We start schooling as soon as summer swimming ends. We have a 3-4 week break before USA swimming starts and it is hot and rainy sometimes and everyone else leaves town for their vacation. We get a huge amount done, and we work hard until fall when we take a trip to the beach with grandparents or something. I often look forward to the rainy late fall or cold winter season because we do school in our pajamas some days, and we read and drink cocoa and coffee for hours. Boy, I loved when they were little, and I could stay in my flannels and read to them for hours! We work really hard throughout the rainy, cold seasons, because when spring comes, my kids are headed outside. When my son was younger, he would disappear for hours in the woods. Anyway, we love hiking in the spring when Dad is off, and actually we love hiking in the fall when Dad is off. That is why we work hard and long when July ends and by Christmas we are 20 weeks or so into it. You know though, these are so many of the reasons that I love hs - just working it around the seasons and our schedules and being with my kids. ReneeR

My ds worked through the text and did all the labs himself. I ordered the dissection kit from Sonlight so they were all there for him when he needed them. He would write up a lab report including drawings after each dissection. His 8 yr old sister was always there to help! We have had a microscope for several years so he is very well acquainted with the way it works. (Dad is a physician and has shown them all how to use a microscope properly, and we have used it for many things over the years.) Anyway, my son worked through the text, and I would check study guide and hand him the test including the quarterly tests. He seems to be able to hold an intelligent conversations with his father so I figure he got it all. As I remember Apologia was written for the student to be able to work through independently at all levels. ReneeR

I had one who did not cry, but boy, if I had to correct him about something, he lost it alittle. I mean, he did not like red marks at all on a paper. I started correcting anything with a blue or black pen. I, also, would have so say things like "let's look at this one together". This age was very sensitive. I don't know what it is, but my last one, almost 9 yr old, is alittle the same way. I really think that the problem lies within that perfectionist personality. Often times these kids are really smart and they start realizing things about the world before their lil "kid" brains can handle it. My son, also, lost it one day when he discovered a map in an Usborne history book mislabeled. His father and I had to explain to him that errors happen because we are all human. He just felt it was wrong to print a book incorrectly. I have had to watch myself with him over the years, because he tends to expect the same from others as he does from himself so he becomes a little critical and judgmental of others. I confess, it is an ugly trait he gets from me. Maybe, you could talk to him about how we all make mistakes and learn from them and include adult examples, as well. Just my 2 cents. Good luck ReneeR

Both my girls were huge fans of Henry and Mudge, Mr. Putter and Tabby, and Nate the Great books. Also, we found a series at the library called Billy and Blaze by C.W. Anderson which involved a boy and horse. They had wonderful drawings in them. Also, any Dr. Suess we could get our hands on were always a hit. My daughters, also, loved the Christian Liberty Nature Readers. They have beautiful pencil drawings them, also. P.S. All the Lobel books were big hits around here - Frog and Toad, Mouse Tales, etc ReneeR

I am not sure if I read this correctly, but you are asking about Alg I and your son is in Saxon 76 now. You need something between these two like Saxon 1/2 or Chalkdust pre-algebra. I would not jump from Saxon 76 to any Alg I course. That being said. We did Saxon 76 and then Saxon Alg 1/2 and then we went straight to Chalkdust Alg I. My kids are very math oriented so we do not have to review alot at the beginning of each year. We spend about 1 - 2 days on each lesson in Chalkdust. For Alg I, however, we did not use DVD's since I feel perfectly comfortable teaching Alg I. We did do alot of the problems especially the word problems. My son then did Chalkdust Geometry with DVD's. He worked at about 1 lesson per day unless the lectures were really long or he had a bit of trouble with a concept. We finished the book which includes some basic trig. I have only looked at TT Algebra. I have graded some of a friend's ds work during soccer games. It seems a solid program, but I do not think it is near as indepth as Chalkdust especially with Geometry. Two of the local private schools we looked at for high school used the Chalkdust texts for their AP math courses. I hope this helps. I have used Chalkdust pre-Alg now with one child after Saxon 76, and she seems to be doing fine with Chalkdust Alg I so far. Good luck ReneeR

Well, A few years ago I used Write@Home with my 8th grade son for a semester. he seemed to do well with it so last year I signed him up for a Research Paper Workshop. It was a good experience, but it can be costly. This year a friend turned me onto MyAccess. She had used it when Sonlight used it years ago, and she was still getting the subscription each year. Last year they offered a new program designed specifically for home schooling. It allows you to have 3 students on it of different ages. I decided to buy it for my 3 kids. My 8th grader has used it the most so far, and we are already seeing results. You assign them the paper and there are several things they can use to help them - an outlne, etc or they can just start writing. Then it comes back with suggestions for their errors. You can submit it to grade the paper on a 6 point scale at anytime. I give mine a deadline so if they want to work on it and see a grade twice great or if they are lazy and want to work on it once, fine. You can look at their website http://www.vantagelearning.com Good luck ReneeR

