Headphones do not bother me and my oldest wore headphones for her sister's recital. It was 3 hrs long. I think the use of anything with lights is distracting to the audience. We are season ticket holders to the ballet and if someone turns on their phone with the little light, it is so distracting from the performance that I sooooo want to enjoy!

LOL! :iagree: I still my high school copy for some reason. I hated that book....

We love our F-D dances! Nothing romantic there. The girls dress up and usually ignore the dads and talk to their friends...LOL! The dads hang out, too. But they play fast, cheesy music (Shout! Electric Slide, etc). It's just a time of fellowship. By the way, we have date nights with our kids. We have two girls and may have a date with mom or a date with dad. I may have a lunch date with a girlfriend. I guess it's all in how you define the term. :001_unsure:

I looked at IKEA furniture when we moved. Book shelves and DVD racks are of good quality. We have bought a lot of little things here and there...like lighting. We bought a computer desk and office chairs that we are happy with. The desk is for my 14yo and she hasn't had any problems with it at all. We bought a single bed for my 12yo that is pine and it is sturdy. I looked at IKEA dining room tables and didn't care for them. They were either way too small or too expensive and the wood is soft and easily marked. We ended up looking at Craig's List. We bought a used comuter desk for the office in good condition for a good price. We found a suitable dining room table and chairs for $75 until I find what I really want. When we bought new living room furniture years back, we bought some clearance furniture from Ashley.

There is current legislation up for review on April 23rd (HR669) that is working to ban exotic nonnative pets...fish, birds, mammals, reptiles, invertebrates. Exempt animals only: domesticated cats cattle or oxen dom chicken domesticated dog donkey dom geese and ducks goat goldfish horse llama mule pig dom rabbit sheep anything the gov deems common or domesticated. So, your choices may be soon be more limited. ;)

I definitely relate!! Even my dd's skinny jeans sometimes fit baggy, lol! Length isn't always a problem since my dd is 5'4", but she is very slender and the chest never fits. And my dd isn't small-chested, she's just proportioned for her body size-long and lean. Every dress we've found has plunging necklines that seem to be designed for exposing cleavage or they are just very ample in the chest. I don't get it.

Agreed! We bought the movie out of fan loyalty, but the books are really so much better!!! My dh says the girl who plays Bella drives him crazy with the open-mouthed look. Hopefully New Moon will be better.

I like them and own quite a few. I have found they help me quite a bit...In fact, I was a Grand Prize Winner in 2006 and went to her retreat in Tampa. Reminds me...time to get back on the wagon. :)

YAY! Well done mom and student!

My 9th grader is taking a class using Bob Jones Biology and we really like it.

Amy G, I'm much like you. It's important that my children enjoy the learning process, as well as any other portion of their lives. We're not going to quit Algebra because someone doesn't like it, but I will find ways to make Algebra as painless as possible. I can't compare that experience to public school, because I'm not in control of what happens in that environment. I am in control of my home environment and while I can't control others, we have a happy house and I've tried to teach them that their contentedness and 'happiness' comes from their spiritual life, regardless of their circumstances. Kinda cheesy, I guess.

Ditto..we see it a lot around here. Is it more common in FL?

English I Honors-Circle Christian School Algebra I Honors- FL Virtual School Biology I Honors-private science class French I-home Intro to Bible I-.5 credit-home Web Design I-FL Virtual School awaiting class opening for Geometry right now in FL Virtual School

Actually, I have a 9th grade dd like this. My 7th grade has picked up her planner this morning and hit the books because she wants to watch a DVD this afternoon. All of her work will be done to satisfaction and chores, too. My 9th grader meanwhile is laying on the couch in her pj's moaning about being tired. If I let her, she would watch TV and play on the computer and do her work at 5pm when the little one goes to ballet for 3.5 hours. It drives me nuts! The older has a summer birthday, but I think it's just her style, KWIM? OK...here's what I did for her to help us both out. I found that are really very much alike and we will argue about everything. The more I push, the more she will resist. We both have ADD, but she is also dyslexic and dysgraphic. After wrestling with these things for all of her homeschooling years, I decided it was time for her to learn to sink or swim (just a little bit :P). She really wants to be independent, but doesn't want to go to public school. We compromised. She is the reflective, introverted type, so she needed some outside classroom time. She takes science with a local Christian teacher who is really awesome! We could do science at home, but she likes it this way. Next year she is taking Marine Science with him at sea World. How cool is that?! She also takes Eng I at our umbrella school. She takes Alg I and Web design on-line with FL Virtual School. That really helped her to take some electives that I couldn't teach (computer stuff) and throws accountability to her with an outside source to stay on track with weekly pace charts. She finishes up her year with French (Rosetta Stone) and Bible at home. This has helped us because I can be more of a combined cheerleader and coach instead of the heavy. She has slacked on her French, so yesterday she had to do two days of lessons on one day. I just help her (by nagging, I mean reminding) to stay on pace. I make an assignment sheet for her on Monday for the week and I let her choose when she will complete her work. She has made mistakes and has had to do homework at night when she's sleepy, but that's part of learning, too! But it takes the burden off of me. Next year (10th grade) will look pretty much the same: Eng II (umbrella school) Geometery (on-line) World History (umbrella school) Marine Science (private class) Web Design II (on-line) French II (home) Bible II (home) driver's ed(on-line) You and your son need to determine how important the music and competitions are for him. It may be a tremendous source of satisfaction for him. If he wants to continue, then he will have to adjust his schooling scheduling. As for the handwriting issue, can he type? Best wishes for the rest of your year! Sounds like you are nearing the end of the "marathon". Enjoy the few years you have left!

