In addition to the other responses above, I have found that the quality of the air purifier also matters. The best ones I have found are from Mission Allergy. Also, eliminate as many other allergens as possible, since they can contribute to your overall reaction. I have pollen and dust mite allergies. Casings for pillows and mattresses that are dust mite proof helped me as well. Basically, I allergy-proofed my bedroom as much as possible.

We are using selections from SWB's ancient literature list for 9th grade in WTM. So far my kids have finished the Iliad. We also supplemented with Elizabeth Vandiver's lectures on the Iliad (Great Courses) which were outstanding. We are debating about which book to study next. We have followed the WTM book lists all through school, so they have read many of the folk tales, myths and historical fiction recommended in prior grades. I'm not sure about jumping into the Odyssey next since there are some other shorter works that we would like to use also.

I used card stock for printing the cards for some of the games. Also, we used fabric pens for the pillowcases. I looked around quite a bit for those and ended up getting them at Walmart. I also got some glow-in-the-dark fabric paint for the radioactive elements! Black Sharpies worked fine for outlining the Periodic Table. As a splurge, I bought a periodic table shower curtain to hang up for reference during class. It was very handy. We also played Battleship with copies of the periodic tables--I had some cheap laminated ones and made photocopies to have enough to go around.

I did the Elements in co-op for a similar age range for an 8 week co-op. I emailed Ellen McHenry and she said that I could print copies for students in the co-op, so I printed 1 chapter per week for everyone (the facility we use allowed us free printing). The book itself comes with the answers in the back so I didn't want them to have those. Regarding structure of the class: I started each class with a Periodic Table video from University of Nottingham, then did a 15 minute lecture on the chapter, reviewed questions and then an activity from the teachers section of the book. Projects that we did: jump rope songs, various games, periodic table pillowcases. I found some good pillowcases on Amazon that were quite reasonably priced. I definitely could have used more time because it think it was written for 10 weeks. I supplemented with my own kids at home with the book " The Mystery of the Periodic Table" and also "The Disappearing Spoon" and the Cartoon Guide to Chemistry. My kids also watched PBS Mystery of Matter which was terrific. The Disappearing Spoon had a reference to an extramarital affair, as did Mystery of Matter (very brief). Hope this helps! I loved that class!

I would be very interested in that class next fall for ds. So add my vote/request!

I have been interested in seeking out more non-western literature for homeschooling and I seem to remember that there was a social group for this but I can't find it. Does anyone know what it is called and if it is still active? If not, I would love to find some options for books for high school and would appriciate suggestions. ETA: we follow the reading lists for WTM closely, but I would love to add some things from other countries. For example, what are some of the great works of Chinese literature? Just watched this Ted talk this am which reminded me of this: http://www.ted.com/talks/ann_morgan_my_year_reading_a_book_from_every_country_in_the_world

I recently discovered that there will be a film showing of Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch in November--I think it is just a one time showing in special venues. Of course, I would love to go to London to see it live, but that isn't possible for us right now, so I will be happy to see the film. My teens studied Hamlet when they were in 2nd grade (Shakespeare for Kids) and performed a shortened version with their friends, so they are familiar with the story and can even recall a few quotes. It was a lot of fun. Of course, it would be great to do a more age appropriate study now before the film. Does anyone have any recommended resources for this, other than just reading the play beforehand? We are all big fans of Cumberbatch, so we are looking forward to this!

Thanks for all of the answers. Great idea on watching/stalking the prices. I just ordered a 3rd edition Jacobs textbook on Amazon for $26.00. When I looked a few days ago, there was nothing even close to price. I also got the test bank for $30 and the solutions for $38 -- not great but manageable for me. Anyway, thanks again!

I want to order Jacobs geometry for DS but I am not sure what I need to buy. Would the textbook and test packets suffice? Also, the textbook seems quite expensive on Amazon. Would eBay be the best place to buy it? DS has looked at a wide range of math programs and says that he would like a standard textbook approach, so I thought that Jacobs would fit that requirement. Is there a place to preview it online before committing to a purchase?

My son (who completed Algebra 1 this year) also did better on the trig section. I can't figure out why--interesting that your son had the same experience with the trig section vs pre-algebra and elem algebra. I'm not sure what to make of it. He received an A in Saxon, but his algebra score didn't seem to reflect that.

Thanks so much for all of the great information! The hive is such a great resource!!

