When I first saw the headline, I thought maybe she should have her thyroid checked! I agree with everything that has been said and I'll share very briefly my experience. I had low vit. d several years ago (level 8) and is barely above 30 now, but in the meantime I have had so many symptoms of hyper/hypothyroidism. My tsh was 'normal' (0.5-0.7) and even my free t3 and t4 are within normal range (can't remember) but my antibodies are getting high, but not too high. I also have a large thyroid nodule being biopsied (want to determine if its cancerous or hashimotos). Basically the last few months I have done a lot of research and some believe low vitamin d can make you vulnerable to developing an autoimmune disease- and it can take years to diagnose because like others have said those tests are not normally checked until things get bad. I should clarify there are many types of autoimmune diseases, but regarding the thyroid, those tests are not normally done. I also read that sometimes you can cycle through hyper/hypothyroidism in the early stages of hashimotos. I have enjoyed the thyroid pharmacist website - and amy meyers. But I think educating yourself and making the best of conventional medicine and functional medicine are key. I have eliminated dairy and need to consider gluten now. Good luck! (I had a lot of brain fog so my apologies if something does not make sense ;) )

This is the first show in a very long time that my husband and I actually enjoy together. We do record it and watch it when we can, but it is like our date night!

My son took this class last year in 7th grade. It was great- the teacher was fantastic. I do recall some adjustments being made to the assignments- I think it was logs that were turned in weekly and they finally quit doing that, which was a relief because they didn't quite fit for what we were doing at home. But I did think it was still a valuable learning skill for him- I think it will apply more in high school. But the teacher was more than willing to make adjustments and be flexible with the assignments- she wanted them to make sense for the students. I was very pleased and he enjoyed it!

I've used EIW for a few years and it fits the bill. We like it becuase it's incremental and the DVDs are direct and to the point. No bells and whistles but effective in my opinion. And one of my kids is a workbook kid too. Good luck!

Yes, I thought it was a bit odd too.

I always like Ava Grace or Eva Rose, husband did not!

Brigham young university independent studies offers middle school courses. They are secular courses as well. They are about $150 for a class each semester. No live courses except world language I think. They offer free tutoring as well. In addition students have a year to complete a course, but ideally you want to finish in a semester, but for students who may need extra time it is there. I have not used it but know several people who do and seem happy with it.

We are in our fifth year of homeschooling and I too wanted a variety of topics. So we did RS4K Building Blocks Level 5. My daughter enjoyed it enough and it felt like a just right amount of reading and activities. I had my older son do Chemistry for a semester and I felt her chemistry section was just as much and we had a shorter time to work through it- so that felt a little odd to me- having my daughter just as immersed in a topic that her older brother had a semester to dig into the topic and she had less? But, I will say we enjoyed it and glad we did it- she enjoyed the idea of exploring different topics throughout the school year. I will say I think it would be challenging to use this same curriculum the following year after using BB. Simply because I felt she covered almost as much as my son did in a semester- so I'd think there would be a lot of the same- in fact I did have my kids do the experiments together as they were pretty much the same. It was my first year using this curriculum and it went well.

I have used Level E this past semester. I bought the ready made activities so prep was minimal for me. I actually think it is a well laid out program (though I can't compare to the lower levels and this is my only level I have used). It is a teacher-intensive program but what I liked was the step by step approach and the models you share with the student and how it breaks it down. We have used EIW for a few years and I wanted my daughter to try something different, and it has worked great for her. EIW is more independent and I knew Write Shop would not be and I was fine with that (plus I was using it with 1 student too).

I am acquainted with a family who uses Keystone for High School. Freshman year they tried a couple different providers and have stuck with Keystone as their primary online provider. Mom says she likes Keystone because she has felt her son received feedback sooner than the others she tried. She also felt the interaction between her son and teacher were positive- expectations were clear and the assignments were thoroughly graded- like papers and feedback for her son was spot on. But I have had no personal experience with them. HTH!