Yep, I think football star is the operative term there! LOL!! :lol: I'm sure they had no problem with his transcript...

U of FL can be very selective because of the high number of applicants. There are a number of potential freshman that are rejected from all types of schools. Most students I know have opted to go in as transfers (which I also did back in the day, but for financial reasons). The umbrella school that I am with is Circle Christian School. It is accredited, there is freedom of curriculum, but expensive varies from family to family.

Have you tried contacting the folks at fpea.com? I'm sure they have resources to answer your questions. After reading Sandra's responses from UF, I'm glad my dd is enrolled in an accredited FL umbrella/private school...sheesh! What a nightmare that could become!

Similarity within a scientific classification isn't grounds for hybridization. It really doesn't matter if humans are classified as Great Apes with other primates and if one believes in evolution...we're speaking of a genetic matter which is not the sole consideration for placement within a particular scientific grouping.

It really depends on what field of science your dd or ds is interested in studying. Here's an example of what we did when my oldest was really interested in herpetology for a while: We find the most hands-on science programs for her courses, take lots of field trips, she helps out with our family business (lots of wildlife education there), we breed some types of reptiles, she volunteered at the Central FL Zoo as a Teen Team member, and went to Central FL Herpetological Society meetings and reptile shows with me. There are a lot of opportunities such as that available in various aspects of science. Now we are doing similar things with her computer studies. She has some super duper computer inher room with two hard drives and all sorts of toys. She has ben paid to do video editing for a friend's business, and she takes Web Design with FL Virtual School. She has a few mentors that she chats with now and again.

Our umbrella (and the state) allows us to add a foreign language or Alg I taken in 8th grade to the hs transcipt. My dd took Latin I in 8th grade and it added to her GPA. It is standard college prep in FL for public or private students to have one of these in 8th grade, so her transcript is just par for the course. It also freed up her high school years for taking other classes.

I would have to answer that "No, I don't think they did", "Yes, it is possible to copulate, I guess", and "No, I don't believe the alleles would be a close enough match for hybridization, despite the Wikipedia article."

maybe it's southern because we all say law-yer.

A sort of chicken pie with mashed potatoes, gravy and chicken, topped with biscuits.

I think it also depends on your state and your hs status. For instance, here in FL students are required to have 4 hs math credits for graduation. Since we are in an umbrella school and considered private school students, we have to follow those guidelines. Taking Alg I in 7th grade might be a bit tricky for future planning (not that I would let it be the sole determiner). If your child is academically/mentally ready for Alg I, then I would go ahead with it. Since you are writing your own transcript, you have more freedom. If it shows that geomtery or Alg II was taken in 9th grade, it will be assumed that Alg I was already taken, but may not count as hs credit. Here, only courses taken in 8th grade, and only Alg I and freign language, can count as hs credit.

I think there is plenty of review in Pre-Alg. It's not like Saxon where each lesson is a mixture of problems, but the concepts build and are continually practiced. For example, Ch 3 is about fractions. There are 6 sections in that chapter, and each section is broken up into 2-4 sections each. In 3.4, there are 170 problems, so plenty of practice. After watching the DVD, you decide how much work your child needs to do. You can work for an hour or pick a ceratin number of problems. When the child has mastered the material, move to the next section. At the end of the chapter, there are sections on problem solving, group activites, a quick chart for a chapter summary, a chapter review, chapter test, and then a cumulative review. Chapter 4 is on decimals and exponents, but you will see problems with fractions. Then when you get into polynomials in 5 and 6, you'll see fractions, decimals, and exponents.