My youngest son is in grade 9 and doing biology this year. Unfortunately, I missed out on an opportunity to have him do bio labs at a nearby Christian university (a program set up for homeschoolers). None of my sons has been science-oriented, and although I like science, it's not my forte in terms of teaching. My son thinks he might benefit from doing an online course, but I'm not sure which one (though I am not a fan of Apologia). Would anyone have any suggestions about either how to make science study at home more engaging for a kid who doesn't especially like it or for online high school science programs geared towards homeschoolers (and which aren't too expensive)? Thank you.

Thanks for all the thoughts. Although we like hiking, camping is not our dream vacation ;) I'm happy with driving trips, but going with just one child of the opposite sex isn't the same as going with two; last summer, I took my youngest down to DC, staying about an hour away at the home of some friends. I found the driving in and around DC horrific, but he loved the museums (I enjoyed them too). The problem was that he's quiet by nature and on that trip he fell virtually silent. I couldn't get a word out of him about what we were seeing/ visiting, and so while I felt somewhat down and even lonely, he felt somewhat stressed out by my stress over the DC driving (the rest of the driving there and back was fine for me). Even if he and I traveled to a less stressful vacation spot, he's not one to chit-chat, and again it could end up feeling rather lonely for each of us. The resort sounds great but just not in my budget at present. I do like the idea of something like Maine or NH; how do I find out what places have enough "points of interest" to visit (As in points of interest for boys/ young men)? North America is pretty big, and I don't know where to start looking for specifics! I may opt for a few days in Quebec City unless something else comes up. And just wondering: I realize that very few moms on these boards would be single moms, but those of you with single-mom friends: what do *they* do for vacations on their own (ie, if they have no close single friends or sisters, etc) ?

Can you give me an idea of what that might cost?

Hmmm. Summer's almost here. Everyone I know is talking vacation. What would you do/ where would you go if: --you were a single parent (widowed) so no partner to go with --three of your kids (all male) were young adults and tended to make their own vacation plans --your youngest (14) were a boy --even if they all came along, it wouldn't be "fun" just to be family --all your friends do their vacationing with their own families/ relatives --you lived in eastern Canada --funds were tight! I'm stumped. I do get lonely staying at home all summer with nothing "special" to look forward to, but I'm also not a very adventurous person--ie, not one to head off on a vacation all on my own. My oldest son (23) pretty much handles his own life, but the middle two (18 and almost 21) are still open to doing something together. The youngest (14) would love to travel more, but doesn't really want to go just with mom; however, he doesn't have any "best friends" to ask along. We've done the water park/ hotel thing enough; we've also done the rent-a-cottage-up-north thing and the theme-park-in Florida thing, but, as I said, it's just not fun for them without their own friends along. We have no relatives to visit. Hmph. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I do feel as though I'm letting my youngest down (although he is not a complainer at all; I just know he would love to travel more) by giving up on "vacation time" at this stage of the game. Although I know that many people cannot afford vacations at all, I don't see this as an entitlement on our part; as I indicated, funds are fairly tight and many years we have not gone anywhere. Just wish I could think of something enjoyable and memorable to do in these last few years together.

Thank you all for the input. I think I'll go ahead and order WJ and HfHS. Even though my own kids are high school/ graduated, I still teach other students, so fresh ideas will be welcome.

Thanks for the link to HSBC, Rachel. I just may go ahead and order WJ and HfHS from there.

Thanks, Leslie. I guess I'm still wondering just *how* the kids get writing--as in what is the method or means of getting those juices flowing? Are they given some sort of "prompt" and then they can just go where that leads them (like a free write)? How do they learn about writing different sots of sentence styles, or expanding their vocabulary? And how is the expository essay writing taught? No specific structure, just ...what? Still confused.... I did converse with Julie B some years ago but I recall still not being clear about *how* the instruction proceeds.

Yes, I do see the point you are making. I did post on the high school board but received no replies.

Thanks for all the information. In terms of some classes I teach to younger children (ages 10-14), their parents really want them to learn about more formal writing, but it's possible they might be open to these sorts of ideas. It's the kids themselves who get uptight about bad spelling,etc, but for some reason their parents have held off on spelling and grammar instruction. My older co-op class students (gr 9-12) would be beyond such approaches as dictation and copywork and need formal essay writing instruction. I've used / adapted The Elegant Essay but am not fond of the author's tone and some of her (dry as dust) exercises, so I've altered those. Was hoping someone would have experience with BW's high school level program to see how that compares.

Thank you. I'm still unclear about how it would teach essay writing --ie, what's in the high school-level book. My youngest is 14/ going into gr 9 and is a natural writer who loves words (sometimes a little too much ;) ) He's working on essay writing at present and has a pretty good grasp of it. I was wondering what might be different/ unique re BW's approach to teaching the essay to see if there's anything I would like to incorporate in my writing instruction. The younger writing levels don't sound as if they would work all that well with many of the kids I teach--they have a tough time with spelling/ slow handwriting, so free writing would frustrate them as they don't like to write without knowing how to spell words. Also, asking them to write off the top of their heads seems too challenging too--that's why IEW has worked quite well. I just wish I could find something that *would* inspire *some* writing without source texts.

Thanks. Could you give me some idea of how the program proceeds, or some idea of assignments?

Not enough time, alas! And much would be beyond many of these kids.

Yes, I have and love Vandiver's Mytholgoy (and Homer, etc) lectures; will make use of info from those. I have no problem with nudes in art, but some families will, so I will need to be cautious. We only have 12 weeks of classes, so I will not be able to cover everything! Any ideas for creative assignments (beyond essays)?

Yes, someone already mentioned that on my previous thread, but as I replied, the ebook is not currently available (and the TM isn't available as an ebook at all). The shipping for the hard copies is far too expensive to Canada.

Thanks but no, we are a Christian group.