Thanks for the information! It looks like we would take the CTA red line. We are staying in Schaumburg so my husband would drive to the nearest stop to the hotel. I am not sure which one it would be yet. We are also going to a Cubs game tomorrow and we are wondering what the parking is like at Wrigley. My husband has clients in Chicago so he has experience with the expensive parking in downtown Chicago, but is wondering how crowded it will be.

My 15 year old son and I have the opportunity to see the ballet in Chicago this week at the Auditorium Theatre. I am wondering if it would be safe to take the metro/subway at around 10pm at night after the performance. We would need to walk a a couple of blocks to get on the subway. I would love any thoughts on this!

Yes, I dropped off my boys. They had to use the ACT student ID, since their passports had expired, but that went fine!

After listening to Richard Rusczyk speak about the importance of coding, I have been re-inspired to encourage my kids to learn. Richard talked about coding when he was young and basically needing to code his own computer games. This reminded me of my experience in high school in the early 80s. Our school had approximately 6 computers for our programming class and one of the things that we did was type in the code for a game called The Oregon Trail (maybe it was called Westward Ho--can't remember for sure) and it was actually quite engaging. I would type in a few pages of code at a time and then run the program and look for bugs (typos) to get the program run smoothly. I feel like it was a decent learning experience, at least as something to start with. I think that it was written in Basic. Fast forward to present day and I don't have any knowledge about coding, but think this would be a fun approach to start my kids with. Does anyone know if it would be possible to do something similar nowadays? Thanks!

Try tracing everyone in the household that is listed on the census. If you search for other records on each person, sometimes you will come up with additional information. If their first names are more distinctive than your direct ancestor, it can help you determine if you are looking at the right family or area. Also, sometimes a parent or other family member may be living with them. Also, one thing I love about ancestry.com is that they are always adding new records, so even if you hit a dead end now, there may be a new lead in a month or two. I second the idea if using the Ellis Island website. It is surprising helpful.

Thanks for all of the ideas -- definitely some resources that I didn't know about!

My ds is doing Saxon Algebra 1 and I think that the piecemeal approach is confusing for him. He is participating in an online class and is so far into it this year that I really don't want to switch curriculums until geometry. Prior to this we used Singapore math, so the Saxon approach is quite different for him. Is there a book or video that might give him a good "big picture" of algebra that would give him a frame of reference for all of these pieces?

Regarding #6 above and the Spatial Test Battey-- is CTY the only program that has this available? I think that I may have a VSL but he is in Duke Tip. He is currently in 8th grade. This is the first time that I have heard of the Spatial Test Battery and it sounds intriguing.

The mozzarella is easy and says it takes 30 minutes -- a little longer for us, but still quick and very doable.

We have been making cheese today with Ricki Carroll's cheese making kit. (Soft cheeses) I think it is $24.95 on her website www.cheesemaking.com. We made 4 batches of mozzarella and it turned out great. I also got her hard cheese kit and we are trying cheddar today but you need a cheese press for that, which is more involved. She also has a book which covers all of it, but the kits are nice and have enough ingredients for 30 batches. It is a lot of fun! ETA the kits aren't necessary but there are a few specialized ingredients that you would need, so you could get her book and buy the ingredients.

I am following this thread with interest because I am in somewhat of a similar situation with my son, although he is in 8th grade and we just started Saxon algebra 1 this year (after doing Singapore). He has been very unhappy with Saxon and I wondered if AOPS might be a better fit--and like the OP am thinking of starting with pre-algebra. My question is how long to try AOPS before deciding if it is working or not? If we go back to pre-algebra I feel that we will be "behind" in the college prep sequence, but I don't think he is ready for AOPS algebra, so I feel some time pressure at this point.

I have always wanted to get my PhD in accounting and have started thinking about again as my kids are reaching high school age. I am anticipating homeschooling them for 3 more years and then they would start dual enrollment. I am 48, so I am not sure if it is worth the time and commitment at this point. Dh thinks that I should go for it. I can't decide, but am still evaluating it.

My kids did the ACT for 7th grade last year, so I thought about having them take the SAT this year( they are required to do standardized testing for state reporting purposes). Would the PSAT be a better option?

I checked but couldn't tell what it had set as his focus. I went in now and changed it to a topic specifically under prealgebra, so maybe it will stay there at this point. The questions in the Counting and Probability seemed more difficult than I anticipated for prealgebra. I know that Alcumus is challenging, so I thought that maybe that was just part of the program. ETA: The questions that he has been working on look like they are from a completely separate section devoted just to Counting and Probability, rather than a subsection under prealgebra