Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. :) March-June is the dry season in the Southwest, although there will be the occasional rain in there, but often it's just a sprinkle. :)

How about a compromise? For your boys, start a little later and ease into the day with a family together time (or power hour or circle time), rotate through DSs for 3 hours before lunch helping DSs as needed in core subjects, finish up after lunch with content subjects. For you, school ends at 2pm, and any work not done by 2pm becomes solo homework for the student to do on their own between 2-3pm (or as homework done with dad that night if needing a parent's guidance). Example: 8:00-8:15 = student transition time (set aside play things, finish breakfast, morning chores) 8:15-8:45 = together time (family read aloud, critical thinking puzzle, song, memorization items, etc.) 8:45-9:00 = bathroom break and get everyone settled into starting work 9:00-12:00 = Math and LA Rotate through students as needed. Take a 10 minute snack and stretch break every 50 minutes, which is also the designated get a drink or go to the bathroom time. Have solo work available (some people do basket organizers) for each student for doing while waiting for you if they have a question, or if they finish their Math and LA core work (examples: copywork/handwriting, Vocabulary or Geography or other workbook, critical thinking puzzle, musical instrument practice, learning to type, art/craft project, etc.) 12:00-12:45 = lunch and clean-up Perhaps listen to a family read-aloud as an audio book or watch/discuss short videos on science, history, current events, etc. 12:45-1:00 = bathroom break and get everyone settled into starting work 1:00-2:00 = content subjects Alternate Science and History, each focused on for 2 days/week, and use the 5th day of the week for finish up either or both. 2:00-3:00 = homework hour Mom is off the clock now and this is her quiet rest time. Any student who didn't finish morning work does it quietly at this time. Other students are doing quiet reading (esp. for 12yo, this could be assigned time for his school solo reading), or other quiet activities. 3:00-4:00 = personal project hour Mom is still off the clock. Students do personal projects and activities of interest, or quite play. 4:00 = start of afternoon/evening/night routine

This Scholastic article "Step By Step Research Reports for Young Writers" walks you through the whole process -- it's at a grade 3-5 level, but it's the same process used for high school. (This link is different from the Scholastic activity linked by previous poster.) This brief article by a teacher "Helping Students Learn to Cite Their Sources" is a very nice explanation of how to introduction citations to middle school level students. Here's a pdf guide about citations, written at a middle school student level.

Wow, that's going to be a LOT of time in the car getting from one place to the next, rather than actually getting out and hiking or experiencing the different places... Just me, but I'd skip dipping into Colorado and make that a trip all on its own. I'd also skip Four Corners, as it is a long way to drive through a very desolate flat desert, and has very little to see other than standing on the medallion that marks the spot of four states touching, and nothing to do except browse the 2 dozen stands selling Indian tourist crafts/jewelry. If you were doing Mesa Verde, then yes, go through, take 30 minutes to take your photo and stretch your legs, and then keep heading south another 2 hours to Canyon de Chelly which is amazing. Otherwise, save for a future trip. If wanting to minimize your driving / maximize your hiking and sightseeing, then you may want to just explore Page AZ + Utah sites. In addition to the "big 3" Utah parks of Arches/Canyonlands, Bryce, and Zion, there's also Goblin Valley and Capital Reef -- plus Glen Canyon Dam & Lake Powell. If having to limit your sightseeing, Bryce would be my top choice -- it is so different from any other canyon landscape I've seen. Zion has streams of water -- and you may have to be careful of snow melt causing high water and difficulties in water crossings. Just for planning purposes: Flagstaff and Sedona are 2 hours and 3 hours south of Page respectively. Grand Canyon is 2.5 hours from Page. So any of those would probably require an overnight there in order to have time to actually sightsee. There are so many sights in northern AZ, that might also be better saved for a trip all on its own (Grand Canyon, Sedona, Canyon de Chelly, various Indian ruins, Petrified Forest, Meteor Crator, Jerome (an old mining town), etc.). Also, if wanting to see Antelope Canyon near Page, be aware that advance reservations are required -- it is on Native land and there is no "walk-up" or "self-serve" facilty. Note: the canyon tours can sometimes be booked as far as a year out. I'm looking at a tour company calendar, and it looks like right now there are only a few openings left this spring, mostly in the first 3 weeks of April. So that may also determine what you do and when on this trip. Finally, just a side note: while there will be Mexican restaurants everywhere, for authentic Mexican food... well, you really need to spend time in New Mexico ("New Mexico style Mexican food"), and Southern Arizona ("Sonoran style Mexican food") ;) . On your trip, you might investigate Indian Fry Bread and Indian tacos (totally different from Mexican tacos), as you will be in Native country much of the time. Remember to bring sunscreen and hats -- but also jackets, as the desert and canyons are hot during the day even in the spring, but the nights cool down fast. And have LOTS of water with you and keep drinking it to stay hydrated -- not only to prevent overheating or drying out, but drinking lots of water (plus *avoiding* alcohol and carbonated beverages) helps prevent or reduce high altitude sickness. Enjoy your sunny excursion into the Southwest! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Piglet or, based on the initials of his breed: Tas (or Taz)

