We're working our way through The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory. I'm also supplementing occasionally with Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory: A Complete Self-Study Course for all Musicians. Both come with CDs of ear training exercises. I'm using the Alfred's Essentials as more of a workbook because it has more written exercises. I also found a neat flash card style music theory app for the Ipad that includes ear training exercises (recognizing intervals).

Yes, I read the book and enjoyed it. Very interesting autobiographical look at the relationship between the mother and her daughters, informing readers "how that worked out" for them. (Totally unfamiliar with the referenced interview.)

Haven't tried TH. We enjoyed breakfast at WC - I'd say it was good, but I enjoyed the character breakfast at Ohana's better. We stayed at the Wilderness Resort, and you can walk down behind the resort and catch a boat to MK.

I'd email back and say I needed to know the prices before I could place my order.

I've been making sandwich buns instead of loaves, and it works great. I let the dough mix, knead, and rise in the bread machine. Then I punch it down and roll it out on a board w/a rolling pin. Then I cut it into whatever size I want the buns to be. If you cut two pieces the same size and then stack them, it will automatically have a top and a bottom that will split apart easily, thus avoiding the need to slice them later. Works great. Try it. :-)

Enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing!

How does successnet work? (I bought my copy of Miller/Levine biology used.)

What does she hate about it? Is it biology in general? Or is it something about Apologia? I have the following on my shelf: Apologia Biology - "chatty" as written to student; some people like it, and some can't stand it. Prentice Hall Biology (Miller/Levine) - secular text - I wanted to treat the topic of evolution (and some other areas, too) differently than Apologia does Biology Coloring Workbook (The Princeton Review) by I. Edward Alcamo http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Coloring-Workbook-Workbooks/dp/0679778845/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317766777&sr=1-1 I also plan to incorporate some DVDs and some interesting books from the science section at the bookstore/library. I hope some others will have some good suggestions for you, too.

I'm going to see the matinee tomorrow in Richmond! Choosing the matinee allowed us to get really fantastic seats for less money. Would that be an option for you? Also, I agree that it would be better to not take the baby - not fair to the other patrons near you, and if you're going to end up spending a lot of time in the lobby, why bother to go in the first place? I think it's best to save your resources for when you can really enjoy it without the worries.

Hey - I just noticed you're in Virginia. :-)

No, I haven't heard of that. I'll have to look for it. Why do you like it on your phone better?

Thanks!

For those of you on the lookout for apps, I just discovered PBS for iPAD. Looks like it has some video content that will be a nice supplement for us occasionally (and just interesting to watch, too).

Thanks for the responses. We did Saxon Alg I last year. Ds took the tests as prescribed. I used the average of the scores from tests 1 - 15 for his first semester grade and the average of the scores from tests 16 - 30 for his second semester grade. And then I got to thinking, "What about the geometry portion? If I'm going to put geometry on the transcript, I'm going to need a grade to go with it." So I went back through all the tests and counted up how many of all of the geometry problems he got right and used that percentage as a grade for those geometry topics. And it all was pretty easy b/c he missed very few anyway. Fast forward to this year . . . I thought it would be better to track his grades as we go instead of waiting until the end. But that's very messy. (Only 5 geometry problems makes them 20 pts each; and then another test will have 8 or 12 geometry problems, and so on.) Hence my question about teasing out the grades. So it would be workable to give him a geometry final and use that as the grade. In a sense, he is taking two math classes at the same time, Alg II and geometry - is that how you look at it? Additional thoughts, anyone?

I'm trying to decide how to determine the final grades to place on the transcript for Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. Supposedly by the time ds finishes Saxon Alg I and II, he will also have completed a semester's worth of geometry. A) Can anyone verify the above? B) Recommendations on how to tease out the geometry grade from the algebra grade?

For those looking for an interesting biology read, try Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley. (I know this wouldn't work for your 9 and 12 yr-olds, but it would liven things up a bit for a high school student.) Disclaimer: Depending on your family's views, you might want to read it yourself first and only assign certain chapters. But I loved the way the author wrote. For example, he tells about Watson and Crick and how they met, etc. He describes their relationship as "exothermic." :-)

Interesting question. I hope you'll get some candid responses. I personally don't have a lot of complaints about science. I plan my own and am pleased with it. If I had more time, I'd do even more. However, I'm speaking from the perspective of a science teacher, and I don't limit myself to any one curriculum; rather, I use a combination of materials that I find helpful and interesting. If I didn't really enjoy science myself, I don't think I'd want to go to all that trouble. As it is, though, I really enjoy doing science, reading about science, and thinking about science. It's a habit of mind for me. Yeah, I sound really geeky, don't I? I wonder if one reason people have trouble with science might be related to a lack of confidence w/the math or maybe with the whole exercise? Perhaps it can be frustrating if you feel like your "lab" didn't turn out like it was supposed to? Perhaps conflicts arise related to matters of faith? Perhaps the people who say they're dissatisfied have more passion for other academic disciplines?

Great hurricane tracking map. Thanks! Do you have a favorite site for obtaining the latitude and longitude coordinates of the storms?

What do the terms "fake school," "fake learning," and "fake homeschooling" mean?

The word me is the object of the preposition like.

Absolutely! Ds took geology in 9th grade. If time/interest permits, he'll probably do a semester of meteorology and/or a semester of astronomy in 12th. I'm not arguing that the earth sciences should replace biology/chemistry/physics; however, they shouldn't be neglected either. :iagree: Done well, Earth Science can be an interesting and worthwhile lab course. I like TTC "How the Earth Works" taught by Michael E. Wysession, and I supplement with Prentice Hall Earth Science for labs. Additionally, I like this quote: "One very important part of the study of how the earth works is the interdisciplinary nature of it. Earth science is not for the faint of heart - this is not "rocks for jocks." In a modern-day university earth science department lecture, you are as likely to hear about the biological DNA of rock-chewing bacteria, the physics of the magnetic field of Jupiter, or the chemistry of ozone reactions in the atmosphere as you are likely to hear about more traditional topics of "geology." This is because the divisions between the different sciences are entirely artificial. Nature does not know about biology, physics, and chemistry; there is only Nature, and all of the sciences are involved in it. This is nowhere more true than in the study of a planet and how it works." (How the Earth Works Course Guidebook, pg. 2, TTC.)

It doesn't seem strange to me. We used that grading scale when I was teaching public high school in the Richmond, VA area ('89-'97). I remember that when i was in school, the scale was this: A = 95 -100 B = 88 - 94 C = 81 - 87 D = 75 - 80 F = 74 and below

I have both of these: Earth Science, 11th edition, Tarbuck/Lutgens - college level. It contains a very handy GEODE CD-ROM w/tutorials and quizzes. Prentice Hall Earth Science, 2006, also Tarbuck/Lutgens - (Pearson) - high school. They are very similar (obviously two different versions written from the same outline). The college level text has the same topics in the same order as the Prentice Hall, but with a little more depth/detail. For the most part, they have the same pictures, too (larger in the college text). The Prentice Hall text has a lab with each chapter and an "Assessment" section at the end of each chapter. The Prentice Hall text also has related math activities sprinkled throughout (i.e. graphing, interpreting graphs, calculating).

Excellent article - so glad you shared it with us!