If you are in NY state, HVCC offers German.

I have been considering Derek Owens Physics. Have ready plenty of info here in other threads. But what I would like to know is if the videos are kind of dry. I have only seen a sampling from what is on the YouTube playlists for Physics (Derek Owens channel). Almost every video is just of black board instruction with diagrams and math problems. (I know that it is not conceptual physics and that there is a lot of math in Physics). I noticed that he does not require a textbook either. I was thinking that physics may not seem that interesting and it may get kind of unmotivating if every video is JUST black board instruction. I did see one video on parabolic reflectors that showed actual parabolic reflectors of different types and sizes and that was interesting. I am wondering if it would work for me to assign reading in a conceptual Physics textbook and/or conceptual physics videos before (some) Derek Owens video lessons. I have to confess I DO like the philosophy of conceptual physics. I think it's very important to see the different ways that the concepts apply to real life and to spark more interest. But I do want my son to do the math too (not calculus at this point). So I'm really looking for both!

Thank you for the update. My ds has not had a full evaluation yet. He had a speech eval done before he was 2 and recieved services until he was 3 and tested out. Then we had him retested at the local SUNY (state college) speech and hearing center at age 5. That did not go well for reasons that would make a separate post. But we found he was low in expressive language and something else. They would have done some services with him there but we had such a bad experience with the supervisor (she seemed to be anti-homeschool) that there was no way we were going to use their services. Had him evaluated again a year and half ago (speech) and though he had some low spots it was not enough for services (probably due to insurance rules). To get a full neuropsych eval we have to get on a 6 month waiting list for someone over 2 hours away. There may be a possibility that is in a different state that is closer to us (Stern Center in VT in case anyone here knows of them) but so far they have not responded to my emails with questions. Last night I had him do the Barton screening test and he failed part C... I think he has more trouble with the auditory memory than the discrimination so I've been researching that now. I will look into the Brainware Safari you mentioned. I'm not sure if I should address these auditory issues before starting Nessy or any other reading program or ok to jump into Nessy at the same time. He has done LOE Foundations level A, HOP (old, up through third level-orange), some of AAR level 1, Reading Eggs (which I saw a lot of progress with his reading but then it went to fast at some point and got too hard and also the subscription ran out. Also, I found out after that he said there was a game with killing chickens ? that greatly upset him because we have "pet" egg layer chickens. ?) Anyway- I have always felt like he struggled just enough that I could not decide which program to move on with. But he also has progressed on his own and can read more than those levels if there are pictures or context clues. But the auditory issues affect so much more than reading... it is affecting his relationships both in and out of the home. ? But the speech eval guy didn't seem to think so, which is a sign he would not have been a good match for my ds anyway.

I realize it's not a year and a half later... did you end up purchasing a subscription to Nessy? If so, how did it go? I'm contemplating it now for my 10 yr old struggling reader (possibly dyslexic but has not been evaluated).

The puppet theater thing did not leave the room yet. ? His bedroom is small and shared with his brother (another of the "cons" with this house- we had huge bedrooms in our other house but only two of them) Now we have three tiny bedrooms and one is a guest room- very small. the boys have loftbeds so they have space underneath. They just cleaned up their room nicely so I didn't want to put the puppet theater in there myself. I like your idea for work hard all morning and then it's dad time. I'll see what dad thinks about that! but also in the afternoons we have piano, soccer, evening robotics, 4H... it bogs me down but is less than what some others do. It's not too much for the boys. I just wish we didn't have to run around most days of the week in the fall. the book cases would stay. they are FULL. and not really another room for them. Basement some day if it gets finished. So if it was a dining room anytime soon it would have to be like a library dining room ? Of course I"d get it in my head to open the wall up then, even a window to the kitchen... ha. But then in the back of my mind is that it's technically a bedroom and I wonder if it's going to be needed by one of our parents at some point in the future. A simple doorway cut into that room near that back wall would go right to the bathroom downstairs... I feel like I am "difficult"... I am in the sense that I can't get rid of things! I do have some 5-HTP...

I had that idea too after we moved in... and taking out one or both closets and the wall they are in so that the front hallway was open to that room. But... that is major construction/remodeling for us... I have ideas like that and we never do them. Like in our last house... when we bought it in 1998 I wanted to open it up more. Never happened. and then there are priorities.. we actually need new windows in this house- they are awful. And a garage. I actually have gotten used to not having a garage despite living in the north country. But dh still wants one. And I really do want solartubes in our kitchen/dining area. There is a place in our master bath that is wasted space that the tubes can come down through. Just haven't found someone to come do it. our other idea when we bought the house was that we were going to turn the porch room into a full season room and open it to the kitchen/dining (take out a sliding door) and have our dining area in that area "sunroom" is what some people call it because of all the windows but it's on the north side of the house... not very sunny in there!

