I was struggling with the portfolio as well, I homeschooled 3rd and 4th grades, sent dd to school, and am now homeschooling 8th grade, and intend to continue through High School. There are just not as many colorful samples as there were in 3rd and 4th grades, lol. She does a lot of work, but one page of math problems or even one math test shows nothing, yk? What I decided is this: at the front of each subject section, I am including a page listing the "topics covered" - lifted directly from the table of contents, with additions or deletions made where necessary. I figure that this will help me make course descriptions in High School, as well. I'm still including those random samples, but this way I feel that my evaluator will have a better idea of what our year looked like.

Mushroom tarts and roasted veggies sound wonderful! What we usually do is baked beans out of the How To Cook Everything Vegetarian (Mark Bittman) cookbook and a Rice Salad out of the Still Life with Menu cookbook (Mollie Katzen). The rice salad calls for grapes, and we use both red and green to be festive.

There is a discount through Homeschool Buyers Coop. I have it, and we use it daily for History, Literature, Civics and Music. We are actually completing the courses in those areas. With that said, I do not know if we will be continuing it next year, because the only thing I am interested in for next year is Biology, and I don't know if I can justify the cost for one course, and other "maybe" uses to clarify information in other areas. It's worth it this year, though. . .

1) gift bags - I always look in the remnant bins for holiday themed remnants, or festive colors, and I make bags in varying sizes. Goal - no wrapping paper under the tree. I hate the big trash bags that we need to have in the room. 2) pajama pants for each dd for Christmas - I might just have had this as a goal from last year too, though. 3) 4 dresses as costumes for middle dd who is the lead in her school play. I have the patterns and fabric, I just need the time. I will need these done by mid-february. Thank you for reminding me that I have to get started, lol. My sewing area is a mess right now due to a floor renovation project, and I need to clear myself a space among everyone else's stuff.

My kids have not even given me their suggestions yet, but I am not worried, because I know that I don't have to clear a day to go running around to the mall and all of the other stores. But, I have done my local shopping at an artisan's gift shop run by an Art Association here. I feel good about that and have gotten some really beautiful things!

I'm planning for 9th, and I hope I am on the right track. We have opted to use a diploma program in our state, and that makes it both easier and harder for me. Easier because everything is spelled out, and harder because there is a speech requirement, which will be a challenge Pretty sure we are using: Math - AOPS Intro to Algebra Science - Biology using CK-12 flexbooks, and labs from the Home Scientist Lit - We are going to use a home-brew world lit reading list of 25 books (required number for our diploma program). They will not all be discussed in depth, but most will be discussed since dd and I spend a lot of time in the car, and I read what she reads, lol. Grammar - Analytical Grammar Writing - I will require essays on some (8-10) of the books read, as well as some additional essays on history topics. DD has the bones of good essays down, she just needs practice to develop them further. One 10 page paper is required for the diploma program, so we will spend several weeks on that. Vocabulary - Wordly Wise ASL - www.lifeprint.com Speech - The Optimist Club has a yearly speech contest. I am going to look into the nearest location. Have it narrowed down: History - either Study.com World History in preperation for the CLEP tests, OR History of the Ancient World with the additional resources from PHP DD has a friend who is using the CLEP tests heavily, and is interested in them, but I am trying not to plan my curriculum around them. I think I would prefer to use History of the Ancient World, but then DD would not be ready for the CIV 1 CLEP in one year. So, we need to discuss. If anyone has additional ideas about speech, I am all ears. She has to prepare and deliver a speech to an audience outside of her family, and theater performance (which she does) does not count.

ooh, I had no idea that there was a new edition, I had been borrowing the old one from the library. Well, the library does not *have* the new edition, so I *had* to order if for myself, lol. That and the edition of Don Quixote recommended. I can't wait to get started.

I have a sort of silly suggestion - I have dd read all essays out loud, to herself, in a British accent. (Like Masterpiece Theater serious British) Seriously, I agree with all of the above, and do all of the above as well. But before she hands a paper to me, I have her do one last read through. . . It started out as a joke, but she really does pick up some areas where the writing is too informal this way. So, there you have it. We have fun here, lol.

