Hey there, I'm wondering if you could give me any tips of scheduling Holt Geometry. I have the One Stop Planner, and would like to use the problem solving and Challenge worksheets, but I'm not sure how to get everything in in a year. Any info or tips would be appreciated. If there is somewhere I could peek at your lesson plans, that (obviously) would be great, but I know that might not be possible. It's a huge book...I'm just having a hard time knowing what would be good to do, or not do. Kayleen Todd

Well, if you are really wanting quick and dirty, how about Phonics Pathways or Explode the code plus lots of step into reading books. FLL will get onto the grammar pretty quickly. Grammar Rock computer program is fun and educational. Reading aloud you obviously have covered. Maybe Sequential Spelling. Copywork. Lets see, Math. There are lots of possibilities there. Aleks math, online, might not be a bad idea for math. Very thorough, but is self paced, and automatically assesses mastery as you go along. There is a facts drill game along with it as well. The bottom line is....you'll just have to see how much of a "quick track" you can do. It all depends on what they can absorb, and how quickly. Hope everything works out well. Kayleen

I happened on this stuff :o). It might be pretty good http://holycrap.ca/ (no it's not a joke...its cereal!)

Well, I have *been* to a pretty disgusting one when I was little, but where we live now has a gorgeous skating facility....possibly the best/nicest in SoCal. It has 2 full size rinks, one of which is pretty much dedicated to Hockey. A 2 story area in between the rinks with locker rooms on the lower level, and a nice lounge/table/food area upstairs. There is an arcade, extra rooms where they have other classes (fencing, yoga...whatever). It is really state of the art. OK, end of brag.....I'm sure you hate me by now :o) . I'm sorry your local rink is grody. I don't really care for nastiness either. here's what a nice rink looks like: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/pkiTFjwipYkHdtEKwH-6pQ?select=9kggJeLM50XZIm9FZ7eGNA

intense interests.....with ds these would be music, pokemon/bakugan/yugio, golf (???), board games, computer games. I have to be careful with him. He is gifted musically, so he's been in piano lessons for quite awhile. I let him run with his bakugan stuff. I try to limit the computer stuff. He does musical theater, a great outlet for him, he loves it. He sings in choir at church. He's been zealously passionate about golf for a number of years...in spite of the fact that we don't have cable tv, don't know anyone who plays, and aren't particularly interested in it in general. I'm thinking of looking into the First Tee program for this fall, even though it would be a 45 min drive away. The price is such that it might be worth it to let him see how he really likes it.

ayup. EVERYTHING is a huge deal. And if a HUGE DEAL isn't happening about something than life is BOOORING!!!! LOL! My oldest dd was like this, and youngest ds. I learned to be caaaaaaallllllllllmmmm in the face of intensity. Any intensity about the intensity made everything go exponential iykwim. As far as interests go...I fed it as much as possible, as long as it was legitimate. With dd....playdough, clay, art....she did school standing on her head 50% of the time LOL. Talk about energy!! And wrapping her brain around variables in Algebra for the first time....oy! The meltdowns that caused (at age 13...sigh). She is now a lovely and gracious almost 19 yr old, who thrives in college and workplace. Debater extraordinaire. Her intensity comes out now in studying passionately, and never backing down on what she believes is right. She's a little like Spock, LOL. DS is my challenging one right now (yea, as we speak...). He is 13, and moderately SPD (dd was also, probably). He needs lots of social coaching right now. Has trouble dealing calmly with frustration or disappointment. He's improving, but just not the most mature flower in the bunch. Quirky and geeky :o). I have to super calm with him. I just sent him to his room because he was melting down big time. We were going to swim at our apt. pool, and there were a couple friends down there. I was finishing something on the computer and made him wait about 5 min. to go. By the time we got there, the friends had left. Big disappointment for him. He's mad at me because I made him wait and he missed them. Understandable, but sorry, son, not a reason to throw a major fit. Basically I have to have solid consequences and enforce them calmly with him. He is very loving, though, gentle with little kids, repents thoroughly, and thrives on encouragement. Very sensitive...he *has* to know he is still loved, no matter what. Very huggy still at 13.5. So hang in there. There are days where by noon I feel emotionally I've been run over by a truck, dealing with this kid, so I understand.

oops..double posted ...

You can get the chem dvds directly from Red Wagon Tutorials http://www.redwagontutorials.com/WelcomeDC.html

Can't you just go straight to the Red Wagon Tutorials website and buy them there? I just went there, and it looks like they have them. That is who Apologia gets their videos from. Here is the link to the page where you can buy them. http://www.redwagontutorials.com/WelcomeDC.html HTH. Kayleen

OK, looks like you called them already....you might try again ( or get hubby to do it...different voice), and just speak in Private School terminology. You ARE ARE ARE a private school!!! Don't let them drag the "H" word out of you. Ptooey. Idiots.

Oh...click on the Special Admit Form link, then scroll down to the FAQ part where it says "How may I enroll". The last bullet point says to contact the Office of the President for petition information. Since you are in an ISP (or they are called PSPs now), you should be able to call and say "I have a private school student, and I need info on what to do for petitioning for dual enrollment per the instructions on the special admit form". You do NOT need to use the word homeschool. I'm sure your ISP has a name. And an official address. The Administrator IS the principal. Can his wife be the official "couselor"? HTH, Kayleen

Hi, I live in N LA county, but i was just at the Fullerton College website. Here is the link for the form/info sheet, and it has specific instructions for private schools/homeschools. Check it out. BTW, up in the San Fernando Valley or Santa Clarita Valley, they are VERY familiar with homeschoolers in the system, and generally like them. We have no problems of this nature. It's a pain that you are having to deal with this. http://admissions.fullcoll.edu/specialadmit.htm

I'll chime in again on Holt Geometry. Here's the link for the thread about it. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193002&highlight=Holt+Geometry Ed Burger is a great teacher. There are videos for all the lessons in the book here for free on the homework help link. http://go.hrw.com/gopages/ma/geo_07.html I got both the book and the teacher cd that has ALL the helps/tests/extra worksheets/way more than you will ever use on it on Amazon used.

There was a geometry thread not too long ago....something about Thinkwell getting a Geometry program, then some piped up and recommended Holt Geometry, cowritten by Ed Burger (of Thinkwell video fame), and there are free Ed Burger videos for the Holt Geometry online. On the Holt Website, click on Homework Help, and all the videos are there http://go.hrw.com/gopages/ma/geo_07.html for each section of the book. He's a very good teacher, and a little quirky/funny. I was going to do BJU, but decided to go with Holt (my son has a weird sense of humor, and will like EB).

Well, geometry was brought up not too long ago on the boards, and a good option seemed to be Holt Geometry (2007 edition) along with the free Ed Burger tutorials on the books website. gohrw.com Kayleen

Angie...a related question....how did you schedule KB Alg 2? Just wondering. Those KB are voluminous, and I have had a hard time figuring out how in the heck to get a kid through it in one year. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Ugh. I get so frustrated with dd#2. She will be a senior next year. She hates math, and is not very good at it in general. She has plowed SLOWLY through ALEKS alg. 1. I chose aleks because she is the type of kid that will just do what she has to do to get through something. She doesn't care if she gets it all right. Bare minimum if she hates it. I got tired of checking her work and having to make her redo redo redo... Anyway, aleks has been a good fit, I think. Here's my present dilemma. She takes copious (word for word) notes on every section, which takes time, but then she uses her notes on the assessments. I know that taking notes helps her learn better, but I'm questioning whether I should continue to allow her to use them when she does her assessments. It's not like she has the answers to the problems or anything, but I feel like it is a crutch none the less. On the other hand, this child has been doing algebra 1 (she has assessed at about 75% right now) for-ev-er!!! I just checked today, and she has logged 230(!!!!) hours. Over about the last 1.5 years. And she is not done yet (banging head on wall). She has done about 1/3 of TT geometry, but gets bogged down on the proofs. I would love to enroll her in CC to finish her math, but ours won't let high schoolers take remedial level courses. So...any advice on whether to let her keep using her notes? Any words of wisdom for getting this kid through Algebra 2??? Arrrrg. BTW, she can learn *anything* she is motivated to learn. She aced Chemistry in her coop class last year, so there is nothing wrong with her brain when properly motivated. She learned the math she had to learn to do the Chem. Would it be ok to let her finish the TT and only skim the proofs? TIA Kayleen

still waiting for "real" summer here in So Cal. Had a very wet, cool spring, which we needed. June in our valley (Santa Clarita) is known for having lots of days where the ocean fog blows inland, and the sun doesn't break through till 10 or so. We call it June Gloom. But the temps usually get up in the high 80's, 90's, and it can be pretty darn hot by July. We have only had a relatively few days so far this year that have gotten as hot as 90 or above. That's unusual. and here it is the first week of July, and almost every day has been cool/cloudy in the morning. We had a few days last week of "almost summer" :o). But I'll enjoy it for the time being. One of these days we'll be the ones with the 110 degree heat wave. Aug/Sept/Oct are pretty brutal....not generally lower than 90 at all, frequently over 100, and very dry.

well, I'm a bit in both camps. When my oldest was younger, we didn't have a keyboard, but we did lots of listening to good music and both my girls learned some recorder in our little co-op. We worked with what we had. As youngest ds grew it became increasingly evident that he was very gifted musically. But not very mature. I put him in kindermusik for awhile before I seriously looked for a teacher for him. I chewed my fingernails over that kid...it was really hard to wait till he was mature enough because he was just SO naturally musical. He was almost 8 when he began taking piano. He still isn't incredibly mature. In all areas he is prone to giving up on things when they get hard. Typical perfectionist with a low frustration tolerance. In a nutshell: I make him continue. Music is quite literally an integral part of his innermost being....he can't help but make music. He has happy moments, and moments when he would ditch it all in a heartbeat. I've told him he can quit when he finishes level 10 (highest level) of Certificate of Merit in piano. At that point, he'll have the skills to do whatever he wants to musically. In the meantime, dd #2 begged for a year to take violin, which I let her start at age 13. She's had moments of wanting to quit, but I've encouraged her to stick it out. She is 17 now, and hopefully will be in orchestra for the first time this fall (her senior year). She's the one I have to kick into things for her to find out she likes it. I have never made oldest dd take any lessons. She began learning keyboard on her own about 2 years ago. She took a theory class at cc and really enjoyed it. She is very analytical/engineering minded, and very self motivated and responsible. I always felt like I needed to respect her request to not take lessons. So...different kids, different rules. There ya go.

actually, you don't need any codes. The videos are all here http://go.hrw.com/gopages/ma/geo_07.html just go to homework help, pick your chapter, and there are videos for each problem in each section.

Oh honey.....I there are many of us with kids like that! My son is SO like that. I've found that I have to be very dispassionate about making my ds face up to challenges. The key is to not be afraid to challenge them, and not be afraid of their reaction to the challenge. I tell my son ALL THE TIME that the world and I could care less about how intelligent he is, but I do care that he learns how to work hard. Gifted kids are 1) afraid of failure, and 2) somewhat unwilling to be very teachable. So you must challenge, and then you must get them through the challenge until they get more used to handling challenge. Get them through....meaning deal with the tears, tantrums, discipline for attitude if necessary, take it a step at a time, ...get them through to the other side of whatever it is, so they experience the feeling of accomplishing something genuinely HARD for them. Rinse repeat. It is not an easy process, but it is a necessary one. When my son tells his piano teacher something is too hard (yeah right Mr. perfect pitch), she ALWAYS responds with "well I wouldn't insult your intelligence by giving you work that is too easy" (big smile on her face). So hang in there, get your dd through, endure endure endure, don't cave on the challenging stuff if you know she's capable. Kayleen

I'd have to say that I'm pretty loyal to Sonlight, even though I'm not using them wholesale anymore. I have just about all their readers :o). Also I love Timberdoodle. From the time I first started about 13 years ago, I have loved all their stuff. I get games and quirky things from them. I'm pretty loyal to Singapore math.com also. WTM as well. Other than that......RR here I come! Kayleen

here's a link explaining http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/qa/wnv_birds.htm

I'll ditto this with Sparkpeople. I like it because I can eat whatever I want. When I log in my food every day, it keeps track of all the %s of nutrients etc. When you have put in your weight goals, and gotten yourself set up, it has a recommended calorie range, plus recommended %s of things like protein, fat, carb. You can easily see at a glance whether A) you are in range calorie wise, or B) if you are eating the proper % of carb vs protein vs fat etc. It is very flexible, and you can track whatever nutrients you want (sodium, fiber, .....). makes it really easy. I actually prefer it to counting points, because figuring points is just another step, and with this, I can skip that step, iykwim. Love it love it. I haven't used it religiously since I got in gear. Some days I just wing it, but at least on those days, I have an idea of what I should eat, amount wise, from experience.

Here in CA, dead birds are supposed to be reported because they can be an indication of the presence of mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus. Just a heads up on that.