Susan, I'm not sure if you posted your selections in another thread or not but I'd love to see. I purcahsed the old king fisher for my 8th grader this fall. It looks nice but I thought it was not deep enough. I ended up getting streams of civ but for some reason didn't stay with it. I also purcahsed SOTW. DD is an advanced reader but we just liked the story format. She also stopped complaing about outlining once we used it! It may be for youger kids but it served its purpose. I'm planning to add Human odyssey and time lines of history this semester to start the tranisition to rhetoric.

my dd 8th grade went to private school from k-7. She always tested well above grade level in all subjects but math. I took her out abrubtly last spring when I realized it wasnt working. she had made some poor social choices and her lack of organization caused her grades to sufffer. I took her out at the end of the 3rd quarter. i gave her a CAT test and had her take the SAT to get a baseline of where we were starting. On paper I continued the classes she was taking in school but in reality we focused on math for that last quarter. She was not even close to understanding anything that was covered the last 3 years of math in school. I went back about 3 years of math using a MUS which is a much better fit for her. This year we started with a more classical course selection. She does well with the material after intially whining quite a bit about missing her friends. Now days she doesnt complain much as we do a lot more of her favorites (reading and writing). The math is coming along and we should be caught up at the end of the year. I recently did another CAT and had her take the PSAT. Her scores went up signicantly in both. I have her participate in activities outside of the home but she still tends to want to connect with some of the friends from her old school. She can have time to connect with them in person, phone or internet AFTER her daily work is complete. DD is not very self motivated or aogranized but that is what we will be working on. Fortunatly she has her sights set on top colleges. It looks like she will have a good shot based on standardized test scores but her course grades right now depend on me policing her to get her work done. I'll start contacting schools so she can hear first hand what she needs to do to get in. I only wish I started home schooling sooner but we'll make the best of what time we have. Look for a homeschool support group in your state, the can be a big help in your documentation requirements. hth

that's interesting. What class were you looking to register for? I don't have the catalog in front of me but could there be other classes other than the CAA and CTY?

any updates on this class? I'm trying to decide between home2teach and writeathome. any suggestions, comparisons, additional reviews? thanks

we were in a similar situation. last year I had a 7th grader that didn't have any math concepts down. I took her out of school and found a progarm that she took took. I selected mathusee and we started with multiplication. We do math year round. It's been almost a year and we are due to start pre-algebra soon. We were doing 3-5 lessons a week but once we start pre algebra I will slow down to 2-3 lessons per week. Of course the schedule is flexible based on how shes doing with the material. Since we are so behind I tend to not take of on many holidays. The last 2 weeks have been light. I've given her a math lesson and some light reading each day which she really enjoys. The constant pace works out pretty well. I think it avoids that brain dump/emptying that happens when there is too much time off.

I started with that list of tests that I would like to look into. At this point I dont know if she will do any of them yet. I'm really not sure about the Bio. DD loves reading and writing and standardized tests seem to be a strength for her. Math and science are at the bottom of her list. I guess I'd like to look into at least one science if at all possible. If any one has any other suggestions for Science I'd love to hear. I had not really thought about AP until i had a conversation with the PS guidance couselor the other day. He said she did very well on the PSAT and he would order any AP exam for us if we wanted, regardless of her age. I don't think the PS was thrilled when I requested to have her take the PSAT and SAT but after talking to her and seeing her scores, they seem much more interested. I don't want to stress DD. I'd like to see if there is a middle ground to give her the info but not get bogged down in busy work. thanks for all the tips it's a great help!

thanks for the tip! here is the info from the sticky: Ryan's AP prep book master list AP books to buy: Comparative government: Ethel Woods study guide U.S Gov – Princeton Review Economics – Barrons and Princeton Review together Environmental Science – smartypants guide to environmental science Calculus – Arco Literature – Barrons Art History – The Annotated Mona Lisa Biology – Cliffs AP eng Lang – Cliffs and lots of essay practice World History – Barrons and Petersons practice tests European History – Modern European History U.S History – Amsco Human Geography – Barrons Chemistry – Princeton Review Psychology – Barrons Physics – Barrons Stat - Barrons