Hi everyone! I'm an avid reader, and would love to jump in to this thread, so I will! I try to read in a pattern to keep myself well balanced - I'm a children's librarian - one children's book, one YA book and one Adult book, lather, rinse and repeat. Last week I read Outlander Ever by Gail Carson Levine Wonder by RJ Palacio Outlander was much as I expected it to be - I read it to see what the hype was about, but was a little late to the party, lol. I liked it, but not enough to read the next 10,000 pages of the series. Ever was interesting. I recommended it to my 13 year old. I was surprised at the ending, and I like books that don't end as you think they will. It was a quick read, as well. Wonder was amazing. I loved this book. Even though it will be an easy read for her, I recommended this to my 13 year old as well. I'm very glad that this book was as popular as it was. I do have do admit, though, that I have no interest in reading the next one. It centers around a character that I did not like, one who I do not want to become sympathetic to, lol. I'm stubborn. I am currently reading The Cider House Rules by John Irving. I am enjoying it very much.

You have some great suggestions already, but I thought I would add my classic-y suggestion, one that I suggest for every girl of this age: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Have fun. Picking out books is one of my favorite things!

A book about a different country or region A bottle of wine from that country or region A spice blend from that country or region to use in cooking A candy or other treat from that country or region That would be my idea of a perfect weekend adventure at home.

In Algebra, I would let my student redo the ones that she got wrong, for half credit, IF all work is shown and the student can explain why they got it wrong - careless error, or which part of the concept they didn't understand. In my house, it's all careless errors, so there is no need to go back and re-teach. We are slowly getting better, but that is another post. In Biloogy, I think I would require 2-3 sentences explaining why the first answer is wrong and why the right answer is right. I would allow 1/2 credit back for successful completion of this as well. In both subjects, I would be on the lookout for projects or papers that I could add that would help the students understanding but also give an opportunity for another grade added in the gradebook. I try to design my courses with an eye towards this. I also give a pretty high percentage of the grade (15% each) to participation and "homework" - that is completing the work on time with a good attitude, checking the answers with me, and making any necessary corrections. There was a pretty big thread on this not to long ago, and my feeling is that schools do it, and I don't want their course grade to be based on just tests. That's a lot of pressure.

My older dds were 9 and 11 when they decided to go Veg, and they have not looked back since. Some things I do to help: keep baking potatoes on hand - good quick meal with salsa, or broccoli and some Earth Balance keep a few cans of Amy's Chili on hand keep a few cans of refried beans (check ingredients) and tortillas and salsa on hand keep salad greens on hand keep plenty of fruit on hand Keep frozen Broccoli, Green Beans and Peas on hand Put Avacado on everything Oh! And hummous! Cook like recommended above - the main dish is veg, meat can be added. Soups, salads, stews. . . all work well this way. I happen to love Tofu, but my dds prefered Tempeh. So be sure to keep an open mind as you experiment. My eldest is now 18 and vegan. She loves cooking for herself and loves to look at the popular vegan blogs to get her ideas. I would take this opportunity to enlist your dd's help in the kitchen - if the interest is there, she is at the right age to become quite an accomplished cook. And both dds are of a healthy weight and strength. Both started off rather small, but have been able to keep up with 5 nights of dance a week, and have grown into themselves, while on this diet.

disclaimer - my home resembles your description. . . and I don't know about the Kon-Mari Method, but I intend to find out. I find that *slowly* works on people that have trouble letting go - I have dd 16 look over the books (her item that she keeps) once a month or so, and each time she pulls off 10-15 that she can get rid of. Couple that with the fact that I work at the Library and am there almost every day to check out and return books, so I can therefore discourage more purchases. My problem area is craft supplies. Every time I pull something out of the closet, I try to look at like things and decide if I am *really* going to use them. or decide on a use right there - pinterest can be good for this. I know that it takes a long time to see results like this, but I think of it like weight loss - we didn't accumulate this stuff overnight, and we need to be gentle with ourselves while we get rid of it. Right now, we are having the floors in our house redone, and so had to pull everything out of the bedrooms. DH made a rule that everything has to be sorted and evaluated for use before it goes back. Wish us luck, lol. My dream is empty space on shelves and in drawers. We don't have to fill every space. . . edited to add - sometimes, I will clean off the shelves in advance of new purchases - for example, if I want to learn a new craft I will clean out an old one that I am done with, or dd likes to go to big used book sales - I will challange her to create space on the shelves *before* bringing the new books home. I find that if we wait until after the new purchases are in the house, we tend to just shove them in where they don't really fit. . .

my dd 16 and dd 13 watch it. I started watching with them, but they were so into it that they binge-watched it this summer while I was at work one week, and left me in the dust, lol. So now I am on my own. . . But the stinkers talk about it around me, so I have had a lot of spoilers, lol.

