Dave Ramsey's Personal Finance for high schoolers, & a Culinary Arts elective I designed with 2 of Alton Brown's cookbooks

Excellent advice! I have just one thing to add - one of my homeschooling friends's sons had a difficult first week or two of his freshman year, and got an F on an English paper, simply because ... are you ready for this? ... . He did not realize students could go to their teachers and ask for help. When he got the help he needed, he pulled his grade up and did fine the rest of his college years. So let your college-bound children know that they should always go to their teachers for advice or help - that's what they are there for! :001_smile:

My 12th grade son is an excellent student -- he is gifted in math and science, he carefully reads his history, lit and other books, and I can tell he has read well, because when I ask him comprehension type questions, he answers correctly at least 90% of the time. I'm thinking ahead to college-- and the large amounts of reading he will encounter. He still reads SLOWLY, and I'm wondering if there are any tips to help him read a little faster, but still retain what he is reading? He told me when he reads books, he says the words to himself (in his brain) as if he were speaking them out loud... Any advice is much appreciated!:)

I and my children have FB accts. They check theirs several times a day and like to chat with their FB friends on line. I'm lucky if I remember to change my status once a week! But I do like to read the FB status and walls of my peeps. -- just for the sake of finding out what's going on in my friends and family's lives. My daughter told me I was "stalking" ... how is that stalking?!

When my kids were young, we used the dining room table for both of them - they would each set at an end. As they got older and their books increased in quantity and size, they went through their sibling fighting faze ... so now my daughter uses the dining room table for school - we have the 2 bookcases and 2 computers in that room - and my son's work is on top of and underneath the living room coffee table. They are "friends again" :) and often end up stopping school for a while so they can talk to each other, or try to prank their mother.

I taught my children a long time ago to NEVER open the door to someone we don't know -- especially if they are carrying a clip board or brochures!:001_smile: We have a lot of sales people that walk through our neighborhood, asking if they can replace our roof, or tear down fallen tree limbs, or XYZ ... We peek through the peep hole or peer through curtains, and if we don't know 'em, we let the door bell ring. Our time is precious!

I haven't read through every post here, but just wondering ... Was her A1C supposed to be done "fasting?" And if so, could your dd have eaten something before the blood test that would have skewed the results? I'm sorry your family is going through such a scary health situation right now. Please keep us posted. :grouphug:

take pictures for your scrapbook!

Core 100 for a 14 year old should be fine - it is a lot of books, but they are at an easy, comfortable level of reading. She should be fine. We did Core 100 from 14 1/2 to 15 1/2 with my son and it was "just right." We did drop the book Christy, however. Core 100 has a LOT of books where the main character is a female (which is totally fine!). My son was getting tired of reading about all the girls :001_smile:

Here's a list with at least 7 San Francisco area homeschooling groups - some secular, some faith-based.... http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/regional/CaliforniaBayArea.htm as well as this large homeschooling website, only $9 a year to join, for classes, group activities, get-togethers, and support for homeschooling in the SF area: http://sfhomeschoolers.org I hope this helps! You are not alone, and neither is your daughter!

For literature-based science, check out http://www.sonlight.com or http://www.winterpromise.com and look at their book list selections for the elementary science levels :001_smile:

If it were me, I would say something like ,"You're planning to stay for both parties? Terrific! I'd love it if you could help me out by bringing a plate of XYZ food- or drinks - with you when you come. Thanks so much for helping me with the party!" That way, you're not stuck with a large food bill, and you can have help in the kitchen. :001_smile:

In SC I've had lots of positive comments ... especially from our favorite public librarians :001_smile:. One gentleman once told me he thought I shouldn't have to pay property taxes to the local public school system, since we don't use it. :D Cashiers are polite and curious ... "How long have you been homeschooling? Is it hard? I could never do that!" type things. Whenever new families move onto our street, I introduce myself and my children and let them know we are a homeschooling family, "just in case you see my children running around outside at odd hours, they aren't skipping school, they are home-schooled!" Makes people smile every time.

Here's my $25 slow cooker from Walmart ...love it! We can't afford stainless steel appliances yet, but I do have a stainless steel slow cooker and microwave. I'm starting small :001_smile: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Crock-Pot-Cook-and-Carry-Slow-Cooker/14320820?sourceid=1500000000000003260370&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=14320820

yuck. I'm sorry you are living with such an unpleasant situation.

At that age we were done around 3 to 1 1/2 hours... working diligently. Nowadays it's 4 to 5 hours max...

Last year it was: $1000+ for curriculum, science experiment supplies, paper, ink cartridges, etc $500 for guitar lessons $360 for art lessons $900 for piano lessons $400+ for 2 soccer seasons $150 for lifeguard renewal/classes (I was able to sell their old curriculum for almost what I paid for it)

Yes I asked our local homeschool association leadership that question - and she told us YES, Level I RS can be counted as 1 credit of high school Foreign Language. My child worked about 30 minutes a day, and easily got through Level 1 in a school year. We are picking up the pace more this year, and working 40 minutes a day on Level 2 ...

We just finished RS Spanish (Latin America) Homeschool Version 3 - Level 1 - and counted it as 1 high school credit, calling it Spanish I on her transcript. We did every single part of every single lesson on the Level 1 CD, and about 95% of the worksheets, quizzes, and tests that are included on the "supplemental educational materials" CD. I really appreciated the fact that the homeschool version automatically tracks the student's progress and keeps track of all the grades for all the lessons. My daughter was able to take certain parts of lessons over and over again until she raised her scores, and improved her language retention. All I had to do at the end of the year was print out the progress report and I had her grade all averaged out for me, with the dates and the minutes spent on each lesson. We have started Level 2 a few weeks ago!

My name is Missy -- and I'm a nail-biting, chocolate-loving box-checker, and a recovering perfectionist

Wow, this is an awesome resource! Thanks so much.

Are you ok? What's happened at your house?

I second this! :001_smile:

The pictures are BEAUTIFUL! My 16 yo would definitely wear the "boyfriend" style hat.

Sweet! Bright and sunny and, most of all, organized! Right next to your kitchen, so you can get stuff done while schoolwork is going on. I love it! :001_smile: