My son also received acceptances from Boston College, Muhlenberg, and Westminster, Honors College and scholarships all around. I get chills when I come on here and read this thread - it is an incredible testament to what is being accomplished by these children and their parents in the name of education.

Can a member of the forum who rarely posts but has relied on this board for so, so much guidance over the years share an amazing accomplishment? My son was just accepted to his top choice, College of the Holy Cross, with a full-tuition scholarship. I am stunned, and thankful, and ... so many emotions. And I need to thank all the people here who have shared over the years the "how-to's" in navigating the college application process. I relied heavily on this board to guide me. You were my virtual support, even though I never post, when in my own world there exist far too many negative Nellies constantly whispering in my ear (and my children's ears) about how I have ruined their lives with my home-schooling convictions. I thank all of you who have walked this road and taken the time to share - you are an amazing, knowledgeable, and thoughtful group.

I thought I had read on here - somewhere - that the update to TT Algebra would include making it more in line with other Algebra texts. Would anyone know if this is the case? In particular, my dilemma is whether to upgrade the set we purchased in April. We school from May through March, and my daughter has already begun to work her way through. If we had not experienced difficulty with running one of the solutions CDs, this would not be a problem. But the company said to just take advantage of the upgrade. I am wondering if she would have to begin again. Not really an issue, except to prepare her - she is a literature lover, not a fan of math! Thank you.

Hi. I have never posted on the HS board before, but I think I have read the whole of it. I have been reading every thread I could find on science, because I really want to commit to a science curriculum for high school. It is hard to believe that my little girl - who was just "yesterday" reading a picture book on animals and impressing her great-grandmother with her ability to say "Sugar Glider" - is going to start 8th grade in April. I am struggling with a decision on which BJU science to choose. I had her watch the video samples and she liked the idea of the DVD accompaniment. I am stuck on whether Earth or Life is the way to go. FWIW, she did do SL Science 5 last year, which covered a great deal of what is listed in the BJU Life TOC. But it was not a textbook course, so maybe that should factor in my decision. Thanks in advance for any advice.

By this, I was speaking about math for everyone. I try to touch base with each child each day. I have,at times, lost touch with their particular program, and the methods used. I hate when that happens!

This is exactly what has me hesitating. I have used the CWP, IP, WB and text before with other children, but never really did it justice. It is the whole program that I believe holds the value I am looking for. I am so worried about not giving math its due - but equally fearful of letting it swallow up our day. I just have not found our groove with adding a little one who really needs some TLC at this point. Thank you. I really do not post much, but this board is a source of encouragement to me each every day.

Thank you everyone! Math is always my source of :confused:. There are so many programs, each with its own strength, IMO. And only so many hours in the day ....

Would you please help me decide on a math program for a very bright 7 year old boy? Because of circumstances in our lives last school year, I never did do any real academic work with him. Now that he is 7, I am slowly getting him into pencil-on-paper type work. He does computations very quickly in his head. He seems so suited to Singapore, but I feel there is a great deal to the TM, and wonder if I will do the program justice if I am terrible at using TMs. I gave him placement tests this week, and he placed into TT 4 and Saxon 5/4. There is just an understanding that he has with numbers and math that is telling me to go with Singapore. I guess my question boils down to, with four children to teach, and a schedule that already fills the day ... will Singapore be my undoing? Thanks.

For me, it has been a matter of which child I am using it with. My daughters read so far ahead, we are constantly finding new books to add, adding weeks from TOG units as fillers, etc. I am going to give my son, aka "the Sloth", Core 7 to do coming in January and just let him go at his pace. The schedule is more suited to his slow and steady pace. He will actually be happy the schedule only assigns so much to do, and then he knows he is done. I am switching my girls to MFW, because of the flexibility of the book basket and lighter (assigned) reading schedule. I still have not figured out why I am so drawn to the "idea" of Sonlight, but have never managed to stick with an IG.

Do you mind one from a very silent member of this forum, who, every now and then, craves a little feedback? Thanks!

Hi, Tamara. Thank you for responding. I would definitely agree with you regarding if I had wanted a change re: speech. But this was an attempt on my part to make sure Emma's services would not be jeopardized just because I needed to pay attention to other things for a while. There is definitely an issue with this therapist, her lack of respect for the clinical coordinator, and "government", as she has stated to me. But, for me, I need to feel comfortable with the people I let in my home, and now ... I just don't. I did not go over her head - I made a decision to make a phone call to the person responsible for coordinating Emma's services. It just seemed like the right thing to do. I have a love/hate relationship with EI Services - I am happy they exist, and wish I never needed them. Thank you, and take care, Sabrina

Hi. This is my first time posting here, in Special Needs. I am looking for some advice on how to handle a problem with my child's therapist. In a nutshell, my 1 yo is receiving speech and OT through Early Intervention. Just recently, based on her progress and my desire to give the kids a summer, I called her Coordinator to see if we could cut back on services a bit for the next three months. The woman came to the house, I signed a revised agreement, and all was fine. My child's Speech Therapist came for a session yesterday and had a definite "attitude" toward my contacting the Clinical Coordinator. She was annoyed that I did not contact her directly, and told me it was her opinion that the Coordinator did not have any need to see me personally, and that it was unusual for a parent to want less services. I was so taken aback, especially since this involved more that just this single therapist, and the OT was more than fine with the way I handled the matter. I sense, based on other conversations with the therapist and the CC that they do not have a good working relationship. The CC actually asked me if I would like to have another speech therapist in this one's place. I am not unhappy with her services, but this situation has made me uncomfortable. I feel I was chastised for taking the route I did. Is there any one who can help me with the next step I should take - both these women are coming to my house next week to finalize papers on a change in Emma's goals and I really am dreading it. It has me so worked up that I am thinking of dropping speech all together, and that may not be in my daughter's best interest. Thank you if you read all that! Any advice would be appreciated. Sabrina

