I am still waiting to see if maturity/responsibility will catch up with my middle son. He never "got it" living with us, and spending 5 months in a Military type program (away from home), and now in the Military, he just does not get it. He is still the same child. For now he has a roof over his head and food on the table thanks to the military but once he leaves he will be broke (has not saved a dime) and living on the street. I will not be taking him in (harsh, I know, but he was home for Christmas and I saw NO CHANGE). I will not be giving him money. I honestly think some people need to hit rock bottom before they will change. My family is just beginning to heal from our years of hell, I will not sacrifice the 4 still here at home for the one (my youngest son went through a type of depression during those years of hell and he is now coming out and blossoming into a wonderful young man, I will not risk it). What is the worst the OP asks....homelessness, life of drugs/prostitution, prison, death...all these things I have thought about. My heart aches and will always ache until this child/man changes.

OhElizabeth, that sounds great. We are halfway through Biology with ds and he is ready to poke toothpicks in his eyes just to get out of reading the text. He keeps asking why does this have to be so complicated and I agree. Why does it have to be? Learn the basic terminology (mitosis, DNA/RNA, and all) is important for testing and just because, but why the in depth chemical part and why 3 modules on it? Animal Kingdom is coming up and this is a perfect time to take the study out of the textbook and into nature. Observe, read, research, and journal. Make charts and come up with hypothesis about a species based on observation. Thinking stage now (as well as for chemistry next year)...but you are right, why torture them.

please share when you get it all squared away. I am looking into non traditional science for my ds in high school.

Many times I have books on my shelf for years and never read them, get rid of them, then read good stuff about the books here, only to find myself repurchasing the books and reading them(finally). Usually I very glad I read them and begin kicking myself for waiting so long. It is a quick read which always helps.

I posted and sold. The new board is very nice and has features that were not there before. I love the feature that allows you to advance your posting without having to post something.

I forgot to add it also gives actual suggestions for supplies. Several of the journaling books I have mention a good pen but not any specifics, or a good notebook and you are left asking "but what IS a good notebook". (I really hate that)

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Slow here but on other sites normal speed.

Thanks, good to know.

did your child do well on SAT or ACT tests in science? What did you do/use?

We are doing Astronomy with a 2nd grader and not enjoying it much (but I think it is the subject not the curriculum ), we were using the journal. I added in the lapbook (dropped the journal) and am reading the Astronomy book to dd and it is going better. I will not be doing anymore Apologia Exploring books until 5th grade. My ds did all the zoology books and Botany in grades 5 and 6 doing 2 a yr and he loved them.

I used it with a 2nd grade level child and found it to be light. We enjoyed very much though. I did beef it up by adding more reading (I got tons of the Step into Reading and I Can Read books with a American History theme). I added in weekly narration on the book read and we added in more state study. If I was to do it again I would start the state study at the beginning of the year and do 2 a week spending 2 days on each state and a week or 2 on our home state. The science was extremely light so we just added another science. Overall it was a good year.

Yep. I have actually told my son he could not read for the day because he needed to do other things. I have even threatened to take the books from his room and his library card.

Similar to the OP, I started with a curriculum that was immersed with religion and that is the part that grated over the years. I have always found it forced but over the last few years I just ignore it. I also was extremely structured and very schoolish. Now we school very relaxed and only a very small portion is is with a Christian textbook. My kids still get Bible but it is more of a study I don't have any particular style but pull something from WTM, CM, Unschooling mushed together to make a school day work for us.

Just because a tax credit is offered does not mean you need to take it. Also a $1000 tax credit will not mean $1000 in my pocket. I am still deciding if it is worth my signature or not.

I had this problem with dd when she started reading. She even added in words (adjectives and others) to make the simple readers more pf what she was use to hearing. She would see the accompanying picture and make words fit more precisely. I let her but then I would make read the word she skipped just to be sure she did not skip it because she could not figure it out. Eventually we stopped reading the formula readers and this problem went away.

then read Wild Days; Creating Discovery Journals by Karen Skidmore Rackliffe. It is a fast read but loaded with doable suggestions. Has suggestions for nature journal and other journals, how to add in science, history, math, language/writing, and geography into your journals. http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Days-Creating-Discovery-Journals/dp/1576360733/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358611120&sr=1-1&keywords=wild+days

Funny how libraries can be so different. The one we went to in Louisiana was usable but it had problems. The one we are using in Iowa is AWESOME. It is in a city that is ranked in the top 10 literary cities and it shows. Welcome back to the land of books.

Thanks for the responses. I am fine with out the humor, just something about the books covers made me think maybe they were humorish. I think I will give it a try.

I saw this Mystery Series at B & N and am wondering if they are any good. Has anyone read them? Is there humor (like Amelia Peabody) ? I put one on hold at the library but I don't want to waste my time if they are dumb.

Elemental Science. Simply open the reader to the page, read, child narrates, you or they write it down, cut out picture and paste. That simple. You can do the weekly experiment or not. You can do the semester project or not. And you can discuss and go farther in each days topic or not. Easy peasy.

Trail Guide to World Geography might have what you are looking for. They have mapping and ideas for study: animal, writer, artist, or other famous people, geography features, and lots more.

Wordsmith Apprentice http://www.commonsensepress.com/wordsmith/wsapp.htm It says it is for grades 4-6th but I am sure a 3rd grader could do it if you move slow. It is one of my favorite writing curriculums.

I know there is one for life science, but what about the other sciences? If so where can I find it? I am mostly looking for the Earth Science and Chemistry

We used Elemental Science with RSO science for Life Science last year and it was wonderful. Most importantly it actually got done. it was extremely easy and took just 15 mins tops. The experiments were all doable with household supplies and were not silly but had great impact on what was being studied.