What about a geography workbook? We found these fun ones at the local drug store put out by Rand McNally. Or Target will have workbooks in their $1 section here. Or go to your local school supply store. You could find a state book and he could read and do the activities for the state you are traveling through at the time. Also, has he start a foreign language. There are tons of cheap, basic Spanish workbooks out there. Does he like playmobile or legos? I would bring a plastic container full of legos and my son would just play out the container on those long 10 hr drives to visit grandma. My oldest and now my youngest loved to draw so a cheap notebook full of paper and a pencil made them happy. My other one loved to color so I would get a new coloring book, and we would keep a ziploc full of crayons in the car. Hope these suggestions help. Bon voyage! ReneeR

Tera, I agree about Latin - I would go straight to Latin I and skip Prima. I was,also, wondering why you are doing Health. Our state requires it for high school, and it is so silly. I would skip it now and save it for high school. Otherwise everything looks good. Good luck. ReneeR

Boy, I know what you mean. Last year was difficult for me. It was our first year of high school and I had spent all summer being swim mom with no "me" time or reading time. Summer is usually when I read and refresh and look forward to school. There was none of that. When the kids were little we would go away in the winter to the some place warm, too. Last year was the first year that my kids schedules with extra curriculum didn't really allow that plus there were job issues with my husbands hospital. I really had to search out for ways to pamper myself. Mostly, I make sure that I have some "me" time whether it be long walks with friends or coffee or just reading a great book or dinner out with hubbie alone. I also prayed alot about it. I knew that I did not want to see my high schooler go off to school and have to give up music/orchestra or USA swimming. Staying home allows him to do both time wise. It always seemed that someone was around to say some "little" thing that made me think "yea, I am doing ok and these are good kids!" So after much rambling, I would say pray, look for the little things, and seek out good friends. We have an incredible support group. Many of us use the same curriculum so we can whine and complain or praise God about the same things we are learning. Good luck. Remember, this happens to everyone so seek out good friends. ReneeR

I agree. They are sweet twiddle. All of my children have liked them, and I always found them at the used book store or library so I allowed them to read several especially during summer break. They are the kind of book I would allow a 9-10 yr old to read to get excited about reading. I allowed one of my slower readers to read them between more difficult books to give her a rest! The next summer I did the same thing with Nancy Drew books - one Nancy Drew, one classic, one Nancy Drew, one classic, etc. They were, also, books that I could pick up and read to all my kids of different ages - since the children are different ages in the book. ReneeR

I agree about NOT skipping 5. As I remember, 5 was very meaty. I tried to skip 4 and start my second child in 5 (don't ask why this happened), and it was a mistake. I started my other children in 4 when they were in 4th grade and then continued through until 8th grade. The dd I tried to skip into 5 ended up stopping 1/3 way through and going back to do 4. She did fine with it then. It is a very good curriculum and builds on itself each year. IF you get through 7 by high school, I think that you have had a solid grammar background. My oldest finished 8 in 8th grade, and I thought that he had grammar that I never saw. My kids do well with grammar and diagramming, but I personally think that a good intensive writing program with some solid grammar works the best. Good luck ReneeR

Ladies, My ds will take the PSAT this year as practice. He is a sophomore, but I would like him to prepare for it. Which prep books do you guys prefer? Thanks ReneeR

Chris, We did Write@Home's complete writing course for 8th and 9th grade. My son did well with it, and the only negative I saw with the program was "three drafts". By the second half of 9th grade, my son had realized he had until the 3rd draft to be scored. When he was short of time, he did not put forth the BEST effort, I think. However, he received very positive feedback, and my husband and I saw remarkable progress in his writing. I felt the scores were very fair. I wish that by high school they allowed a draft and then a scored paper. I would have signed him up for another year, but I wanted him to write more and have less time on a final paper. Last year during his 9th grade we did sign up for a Research Paper Workshop, as well. I wanted someone to help him through a research paper and grade it. He had a different instructor for it, and she, also, was very fair. His father and I read through the paper each once, and we offered our suggestions for different things but did not do anything for him. I thought that his grade on it was right where it should have been - a high B. I would do the Research Paper Workshop again in a minute. Also, I will say that the instructors are very easy to work with if a problem arises. My son did get the flu during the Research Paper Workshop, and I simply emailed the instructor and told her that he was very ill and asked her for an extra day on the Bibliography or something like that. This year we are using MyAccess Home edition since I can use it with all my children. I allows them to correct their own work, and you can add different prompts although I have not done that yet. I, also, added the SAT prep package Add-on which will allow him to practice writing SAT papers some. We will not use that until the end of the year. If you have several children, you might look into it. Good luck. I know that writing is a difficult thing to teach for many of it. ReneeR

