I just read a couple of reviews....It's so funny what they keep saying about crossing out prepositional phrases....that's what I kept telling him to do, ignore the prepositional phrases! It took me longer than it should have to realize that he had no clue what a prepositional phrase was. I think I'll check this out too. Thanks! Do you recommend the teacher manual or is the student book pretty self explanatory? One of the reviews I read said that her child just took it and ran with it, no real "teaching" from the "teacher".... And I am LOVING the 19th century books!! Some of them are amazing...and some are just plain funny/sad....especially when they talk about "negros" and heathens...lol! The hellfire and dmnation mentality really shows. I'm still looking through the other stuff...The OP was in complete frustration after trying to cover prepositional phrases with him. I'll look through some more tomorrow. I totally got sucked in by the 19th century stuff...lol!

His comprehension is really good, in my opinion. He remembers so many details from the books he reads...he talks about them incessantly when he finds something he really likes. Even from Harry Potter, which he read through I think just once a couple of years ago, he remembers details that I've forgotten (because they weren't in the movie...) and I've read all the books 2-3 times. He is breezing through Apologia Biology. I had him draw cell diagrams for the younger two to label, for a grade. He is a freaking amazing artist. You would not believe how well he can draw, and folding origami is a close second. If I am quizzing him on paper for something, and I take too long to get started or answer a question for someone else, he will be start folding the paper in his hand. Crazy. So, if he does have an auditory processing problem, how do we work around that? Just have him do more reading? He really liked the Grammarland sample, so I plan to buy the whole book.

I just came back and read this more thoroughly. He does NOT construct "complex varied sentences" by any means, but he doesn't sound like a dunce when he talks either. His sentences are very straight forward, without a lot of thought. Hmmmm. I let him read the Grammarland sample, and he really liked it. He asked just today if there was a "Life of Fred" for English. I think that's about as close as he's going to get. This is off topic a bit, but not completely: I try to set a good example with the way I speak, but honestly, he is a very scatterbrained child. When we need him to do something (like to go get something that happens to be in a particularly un-obvious place in another room) we have to spell it out for him. Quite often it takes 2 or 3 trips to the location before he finds what he is looking for. Is there anything that can help with that? We have struggled with it for YEARS. If I tell him to "go get the purple washcloth from the rack in my bathroom" it does. not. compute. It goes more like this (with lots of hand motioning). "Jonathan, if you go to my bathroom"...pause...point down the hall...repeat as necessary..."and look on the rack by the door"...pause...gesture to my left hand side...repeat as necessary...(there's only one rack anywhere near the door)..."there is a purple washcloth hanging there"...pause..."would you please get it and bring it to me?" Should I re-post this part on the general board? Just tell me to :chillpill: if this is normal...

I guess I should have said, we are using Rod and Staff English 8 for him, it's just way too advanced at the moment. He wanted to use his brother's book, (7)...which I wanted to run by the hive before I made that decision. It's basically teaching the same thing, so I don't think just switching back to 7th grade is going to solve the problem. I need a remedial catch-all. His score on the Chapter 1 test was 72. He's not failing miserably, but as always, he is just doing enough to get by. He even said, "I liked public school because I could just get a B and move on to the next thing...you're going to make me learn this stuff." :lol: As far as actual diagramming, I was going to drop it...but ironically, he is also my visual learner. I think if he understood what he was diagramming, that it would help rather than be discouraging. He uses proper grammar for the most part, however his spelling is HIDEOUS!!

I don't know what my child has been doing in school the last 9 years of public school, but my 8th grader does not know prepositions, direct objects, predicate adjectives, etc...and has never even seen a sentence diagram! Where in the world do I start!?!? I'm freaking out a bit here.

I said I am very excited and would buy a copy, but I'm not going to be standing in any lines. I am willing to have my mind changed if it gets bad reviews. I love that she kept the HP series almost completely void of sexual content. If she tries to cram it all in this book, I will be marking it off my list for sure.

I'll take this one....The word "saved" is thrown around a lot. "The day I 'got saved'" is the day I was baptized and identified myself as a Christian. It means different things in different denominations obviously. In the New Testament, those who called themselves Christians had believed and been baptized, and by doing so were added to the church (the fellowship of Christians), by the Lord himself. Acts 2:41, 47 (ESV) 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 47 ...And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Those whom have been 'saved' must endure to the end to be saved from eternal death/hell.

I think "the end" is simply our own death or the return of Christ...whichever comes first. Job endured so many things, yet in "the end", God was glorified (and Job was rewarded), and that was the purpose of Job's relationship with God, as it is for all of us. Our reason for having been created was to glorify God. We know that He will take care of us, no matter what happens. Nothing can separate us from His love. Bad things happen, and not just to unbelievers. Sometimes life just isn't fair. Being a believer does not make us immune to tragedy, it means that we can cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us. He WILL carry us through, and we will be saved in the end if we trust Him, love Him, and obey His commands.

No, just no. Why can't people just say "NO" and be done with things? I hope LLL holds their ground.

I haven't read all the replies here, but I don't feel like this is a dealbreaker. She has opinions, but they are based on experience, and apparently a bad experience. If you get along in pretty much every other aspect of your friendship, I don't see why this has to come between you. If she isn't bringing it up or giving you a hard time about it personally, I wouldn't worry about it.

