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I thought it was a great program.... Kim

True, ladies. Didn't mean to sound snotty or anything, ha! Sorry. You're right, if they advertise it as such then it should contain everything. You know, sometimes I overdo it (in just about everything). If I put my child through all my fantasies of a perfect education, she won't need college....:lol: FWIW, our kids will probably get more writing and analysis opportunities than most going into college. I have to keep reminding myself of that and not try to kill mine with overload before she graduates HS. Just some rambling thoughts I had a second ago. Take care, Kim

As another Astronomy lover, I can identify with your child. We did Astronomy this year...again (did very basic stuff in the 4th grade.) Mine is 13, now. We go to the observatory up the road when the weather is decent. It's our final fling before HS for us, but what we are covering is pretty much a college survey class for non-majors. I went over basic chemistry in the beginning of the year and delved into the nuclear fusion of stars, heavy and light elements, etc for her to have a bigger pic of what Astronomy is all about, then jumped into actual Astronomy with some light math (parsecs vs LY, parallax, etc.) I don't see anything wrong with your plan as long as you get thru the lab classes req for HS. (the usual Chem/Bio/etc) We're using the AO lifepacs. They're not bad, but not terrific, either. I use them more as a guide as she works though them. There are soooo many resources online, youtube, whatever. I use the guides also for experiements and project ideas, but mostly we use the observatory and a pair of binos. On youtube there are movies and actual college lectures you can watch. What was kinda scary was one particular college lecture on planets. Mine has known the info taught since about the 5th grade, and I really wonder what kids were learning in PS that they didn't already understand the basics of Astronomy that this class covered. Man! Frankly, what is in the AO lifepacs was deeper than the college lecture on youtube. Sad. A drawback to the lifepacs is they're dated. They need to be revised IMHO; they're from 1998, and a TON has happened in Astronomy since then. But the good news is, there are TONs of websites with up-to-date info that a simple search can find that will complete your study. We're into blackholes and quasars right now. :) PS: We also picked up Standard Deviants Astronomy I & II for cheap and that helped some, also. Take care, Kim

Hi, As a Comp & Info Sci major to 2 CS majors, have you considered Linux? What I plan to do with mine is have her load some machines (after understanding basic computing, OS's and partitioning), build a small network, teach basic networking and a small amt of programming with Linux. A great computer science program IMHO, complete with labs. :) I'm on a Linux laptop now. we picked up some refurbs here and there and I'll be loading the rest of the boxes with Linux before long. When you get Linux, you get much of the libraries and programming languages for programming standard. Linux rocks. And as you prob know, Linux is just a home version of Unix and is stable and easier to understand, computer-wise, than MS IMHO. It just makes sense and you have a ton more control over your machines and network than you would with MS. I was weaned on UNIX, so Linux just makes more sense to me, tho. But those are my plans. With some O'Reilly books, you're set. Kim

Yep, I'm fully aware that Academies produce what I call "hot dogs" :) Live, breathe, sleep greatness. And we've had the talk a couple of times. I honestly believe that she simply wants to fly for a living. She does want to go into the AF for a few years then get out and fly, so we're considering all options at this point. I love Academies because I'm cheap and don't want to pay for college if I can find a way out of it. Just kidding; there is an appeal to getting a decent education for a few years' commitment to Uncle Sam. (Nothing is actually free, BTW.) My husband and I were in the Air Force. I was in Intelligence (won't go further) and my husband was a linguist. His regret was not staying in and becoming an instructor like they tried to convince him to do. We have fond memories of the service. The CAP may be good for her regardless of what she ends up doing, so we're checking it out. Thanks, all! Kim

I'm considering Notgrass, too. Frankly they're History courses, not writing and lit courses, so I don't understand the complaint about "the lack of..." Mine will be doing an essay intensive course of some type over the summer to get used to HS/College level prompts and writing essays. She can write, but she's dog slow at this point. She will also be getting plenty of Lit analysis and writing opportunities in CLE's LA/Lit coursework. I've been using CLE for a few years, now. I expect mine to use what she's learning in LA to apply to her History, I don't expect History to teach writing and Lit analysis. Best regards, Kim

I'm looking at Notgrass World History, American History, Gov and Econ (separate courses). They are more challenging and at HS level. I hear the World History is great and the American History is pretty good. Love to hear more about the Gov and Econ classes, tho. Kim

Hi all, I have a gal heading into HS who can write (when she wants to...), but is slow as can be. I want to give her more practice in speeding up and writing great essays. What do you recommend? I'm looking at HS Essay Intensive. 1. Have you used it and what do you think of it? Worth the money? 2. Does it give some prompts for the student to try? 3. Can she do it over the summer before HS? IS it useful to keep and reuse thru-out HS? THe above is what I'm looking for in Essay writing (quick, concise, to-the-audience good essay responses...) THanks, Kim

