Yes, I find those exceedingly funny...but I'd probably need help seeing where they illustrate modern British lit themes. Can you offer any ideas?

I'll be teaching a chronological British lit class this year and have all my material chosen except for something contemporary for the end of the course. I'm debating The Children of Men...but whereas that would certainly give rise to questions and discussion, ideally I would prefer to end the course on a more positive, less ambiguous note, especially after some of the heavier work we will be covering. The second-to-last work on my list is C. S. Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet, but I have room for another, and would like something closer to contemporary. Could anyone suggest a late 20thC/ 21st C British novel appropriate for teens? (If not, I may squeeze in something else earlier in the year, and push Lewis to the end).

I will keep and peruse!

to my Bible question. A One-Year Bible is a good thought. As is a laptop lock and a shower bucket! My son actually bought himself a new laptop today, so I'll have to mention the lock idea to him. I hope you and yours are doing well. I come to the boards only sporadically now, but it's good to "see old faces." :)

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My oldest (19) is heading off to college four hours away in a few days (sniff). He'll be living in a townhouse-style residence with 5 other guys. We already know of certain items he needs to bring along--linens, towels, kitchen ware, etc. What has your son or daughter said they wish they had brought along , but hadn't thought of, when they first headed off to college or university?

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...and while I appreciate the suggestions, some are just not feasible (eg, skiing regularly; snorkeling; etc). The problem seems to be that nothing interests my guys enough to make them want to do it on a regular basis. After years of karate, another martial art does not appeal;cycling is not feasible here during the winter; swimming is all right, but again, after years of lessons, not something they want to take up again. Of course, their dream has been to play ice hockey, but I had decided many years ago not to get into that all-consuming (and expensive) lifestyle, so all they do is play ball hockey with friends now and then. I guess I'm stuck : (

Now let's hope we get some use out of it!

Oh, how I envy mothers with math-gifted children.... Here, despite my own enjoyment of math, it is the bane of my children's existence. I wouldn't hesitate to include on a transcript high school level math courses (geometry, algebra II) even if done before the actual high school years. In this case, the content/ skills learned are the same as what would normally be covered later, so I would deem it worth the credit.

Question 1: Last year, my two middle sons (then grades 9 and 11) did a NT survey using Encountering the New Testament which took them though the entire NT. This year the grade 10 son will be doing an Old Testament survey, using the companion volume, Encountering the OT. (BTW, we have done/ will do these as courses because each boy will be attending a private Christian high school for grade 12, and these two are required courses for their diploma). However, it was tough enough to get them to read through the entire NT; the OT is much longer and denser, and I can't see him reading all of it for a course. If you were doing a general survey of the OT, which books would you consider most important to cover, given time limitations? Question 2: On a related note, how do you encourage your teenaged children to read the Bible on their own, apart from a required academic course? There's a difference between reading the Bible in light of academic study and reading it in terms of application to one's own life. It seemed so much easier when they were little--I read aloud Bible stories, then the Bible itself when we studied ancient history; I had them read their own NIV student Bibles... But now that they've reached those much more private teenage years, I seem to have lost any sense of whether or how much they do read the Bible. What do you do? Do you assign them devotional studies they do on their own? Do you continue to read through the Bible together? How do you make regular, ongoing Bible study a meaningful part of the lives of teenage boys?

All four of my sons have been involved in karate for a number of years, but it seems to be losing its appeal to them. The oldest (now 19) achieved his adult black belt but quit soon after. The second son (17) also achieved his black belt and taught at the karate school as well, but had to leave due to health issues. Son #3 (almost 15) has his senior kids black belt and would be eligible to test for his adult black in another year; son #4 (10) will be testing for his junior kids black belt in November. Problem: son #3 has been losing interest for some time, complaining that the adult class which he attends just drills the same things repeatedly and focuses too much on grappling, which he does not enjoy (neither did the other boys). The sparring is also much more intense than at the junior levels, and many injuries have occurred. However, if he leaves, we're not sure what he could do instead for fitness. There are no sports programs around for homeschoolers, and he is not inclined to try the Y or such places where he would know no one. And I'm sensing that the 10-yr-old is no longer very keen either--I doubt he will want to continue for more than another year or so. What do other hs'ed kids/ teens do for fitness? Are our children involved in homeschool sports programs, or have you gotten involved with the local Y or community centre? I'm really not sure what to do about this; we have been at this karate school for 6 years , but in that time it has become increasingly a "business" geared towards the youngest children (the owner even opened up an indoor playground and plans "special events" there which are advertised at the karate school). The choice of karate was good at the time --my older three had been involved in the local soccer program for a few years, but had at times been taunted for being hs'ed, and karate allowed them to focus on individual skills, as well as engage in a fitness activity year-round. But the shine has worn off... I've asked if they would like to seek out another karate school but that doesn't appeal to them. Obviously I would like my sons to continue with a regular form of exercise/ fitness, but I just don't know how to pursue this. Any ideas? Thanks.

I have the opportunity to buy the entire Life of Fred set at half price and am very tempted. Would any of you who have used it tell me what you think of the program--pros/ cons? Thanks.

