The illustrator of that book was homeschooled and wrote a cute little book loosely based on his experience.

Well, this has been an interesting thread. Now I know which of you I can watch tv with. :lurk5:

Be still my heart! You rock and get the special out-of-the-box trophy. This is seriously a great list AND we are going to Disney late in 2016, which was sort of the impetus for considering this as a class. Oh my, there are a dearth of resources, now I need to figure out how to make it a half credit worthy class. Thank you, thank you!

Yes, please! I would love any ideas in that direction. It seems a little indulgent to spend a semester studying amusement parks in high school (how would I even list that course? I guess just a straight up elective) Yes, the 5th grader would love to write and illustrate stories, but like I said, the whole perfectionism thing tanks the momentum. Can you send along the name of the modern illustrators' interpretations of their favorite picture books? That sound great and would pair nicely with Artist to Artist, which we own. We are on the Read-Aloud Revival member site mostly for the the live author events. She really enjoys those and is so excited for some of the upcoming authors (Andrew Clements! Frindle is adored around here). I love the idea of interpreting favorite stories with art. Were you the person who recommended the monthly art program? That sounded really great and art is definitely something she enjoys. I was totally thinking of something along the lines of the chemistry of baking, and I think the French twist is perfect since there is an interest in that. There is a strong desire to study French, which I initially said "nah" to because I do not speak French, nor have any experience with it (although my DH took 4 years of French in high school, so maybe he could help a little), but I am reconsidering. Admittedly, it is just hard for me to let go of Latin. This particular child is having a difficult time, and I really think I need to let go a bit in the school department and bring back some joy and love in learning.

Mine has (as a middle schooler) performed in a summer theatre production, volunteered at a nature center, mowed lawns, gone to camp and taken a class (last year, rising 9th grader) to move something off the plate for the coming year. This summer will be very similar.

Mine likes the How to Train Your Dragon series. Lego was popular for a while. Extreme Homes and Cupcake Wars, as well as How It's Made are enjoyed by the whole crew.

She's not teaching Algebra 2 next year. :( It looks like Eric Reini will be the instructor. I hope he is as good as Ms. Stublen!

Creekland, I would be really curious to see how the faculty faired on the student's quiz. I think that would be an interesting comparison! Thanks for the link, Tanaqui. I will give it a go later today.

Um, no. If it works out for my children, we'll pursue that option, but I certainly do not have that expectation of them (of course, at my kids' ages, I can't ever imagine them being able to care for me; they can't get the dishes in the dishwasher reliably. :001_rolleyes: ) According to my mother, she does not expect that of us. As a matter of fact, my mom is pretty insistent that we not take that on. She does not want to be put some place fancy. i think she is really hoping she does not live that long, so it won't have to be an issue my sibling and I have to deal with. I seriously doubt my ILs feel that way either. I am sorry you are feeling judged. I think we are in a bit of transition with eldercare. People are living much longer (we have a great grandmother that is 96 and a great uncle that is 95 between both dies of our families!). My mother has dealt with eldercare issues for the last 20 years and has very strong feelings on our participation in her eldercare. I feel like the social norms and expectations are shifting, so I imagine my kids will have a very different view of their role in the process than people just two or three generations before them did. (of course, if Kurzweil is correct the future is going to be crazy and I can hardly imagine the aging issues my kids and grandkids will be dealing with. Do you want to download your conscience to be put in a newer body model?)