I don't have this yet, http://www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com/ but I've had my eye on it for a couple of months....I saw it on Pinterest. When I was a kid, I remember using a spring loaded one, that you pinched and put the pencil in, then let go and turned the crank. It wasn't a box like this one though...

Oh heck no!!! No, a thousand times no! Who put him in charge of these kids? Makes my skin crawl just thinking about it...

I bought the whole set for the sake of the story....I am going to have my kids read them during some free reading time (within reason...not having my 8th grader read Apples, but I do want him to pick up on some things that he has obviously missed. I was reading Dogs and Edgewood the other day and asking both boys random questions...for example, "What is a cardinal number?" and they could not tell me. I think they will get a lot out of just a read-through. *it should be said that this is my first year homeschooling, so keep that in mind when taking my advice...LOL!*

Its going to be worth it to pay a little extra for shipping if you can choose your method. They sent my 7/31/12 order by "bound printed matter" (DHL/USPS) and I just got it yesterday. :glare: I would NOT be taking them up on their "free" shipping this close to the school year...and I have one more order to place.

Crunchy towels! I love crunchy towels and blue jeans.

All I can say is test whatever method you plan to use....my kids have brought home "tie dyed" shirts from several events that just plain sucked. The worst ones are the ones that were done dry. It just doesn't work, or it didn't work like they thought it should. Something. Test it in advance so you can see the finished product and adjust the method if necessary.

:bigear: Oh, lots of good ideas! HP was so captivating, my boys (my eldest especially) haven't really found anything to keep their interest since. J read some Percy Jackson, but I don't know if he finished the series. I'm going to look into some of these suggestions.

I think it will be interesting to say the least.....I babysit for a PS teacher two days a week, and he will be 10 months old when school starts. Homeschooling and babysitting will be interesting. Definitely going to need a high chair.

That's just insulting! Wackadoodle is right. One more reason to homeschool. I think I'll actually start a list of reasons and see how long it gets. Hmmmmm... I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that I received my middle-schoolers' EOG scores in the mail today?

DS tossed his in a lake once. I called from the other side of the lake and asked to speak to his brother so he chunked it at him, not thinking about the fact that they were by the water (or the fact that it was a flip phone and hangs up when it closes, bless his heart). It was "fished" out promptly, battery removed and put in a ziploc bag of rice for a few hours. It must not have gotten very much water inside it because that's all it took to be back to normal.

I haven't tried it yet, but here is the one I saw on pinterest... http://www.marthastewart.com/343344/crystal-egg-geodes

I probably would have taken the kids to a midnight showing of HP, but dh works third shift, and it would have been just me and the kids. Nope. Definitely something like aurora borealis, a lunar eclipse, comet...etc.

A nickname out of the blue is weird... My first name is Melissa, and I always wanted to be called Melissa growing up. My mom could. not. do. it. no matter how hard she tried. Joan is (was) my middle name, and I've always been Joanie (changed the spelling to Joni in 3rd grade). It has been completely removed from my social security card and my driver's license since I changed my middle name to my maiden name when I got married. I would LOVE to have everyone call me Melissa, but like you, I think it would be very childish of me to even attempt it at my age. HOWEVER..... I do choose to be called Melissa at work because I work in a pharmacy and spend a lot of time answering phones and identifying myself on the phone. It is MUCH easier to say "Melissa" than "Joni" on the phone. I never have to repeat myself or spell Melissa...it is what it is, but Joni gets butchered every time. It's silly, but I also feel more professional being called Melissa...I don't know why. I guess because it's not a nickname and I know Joni is. Besides, my full name is on all my CPhT certificate and state registration. People see my full name now and ask, "Where does 'Joni' come from?" so I avoid that conversation altogether by using Melissa at work. :D Edited to add....this is the very reason why my kids are all called by their first names, and have no nicknames. I made the mistake of telling DD that we were originally going to name her Lauren, but changed our minds before she was born. Now she wants to change her name. :glare:

I just bought some "bath sheets" last week for $7 each at Walmart. They aren't luxurious, but they are thick and much bigger than a regular bath towel. I'm sure there are nicer ones out there though...

I am 5'6" and holding steady at 195. I lost 60 pounds on WW in 2003 and was at my goal, and I could KICK myself for putting it ALL back on. I do NOT like the new WW points, and even though I'm paying for the online service, I just can't get into it. It's too complicated now. I used to be able to figure the points for something in my head. If you are overweight, why are you overweight? Pretty much just because I like food. I never say no to pizza or cookies or macaroni & cheese or donuts... Do you have a physiological/medical issue preventing/complicating weight loss? Not that I know of...however a breast reduction would make actual exercise a lot easier. It's sort of a catch-22....I want to lose the weight before I get a BR, but I never follow through with any exercise program because I hate moving with these things. Do you overeat? If yes, what does that look like for you? (snacking, large portions, rich foods, etc) I do overeat, and it's not salad. Pasta, basically anything you put in front of me that tastes good, I will eat. I'm a member of the "Happy Plate Generation"...if it's on my plate, I will eat it, even if I'm stuffed. No doggy bags. Are you sedentary? Mostly. I'm a pharmacy technician, which has me walking around some but I don't do anything outside of work. Are you genetically predisposed to overweight? Not grossly, I'm a little more "in shape" than my mom and grandma. I'm an only child, so I don't have siblings to compare to. I'm not morbidly obese, and I carry it well, but I'm technically still "obese".