Looks great! Where do you keep the books/curriculum, etc? And where do you keep books/curriculum, etc. that you aren't using but are saving for the next child coming up? if you save it... I know some people sell it right away and then buy again for the next child

I measured... the table is 60" long... so I think it would feel too cramped for the chairs at the end. It would only be enough room to slide the chairs out to sit down. I did this tonight! But.. it feels awkward. I think I'll see what my friend thinks when she comes to my house tomorrow. I think it's awkward partly because the rest of the room is not situated yet (I did move out most of the clutter). But also just that it's "change" so it feels weird. I do like having the table near the window to get the good light and because I like to look out the window while sitting there. The friend that is coming over is not coming for the purpose of helping me. She was away for 6 months so we are catching up. She also just sent her two girls to school and has a 2 yr old at home. So she is no longer homeschooling.. I"m sure she might have some advice though- but it won't be the main focus of the visit. (and now I'm embarassed by all the boxes and clutter in the hallway spilling into the kitchen... maybe that will motivate me to get it to the basement before she comes and before my family gets home from their weekend away!)

4H anyone? If you are invovled with 4H you might understand... there is a copy paper box and a plastic tote plus some more loose stuff that is all 4H stuff from both boys.. they used to make project record books that were really like scrapbook binders. they are in the box. but they are like scrapbooks. they spent hours making them and enjoyed looking at them in other years. (our local 4H decided they don't want to look at kids books anymore so now they fill out one piece of paper at the end of the year..). ribbons, projects, lots of stuff. Where to put it? It may have to go to the baement for now. but they will all be upset with me for putting more stuff in the basement that they are trying to clear out.

agreed. stuff just got piled in there when we moved and some of it stuff that needed to be dealt with before we moved but no time... it's depressing really. and I have too many books...

ok- so that cardboard box thing that looks like a puppet theater... my son spent hours and hours on that.. days.. weeks... it has all these flaps and strings that open and close things. There is a jointed flat type puppet that goes in it- forgot what they are called- you pull the string on it and his arms and legs move. He made accessories for him like a coffee cub and hat with rabbit. He rarely works on anything so hard. What do I do with it? The kind of thing he is/was proud of, spent a lot of time on it. He's probably done with it, but not totally. Where should it go?

I want to respond to more individual ideas you ladies posted. But I'm going to go get busy and keep moving the clutter out... and take the cover off the ceiling light because I can't see in there! We need a new light of some sort for the ceiling.. maybe a ceiling fan with lights? or track light?

I don't know how things will be! it's kind of making me anxious I think. He plans to work on "projects" but that is not going to work so well. The boys should actually be helping and involved with some of those projects.. and will be distracting to me because of what he does sometimes... ? not the way I would do it.. things hanging in weird places, painted wrong color, etc. He may be home until January as of now. He is open to helping with school... but.. that may not be so smooth either.. so yeah- having the schoolroom as an option for schoolwork is good..

