We started back today after a two week break. You would have thought we took the whole summer off. It took forever. My oldest was whining and lollygagging. When he hadn't finished his Latin by lunch (usually done at 10am), I assigned it as homework. He was aghast! (Then he got it done in 5 min). Tomorrow's go to be better...

My older two are hearing The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright and I'm reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to everyone at lunch.

We follow an LCC-style curriculum patterned after the 2nd edition and the Memoria Press curriculum. Next year I'll have one using most of MP's 4th grade curriculum, one in second, and one in first. I've incorporated the SOTW series, WWE, and AAS into our curriculum plan, which we like much better. I don't know how the middle school years will go, but we're happy for now.

Before I give my student the dictation, I write the words he probably can't spell at the bottom of his page. Then he can just reference my notes when he's spelling these words. If I notice another problem, I wait until he's done so that I don't break his train of thought.

If you know that he's purposely making mistakes, you could either use a positive or negative reinforcement option: If he spells something wrong, he has to rewrite it 10 times "so he remembers next time" -or- If he spells everything right, he gets a point, and after so many points something good happens like ice cream! My oldest likes to rush through his work so he can play with the younger kids. Usually his last morning subject is spelling, using AAS. He has three dictation sentences a day. The rule is: if he misspells something or is sloppy, he has to rewrite it and then he gets an extra sentence. You won't believe how neat and attentive he is!

I love the book selections from Veritas Press. They pick high-quality, usually challenging, literature for each grade level. Their literature guides have comprehension, some literary elements, and some activities. Memoria Press also has literature guides, but theirs are meant to be used slower and include vocabulary and discussion/analysis questions too. We use a mix of both, and we only use them for a couple books a year. At this age, we're building fluency and enjoyment, though I'd like to get a little extra out of the books too.

Hmmm. I guess I need another defense tactic. Maybe something Teflon coated...

I would definitely run the numbers about the total loan debt and repayment schedule for each of the options to see what is reasonable. You also haven't talked about other living expenses while in college, and this will compound your money situation. Finally, I saw in your sig that he will be getting a pastoral studies degree. What is a reasonable starting salary for a job with this degree? Obviously the less loan debt you have coming out of college, the more flexibility you'll have when you graduate. I worked full time every other semester while in college at a job in my field. I earned well over the normal student average salary, got good job experience, and had far less debt when I graduated. I used this money to pay the difference in the cost of college and the stafford loans I got. So, my choice would be to find a way to get him to earn the difference. $300 really is'nt that much money a month, and if you can help inconsistently, even better! This way you could pay off the car faster and have money available as your second gets ready for college. Best of luck!

The military just moved us down to south Florida in January. Our house is about two miles from the Everglades. Luckily our place is in the middle of the subdivision and we have no lake access. We have tons of frogs, turtles, and lizards running through our yard. We have only seen two small snakes so far. Since we have a chain-link fence, I'm hoping that that will limit the size of animal that can enter our back yard, so no 17-foot pythons. We are adapting ok, but my daughter is scared of the frogs because they like to hide in the damp, shady areas. This area definitely isn't for the faint of heart!

The I Can Read It books use short vowels, some blends, and some long vowel combinations, but not many. I think the purpose is to make you more fluent while reading. After you are done, they start reading Dr. Seuss books and Little Bear. If your student could use more practice in this area, they would be worth it. They are not really that exciting, so I doubt he'd be reading them in his spare time. I use them for instructional time. For free reading, I let my daughter pick from the easy reader section in the library. We also like the phonetic readers from All About Spelling.

I only have four kids, but we seem to thrive on routine. During breaks life can get a little crazy around here. So I can understand the need for a daily structure for the Swann family. Imagine trying to get 12 kids all moving in the same direction! Three hours really is not much school. Eat breakfast, finish chores, a couple hours of school, and then the majority of the day to do what you want. It sounds like a pretty good life to me...

