Yep. I have a bunch of these from when my kids were really young. They came back about 10 years later and tried to sell them to us. I brought my books out (barely used!). He tried to sell us the reference book thing like what I think the OP bought. It looked so dry & I knew it would never fly here. I already have 10" of Southwestern books on my shelves that I'd prefer to give away so I can have that space for stuff we DO use.

If your library has Engaging Ideas (any edition), it makes an interesting read on writing across the curriculum. Also, you might find some interesting food for thought in this old thread on Writing Prompts For Writing Across the Curriculum

Add the first Writing & Reading subscore she posted & you get The VCR score from the first test. Add the second (higher) numbers & you get the June VCR score. (Add a zero at the end in both cases.) :hurray: Arcadia! I'm hoping DD#1 can improve her composite by a similar amount year-on-year. Her Khan SAT math score has improved, but her VCR score has gone down and hasn't improved to hit her PSAT # yet.

I think Khan Academy has the images that are required to be known for the test in their AP Art History section.

My state has an hours requirement. High school is higher than K-8. I generally plan 30 weeks during the school year (including a few weeks that have only four full working days due to a field trip). We do 'light school' during the summer. I schedule out just about everything but math to get it done in 150 days or less. Math never ends.

Looks like there is a laminator for $18.59. Is that a good deal? Saw the 150 Prismacolors are out there for $58.49.

I posted some samples in a previous thread of what DD#2 did last year with HO book 1. She also does map work (with Map Trek maps) and keeps a timeline book. She'll continue that this year with the rest of HO Book 1 & about half of HO Book 2. I wrote last year's assignments loosely based off of History Odyssey's assignments - lots of summaries, drawing pictures, and writing short bios. She's my artsy girl & she also isn't afraid to write (even if her spelling isn't the greatest). This year, I don't plan on writing detailed plans - just letter her notebook her way through (doing maps & timeline stuff as she comes across them). I wouldn't expect a kid to be able to do this without some direction if they hadn't done it before. She might end up needing more scaffolding, but I'm going to see how it goes at the beginning.

I wouldn't have a problem dealing with the applying-to-college part of the decision, but I'd definitely have a discussion on 1) why he's suddenly changed his mind, 2) how home will be different vs. before and 3) what the parents can do to make the private school experience better for him. I'd echo the online provider idea, except you're stuck for part of his tuition so that might not be feasible. If he stays at the private school, I'd definitely make sure the teachers understood his illness so they aren't punishing him for that.

Is Grandfather your dad? I'm sorry for your family's loss, no matter how expected it was. Sounds absolutely crazy for him. I'm sure it'll be a whirlwind. Best of luck to you both, as I know how crazy- making it is without the added trip plans and complications.

