You are sure to be a busy Mom no matter what option you choose! I agree that keeping up with all the different schedules and the notes is not easy. I had no idea that they needed a permission slip for every little thing. We just finished our first school year and I am happy, happy, happy to have them home!

Congratulations on your three new blessings! I used to be a regular poster, too....way back in the day before this fancy forum.

Its kind of funny what the math head said. We are in a similar situation here, although I didn't want to go through any summer school. My son is finishing up school this week and has been pulling low Bs and Cs in Algebra 1 (Saxon). This summer, he'll be working through Life of Fred Algebra. I want him to be more solid before Alg 2 in the fall and hope this will work well for him. I'm looking forward to working with my boys over the summer! (this was their first year in school)

My boys will be going into 8th and 10th. Earlier today, I started working on their summer reading lists. For the rising Sophomore: Life of Fred Alg for the 10th grader because I think he needs to beef up a little more before Alg 2 in the fall. Critical Thinking wkbk He'll have a pretty big summer reading list because he devours books. For the rising 8th Grader (who is also dyslexic) Reading Detective Rx A Reason for Spelling - his spelling quiz grades bring down his English grade :( Life of Fred Pre-Alg His summer reading list will be light. For both: lots of swimming and time at the Y Summer camps unlimited XBox --- bwahaa....in their dreams!

My reality? Today I have a lot of time on my hands because I don't pick up the boys until after practice at 6pm. Could I have gotten a lot done today? Yes. Did I? No, I did my major Wednesday house cleaning, yesterday and I'm not doing any yard work until Saturday. Things that changed: We became morning people. My fitness - I stop at the YMCA on my way home from dropping off the boys and I LOVE this. House - its cleaner during the day and I can clean when I want to instead of need to Ministry - I stopped most of my church responsibilities and volunteer work this year because going to school was a significant transition for us. I would definitely have more time to devote to lessons and such. Socially - a few lunches with friends here and there, but evening activities have all but stopped Appointments - much easier to schedule my appointments, but more difficult when scheduling something for the boys. Hobbies - yes, yes, yes! My boys are more organized. I miss my local homeschool meetings. Things that didn't: Meal-planning - still winging it on a regular basis Greek - never happening ;) but I am pursuing some other interests Some things don't change at all. The boys still excel in their favorite subjects and not so much in the others. I am no more organized now than before. I am not the ogre that gives them assignments. I am the ogre that makes them finish their homework. Like someone said above....you become subject to the school calendar, so don't underestimate the effect that has on your family life. Bottom line.....we all agreed to continue with their school for the next year.

I know it is hard. I just did a major purge this month. So far...no regrets. :001_smile:

Not a curric suggestion, but our area is having tons of used book sales through the various homeschool groups. It certainly helps with the cost when you can find good curric for about half price. Have you considered Bob Jones Science? We've used Apologia for several years and still love it, but BJU would probably be my second choice. Have you seen Apologia's Elem Science Anatomy and Physiology? This isn't exactly lightweight stuff and would suffice for a 7th grade science, I think. My 11 year old just started it and loves it.

After having "outsourced" for a short time, my boys' history was out of sync and I didn't make them change back. Currently, my 6th grader is in MOH 2 and my 8th grader is doing his own thing. I never noticed a difference, either way, in the workload on my part, although my oldest is working independently. BTW, my oldest wanted to study American government and economics. If I insisted they stay on the same history schedule, my oldest would not have come up with his own plan.

I am frustrated with the Netflix search feature, too! It would be good to have a list(s) here. Is that possible without it being a nuisance for mods?

I totally agree with the ain't broke/don't fix it line of thinking. When I first started hsing, a friend told me to find a math program and stick with it. I took that advice very seriously....too seriously and stuck with programs when I should have moved on. I thought my son was just hitting a wall, so we continued, adding a bit, slowing down, mixing it up, but it was broken. He wasn't getting it and wasn't going to get it. If your DD is doing well, then press on and don't worry about other programs. If she starts having problems (not learning curves), take some action, and don't necessarily wait for things to fix themselves. My 2 cents.

I have done that on very rare occasion while bringing eggs in from the henhouse, but it makes me nervous when I do so. :laugh:

I started my oldest with a piano teacher when he was 9 - 9 1/2, but I gave him prior instruction at home for just less than a year. Then we moved and it took awhile before I could find a teacher. My youngest started piano lessons @ 8.

We used the CAT from Seton for our required testing while we lived in VA. They were easy to work with and got our results back to us quickly.