I have nt used that kit, but it looks excellent. Nutrient Agar is pretty easy to deal with if you follow directions.

There are many alternatives to the AG. Just read and discuss. Do narrations or summaries. Use MapTrek or some other source for maps. Use your local library or Amazon or GoodReads as a book resource. Use History Odyssey instead, which uses SOTW as one book among many. It's your school; run it your way.

Draw it on 1/4" graph paper, 4 squares per unit, then measure the diagonal side with a ruler. Use two rulers butted onto each other to form the square. Buy a set square. Any of those will work, and a set square is very useful for parallel lines later.

Good luck. It sounds as if you have someone who is really paying attention!

Bummer. I can't imagine doing physics with no math; physics basically is math. The rest of the program looks kind of fun though . . . *sigh* I can already see myself cobbling together a monster . . . part NOEO, part Life of Fred Physics, part Knight's College Physics . . . I have time to plan; we're only a few weeks into bio still . . .

Is Physics 3 quantitative at all? I have a book lined up for DS11 next year in case it is not, but I can't really see a lot of quantitative work lined up in the books on the website for NOEO Physics 3. He will be probably most of the way through Algebra 2, and self taught on some trig by then (no calc). He is already pretty comfortable with the basic trig functions.

It depends on when you start it. The Magic Lens levels are very challenging; if you did not start them in early middle school, you can start them in mid to late middle school without insulting the student at all. The vocabulary program includes explicit instruction on how to do analogies (are those still a big part of the SAT?).

Have you looked at NOEO science?

For what age? Michael Clay Thompson (Royal Fireworks Press) starts at about grade 3, and includes grammar, grammar practice, writing, poetics, literature, and vocabulary that will provide a long-term assist with spelling because it begins with Latin-based vocabulary and stems (which over years expands to include Greek, Old English, and more). The cool thing about its design is that the program is integrated... Although you can pick and choose components freely, they definitely reinforce one another; poetics reinforces grammar and vocabulary and so on. None of the components requires all year by itself, so you can stagger them a bit so you are not spending all morning on language arts, but because they reinforce each other (and because of the way the practice book works) there will be review all year long.

Combo of organized and non-organized activities works here: Organized: Homeschool PE class, mixed group 7--15 yrs. fantastic instructor teaches technical details and just has fun, very inclusive of all ability levels. Karate and Fencing for DS11 Swimming and Gymnastics for DS9 Disorganized: Good weather-- Bike rides together daily Run laps around the yard, inc. number weekly for endurance Play football, baseball, soccer, tag, swings, rock wall, lacrosse, frisbee, monkey in the middle, dodgeball, sword fighting, etc. Stomp rockets Hiking General unstructured play Heavy bag work (do NOT attempt this unless you really understand it. Heavy bags and kids can be a very dangerous combination and damage their growth plates and ligaments and tendons. My kids do this only occasionally and under close supervision). BB Gun Bad Weather-- Ping Pong Playground ball catch in basement Wii Fit, Wii sports Resort, other active Wii and PS3 games. Feats of strength <grin> (ie how long can you hold a plank, do push-ups, crunches, etc) Hyper dash Hopscotch Toss Across How fast can you scrub the kitchen floor? Gentle weight lifting/stretching/resistance band work Bosu Ball work Work with Physio Ball Movement is pretty much a daily requirement in our house, rain or shine. My kids are not really athletes, but they are active.

I also ditched YMCA lessons after a few times through. It felt as if the kids at our Y spent 25 minutes sitting on the edge and 5 minutes in the water. We found lessons at our gym were far better-/ the kids were in the water for the entire 30 minutes and learned a lot more, and it was more fun.

Hula Hoop Giga Ball (very fun!) Hippity Hop Stilts--yes Pogo stick Picnic table

Stomp Rockets. Yes, they go to the neighbor yard sometimes. They go get them :) Soccer ball. Baseball/gloves Nerf football-- yes, even girls play. Lacrosse stuff Tetherball Rebounder net for times when just one kid wants to play ball. Bug vacuum Sandbox Nerf arsenal (swords/guns/crossbow/you name it) Sidewalk chalk Hyper dash Hopscotch equipment Water guns (warmer weather)/water balloons Things to build obstacle courses Badminton Bocce Kubbe Croquet Remote control planes, kites

