I also have 4 kiddos w/ age spread similar to yours (10, 8, 4, 9 months). I work w/ my 4 yo when the older two do their math and language arts independently. To make sure #1 and #2 can work independently, I go through the material w/ them first. The fact that #1 and #2 operate at the same level (#2 is actually more advanced than her brother) makes it easier for me to teach - I can teach them together. For my 4 yo, one day I would teach math (Lauri Toys and Early Bird Kindergarten A) and letter/penmanship (using Get Set for the Code series), and the other day would be Before FIAR w/ craft. So she gets may be around 30-35 mins work daily. Once the older two finish their independent work and the preK-er finishes her work, I get the older two together for social studies, science, art, or writing (depending on what is in our FIAR/Byond FIAR manual).

UT Austin mostly. If not Texas A&M.

Do you know how easy to get into a Texas public univ if you're a homeschooler ? I heard that they'll admit the top 10% automatically regardless of the SATs and for the top univ (think UT Austin and possibly Texas A&M), the majority of students (75%) comes from that top 10% quota. This means that homeschoolers - because they're first out of 1 :001_smile: - have to compete with non-top 10% students for another 25% of the total seat. The regulation sounds crazy to me (and that's why in places like UT Austin, the drop out and transfer rate of STEM students are high) .... but it is what it is. So ... does this mean that for a good student it's better to get into a high school ? My son is going to be a fifth grader next year, and I'm already thinking whether he's better off going to high school to get a better shot at our state univ. Any BTDT ? Thanks

I have the Upper Class of CTT which is for 11-up. The general format is like this: - vocab and map. - reading (this can be from CTT or from a textbook, e.g. Geology the Self Teaching Guide) and/or watching movie/listening to music (some are internet-based, some you have to buy/borrow). The text also often contains links to the internet. - then you have either: hands on activity to illustrate or experience a concept, questions/asking opinion, or drawing to illustrate a concept. This is an example from the Minoan lesson : -DRAW: what about Crete's location help the Minoan flourish as a civilization? -EXERCISE: In what way does the lives of Minoan women are the same as the women in your civilization ? How are they different ? - How is it a huge civilization like Minoan could be completely lost for almost 2000 years ? Include that Crete is an isolated island. You can use it as is for a high schooler (may be adding essay questions) or beef it up by including more documentaries, lectures, and more specific books in topic of interest. But as a spine and a study guide, it's good.

You can find connect the thoughts in currclick or http://www.connecthethoughts.net I haven't bought any of the unit study, but have bought some of the 1st Step and CTT Upper Level. You should join the mailing list as Steven will announce sale over there - and I think there's one going on right now (not sure though).

Oops !!! I didn't see the secular bit. Yes, KONOS is Christian. Amanda Bennett - I haven't bought those, but there are some w/ Christian theme, some w/ neutral theme. I think Connect the thought also has a kind of unit study on e.g. Valentine, St. Patrick's Day, etc.

Are BPA-free cans safer ? What do they replace BPA with ?

Other unit study: Amanda Bennett unit study. Lit-based: Five in a row and beyond five in a row, homeschoolshare.com Character-based: KONOS We're using Five in a row 4 mixed with Beyond five in a row, and will incorporate some Intellego unit study from HSBC end of may.

Try Natural Bridge Caverns near (I think) New Braunsfel. Just google it. There's also a printable coupon to go with it (again, just google it). When we went to Sea World, we just bought the ticket online. I tried to find a coupon but couldn't find any. HTH

This. My 10 yo son (who is average) sometimes cannot understand things because of his maturity. Mid 1st grade, he couldn't do subtraction. So I skipped that chapter and did something else, and then came back 1-2 months to redo the subtraction. It went well after that. So probably, what you can do to speed things up is to switch to other chapter (geometry, clock, whatever) if your child happens to not understand subtraction and come back later. If you use mastery-based curriculum, it's easy to skip around like that.

I have an 8 yo girl who should be at the end of 2nd grade, but at the moment is working and almost finishes 4th grade math. This particular girl understands v. quickly and does not need a lot of repetition to be able to do things fast and accurate. So, I cut down the amount of algorithm practice and give her more word problems and unique problems. Consequently, she moves fast. My 10 yo works at the same level as my girl - no, in fact, he's behind his little sister a bit. This boy needs more time to understand and needs more practice as well. He's also not as fast as his sister, so he cannot do as many problems as his sister. He's just on target. So, it really depends on the child. The most important thing is to work at the child's level. Math Mammoth is good because you can accelerate if you need to. I heard Singapore is also easy for acceleration.

Are they going on sale anytime soon ?

Thanks, I give all suggestion and important websites to my friend so she can help the abused lady.

Pm'ed you Thanks

Problem is: she's not a japanese. Her children is dual nationality of US and her home country. So the only place she can go w/ ALL of her children is her home country. But, she's been leaving her home country for a long time - and her prospect for job is better in Japan. But, she can't bring her US citizen kiddos to Japan because they're not Japanese. I'll urge my friend to get this woman's greencard processed ASAP. She needs a work permit to get a legal job and access to welfare should she need one.

