:lol:

I posted in the *other* "poll" thread, that I could memorize exactly where my favorite threads were in the other format (You know: Scroll past all the Wordless Wednesdays - keep scrolling - keep scrolling - lots of Wordless Wednesdays - past the MUS, ah, there it is! - Ok - I just realized, the *one* thing I like better about the new board is....I don't have to scroll past all the Wordless Wednesday posts - LOL! Sorry, WW people - I mean no offense, I just don't have the time!) But, I agree, a quick TY seems like a cry for attention almost when the whole board gets re-arranged for it. (But then, the way the posts jump around now reminds me of my 10yo on WAY too much caffeine!) Maybe an "over-40" board??? :001_smile:

I was really torn, because my 4th grader probably *could* have handled some of the 7th grade books - but my older son could read them so much faster. And, they are so competitive ~ So, last year, I let my younger son read the abridged versions. But, next year, he'll be in 5th, and he'll be reading the 8th grade books. One thing I'm planning is to do our reading time all together, and listen to the books on CD. If you feel like a book will be "pushing" it, maybe you could opt for something like that. A few things I did change from the 7th grade list: I used the USborne edition of Don Quixote I used the P&R edition of Robinson Crusoe (check Rainbow Resource) (Definitely use the Pilgrim's Progress version recommended for slower readers - it's great) I read the fairy tales out loud - about 15 minutes a day We didn't do Pride & Prejudice I mixed in the poetry so we did one novel, then a poem. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was Killer! - we ended up watching 2 different movie versions (no book on CD at the library) I would recommend Around the World in 80 Days instead. I planned to do Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, but we ran out of time. (see 20,000 Leagues note!). We did read Amos Fortune, Free Man as a Read-Aloud, and I figure we'll catch Mr. Douglass on the next go-round. I added in the Great Illustrated Classics for books we had here that are on the high school list (Frankenstein, for example) Oh, I also added in some books from Deconstructing Penguins, so that's probably why we ran out of time. (And here I was thinking I just got lazy at the end!) We watched the Three Musketeers and The Scarlet Pimpernel - two of the highlights of our year. Have fun! Rhonda

Laura, Thank you *so* much! =)

Yes, and I would like to think the Rep points could remedy that, but they don't. The homeschool gurus on the high school board (usually) still have one green square, because they aren't posting on the general board. It just doesn't seem fair (boy, I really need to get off the board and start reading Hiawatha!!!!) - I'm definitely pms'ing - can you tell? Really, truly, this is it - Well......just a quick check on the high school board!!!! :001_smile: Rhonda

Frankly, I was surprised to see how many people *like* to see threads jumping all around!!!! I must be a much more visual person than even *I* knew. I admit I *knew* where every post was on the curriculum board - I could even go back a couple of months and know by the top post if the post I was looking for was on that page! (too wierd, I know) Anyway, it *really* bothers me that this post is no longer "above" your "poll below", so I'm bumping this up for you! =)

:iagree::iagree::iagree: That happened to my non-specific-curriculum questions, too. I thought, why bother next time? I don't know why they don't just take all homeschool-related posts *off* the general board. It's a whole different crowd than those who "hang" on the curriculum board. I do lurk there, and occasionally post; but only when I'm still hiding from my dc, and am *really* tired of talking curriculum! (of course, I used to think the same thing on the old board; but then, I got to put my post where I felt most comfortable with the people who would be answering) As to why I may not post as much, it is *much* less common to get at least a "TY! - nt"; and I hate to sound petty, but that hurts a bit. Also, we just had *fun* on the old board - there was more of a comraderie; now I sometimes feel like I come here out of duty (well, maybe habit, too). But, I think some of the feeling of this being "less Classical" may be because certain very popular posters have done a real about-face in their methods. First, being very strict about following WTM; now, broadening out and trying some new things. And, others have followed suit. And, all this seemed to have happened right after the board changed. I personally don't think that the ones I'm thinking of *are* "less Classical"; they are simply adapting WTM to them, rather than the other way around. Which, as SWB would be the first to point out, that's the way it *should* be. (nor is WTM the only "Classical" track out there, either) Back to reading "Song of Hiawatha" for me~ Rhonda

We watched Scarlet Pimpernell, and my 7th grader read the Usborne version of Tale of Two Cities (the author's grand-daughter is the editor). I admit I've never read the whole thing, but I thought it was a very good version - tho' too graphic for my 4th grader.

Definitely copies. I learned too late for two MindBenders books that purchasing the books entitles you to make a certain number of copies. I took my BTS books to - well, Staples or Office Depot, can't remember which! - and they took the spine off and then copied the books for me. hth, Rhonda

But, that is what I remember from it as well. That, and anticipating what your child might experience in public and actually "training" for it. That didn't necessarily involve spanking. I remember me being on one side of the room, and my dh on the other, and me calling my dh, and he would run up and say, "Yes, Mommy." And, then I'd call my ds, and dh helped him run up and say, "Yes, Mommy." That sort of thing - but it's been years. I do think my 3yo dd wouldn't be quite so spoiled if I remembered a bit more from my "devouring parenting books" days - :).

