This made me laugh. You just can't take this kind of thing seriously. It's too ludicrous.

I am very, VERY organized, almost to a fault. We use a weekly checklist for homeschool that is broken down into days, so DS knows exactly what he is supposed to finish each and every day as well as being able to see the week as a whole. The problem has always been that he dawdles and is an excellent procrastinator, especially when he doesn't want to do something. In the past, I have always had to really stay on him to get his work done, constantly hovering over his shoulder, reminding him to stay focused, etc. I won't be able to do that now, and that is what has me concerned.

stlily, thank you so much for this! This is the sweetest post, and I really appreciate it. Thankfully, I have worked towards having both my kids work independently for years, so we've got a head start in that area. But you're right. He doesn't really take ownership of his education. He'll do what's on his list for the day....eventually. But he doesn't much care how he does it, if it's done correctly, neatly, etc. That's what I really need him to get better about. Up until last year, it didn't matter how much I reinforced, made him do thing over again, etc., he still only cared about getting through it rather than really applying himself and learning. Now, in his defense, it has been a year since we homeschooled, and he insists "I'm 13 now. I'll do better." I think the talk I need to have with him is about just that, applying himself and caring that the work is done well rather than just checking the next thing off the list.

Sadly, no. I'm an adjunct, so I have no office, and the two days where my classes will keep me out of the house the most are way too long to have him sitting in the library (which is in a different building from where I teach). He doesn't have the maturity to hang around a college campus on his own.

Sahamamama, thank you so very much for your thoughtful post. I won't go through all of your questions, but the answers to most of them are yes. Many of those things are non-issues and/or we already have plans, rules, etc. in place. Your suggestions for having a serious discussion with my son about what exactly I will expect from him are good ones. We have discussed it before, and he was homeschooled from first through sixth grades, so he does know how our homeschool works, but reiterating this for him is a good idea.

Thanks, regentrude. I appreciate the encouragement. :-)

DS was homeschooled up until last year when I decided to send him to PS due to his poor attitude about doing his school work. He did okay at PS but not great. His grades were not as good as when he was at home, he got into some trouble (nothing major but did have a couple of ISS days), and towards the end of the school year, he started having problems with being bullied. He really wants to come home again this year for 8th grade, and he swears things will be different with his attitude. I really, REALLY want to let him homeschool again because I think it is better for him. But here's my dilemma. I teach at two different colleges. Right now, I have seven classes to teach this fall, and there could be another one added to that. The most I've taught before in one term was five, so this is a heavier load. My schedule is great because two of those classes are online and two more of them are hybrids (only an hour in the classroom each week), so a lot of my work can and will be done from home (DS is old enough to stay home alone with no problem when I have to go teach, so that's not an issue). My concern is with being able to manage teaching him and keeping up with his work/assignments and whether he's doing the work/assignments, etc.while also managing a heavy course load and over 100 students already. I'm a single mom, so I don't have any spouse to help, and the reason I'm teaching so many classes is because money is a real problem (so outsourcing classes for DS is not an option). I guess what I'm looking for is commiseration, reassurances that I can do this, maybe some suggestions for how to make it work, and/or advice from those who have BTDT. Please don't tell me it's impossible. It would be easy for me to tell him no and leave him in school, but I really don't think that's what is best for him. I really feel like I need to make this work. I'm just scared it's going to be too much. Editing for clarity: I don't guess I was very clear in my original post as a lot of the focus has been on taking my son to campus with me, which is not an option. Most of my work will be done online from home, so I will only be gone for part of two days each week. My not being home is not the problem. My concern is the amount of work I am going to have and adding him into the mix.

I looked at the Bite-size Physics on CurrClick. It does look good, though I'd have to combine it with something to make a complete school year, maybe just a physical science workbook from Amazon or something. One thing I noticed is that it seems to be written as a script for the parent to read. Can an 8th grader work through it independently?

Thanks for the suggestion, but this isn't pre-planned enough. I know nothing about physical science and don't feel comfortable trying to match up a collection of experiments with lessons. Thanks for the suggestion. The middleschoolchemistry site is confusing to me. Is this an actual curriculum? Science Jim might be good, but he doesn't seem to have much info on his website right now. I'll check back again as the school year approaches. I see that he has online classes. Do they include some type of curriculum and hands-on activities, too?

Does this mean there aren't any really cheap options that would fit the bill? Any thoughts on Mr. Q? Do you mean the Holt textbooks?

"Make it Rain" is an excellent song.

