I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the DAC?

Sounds delicious!!!!

Our usual is: ham pierogies stuffed cabbage hot German potato salad some kind of green veg (LOL - gotta balance all that meat and starch!) pineapple upsidedown cake I'd love to have your pineapple casserole recipe though -- the cake isn't traditional as much as it's just yummy ;)

Wow! Excellent scores!! Have you looked into SET?

Check out www.westcoastwords.com -- They have a book called Build Your Own Underwater Robot, and if your kids are at all mechanically inclined you can put together a remotely operated underwater vehicle on which you can put all kinds of stuff (camera, sensors, etc.) and chuck it in the nearest body of water for whatever kind of research you want to do.... :) I just went to a workshop our science museum hosted about using this in the classroom, and I have to say I've never been more thankful to be a homeschooler! Everyone else there taught in PS and they were all primarily concerned about how to fit it into a super-tight schedule and budget (it's about $80 of materials) and all I could think was how happy I was to have virtually unlimited time at my disposal and at least $80 in my budget! There's another mom here that has been doing oceanography with her DD, and I know they have covered marine animals and plants, aquatic biomes (surf vs. deep water vs. whatever else...) and something with the Blue Planet DVDs. Her DD is fascinated by that end, where my DS is much more coming from the underwater robot end of things ;)

DS was really ridiculously young when he picked up reading, but it was funny because he was pretending he couldn't read at all for about a year after that. We caught on because when it was in his interests he would suddenly "happen" to know what a sign said... like one time we were in line at a pretzel stand and I had only mentioned the possibility of pretzels and he piped up with "but the sign says they have grilled hot dogs!" Oh really? "Yeah... uh... it starts with G and I just guessed that's what it said" *snort* Nice try kid but you're so busted! :p As of just before his fourth birthday he was reading Seuss and other early reader type books independently, and working at your definition of fluency. And by his fifth birthday he was reading just about anything (smaller print, no pictures, etc.) It wasn't until then that he finally admitted he could read :rolleyes:

Keep in mind, too, that the first four chapters are trying to kill you. :p Starting with Chapter 5 you get into the "real" algebra and a whole lot less number-crunching! Good luck!

We do approximately one exercise per day, but frequently only 1/3 to 1/2 of the problems unless he has difficulty. Basically he does a column of problems from each block (which seems to be a good cross-section of difficulty and type) -- so like if there's 1a-1r, he'll probably do a third of them (1a, 1d, 1g, 1j, 1m, and 1p). But if there's nothing "under" the number (so like 1, 2, 3, instead of 1a, 1b, 1c) he usually does all of them, with the assumption that they're different enough that they're all necessary. Clear as mud? LOL We do Worked Examples together, and if there's a Class Activity we do it together too. The Exercise he does independently. Then he does the Challenger and the Problem Solving himself as far as he can, and we discuss whatever stumps him. I use Revisions as tests (picking maybe one or two of the four or five there), and he does the Miscellaneous Exercises and Investigations himself like the Challengers and Problem Solving. All of those bits other than the regular exercises and revisions are longer and might take a few days to get through. So basically it might go like this (this is not from our actual schedule, but to give you an idea): Chapter 3 3.1 Monday 2/4 (Class activity together, exercise independently) 3.2 Tuesday 2/5 and Wednesday 2/6 (two days for long word problems) 3.3 Thursday 2/7 and Friday 2/8 (more long word problems) 3.4 Monday 2/11 (Class activity together, no exercise) Challenger Tuesday 2/12 Problem Solving Wednesday 2/13 and Thursday 2/14 Chapter 4 4.1 Friday 2/15 (Class activity together, exercise independently) 4.2 Monday 2/18 4.3 Tuesday 2/19 4.4 Wednesday 2/20 4.5 Thursday 2/21 4.6 Friday 2/22 4.7 Monday 2/25 Challenger Tuesday 2/26 Problem Solving Wednesday 2/27 Revision Exercise (test) Thursday 2/28 Miscellaneous Exercise Friday 2/29 and following Monday 3/3 Investigation Tuesday 3/4 and Wednesday 3/5 If you keep that pace, 14 chapters should take around 8 months, which leaves a little room for going a bit slower if there's any difficulty. That said, I don't schedule tightly. If it takes longer it takes longer and if we go off on tangents when things get interesting. But then we also school year-round, so we've got a lot of room in the schedule for such things. :D I should say, doing a whole exercise a day (even if you only actually do a column's worth), does take a lot more time than the primary math exercises. I'd say about an hour of solid work and sometimes 90 minutes. It's not unreasonable for the level, but it's a big jump from PM6. Hope this helps!