No, BTS Levels 2 and 3 do not have any problems that are set up like Mind Benders.

butting in with a heads-up....When we did our brief soiree into History Odyssey, I noticed that they asked for more, but shorter, reports - whereas I was asking for *all* of the writing to be about one subject. Also, that's when I noticed that the original Kingfisher Illus History of the World actually has small "biography" boxes for important men and women - an average of 3 sentences each. I'm thinking I'll be using those as examples - shoot, I might even just use them as copywork. I'm not sure that the KHE has this - it *might* be in the captions? So anyway, this year my fifth grader will be writing shorter, but more, reports. I'm really shooting for well-organized paragraphs. Another fwiw - the KIHW has extra sections labeled much the same as the notebook sections (Inventions, Technology, Religion, Daily Life). I think the KHE has this too. We're using SOTW as our spine, and I'm having trouble fitting these in - but, if KHE is your spine, then I wouldn't worry about adding to those sections in the notebook until you get to those sections in the KHE.

Going to see a career counsellor was one of the most self-affirming experiences I've ever had. Even though I got PG and didn't follow her advice - I would *highly* recommend going. I think I took about 3 different tests before meeting with her privately, and she was just so positive and uplifting. I guess a lot depends on the counsellor, obviously. But, if you have a good one in your area, I think *that* would be better than any book. =) Rhonda

Saying a prayer for you! =)

You could leave a tape or video recording for the time your ds is baby-sitting. I once observed a middle school teacher who made sure every class she taught was taped and dated and filed. She told me it was so that she could re-play the tapes and work on improving her teaching. I forgot all about that until I read this thread - now I'm betting it was more so that she could have an impartial witness if she were ever accused of anything objectionable. :001_smile:

I don't separate our history papers into sections; I just file them in the order we do them (mostly chronological). I like having the reports with the outlines and the maps. But, I do keep those sections in mind as report topics.

I learned what lice nits look like - and how expensive & time consuming it is to get rid of them! =)

What a hoot! Tell Jeremy thanks for the laugh!!!

But the free reading was at night, before bed. And, for assigned reading, I assigned specific pages and guesstimated how many it would take to fill 30+ minutes ~ so, you can imagine that the actual time was *quite* variable - LOL! (hanging head in shame) - Does reading aloud from Math or Grammar count? If so, then - hey - we did Oral Reading every day, too. (pretty sure that one's not gonna fly around here :tongue_smilie:) OP: btw - I love your charts!!!! Rhonda OH, hey! He read orally from SOTW, too. That counts, right?

First, I think his structure is very good. You can easily see his outline. We just finished R&S-7, and haven't gotten to 5-paragraph essays, yet. I wouldn't sweat it - if he writes them frequently enough, they will become old hat after awhile. I'm not familiar with Jump In, but if they haven't yet worked on transitions and coherence and sentence variety, then I don't think it's fair to expect him to pull that out of thin air. Those things take time to learn - and lots of practice to execute well. He'll get it as you model it for him (time and time and time and time again......LOL!) I think you guys are doing great! Rhonda ETA: I often do the writing while "we" are brainstorming. It is more and more becoming his - but we've been doing this for two years now, and he still needs an occasional push in the right direction. We usually use a web (rather than an outline) so that there isn't a worry about where each idea "should" go, and call that the first draft.

I think it is more than adequate .... *if* you use it to the max. (I like SL's metaphor of "sucking all the marrow" out of the curriculum!) First, there is quite a bit of writing instruction & reinforcement within the grammar lessons. (I find that this is more true of the textbook assignments than the worksheets.) Second, as MagicWand pointed out, each writing assignment has too much in it for just one day of class time. Especially if you take advantage of *all* of the assignment. When we first started with R&S too frequently I would skip either A or B of the assignment, but you really need to do it all. Sometimes that means that I'll keep a writing project going on the side while we forge ahead with the grammar lessons. (Which is exactly what would happen if you had a separate writing and grammar program.) Once the rough draft is done, then the editing and polishing and final copy can be worked on a little each day until we reach the next writing assignment. Also, if there are two different writing assignments (say, Part A is a descriptive paragraph and Part B is a narrative paragraph), you need to do them both. They are two different skills, and neither should be skipped. Also, I assign the same type of writing in history and science, and I remind my kids of what they've learned in R&S, and how I'll be expecting to see those things in their assignment. And, then the next day, we'll proof that before we begin our work in that subject. (We don't make final copies of history/science writings.) We really like having grammar and writing in *one* subject. It does take some extra work to be sure that the concepts are being applied, and there's not a "checklist" or rubric to help with grading. But, we *love* R&S for its effectiveness - my older ds starting hs'ing mid-way thru 5th grade, and didn't know what a noun was, much less how to write a sentence. R&S is the only program we have done (for more than two weeks, anyway!), and he can now write a two-page essay with relative ease *and* he really does apply what he's learned from R&S. YMMV~ Rhonda

Praying here.

You know, I never told my parents, either - and I don't really understand why. I always assumed they knew - I mean, how could they not? But, just before we started homeschooling, I confronted them about what did they do when I was the one being bullied, and I told them how utterly depressed I had been. My dad just sat in stunned silence - he truly didn't know. It still blows me away that he could have lived in the same house and not known. But, I see people whose kids seem to be depressed and really down on school - one I know in particular *is* being bullied according to his mother, but the parents never question that public school is best.

The easiest way to tell how someone *really* feels about you is to observe how their children treat you! These kids aren't bullies by accident - kids relate to other people the way they have been related to, and the way they see their parents interacting with other adults. I'll take my "still living in a Barney world" kids over tough and worldly-wise anyday! Hope your day improves! :001_smile: Rhonda