Now you got me out of my lurking mode - we took Flat Stanley on a field trip last year. He was a project for my sister's nephew who is in public school. She made our adventure into a video - "Flat Stanley Spends the Day with Homeschoolers". It was so much fun taking pictures of everything we did with Flat Stanley in the frame. We buckled him into the car, gave him beverages, showed him hanging over the rail at Bushkill Falls ... My kids loved it, and the class voted the video the best Flat Stanley Adventure of all. We will play along.

Hi. I have been using WWE with my 2nd grader. The workbook pages are quite roomy, and reminded me of the old SL LA pages. So I began introducing grammar concepts to her, and having her underline, circle, etc. the various parts of speech as we go through the sentences. So far, we are about six weeks in, and she is very proficient at identifying nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adjectives. Just wanted to share how this is working for us. WWE is one of my favorite finds this year.

I haven't joined in all year, I believe, because of other circumstances. But we are doing so well I just wanted to share. It is the first post on my blog. I enjoy reading all the other reports. Thanks for sharing.

If I may share, I am the mother of a 23-weeker (as she has come to be known in the NICU). Emma is now 42 weeks (gestational age) and still resides in the NICU. The decision to "save" her was based on many factors, but, in the end, it was one made by my willingness to have an emergency C-section, with a vertical incision, rather than put her through the trauma of a normal birth. There was a team of specialists in my room, as her gestational age was computed down to the day, because cut-off for viability was 24 weeks. They assessed her at 23 weeks, 4 days, but agreed to the delivery due to "room for error". Never did I doubt the willingness of the staff, and it was the neonatologist who deemed Emma "viable" based on how she presented. I could not read all of these posts, but I just wanted to add my recent and ongoing experience with this painful topic and say that there are doctors and nurses in this country who will go to amazing lengths for others. And while I realize there is a finite amount of resources, and at some point choices must be made, I look at my baby and think back over the past four months of terrible struggles and illness and times we were told to say good-bye, and just marvel at the fight and strength in that small package. There are so many babies in that NICU who have no one, and who are there without insurances to cover them. I know, because I have spoken with many of the other parents, and staff. It is a testament to the fact that this country does have a system in place to care for the indigent and the unwanted. It could be better - it has to be made better. But it will not get better if we do not place a value on life - and that begins with the children. I'm sorry if this is a ramble - I just needed to share. Thank you.

We have been done for about two weeks now, but we took a field trip yesterday to Bushkill Falls - if you'd like to look at some photos. Second post in.

The whole "Horrible .." thing threw me, too, but they were actually well done. We had just finished discussing China in SOTW/TOG and a lot of that information was repeated. We supplemented a lot this year with United Streaming, and, with the exception of one Shakespeare play that had nudity (yup!) in it, we have been very pleased.

We just watched two Horrible Histories on United Streaming - one on Ancient Egypt and one on the Great Wall of China. Just wanted to share.

Finally got it together! Thanks for letting me join in.

Unfortunately, even the HSLDA form has a provision for the attachment of a Certificate of Immunization. It also has a space to provide the grades of your children, which are really not required either, according to the lawyer I spoke with at HSLDA. Which is interesting considering the testing requirements specify certain grade levels. So if you do not have to give a grade, how do the school officials know it was a testing year? It is this lack of clarity to the law, and the ability of each school district to interpret it the way they choose that makes me provide less in the way of information each year I homeschool. The Privacy Act regarding medical information overrides it all, anyway, and that is what I will cite to anyone who questions me. You know the saying, "If you give them an inch..."

When submitting my yearly affadavit, I include a statement that I tend to my children's medical needs as necessary, including medical, dental, and vision, and that, under the Privacy Act, their medical records, including the names and phone numbers of their physicians, are private. I have this notorized, and it has been accepted each year.

We made it through. Thanks to all those who stop by - it means alot!

This was an idea I had, too. Since my children are being taught by student interns, I thought I could ask one to tutor in my home. Thanks.

Thanks for your responses. It is comforting to know others have been through the same thing. We have a house, a car that is paid off, and my husband's job seems stable. But in trying to do better with money, taking a semester off seems like the most reasonable thing. We do not have any other luxuries - no cable, no movie outings, we never eat out. This was our one thing - but it amounts to $1200 per semester, with one tap class for my 9 yo son, tap and ballet for the 7 yo, and ballet, jazz, and tap for the 10 yo. As far as asking my parents, I do not want to burden them. And my MIL was one of the co-founders of the college's dance program. If she found out I asked for assistance, well, I may as well dig a hole and throw my own body in. She already heaps criticism our way over how we live. (Put the kids in school, and get a real job so you can have all the "necessary" things in life.) Anyway, chin up! The girls will be fine. Thanks again.