I do straight arm planks usually. Just works different part of your core than forearm. I also like getting in plank position and lifting one leg for a given number of seconds, then swapping and doing the other side. I have also done these alternating without holding, just right leg up, then down, left leg up, then down pattern, good for your glutes. Another, plank position then alternate tapping the opposite shoulder with your hand (right hand taps left, then left goes to right), good for balance and engaging your core. I think that is as exciting as my planks get! lol

Ok, I feel like my regularly scheduled "send them to school crisis" has passed. I have asked my kids about what they would *love* to study next year. In the past I have done some independent areas of interest studies for my now 12 year old. That particular child is great at self direction and loves working independently. Last year we studied Ancient China, the Aztecs, and chocolate using this method and the request was for more studies like that. It has elements of 8's Homeschooling at the Helm. I love AV's idea of morning skill work and afternoon time dedicated to pursuing those passions. I know she said it much more eloquently. Ok so here's what I've got... rising 10th grader: pretty standard course of study, although we have not yet determined history. We will have completed a year of World History, so I am not really sure where to go next. We discussed a couple of options for electives, possibly Creative Writing with WTMA in the spring. There was some discussion on studying amusement parks, the history of them or something along those lines. I really have no idea what that would look like, but I will ruminate. There was also an interest expressed in coding. The rising 7th grader sent me a list in response to my question. Lol :001_smile: Baking, chemistry, French, the British side of the Revolutionary War and possibly an ancient civilization. So, tons to play with and explore! I can do a lot with those suggestions. The rising 5th grader is rather indecisive, but really loves stories and art. Reading, writing and listening to stories are all areas of interest. She has an amazing gift for words, but gets caught up in perfectionism, which gets in the way. We are working on that, and I think the tincture of time is the best remedy. The rising 2nd grader will mostly be working on skills, reading, math and copy work. We try to include several picture books a day and two of the older siblings regularly read aloud from their assigned chapter book. There is a strong science interest, so I will probably plan some science focused units or get a monthly STEM kit to serve as a launch pad. Lots of fun areas to explore. I will probably do some poking around on Amazon for some inspirational resources, although if anyone knows of anything that would be exceptionally fun and solid, send 'em my way! Off to soak in inspiration from y'all! Thanks, AV, for the invitation to dream.

Teaching the student I have and not the student I imagine or desire has been one of the greatest and most humbling challenges of high school. Admittedly, I am only in the first 7 months of that endeavor, so there could be other greater challenges lurking around the corner, just don't tell me about those right now. :willy_nilly: I will absolutely admit that I have read and planned our academic path based on what I have read others have done. There are a number of intelligent, thoughtful and considerate parents on this board who have generated amazing class ideas and studies for their students; I absolutely look up to them. When you look up to someone, you often incorporate pieces of inspiration you have gleaned from them. I can also say, planning our path and making choices on what other people have done has not been good for our school or my emotional health. High school is a bit of a lonely island for many of us. Being able to come together virtually with like minded parents from all over is such a huge boon to the home educating world, but it is also a huge curse. Never before have some many people had access to how other people are homeschooling. It is hard for me to keep my vision for our school and life amidst the cacophony of voices, even if those voices hold beautiful truths. But we each carry a vision of our own truth and I know we work pretty darn hard every day toward that vision. Is it perfect? Nope. Could I push more? Yep. Do I get plagued by all that has not been accomplished? You betcha. But, at the end of the day the race is only with ourselves.. We each have our own line to add to the story, and I try to remember that I am working toward my children finding their voice and writing their line in due time.

We used: http://www.amazon.com/Health-Student-PRENTICE-HALL/dp/0131905678/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1455285403&sr=8-3&keywords=health+textbook I created a summer class that incorporated workbook pages from the text (we were working on note taking skills in conjunction), TedTalks with written responses, some nonfiction and fiction reading that correlated with the topics and a final project. There was also a movie or two (Food Inc. comes to mind, but I think there may have been another). I still have plans on completing a CPR/first aid class, but that has not happened yet.

Bumping, because I am curious about this, as well. I am actually curious about all of WH's science classes, so if you have any experience, please chime in. I am specifically interested in how the Christian philosophy comes through in those classes. I never thought I would consider a Christian provider for science, but we have been very pleased with math and they are one of the few online providers that use M/L bio, which is my preference. I love their interface and find usability from both the parental and student ends fantastic. edited b/c I clearly haven't had my coffee or put on my glasses. :001_rolleyes:

How has the process made you realize that? :bigear:

This has been quite illuminating! Thanks all for your helpful responses. We have two more appointments before making a final decision, but I am frankly not sure how we are going to make this happen.

