I voted other because one goes and one has never been. My dd started showing signs of needing glasses while in 1st grade (headaches and couldn't see things well). Ds sees very well close up and from a distance, so I've never taken him. His reading is well above grade level, so I don't see any problem that would necessitate me taking him.

What about Khan Academy? It had free Chemistry lessons.

I don't think most parents of school kids stop and think of the time it takes to grade, prepare lesson plans, etc. At my dh's school, state and federal consultants have put much more paperwork on the teachers the last two years. The new lesson plan form introduced this year takes about 30 minutes to fill out for one subject's lesson for one day. My dh only teaches two subjects this year, but some have 4-5 different subjects a day. The teachers there who are not overwhelmed and usually win teacher of the year awards are the ones without families. They are the only ones who have the time to do all that is truly required of them. There is no way my dh would have time to grade lengthy writing assignments for all 120+ students he has in a day, especially with all the paperwork required by administration. Well, he would have time if he was okay with not seeing our children any during the school year. I know teachers get more time off, but that doesn't justify requiring every waking moment to be work during the actual school year. He really can't do grading during class, either. If an administrator walks in and he's at his desk, he would get in trouble. He is expected to be up moving in and out checking on the students' progress during in class assignments. They also take a lot of their planning periods for meetings, usually 2-3 a week.

My dh is a public high school history teacher, and I can tell you his experiences in the public system. This is his 6th year in public school after spending 16 years in private, Christian education. As far as textbooks go, only the AP students currently are issued textbooks at my dh's school. There's no money for new books and most are old and needing to be replaced. Each classroom has a set to be used as a reference for in class work. The school received a several million dollar grant, but if the money's not earmarked for textbooks it can't be used to purchase new. Textbooks are seen as the old way of teaching anyway, so I don't think there's any plan to replace them. Teachers are expected to do lots of media presentations and have group projects in class. Homework is not required because the administration would rather them be working in class cooperatively. There seems to be a push for kids to teach each other and themselves, and teachers are seen as a facilitator of learning rather than the traditional view of a teacher. At dh's school they strongly discourage lecturing and require teachers to give students options on how they show they've learned the material. He's expected to give a few choices on completing assignments. For example, to show students have learned a particular event in history, they might choose to write a story about it, make a brochure or pamphlet highlighting the events, draw a picture, etc. It's supposed to help appeal to the individual child's way of learning, but I think school's should be trying to help kids develop the ways that they don't learn so they can be stronger in all of them(IMHO). Bosses on jobs aren't going to give employees 3 choices on doing a particular assignment, so I don't see how it prepares them for real life. Dh is a good teacher. He loves history and is a natural teacher. He was even teaching an adult Sunday School class when he was 15. There have been students who've told him they never liked history until having him, so that's got to say something. Because of the bad behavior of students, he really can't teach and manage his classroom in the manner he would really enjoy. He has to work hard to keep control which hinders true learning. I guess I'm saying all this to say, don't automatically assume the teachers are bad. It could be that they are just bad teachers, but it could be their hands are tied by the system and difficult students as well.

We are going to use this book, which only has 20 readings. It has directions to make ornaments for each day, or you can color and cut out cardstock ornaments that are included in the book. The 20 readings work out great for us because we leave town before Christmas day. Each day has a meditation to read, something to do with young children, and a bible study portion.

I believe all people should be treated with respect, but since I would believe living together is wrong, it would be difficult for me. I would be respectful but not approve of the relationship; therefore, I would naturally act differently.

:iagree:

We do 5 days, but we do have 8 weeks each semester that we attend an enrichment co-op. We follow the school schedule because my dh is a public school teacher. We want to take off when he's off.

What history year or credit did you give for 9th grade?

Are you wanting them to start building and designing their own things from a bunch of Legos? The games are great and ds has quite a few, but we build the board and then leave it together so we don't have to hunt down the pieces to build it and play again. This site will show demos of how to play the Lego games and has them categorized by ages. My ds is 8.5, and I think all the games he has might be too much for a 5 year old.

We are in the car for extended periods of time because we have no family here, but they are all within driving distance. A car charger would be nice, if anyone can recommend a good one. I don't know if dd will want the otter box if it makes it bigger and bulkier, so I probably don't want to make that a gift. She should help decide that.

Dd just bought herself an Ipod Touch (8GB). I would love to buy her some accesorries (wall adapter, case, screen protector, etc.). Can anyone recommend a good set on Amazon? There are so many items that I'm afraid I'll buy the wrong thing. Help??!!

I don't vaccinate anymore, but it's because of problems in my family. My nephew has severe epilepsy that began the day of his 4 month shots. My sister was later able to find out that the lot number of his medication already had caused 2 deaths and 10 permanent disabilities but was still out on the market. A few years later they found out he has mitochondrial disease and it's a type that his doctors say trauma in the body can trigger. They believe the bad vaccine caused enough trauma to trigger the disease. He is now 17 and developmentally about 5, and honestly has many autistic traits but's never been diagnosed with it. Dd was fully vaccinated before Kindergarten, but has had nothing since. Ds was being immunized very slowly and had everything except the first MMR (15 months?). He's not had it or anything since. I find myself wondering if I should do more shots, but honestly, I worry that they could have the same genetic condition. I am not anti-vaccination, but I do think they give too many vaccines for too many diseases and at far too early of an age.

Can I ask why people do Advent gifts? How did it get started? I thought Advent was reading through all the Old Testament prophecies leading up to Christ's birth and then the New Testament scriptures surrounding His birth.

Well I am a math person because I loved it enough to get a degree in it. If you are math-phobic, I don't think you should even consider the option of coming up with your own curriculum. I don't do that even with the math degree. I use BJU math with my youngest child, but only their 3rd editions. Honestly, I don't get all the talk about conceptual math. Every math curricula I've seen seems to explain the "why" behind the problems. When I preview the programs listed, I think I see more math puzzles and things that involve doing math mentally, but that would be added in easily IMHO. I guess I feel like I was instructed in the older, traditional methods and was able to get a degree in math, so it can't be that bad. Math is something that I totally understand, so I know I have an advantage over a lot of people.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I just bought my own Christmas present. I had told my family I wanted this, so I'm grateful for the heads up on such a great deal. Hey, this is low enough that they can still buy me stuff! ;)

I haven't used MFW because I didn't want to use their science, but I am using BP Year 1 now with my 3rd and 9th graders. Honestly, if my kids were your age, I wouldn't use BP. The things I like about it (maps, timeline, longer books, high school) are more than your age children need. If I wanted to do Ancients with that age I would use SOTW w/AG or MOH. There are enough suggestions in those to add in books/projects.

Thanks so much for the encouragement and ideas! You all are an awesome group!

This college is close enough for her to stay home, and dd's friend is staying home, too. The only other school close by is a technical college. I don't want to put tons of pressure on her about her scores, but she'll have a better shot of choosing where to go if they are high. I'll do all I can to help her prepare, and we'll try to get SAT prep books or classes. I'm just praying her good standardized tests thus far (every one of them is extremely high) will carry over to the tests that really count. Thanks for the support everyone!

Dd just told me about how her friend's experience is going at the closest 4 year university system school. It was very bleak. This is the school that we thought dd would need to start at. We really can't afford much in the way of tuition (at least with out situation now). First off, we are somewhat conservative Christians, so things that bother us may not bother others. Dd's friend says there's a huge amount of profanity on campus from both students and professors. She has not really made any friends because she doesn't really fit in with most of the student body. She says she sits in class, listens and takes notes, and thinks the professors probably don't know her name. This friend is a serious student who is definitely not into a pop-culture type lifestyle. She went to a small, Christian school where she was valedictorian. Dh and I went to a great, Christian college. My college years were so much fun, and I certainly never had to deal with some of what she is (I didn't say everything because I don't want to start a debate). I want a great experience for my dd, but how can she get it without us having much money. The college we went to is in the area where I have family, but it is expensive. They have some great scholarships if you have high scores, but I don't know how dd will do yet. She scores 99th percentile on her ITBS, but I don't think that's necessarily going to mean she will on the ACT/SAT. I think the school has a four year scholarship for 31+ on ACT or 1400+ for SAT. What do we do if we can't afford to send her anywhere else?

Anyone?

Has anyone used this, and did you like it? Could it be used with younger kids? Are there good suggestions for activities? Thanks!

:iagree:

We are taking the whole week off, but my dh teaches school and is off the whole week. I plan our year to follow his.

Dd writes Hunger Games fan fiction. She's very active on the Stacks Hunger Games message board and posts it there. She's currently writing a book telling Johanna's story. I think she just likes to think about the "rest of the story" and wonders how it would be. She likes posting to the board and getting feed back from others as well.