I'm using this with my 5th and 7th graders. I am using some suplements, but I can see it working without under a few conditions. If your child reads other good literature on her own and writes in other areas across the curriculum or for fun, it is probably enough. The ways in which I am minimally supplementing: My 7th grade DD is participating in a literature discussion class at co-op with optional writing assignments. I also purchased a few MBTP lit units which I am assigning during times that a lit book is NOT used in HO. When books like the Golden Goblet are being read in history, that will cover her lit time. She used IEW for writing the past two years, and we both feel she received enough instruction for now and will be applying skills learned by writing across the curriculum this year. My 5th grade DS will be attending an IEW class at co-op using the Ancient History-based writing lessons which will coordinate nicely with what we are doing with HO. Writing assignments are minimal, not much more than a paragraph for the week, so this is not time consuming. If I wasn't already teaching it at co-op, I would just be teaching the outlining and sumarizing skills ala WTM using the HO program. I am also supplementing with a few MBTP lit units with him in the same way as above, just filling in when there is less history reading. I will add, that I LOVE the layout of HO Level 2 assignments directed to the student in checklist form. The Moving Beyond the Page lit units have a similar layout (checklists) at their higher levels. Hope that helps!

My kids loved Mary Pope Osborne's retelling of the Odyssey: http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Odyssey-Part-Mary-Osborne/dp/1423128648/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378686770&sr=1-1&keywords=osborne+odyssey

How about coursera? https://www.coursera.org/

I also have a BS in Psychology. I have to say, if you are going to have a degree in something that is never actually used in a "professional" manner, a psych degree is pretty useful! I also have a Masters in Education. My DH has a BA in Economics.

Road IDs are becoming more and more common. My DH wears one when out on his long bicycle rides. IMO I don't believe there would be any hestitation delaying treatment simply b/c of an id.

I make a quinoa salad with all of the above plus tomatoes. I believe quinoa is a little healthier than pasta and just as easy to make, so you could go that route once in a while.

My youngest will go through spurts of complaining. I deal with it by not engaging. When she starts whining about an assignment, i make sure she knows what is expected (i will often write down the steps) then I tell her " I am going upstairs to work with your brother now, i'll be back to check your work." once she's left alone with her assignment, the whining stops. Obviously this will only work with independent work, but I figured I'd share.

We also just started Singapore DM 7A. The lessons (1.1,1.2 etc) are longer than in PM and we were spending well over an hour working. I was blaming the poor pacing on "summer brain", but I searched for a while Friday on the Singapore forums and found that each of those sections does not equate to a lesson a day. At that pace the half-year course would be completed in about 9 weeks. As per advice on that forum, we will be breaking the lessons down further. She will still spend an hour or so a day on math, but we will not feel as rushed or pressured and will spread the lessons out. For example 1.5 has a section A on square roots and a section B on cube roots. We will divide that into two days unless my DD moves through it quickly.

It probably wasn't as bad as I remember, no one got sick. It was out overnight. I saw it in the afternoon and we didn't eat until 2 or 3 the next day. For the record, I'm not a big fan of leftovers in general, except when I cook a double-batch of something and immediately refrigerate or freeze it, so that's probably clouding my view.

There is also a parent overview DVD http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/sso for only $10. It is 2 hours long, kind of like the cliffs' notes of TWSS. I gave one to each parent in the IEW class I taught, so the parents would have an understanding and be better equipped to assist with home assignments.

I don't recall the weather, but I do remember thinking it wasn't cold enough out there and it was a stinky, dirty garage and the poor turkey was on the STEPS that we were all walking on. I do know about using my own garage as a walk in fridge in the winter. When we lost electricity for a few days last year, it was colder out there than in our unpowered fridge.

Years ago (before kids), I was at my MIL's the day before Thanksgiving. When I arrived, I was surprised to smell the turkey already. It was sitting in a large pot (covered by a towel) on the garage steps! I was horrified when she told me it would be fine when the hot gravy hit it the next afternoon. Thanksgiving has been at my home ever since...

I've read TWTM in its entirety more than once, and some parts dozens of times. Yes, I read it before I came to the forum.

Thanks! The printables look fabulous! As much as I try to do planning/organizing with apps, I'm really a paper list maker at heart.

Grape vodka with lemonade over ice is a fabulous summer drink!

Leader here also. In this case the fee is for both a CORI check and insurance. I would guess the Boys & Girls Club uses membership fees to cover insurance as well. ETA ---no way should she have to pay every week. An annual fee, maybe, not weekly.

My kids loved Alcatraz tour as well. Riding the trolley and spending an hour (free)at the Cable car museum was fun and educational. http://www.cablecarmuseum.org/info.html The museum had a wall of pictures about the big San Francisco earthquake which was quite interesting. * for the record, we tagged along on business trip as well. Nice perk!

Both would be overkill. I used HO Ancients with my DC 4 years ago (grades 1&3) and then used SOTW with activity guide for Medieval. We liked both. One difference was HO used SOTW out of order. I have now switched back to HO level 2 for ancients with my 5th and 7th graders. I really like how all of the assignments are layed out and the literature and writing assignments are integrated. I really love the little boxes to check in HO.

We had this issue with the freezer in our garage a few years back. If someone let the fridge door slam or "fall/bang" shut, then the freezer would pop open a bit. If no one noticed, there was a melting mess. After this happened twice, my DH screwed a metal lock to the side of the freezer to keep it shut. Worked like a charm...though I still find myself explaining to guests who notice the lock. I'll try to upload a picture.

psych! don't have a cow! no duh! wicked ______ (might be local) ETA: I totally forgot TOTALLY! I didn't list "awesome" b/c it seems just as popular now as in the 80s ETAA: Sorry, that's a lot of exclamation points.

We're starting tomorrow too! I just updated my signature with what we will be using. Moving Beyond the Page is new for us. I'm hoping it will be the "something different" I've been looking for for my youngest. Spanish is also new for us. My oldest did Latin for three years, but this year everyone asked for Spanish...who am I to turn them down?

We love watching many of the food network shows, especially the competitions. My kids are actually "playing" food truck race with stuffed animals lined up at their stations this morning. Mean mom told them no one comes up for breakfast until the basement is clean...there is fake food, menus, order sheets and tickets everywhere.

Moving beyond the Page connects language arts, science and social studies into units using living books and kits.

How about a BrainPop subscription? My kids love it! It's on sale until the end of August through Homeschool co-op.

To encourage the children to stay on task and get to their 30 minutes of quiet reading in the am, tell them if it isn't done before lunch, then the first half of afternoon quiet time is spent reading, their choice. I'd also move piano to late afterernoon or after dinner.