INFP here I think this may explain why I can never seem to decide between all of the curriculum choices. I want to use it all! :drool:

I thought about this also and went around and around with it. Do I break out assignments by day, by week, or just monthly and let my son schedule it in his calendar/agenda? We are only at middle school level now, and his organizational skills at the moment are practically non-existent. As much as I know we need to build these, this would be too much and too important a thing for him to handle at this point. We need smaller steps. Right now, he'll be seeing a week at a time with a breakout of what should fit in allotted hours per day. I will allow him some leeway with switching things around as long as last week's work is done before Monday morning of the new week. (Not so much leeway with lessons I need to directly teach. I am not willing to cover a week's worth of math on Friday evening!) I think over next few years, I'll let him be increasingly involved in the process of planning his work, even sitting in on it with me for the next quarters of this year. At least that's the plan I'm running with. Of course, I am always searching for ideas and ways that other families handle things like this.

I jumped in with both feet. :willy_nilly: The learning curve wasn't as bad as I expected. Just completed first 9 weeks of lesson plans, an overall weekly schedule, and notes/planning helps for the rest of the school year. We take rabbit trails and change things around often, so I have a general overarching goal for the whole year but only break it down a quarter at a time, building in extra days for catch-up or projects. There are still a number of things I want to include in our planning notebook, but I have enough in place to get going. Terrific bonus that I can pull this up on my phone at any time. Love this program! :001_tt1:

I am pretty sure that is what I have. It reads like a workshop for teachers and includes readings for working through the process yourself in order to understand it better.

I purchased a copy of just the book from IEW not long ago and have found it to be more than enough for me. (I tend to avoid DVD-based training; I'd much rather read.) All of the information is there, but without the hand-holding of implementing. For me, that is sufficient as I'm pretty comfortable with literature and with this approach. My son is only in middle school, so I have not looked at the high school materials. That being said, the roadmaps look like a very useful resource. I'm considering trying one of those out.

The CC math standards aren't actually bad. They focus a great deal on deeper understanding of mathematics, which was already Singapore Math's strength. The nightmare stories we keep hearing/seeing regarding the CC math are more a result of pitiful implementation. Having already used SM for few years, I trust their methods.

Well, this thread just cost me a few dollars. :w00t: Seriously, thank you! I've been uncertain about our plans for 7th grade math next year. The elementary levels of Singapore Math were a big hit here. I honestly hadn't looked that closely at the upper levels. The integrated approach is a big advantage in my opinion.

Save your favorites. Think long-term. I have a very young granddaughter who already shows all the signs of being as big a bookworm as I am. You don't know what little ones in your future might be thrilled to have a book that meant something to you.

Unfortunately - or maybe, unwisely is the better word - I was using an older version of OneNote just to learn the program and specified very clearly that I wanted to keep it on that computer only. Nevermore.

I looked for a suitable emoticon for the preceding scene, but nothing seemed sufficiently melodramatic.

I did try that already. The tech said that the motherboard was ruined. (The whole thing got really HOT to the touch. I didn't expect that!) They are checking the hard drive. Picture me as Scarlett from Gone With the Wind in that desolate, scorched earth scene where she's waving a carrot around, only I am holding an external hard drive up, shaking it toward heaven as I vow, "I will never go without backing up my files again!"

:eek: I think I'm in shock. Lesson plans, calendar, and resource lists for the first 9 weeks of next school year that I've worked for the past few weeks to set up in virtual binders in that miraculous OneNote program are GONE after a drink somehow managed to leap across the table and spill directly into my laptop, frying the motherboard. And no, I hadn't backed it up on an external drive. :banghead: I say "gone" to prepare myself for the worst, but I am holding a small hope that the hard drive may still be readable. (Please, please, please!!!) Feeling a little sick to my stomach. :ack2:

You have understood the situation correctly, I think. As extended family, we all have strong, loving bonds - far from perfect, of course. She has a history of being blunt and blissfully ignorant of the effects of her "advice" and holds the view that her children and their families still require her input and direction to manage our lives. I personally am seeing more of this behavior lately and can't help but wonder if aging is playing a part in the lack of filtering which thoughts should just remain unspoken. There will be no yelling, but there must be a conversation. She will have her feelings hurt, I'm sure, and I think she will be very upset to learn that her comments caused hurt to our son. She does need to know this, though. I am pretty sure she will not bring up the subject with him in the future at all. If something like this happens again, it will be a whole new issue. :crying: We've taken the opportunity to point out to ds that adults can be really wrong sometimes, but that when you consider the heart of the person who has hurt you, it's much easier to give them a little grace.

My husband is angry enough for both of us. I am mostly sad and seriously disappointed.

... so he won't be "socially awkward." She had this little talk (he called it a lecture) with him in the car while taking two nephews and him to dinner. Of course, he interpreted her comments as "She thinks I am socially awkward." He is almost 12 and at that critical, pre-teen place in defining his own self-image. He called me into his room at midnight to talk through all of the self-doubt stirred up by that one comment. I spent an hour listening and encouraging him to see all the ways he is perfectly wonderful. I am pleased that he remained respectful to his grandmother and did not respond much. (He couldn't think of a way to respond in the moment, he was so flabbergasted at the conversation coming out of nowhere and in front of his cousins.) I reminded him that she really has no idea how he is in social situations; she doesn't see him with his friends or when meeting other people. Her comments were based entirely on assumptions. I am sure she held the best intentions, but... ugh. We have people comment all the time on his ability to meet and greet with a warm smile and a bit of conversation. He can be initially nervous when going into a group of people he doesn't know, but he always interacts well and comes out of it with a handful of new friends. But last night, all he could think about was how he is less than he should be somehow. It's disappointing to me especially because I was so sure that her initial reservations and concerns when we first began homeschooling him in kindergarten had long since been resolved and that she saw the benefits that have been so obvious to my husband and me. My husband will speak to her about it. I'm just praying for my son to be able to let it go and for any family fall-out to be minimal. Thanks for letting me vent.