DD....10th: Chemistry using Zumdahl Introductory Chemistry Math using Jacob's Geometry 2nd with Fallacy Detective Arabic I at Potter's School Tapestry of Grace Year 4 Rhetoric Level (history, literature, Bible) Writing....I swear we are going to actually use IEW this year plus sentence composing

"Sign of the Beaver" awesome story that a van full of scouts loved and begged for more.

Just a comment for all of the STEM kids. We write as scientist. We write A LOT!! We write reports, proposals, papers, presentations. We do a shocking amount of writing. If they want to be a scientist, please do NOT let them neglect writing skills!! Pam who wishes she'd done more writing in college :-)

I teach at Concordia College (chemistry, not language!) EXCELLENT program!

Thanks for the review!!! We took French 1 and 2 with TPS. The grade was very high, but it was earned. My kid worked very hard and the teacher was awesome (Madame S...highly recommended). The teacher assigned and graded every single problem in the BJU French I and II texts. My child and I were both stunned how completely lost and unmotivated students were in the class. However, when she took French in college, she saw the same thing. They met 5 days a week for the class in college and some students three months in to the class still could not formulate a simple sentence. I'm not happy, though, to hear that the class period is spent going over HW. It should be spent teaching material. But, I love the twice a week meeting.

The BYU programs looks very interesting. I like the self-paced aspect a lot! The one who wants Arabic doesn't enjoy good health so self-pacing would be a nice feature. Can you tell me more about your experience with BYU, please?

I would have access to tutors both in Arabic and Chinese, so I have that end covered. One positive of living in a college town. I'm not sure my kids would qualify for CTY. They are good students and smart (IMHO) but not super smart.

Maybe it is just my kids, but the last two want to study Chinese and Arabic. Seriously, kids!!! I can find Spanish classes all over the internet, but Chinese and Arabic! Has anyone used an on-line program for Chinese or Arabic? The Potter School has both classes and a different child used their French program with great success. I was wondering, though, if there are better sources out there. HELP!!

I can't recommend Potter School French strongly enough. Madame S is fabulous. There are middle school and high school levels and optional conversation classes. After two years with Madame S, my dd did college French at 16 and they asked her to be a major. Now, my dd is not a genius, but she was superbly prepared for college level work. Potter School's program uses BJU's French text. Every single problem was assigned and checked in detail. Now, if I could find an arabic, latin, or chinese program that has similar excellence.......

AMEN!! Academia at the college level is not the way to go.

Will any of the testing or therapy be covered by insurance???? Someone told me to plan on taking out a loan to pay for all this and to expect a large bill.

She was taking accounting and spending hours on the homework. And yet, she could verbalize what the accounting principles were and what column things went in. On the exam, though, it was covered in math errors, but no accounting errors. She was very discouraged because she would do the hw for hours and make mistake after mistake entering the answers into the on-line hw system. What I asked her more, she said that she wasn't sure she understood accounting or not because she was making so many errors and the errors were in math seemingly. Then, I thought back over teaching her math and realized that the very first lesson, place value, lasted 4 months and she still barely understood the concept. I found a quickie screening test on-line and we did it together. That's when I found out that she couldn't do the things I listed above. It just clicked that the kid wasn't resistant to math as much as she was unable to DO math because she had no idea what the numbers did. She's been saying it for year; I just didn't hear it.

DD is 18 and a freshman in college. We live in rural Minnesota, so we'll need to travel to see a neuropsych. Not really a finger counter. Has not mastered the multiplication tables....she could not do 8x3 yesterday. Has no clue what the fraction things are, or decimals, or percentages. Not sure what she'd say about the dot pattern. I'll ask her when she gets home from swing dance. Thanks for the book recommendations. If you think of anything else, please post.

Pass the "Bad Homeschooling Mommy" award this way. 13 years of schooling 18 yo dd at home and just realized that she struggles in math NOT because she isn't trying but because she has dyscalculia. We are trying to get her tested, but she can't copy a phone number down without reversing numbers struggles to know whether 9999 or 10,000 is bigger struggles to do more than one math operation in an equation cannot add a column of numbers like 200 + 450 + 700 + 300. does not understand place value cannot make change cannot read a clock with hands She scored a 30 in english on her ACT and a 29 on Reading but a 19 in math and a 21 in science. She is not dumb. So, where do you go to get a LD diagnosed? There is a reading therapy center in town that says it can treat dyscalculia, but it will cost at least $7500 and before I pay that, I'd like advice from others who have BTDT! Thanks!!! Pam

:lurk5:

Is it lame that I just want to survive until 11 PM? First full week back to teaching at college. Second full week of homeschooling. Significant publishing angst this week. Four kids all asking "Mom, is this the week we start...." or "Mom, have you seen my .....". My brain is fried. Meatballs and gravy in crockpot for dinner.....done HW and lesson plans for college classes published Find the remainder of the TOG 3 books we used four years ago (I know they are down there somewhere!) Drink a glass of celebratory wine Soccer practice Movie night for TOG 3 group at my house. We are watching the John Adams mini-series on Amazon Prime.

Very good comments. The publisher is pushing for future STEM majors as the focus. I'm wanting to add how to make a 1/2 year or 1/2 pace program out of it and wanting to add a "what can I cut because my kid doesn't really care about this stuff" lesson plan aspect to it. I hate wordy....so Crystal clear writing so, at least, a parent could read it to a student or so a good reader can read it independently and the parent won't need to be involved. All plans are written in pudding at this point. LOL

Love the comments! Every one has been noted and recorded. I would love to have DVD lessons and clear writing is a MUST. How to handle the lab is completely up in the air.

For sure, the text will start with the atom, rather than calculations, and move to bonding and reactions. It will not start with quantum mechanics, but will build to it. Will include full solutions manual (I'll try to make it error-free). Keep comments coming.........

What would be in your dream chemistry course? Dream BIG!! Would you want a video teacher or a full solutions manual? Experiments on video? A gradebook? on-line testing?? I've been hired to write a chemistry text for high school homeschoolers and have a lot of input in this conceptual stage. So, let me have it!

I signed up for the Conceptual Physics self-study. We are actually using the Conceptual Physics (high school) text, so I'll have to a bit of matching to make it work. But, I love having the videos associated with the sections. I was slowly working my way through the text and finding videos for each section, so this helps. I hope they get more assessment tools on the site soon. I'm excited to try this...I'll post how it goes.

Tried several times to kick this habit. I crave Diet Coke. I love it. It is a physical and mental addiction. The most successful thing I did was to divide the habit into parts: the addiction to nutrasweet (aspertame), the addiction to bubbles, the addiction to sipping all day, and the addiction to caffeine. Then, I removed ONE of those. I started with the artificial sweetener. WOW, do a lot of drinks have artificial sweeteners!!! I switched to regular pop and to tea with sugar. Next, I removed the bubbles. That was actually harder. Tea is nice, but the bubbles are wonderful. And that's where I failed each time. Someone fixed me a St. Croix seltzer and fruit juice mix at a party. It was wonderful. I think I could drink that instead of Diet Coke. You've inspired me to try again!!

fix someone's computer (no good deed.....) DONE laundry pack for camping/fishing trip herd the wild kittens into getting packed for trip drive sleepover friends home DONE abandon hope work on conceptual physics plans get through the entire prayer list (wow.....lots of sick people and crises right now) nap (another bad night of sleep) clean out fridge Not the most productive day. The computer thing took almost the whole day. UGH

My tombstone will read: Beloved Mother, have you seen my.........? No one can find anything in the house but me, obviously!

God bless this new little one!!