I am a busy mom to 7, and we're entering the homestretch of our 12th year. We did TOG in our earliest years, along with one year of SL, but when we found MFW, I quit looking. I love the ease, simplicity, depth, focus, flexibility...pretty much every thing about it. We have used ECC and Exp to 1850. This year, we're using AHL, 1st, and K.

I'm looking for either a Geometry and/or Advanced Algebra. If anyone has taken the time to schedule this out, I would sooo appreciate it you'd share. (I hate to reinvent the wheel.) Thanks so much! Blessings, Dana

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My 2nd soon-to-be high schooler is not a big fan of science, so the search is on again. My 1st high schooler (son) was also a non-science lover, and his high school science was a failure, I'm sad to say. He started with Apologia's General Science, and it was far too laborious for his learning disabilities. He did Biology (sort of) on SOS, and we will do Friendly Chemistry for his senior year this year. Can anyone point me to a science for us? We've always struggled with this subject, but I'd like to try to find something that we *can* handle. Thanks for any ideas, Dana

I, too, am living out a very different reality from the vision we had when we first began homeschooling 12 years ago. Back then, we didn't know our oldest (almost 18) had severe auditory processing issues, as well as dyslexia. And, we also only had 3 children, and thought that we were done. We now have 7 children. We had our 4th tummy baby 5.5 years ago, and when she was 1, decided to adopt from China. We adopted our spunky, rambunctious daughter (shows signs of ADD, but her main special need has no impact on learning) at the age of 2. She's been home almost 3 years. Then, last June, we adopted a 14 year old girl from China, as well as an 8 year old boy. The boy is doing quite well, and really doesn't have any learning issues, but our daughter was in a terrible orphanage. She was abandoned at the age of 2, and presented with a cleft lip and palate, which went unrepaired till age 5 or 6. No follow-up surgeries or bone grafting was ever done, so she cannot have the repairs done that a child would normally have. She was also extremely malnourished and abused, both physically and more. They felt that she could not learn due to her mouth issues, and she basically watched soap operas every day. She did go to school, but was not required to do anything. She could not read, add, subtract...anything. She definitely has potential, and has made amazing leaps in her learning, but she will likely be with my dh & I forever. (I mean won't likely live on her own.) Sorry...didn't mean to turn this into my story! All that to say...you aren't alone. You have unique children who have very different and unique beginnings to their stories. They bring their own gifts and issues. BUT, they will undoubtedly be far better off for whatever you are doing than they would in their previous situations, and most likely better off than local schools, which can make some accomodations, but don't love and know them like you do. They aren't going to be in tune with what makes them tick, you know? What you are doing is great...and like others said, don't read about all the amazing things others kids are doing. Your children have their own story. It is amazing that they were able to leave their birth countries, which likely involved a lot of hardships that our birth children will never face, and they learn to be part of a family...a feat in and of itself. Especially when that family looks, sounds, smells, eats, speaks, and lives so foreign to what they know. This is rambling...sorry. I just want to encourage you to keep at it. And remember...comparison is the death of contentment. Bless you!

I'm trying (belatedly, since my son will be a senior) to try to put together his transcripts thus far, and I'm wondering what to call the year long worldview class he took at a co-op his sophomore year. Can anyone share what they've done? Thanks!

I would love to just do the next thing, however, my son is having to finish up geometry and algebra II at the same time, and only has a little over a year to do so. (He's half-way through his jr. year.) He was behind to begin with, especially in math, and then he screwed around and blew off his sophomore year. I really need to have it scheduled, or it just won't get done. (Especially since I have 6 other kids, two of whom are learning English, and one is severe special needs.) Thanks, Dana

I have seen the one posted that takes just one semester, but I'm hoping someone has a full year, two semester schedule that they wouldn't mind sharing. Thanks! DeeFL

We used this 3 years ago. My youngest schooling at that time was in 3rd. I also had one in 5th, and one in 8th doing ECC. They all learned their geography better than I ever knew it in all my years of high school. My 3rd grader, especially. I won't go into detail about all the rest, but just ditto what others have said about enjoying it tremendously.

Pam, I have to share one thing that has made a huge difference for us, since you mentioned meals. I got the book, Fix, Freeze, and Feast and we started preparing our meals this way. I cannot do a whole day of school, keep up with laundry, house, and then also fit in cooking (we have seven kids, two of whom don't speak English.) This is very different than once a month cooking. If you have any interest, check out the book on Amazon, and send me a message. I'll be happy to share more! (Just won't waste your time here, though, if you don't care to read about it.) Blessings!

Seconding Jump In! My 11yo ds is a very reluctant writer. This year, I just have him doing the 10 minute writing plunges, and he now looks forward to writing. He has suddenly turned into this creative guy and has started typing up some of his own stories. And he, literally, did not write even a paragraph up till now. Next year I'll move him into the other lessons in the book, like his not-at-all-reluctant-writer sister is doing. The program is meant to last two years anyways, so I think it'll be perfect for his middle school years.

I can think of many reasons... One being financial. If the finances aren't there, and the help isn't available, then sometimes it just isn't an option. Also, if the child doesn't have any desire to go. Also, learning disabilities can factor into that. My ds is dyslexic, ADD, and also has a pretty severe learning disorder. He cannot test well. At all. However, since he has never gone to ps (except K), he doesn't have any kind of IEP on record that would back this up and allow for any possible aids or accommodations. Online school really wouldn't be a great option either because he just can't focus, especially on a computer where there is so much temptation to facebook or google chat. That's not to say he'll never be a candidate for going to college; but not until he has a desire to focus and get take the courses and earn the grades and the diploma. Also, he's wanted to go into the military for as long as I can remember. Sure, as mom, I'd love for him to have a degree first so he can advance in rank; however, I cannot make him go that route. I'm sure there are myriad other reasons why one might not go to college. (I didn't even touch on spiritual reasons, although that opens up a whole other realm of reasons.) Regardless, I do think cc might be a good option for a child like yours. The classes are often much smaller than high school classes, and the professors are often quite dedicated. (And it's usually them teaching, as opposed to big universities where it is often grad students teaching.) Many classes are, as mentioned, offered as online options, as well. (Which would probably be good for any classes that *might* be big lecture hall type ones. All the best in finding a great fit for your daughter!

This is all good stuff! Thanks!

I'm going to go check out all these links!

I really want to cover alot! Not just how to cook/follow recipes, but also how to plan out a well-balanced meal. I also wan to deal with the nutrition aspect, and budgeting, too. I was thinking that a final project (after getting good at preparing foods) would be to have a budget given, do like 3 days meal planning, shop for the ingredients, and then prepare the meals. Also, I want to make sure they know how to do the cleaning of all the various parts of the house. (They are good, experienced cleaners already, but just want to make sure they "get" it!) Also, I want to cover some basic sewing, culminating in a final couple projects. I just hope someone else has maybe made a whole beautiful schedule of activities, saving me from thinking the whole thing through! :-) The link posted looks pretty good...I just need to read through it a bit more.

I am hoping to do a "home ec" type thing with the two of my kids to count as an elective, not to mention the fact that there are certain things I just want to make sure they know. I had planned on writing it myself, but am finding myself really short on time, but wanting to get them started. Obviously, they help with things all the time, but I'm really hoping for something a little more structured. Before I go crazy trying to fit writing something all up for them, has anybody written up something for their kids? And would you be willing to share? Thanks so much!

Do you know where I can look into Florida PASS? I tried googling it, but didn't find anything. Thanks!

I wouldn't say he's loving it, but not hating it, either.

How great for your son, and to go with a friend is awesome!

Now, I am finding myself needing to find something for my ds. I went to the site, but it looked like there was just text. I didn't see any problems to work on the sample. There surely are problems that need worked though, right? I'm looking primarily at Algebra on up. I'd love to hear if there are indeed problems, about how many per day; also, what a day's work looks like (ie; reading how much, problems, amount of time needed per lesson, etc.) TIA!

I actually used this for my first three kiddos. I loved that it was a spiral program, like Saxon. And I also loved that it was a fraction of the cost. They used it up through 6th grade. My only complaint about it was the size of the paper. (It may be different now though.) The paper was too long to fit in a folder or notebook, but it was a small annoyance to pay for a great math curriculum. Oh, and the self-checking addition math problem was such a great thing for my kids, and it saved so many "silly mistakes."

Are you just picking up the book and doing the lessons in order? And are you adding the "writing plunges" in, as well, or just skipping them? I'm trying to wrap my brain (which is admittedly extremely foggy and quite ADD) around scheduling this, and I keep getting frustrated when I open the book. Grrrr.....

Does anyone know if there is a yahoogroup for Jump In? Thanks,

However, this year is anything but normal in our home:) I will be working full time with my two 4 year olds, as well as our two newest children, aged 9 & 14 who only speak Chinese. The 9 year old knows his basic addition, subtraction, and simple multiplication. The 14 yo only knows addition up to about 7. She is severely delayed, due to institutionalization and neglect. I also have an 11th grader with learning disabilities, who needs me to stay on top of what he's doing (along with an attitude disability!) My 13 and 11 yo are the ones who will be doing the SOTW 4, but it will primarily be on their own. The AG is great, but cumbersome. I wish that the instructions for things like mapwork were written on the map pages. As is, if I just hand them the teacher guide, they'll be flipping back and forth between student pages and teacher pages, and I know it'll be dreaded. They're very independent in their school work, and have always been great at staying on task, but we were using things that have the daily schedule typed out, like MFW. Financially, we couldn't swing a full program this year (because it would have been 3 different programs to cover the 7 kids at various stages) but now I'm seeing why I quit piecing curriculum together YEARS ago! Blessings, DeeFL

Has anyone typed up a schedule for SOTW4? I'm looking at the 42 chapters, and the thought of typing up a schedule for how to fit this into one year, as well as type up the activity book suggestions has me wanting to crawl into bed and never come out. TIA