We used 1-4th grade math. We loved it- just her style- games, manipulative, oral exercises and drills and in color! :001_smile: However, in 4th grade something happened- it felt like there was too much too soon? Some people suggested that is 4th grade math in general. I am not sure- we switched for 5th grade, and she does not love it as much (TT). But, math was her favorite because she loved the program and it worked for us. We tried the 1st grade Language Arts- it was too much- she did enjoy the books and so we did stick with those, but we dropped the workbooks. It felt too much like busy work I guess? My son tried 3rd grade math and TT as well- he did not do well with either. He was a kid who did better with MUS- he wanted to practice one skill at a time and master it. He also tried the LA at 3rd grade- he managed through a couple months, but again we dropped that for him too. I know someone who has used only McRuffy for 2nd and 3rd grade- math, LA and science. Her daughter loves it- and so does mom, it is very well laid out and clear for them. She likes that it is a 'traditional' program and her daughter is actually very creative- loves to draw, etc. Like someone suggested, maybe try 1 or 2 subjects and see how your child responds! Good luck! ;)

It is not for everyone. But if you wanted I spoke with the author before about the number of assignments and he said if you want more writing, you could review the type of writing the student may have struggled with and do another or cycle through some? I have liked it because it is not so intense and writing after writing assignment, but everyone has different preferences. Good luck with finding something!

Jann in TX uses Lial's for her classes. The pre-algebra class is twice a week and Jann is willing to do one-on-one with students at no extra cost, which is really nice. So you get both, the live class plus extra tutoring as needed. She is very thorough and does a great job with students. Her site is called my homeschool math class.

Ascend math? ALEKS?

I see you already ordered but this is a new program I am using this year too. I personally always like having the TG no matter what- and sometimes I use it and sometimes not. I think I am realizing that yes, I use a different Bible version than they do- so it really helps! :lol:

Same here!! :iagree: And, this is exactly what I have told people- they stayed true and I was worried they'd ruin it. I am a Peanuts lover at heart too, and my kids really enjoyed Peanuts and they are not as die hard fans as I am :lol: oh and someone mentioned CB caught a break- yes he did and I loved it!!

My experience was I worked part-time and loved my job and school I was at. My kids went to the same school and I had full confidence in the school. However, my son was 'struggling' and I pulled him out of school early each day to work one-on-one with him. It was during that time he said how much he loved the one-on-one and it made more sense and less distractions (other kids), etc... From there my husband and I decided to homeschool our kids. It was hard to leave becuase I loved it so much- but I love my kids more and we wanted to do what was best for them (son). I am back part-time and I do not like what I see, but we still homeschool- they are older and more independent. I feel they undermine teachers and it is not quite the same- just not a fan of where they are headed. But we need the money, so I will chug along...

I am excited too, ordered level 8 for my 7th grader. If we like it enough we will just get level 7 for 8th grade.

I have enjoyed reading this, thank you for all the ideas and op for starting this. This has given me ideas and I think I will try the block scheduling, less stress is better!

Thank you for this!

Just wondering if anyone has used this? http://www.completecurriculum.com/ I would like any information at all, but my intention would be to likely use the social studies or language arts for my 7th grader next year- maybe 5th grade. What I am also wondering is how indepdendent is it? My son really enjoys doing his work on his own- as he can. So, I see there is a teacher manual as well- so how involved would I have to be? Do you feel it is a complete program or did you have to add to it? Also, can it be used on an ipad? Thanks for any information anyone can share, thanks!

I've never heard of this happening until this year. I'm in Alaska and have not received one, and hope not to, but others have here that I know! Disgusting!

When we added our teen daughter it was about 50 bucks extra a month, but that was just adding her to ours, no third car. Our is through Safeco.

Thanks, that is a bummer! Is there a way to know what they are removing and bringing in at any time? I wish Netflix did this themselves, maybe they do and I don't know? Thanks again!

We are using Epsilon. I have not had my son do every single one, but he has done several. There were a couple that were quite challenging, and others that were straightforward. I like doing them more often than not, it provides a bit of variety within what we are doing and provides him with doing something different once in awhile, which he has enjoyed. But, totally optional!