My oldest son has his birthday on Christmas Day. We do Christmas in the morning and open his presents in the evening. We tell him that Jesus gets priority. We never have his birthday party before Christmas because everyone already has their calendars full, so we always have his party on the Saturday after Christmas. There is a big gap between presents, but he can always play with his siblings' birthday presents.

Pinocchio is great because the chapters are short, there are pictures throughout, but the vocabulary is at a much higher level. At that stage my son also liked to read the Bill Peet books, which are higher-level picture books.

My older 3-year old will sit and listen to read alouds, but only because I do them during lunch.

You could also add in some work on constellations, since many of these are mentioned in the D'Aulaires book.

I would not stress over history. Make sure you've got the basics down first (reading, writing, math, etc). Once you're in the groove with these, I would add in either picture books or short chapter books about famous people/events in American history as read alouds. Don't worry about sequence, special projects, or tie-ins. Depending on how your kids are reading, they could read simple biographies of these people like the Clyde Robert Bulla books or even the Magic Tree House ones. This will help your kids get the important American history people and events covered without causing undue stress. I'm sure in a year or two your house will be totally different and you won't have trouble fitting in history any more. For now, just some gentle exposure will fit the bill.

I would probably keep her moving in Latin, just to keep things fresh. I would move into LC1 (or LFC) and move at her pace. Stay on a lesson until she has it down pat. It might take longer, but there will be less frustration.

If the school has that sign out, it leads me to believe that people are actually making another choice...

We use the Intensive Practice books after we have finished the regular curriculum for the year. I have found that it helps to go back over the concepts they learned earlier in the year, but ups the challenge level. I also give my kids a 100 problem math drill page every day to "get them warmed up." We have been able to get through both IP books in a year by doing two pages a day. If we're not done, we just finish them over our break. Oh, and I pay for every Challenge problem they can figure out on their own.

I am totally with you. They seem to take so much time to get the right materials, then the set up, then the less-than-stellar experiment, and then the clean-up, of course. I hate to do them! My solution has been to use a non-experiment based science class (we are finishing MP's Astronomy and soon will move into their insects course). Then about three times a year we take a week off and designate it art/crafts/science week. For that one week we focus on one science topic, like earth science, and do a couple experiments a day. We usually have some sort of larger art or craft project going on that week too. I like to think of it as science camp. This is the only way we will get experiments done. Otherwise I would just ditch them altogether.

I think that anytime people can elect and remove their leaders, this is a good thing. However, if the majority always rules, there are no protections for the minority. I know that in many of the new democracies of the world there are rules imposed for the support of the minority populations. Maybe more of a parliamentary government would work better in these cases?

That's why we do school in the summer. It's too hot to do much else. Then you can do fun stuff when it cools down!

My oldest (3rd grade) has a bookshelf where I place the books that I want him to read for the year. He has 30 minutes of assigned reading time every weekday. Typically, I pick a book for him, then he gets to pick the next book, etc. He can read whatever in his "free reading time," but this is for his assigned reading slot. Oh, and if I find another book that I'd like him to read during the year, I add it to the shelf.

My third grader reads 30 minutes of mom-selected literature each week day. I ask for a quick summary when he's done, but no written work. In 30 minutes he usually makes it through two chapters. We do this year-round, though, so we make it through more books. My kids can also read for 30 minutes after bed time, but whatever they want. We use MP's 3rd grade curriculum, but their literature is more for analysis and makes it through only three books a year. He doesn't normally read voluntarily in his free time, so that's why I have a mandatory 30 minutes of reading after lunch. He's definitely not one of those who will disappear for a couple hours...

My son has recently read some Beverly Cleary books, Clyde Robert Bulla books, and random others off of Veritas Press and Sonlight's reading lists. Pinocchio is a great one for this reading level with its short chapters and advanced language. The only thing I would caution is that Black Ships Before Troy has pretty advanced language. I read it to my boys this year, but I don't think I would assigned it for him to read by himself.