That's my vote. Unless your family doesn't run around a lot (no pun intended).

for the encouragement. I do get paid - not tons but they don't have a lot to spare. I do have high expectations , and am pretty regimented; I have spoken with mom. She is on board to allow the child to "fail" when he doesn't do his work (he gets a 0 if he doesn't turn things in on time). He hasn't been expected to read much until this time so this is where he struggles. OBTW - Mom is actually very encouraging to me and really appreciates the work I put in. Since my love language is "words of encouragement" her words keep me motivated. If she wasn't this way, I know I wouldn't continue past this year.

I just want to know how it worked out for you. What were the pros and cons you experienced? I am in this situation now but am not sure if I'll do it again next year. He's a nice kid but because he's not mine I stress out when he doesn't complete his work (he works at a slower pace than my kids and often takes work home). I guess that's the other issue. Because he works at a pace different than my kids I feel like I am planning for 3 (I know that sounds wimpy to those of you with more than 2 children). I am concerned because I believe I should be giving him work that would be more at his pace but am concerned on how he would feel being placed behind my younger child and how my older one would feel believing I am giving this boy "easier" work. Well, I think I rambled a bit. Any advice would be helpful.

Our kids have some chores that they must do because they are part of out family and so these are done for "free". There are scheduled chores that have dollar values (or cent values) attached. Then there additional chores they can do for extra money. With their minimum scheduled work they earn at least $5.50/week. My daughter has to use some of her money to pay for that cell phone she so desperately wanted. They buy all their own "fun" things and adventures.

I've heard some employers say it doesn't matter where you received your degree. Character counts. Listen to Dave Ramsey (talk show) he will set you straight on aquiring debt :).

so I wasn't going to switch to Harvey. My two oldest are using CW Older Beginner and so far the grammar has been less challenging than the R&S. I did try to reconcile R&S with CW but found that I didn't really need to.

I have not looked at either of the books you listed. I have looked at the Prentice Hill Science Explorers. PH seems to be pretty good for middle school kids. Right now we're using the earth science books and they have a lot of variety of activities, questions, etc. I bought mine on e-bay (2000 ed) for a fairly inexpensive price. I guess it depends on your student as well.

With all our unusual beautiful "deep" snow, my husband and I were out for almost an hour. It's great to X-country ski out our front door, it rarely happens here in Western Washington (btw- my heart rate monitor said I didn't work too hard just 138 bpm average and 300+ calories).

"We live in an area of the country where heavy winter weather is a big factor, but it is suppose to be pretty nice, for the most part, next week. But, that's always a gamble...and a worrisome one, with 5 kids in the car." I know kids make us protective but you can't (or maybe you can:glare:) worry about what "might" happen. You're always safe where God wants you to be ;).

I agree with most of the posters. Start with piano, ensure that your instructor includes piano theory (they have books for kids). Have them take at least two years. I am NOT a music person (just love to sing aaaall the time) but I've been told that the reason you take piano is so you can learn both bass and treble clef music. Both my kids took piano, one is continuing and both playing sax in a homeschool band. Learning a second instrument was a fairly easy transition for both.

and all the perspectives. The model analogy provides a little more insight for me. I might have the kids choose, every now and then, the way they prefer to translate learned information. (perhaps with "The Children's Homer")

I am wondering why public school teachers require projects such as diaramas, especially in middle school grades. I am genuinely curious? Should I ask the same from my kids? It seems as if it would take a lot of valuable time away from other school work. (I tend to be goal oriented and enjoy checking off my lists :D)

you can often buy a lot of them on e-bay. I purchased all the earth science plus 2 chemistry and a couple of biology (all year 2000) as a lot for $10 plus shipping (another $10).

I've been a member of our Y for 13 years (just 3 blocks away) so I don't know how much it is to join but I have noticed they run specials waiving the joining fee. I also know that they offer scholarships. Ours is now about $85/month (for a family). Programs like Tae Kwon Do are cheaper for members than non-members. Spinning classes, step aerobics, etc are all free including the use of the pool. There is an afternoon teen hang out place- I don't think it costs anything. For me, if I didn't have my Y to go work out at during our soggy fall, winter, spring (and half of summer) months, I'd be a little "thicker" than I'd care for:eek:.

I prefer signatures for a couple of reasons. First, some make me laugh ("chocolate is my favorite color" comes to mind). Second, when I am searching for "advice" I prefer to know whether or not the posts I'm looking at are from parents with middle school students. Nothing personal, but when I read how great someone's writing program is going but the child is in first grade, it offers me no help :001_huh: -I can just skim over that person's input.

I am really not sure how we're doing so far....My daughter is back h'sing from her 1 year hiatus to ps and I've added a friend's son to my 7th graders. Then there is my son. Anyway, we have a full plate and I feel like I have a handle on things thanks to homeschool tracker :-) but I'm feeling stressed. I am very busy with these three from 8 am to about 2. My friend's son has not been much of a reader so he has to take some areas slower than I had expected. I think I am just to anxious that these 7th grader's (especially) get the "best" education for them. I think I am rambling... I took the afternoon off today to do pretty much nothing and feel better than I had earlier.

Woo hoo! I'm very happy for you! I hope our schooling goes as well next week.

My goal this year is to transition them into writing their own assignments. I have a student planner for each kid. The first two weeks of school are written in for them. Beginning with week 3, I will hand them a sheet with their assginments and they will transfer those assignemnts into their student planner. My dd went to ps last year (she begged me to go , then begged me to come back) and each teacher listed the week's assignment on the board. It was very helpful getting the students organized. (This school (a "charter" school) also helped the 6th graders organize their notebooks. ) I believe having kids write down their own assignments helps them learn to schedule and organize their day, just like in the "real world".

Thanks so much for sharing your marvelous find. I used parts of this book while I was getting my Masters in Teaching (back in the early 90s) and I always wished I had the whole document. Too cool, I'm looking for it now! I love its simple yet effective methods.

My ds is 10yo and I decided to take a break from R&S and do LLATL as well. I chose the Tan book because the grammar seemed to be at the same level as the last half of 4th grade R&S. Anyway, I have scheduled his reading to be concurrent with his regular lessons. Then I slip one of the reading activities on a day I think may be appropriate timing-wise. I have his reading scheduled to X amount of chapters or pages per day so he will complete the book within two weeks. BTW, I do plan on using R&S grammar in sections where he needs more help. It will just be an addition to his work load.

Thanks again, you're awesome! No wonder you're a "queen".

Very cool! Thanks. (I love this board!)

Thanks for responding. I did mean R&S English. I have attempted to look at past posts but I can't seem to figure out the best search parameters. I guess I'm not sure if CW would make sense if grammar was not properly coordinated.

Specifically, I'm looking to see if anyone planned out 7th grade R&S with CW for Older Beginners (Aesop & Homer) and would be kind enough to share their hard work :001_smile:.