Where can she get a probono greencard lawyer ? A friend ofmine said that legal aid people couldn't really help her (or not fast enough).

I need your help for a woman who is a friend of my friend. This woman, an Asian, is being abused by her US citizen husband. Briefly, this woman used to live in Japan for 17 years and has one half-Japanese son. After divorcing her first husband, she met (in Japan) an American, got married, and was invited to live in Florida. They then have two children together (one toddler, one baby). Now the hubby is jobless and abusive (mentally abusive, not physically). He leaves home on and off (btw, their home in Fl is actually hubby's parent's home). Now, he kicks her out of the house but she stays put. All of her neighbors know about her and have helped her w/ phone, internet, groceries, etc. They're on welfare as well. A friend has also taken her to the police, legal aid, and shelter - but basically they can't really help her (waiting list in the shelter, police can't do anything, legal aid is slow to respond). Her friend offers her home, but she can't bring baby and toddler w/ her because her friend's home is not big. Plus, she won't be able to work w/ baby and toddler around. She's considering another option: go back to Japan, leaving her toddler and baby behind (so she'll only bring her Japanese son). Another option, go back to her home country, bringing everybody (because her US children have dual nationality w/ her home country, but not JApan). But then, she'll be charged w/kidnapping, right ? She can't see how she can stay in the US alone w/ baby, tot and Japanese son. She doesn't have a green card yet, but in abusive situation, she'll be getting one although she's divorced. But I don't know how she's going to find job w/o a greencard (unless USCIS grants her a work permit - but work permit will only be granted during the greencard processing. Right now, she's not yet get the greencard processed). What should she do now ?

My ds 10 is finishing up his first ByFIAR book, the Boxcar Children. We tend to do mostly one chapter a day. We don't really rabbit trail. The manual is chocked full of info, so we can make ByFIAR simple by just using the manual + internet. I don't order book from the library - that would make ByFIAR too difficult for us to use (this is my weakness - if I spend much time to plan, chances are that it won't get done). By keeping things simple, we manage finish it in a good time and make it very doable and easy for teacher and student. This is what we do daily: - read a chapter, narrate back. - read the manual together and discuss whatever in the manual with the child, and give assignment. If I can find a book in my bookshelves to enrich the lesson, then I pull that out and get my child to read it. Short assignment could be: - creative writing - list of facts (from articles/books/youtube videos/manual) - compare-contrast. - put info into diagrams, tables and flowcharts. - copying and labeling. - summarizing info. - mapping - working w/ timeline. - posing a question or two and ask the student to search the internet/read book/article or watch video to answer the questions. - creative assignment: planning a menu, designing a floor plan, designing a machine, etc Or it could be art assignment or hands-on projects. Bigger assignment (can be spread over a few days), e.g. making a book, making a newspaper, making a poster/advert, etc.

Thanks for all of your suggestion. HS-ing year round will definitely help to bridge the gaps.

Well, the student's time is limited Mon-Thurs (2 hrs/day), but willing to work on weekends (Fri-Sun). Say, if he puts a full time work on Fri (6-7 hrs), 2 hr on Saturday, and 4 hr for Sun, then in a week he would have 20 hours of school time which I think is less than his middle schooler peers, but I hope can still work provided the core subjects are covered. I know that language art and math should take a priority. But I'm worried about science and history. How do you teach science and history adequately / at bare minimum at this stage ? I'm actually thinking like this: - language art: vocab as WTM suggestion, grammar (Saxon and an editing program ?) - math - history and writing combined ala SWB --> core textbook only, to be done in 3 years instead of 4 years ? - science --> unschool ? or doing story of science approach using Joy hakim books + teacher's guide so it reinforces the history he studies while getting some physical science done?

The student. So may be Mon-Thurs: math and language art , then another 2 days for content subjects (aka reading and discussion) ?

If you had a child who is in middle school level and for some reason can only homeschool as follows: - 2 hrs/day Mon-Thurs - any hour Fri-Sun w/ 1 day off (e.g. Saturday off), what subject you prioritize in order to be able get into highschool level on a solid footing ? How would you do that ? What curriculum is the most efficient ? PS: - once in high school, the child will hopefully be able to resume to normal school hour. - the aim is to get into a good local university, but not the ivies or most competitive colleges. Thanks

I'm just amazed w/ moms who make their children printables, worksheet, notebooking sheet, cut outs, etc. If you're doing these, how do you make them ? What program do you use ?

I bought this townhome in cash in 2004 for $ 67K but the appraised value and the going rate at that time was $76K. Last year, the appraised rate was $66K and this year is $56K :001_huh:. We're planning to buy a bigger house next year (planning to do it in cash again). Because it'll be a cash transaction and our current house is free and clear, we're not going to deal with double mortgage or even a single mortgage. In my situation, WWYD ? Sell it or rent it ? We're inclined to rent it but don't want to deal w/ the headache which comes w/ it. Is it less headache to appoint an agent ? Thanks

Thanks. I'm thinking of using this may be for the whole 7th or 8th grade. I own the books, and you're right. Although they look simple, the science itself is not (KWIM ?). WHile reading them, I found myself pausing or re-read some section just to make sure I got the concepts right.