For the last seven summers, I have taken a group of high schoolers down into Los Angeles for a week of service learning and exploring social justice issues. It has only just occurred to me that it might be a good idea to have them read a book--fiction or nonfiction--prior to coming on the trip. Does anyone have any good suggestions for a book that engages the issues around human migration, poverty, homelessness, systematic racism, etc., that would be suitable for high schoolers? Thanks in advance for your help.

We have used Medieval and Early Modern World series this year and we've really liked it; it is very bit as good as the Ancient World series. I wish they had a series for the Renaissance; I'm on the look-out for what to use next year.

Thanks, Ellie. I'll take a look at it. I'm happy to correct and remediate--it sounds promising.

Specifically, I need help planning and executing grammar in my house. I have three boys, grades 7th, 4th, and 2nd and I have used First Language Lessons with all of them. I also use Writing with Ease for the younger two and Writing with Skill for the oldest. The oldest completed First Language Lessons through level four and I have tried to use Analytical Grammar, and Michael Clay Thompson's material with little success. I have found Analytical Grammar's practice sentences very complicated and working through the material always requires lots of my time. Alternatively, I don't have a clue how to formulate Michael Clay Thompson's material into any kind of a structured program. Here's what I'd like: A program that teaches grammar concepts, is highly structured, and doesn't require lots of my time. (I'm in graduate school full time and it's grammar that keeps getting dropped off the list.) If you have suggestions for using Analytical Grammar or Michael Clay Thompson that would be great. If you have an alternative program, I'd be happy to hear about that too. I'm open to any and all suggestions. What I'd really like is for Susan Wise Bauer to publish her grammar program for middle schoolers (I don't care if it's a bizillion pages long). Thanks for any help you can provide.

Thanks Taryn, your response is very helpful. You've given plenty to look at, but I will cross post it all the same. I really appreciate your help.

I need a little help planning and executing grammar in my house. I have three boys, grades 7th, 4th, and 2nd and I have used First Language Lessons with all of them. I also use Writing with Ease for the younger two and Writing with Skill for the oldest. The oldest completed First Language Lessons through level four and I have tried to use Analytical Grammar, and Michael Clay Thompson's material with little success. I have found Analytical Grammar's practice sentences very complicated and working through the material always requires lots of my time. Alternatively, I don't have a clue how to formulate Michael Clay Thompson's material into any kind of a structured program. Here's what I'd like: A program that teaches grammar concepts, is highly structured, and doesn't require lots of my time. (I'm in graduate school full time and it's grammar that keeps getting dropped off the list.) If you have suggestions for using Analytical Grammar or Michael Clay Thompson that would be great. If you have an alternative program, I'd be happy to hear about that too. I'm open to any and all suggestions. What I'd really like is for Susan Wise Bauer to publish her grammar program for middle school (I don't care if it's a bizillion pages long). Thanks for any help you can provide.

First, thanks to everyone for their reviews. I always find the curriculum feedback very useful on these forums. I do speak Spanish, which I don't think helps choose a curriculum. I feel impatient with the tedious conversation they offer. (Clearly my problem, where else does a beginner, begin?) Forgive me, but I don't know what TPRS and GSWS stands for. Would you mind unpacking the acronyms for me? It's clear I have some research to do. Thanks, always, for the help.

I've searched the forums and found very little about Spanish curriculum choices. Next year I will have a 7th, 4th, and 2nd grader and I'd like a curriculum that I could use with all three of them. I'd also like the lessons to be daily, brief, and have both spoken and written elements. Anyone have any suggestions?

Sorry I'm a serious extrovert, and I'm always asking questions in social situations. I don't like to talk about myself, it feels too vulnerable.

I had the same issue.

Thank you for this list; it's awesome!

Align has 4 mg of Bifidobacterium infantis 35624. Yours has a different number, which I can only assume is a different strain. According to my son's pediatric GI Align is the only probiotic that has been studied for its effectiveness with IBS, which is why we use it.

My son has IBS and this is what we use and where we buy it.

Thanks for this thread; it's been really helpful. We're ending Saxon 6/5 and it seems like one new, complex concept after another.

I have three of these, two small and a larger one; I use them all the time. Each morning I set the big one out an hour before school and count down. Everyone, (including me) needs to be ready (chores done, breakfast eaten) before the timer goes off. My oldest uses one for math every day; he no longer sits for hours and stares out the window. We set it for 30 minutes, he works at his math, then he takes a break. Then he sets it for another 30 minutes and he usually has his math finished. These timers are especially helpful for children who can't read a clock or are too young to have a sense of time. So during quiet time every day, I set one to avoid the endless question, "When is quiet time over?" I *heart* these timers. I really wish the app had better reviews.

We started this year and had to stop; the second half got too complicated. We're going to try it again in the 7th grade.

I was a child with an anger problem and a nasty attitude. My mother didn't really know how to manage me and my attitude (mostly) dominated our household. I have a brother who still resents the experience (but that's another subject). I'm not sure when I figured out that I alone am responsible for my attitude and I can regulate how my feelings affect my behavior, but it was a complete game changer. My middle son is a lot like I was. So, I spend time helping him articulate his feelings, and helping him differentiate between feeling mad/frustrated/sad/hungry and acting mean or disrespectful. But mostly I work hard to draw firm boundaries around his meanness and negativity (because really, he isn't too interested in my little lectures). This means he isn't allowed to be mean or negative in family space. He can take it to his room, or a space we designated on our back steps. But he is required to treat people with kindness and respect, or he'll get the "You're not ready to be with people," and is banished. FWIW, when I'm cranky, my kids will tell me, "Mom, you're not ready to be with people, are you?" I love it when they do that. It reminds me that good, close relationships are a privilege. I understand a teen is different, but I thought I offer my experience all the same.

We take the STAR tests, and I don't prepare for them in the least. Is there a reason you feel like you have to teach to the Standards? I belong to a Charter school and on my monthly learning records I have to show how what I'm teaching corresponds to the Standards, but the Standards don't direct my lesson planning or my teaching. For what it's worth my kids do fine on the STAR tests, but I don't teach to the test or worry about the Standards because I could send them to public school for that.

I cannot stop laughing. Hilarious.

Why do you need to infer? The story quite simply presents God as having a body, and asking Adam and Eve for information he doesn't have. The text is quite comfortable with this image of God, so no inference necessary.

It says no where in the text that this is a rhetorical question. The author could have easily put that information in, but the author didn't. God also asks, "Where are you?" Do you view that as a rhetorical question as well? I just don't think your interpretation is consistant with the story.

We've had a rough couple of months in school. And my father, who was a college football coach said to me, "Jana when your defense is overwhelmed by a stronger offense, you need to bend, but don't break. Meaning, you need to be willing to yield some yardage, but not the entire game." I've listen to a million football metaphors over the course of my life and exactly none of them have been helpful. Until now.

The God of second creation story in Genesis has a body, makes noise when he walks in the garden, he can't find Adam and Eve, and he doesn't even know that they've eaten from the forbidden tree, or how they know they're naked. I'm not sure how to read that literally if you believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful God.

:bigear:

I would like to add to this conversation that size is only one factor in a person's overall health. If you haven't read the book, Big Fat Lies, may I suggest that you do? Most studies that look at obesity, fail to isolate for fitness and nutrition. When researchers have isolated for those variables, it turns out, that a heavier person who is active and eats well, does better over the long run than their thinner counter parts. Gaesser also examines the (flawed) methodology used to calculate the BMI index. His book is an illuminating read and puts the focus where (I think) it belongs: on health and not size.