Yes, we understand that getting a private license is a necessity no matter which direction she goes, if she wants to fly for a living. And we've heard from an assoc at my husband's work that you don't nec have to go into the academy if all you want to do is fly, and the Academy isn't the best route *if* you only want to fly. Apparently the Academies take the best GPA grads and let them pick the jobs first, so unless you're ace-ing everything and get a very high GPA (no matter what field), you will end up prob assigned somewhere else besides flight school. The assoc is an ex-Navy fighter pilot. He got his private license and degree first (math for him) and then went to a recruiter's office and got a guaranteed career agreement from them up front. Then he went to Basic (reg officer training school), then to flight school. Never went to the Naval Academy. So there are many ways to skin this one. And I think she actually wants a civilian job in the end. So we'll see; I still am interested in the Civ Air, for example; seems it would be a good experience for her if it's a good squadron that does a lot of leadership/community projects. Thanks again, Kim

Seems there's a Civ Air Patrol at the base, also...found the website. Kim

I saw another thread when I searched using Academy. Seems there are others who are getting into the various military academies. This will be very much a hard sell with mine. She's capable of anything, but the question is, is she willing to do the work nec? :glare: But she's only just turned 13. Typical 13 yo. Academically she's well ahead of her peers but I know it takes more than just good grades to get in. The discipline would do her worlds of good, let's just say. :D There's an air guard base near us, I believe. There are Air Force personnel there, plus others. Not sure what kind of base it is, actually, and will have to research. Also I was thinking of JROTC type stuff would be good. There's also a piloting school there and we've already done a tour while in Scouts that I arranged, so I know what the cost is for a private license will run. Sigh. But if she's serious about flying then that's also a consideration in my mind. Anyone else? :) Kim

Hi all, Next year it's the 9th grade for mine. She's a bright kid who announced the other day that she wants to go to the Air Force Academy and fly planes. Okay....I says to her... (?? Where did this come from, I asks?) Nothing like lofty goals, no? So Mom digs up all she can on the requirements for the Academy and their prep school as a poss fallback. Love the idea that college would be paid for, but I'm guessing in order to get into the Academy there would be a lot of blood, sweat and tears in payment before we actually got there...if we got there at all. She might change her mind. Then again, she might not. Anyway, it looks like they want a pretty heavy, AP-type load to get in academically. Not to mention the extra-curricular, leadership-demonstrating activities that you have to have...along with nominations from high powers in government and all. I'm willing to work if she is, if you catch my drift. Anyone else heading for a military academy? Anyone think I'm nuts for even looking at it? :) What kind of AP course options for Comp and Speech for ex? Anyone working on a strong, rigorous HS program? Thanks, Kim

FWIW, they have a program. I haven't used it, tho. Kim

Hi all, Well, after reading the first few lessons and introduction, I have to say that this book is NOT suitable for young people. There are a few s*xual refs taken from passages, etc. It's unfortunate because the actual lessons are very good. Each of the 50 writing tips include exercises at the end for the student to try. Overall, I don't regret getting the book, and I will read it myself and use the lessons to teach my daughter in her writing, and practice the suggestions myself in my own writing. If only the author hadn't included the few adult refs, the book could have easily been a real asset to the homeschool community. I'm even considering writing a helps guide, myself, using the tips from this book but with more appropriate examples for younger folks. It really would make a good year's worth of writing lessons for High Schoolers. Kim

...and let me guess, he doesn't do it for the money, either. I really don't know what to say, other than it'll probably bomb (quarterly meetings) and it'll be a dead issue before Christmas. Maybe some piece of mind with that? Kim

About where we are, here. (Ref: Republic vs Democracy, sucession, etc.)

When I worked and mine was a toddler, I met many parents who spent 4 hours a night working with their kids on their homework or using their own stuff to school their kids, even though they were in PS. Didn't make any sense to me that the parents were teaching their kids, yet paying taxes and other money every year for the system to babysit their kids every day. Later, I homeschooled when mine was old enough. She was reading at 4. I tried to put her in a private kindergarten school and I had the opportunity to sit in on a class at the end of the year. They were still circling "a" "b" etc on worksheets. I asked about mine, since she was already writing and reading on a second/third grade level. They told me that she would have to wait TWO YEARS before they would re-eval her and move her into a more challenging class and that she could teach the others how to read. All this I could have for only $5,000. plus a year! OOOOOH how nice. I homeschooled. 2 1/2 hrs a day for nothing up until 3rd, then a few hundred a year since then. She's still academically about 2 - 3 years ahead of her peers. And frankly, I think she's pretty average. It's just that she's been *allowed* to achieve her potential, which many kids in the system are not allowed to do. Perhaps it's different in your school systems, but that was the way it was in the late 1990s. Why join the system when you really don't have to, folks. Kim