Perhaps these websites might help? Prep Scholar: Guaranteed Scholarships Based on SAT/ACT Scores College Vine: Which Colleges Award Automatic Scholarships Based on SAT Scores? Automatic Full Tuition/Full Ride Scholarships (based on PSAT, SAT/ACT scores) Scholarships.com: Scholarships By ACT Score Scholarships.com: Scholarships By SAT Score

I think it would be important to first figure out *why* she is retreating so much, and see if you can help her find healthy ways of addressing those needs that can include spending alone time in her room but also include other solutions. Is she... - an introvert and is trying to escape the chaos of 5 younger siblings in order to get much-needed re-charging? - trying to pull away from the family in order to start figuring out who she is? - just wanting to quietly do things that she enjoys without others looking over her shoulder? - wanting similar-age friendships, which is not available in a house of younger siblings? - suffering from depression triggered by the onset of puberty, or from recent changes in life/family circumstances -- isolating and not wanting to leave your room/house can be a sign of depression Another thought: most homeschool teens move into a stage somewhere along about age 13-16 of really needing some social activities outside of the home, and the opportunity to do things with people other than just family. Perhaps start looking for ways DD can get out and get involved, either in a homeschool co-op, or a class (or sport or band or other) at the local public middle/high school, or an after school club or bowling league, or a community youth activity, or lessons of some kind that are just for her. To ease transportation issues, see if you can work out a carpooling arrangement with the family of a fellow student doing the same activity -- provide money for gas in exchange for the other family doing the driving.

As long as it has an efficient floor plan and some built in storage, that sounds terrific. Our first home was 1000 sq. ft., 3-bedroom 2-bath -- so incredibly well-laid out that there was a very roomy and efficient kitchen, a living room/dining area that was big enough for entertaining (we hosted our Bible study small group -- a total of about 10 adults -- once a week for years), and plenty of elbow room for 2 adults, and 2 small children when they came along 5 years later, plus a bedroom that tripled as library/office/spare bedroom. We were very comfortable there for 14 years. You'd be moving into something half again as large as what we had. (:D

Just a thought, but I'd consider adding some school work for the afternoon, esp. for the 14yo -- finishing before lunch suggests it's only taking 3-4 hours to do school, and the average 14yo (usually doing 8th or 9th grade), is working closer to 5-6 hours a day. Ideas for some subjects that could be added to your day: - LA = 1 hour of reading good books; vocabulary program - Math = add a supplement to solidify math thinking: Zocarro Challenge Math, Life of Fred, Jousting Armadillos, Patty Paper Geometry, TOPS Probability, etc. - Typing = learn touch typing, which will help with writing papers - Foreign Language = add learning a language to your day -- studies show ages 12-15 are the BEST time for new language acquisition! - Geography = study a country each week; at end of week give an oral presentation about the country, or make a page to add to a notebook - Fine Arts = filmmaking, digital fine arts (animation, web design, etc.), theater, art, music (instrument), etc. - Science/History = add documentaries regularly to your schedule - Computer = learn to code, or other computer topic - Home Ec = cooking, cleaning, budgeting/personal finances, home/auto maintenance - Health & Nutrition - Current Events Also, perhaps limit video/computer gaming to just a few hours on the weekends? (That's what we did all the way into high school.) If gaming is not an option on weekdays, it helps to prompt children to figure out ways to entertain themselves in other ways, lol. Some ideas to help your DSs think of ways to fill the hours after school productively: - writing = set up a blog and write weekly articles; work on creative writing (stories from own imagination); create their own comics or graphic novels; participate in NaNoWriMo - book club = involvement with a community or after school book club - gardening = set up a garden and keep it going - involvement in an after school activity = after school bowling league; public school club such as chess, robotics, STEM, etc. - involvement in a sport; swimming; running; kayaking; biking; hiking; skateboarding at a skateboard park; etc. - lessons for a physical activity = martial arts; fencing; dance; horseback riding, etc. - electronics = learn to solder electronics kits - volunteering = do weekly volunteer hours - filmmaking = use Legos to make animated films - hand crafts = learn a hand craft, such as wood working, whittling, weaving, jewelry making, - mentorship = grandpa or other trustworthy adult willing to teach auto maintenance, home repairs, or general wood projects, etc.