this question made me laugh because it seems absurd that I have a "Schoolroom" if those boxes aren't in there! LOL I had to give up on that room a while back and a friend had showed me the boxes and I got a bunch on sale. they fit stacked inside some wood crates that I have in the living room... When we first moved in we did a lot of our work on the living room floor. agree. When in our old house, and frustrated with our space, and we were house hunting I would say that I didn't need a school room. What I really hoped for was an open dining room so that we could have a large table for school that didn't need to be cleaned off for dinner every night- I wanted a house with two table/eating areas. Then we'd have a nice size table and dining for company too. But... it's hard to find a house that meets all wishes.. we got privacy, woods, trails in the woods that butts up to a state land forest with pond and stream. we can have chickens now. lots of open clearing/yard where the house is within the woods. a pool (old and about to die, but it's been useable so far). a living room somewhat open to kitchen that I wanted. but... no dining room. only one small dining area that is part of the kitchen space/room. So... I figured that odd downstairs bedroom could be for that second table we needed for school at least. Even thought I could make it into an acceptable dining room for company at one point. (the kitchen table space is not big enough for a big table that more than 6 people can sit at. we keep the leaf out of our table so it seats 4 but when company comes we have sometimes put the leaf in and still have the kids eat in the porch room) the other reason I want a more dedicated school table to work at is the lighting (terrible where our dining table is- it's north facing with porch off back so it feels like a cave. I want solar tubes in there.) and also for posture. Sitting on the couch so much has turned me into mush and given me back trouble. I don't think it's good for the boys either. I don't expect them to do ALL work at the table but some of it so they aren't slumped all day. and it doesn't always work to have them both at the same table together. That is what I want and will try again this year.. but sometimes I need them to be in separate areas. ? they have used the space mostly for gift making. for me or my husband and they don't want us to see. cards, art, sewing, etc. My older, 13, is now totally into model trains and has quite a bit of space in the basement he has taken over (which the younger is jealous of that he gets to have all that space). My younger and my dh took all the legos off the "lego table" in basement last week. It was really a train table with a mound of loose legos. They used to have somewhat of a "lego room" at the old house. Here they had a lego area in the basement. with a rug on the floor and shelves. we have too many legos. but younger doesn't do it as much as older. Younger is a puzzle. He wants to try and copy older brother and like what he likes and yet I don't think that is him- he is different and we haven't figured out what's special to him yet. ? some ideas.. but gravitates towards brother...that is possibly one of the negative aspects of homeschooling... he also doesn't have many same age friends right now. a few were girls and that is now not happening.. others he just doesn't sync with. It's sad. I think I could get him interested in rearranging the "Schoolroom" though. But I think I need to start tonight- do some moving so when he comes home tomorrow he can think outside the box...

One of the carts is used for various supplies. We all know what's in there (or supposed to be) and it's our go-to spot for those things. One of the closets (I can try to post photo later) (this is technically a first floor bedroom I guess but it's right off the front hall- I can look in there from the kitchen table). one of the closets is supply storage- fairly organized. art supplies, paper, office supplies, craft supplies etc. People see it and think I'm super organized. ? it's weird. because the rest is a mess! the other cart is not being used right now. Not sure if they would use it for school books. Originally they were for the modified workbox system. worked for a while. but now we use IRIS(? not sure if they are) clear storage cases from Michael's- flip lids, handles. We can grab the box with the subject and take it to wherever in the house or in the car. Though the one subject we did in that room was math with just my younger and we just left the math book and stuff on the table because that's all we did in there. (and I shouldn't even announce it.. but so you can see how truly pathetic I might be- his math book is still there underneath some stuff...) summer came suddenly... it's been a weird summer- my husband was unexpectadly off work the whole summer! he's retired but long story... it's been different for sure!

that wall color looks similar to mine?? I think it looks better because of the white trim and lighting..

I want to respond to more but I need to make dinner... but yes- it has been more like a storage room. I jokingly (sort of) call it the "homeschool storage room". Sadly both boys, esp. the younger, has found little spots on the floor amid the clutter to do projects. Mostly when making gifts for someone in the family... Our living room actually has two couches and a loveseat and they are all comfy. Good light in there. And we have a couch (less comfy) on our back porch room that we hope to turn into a 4 season room instead of 2.5 season... They have potential reading nooks under their loft beds too. but I do want the school room to be inviting and a nice place to be. this is SO hard for us. The boys and mom, ok that's me, don't put things away. I do more often, but they go work in their when they can doing projets, drawing, etc. and leave stuff on the floor! Then, because that room isn't used daily, I go in there a few days later and there is more and more stuff out on the floor. It's partly because I guess I haven't trained them well. Partly because it's too cluttered but they don't get that adding to the clutter makes it feel impossible to ever get it cleaned up.

My son just saw one at a yard sale but he had "gaming" in mind so I did not suggest we buy it. There may be a newer version of such a thing though that you are thinking of. I felt if I brought it home my boys would then start asking to play more video games and use and of course fight over the chair... ?

hmmm- maybe that is my problem. Sometimes I"m not sure if it's anxiety or not.. I think it has to do with my memory too. I tend to hold onto things because I fear if I toss it I will never remember that thing/event etc. again. not realistic, but I think that happens to me. And I'm sentimental. and a pack-rat. My mom taught me to save everything and still tries to give me stuff whenever I visit. clutter stuff. and things I don't want. maybe... a friend coming tomorrow that you are reminding me of! I'll have to ask her what she thinks about the wall color. ? She would have me toss a LOT... but it wouldn't feel good. the foam bean-bag chair to bed thing looks awesome! I will have to keep looking for a deal on it... It could easily be used in living room and their bedroom too.