How about Keith Harkin? He's a member of Celtic Thunder but also does a lot of solo stuff. I don't know how to embed the video, but this is one of my favorite songs from Keith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2T3Tra40Ho

My son has decided that he wants to come back to homeschool this year, so now I'm scrambling trying to find curriculum for him, especially for science. He has asked to do physics/physical science. Here's what we need: -Secular -Needs to have lots of hand-on experiments/activities -Needs to be an actual, pre-planned curriculum (DS does not want the "collection of books" type of curriculum where he has to go read these pages in this book and this chapter in this book, etc. and I need something with planned assignments, worksheets, quizzes, etc.) -Really, REALLY cheap I'm thinking Mr. Q might fit the bill, but it seems rather light for 8th grade. Any other ideas?

This is me, though I don't find it embarrassing at all. I totally eat like a ten-year-old. I don't like most vegetables, and I absolutely HATE to cook. My kids hate when I cook, too, and so they have been preparing their own food for ages, which works for all of us. I buy mostly easy-prep, convenience foods, and I do insist that my kids have fruits and milk daily. They're very healthy kids. As for me, I like potatoes, and fresh spinach or green leaf lettuce for salads. I like shredded carrots (yep, prepackaged) and sunflower seeds on my salads, and that's it. I like blackeyed peas and eat those with yellow rice as a regular meal. Corn and butter beans are okay, though I rarely cook them (because, you know, cooking).

DS just downloaded the game this morning. Apparently there were 3 Pokemon in our house. :lol: He's now out walking around the pond/park looking for more. ETA: DS just came back inside and said, "I caught a Pokemon Falcon, and then I saw a real falcon!" Works for me! :D

Wouldn't the C be a C natural since the first note of the measure is designated as C natural? Doesn't the natural designation extend throughout the measure?

Kareni, those lists are amazing and quite impressive! There is no way my son would EVER read that much. But you certainly have given me quite a bit to choose from. Thank you so much for the help!

That sounds amazing, Kareni! I would love to see anything you'd like to share, especially if you have any type of schedule for the required readings. Thanks!

Interestingly enough, I showed DS all the choices, and he picked History Odyssey, except he didn't like the looks of Story of Mankind and liked Human Odyssey better. I thought about combining HO and HO (hehe), but that might be more time consuming than I can manage. I know someone did it with the Ancients, but I haven't found anything with it done for the Modern Times, level 2.

DS would love something like this. He enjoys building anything out of anything. :D So what about output for everything else she studied during the year aside from just the one topic? And, did she only have one chance at a good grade? Or did you not do grades?

This is a good idea. Thanks. You've got a good point about this. I could mix some writing in with the other ideas EKS mentioned. Maybe that wouldn't kills both. Lol... I've no idea aabout high school. With this kid, we take it one day at a time. Lol...

:bigear: :bigear:

DS wants to come back to homeschooling for 8th grade. I have a ton of stuff from previous years, so I do not want to buy anything new if I don't have to. The problem is that I have TOO much stuff for history, and I have no idea what to do with it or how to use it. I work (a lot!), so I need him to be as independent as possible, so I need some suggestions. Here's what I have: SOTW, vol. 3 and 4 Human Odyssey, vol. 2 and 3 History Odyssey, Modern Times, level 2 Kingfisher Encyclopedia (the red one) Story of Mankind (Van Loon) I know that History Odyssey uses Kingfisher and Story of Mankind, but I've also read that Story of Mankind isn't that great. And DS may be too old for SOTW since he'll be in 8th in the fall. So, what should I do with all this stuff? I have no teacher's manuals, and I stink and making up assignments, but just having him read doesn't seem like enough. We need some type of output (and he absolutely HATES writing). If I use History Odyssey, he'll have work to do, but I really want to use Human Odyssey because everyone says it's so good. But if I do that, then what type of "work" would he do with it? DS really enjoyed the first two SOTW, so maybe I should just let him read the other two, but that doesn't seem like enough for 8th grade. Agh! Please help!

My kids are on two different ends of the activity spectrum. DS goes to the weekly chess club at the library, and that's about it. He just isn't interested in many activities. That said, he wants to play soccer this fall (just for fun; not a "passion"), and he's asked about starting aikido up again, so I'm going to see about both of those in the fall (neither are offered over the summer). OTOH, DD is involved in EVERYTHING. She just finished the season of youth symphony, is a very active member of her dance company, starts competitive cheerleading this summer, just made the color guard team at her high school, and is participating in her first theater production this summer. I can barely keep up, and I'm just the driver! That said, DD does not "practice" on her own time much at all. But she does attend every practice/rehearsal and works hard while she's there. I hate having to tell her no about some activities, but she only has 24 hours in a day like the rest of us. LOL... All that said, I do not pay for activities when my kid doesn't practice/participate. We stopped DD's clarinet lessons (though she still wants to do symphony), because she wasn't interested in practicing. We stopped aikido for DS because he was complaining and not wanting to go to practice. As a single mom with little time or energy and even less money, I just don't see paying for and driving to something that the kid doesn't really want to do.

I LOVE this remake! His voice is so haunting. It's fabulous. I also love Celtic Thunder's cover: