I got the Scholastic News. Right in my price range. :001_smile: Could someone who speaks/reads Spanish read the info on this page and see if they will ship to the US and how much it is? I know that's asking a lot but I would really appreciate it. http://www.conmishijos.com/suscripcion_revista.php?revista=o

We are orange and yes they are.

Well in Florida we are overseen to some extent. Yearly testing or evaluations are required. If your student isn't making appropriate progress then you are no longer a homeschooler. They do check to make sure you are legally homeschooling. So it isn't like they can play video games day after day and have nothing to show for it. And while grades are mine to assess, I would have to say that my son works harder than any PS child I know so I have zero qualms about fairness. Actually, I worry more about the unfairness of them playing for private schools (which is something we are also allowed to do). I would feel awful if my son took a spot on a private school team away from a child whose parents pay tuition. My middle child played for 2 different private schools because the coaches begged him to play but I still felt bad. I do see the school system as a menu. I pay the taxes that support those classes so if he wants to be in band or take Spanish then I have no problem with that. The downside is having to deal with the school system. Ick.

In Florida, homeschooled children are allowed to play school sports just the same as their PS counterparts. Of course you have to make the team and maintain a 2.0 GPA but you still get to the chance to play. DS played for the middle school team this year and plans to play for the high school next year. I wasn't real impressed with the attitude or the language of the coach or some of the other children but he really wants to play so I'm trying to get past that.

I'd like to find an easy to read Spanish children magazine to subscribe to; maybe for ages 7 to 10. Any suggestions? Thanks, Stephanie

2 down, 1 to go. I am doing everything. More for financial reasons than anything else but I have found that I have a better grasp of the materials by doing so. Later in the year if I'm feeling confident about our time and our schedule, I might have him do a 0.5 credit with the virtual school. I do like to have outside classes to help "legitimize" transcripts but if that doesn't happen until next year that's fine too.

I don't know so much as I'd give him credit for it as put it done as an extra curricular because I don't think you have enough hours there to qualify for a 0.5 credit. There's nothing wrong with going the extra curricular route because those look good on transcripts too.

I was reading the follow up comments and they said they were interested in blogs with moderately active readers. Well since I just started my blog yesterday and have zero followers, I think that leaves me out. :lol:

I've decided to go with the plans in the WTM using Spielvogel as a spine but I'm adding in the lectures from History at our House for two reasons. One, I'm trying to teach my son to take notes from a variety of formats and lectures is one of those. Two, this year I'm trying to present information to son in multiple ways so when he reads something in his text and then hears it in a lecture or the other way around it will help him not only cement the information but makes those necessary connections. Stephanie

If I had the funds (my dh recently lost his job), that's the way I would have gone. Don't know if that helps other than let you know others like it too. :)

What encouraged me were the success stories and not just those in general but kids I knew or at least families that I knew of. To know that colleges really do accept homeschool kids because it's one thing to know it in theory but it's another to know those children who actually made it and HOW they made it. I can't tell you how much better it made me feel to know it was doable.

Patience because their mother didn't kill them during the process. ;) My true answer is the love of learning. Whether they go to college or not, become blue collar or white collar, become a family man or world traveling adventurer, to always find the love in discovering new things. To dig underneath and push the boundaries simply for the love of knowing.

Holy cow! This could have saved me hours and hours of work. The plans I wrote are nearly identical (some differences in order of study) down to the resources used. The real main difference is I added writings from different scientists. I feel like banging my head against a wall...oh wait, I did that already while putting together my own "ingenious" plans. :banghead: ETA: Nevermind...the readings ARE in the plans. Good grief, the grief I could have saved myself.

My 14 yo and I just had this discussion yesterday. One thing we came up with is to run the local marathon. So every day he is going to go running and build up his strength and stamina to run a 15K. He's a baseball player so this will have the side benefit of cross training. He's also going job hunting so he could work a couple of days a week and start putting money away for a car. And finally he's going to join Teen Court. It's only one day a week but I think he'll really enjoy the process and maybe one day be brave enough to be one of the lawyers. Right now he just wants to be a juror but it's a start. I'm really interested in all the replies since this is something near and dear to my heart.

Thank you for posting this. I just sent up an account. It looks easy to use and it's free; the best of both worlds. :D

Here's another museum. General admission is free. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/

Good question because right now I have 18 on our "want to do" list which I think is less than listed in the WTM. Some of them are easier or shorter works than others but still that seems like a lot of work.

Thanks! I missed those. Just placed my order and placed my subscription for new issues. Yay!

Yesterday I finally finished my outline for this year's Biology but thankfully Word is editable. :lol: So I went back and plugged in sections and chapters from Inside the Cell and removed some of things I felt were weak (but hadn't found anything better yet). Now I can't wait to receive the other books to help strengthen the rest of my outline.

A few weeks ago I stumbled across a PDF on the cell while doing research for Biology this coming year. However the PDF was huge and there was no way I wanted to print it so I looked it over carefully to see if it was something I could get for free. I can't tell you how happy I was to find out that I could because I loved how they explained things. Today I just got my free copy and boy was I surprised to find out it is actually book and the graphics are beautiful. I am so, so thrilled. I just went and ordered more of their materials to incorporate into our curriculum. This is probably old news to some of your but I'll go ahead and add a link just in case there is someone who else who could use these books. http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/order/

Oh man, I wish you hadn't posted this. Now I want the high school one in the worst of ways, especially since my son is starting 9th grade. What a great way to have everything in one place and have those reminders on what we need to be doing. Ugh! My dh just recently lost his job so my budget is $0 so my thoughts are to create one of my own. I can do that right? Right! Note to myself: No more clicking on links. :D

I'm actually going to give my son a 0.5 credit for Study Skills this year. I figure if the state can offer it as a course, I can too. I'm going to use the TC's Superstar Student and the book What Smart Students Know. He's going to take notes on the videos and outline the book. I've gone through the two so I could match them topic to topic so one can help reinforce the other.

I just finished listening to SWB's writing lecture and she recommends the first. It's the only one she recommends because she says as a whole that vocabulary programs are useless and that children learn their vocabulary from reading. The only reason she recommends the first is because it does break the words down by their roots which helps them understand other words they may not yet know. As for what I'm going to do, I have no clue. I own both and was going to use the second until I listened to her lecture. We had tried the first before and my son hated it but maybe we'll give it another try now that he's a bit older. Sigh...decisions, decisions...

Just recently I was having a conversation with my son's baseball coach and I guess he realized that he was in the wrong because he suddenly snapped at me. I just looked at him and said, "I'm not being ugly." Meaning you don't need to talk to me like that because I'm not talking to you like that. And the conversation did get back on track. Whew....it's tough being a southerner. LOL

I was wondering how the class times were divided up. Now I can get a better idea how to organize our week. Thanks for posting this!