We have a digital microscope (gift from Grandpa :001_smile:) It is wonderful - ds just clicks to take a picture of a weird looking bacteria floating by. He has been able to print these out for science projects, or email to ask someone what he is looking at. It has opened up the micro world to us far beyond what a traditional microscope does. If it is feasible for your budget - or Grandparent's gift budget - then I highly recommend.

Lol... too true. PSAT is on Wednesday here in MD as well. I would suggest letting your dc's online live class know that there is a conflict - you may find a lot of other students in the class will have the same conflict. If the class instructor is given sufficient warning, then they may schedule accordingly.

Thanks so much for this - exactly what I was looking for. I especially appreciate your advice that we must focus on vocab drill!

:iagree:

We have never set a time limit for our school schedule. My kids just do their work and move on to the next subject when they have done the day's work. A bell would interupt them instead of allowing them to finish their work first.

Thanks to recommendations from this forum my dc have started So You Really Want to Learn Spanish 1. Does anyone have a schedule for this ? At this stage dc are just doing what they feel is doable - but having a schedule to keep them on pace would be helpful - I just have no idea how much to schedule at a time.

I wouldn't have punishment or consequences for poor grades. I do let ds14 (9th grade) know that if certain material is not completed by a specific date that he will miss out on a weekend taekwondo event that he really enjoys. For example he enjoys Biology, but is lax about doing the labs and writing up the report. I have let him know that his lab reports are to be complete by the end of the week - if not then he will have to do it Saturday morning and miss out on his taekwondo class. I do not do this for my younger children, and this is the first year that I am doing it with my eldest.

I got the de Bilj book for $12 on Amazon. ds in 9th grade is happy with it thus far. I bought this before I saw the comment that it is 'riddled with errors'. That concerns me, I hadn't heard that comment before - and I read up a lot of reviews before getting it. It is very readable. When he has worked his way through the book, he then plans to use 5 steps to an 5 to prep for the AP exam. We looked at quite a few of the AP test prep books, and this is the one that he is happiest with for self study purposes.

I feel your concerns are valid, and yet at the same time I think you are doing the best for him. Some kids definitely need extra time and effort from mom - which is one of the wonderful things about homeschooling - In a school setting he probably wouldn't get the extra attention as he is normal 'enough'. I don't think it is just a boy thing (I have two boys and three girls) . If it was just a boy thing then his gross motor skills would have developed sooner. These kids at the end of normal range are often overlooked in a classroom setting. They do take extra effort and a lot of patience from mom. My kid brother was at outer edge of normal. Some gross motor and fine motor delays. His kindergarten teacher commented that he couldn't use a pair of scissors. He was a great kid, loved by all, wonderful sense of humour, outgoing, life and soul of the party kind of guy. He couldn't memorise the boy scout promise. In the end the scout master let him in because he was "so much fun to have around". He could read, though preferred to read comics and cartoons, had great difficulty with school tests that required memorizing facts. His math was so-so. He was in the school choir, sometimes singing solo with his beautiful voice, didn't manage well with reading music, so piano and other instruments were out, but he did learn a little guitar. He did great at some sports, eventually getting his black belt in taekwondo. Though nothing where he had to connect a bat/racquet to a moving ball - didn't have the coordination for that. He made it through school - just - though he repeated 10th grade. After school he floated for a year or two not sure what to do. In the end he signed himself up for a six month certificate course to learn a computer programming language. In those days it was called Natural ( a programming language that is very structured and used mainly by large financial insitutions. ) After a few years of programming experience, he immigrated to the US, and got a job in New York programming. The company loved his outgoing personality. With his knowledge of the programming side as well as his fun personality they would put him front and center at their sales presentations. Not many programmers are fun and extrovert! At the end of all this, my advice would be to help him learn the basics in all the academics, giving him as much attention and time as you can - given that you also have other children. And help him to find a hobby or two that will give him pleasure, a sense of pride in that there is something he can do well.