After many posts about this book, I felt that I must read it before giving it to my son. I read it, and I will defend it as a wonderful choice. First of all, I like that it was written by not only a very well respected historian and teacher but a Christian. Secondly, it is important to me as a Christian and to my children as Christians, to always remember, our Lord did not enter a sweet, G-rated world. Our Lord was sent to us during the Roman Empire. I believe God had a reason for that timing, and we should look at the beginning and rise of Christianity through the eyes of Paul, Jesus, Stephen, etc. during this Roman era. Lastly, the History of God's Kingdom year is a time of learning about Christianity's history and a time of learning about ourselves. It is a very good time to be discussing these issues with your 14-16 year old. My 2 cents RRice

Rachel, It loaded quickly and nicely. I really liked the border. I get easily over stimulated visually - lots of colors, images, etc. I might limit the number of book covers shown - showing one or two but just listing others. I commend anyone with the energy to create such an attractive blog. RRice

Pongo, A friend of mine and I had this same conversation 4 years ago. Mostly, it was a conversation as much as a complaining session! I had an 11 yr old boy that I seemed to be always on to finish! She had a new high schooler doing the same thing. We both finally decided that we were making it too easy for them both by sitting with them until it was done. (I would end up angry that I was getting nothing done.) We decided to give them all their work, go over teaching with them and/or instructions, allow them to ask questions when we were available, but at 4:00P.M. we both went off the "teacher" clock. Everything went to the next day, and if they did not finish by Thursday or nearly so, weekend activities were cancelled so they could spend all weekend working on school. I have kept this same idea in place over the last 4 years. I start Monday morning with a new week, unless interrupted by holidays or family issues, so you had better be finished with the week before!. The Thursday night deadline works really well as they get older and want to do weekend social things. Hope this helps. Good luck RRice

Ladies, I completely understand! This is the main reason I never became involved with the most popular of the local co-op's or others. I felt like one of the reasons I hs my kids was to follow our schedule and to be home. The local co-op's follow the public school's schedule which bothers me alittle. Also, I felt that a majority of parents looked to co-op's for math or science help, and we did not need that help. I have always kept two days completely free - no music, no dance, no church dinner/bible school. My kids have always been able to get 1 1/2 days of school done on those two days completely free and at home. I hope that you see great rewards and freedom with your decision. RRice

I ordered on the weekend, and I had my things by week's end. Good luck. My kids have enjoyed all the Chalkdust courses so far! RRice

I felt this way about Apologia from the first. It was very "chatty" to me, and I found reading it out loud to my son was very painful for me. However, at this level - Physical Science - my son took it over. I did read a chapter or so to him when he was bogged down with other reading, but mostly, he did this 8th year on his own. That all being said, I searched for the perfect Biology book, and I finally decided on Apologia because he seems to get it and can do it on his own. I am following this pattern with my dd this year. I have ordered the companion CD for her since she is more visual. My son is doing Physics this year and liking it so far - only one week into it. I will out source Chemistry next year since I don't want any of those chemicals in my house, and he qualifies for free tuition at the local community college and they have an excellent Christian teacher there. Let your child work on it and see how it goes. Maybe, you could just jump in on the interesting things to you or when the child needs help. Good luck ReneeR

Ladies, I have never had so many peaches and we are leaving town in a week. Is there a way to cut them and freeze them for cobblers and pies when we return home? I have never frozen peaches. Thanks in advance ReneeR

Kelly, I have not used this program with a 9th grader, only a 7th grader, but he loved history and we strictly did the reading and discussion orally - no real writing. I am thinking of using it for my dd in 9th grade later, because she is not a history fan. I know that there are tests for the History of Us books which some friends used with it for 9th grade. A few people that I know have included Critical Thinking in US History book with it (I hope that is the correct title). There are, also, numerous other literature books you could include, as well as a research paper or two. I know that some of the reading seems too easy for 9th grade, but I think just like most good literature, as we mature we read it so differently and are able to analyze it more deeply. Good luck with it, and I look forward to others replies. ReneeR

Ladies, Have any of you used these courses? What high school grade are most geared towards? I was looking at the Economics course which Sonlight now recommends and the Physics course specifically. Thanks ReneeR

Ladies, Is this "Physics in Your Life" video better than the "Einstein's Relativity" one? They are both done by Paul Wolfson now from Middlebury. Does anyone have experience with these? Thanks ReneeR

Have any of you used the Teaching Company videos/DVDs for supplementing high school science - i.e. physics, chemistry? Thanks Renee Rice

He would be taking Chalkdust Alg II concurrently. We do ALL the problems with Chalkdust because that is the only way to make it challenging. He scored high on his ACT recently and has a really good handle on the trig that was introduced in Geometry. I always speed through the first few chapters in math text as review. I let my kids test them and as long as they score 95% or above I keep moving until I see new material. A friend of mine whose son does TT (which I don't think is nearly as challenging as Chalkdust) was told by Apologia that he could probably do physics ok. I am figuring the worse that could happen is we have to move very slowly and he does not finish math and physics before the year is up, like he usually does with math and science. Another thing is that he is a child that when excited about a challenge, goes 100% full force. He seems to be more excited about physics than adv biology or chemistry. His dad, a physician, thinks that he could handle the phsics so I am inclined to do it. Boy, I'm babbling. Must be the heat! ReneeR