Thank you all. When we are reading the guide books, they make everything sound like a must stop and we just don't have all that time.

Thanks so much. Any other suggestions? :D Karen

We are traveling to Rhode Island this summer and am looking for suggestions on what is good to see and do. We are coming from Delaware, so any suggestions on the way would be great too! :auto: Thanks, Karen in DE

Try harperlee.com I haven't gone through it yet, but have it bookmarked for to use this year.

Thanks for the advice. My son has not been using the postulates from his book, but on his last test, there were 2 problems that he couldn't get and I told him it was okay to look at them. I think they are hard to remember! Karen

Do you let your kids use the postulates when taking a geometry test? Do they have you do proofs on the SAT's? Thanks :D

:smash: We must have the same son. My son acts as if he is totally clueless about something, the same week we have discussed it in great detail. I'll say, you have your paper done, right? It's due today. Oh, I, umm, well, I, it will be done, don't worry. It's always, don't worry. Then I get the paper and it is missing a lot of the features we discussed. When I ask him about it, he would have either forgotten about it, or had a question, but never bothers to ask me. So what do I do? It's on time, but just not done right. Do it over, then it extends to later, which holds us up on something else! Ugh! Now in saying all of this, my son is very responsible, just very forgetful. I don't want to be dissin' my son either! :lol: We work on this all of the time. There are days when it seems to be getting better and days when it is not. :glare: This is what I have been doing. Making firm deadlines, occassional reminders and if it not met, well, that's his problem, not mine. Since I've laid down the law, I do see a big improvement. I think part of my problem was that I don't want them to have a bad grade b'c of poor memory, when the work is fine. I have really changed my mind on this though. Does a boss say, Oh, that's okay if you didn't hand your budget in on time. Don't worry if your bills aren't paid on time. It's okay if the mortgage is late! No problem, do it when it fits your schedule. No way. Doesn't work! :confused: So long story short, I am really making my kids take a higher level of responsibility this year. I have found that they really can do it. If I am soft, they will fall. If I am expecting it and it had a clear deadline, then they are getting much better about handing it in. Sometimes I am still a softy though! :D

After reading a post, it gave me the idea for this discussion. I'd love to know your thoughts on this topic. I spend a lot of time correcting and prepping school work. It seems to never ever end. I am always doing school. I know if I bought everything boxed, it would be much easier, but that isn't really our style. I just finished reading The Yearling for my son's literature group. I thought I would never get done! I really don't want to fake talking about a book. I still have to finish reading Misty for my daughter's group. This book is not as good as I heard it was. Oh, well. Then there are tests to make up for Jensen's, which always take me a bit of time. It just seems to go on and on. I was just wondering, do you all feel the same way? :001_huh: It would be nice to know I'm not all alone on this island. :willy_nilly:

This is very good news to hear. Thank you for posting the question. My son has taken TT Algebra I and now is in Geometry. After hearing what others had to say previously, I felt that I was failing him. It's good to hear the positive reactions.

Thanks Kathleen, I've read the book, all 405 pages. I was really looking for examples of a student, writing on the book. I have found a lot of lesson plans and places to actually read the book. Thanks, Karen

I've been searching for a web site that gives good examples of different essays. We just finished The Yearling and was hoping I could find an example of writing from this book, but everything I have found only shows a paragraph and you have to pay for the rest. Any freebie sites that anyone could suggest? Thanks in advance. Karen

I tried doing TOG, 2 years in a row. I also work, but only 3 days a week. My problem was each time I tried to attack it, I would have to refamiliarize myself again and again. That is what took me so long. It was just tooooo much for me. I felt so terrible, b'c I spent so much money on it. It was supposed to be a great program. Bottom line is, I sold it and did what we have always done. Reading and writing about the books of the time periods. It works great for me! What I decided was that if it wasn't working and the kids were not getting the history, than it wasn't right for us and I needed to accept defeat. :001_huh: Really, the bottom line is that the kids are getting in their history, not waiting for their mom to do history. Right? :thumbup: I wish you well.

I really appreciate this discussion. My son, who is in 9th grade, is in a Literature co-op this year. There are 4 families involved. We watched the "Teaching the Classics" dvd's with the kids and then are using that model to discuss the books. They fill out the form for each book and we have a discussion with the mom's and kids. We meet after we read each book, which is usually 2-3 weeks. So far we have read: The Pearl, Fahrenheit 451, Huck Finn, The Outsiders. We will start a series on Edgar Allen Poe this week. I have had him do a couple of writing assignments. For Huck Finn he had to put together a newspaper reflecting what happened in the book. That was an interesting assignment. We contacted the Library of Congress and they showed us some samples from that period of time. He copied their style. I put together a grading system for that one. I usually give him how I will grade with the assignment itself. If he is able to take part in the conversation and knows what he is talking about, he gets an A for that part of the class. It has been great reading/discussing the books with other people.

I have to say that is a draw back to Jensen's. I am making up the tests. :001_huh: But it must be really good if I am going to all this trouble!:lol:

Have you looked at Jensen's Vocabulary? We are using that this year after using WW for years.