I'm not sure I want an answer, but I'm wondering how those of you who use the toilet deal with episodes at 'both ends....' Definitely no to the toilet here. We have several plastic paint pails that are used for this purpose. I use a cute turquoise bowl when pregnant though.

Would it be possible to use Khan Academy as a complete math course? I'm asking primarily for my dd (15) who will be in 11th grade next year. She has used Chalkdust since pre-Algebra, is math minded, and does well with it. She really enjoys Khan Academy though and asked about using it as a stand alone as she thinks she would progress more quickly. (She often understands the concepts quickly enough that watching the Chalkdust videos isn't all that engaging for her.) I'd still have her use the Chalkdust test prep course. Goal-wise, her top interest is ballet and her second interest is math. Science, bacteria primarily, are her third area of interst. Clearly, her math skills need to be strong. I have other children who will be in Algebra I and Basic Math next year. I might have them start using Khan as a supplement for now.

I understand what you're saying, but when I hand my oldest (grade 10) her TOG assignments (Rhetoric Year 2) each week there's no escape for her from rigorous, regardless of how involved I am that week.

Hi Melissa, I'm happy to help if I can. The encyclopedia you mentioned is great to have on hand, but my guess is you'd be happier with something like the History of US or the Children's Encyclopedia of American History (Smithsonian) for the American History task card set. The other booklists you mentioned should work very well. The transition to this open ended style can feel quite uncomfortable for a bit. I hope you find your stride soon.

Has anyone used these? We've mostly been using a CM - read and summarize - approach, but I like to throw some other things into the mix from time to time. I was thinking of using one or two of these with my 5th and 3rd graders. Do you know how long one would take to complete and how extensive they are? The samples appeal to me, but I'd like to have an idea how to plan them into our school year/day. Thanks!

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to answer this here or not. I've read and re-read the no advertisements section and don't want to cross that line in any way. Kim explained it fairly well and nothing is for everyone. :001_smile: Since you're interested, I suspect the angle you may be missing is the reliance on CM style narration for the research tasks. Basically, the students summarize what *they* read and learned from their reading. Obviously, that would be very basic with a young students who are given the option of oral narrations. The expectation is that the level of detail in written summaries would grow with the students. Also, they are doing their research in age appropriate materials so the level of depth in the material grows with them. The other aspect is the placement of key content throughout the cards. I've been known to put an interesting historical figure in a time line task to provide another springboard.

We've done both and like the premade one better.