Hi Laurel-- I actually tried Chalkdust Prealgebra with this son and it was hopeless. He felt that there wasn't enough explanation in the lessons. I guess math just does not compute with him.

Thanks for your thoughts, Cynthia, here and re my other posts. How I wish at least one of my sons was a math/ science whiz! I guess we'll wait till next year to see if he's interested in taking a course or two at the high school. Any thoughts about math? He's using Lial's Intro Algebra (After Lial's BCM and Pre-Algebra) but it;s still a slog for hi, He has a hard time retaining the procedures--will do a bunch of problems properly, then come to an application problem and draw a blank (" plus b?!"). It's frustrating.

For math,he used Singapore, then Lial's Basic College Math and now Lial's Intro Algebra. I have always thought that the explanations in Lial's are very clear and thorough. He just seems to have a hard time "getting it" no matter what--he will work a number of similar problems; then suddenly be stumped on one that is only slightly different. As for Life of Fred, I had contacted the author last year to try to order, but he said he would not ship to Canada due to many shipping difficulties.

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My sons did do earth science and astronomy in grade 8. He used a middle school text for the earth science portion, but a high school text for the astronomy portion. Should/ could I give him high school credit for that? On the other hand, I'm not sure how much he got out of it--he answered the questions and took some tests, but he probably doesn't recall very much now. I'm not inclined to give him "official" credit but am wondering what others might do in this situation (as described in my post below).

I glanced at samples of the Integrated Physics and Chemistry program by Tiner (Pacworks) which I've heard of before. Am I correct that all the lessons are basically historical information? Are there any lessons on chemical formulae, atomic structure, etc?

He did earth science in grade 8; not sure he would want to repeat that so soon, especially since he used a high school text for the astronomy portion.

At this rate, I probably won't get around to clearing out this stuff until I absolutely have to (ie, moving). I did reply to your pm, by the way--hope you got my message. This summer has been impossible so far, as it has been entirely taken up with major house/ basement repairs due to water damage, etc. It feels as thought he summer hasn't even happened yet, partly because the weather here has been unseasonably cool as well. I almost wish it would just be September already, except that I'm not prepared. : ~

Yes, as I mentioned, son #3 did do Conceptual Physics last year, but I doubt he has retained much. I don't think even Conceptual Chemistry would work for him, especially because that was my own weak area in science--I would need too much hand-holding myself.

Yes--it's been my "summer project" ever since we moved into this house 9 years ago, lugging along the previous several years' worth of hs stuff! Unfortunately, the actual accomplishing of the project has yet to come to pass. I just hope I can deal with it all before we have to move again.

Despite my own enjoyment of science, none of my sons seems to have taken to it (or to literature, or to French, or....I'm perceiving a trend here.) Here in Ontario, a diploma requires three high school sciences, one of which must be from grade 1 or 12 OR must be a tech science (such as woodworking or auto mechanics) from grade 9-12. I've always made the effort to ensure that my children have done the equivalent of what's required for a diploma, a plan that worked out well for the two oldest (oldest completed grade 12 at a Chrisitan school and second oldest is heading there next year.) Since it's likely that son #3 will also head to school for grade 12, I'd like to keep him on track for sciences as well. However...(BIG however), this son--who is a comic wit and excellent writer-- struggles mightily with math; heading into grade 10 this fall, he will be only halfway through Lial's Intro Algebra. Son #1 managed to cover biology, intro chemistry, and woodworking in co-op classes, as well as earth science at home during his grade 9-11 years; son #2 has covered earth science/ astronomy, biology, and Conceptual Physics during grade 9-11. Son #3 covered earth science and astronomy, but back in grade 8, with a combination of middle school and high school texts; last year in grade 9, he also covered Conceptual Physics, but honestly, I think much of it went over his head. This coming year we're planning on biology...but what to do after that? Because of his weak math skills, I don't think he will be able to manage chemistry (even son #2, who is far stronger in math, absolutely refused to take chemistry when he learned he did not *have* to). If son #3 also waits until grade 12 to go to school, he will not be able to take even something like woodworking there at that time as that does not count as a university-entrance course. It's possible I could send him to the Christian school part-time for grade 11 to take just woodworking, I suppose, although he isn't very interested in it; but otherwise, I'm in a bind re what to do for his third science. (Even his required third math will have to be a consumer math--there's no way he could slog through Alg. 2 without one of us killing the other). Any thoughts or suggestions?

This will be my 15th year of hs'ing, and I'm down to sons #3 and 4 (#1 is off to college soon and #2 will be doing grade 12 at a Christian school as the oldest did.) What to do with all the flotsam and jetsam of years of hs'ing four boys? No need to keep various consumable workbooks (spelling, vocab, etc) but what about all those binders full of their early writing efforts and later essays? (I do have some on computer, once they began to type, but far from all.) How about the assorted computer downloads and print-outs we used to enhance our book studies? What about the pages and pages of looseleaf with all their answers to math or science questions? What about the endless array of full to bursting index card boxes we used for vocab cards in various subject areas? Should I just toss all of this, in the realization that they will likely never look over this material again (if they ever did)? Just knowing that all of this mass of STUFF is lurking behind closed cupboard doors , in drawers, and in bins and binders is enough to drive me around the bend!