Oh, one other tip. Have your daughter read the questions she is to answer *before* she reads the material. Then, she is more likely to recognize the answers as she is reading and can quickly answer the questions right then, instead of having to look back to see where she read it.

My kids aren't in high school yet, but thinking back to when I was in high school, I think you have already identified the main issue here. Your daughter is putting too much effort into each assignment. Theoretically, it is nice to give 100% to each assignment, but as you have pointed out, that crowds out other, valuable activities in life, such as dance and community service, and sleep. I say this as a recovering perfectionist myself. Life is just not structured to allow a person to devote 100% effort to every task. The sooner she learns to evaluate which tasks are worth the time and which ones should be done quickly, the better off she will be. Things aren't going to be any better in college. I don't know how many times I heard, "This class should be your academic focus for the semester" from multiple professors on the same day. The other thing that jumps out is that I would make sure your daughter knows how to skim textbooks. Often the material in the textbook reading just reinforces or doubles up what the lectures in class are covering, so you don't have to *read* every single word. Finally, I would work with her on trimming her answers down to essentials. Over time, she will learn to keep her answers short. Given the list you shared, I can tell you what I would have done: Geometry--no real way around this one, but if my teacher allowed late work I would have done most of it for the day it was due (to make sure I understood) and finished one up later. Science--skim chapter. Answer questions as briefly as possible. World History--read/skim (I liked history, so if I had time to read, I would). Again, keep answers succinct. Spanish--do worksheet. Keep response short. Bible--see above. Do just enough to get credit. Foods--skip it or spend 10 minutes reviewing. (How hard are the tests?) English--identify passages quickly as you are reading. Don't worry about finding the perfect passage. Again, keep answers short. 4-5 sentences is a paragragh. I also did work in class whenever possible. Things like the Spanish worksheet or the Bible worksheet could often be done while listening to the teacher. Even skimming the science text and answering the questions. Good luck! I hope you find a good balance soon.

I am a practicing but very liberal Christian, and I found MOTH helpful. There are some statements (for example, "We need to recall that we are our husband's helpmeet--not the other way around") that made me grit my teeth on some days and laugh on others, but as long as you skip over those, there is a lot of helpful material.

What sites has she already used?

When we first started crate training ours, he would cry/whine if he was in the crate and we were not in the room with him or if he was in the crate at night. Tossing a blanket over the crate stopped the crying. (He doesn't need the blanket anymore, but it was critical for a month or so.) I need to figure out how to assert dominance at doorways. Two years ago I broke my foot when the dog helped me fall down the stairs.:mad:

Are you concerned about specific subjects? Would the school be willing to let you observe a 1st and 4th grade class so you can get a sense of what work the kids are doing? That might help you know what your kids might need help with between now and the fall.

Salivate over the new library? :p We'll be there in April, mostly visiting family and friends, but we are also looking at these ideas: Red Butte Botanical Garden This Is the Place heritage park (although we did this last visit) Liberty Park--nice park with a pond, playground, and an aviary Park City is also fun, although we've never taken our kids. I like window shopping on Main Street. I think they have an Alpine slide too, and you used to be able to tour the mine. I'm not sure if you still can. Lagoon is a small amusement park north of SLC. I haven't been in years, but it might make a fun day.

I don't remember the old movie being dark at all, but I haven't seen it recently. I definitely think the new movie is darker. Not saying that's a bad thing though.

We let our 12 yo son get daily disposable contacts for his birthday, but only on the condition that he not wear them every day. Frankly, I'm just not confident he would remove them every night, not sleep in them, etc. He is allowed to wear them for skiing (about two days a week) and parties (about once a month). I got gas permeable contacts in high school, but found them so uncomfortable that I just never wore them. I switched to soft contacts in college and loved them. I have no problem with the way glasses look, but I don't like how they feel. I'm a much more confident, energetic person when I'm wearing my contacts.

I homeschooled for a year in Vermont and I thought it was easy. (But then, I don't cringe at the idea of government oversight of homeschoolers.) I submitted my course of study for the year, and at the end of the year, a pro-homeschooling licensed teacher met with us and reviewed our sample of work (some math papers, a list of books read, a spelling book) and asked DS (2nd grade) some questions. She wrote a letter that was submitted, and all was good. I liked that Vermont law allowed my son to be involved in discrete activities at school. He participated in the weekly ski program in the winter and the weekly swimming classes in the spring. We ended up putting him in school the next year. In part it was because the school is awesome, but in part it was for social reasons. We live in a rural area, and at the time were the only homeschoolers in our town or the nearby towns. The nearest homeschool groups were 40 minutes away, and tended to meet at times that didn't work for me because of running an inn. I think living in the Burlington area would be great, and it seems to me there were lots of homeschooling activities and classes available there.

Can you tell I have opinions? England is a fantastic place to go if you are nervous about foreign travel but want to try it. For a first trip, I would suggest London and Bath, with a side trip to Stonehenge. In London, you can see the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tower of London, Hyde Park, and the War Cabinet Rooms, just to name a few. And see a play. In Bath, you can see the Roman Baths, take a Guide Friday tour (lots of Jane Austen info), tour a Georgian house on the Royal Crescent, take a boat ride down the canal, just to name a few. Tea in the Pump Room would make a very special mother/daughter treat.

Add me onto the Pam, Anj, and Mekanamom list.:D I've participated in Internet boards for people who have left my particular religion, and quite a few of us talk about feeling like we need classes in how to get along socially in the real world. It's interesting to note that it's not unique to our denomination.

You know, I have always said that I would seriously consider returning to homeschooling for middle school, because I thought that was a horrible time to go to school. But I have to say I have heard almost nothing but positives about our local middle school, both from kids and parents. I think you have to look at your specific kid and your specific school.

I do tend to think global warming is a problem, but I also think that the things we can do to reduce global warming are good things to do anyway, both for the environment and to reduce our dependence on oil.

Chicken tikka masala (probably not spelled right) is my absolute favorite. Chicken korma is good too.

I am sorry. This must be incredibly frustrating. Is there someone you both trust who could talk some sense into your husband? (I'd probably be screaming at him by this point, but I'm sure that's not a good approach.:o Financial stress is very hard on me.) I'm not saying, btw, that you need to quit homeschooling, but it does seem like something has to change, and if I understand your post correctly, your husband is resisting change of any kind.

We live in the mountains in Vermont and have plenty of snow in the winter and beautiful, mild summers. Of course, the employment situation can be a little tough here. :rolleyes:

I pretty much insisted we find out with our first pregnancy. I didn't want to buy everything in green and yellow, and I am a naturally impatient person. The idea was that we would do it DH's way and be surprised with the next pregnancy. Except that turned out to be a twin pregnancy. Since fraternal twins have fewer complications in pregnancy and the only sure-fire way to know you have fraternal twins is to have one boy and one girl, the doctors checked for the sex of the babies. And since they knew the twins were fraternal, that pretty much gave it away. ;) With the last pregnancy, we were once again going to be surprised. But then we received a fatal diagnosis and needed to do a chromosome check to confirm. We agreed that we weren't going to find out the sex, but when they called with the results, DH was so relieved that the baby was healthy, he asked about the sex. And I'm glad he did, because I was worried about bonding during this pregnancy and I think knowing the sex helped.

We're big fans of maple syrup up here. :D One of the things I loved about my twins' kindergarten class is that the kids made their own maple syrup, all the way from tapping the trees to collecting the sap to boiling it off into syrup. Of course, we are a good month away from sugaring here.:rolleyes:

So far, I haven't given anything up (although I think about it every year) but I do try to add some spiritual study group or practice for Lent. This year, I'm planning to read all four gospels during Lent and also Marcus Borg and Dominic Crossan's book on Holy Week.

And I'm an independent so I can't vote in the poll. My past votes have been a good mix of candidates from both of the major parties. However, I have to say that I am more motivated by partisan politics this election than I have ever been before. I am very eager to see a certain party in the White House. ;) And it just so happens that candidates from that party are on the top of the list every time I take a "pick your candidate" quiz. So although theoretically I vote for the best candidate, I'm almost positive my vote will go to a certain party. As for the candidates for the other party, the one I respect doesn't agree with me on the issues.

I'm not very happy with the pace of math at school. He participates in a weekly algebra class taught by two parents of classmates in the home of one of them. Both of those parents have mentioned to me that DS is the student who seems the most interested and the most eager to learn new material. So I'm hoping to provide him with some resources for learning more advanced material.

Good to see you over here. I am currently looking for supplemental math resources for my DS12.

I would go, pay for my family, and give $25-$50. I'd tell DH to keep his mouth shut. ;) (When we disagree about extended family issues and neither side convinces the other, the person who was born into the family gets the final say.) Of course, we've lived on the other side of the country from our families for 8 years now. I would love to live close enough to participate in things like graduation parties. If going will be a serious financial hardship, then I'd probably pass. (And I agree that it seems odd to have the party at a restaurant.)

I remember the Reagan/Carter election very clearly--especially the sinking feeling in my stomach as I watched all the states turn the wrong color. ;) Not trying to turn this into a political debate, just pointing out that there are always people on both sides of the fence.