:iagree:

My dd, ds and I are up early for a run/walk before school (more walking than anything) three days a week, and my dd and I do pilates and yoga via video from Target on the other days or when the weather is bad--very cheap and very effective for us :)

You are in your groove! Stick with it :)

Sending :grouphug:. I just mentioned to my dd today the possibility of looking for another group, and her reply was a quick, "Please, no!" :) I have two great girlfriends who homeschool--neither lives closer than 5 hours from me. So, we talk on the phone, and I spend more time in this hive than maybe I should. I would love to find just one or two homeschooling families we can do some things with, but I'm with you--we just cannot do the "group" thing.

I laughed out loud when I read your post--I thought you were living in Texas until I saw otherwise. As a wife of a volunteer little league football coach, and former ps teacher, I can say you are right--on both fronts :)

We are using Veritas Press's Omnibus III this year (9th) and will follow this curriculum throughout hs. If we follow this plan for three years, we should have credit for U.S. Lit/ Brit Lit, U.S. History/ World History, and theology (elective). The courses will not play out grade-by grade like the PS, but in the end, you will have all you need. The course is pretty demanding, but it combines lit and history--worth the trade for me. You can get more info about credits from Veritas and possibly get your advisor to sign off on it. Another option may be to look at Nottgrass history/lit combination courses. They are more in keeping with the PS model, but may suit your needs as a classical educator as well. Note: These are Christian based--not sure if that will work for your family. :)

When I taught school, my non-reading guys always liked these young adult selections: The Outsiders, A Day No Pigs Would Die (language is a little strong--but ok for HS), The Pigman, That Was Then This is Now. If you are looking for more meat: Animal Farm is an easy (and interesting) read if your ds likes history--Neil Simon plays are often enjoyable (Lost in Yonkers is a good one for guys); Art Spiegleman won a Pulitzer for his graphic novels about his father's experience in the Holocaust--Maus I and II (fascinating read--you can send me a pm, and I will tell you about them in more detail, but I will tell you that ALL of my students loved these); believe it or not, Lonesome Dove was a HUGE hit--your ds may have to get over the intimidation of the size of it, but it's a great guy story; some others to consider are: 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies. If you want to tackle Shakespeare, start with Julius Caesar--the Folger edition has easy-to-follow notes. :)

We are currently using Veritas Press's Omnibus (9th grade), and I wish I had started it last year. It is demanding, but I find it easy to follow, and its primary focus is reading and writing--which I like. It also covers history, theology, and literature in one course. But, I am reading all of the assignments, too--which is very time consuming. If you prefer a different approach, we used Rod & Staff grammar, sequential spelling, and various literary selections last year--which worked fine. I bought IEIW not knowing it required my watching 9 hrs. of instructional video in order to teach the program. I bit the bullet and am watching the videos for this year. For us, the program has been a great investment of time and money. Hope this gives you a starting place :)

Sometimes there are just not words that can penetrate grief of this maginitude. I think that's where just saying "I am so sorry" comes in and offering her meals, helping clean her home while she rests, maybe bringing her a special gift in memoriam of her lost child. It is so hard when someone loses a child, and I think your quiet hand of friendship means more than anything you can say.

*sigh* I wish you were my neighbor :) It sounds like your family is kind, thoughtful, well-rounded, and a real blessing to those who know you. I cannot speak for this family, but I would welcome your daughter's (and your) friendship in our home. I do not think it would hurt for you to speak to the mom and let her know how much you appreciate her concern and her invitations for your daughter to be included in church events. You can let her know that you have made a family decision not to attend an organized church event for now, but if you change your mind, you will certainly let her know. Hopefully, she will respect your decision and still allow Molly to play--and just offer an "open door invitation" without asking specifically again.

I did SOTW with supplementation from Kingfisher and Usborne with my dd (7th grade at the time) and still felt like she wasn't getting enough meat. Last year (8th grade) we switched to the Famous Men of Middle Ages and Renaissance, and it was better--still, though, not what I wanted. I just felt that it was difficult to tie everything together. This year (9th grade), we are switching to Veritas Press Omnibus III and using both the primary and secondary books. It is the first curriculum I have found that follows the classical education model while also putting everything together in a package I personally like. The Omnibus curriculum begins with 7th grade and runs through the end of high school. Each course provides credit in literature, history, and theology (something else I like). Something for consideration, though--the VP Omnibus curriculum requires a great deal of parent reading and instruction.

:iagree: Entirely--well said! I do think the author of the blog brings up some great talking points, and she leaves enough open territory on each point that she gets great, educated responses (for the most part). I do not think we homeschooling families will ever win everyone's respect, but we are changing the general landscape of how we are perceived. More importantly, many of us are successfully giving our children a fantastic education. There is enough evidence of that now, so I think we have less to fear in terms of our having to relinquish our right to educate our children--which is probably the true core of the debate.

I have been married seventeen years, and I know my marriage would not have lasted this long if my husband and I could not laugh together. Our taste in comedy is not always the same, but we are able to laugh together throughthe difficulties of life--priceless

Try looking into Memoria Press's First Form Latin. I used it this year with my dd (8th), and we liked it. You can order it with CD, flash cards, and DVD. It is a new publication, and from what I understand, if you complete all 4 forms, that will give you two years of high school credit. I have been hunting for Latin for next year, and we are going to use Henle becuse of the translation work included. But for a high-school level Latin, you may want to start with First Form. As far as whether or not you want to do it, I can only say that, for my part, I am so happy we are doing Latin. Understanding roots and derivatives goes a LONG way in helping prepare for SAT/ACT and improving contextual understanding of vocabulary. Once I began to understand the foundational concepts, it has not been nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be. Hope this helps get you going :)