I know I "should" do that... take almost everything out.. but... I'm home alone for the weekend until tomorrow afternoon and no place to put it. I'm terrible at making decisions too. right now the front hall is filled with boxes I already took out of there! The rest of the family (dh and 2 boys) spent all last week in the basement and I had to get involved there- cleaning that out so we have so much stuff to get rid of it's overwhelming right now! They want to finish the basement and are motivated... but to me the school room comes first for now because that is doable in the short term... the basement is a huge project. But they are not going to like me putting more "stuff" down there! I need to get some down there today before they get back LOL I know my boys would Love the beanbag chair idea... is there a place to get good, big ones that aren't too $$?

PeterPan- not sure how to "tag" you... Thank you for all your ideas! My boys are 10 and 13 so I guess that is why I have lost some "vision"... the "cute" ideas I may have had years ago are not needed now. Right now it is not comfy/cozy. It's mainly a place to sit at the table for that kind of work. the chairs are not those that belong in there. They are our kitchen/dining table chairs. I had to swap one of the chairs for me at dining table because of my back/hip trouble. My dining chairs are too high for me- just a tad and puts too much pressure on my hips. the chairs we have for in there are cool looking, but not that easy to move on the rug. . they are clear maple "community playthings" chairs that look modern/swedish? that we got at an auction years ago. Very comfy for my body, but not easy to move. I laughed at your description of the color.. though it is better than it looks in the photo- you described it well. it's not "anything". ha ha that is why I can't even tell you what color it is I guess! Sort of "lichen" color. It is ok but definitely not "clean" or energizing. but... painting it is not in the works... my husband would flip out! (We spent 4 months painting the house before we moved in... almost every room...) The boys liked the original green. It was just too much for me. A green glow came out of the room. It is a struggle for me to deal with some of the clutter that is in there. It is the same boxes and clutter that was in our old house!! and got moved! I may put it in the basement for now...

The bookcases fill most of the wall they are on. The other wall has a baseboard heater so we can't put the shelves up against it. When we bought the house they had homeade bookshelves where ours are now. I asked if they wanted to sell them and they said no.. so we made our own. Cat? Oh- I forgot that was up there... The wall color is not negotiable at this point. I painted it when we bought the house. It's a bit better than the photo looks. When we bought the house it was a green... definite green. not kelly green, but it was a bit too dark and too green for me. The color I picked did not look good either. So after one coat, I mixed another color we had with it. I don't even remember now what I mixed! So it's like a grayish green. Tolerable. blends with the rest of the house nicely. I don't like how dark it is on that back wall. I'd like to put a window over the printer area if we don't attach a garage to the house. I also think if we paint the floor of the front porch a lighter color it will reflect more light into the room. (the porch floor is a grayish blue but kind of dark and gets really hot too.)

So this is our current Homeschool Room which has never not been a mess since we moved in here two years ago. It never gets finished or completely unpacked and then it's messed up again. I don't want to do school in there all day long but my ten-year-old and I did sit at the table and do math in there and that worked well. I want it to be a place for each boy to work quietly or to work with me when we don't want to be at the kitchen table. I'm embarrassed to post a photo of such a mess... I'm working on the clutter right now... But I have no vision for that back wall. Does anyone have ideas, things they like about their school spaces that you think I might want to consider in that room? Especially along that back wall in the photo? The small school desk will be out of there by the end of the day as my son does not want it. I have thoughts of a large whiteboard or chalkboard on the wall, I'm not sure how often we would use it though. There is also a baseboard heater along that wall which makes it tricky to put shelving along. The table is awkward in that I like It by the windows for the light, but if I push it up against the window the windows are very low so that would feel weird too, so there's wasted space between the windows and the table. At the end of the room you can't see in the photo are two closets that are full of fairly organized (believe it or not) school and craft supplies. I feel stuck and unmotivated to continue because I have no vision for the space! We also have a large, faded, living room chair that could go in there for reading- again- not sure if it would get used. Though no one wants to part with that chair which is currently in a porch room and no one uses it there either.

Thank you for the suggestions and links. I do like the Science Wiz kits. I had bought one for my older son a couple years ago and we have on other. I'll have to look at them again. I don't think my 6 (almost 7) yr old would be ready to do them on his own. He is not yet reading independently. He'd love it if I'd do the kits with him though. I just want some things he can do on his own... he'd be happy mixing things, playing around with magnets, simple experiments. All things that shouldn't be hard but I just don't seem to gather stuff together for him to do. :(