I haven't actually seen the Beautiful Feet reading list, but you are correct that Trisms calls for outside reading. In addition, Trisms is made to be easily adjustable. It sounds like a good plan to me.

You could use a spine as a research source for Trisms. We have most of the books that are suggested on their website, but my daughter actually uses the internet for research more than any other resources. Trisms really isn't disjointed because you learn how the various people groups effected each other in trade, war, migrations, etc. It does pull together as a whole.

We've used Trisms for a few years now. You can adjust it easily for the age range of your children. I found that it referenced the Bible quite often and/or encouraged the student to compare the many other cultures with Abramic cultures. Though the program doesn't have to be approached with a Christian worldview, it certainly gives you the opportunity to do so very easily and I think it would be a challenge not to given the reading material suggested.

My niece just graduated from college this year with a degree in music therapy. She is starting her first job in the field next week working with autistic children. Have you considered taking a social sciences course such as human development or child psychology? You could possibly integrate your writing with it by doing some research papers.

I find that when I don't revisit why we homeschool often, I lose my way. It's easy to fall into believing that I should do what other people do. But I home school because I want help both of my children to be able to find their own path. And it looks different for each of them. It's conversations like these, that help keep me on track. Our children are all unique and it's serious business to figure out how best to educate each one of them. It's what makes home schooling so beneficial and also such a challenge.

Shocking as it may seem to some, you can have a good life and even make a good living without going to an ivy league school! :tongue_smilie: But, what you're doing may not exclude him from the top schools at all. They are very interested in students who have demonstratively pursued their passion.

I think it looks realistic and complete. Are you going to divide the physical education and the Health into two semesters or will you do them concurrently throughout the year? The reason I mention it is because my kids seem to like having a few courses where they spend a little less time weekly, so for some things we'll do what could be one semester of work over two semesters. Plus, phys-ed could be a nice break from the academics throughout the year. Either way, the credits still add up the same.

My daughter has used Trisms for the last 2 years. She uses the internet more often than other reference materials. She spends 2-3 weeks on each unit and then presents her work. This takes approx 2 hours/unit of my time. I started her on Discovering the Ancient World in 7th grade and this year (8th grade) she began working through Expansion of Civilization. We will finish that one in the Fall of next year. One nice thing is that Trisms is adjustable for grade level either by reducing the assignments or giving the student more time per unit. Even though she is doing it in middle school, if you do everything, the curriculum is high school level.

My son is learning to play guitar for his fine arts credit. My daughter is learning to draw. I would expect that my daughter will do several more fine arts credits over the next few years including more visual art and voice lessons. Also, they will both be doing some wood turning and other forms of woodworking.

And something else. Very often kids in the US test in about a year behind in this curriculum. So, what Singapore considers the 10th grade level may more realistically be 11th grade in the US. You'd probably want to test the students or at least look over the placement tests to determine which level(s) to use.

It depends on the programs that are used during the school year. I use the Singapore New Elementary series for both my 8th and 10th grader. It's a little different from most curriculum because it builds on algebra, geometry, trig and statistics each year rather than focusing on one area/year in the usual 4 year sequence of Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Trig/PreCalc. I transitioned my son from a more standard program to Singapore this year. To do this, we had to skip around through 2 levels because he hadn't had geometry, trig or statistics, but he had already covered all of the algebra contained in both of the volumes. My daughter has used Singapore since 5th grade. It is a good math program. Though I hear it is rigorous, I find it very clear and easy to teach. I have used other programs that are hard for me to teach, even though I understand the material. Singapore does a really good job of introducing new concepts in simple ways and in the right order. Neither of my kids are math geniuses, but they both seem to have a good grasp on the material. If you give me more specific information about what kind of math program you've been using and which Singapore program/level you're looking at, I might be able to give more detailed advice.

We use Rosetta Stone Spanish and we like it. If either of my children actually had an interest in learning languages, I'd probably do something more comprehensive. But honestly, no matter which curriculum we use, my kids will most likely do what I did...never use it and forget the entire language within a few years. Rosetta Stone Homeschool edition does have some extra materials to beef it up and we pick up local Spanish newspapers as additional practice.

Thank you for the link to the other thread. It did answer some of my questions about the age appropriateness and the extent to the anatomy portion of the curriculum.

Bump.

Have you used Nutrition 101: Choose Life!? What did you think of this resource? How did you give high school credit for it?

Thank you Lori D! How have I not known about Hippocampus until now?

I am planning on my children (dd - 9th, ds - 11th) studying US history and government together next year. I'd like to find a good history spine that I can use to organize other resources around such as books, dvds, etc. The spine does not need to contain extensive detail but rather I need it to provide a context for the other resources. Any suggestions on the spine? Or on the other resources that I might use?

My son will be in the 11th grade next year and we will be traveling during the PSAT. Other than not being able to compete for the National Merit Scholarship, what will be the downsides of missing the test. Given his scores last year I would expect him to get in the high 190s or low 200s. It's not out of the range of possibilities for him to get a qualifying score, but I sincerely doubt that he would. Also, is there some other way to take the test due to religious conflicts? We are traveling as part of a Holy week.

I haven't read the whole thread so I may be duplicating somebody else's comments...but as the mother of a 13 year old girl, I'd say yes - it's hormones. It might help if you can discuss this with your daughter because how she is feeling may be confusing even to her and it may be adding to her stress. There have been a few times in my life where my hormones have gotten really unbalanced and it would have been frightening to me if I hadn't realized what was happening. My daughter and I seem to be one the same schedule (though I'm in perimenopause), and just us knowing that we're both out-of-sorts together makes it easier. Sometimes in the middle of a hormone-fueled exchange, one of us will mention the possibility that it's a hormone thing and then we end up breaking into laughter or hugs.

I use a cotton towel - a flat weave rather than terrycloth. If you flour the top of the bread a little bit, it helps.

The above tips have been great. One thing that helped me land several jobs when I was younger is that I would stop back every other week or so, find the manager that interviewed me and just them know I was still interested. I am pretty sure that I got one job just because I went back 6 times. The manager of the store finally gave up and hired me.

My husband and I dated for 3 years steadily and off and on before that. We were pretty young though. I don't think that there's a rule for dating time though. I know of really solid marriages where the couple dated 2 weeks, got engaged and then married a few weeks after that. I know of marriages that didn't work even though the couple dated for years.

We have a select comfort and love it. Especially because I like a firmer mattress than my husband.

I also agree with the things dancer67 suggested not to say. They don't help. Being there, listening, praying with her, helping in anyway you can. And it okay to cry with her too.