In this post http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/68058-to-all-you-people-with-8th-graders-or-there-abouts/?hl=%2Bmodg&do=findComment&comment=664607 and others... MODG..? GRIN...? See it frequently and have searched here and on Debbie's page with no luck. (am emailing you Debbie :001_smile: ) But anyone else know? Um...help! :001_huh:

So here is the painful history with our family and my unfaithfulness with MUS with eldest. We both loved MUS and I bought Abeka math tests to give him extra challenge. He rarely, if ever missed a problem. I stopped at upper elementary bc other homeschool moms convinced me it wasn't enough. Went to Saxon. We became miserable and I kept going back to my MUS curriculum for him to learn the concept and then do Saxon problems. He went from enjoying math to hating it. ( I never won him back :( ) So determined to regain his love for math, I went full-fledged back to MUS thru Alg 1. He became agreeable, if not enthused. Once again was convinced MUS wouldn't be enough for college, I panicked and went to AoPS Intro to Algebra. I thought the challenge would motivate him. He could do the problems but his attitude surfaced again so I quit AoPS at ch 13. Still not convinced that MUS Geometry was difficult enough, we went to Jacobs Geometry and he did well. BUT I had to buy the MUS Geometry anyway bc I used it to teach him concepts and Jacobs to do problems. Tried to make math fun with Life of Fred Adv Alg for Alg 2 but that was a flop because all he did was read. :confused1: Thinkwell for Pre-Calc which we didn't stick with long because he did well in the problem sets but bombed the quizzes/tests. Then came ALEKS... Math became the equivalent of a daily root canal. :cursing: So obtained Chalkdust Review math to get ready for ACT. He took the ACT and was competent enough to register for the Pre-Calc class at community college and got A's. The lesson for me? Quit monkeying around in the formative years if I find something that works for me as a teacher and my kid as a student. I will stick with MUS bc it works for us and then WAIT til much later to get creative. ;) (esp. since I have never tried Foerster's...mwahaha)

Yes...makes the rest of my house less messy. :blushing: For me, this is why I couldn't go back to not having one. We used to be spread all over the house. This meant that we had supplies in different areas all over the place. I'd have a lasso session every Friday and gather all of that together to make it seem less overwhelming. It was exhausting. :willy_nilly: So now, we have a room, things are in milk crates or sterilite containers with handles and lids and labels. Once supplies are needed, the tub travels to and fro with the particular student. Then at the end of the day, it has a place in the dedicated school room, instead of getting stacked against the wall or under the kitchen table. Once everyone gets in the habit, it isn't that hard. My school room isn't cut off from the other living areas though. That would be hard if the room felt isolated. No, you aren't in la-la land. :D However, I wouldn't invest much in the actual furniture so much as the organizational items. You can evaluate how much time is actually spent in there once you start setting it up and build from there. For us, we have a folding table from Wal-mart and some office chairs. It is mostly bookshelves and bookcases with crates and tubs. Tests and math (bc whiteboard is in there) are what we actually do in the school room. It is the 'serious' room. :001_cool: And yes, we spread all over the house. I love homeschooling :001_wub: but who wants to look at it all the time. I needed to walk away from it and not be reminded of something else that needed to be done. We all feel better being able to walk away from 'school' and the necessary mess that goes with it. (Ok, it might *just* be me, and everyone else is just humoring me! :blush: )

We used Landry for adv. comp. I can say that the goals you mentioned (which I quoted) were met and/or exceeded by using them in that class. I am a strong writer and realized that my child was a strong writer after finishing that class. I suspected but wanted confirmation of ability. I wish I had outsourced writing sporadically through the high school years so that my child could see my comments were accurate and not mom 'being picky.' :glare: College has confirmed my child's ability (and shocked me at how poorly fellow students were prepared). So although I will not completely outsource writing with my next child, I will actively seek options earlier for the goals you mentioned above. Good luck in your search! I hope others post experience with the other options you mentioned because I am extremely interested! :bigear:

Do you mind sharing what your recipe is for the soap? I have not been very successful with some of the recipes I have tried. I have only been successful using vinegar for household cleaning and making my own laundry detergent. I have tried the natural deodorants but haven't found one with an anti-perspirant ability.

Thanks!! And Ah, I know EXACTLY how your daughter feels. The stories I could tell. Science Olympiad provides excellent lab opportunities to exercise the finer character traits you might have been trying to teach. There are NO shortage of folks who think that when they toot their horn, everyone in earshot feels blessed to have heard those raucous tones. :001_rolleyes: Some state directors are more willing to work to get more teams than others. They might even be advertising discounts on registration for new teams. The current mantra is get more teams competing in Science Olympiad so it is a good time to ask if you could pool together as a private school team. There are private school teams who did really well at nationals but the members on each team were all from the same school. Definitely research the Science Olympiad site referred to by Luckymama, follow the links to the sample tests and see if you can find an invitational mentioned close to you. Generally, you can participate in those and not have a full team and get an idea if you'd even like it. Same thing with regionals. Not having a full team can prevent you from moving on to state but if you find you enjoy it, who cares? You gotta start somewhere to build a team. The best advice I can give before you show up to any competition, read the rules for the event, and oh yeah, read the rules.. And Luckymama, keep fighting the good fight for the rest of us :thumbup:

Finally found the article to pass on to others re: expectations when they haven't homeschooled. http://preschoolersandpeace.com/blog/2007/1/10/what-non-homeschoolers-may-not-know.html

My DS participated in high school and middle school and DD as middle schooler. We were on a homeschool team. As far as a team, it requires: 1) time-management because of depth of knowledge necessary (especially in high school..sheesh) 2) willingness to do school around it for a certain time of year. DS was a slow worker anyway so he would be working until midnight some weeks and during the summer to make up for getting so behind. (Olympiad requires students to study, build things, but parents also helping research, seek out supplies, competitions and meeting with others) 3) a group of highly committed adults to develop interest and commitment and support kids in the heavy workload (this is lots of work and your kid may walk away with no medal...that can be tough!!) 4) thick-skin: our experience with public schoolers at competitions and their coaches was sometimes not so pleasant. :thumbdown: We were seen as a threat and were often accused of not doing any school and/or questioned heavily as they didn't believe that all our smart kiddos came from where we said they came from. Our team won state and went to nationals and it was an AMAZING experience. (It was also exhausting and a huge commitment financially as we had to raise money to get there. ) We have chosen not to participate now with DD but it was a great experience and if your kid is naturally gifted in science, this is one that you should seriously pursue if you are in a group of other homeschoolers with kids of that persuasion. Love to hear of another homeschool team making it. :hurray:

what is "s/o" on all the subject line of posts? :confused1: Linda ETA: NM...I finally found your abbreviations page and saw it listed...please ignore me! :blushing:

Sometimes, asking for help in getting your kids involved in something they want is what is needed. Perhaps your mom could help with the travel of your oldest to some activity? I think the biggest mistake we can make sometimes is assuming that doing it all means WE actually have to do it all. :willy_nilly: I have helped with the pick-up and drop-off of other hs mom kids who wanted to take part in activities with my kids and I have asked for help from other moms, too. That extra help so I could stay home, or she could stay home, was priceless. Would have loved to have had a mom who was around to ask...and I think she's opened the door to that conversation. If she can't or isn't willing, then I think you should take a moment to think if there is another way to get help. In the meantime, ENJOY your sweet peaceful times at home with those treasures, they leave all TOO SOON! :sad: Linda

See parrothead's response in this thread http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=257688&highlight=what+does+queen+bee+mean I couldn't understand it either :D Linda