If you're using 3b in the regular workbook, I would definitely go back to 2 for the Challenging Word Problems. It's a lot easier to learn when it's not new material, and if I remember correctly, 2 has more teaching than 3 (especially with the rod diagrams)

The talent searches are generally regional (although as I said, Northwestern seems to be not so picky about the region... LOL), so there might be one in your area. You could start by googling Northwestern (Center for Talent Development or Midwest Area Talent Search, I think), or Duke TIP, Belin-Blank, C-MITES, or the other one I know about that uses the Explore is the Rocky Mountain Talent Search... If none of those work in your area they might have links to others. It is seasonal by the way... the talent searches all do January and February testing, but there may also be local private schools that use the Explore for placement. You could call one maybe and ask... I knew about Northwestern because I was in their program when I was a kid, and I knew about Duke TIP because I have friends who have taught in their summer programs... basically I just clicked around their sites until I figured out what we could do! :o Hope this helps!!

DS has a list on his door that says he's responsible for getting dressed, brushing his teeth and feeding the cat, but actually since he wakes up around 6:30 or 7 (gotta be up before Pokemon comes on! LOL) and we don't start school until 8 or 8:30, he's got an hour or two to get all that done. Usually on commercial breaks. I used to make him breakfast in their somewhere but now that he can handle a gallon jug of milk or a kettle of hot water without dumping it all over the counter he makes his own breakfast most mornings. ;) I need a couple cups of coffee and my email read before I can start the day properly, so it works for us. If I didn't want him watching TV or playing I'd probably have him leave a stack of books on the coffee table... but I think he'd just fall back asleep if he didn't have the draw of watching Pokemon.... LOL

DS (8) takes the Explore, which is an 8th grade version of the ACT, for his annual (state-required) achievement test every year, and did so starting last year.... We signed up through Northwestern's CTD program because they weren't too picky about how old he was (LOL) or that we were out of their region... We're actually closer to Duke but the TIP program there seems much pickier about ages -- I think he can sign up for that next year. What I like about the Explore is that since it's use in talent search programs there are lots of options for norms. The reports we get have the regular 8th grade norms (it is an 8th grade test) but also percentiles for the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th graders who take it through Northwestern. So I get a lot more information than I would with virtually any other test. As soon as he starts maxing out any one section of the Explore we'll be switching to the ACT for similar reasons. Talent search norms are reported for (I think) 7th and 8th grades, so there's that extra bit of information too. One thing to note... The ACT is an achievement test, but the SAT is billed as a "reasoning" test. For personal use it's not necessarily a tremendously important distinction, but for our state requirements we're only allowed achievement tests, so we're going to be an ACT family here. ;)

Yeesh!! :eek: What kind of person says that to a kid???? I think I'd need to confront her about it (not in front of him of course), and suggest that if she were to have any further concerns about your DS's education that you'd appreciate her coming straight to you instead of embarrassing him in front of his friends.

I've just started basil, parsley and chives. I only have a tiny plot of sunny garden space, so I'm devoting it to the herbs that I particularly want fresh. :)

Oh dear -- that's the sort of thing DS would have done!! (So I'm laughing WITH you... not AT you.... LOL) We've gone over and over the bubble-coloring aspect of testing for exactly that reason... and last year he did fine, so I'm hopeful. ;) He took the Explore Saturday too and the only "what planet is this kid from" moment was when he came out of the room putting on his sweatshirt (the kind with a half-zipper at the neck)... backwards. And left it like that. "Sweetie you know your shirt's on backwards?" "Huh?" "Yeah, that's why the collar covers up to your nose." :rolleyes:

