a subculture in our society where I dare say many here do not belong. Some things from a subculture make their way into the "common" everyday man's language b/c of the things that bring us together in society like music, and media. We still might not fully understand the connotation of the new terms but at least it gets us to talk. Talking is good. As in low economic class? If not, what "class" are you referring to? One of my favorite episodes on Raymond. I've learned a lot about Italians from Raymond, a lot about Hispanics from George Lopez and my inlaws :001_huh: ...and a lot about everybody else from well uh...just living.:001_smile:

I suppose discussion on the content in this article is too political for this forum.

I'm planning to use it. I just sent in a donation this week. How can you go wrong with free? I'm going to do Landry's 2 day intensives to complete the lab portion.

Perhaps the posts on my blog (listed below my sig line) will become more helpful to homeschoolers of middle & high school students as I've been doing a lot of product reviews for this age group. Blogging is a work in process.

Where has she been? I've been looking for her here. I sent her a pm like a week ago and have heard nothing. Will you ask her to read my pm and send me a reply? thanks, I think we should have a WTM conference hosted in Williamsburg, VA with a tour of Peace Hill Press included. Then we can meet everyone IRL. Maybe register and where name tags with our board names so we will all recognize each other.

Well we've been using it for the entire 2011-2012 academic year Aug - present. My 7th grader uses it independently without my help. I just review her notebook to see the words she consistently misspells. I sometimes make her write these misspellings 5X before moving on. The one thing I can say is her spelling has improved dramatically since the previous school year. From that, I would say it has been successful. She says she doesn't remember the spelling rules/hints the CD cites for her (except for the i before e rule). She says she just primarily memorizes the spelling. I do not plan to purchase the next level unless I see her spelling deteriorate in the upcoming year. Not sure if this helps you or not but this has been our experience.

Its amazing to me how much I feel for a community of members that I really don't know. I'm just feel like I know her through her posts. I actually have water in my eyes. I'm just surprised about my own reaction. Praying for her and her family. :grouphug:

very inspirational story.

Similarly, Ja (first two letters of my oldest child); Ma (first two letters of my 2nd child's name); and Jo (first two letters of my 3rd child's name). I think a lot of people think it is Jam-a-Jo but it is pronounced Ja(short vowel sound)Ma (what you call your mother) and Jo (just the way it looks) :D

Yes, mom.

My shoes say "I think I am the most important part of my owner's wardrobe" A good, stylish pair of shoes makes anything you are wearing look that much better.:D I'll take a quality shoe over any other piece of clothing.