Hello, I cannot make up my mind on which science program I want to do for my 12 year old son, going into 7th grade this fall. Right now, I'm struggling with choosing between... The Rainbow (http://www.beginningspublishing.com/) or CPO Science (http://www.cpo.com/home/ForEducators/MiddleSchoolEarthScience/tabid/261/Default.aspx) I'm even debating doing them together, though I don't know if that is really possible, if they can be meshed together. What I like about The Rainbow is it looks straight forward, comes with a complete lab kit (and hence more likely we'll really do the experiments), and isn't full of fluff. I have no doubts my son would understand the text and enjoy reading it. It's also affordable. What I don't like about The Rainbow is the Christian bent (though I don't know how much it effects the text, I'm just concerned with it) and that it may be too simple. What I like about CPO is it looks much more comprehensive. The text just looks meatier. I also like all the free help sheets on their website. What I don't like about CPO is the labs are BEYOND expensive if bought from the company, which means putting things together myself (which lowers the likelihood of us doing them). And for all I know, the "meaty" looking text is just fluff my kid doesn't need. Anyone with experience with either program, do you have advice? Oh, a little about my son... he is average in math, very interested in science, and actually wants to be a scientist when he grows up (as of today, anyway.) Thanks so much! ~ Rachel

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I wanted to say thank you, for all your great ideas! What I tried out yesterday and today was having one kid watch the babies, with baby tv shows on, while I worked with the other kid. I had to go against my own rules (no TV in the morning, no using TV as a babysitter for the babies), deciding getting more time and one-on-one attention with the big kids was more important. The first day went iffy... little ds was fine, little dd screamed and cried. But today, our second day of trying this, went great. Little dd cried at first, but got over it. And I got an hour of time each with the big kids, giving us time to work on things that are hard to do with noise and craziness around. I asked the kids which way they liked better, and they said they really like this way best. So yay!!! Thank you so much for your help :) Next step is to eventually get the babies to play while I read to them together... but one step at a time. :) ~ Rachel

My 3rd grader is reading My Father's Dragon, which a good reader at 2nd grade might enjoy. It's a very funny book, and he LOVES it.

Have you ever read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke? I'd call this Harry Potter for adults. AMAZING book.

This is such a good idea! I don't know why I never considered that.

Thanks for the moral support! :) I've read others talk about putting their kids in highchairs. This makes me laugh, though. I have little Houdinis. No matter how tight I make the straps, my babies escape. I can hardly keep them there long enough to eat! I've recently got them interested in forks, so they will sit long enough to eat. But the high chairs in this house are NOT safe places. Turn around for a moment, and they are standing up, turned around, and getting ready to jump out. :lol::lol: Yes, I've thought of that aspect!!! I experienced infertility between the 9 yr old and the twins. I go back and forth, thinking it'd be so amazing if I got pregnant on my own... and thinking how that may make me lose the rest of my marbles! ;)

Tell me more! Did you just let them cry? Or were your babies happy to play alone? We have a safe area to play, we have a safety gate. They do not like being there without someone else, though. They cry and scream, even though we are right in the next room and they can see and hear us. (It's more like a gate that divides one big room into two rooms, as opposed to two rooms.) Sometimes, they will play quietly after some crying, but most of the time, they won't. It rarely lasts longer than 10 minutes before they remember they don't like to be alone and start to cry. I'm not happy about allowing them to cry long periods of time. To do that would make me feel like I am just exchanging problems. Instead of not having time to read with kids, I would have time but now I have very sad babies.

Hello, I've been lurking on this board for months, maybe a couple years in fact! But this is my first post. :-) I have an 11 yr old, a 9 yr old, and 16-month twins. Homeschooling with the twins underfoot is so exhausting. Once upon a time, homeschooling involved sitting together on the couch, reading lots of good books, and doing cool art projects and science projects. Now, sitting on the couch to read is almost impossible (the twins come and grab the book, pull down on me, etc.), and art projects or science projects are extremely difficult to find time for. Lately, homeschooling has been limited to book work they mostly do on their own (maps, vocab, phonics, reading) or work that is very high priority (math, writing, spelling). They also have a private Hebrew teacher, but that I have nothing to do with, except making sure they do their homework. They also have other extracurricular activities, like martial arts, art classes, and social homeschool gatherings. But when it comes to me sitting with them and reading, it isn't happening. When I do need to sit with them, for math or writing, it's in these little bits of times, and it's not uncommon for a baby to be crying or pulling on my leg at the same time. History has been coming from a history TV program, and literature is basically what they read themselves. Science is taught here and there, and I try to comfort myself with the idea that they watch a lot of Discovery and National Geographic. So between our own science breaks, at least they are getting something. Art they get from three art classes they are taking, so technically, there's no reason they have to do projects at home. But still... I'm not sure what to do, or if there is something I can do. A babysitter isn't an option... I try to do history, literature, and science with them during baby naps, but lots of times, the babies won't sleep at the same time, so this doesn't work. I can't teach them at night because that is when *I* work (at home, as a writer.) Next year, my plan is to get science programs that they do mostly on their own. For history, I have high hopes it'll get better and we'll have time again... But this year, science and history have been so lame. I'm not sure if I'm just venting, looking for advice, or just BTDT stories. I keep thinking, "It'll get better when the twins are..." whatever age, but that hasn't happened! When WILL it get better?? Thanks for any words of wisdom, ~ Rachel