Can you give us a list of the items in your chem set ?

our plan is 9th - Apologia biology w/labs and TT Algebra 1 summer - start TT Algebra 2 over the summer 10th - Apologia chemistry and complete TT algebra 2, then do TT geometry 11th - Apologia physics and TT pre calc 12th - Apologia advanced physics with an eye to doing the AP physics exam

I would recommend Exploration Education Science - light, suitable for grade 8 , and certainly 'intro to' i am using it for mine two who don't have much interest in science. It wouldn't have worked for my oldest who lives and breathes all things science.

does he have to write on the Aeneid ? He could still write on another literary work while still achieving the goals of studying lit in depth.

How to choose - having seen neither of these myself ??? I have no logic background. Ideally - I would like a program that ds can study by himself with limited input or assistance from me.

Is it only me, but I find the videos on Khan very dry and quite limited? I keep thinking it is a free resource and should be useful, but those that I have watched so far aren't worth the time it takes to watch them.

ds is participating in a co-op study - he is using the older version - and has not encountered any issues

What text do you recommend ds uses to self-study for AP Human Geography ? The AP Human Geo page at college board outlines the material to be covered, but lists no suggested texts.

Thanks April, we now have some nutrient agar - and it is working! There are bacteria EVERYWHERE !

this is a free online course for AUTO CAD. Auto Cad is not cheap - but you can get a free 30 day trial. http://www.we-r-here.com/cad/tutorials/index.htm There are other online AutoCad courses which are very reasonable, and which include a link to download AutoCad for a limited time, such as three years (which is more than enough) TurboCad is very inexpensive, I think i got our copy for $20 ds is using the free online AutoCad course with our version of TurboCad. So far so good. There are some differences in how the two software programs work, but having to work through those differences is a good learning experience. The basics of CAD drawings is the same no matter what software you use.

I wouldn't be concerned whether your dc do Biology in 9th or 10th grade. Since you say your dc are not going to be science buffs, then there is no rush. It would make sense to do Physical Science in 9th. Biology in 10th Chemistry in 11th and Physics in 12th. If your dc were wanting to go into a science career, then you would try and do this all one year ahead so that you can schedule an Advanced Science course for 12th grade.

I think we have just plain Agar and not nutrient Agar. ugh. I will have to find some of that instead. I like the idea of trying with jello - can you still see the bacteria under a microscope - the color doesn't interfere ? We have borehole water, so there shouldn't be any chlorine in our water. ds has now put out a new set in the garage, should be much warmer than in the house - silly me for not thinking of that.

I have only been frustrated and/or disappointed with co-ops and group lab setups. I have found them a tremendous waste of time. I feel the ones available to me are just not worth it. I read with envy about others who enjoy their co-ops or group lab opportunities and who get a lot out of them. But I have never had that experience. I have seen science experiments done and the instructor not having sufficient in depth knowledge to be even able to describe to the kids the why behind what they are seeing. ds will be doing the Apologia lab experiments at home and I am convinced this will be the best use of mine and his time.

Thanks for the replies. I believe mold is different to bacteria. Mold is a fungi with a nucleus, yet bacteria do not have a nucleus. For his biology project he is specifically dealing with bacteria. He is taking swabs from around the house -wanting to prove that there is bacteria all around us. I do not keep a particularly sterile home, never use lysol etc, so there should be bacteria, certainly in our trash can! He is trying to grow it on his shelf above his desk, average indoor light, temp around 78 to 80 in the house. Does that seem warm enough, or should he place it outdoors where it will be considerably warmer ? Are there any differences with Agar - the one we have doesn't specifically say it is nutrient Agar, is that necessary ?

Has anyone had any success with growing bacteria ? ds 14 is attempting - without success - to grow bacteria. He is using Agar, sterile petri dish, and took swabs around the house including inside our very smelly trash can. Nothing seems to be growing. Does anyone have any suggestions on what could be wrong?

I have tried a couple of the khan videos - but I find them very slow and plodding. For my family, not a good use of our time.