I agree with a lot of the above, and wanted to add Watership Down

I agree with looking at colleges - in state tution at the college of their choosing will be a bigger factor than a few years of dealing with annoying HS laws. FWIW, we are in PA and have been very happy with the college our DD chose. College was a much bigger deal than figuring out the HS laws here, and I did both at the same time, for two different kids. I just started HS'ing my youngest, I just followed a checklist to make sure that I handed everything in. I have a big file box with tabs by subject, and we are just putting good examples of work in there. I will spend a day culling through it and putting it into a binder at the end of the year. The district will see none of that, only an evaluator chosen by me. Good luck with your choice!

Well, we did do the 5 day trial, and went ahead and bought the year at the HSBC price. We are happy with it, so far. I was able to look at all of the courses and parts of the videos without giving my CC information. Have you tried that? I went to the main page, not the "plans" page, and used the drop down box for courses. Some random comments: We are using World History for Middle School right now, which she is really enjoying. So far, she feels that it is full enough *for her* as this year is meant to be a survey, to get her ready to go deeper in to the subject in High School. We are planning to do American History in the same way next semester. I did notice, however, that the videos in the Middle School series are repeated in the High School series, and in the High School series, she already has credit for them and the quizzes. High School does appear to go further in depth, but this double dipping may be a problem for some. We are also using Lit for Middle school to make sure that we have everything covered for doing our own Lit Analysis. So far, so good. I looked ahead to next year. The Biology looks like a nice supplement to another program, but not a stand alone. The literature portions of the "English" classes will be helpful as they go into some depth about the author and the times that the books were written, but don't really provide much in the way of analysis of the text. So, I will still be using Spark Notes for that part. They do have AP offerings, but I have not looked at those yet.

I have a vegan dd. I would go with a regular 3 bean chili, and I am sorry I don't have a recipe, DD usually cooks her own food and is at college now. I know she gets her recipes from the popular vegan cooking blogs. I would say that if the seasonings look like what you were going to use, but there are beans instead of the meat, you are good to go. For Baked Potato toppings, don't overlook the Chili itself! My family likes it. . .

My feminist daughters like Margaret Atwood.

This board is amazing. I was "surprised" to find out that I was going to Homeschool my 8th grader this year and through High School, but I could not be happier about it. And I don't need to stress out, because between searches and asking questions, this board has my curriculum covered! She is loving what we have found so far. Thank you, everyone.

I tried to do a search, but I am turning up every post with the word 'study' in it. Does anyone use Study.com? It looks like a pretty complete resource, but I feel like I am missing something. I don't want to start the free trial until Monday, because I know it won't get looked at over the weekend. Any reviews - positive or negative? Thanks.

We are enjoying the Big History Project. Lots of videos, short readings, and activities.

hmm. . . I'm listening. I had just made the decision to circle back and hammer away at basic skills with my dd who is suposed to be doing Algebra 1, and is doing a good job with it mostly, but keeps getting little things wrong (and honestly a lot of these are careless errors.) Reading this thread, I am starting to think that I am just punishing her, and that is not my intent. I think I will try to go back to the Algebra 1 book tomorrow and see how we do. Maybe I can throw in 15 minutes of Khan a day to keep those basic skills fresh, but still move on in content. . .

We are only about 3 weeks in as we got a late start, and the some of the curriculum just arrived last week. So far: Hits Khan academy for a heavy review of basic math up through pre-Algebra. Her previous classroom moved very fast (she was accelerated in math - big mistake) and left some holes. The Big History Project. Science - doing many experiments in preparation for an eventual YouTube channel. Lab reports required. My home brewed booklist, with both of us reading and discussing (essays will also be required) Wordly wise online through HSBC Misses Teaching textbooks - too slow. I can tell that finding just the right pace of math will be hard for this child. We are trying AOPS next, as I think that the fact that she will actually understand the "why's" is what she is used to, BUT at home we can go at our own pace. Too early to tell Analytical Grammar - she is tolerating this program, but getting a lot wrong in the exercises. She is really lacking in a grammar background, though. So we have slowed the program down to see if it works for her that way. No opinion, really The Trail Guide to US History. I have her do the map work and then pick one of the topics for a weekly short essay. I think it's enough to know generalities about what a state is known for (fisheries, the Industrial Revolution), so we are using it that way. So, I have not homeschooled my 8th grader since 4th grade, and jumped in with both feel in mid-September. I have more hits than misses, so I think we are doing well...