I don't want to teach an AP course as I understand there is quite of bit of work in getting approval. I am looking to use study guides to get a feel for the content and to see if she knows enough to attempt the test and brush up on any info she made need. I'm not having a lot of luck with searching for AP threads :( thanks

ok, I'm frustrated. My now 13 year old still looses the majority of her work if I dont take it when she's done. I really don't think, ok I know she is not really getting physical science. Daily she tries to negotiate the assignments i give her. Can you imagine dealing with let's make a deal every day? can I do lesson B instead of lesson a? Is 3/4 page paper enough instead of a full page summary, Can i read this book instead of the book assigned?, Can I skip this assignment since I lost it after I did it?, can you just use my PSAT score instead of having me do any more writing assignments this semester? ... So I really needed to read this post. Instaed of getting upset today I reflected on the improvments this year: She doesnt protest and fear outlines and summaries anymore. with mathusee she doesnt cry over math anymore she loves doing latin even if I have to remind her to study she loves history and Greek mythology she loves being able to discuss topics she's read/studied with older hs/college students. She's inspired after taking the PSAT at 12 and scoring in the 50th percentile. Perhaps I wont have to reminder her to keep working 10 times today. Or maybe I will. Either way I think things will continue to improve over the next 3 years. I'd like to see her be able to remind herself to complete her work BEFORE I let her go off to college.

I have an 8th grader that does very well on tests (well, she's not ready in math yet). Do you have any advice on study material for AP exams? I'm thinking of having her take 3 exams per year starting next year /9th grade. Initially these are the following tests I see as possibles: US history world history Euro his bio env science human geography psychology art history eng lan eng lit possibly Latin? can someone post info for suggested study guides? thanks

Esssh. I've been feeling we need to connect for months. I picked up a copy of the Love Dare. It LOOKS like it would be very helpful. We havent been able to carve out the time in the 4 months we've had it. :( We were supposed to make friday evening at 10 our time but he's usually tired. I feel like there is no time for us, no time for me. DH and I both work in the house (real estate) although most of my time is spend taking care of the kids and house. He loves to play with the kids. I start dinner around 3. I usually do the cleaning after dinner. Most of the time he will do the bed time story and putting the kids to bed, about an hour. Either the 1 or 3 yr old will resist and he usually falls asleep trying to get them to sleep. I don't know if it has something to do with being a stay at home mom now but I feel isolated. I'm taking care of the kids, preparing, feeding and cleaning up after meals most of the day. He falls asleep with the kids and I've had no 'us' time again. ...sigh. The tea has decreased steadly since our 3 yr old was born. I don't know if i'm off base but I'm wondring if his drive decreased after seeing the birth so up close and personal. We had tea almost daily before the birth. He's not a sports fan. I think his bigest intrest is the kids. I can play with the kids with him but it's not like 'we' are connecting. I feel more like a house keeper than a wife.

//www.alibris.com

Does she want a pen pal? my dd LOVES mythology. I'm SURE she would love to have a friend to write and talk mythology.

dd 13 just did the CAT for the 2nd year. First year she was in the 86th percentile, this year 98th. I wanted to have a year's comparison since this is our first year of home schooling. I like to think DD is talented but Inside I think the test was easy. I know DD is strong verbally but most other tests show she's 1-2 years below grade level in math. I think in the future I'll try the ACT for standardized testing

Does anyone have experince with the online classes? They are pretty expensive and I would love to hear some feedback especially on the writing /humanities classes. thanks

:lurk5:

coconut oil is my secret

physical science :( Every time we skip a week I plan to make it up when we take a short break in Dec. Realistically I dont know. I may need to look at farming it out in the future. It just requires more of me and that's hard to do with the two little ones.

cool that's good for a rep, right? :)

did you get more info on the air freshner & the other extracts? I'd like to try it. I've got soap curing now for christmas but I'd love to get some other things going to keep on hand for gifts. thanks

WOW! I never knew about doing this but after reading the post I'm ready to go. :auto: Only thing... I need to know how to get there?? what type of vodka do you use? I need a bit more direction :) I know where a liquor store is, but I've only been there to get boxes. I was actually in there last week as I needed some strong boxes to pack a few things away. When I'm there I glance at all the decorative bottles but i have to admit I don't know the first thing about vodka and the wide range in prices. do you all use the cheapest? do look for a lower alchol content? is there organic? how do you measure, 2 cups of vodka to 3 beans?? thanks

I didnt care for the maple syrup when i first switched a year ago. I did it because I wanted to remove cut out corn syrup. Now I cringe at the sight of the fake stuff. The price of maple syrup in the store is painful. I've seen a few really good deals on amazon, otherwise I look for amish or menonite farmers.