It's not really a curriculum in the way we usually think of it -- no lesson plans and teacher helps and homework and tests... It's more like a book of geometry proofs that, if one were to read through and understand them all, one could learn both geometry and the logic of proof from. I actually like it as a geometry text, but not because it's "soothing" as much as because it's not ;) We have a second book by Benno Artmann that serves as a kind of guide to Euclid and interprets some of the complicated parts and makes comments on where geometry has gone since Euclid, etc. but again it's not really how one would think of a curriculum. The way we use it is to read a proposition or a group of related propositions (Artmann has them divided up rather neatly) and then actually try the constructions with a compass and straightedge and discuss why they work they way they work and the significance of each step. Some of them are really obvious and some take a lot of thought. There is no extra explanation of why any one of them works beyond the plain instructions in Euclid and some commentary in Artmann -- nothing to help a struggling student. But that's why I like it myself... because we're in a situation where letting DS struggle with it is exactly what I want. I don't think I'd be as enthusiastic if we were under any time constraints or if I were teaching a child who had trouble with a more straightforward text. If you're looking for something that would be helpful and not too overwhelming, I really like Jacobs Geometry. I've only used the 2nd edition (said to be "proofier" although I've not really looked at the 3rd to compare), and it's written in a very friendly and accessible way with good, challenging problems and nothing too frustrating. Geometry can be a tricky subject for some kids (and parents!) because it is so much less math and so much more philosophy/ logic... I always loved it myself, but my twin sister (who went on to get a math degree and work as a programmer -- no lack of math or logic skills there!) found it overwhelming, and twenty years later still thinks she can't do it. I think if you can communicate the point that you're starting with a situation where there can be only one answer and then managing to find that answer and prove that it is the only one, you're "there". It's not about memorizing the various postulates and theorems, but understanding the process of proof. Clear as mud? ;)

If you want a more innocent story, I rather like Twelfth Night. At least I can't remember anything objectionable in that one... :)

If you can find someone to administer it for a reasonable price, this is exactly what a Woodcock Johnson would do perfectly. It's administered individually, and they continue the questions until the student can't answer a certain number in a row, so in areas of strength they can keep going without having to keep up the same rate in the other areas. Around here (NC) they run $45-85 depending on where you go, but I've heard of places where they're very difficult to find and/or way more expensive.

Wow!! I wonder if you have a different type of policy than we did -- they wouldn't touch our speech therapy unless it was due to an injury.

I have to throw this in the ring because it was exactly opposite to everything I've been told before (and much of what has already been posted in this thread).... but we just had a admissions counselor come talk to our homeschool group parents meeting, and he said he didn't care whether they were listed by year or by subject but that he wanted to see every. single. highschool. level. course... For math in particular he wanted Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry and a fourth (or more), including textbooks used and details of what work was assigned and how it was evaluated, even if the kid was ridiculously young when it was completed. So I'm thinking I'll just be keeping the records in such a way that I can make a transcript to any specification. I'm sure by the time DS is college-bound everyone will have changed their minds about what they want anyway ;)

When we were self employed we were "lucky" to have only like $350 a month in premiums for the three of us (all young and extremely healthy, and no maternity coverage) -- the exact same policy was four times that for a friend of mine (same size family but with some past-and-resolved health issues) Between that and the double social security taxes it was incredible how little we actually took home from what we charged -- it was less than half of any given bill! If you're getting a reasonable rate (that is, you're young and healthy and they can't find a reason to charge you extra), you probably can't do better without an employer picking up a part. But if you're getting hit for a specific reason, you could look into joining a group policy through your local chamber of commerce. Sometimes that's one of the benefits of membership, even if they don't offer anything else you could use (although I have to say ours had a few really nice breakfasts! ;))

What about nail polish? I've not tried it on Kleen Kanteens, but that's what I use to mark plastic containers since Sharpie doesn't seem to "take" to plastic very well.

We have a Kenmore front loader and I've always used All Free & Clear (or whatever it's called) in it with no problem.

I've ordered other Ukrainian stuff from Yevshan... although I've never actually ordered the dyes from there -- I got a few when I was up in Michigan last time. Keep in mind, the ones you use for pysanky are not edible at all -- you dye the eggs raw and then shellac them to keep. I'm sure you know that but I feel compelled to say it over and over in case anyone was going to mistakenly switch them. ;) On the plus side, once you've mixed the dyes you can keep them in jars (like canning jars) all year. Just don't keep them on the top of the fridge where one might get knocked off by the cat and fall behind and break.... trust me. :eek:

There's a Royal Shakespeare Company version with Antony Sher that's absolutely GORGEOUS.... but from what I've heard it's only available from the UK as a Region 2 DVD. Not terribly helpful of me, is it! LOL If you happen to have a regionless DVD player or a computer that will serve as one, it's at the RSC site.