Review of Wilson Hill Academy - Fundamentals of Expository Writing Fundamentals of Expository Writing is geared toward 8th graders or high-achieving 7th graders. When my dd#2 took it, it was taught by Mrs. Lange. An extremely experienced teacher and long-time (now retired) homeschooling mom, Mrs. Lange made classtime a fun learning experience each time they met. The class was mainly focused on learning to analyze literature both through discussion and writing. The class starts off very gently with a focus on writing good paragraphs with a highly structured format. However, it ramps up over the first semester and the kids eventually write six 1-3 page essays over the year. The class teaches MLA citation, literary terms, essay structure & format, and provides on-going teaching/review of frequent-grammar-and-usage mistakes (their/there/they're, its/it's, than/then, effects/affects, hear/here, all right, etc.). There is homework after every class - usually reading & preparing to answer discussion questions, but also sometimes posts on the discussion board or a paragraph to turn in. I feel like the class could have been a non-honors freshman level class or a honors level 8th grade class. They covered several short stories from the Little Worlds Collection, The Odyssey by Homer (Fagles translation), select Canterbury Tales (Coghill translation), To Kill a Mockingbird, and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. DD#2 is a strong writer, but the class challenged her and improved her analysis & writing level. Mrs. Lange kept strong control over the chat box and kept a quick pace in the class, but also provided humor and fun elements - like class Jeopardy games to review at the end of a literary work and some videos which enriched the kids' understanding (especially helpful for Julius Caesar). While Mrs. Lange isn't teaching at Wilson Hill (but has started her own private classes), the class itself should be a good investment if you are looking for an introduction to literary analysis for an 8th or 9th grade student. If you want an amazing teacher, check out Mrs. Lange's (pricey) classes. If you have questions, email her through the website. She's incredibly helpful and I can't say enough good things about her as a teacher. Review of Wilson Hill Academy - Fundamentals of Academic Writing (called Honors Composition when dd#1 took it) The title, Honors Composition, was misleading, and I'm glad that WHA has chosen to rename it, "Fundamentals of Academic Writing." WHA considers a separate writing class to be optional once high school is reached, as they include writing (but not the writing instruction) in their worldview classes (called The Great Conversation). However, they do recognize that some kids need a little more instruction on how to write a high school level paper, so they offer this class. Mrs. Starlet Baker teaches the class and she runs an enthusiastic & somewhat scattered classroom. She encourages kids to use the chatbox and be on their webcams during class. She often separates the kids into breakout rooms to practice what she's teaching. They sometimes work together on a single piece to present to the rest of the class, but other times have to work on their own pieces right next to two or three other kids. They can see each other's work - noticing where they differ or where someone else has done something much differently than them. DD#1 has always been a writing-phobic child, so I wanted this class to cover the basics of a good essay while making her write-write-write. I think the class only ended up writing four 1-3 page essays over the whole year (which is why 'Honors' seemed a misnomer to me), but they did cover rhetoric devices, informal logical arguments, and common usage errors. If you have a kid who already knows how to write, this might not be the class for them. I was frustrated with the class the whole first semester as there didn't seem to be a plan, a structure, an over-arching goal to all the little bits and pieces that Mrs. Baker was teaching them. (I got lost in the trees looking at individual branches & flowers.) However, my DD enjoyed the actual classroom, the camaraderie of the other students, and she was actually WRITING (often in the in-class workshops), so I sat back and waited. My opinion on the class changed as the second semester got going and I could start to see all these little things pulling together both in DD's writing and in the classroom teaching. The real eye-opener was DD's greater understanding of the usage sections on the English portion of the April ACT. The things she was learning were being understood and applied. I quit my complaining. While DD#1 still doesn't like to write, she has more confidence in what she puts out. I was confident enough in what she learned & did as a result of this class that I actually contemplated signing her up for an AP Lit or Language class in the fall. Ultimately, I decided to go a different direction, but the class did improve her knowledge & writing skills. If your kid is easily distractible, already a good writer, or wants a rigorous writing class, this is not the one for you. If you are looking for something that covers a lot of bases from an essay-format perspective, but doesn't require a lot of time outside of class, this might be a good one to look at.

At least when it first came out, you couldn't use it offline. The website works for us, so I haven't bought the app to check the current status. It isn't quite the same, but we have a Flashmaster handheld device. Does the drill with less 'smart' but more targeted work.

DH backs his car in, but that's so he can get out of his door once it is in the garage. We have strategically placed bikes/mower/lawn implements (including hanging some of them so everything fits) along the sides of the garage. I pull in straight & he backs in. If you are sitting on the other side of the vehicle, you wait until we pull out of the garage to get into the vehicle (unless you are very skinny). If DH ever replaces his vehicle, he will need to get another car with a short wheel base so that it'll fit into his spot. If my DH was going nutters over the garage floor like this, I'd support him as long as he give me the evil eye when I pull in the sloshy van. "Whatever you like, dear." :001_rolleyes:

My hair isn't as wavy as yours, but I'm known for my pony tails & pony tails-into-buns, too. I was tired of how heavy my head felt when I did either of those, so when I got my semi-annual hair cut about a month ago, I had it chopped above my shoulder. It was long enough then to put behind my ears if I wanted it out of my face. But, what I found looked the best & kept it out of my face were medium size clips like these 'jaw clips' I can put one in or two (one on each side). It isn't as young looking as a barrette, but does the job, is easy & quick, and adds just a touch of 'fancy' to my minimalist hairstyle. (My picky mother actually gave me a backhanded compliment on the look in June.)

Wow. How horrible for your wasted time :cursing: & for another store selling homeschool stuff closing down. :crying: (Adoremus Books sold homeschool stuff & they closed recently.) :thumbdown: I'm looking to clean off some of my shelves of materials to make room for things I'm using (or plan on re-using). The Book Samaritan is closed, so my options are sell the stuff or give it away locally. I've been doing a bit of both, but my shelves are still too full!

