I totally agree with just putting this aside and working on the skills with a different assignment. It is so demoralizing for a kid to work for a long time on something and then be told they did it all wrong, and they have to redo it! This happened with us last year at the beginning of 7th, I asked Shannon to do a "literary essay" about The Hobbit and she really had no idea what that meant, so she wrote a really long plot summary with a few nice bits, but not at all what I had in mind. 8 probably remembers this, she helped me analyze what went wrong. I chalked it up to a learning experience for me - how to teach this form, what she needs explicit instruction about, what she pretty much gets, and I used that in teaching the next essay. But I let this one go, she had worked too hard on it to be able to take it being shredded. And you know what? I love the assignments in the CAP lessons, but I don't really like making the kids write Fables or Narratives completely on their own at the end of those books. I mean, if they want to, great. But it's not my goal to make them write creatively in a structured, rule-following form. I make them follow the forms for academic writing, but I want their creative writing to be theirs. I don't like the idea of making them do assignments like the ones at the end of those books. So, I skipped them. My dd might have had a hard time with that assignment in 4th or 5th grade. I remember her early stories and plays having no interesting conflict, no great resolution, only kind of semi-interesting plots. It really wasn't till 7th grade that she started to really be able to put it all together in her own creative/fiction writing. Lots of reading and talking about great stories and how they worked helped with this, along with maturity. I don't think it's really something you can force or teach before they are ready.

Yes, it was great for a kid who is ready to start essay writing - meaning, basic narrative writing skills, paragraphing, and organization are solid. Definitely use the workbook that goes with it! It can be a little nebulous without the workbook keeping you honest. WWaT is fabulous, our plan this year is to go through it, along with a very consolidated WWS 1-3 (just reviewing the topoi) which correlated nicely. WWaT focuses on the rhetorical purpose - the forest, the why - and WWS is good for the nuts and bolts, but way too repetitive for what we need. Kidswrite is going to be very easy for Shannon, but fun for her. The reason I decided to have her do it is because of being inspired by Julie Bogart's talks about helping kids at this age - who can learn the form of the essay in a snap - learn to articulate their thoughts, to find something interesting to put into the essay. I like this idea, but when I look at Help for High School, I know I wouldn't do justice to all those Module 1 activities, they are just too touchy feely and not really my style. But I think my kid will enjoy it, and this way I can focus on teaching other things and getting our routine running smoothly for the first 6 weeks of the year, without neglecting writing. I'll definitely post my review when she's done.

I think it would be well worth it. 3A has two chapters on geometry that are really challenging, far more in-depth than any other 3rd (or 4th) grade material I've seen. The perfect squares chapter makes multiplication make sense. The multiplication chapter builds on the geometric principles. I could go on and on . . . My 3rd grader only got through 3A and 3B using it as a supplement last year. She'll be staring on 3C along with her regular 4th grade math this year. It's plenty challenging for a 4th grader. As you say, getting used to the problem solving approach with material that is somewhat familiar is a great plan. It won't all be familiar, though!

It's a great time for building breadth of knowledge about science, exploring interests, and exploring some of the out of the box sciences. We did Big History in 7th grade, and did correlated science topics, and this year in 8th we're doing science literacy/Big Science using the Joy of Science TC course as a spine. Ellen McHenry materials are good for this age, as are some of the less traditional texty type books, like Exploring the Way Life Works. But I'd definitely be open to following rabbit trails & interests during this time.

Yep, so many great things to do, so little time! It's a good problem, in a way. We did Lively Art of Writing and started on Writing With a Thesis in 7th. I just signed her up for Kidswrite Intermediate for the first 6 weeks of 8th grade, and if she likes it she will probably do the Expository Essay class in the spring. Meanwhile, I want to finish going through WWaT, and review and practice the WWS 1-3 topoi . . . and I'm just closing my ears to anything else right now! This is plenty.

Do you mean how long on math and science? Or how many hours a day? I couldn't quite grok your question. My 7th grader worked about 6 hours a day on schoolwork/seatwork. Reading and extracurriculars not included in that total. It's a very sane amount of time for us and we're going to continue that in 8th. It gives her plenty of time to work on her own creative writing projects, which I don't count as schoolwork but do require a fresh, unexhausted brain. If I push school time longer, she doesn't have the time and energy for this, and it's something she really cares about.

I know, right? I really enjoyed listening to both SWB's and Julie Bogart's writing sessions in the WTM conference. On the surface, their approaches to writing are so different, but there are some really strong common elements and hearing them from the two POVs really helped them sink in for me. One recent epiphany is that it's true, essay writing - the form - is so easy and straightforward, you can teach it quickly. No problem. The challenge is helping them develop the skills to think interesting, deep thoughts, and to know how to translate those interesting, deep thoughts into a well organized set of sentences and paragraphs. And that just takes time, and lots and lots of reading and discussion and big, juicy conversations. I used to think that SWB's progression was soooo sloooowwww and how can you have kids just do the same thing over and over for 3-4 years, progressing so incrementally? Now I think that part of the strategy is to just get kids to the point where they have something interesting to write down. ;)

I can't read in the car either- one of the more annoying results of pregnancy. I now get nausea and vertigo very easily - even on a swing or a carousel! So audio books are definitely good for car trips. I started listening to A History of God by Karen Armstrong yesterday. It's totally, completely fascinating. The discussion of the historical context of the development of the monotheistic religions is so interesting and enlightening. I'm going to have to listen to the whole section on Islam again, I have learned so much already.

I seem to need to ask for suggestions for this child every few months. She has such idiosyncratic reading interests! I have a hard time predicting what she will like and she often rejects my suggestions just because she can. But I like to keep a stack of interesting books around, just in case. About her: she's a good reader. She's read the first 4 Harry Potter books, but decided not to finish the series till she's older. She's currently re-reading the Percy Jackson series, for the 2nd or 3rd time. She's also been reading Dr. Dolittle - she read the first two books in the series and loved them. She likes a snarky, sarcastic, quirky voice - she loves Junie B Jones and refuses to give up her books, and still goes back and reads through them for fun every once in a while. When I asked her why she likes them so much, she says because Junie is so bad, it's funny and shocking. She doesn't relate to Junie but she likes reading her. She liked the Ivy & Bean series, but she doesn't like more "clean" nice-girl series, she finds them boring. She has enjoyed Ella Enchanted and books like that. Some of her favorite books of all time were The Cricket in Times Square and its sequels - she read them all in 2nd grade. TIA for any suggestions!

My 3rd grader loved to read aloud to me. It was almost a bribe - I'll read (something educational) to you, then you can read to me! She loved it. I liked it because she was reading very above grade level books and it helped me be sure that she was actually, you know, reading them all. I still find it useful because I can help her with pronouncing big words correctly, and if she can't pronounce a word, I'll ask her if she knows what it means, and if she doesn't I'll give her a quick definition. It just takes a few seconds and doesn't interfere with the story. But I think it's helping her with pronunciation/elocution as well as vocabulary, so I will continue it as long as she wants to. It doesn't happen every day, but it does happen whenever she asks about it. If she didn't ask, I think it's still something I'd ask her to do a couple of times a week, because like I said, I wanted to make sure she was actually able to read the books she was "reading."

My suggestion is just read/have them read Book 1. That's the first 23 chapters, and it covers their "girlhood" up to the point of Meg's marriage. I think it's more engaging and relatable for girls today than the 2nd half. Plus, you get to skip the major tearjerker of Beth's death. I read it aloud when Shannon was in 5th grade, I think? Just part 1. It was fine, but not engaging enough that she wanted to read on, which made perfect sense given her age. I read Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys, and Jack & Jill as a kid. Repeatedly, I think. I now find them very preachy and moralistic, but I must have enjoyed them at the time.

I'm making tomato sauce, which gives me lots of time for listening. I finished listening to March by Geraldine Brooks. It was incredibly powerful and fascinating, although a difficult book. It's written from the POV of the March parents of Little Women, and loosely on Alcott's own father. The interweaving with LIttle Women is very skillfully done, and makes you feel like you are really seeing behind the scenes of that book. The shift in POV between Mr and Mrs March is also really well done, and both Marches are so much more interesting than their holier-than-thou characters in LIttle Women! The book has much brutality, though, and was hard to listen to at times - the scenes that are collectively involved in March's disillusioning, at several different parts of his life, were very powerful and disturbing. This is my 2nd Brooks audio book, I listened to The Year of Wonder awhile back, and enjoyed it very much too, except for the ending which was kind of silly. I'd definitely read her again.

I understand where you and he are coming from, and I can completely understand his desire to be in "7th grade" like his age-mates. I don't think grade level is all that important for homeschoolers, if you are going to homeschool all the way. If you are planning on putting him in b&m school for high school, what I'd be looking at is what does he need to do to be ready for high school level work, and can he realistically get there in two years. I would think that's doable given what you describe. For me, the main decision would be based on math level, I think. Was he going to be doing 6th grade math this upcoming year? Or is he ready for PreAlgebra? What is normal in your area? What class would you see him wanting to do in 9th grade - you would want to be in Algebra 1 at least - and can he get there from where he is? And, given that he is your Future Engineer, do you want him to do Algebra 1 in 8th? Would he be ready for that? I do think that you can call him a 7th grader and require more in-depth work from him - more writing assignments, deeper analysis, more challenging supplemental reading books, etc. I would just think through the math thing and make a decision, depending on whether I planned to continue homeschooling or whether I was preparing a kid for b&M high school.

I started a new book last night that I think I'm really going to enjoy. It's The Iron King, by Maurice Druon, a French writer in the 1950s who wrote a whole series of books about the Capetian/Valois kings and the start of the Hundred Years War. Apparently it was an inspiration to GRR Martin's Game of Thrones series. I found out about it from some Facebook link to "Book series you should read while you are waiting for the next GOT book." I've always loved historical ficition about old European royalty, I don't know why. So this will be a fun and guilty pleasure - brain candy, but somewhat literary! It's translated from the French, and was written before I was born, after all . . . ;) :D

I bought a kindle and put a ton of free classic books on it, and I sometimes buy a Kindle daily deal. But truly? I never read on the Kindle. It's just not satisfying. I do read aloud from it sometimes, some vintage classic books, and we do Getting Started With Spanish on it, but that's pretty much it. I just have an older paperwhite, not a fancy thing, but I have to say, I can't see letting go of actual books during my lifetime. As my groaning shelves would attest! ;) And, even though I have a big stack and a bunch of new things on hold, I still stop at the New Releases shelf at the library and browse - and sometimes come home with a 14 day book and have to drop everything to read it!

He didn't used to be, but I think I'm a good influence on him. ;) He's working his way through the Aubrey-maturin series right now, and has been for several years. He works 10+ hour days so he's to fried to read at night, but he does read some on the weekends. He's always been more of a doer than a reader, and he's not the type to take a book with him when he leaves the house, but he enjoys a good story. But we're talking maybe 12 books a year? I actually had this weird conversation with a bunch of local friends the other night. We were at the weekly outdoor concert, there is a group that gathers and sits together every Tuesday. Shannon had taken a book to read till friends showed up, and was sitting reading it, and one of the adults commented that she's a big reader. Then people started commenting on the fact that they don't read - several people in the group don't read at all, and a few read at most 10 books a year. I looked around, and I'm thinking, I've read over 100 books so far this year. And I'm the only one, clearly I'm the weird one here. It did help me realize why I have so little in common with most of my "friends" - I don't watch TV, I read. I don't pay much attention to pop culture, but I read the paper every morning. I read Scientific American and The Atlantic online. They read Facebook. It's hard not to come off as self-righteous talking like this, and it's really not my intention. It's just . . . I feel so lonely in a world where nobody thinks, talks, or cares about the stuff I do. I'm not saying my stuff is better or more important (though obviously I must think so, or I wouldn't do it). I just feel lonely IRL. Thank goodness for you guys! :)

Happy Birthday, Jenn! :party:

I was going to throw some T. S. Eliot at you too - Prufrock is one of my favorite poems of all time. But for something a little less lengthy, I'd go with The Hollow Men for your bleak offering. The last stanza: This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang, but a whimper Sylvia Plath is wonderful, too. One of my favorite modern poets is James Tate. I never see him mentioned (or anthologized) but I thought I'd throw him out there. ETA. Oh, Yeats! The Second Coming. Things fall apart; the center cannot hold . . . The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.

I agree with the comments above about the thesis statement. As far as online resources, this isn't about SAT essays specifically, but it's about timed essay exam writing: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/737/1/ This whole site is golden. There is an entry about thesis statements and writing a thesis, too: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/724/1/

Referring to the comment about figuring out the why - I just wanted to plug something I've been reading lately - it's How to Bake Pi. The first half is really about what math is for, how it works, and the kinds of problems mathmeticians think about. The second half is about category theory - I haven't tackled that part yet - but I think this book is written so clearly that it would be really helpful for parents, teachers, and middle grade and up kids who are really struggling with that question of what math is for, what it's about, what mathemeticians do, and why it's worth caring. http://www.amazon.com/How-Bake-Pi-Exploration-Mathematics/dp/0465051715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438783917&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+make+pi

Oh, I bought the earlier edition - much cheaper!

The comments about Wuthering Heights are making me giggle. I know that what happens in BaW stays in BaW, and vice versa, but I can't resist sharing this thread I started last year while I was reading it. It actually turned into a pretty interesting discussion, but WH-haters are not alone! :lol: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/512369-whats-up-with-wuthering-heights/?hl=+wuthering%20+heights

Yeah, I'm not crazy about all of the YA choices. I skipped the seal wives one. I also bailed on A Color of White - it didn't hold my interest. I loved Dodger, and I'm listening to March right now. It's a wonderful book, but it definitely feels like an adult book to me rather than a YA book. It would be fine for older teens who were studying American History and familiar with Little Women, but it's not for the faint-hearted. It seems to me that a number of the YA selections are really best for older teens, not for younger readers. ETA: Having finished March, I would definitely say it is an adult book. It has a lovely tie-in to Little Women, but I'd hate to see an unsuspecting mom assign it to her young kid who had loved Little Women!

We did Lively Art of Writing with the workbook in 7th grade. It was perfect. We're going to do a couple of Bravewriter classes this year - Kidswrite Intermediate and Expository Essay, which are based on the Help for High School curriculum. Along with other homegrown stuff. And I would be remiss if I didn't plug my favorite rhetoric book for this age group: Writing With a Thesis. http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Thesis-Sarah-E-Skwire/dp/142829001X

Here are a few we'll be using (or did use): The Dancing Bear - Peter Dickinson - late Roman empire, during the barbarian attacks/mostly eastern empire The Golden Dream of Carlo Cuchio - Lloyd Alexander - middle east Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - China Call it Courage - Polynesian/Maori The Samurai's Daughter The Saracen Maid Beautiful Warrior The Adventures of Marco Polo Travelling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta The Seven Wise Princesses The Iron Ring - Lloyd Alexander (India) The Apprentice The Castle Corona Secrets of the Andes