Do you get any other swim practice time with your daughter other than swim lessons? My son was terrified to jump in (to put it mildly) for his physical therapy sessions, and this is how we eased him into it: Stage 1: have him sit on his fanny on the pool deck, I put my hands under his armpits and spring him into the water (no face wet). Big hug! Yay! Stage 2: Stand on edge of deck, toes over edge. Grab my hands (I am in pool). Jump out away from deck, while I hold hands, no face in water. Big hug. YAY! Stage 3: Stand on edge of deck, toes at edge. I am close to edge, but far enough away to encourage him to jump away from edge of pool. I catch him under armpits as he enters water. Still no face wet. Big hug. YAY! Stage 4: Like 3, but I catch him a little lower down in the water. Big Hug. YAY! Stage 5: I stand farther away. He has to land in water unassisted, but then I grab him right away. Face might get wet. Big hug. YAY! Stage 6: I stand about the same place. He lands in water unassisted, has to grab ME (don't wear a bikini unless you are in a really private pool). Face will get wet. Big Hug! YAY!! Go out for ice cream. Stage 7: Stand farther away. Jump in, has to paddle 2 or 3 strokes to reach you. Big Hug! YAY!! Brag about performance at dinner table. Your kid's performance too. My formerly screamed like he was being axe-murdered kid is now working on his breast stroke and swim team dives, despite fighting motor apraxia and other issues, and loves to play in the pool. The above took him months, not days. It takes other kids minutes. Your kid will work on her own time table.

I have never seen "grout" (implied with anything ceramic) and "easy to clean" used in a sentence together without hilarious laughter involved. Grout sealer has always been a joke. If it has nooks and crannies in a bathroom, there is NOTHING easy to clean about it! I have a 20+ year old fiberglass shower, and yes, the three-layer aluminum track door is something I cannot wait to replace but the fiberglass itself-- nice smooth surface, no cracks or sharp nooks and crannies, is easy-peasy to clean. I have a green pad on a telescoping handle, a bottle of Soft Scrub, and a big plastic cup for rinse water (we have a fixed shower head). After my shower, on a periodic basis, I just squirt some Soft Scrub onto the green pad on the telescoping pole (no reaching up, no bending over) and the pole provides the leverage for scrubbing power across the surface of the pad-- I don't have to push very hard at all. I can scrub the insides of the glass doors and the other three walls of the shower, floor to ceiling in about three minutes flat. Use the cup to rinse clean (always start at the top, then re-rinse at waist level again so you don't get any residue). Then step out of shower, scrub the floor, and rinse again and done. Whole process takes maybe five to six minutes, no reaching, no bending, no sore shoulders, even for somebody like me with spinal cord issues, squeaky clean shower-- you can run your fingers over it and no grit. We did try the daily spray thing-- it smelled really bad and chemical-ish, and didn't help very much. Squeegee-ing the shower after showering does help keep it a bit cleaner longer and only takes seconds.

What fun!! We really enjoyed our butterflies :D

This is O/T, does not in any way exonerate Sandusky, whom I agree was a complete monster, is likely even more guilty than the jury found him, deserves his essentially life sentence, and is nitpicky. I'm sorry for being nitpicky. But statements like the above continue to irk me. McQueary specifically testified that he did NOT specifically see a rape. He said he expected to see sexual activity, and was surprised that he did not. He heard sounds, and that triggered and image in his mind, and thought that what he did see was inappropriate. He testified that the child did not even appear frightened at the time, and that he only had one or two quick glances, but that he definitely did not see any actual sexual activity. Because of the additional issues continuing to affect PSU, it bugs me to see misinformation being perpetuated. We don't know-- McQueary may have walked in on a "grooming session" with the boy, or yes, worse. But what was specifically taking place there is not known, and McQueary did not testify that he walked in on a rape in any of his versions of what took place. Returning to what is otherwise a very good, and I think important, discussion.

In that case, it indicates some type of asynchronous development, and qualified neuropsych testing is worthwhile. He could potentially be "Twice exceptional" and very frustrated-- very bright, with with some type of roadblock getting in the way of his performance, and a good evaluator will be able to tease out what is working for him, and what is challenging him. (for example, both of my kids are gifted, but my younger one has challeges such as dysgraphia, audio processing disorder, executive function problems, and so on; these made it hard for him to get what he knew onto paper, and the school had him in remedial classes, because he could not complete even simple worksheets, despite the fact that he was dreadfully bored). Your son will have a different constellation of gifts and roadblocks, from the sounds of it, and understanding where he needs support and chances to dive in deeper would probably be met with a lot of relief on his part-- and over time, probably relieve his feelings of negativity. Make sure you find someone who will use a fairly extensive battery of tests and really dig through subtest scores, not just the main cluster scores of one or two tests. The "big picture" that falls out of the details can be really illuminating in the hands of a really good evaluator, and really point the way toward liberating your son. Best of luck to you!