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

We pull right in. Every so often on a sunny-but-not-too-hot day, I'll have the kids sweep out the garage. The wetness evaporates. The slush melts and then evaporates. The dirt that is left is swept (eventually). No special coating on the floor.

So, my oldest loves to read & hates to write. I have ended up outsourcing writing (as a full or partial English credit) so that I know it gets done. In 9th, though, our outsourced class went bust early. So, I had to beef up the literature portion of her credit to compensate. She had a list of literature with very specific writing assignments. Not all books/poem selections/short stories had a writing assignment with them -- some were discussion or had different output requirements. She knew she had to spend an hour a day on her English credit, so she would read during that hour until she finished the selection. Then, she would use that hour to work on her writing assignments (or discussion or whatever) until she'd met all the requirements ('good enough' for me). Then, she would move onto the next item on the list. When she was done with the whole list, she was done with the credit. In her case, it took a few weeks into the summer to finish. DD#2 is a slower reader but a much faster writer. She might bog down on the reading and make up a little of the time in less revising to meet my requirements. She'd probably finish a month early, if I had to guess. She'll be a freshman in the fall & her English credit will be separated so she'll have a list of books to read for 30 minutes a day & she'll work with me on writing 2-3 times per week separate from her literature selections. If she doesn't get through the whole list, I'm fine with that. The list was built for her faster-reading-sister. If she reads half of them, it'll be ok. I simply have to separate the two parts because of the way my kids are. I always struggle in balancing workload for high school *in general*. Something to keep in mind is that, in general, a credit of English usually takes much longer than the recommended number of hours for a credit. It is not unusual to see people on here give one credit for 1 1/2 times the max number of hours as listed for a credit in English.

That was me last year. I hardly needed anything. This year, I have some reading books coming from thriftbooks, abebooks, & such all summer long. (I have a list of books the local library has (very small) and sent out a note to my friends to borrow the rest. I cut down the list of what I couldn't get from those two sources & order a few at a time.) I'm planning a bunch of new classes this year because I'm faced with a rising freshman who is completely different than her older sister and two boys who are completely different than their three older sisters. Enjoy those leaner years!!

** Bumping an old thread ** Did you end up doing this with your daughter? I'm planning on something similar (except with TGC's How to Look at and Understand Great Art). Before I reinvent the wheel, did you just have her work on a little of everything each week? How did you schedule it? How long did it end up taking & how much time (if you tracked hours)?

The Ask Dr Callahan Teacher Guide (syllabus, tests) as a PDF is available on the Ask Dr. Callahan website for free. The Rainbow Resources link includes a printed version of the PDF. It would be simple enough to get the (free) PDF and see if the extra cost for the printed version is worth it to you.

The class DD took doesn't exist anymore because the teacher has chosen to switch textbooks. I don't know if any of the other former-Landry Chemistry teachers who spun off are still using Spectrum. (I think DD's love of Chemistry were from the teacher, Mrs. Childress, and from the math-heavy-subject,and not necessarily from the specific textbook.) My next kid is not a math-lover and we'll go a different direction with Chemistry.

:iagree: There is a little logo at the bottom of the MasterBooks DVD cover that says, "Ask Dr. Callahan." It looks like the biggest difference is price.

I think it depends on the kid, the support structure, and the area you live in. I've left a teen (15) alone at our house & the house she was house-sitting for several days/nights straight. I live in a small (farm) town. She had several people watching out for her and making contact with her (in person) at least once per day.

As someone who is tentatively planning on Guest Hollow Chem for a non-STEM kid, I don't think it is what you are looking for. My dd#1 took an online Chem (not honors, but solid) class last year that used Spectrum's book (different labs). She loved the class. She loved it so much that we're tentatively planning one or two DE semesters of Chem her senior year. I talked to the professor(s) already & for their class, it doesn't matter if you already had a solid non-AP Chem class first or not as long as you can handle the math. They were very clear that having solid algebra skills and good study habits were the two most important factors in success for their class(es). If you think he can handle a DE class, that's the way I'd go.

Other stuff in 6-week rotations: Reader's Theater, WWE 1, Sentence Family, States/Capitals, Perplexors/Logic Puzzles/Games