Welcome to the real world ;). I wouldn't sweat it. I'd tell her that in life we all have responsibilities we aren't crazy about. If you want to move on to things you enjoy more, then you need to be responsible and complete your work. Mine enjoys reading but doesn't like writing. No program in the world will make that any better. I even wrote a story WITH her and had her illustrate, trying to get her more enthused. Didn't work. She's like her dad; she'll do technical-type writing but forget creative writing. I love creative writing. She loves math, like her dad. I tolerate math. She's his clone separated at birth in a time warp minus the beard and mustache. What can I say? But we both tell her that that's the way it is, kiddo. Get busy. She's pretty disciplined, now, but I do have to ask her to narrate or whatever to make sure she's not just speed reading to get through the assignments. We use the CLE reading program which is pretty challenging and she whined and whined at the beginning of the year, because, like R&S, CLE's program will actually make them WORK. The nasty 4-letter word. But after a couple of months she could handle the critical thought questions much better...yes, the program forces them to actually read for content/analysis which they hate...and by the end of the year she was sailing through the course with no problem and managed to learn lots of vocab and literary analysis for 7th grade. So hang in there. I don't drop curriculums just because of the whine factor, unless the whining is justified. Like, there's no meat in the program, she's learning nothing, etc. Rgds, Kim

Here's another link with a nifty interactive tool to help you build an essay: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/persuasion_map/ Kim

Well, it *sounds* like, as one poster has said, he is strongly biased against homeschooling and a bit of a "hot dog" in that he believes he's the end-all authority on education. I can be just as biased about him as an ex-AF fighter pilot...we all *know* how full of themselves they can be, don't we? But then I'd be just as guilty as he is if I lumped him in with maybe a few that are like that, wouldn't I? The homeschooling community isn't perfect. There are families who aren't doing their children any favors by homeschooling. You should never think that just because your kids are at home that they will automatically get a better education. We in the homeschooling community have an obligation to truly put our children first and be willing to invest the time and money to providing the best we can for our kids--to ensure that they meet their potential. I'm a little concerned about mine right now because I had her in two different courses outside the home and she wanted out of both of them. But she's 12, also. Socially she's fine; she gets along with everyone and has several friends, plus sings and performs in skits at church. Her friends call her "brainiac" because she can answer questions no one else knows the ans to and helps out with math, etc. In one class, she said the kids just cut up in it, forcing the teacher to move really slow. Okay. The other class was a writing course and the teacher was really new-agey; they had them take a large piece of paper on the floor and illustrate death, destruction, disaster, disease, etc and the kids just drew lots of skulls and blood and named all the horror/slasher movies they watch at home, etc which we don't watch. So both classes I really couldn't argue that she should stay in them. ?? I'm just keeping an eye on her and plan to find something worthwhile for her to participate in HS. I've always wondered if anyone has seriously done a study on the overall results of homeschooling on those attending colleges today or those employed. I've only heard mostly good, but I'd like to get an unbiased study by an outside party that doesn't have a private agenda. The difficulty, though, is there's always a fudge factor with statistics, and it costs money to do this type of study. Who would pay for it? So for now, all we have is hearsay, really. My 2 cents, Kim

When I think of the Hebrew Midwives in Genesis. ;) I was thiniking of actually shooting someone. Don't know if I'd have the guts to do it unless there was someone else in the house, you know? Sorry off topic here. Kim

I LOVE your image of Granny. Priceless... (I'm an old, old homeschooling mom.) Kim

About 21. Just kidding. My daughter and I read together all the time and she's 12. She's an excellent reader with an excellent vocabulary. We read old series books together, Uncle Eric books together, etc. We discuss as we read and love every minute of it. It's our bonding time. I wouldn't trade it for the world and I'll miss this time we have together. I'm sure some day in her teens she'll tell me to get lost, but I hope not. The other night I got to bed late, as I always do, and I found her in bed reading Gulliver's Travels. Light fare, no? All of us read continually. Take care, Kim

I wouldn't sweat a formal program at this point, honestly. Many of us here seem to feel the same way, it appears. I built my own for the first 3-4 years using the library. I agree with others in that your focus should be FIRST: - learning to read. period. EOS. - Learning basic math skills - Practicing writing skills; letters, words, sentences, etc. History is fluff in the beginning; extra work. We did some ancient in 1st and middle ages stuff in 2nd, etc, but I just did fun stuff with what library books I could find. You also might even consider working on social/community-type things, like, what a library is, what does the post office do, visit a fire station, etc; also, basic map reading, some geography skills, etc. I've done classic/chronological history from the beginning and have always built my own history except for a year of K12. You can use a couple of sources as a guide: WTM book, Core Knowledge, etc. It really isn't that hard to do for early elementary. Kim