I said in another thread I had a bit of sticker shock when I got the total cost of orthodontics at a recent consultation. It got me wondering what the typical cost was for orthodontics. I realize every situation is unique and some cases require more intensive correction. We are looking at what the doctor deemed a routine case (obviously, unique to my particular children, but nothing earth shattering) and the quote we received per kid was eye opening. I will try to make this anonymous. It's my first poll and the first one already got screwed up, so hopefully I can make this work!

Gad zooks! We just went for a consultation to one of our area orthos, little bit of sticker shock. We will probably go to another one or two to see if the prices are significantly different. They were incredibly kind and helpful; they understood we would probably get second or third opinions and offered to send the panoramic x-rays to other providers we were considering. It was very low pressure. They are in business and know you have options, so I think most are very helpful and invested in making your experience positive. (they are selling themselves to you) I just want to say, my kids' teeth changed, shifted and filled in quite a bit in those years between 9-12/13 when all of their adult teeth came in. On my third child, the recommendation we got today was to wait and see after all the teeth were lost how things were shaping up. That child's teeth looked very much like one of the older siblings' teeth at that age, which then changed a pretty significant amount in 2 years. Finally, I have a lot of respect for my kids' dentist and the knowledge he possess, but he made a prediction on one of my kids early, then later said bite looks fine, it would probably be more cosmetic. Just to say things change. Interestingly, he said one would probably be more cosmetic and then on the other it was time to see the ortho, but apparently my two oldest have very similar issues, according to the ortho. It got me wondering if there was some gender bias in recommendations.

You all are like the Energizer Bunny! Still going.... And on the whole asking for things like the "vroom vroom", at least it's not, "can you hand me that thing?" When my kids do that it drives me batty? Nouns, adjectives, something people-help a girl out! My brain is too fried to play $10,000 Pyramid. Carry on. :)

:grouphug: Nothing seems adequate enough, just know you are in a lot of people's hearts and thoughts.

Just wanted to say "thanks" for this thread. I am one of the posters on the "I wanna quit" thread (I know it was more eloquently titled). It was helpful to read the other perspective.

On the ACT form where it says "School Official Signature (not a relative)" do I still sign it b/c I am the school official (and a relative?) On the checklist of accommodation plan-we don't have one, my kid is homeschooled. We are not at point of having a 504 Plan, although if he goes to school or CC we are advised to have one. I just leave that blank, yes? We have not had an official accommodations plan in place, but have been accommodating since the inception. Do I check 9th grade b/c that was the year we got the formal report? Thank you so much for any help!

I absolutely understand and agree with choosing a mixture of books to stretch and grow readers. It just seemed there were mostly easy books (none of those other than JC has a lexile score above 1000). My kid read Book Thief as an 8th grader and completed a literary analysis paper on it. To see that on a 10th grade reading list in a supposedly college prep school is a bit head scratching. Getting in touch with them on curriculum is on my list for next week, although I suspect they will just direct me to our state standards and Common Core. That seems to be the answer I keep getting when I ask the teachers at open houses on curriculum. It is a new school, only their second year, so I imagine they are still hashing out the finer points.

I bought her cookbook. I made a Spinach Artichoke bake from her book, which is similar to the buffalo chicken bake. It was not as tasty. I wanted it to be creamier. I think adding in some mayo may help. I have not made much else from her website. I was just reading for ideas when I saw that buffalo chicken bake on the sidebar. She has some good looking wings. They have honey, so no eating them on Whole30. I am not sure I will use it as much as Nom Nom (I use that book like crazy on a W30 and even after). There are a couple of other things that look yummy that will make an appearance in the coming weeks.

Do it! So good. I can't wait for tonight's dinner. :drool5: