I was talking about the ACT/SAT - but I did have to take fill in the bubble tests in some of my larger college classes. It is not really a matter of being properly prepped for the SAT/ACT, it is getting used to the format and not being intimidated by the tests. We did testing every year from 1st grade through Jr year (PSAT and PLAN). I never worried about taking the ACT/SAT. I had no fear of the format. I have seen a few homeschool students who NEVER took standardized tests, or only took 1 or 2, stress over the ACT/SAT and other entrance exams. The stress came from their lack of test taking abilities. I helped one prep for the test, she knew all the information; she was just unsure of her ability to take the test. Another was working through the entire test prep book. She was stressing over the amount of time it was taking, she could not balance it with her work load for school (she started PS for HS). Taking tests is about more than the information - it is a skill that is learned from practice.

It had a different title, so I was not sure. I was looking for a white book with the exact same title...now I have a white version on the way. Thanks.

So are they really the same thing? I cannot find the white version, but I can find this. I have this. We like it, but I just use it for the pics and maps right now. We are not reading it. We read from SOTW and look at the page that corresponds. We study the maps and illustrations from several books. I want a good version for outlining later...

This is my son. He would sit for 45 minutes to an hour last year as long as we were working. If we did one cut and paste activity, that was fine, too many activities and he would lose focus. If we did math, phonics, reading, some history or science and geography and then go about our day - everything was great! He is still that way. He does not require breaks in our 1.5 hours for first grade - he wants to plug away, get it done, and go play without any interruptions. (Good thing I work that way too ;)). Try just getting down to business with the basics, then go for free play. See if that works for him.

I was not allowed to use a calculator until Algebra I. Even then, all the way through Calculus, we had sections of homework and tests that were done sans calculator. I really understood the math because of that. In college I managed to take a calculus test without my calculator and earn a pretty good grade. 1st and 2nd graders do not and should not be using a calculator. They are doing well in math because they can plug the numbers in a computer. Most likely, they don't really understand what they are doing.

We are doing a relationship study at church for 6 weeks. I am studying Merchant of Venice and MacBeth again to teach them at co-op. The Divide Comedy arrives tomorrow.....I am ready to start that. I am also trying to read Total Truth and Beloved....but other projects and books keep getting in my way....

That is so sad. We always put the kids on the top part of the cart in the infant seat. Our seat actually clipped onto the carts. We had to pull the lever as you would to release it from the base. Too bad they don't all work that way :(

I print my lapbook pieces as DS does math pages or his silent reading - anything independent. I just have two. DS does a SOTW lapbook I got from a website and DD does one on letters that I am making up as we go. I cut for DD but not for DS, that is part of what he loves about it. He enjoys the cutting. It is time consuming, we do lapbooking on Fridays only. It is a special activity if DS has finished all of his work.

If he decides to go to college, he will need to take standardized tests. It may be a long way off, I don't know how old your son is; but I do know that the more tests you take, the easier and less intimidating they become. I would test, with a portfolio you have the subjective opinion of the reviewer.

I took a class on criticism and theory of the theatre for my master's program. We read a book called Dramatic Theory and Criticism...It is excerpts from many great writers. They compiled all of the writings on the theatre, dramtic arts, and epic poetry. We read Plato, Aristotle, Dumas fil, and many more. There were passages that I had to reread two or three times to really understand what they were saying. Plato's The Republic gave me a hard time in high school, it was a little easier in college, better during my master's studies, but even now; I can still only read a small section at a time before I start just reading words and not READING the content. As I Lay Dying was another one that challenged me in high school. I tried it again last year and could not get through it. The John Jake's Trilogy - North and South, Love and War, and Heaven and Hell are tough because of length. I do LOVE them though!! The tv mini-series versions are fun, too ;) Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy - I can sit and read any other books in the Bible and enjoy them, understand them, and really get something from them - just not these 3! They are tough reads. I much prefer Revelation. Stanislavski's writings.

It is not a matter of trust. I don't think anyone should use credit cards. I wish I had never had one. I have never run up major credit card debt, but it can become a crutch. A 19 year old should be balancing a checkbook, learning to manage money. To the OP, does your bank not offer any protection? My bank offers at least $1000 fraud protection at no cost. It is a big chain bank. If they do, make sure you are signed up for the future.

My son reads very well for a 6 year old. He can read and comprehend to a 5th grade level, but his stamina is only good for 2nd grade work. He hates to write. He has NO stamina for handwriting. If I promise no writing beyond our four spelling dictation sentences, I get beautiful work. He makes some letters backwards (starts on the wrong side). I hope cursive will fix that will fix that. For narration, I read a small section, less than a page, and ask a question. Then I move on. When I finish, I have him tell me about it. He does much better this way. If I just read a whole story from SOTW and ask him to tell me about it, I get little. We are on the last bit of SM 2a. We just started multiplication. Our biggest problem is focus. He can do legos for hours, but 5 minutes of math and he is done.:confused:

My kids did this for a while! It was actually started by my daughter. We would go in our room and the bed would be stripped because they could not get out. They stopped after we made THEM make our bed back one day. ;)

One forum I get on for dance does not allow posts made just to up your post count and earn more stars (we earn stars rather than titles like "amateur beekeeper" etc. I am still not used to being able to put a hug or smile in a post and leave it. They also have rules about staying on topic amd cross-posting and many other crazy rules. I have been on that forum for 10 years, it has been an adjustment to the more relaxed rules.;) It makes things a lot more fun :)

We had a couple here yesterday...both kids are still asleep at 9:30....maybe by making up some sleep we will avoid them today.... Send them off for a nap....

I remember a lot of writing sentences and underlining, circling, labeling, and boxing words. I remember discussions of pronouns, adverbs, etc. And I know we took a test over propositions. We had to list as many as we could remember. That was all in 6th grade. I remember 1 punctuation lesson in Elementary school. We spent all of sophomore year o. The 5 paragraph essay, but we did little for grammar. I went to a private college pre school staring in 5th grade. I did learn how to write a research paper. They taught an amazing method for that, and we had plenty of practice! My grammar improved when I started my master's program.

I have never heard the term minuend. I completed college level calculus without ever hearing the term. We use sum, product, etc. But I am not going to stress over a 6 year old knowing.g any of these terms. As we get to higher math, there is plenty of terminology to learn that is used regularly: mean, median, etc, we will learn that.

I have two friends, sisters, who constantly send invites to me. One of them lives over 24 hours from me! It is the only communication I get from them and it fills their Facebook pages. I never go. I would go to a Pampered Chef party. That is it. My bride's maids had a pampered chef shower for me and I had one for a friend. They are the best kind of shower.

I wear it everyday. I dance everyday. If I am not going anywhere, I might forgo the deodorant; but it is part of my routine.

My son loved 100 Easy Lessons at 4.5. We skipped the written and talking/striped part. We just did all the sound practice. By lesson 60 he was reading well amd we just went over new sounds. We read the bob books at the same time.

:iagree:

Anytime I read something for the first or 3rd time, I read with a pencil and some sticky notes or sticky tabs. I mark passages I really like with a star or underline, write thoughts and ideas of meaning in the margins if the passage is more complex and put sticky tabs on things I want to look at again. If I was going to be writing a paper or essay, I would go back to the tabs and markings after I finished the first read and look at them a second time. Once I decided on a theme for the paper, I would go back and take more detailed notes on cards. You need that first read with no pressure to find all the information for a paper. You need to "know" the story before you study the work. Read it, enjoy it, but keep a pencil and paper nearby to you can make notes if something jumps out at you.

I do not have a high school student, but I have a master's in theatre and spent years studying Greek theatre. Don't forget to read a comedy or two! I really enjoyed Lysistrata. Another good one is The Frogs. Sondheim wrote a musical based on The Frogs. It could make an interesting paper topic to compare the two. Make sure you discuss the satyr play as well. There really aren't any to read, but there is some good information on them. In the competitions, the playwrights generally submitted one of each genre; more of the tragedies have survived, but the comedies are equally as good. I love this time period :)

Fox and the Hound All the Minnie the Pooh Movies The Buddy and Beethoven movies. Beethoven sometimes has boy girl relationships, bit the focus Is the dogs. Cars, there is a boy/girl thing, but it is between two cars....it just doesn't play the same.