I'm confused by your son's comment about filling in bubbles... MAP is a computer adaptive test that changes the difficulty of the questions in real time to adjust to how the student is responding; it is not a paper-based bubble sheet test. The two of you may not be discussing the same test. That aside, I wouldn't worry over the test scores too much. Just as on the Stanford or ITBS, scoring at 10th/11th grade does not mean he is ready for 10th or 11th grade work, but it does confirm your gut feelings-- he has probably been bored in school. My kiddo was in the same boat when I pulled him out in 4th grade. I would both be prepared with good enrichment materials (you don't need to toss him into high school history, but if you study ancients and he finds he loves mythology and stories, read Colum's Homer with him, D'Aulaire's Greek Myths, a Gilgamesh story, some version of The Aeneid, such as Lively's "In Search of A Homeland," and so on as he studies the ancients. Or let him research Alexander and other military minds if that s his thing, or start learning Latin) AND watch for gaps in his abilities. He might struggle with grammar or writing or fractions or baseball or art. Let him have some fun getting started. Every Friday in science my kids have to present something they have researched on their own; it can be anything however peripherally mentioned in that week's study that they just HAD to know more about. So far they like the flexibility to have time to read about something they wanted to learn more about, then teach it back to us :) Have fun teaching your son, and good luck!

Agree with all of the above. Also realize that CAPD, ADD and IQ are not related. You can be intelligent and have CAPD and all the other combinations. Teasing out all those components at your daughter's age is extremely difficult; choose your evaluator carefully.

Generally function must be x months behind normal or y % below typical to qualify for state paid services. They can be quite helpful. If you disagree with the assessor, document any observations made you felt were inaccurate for purposes of an appeal, but most really are trying to help. Our first assessor completely missed the mark, but that experience is not the norm, and the decision was later reversed.

:iagree: We played vintage Battleship at the Chatterbox Cafe in St. Paul, MN when we lived in MN for four months (loved that place!). DS put that game down as his only request for Christmas. We have been disappointed with every version we have been able o locate-- weird shapes, hard to read grids, pegs that fall out, versions that require batteries... Ugh!

Sandusky is 68 and has a host of medical problems, and is a high profile child predator entering the prison system, soon to no longer be in solitary, and not eligible or early release. You can't really keep him much longer than dead, which I am sure he will be in prison, with a minimum 30 year sentence. This is not a guy who will be setting world records for longevity.

I agree with Bill on this aspect... in places, the workbook is not mere drill, but the problems build sequentially from point A to point B, where the earlier problems teach methods for the more difficult problems. This is why I do still buy the workbooks, even if we use mostly the IP books; if he gets stuck, he can backtrack and walk on up the ladder. Halfway through 4B I still have not seen any conceptual leaps... If anything, it feels like stuff is explained half to death. Really, the problem sequence instruction is very AoPS-like, with very few if any leaps at all if you really pay attention to what they are showing you. This is likely why RR has recommended Singapore in the past. But back to how all this applies to Sonja and her situation... Given the level of math her daughter is doing and at what age, it does not sound to me as if DD needs a program that spoon feeds each micro step. I suspect Sonja is also quite capable of providing mathematical background help as needed. I think given the implied mathematical ability from the description, the text + IP book is a very reasonable way to go. You can always backtrack to the workbook if needed.

I would say that although we focus on one topic per year, we actually appreciate an integrated approach, and we don't necessarily follow the WTM sequence; remember, 4 year cycle does not equate to classical; it is simply one author's method of implementing classical! You can study classically very well without a four-year cycle. Now that we are into biology, I am very glad we covered chemistry first; ATP, processing doe by chloroplasts, DNA, lipid rafts, proteins, the role of RNA and enzymes, and other key ideas make far more sense to my kids with a year of chem under their belts. The musculoskeletal system nearer to the end of the year, the movement of blood through veins, vision, and other topics will provide a nice early glimpse of some physics this time around, and practical physics application next time around. Chem was applied concurrently to geology and used to review some earth and space science, and physics will absolutely review those topics in some detail as well, along with some bio (effects of the space station on astronaut bodies? Growing foods in zero-G?) Throughout the year, my kids will also just watch Neil DeGrasse Tyson videos and read random science books and current magazines in any discipline for fun, outside of schoolwork, though I would not call science a passion for either of them at this age. I selected the four year cycle as the "best answer" of those presented, but my real answer is far more nuanced.