Hmmm... I think it is hard to think deeper about poems without first having a little bit of an understanding of literary and poetic devices (metaphor, repetition and sound elements), as well as the forms of poetry. So a good starting point might be to learn about the "tools" used by poets, to better understand how and *why* a poet wrote a poem in "that way". Two useful resources for that aspect of learning about poetry: - Walch Toolbox: Prose and Poetry (gr. 6-9), especially part 3 = poetry tools (part 1 = literary devices; part 2 = figures of speech) - Figuratively Speaking (gr. 5-8), esp. part 2 = poetic language (part 1 = figurative language; part 3 = literary techniques) Also, I think one can learn a lot from an extensive "guided tour" of a dozen or so poems, even if not familiar with some of the poems/poets, so I'd encourage you to reconsider going through the Art of Poetry and learning the process of *how* to think deeper about poetry, which will allow you to then dig deeper into *any* poem. Just a thought. 🙂 A few other resources that might help with learning that "process" of poetry appreciation, which in turn helps with "digging deeper". These are all written to adults, but could be read directly by a high school student, or adapted by a teaching parent and applied with younger students: - How to Analyze a Poem -- very brief overview guide to a 7-step process you can use on any poem - How to Read a Poem -- a slightly longer article/explanation of how to approach reading/appreciating/analyzing a poem, with great questions to ask to help you dig deeper into ANY poem - How To Read A Poem, Tanya Runyan's short and very accessible guide to help maintain appreciation for poetry, and help you think about what all is in the poem, without "killing" the poem or enjoyment of poetry through over-analysis. A final thought: poetry "speaks" to us indirectly, through imagery and metaphor, through oblique comparisons and asides, and as a result, readers will make different connections or have different insights from one other. So it is more difficult to write a literature guide with questions specific to a poem, as that tends to push a reader into just one direction or interpretation of the poem. All that said, the only other lit. guides on poetry that I can think of are: Wellspring: Poetry Selections and Activities (grades 5-8) Progeny Press guide, "Introduction to Poetry: Forms and Elements" (grades 8-12) -- see more sample pages here. The guide uses almost all 19th century classic poems, and is a workbook approach to analyzing the poems. Michael Clay Thompson Poetics series, by age range, starting with elementary ages; introduces poetic elements and poetry appreciation An online search turned up this guides as well; don't know if is is what you are looking for, but it looks quite good from a quick skim: Match FishTank: 6th Grade English Poetry Unit -- free; very detailed; guided questions; poetic elements; more Perhaps you could use one of these resources (or some other) that best fits your learning needs, and then add in poems your family is more familiar with and discuss one after each poetry lesson done with the other resource? Just an idea. 🙂 BEST of luck in finding what it is you are looking for! Warmly, Lori D.

There are some good past threads on this topic (see below). Check out the linked threads on PAGE 1, under the heading of "Honors Courses", in "High School Motherlode #2" pinned at the top of the High School Board: Honors courses: what is required for the label?Did you know that Honors courses have more ‘weight’ on a transcript?Honors Algebra vs regular Algebra (how to decide/is it worth the time & money)Do non-UC [Univ. of CA] schools weight grades in 9th? (I.e., Honors courses on the transcript)

Just me, but I'd probably try and separate the two topics and work on them separately. For doing research, use children's nonfiction books and children's encyclopedia websites -- simplified language, so you can focus on how to pull out key points, re-write in own words, organize into paragraphs, do citations, etc. For vocabulary, just plug along with whatever is working, and if it helps, provide a lot of definitions "in context" and "on the fly" as the two of you are reading.

DS#2 needed to have his music playing through earbuds to be able to focus, so not so weird. 😉 Another thing that helped DS#2 was switching his most draining subject -- the one that was the biggest struggle for him -- to the END of the day. I know that sounds counter-intuitive (everyone says, "do their hard subject first thing while they're fresh"). But knowing he was completely free for the day when he finished that hard subject was very freeing for him and he got through everything faster in the day. For DS, that was Math. I got that idea from Dianne Craft, who explains it this way: kids with "blocked learning gates" only have a certain amount of "brain battery" energy for the day. If you use most of it up early in the day on the subject(s) that is the hardest for them, you've just drained most of their brain energy for that day right at the start of the day, and they have very little brain energy to give to ANY subject thereafter -- hence, dawdling. Also, because they know they have all those other subjects to get through after that first-in-the-morning hard subject, they're trying to reserve brain energy to have for those other subjects, so they can't give you their "best" for ANY subjects, trying to "save" brain battery energy -- hence, hedging and dawdling. Instead, do their stronger subjects first, where they don't have to use up so much brain battery energy to begin with, and do the hard/struggle subject last, when they have the most brain energy left, AND they are free to use it all up, knowing they don't have to reserve anything for after that hard/struggle subject. AND, they are *motivated* to get that last subject finished up because then they are DONE for the day and have all their free time for doing what they *want* to do. The other thing that helped was short bites. That esp. worked for DS#2 with Writing, another of his big struggle areas -- a short bite (15-20 minutes) in the morning, together brainstorming ideas and organizing into some sort of outline or structure. Then later, another bite of 15-20 minutes in the afternoon for turning that outline/structure into complete sentences and complete paragraphs. Next day, a short bite each in the morning and the afternoon to continue the rough draft; etc. with the rest of the writing process. That got 30-40 minutes of focused writing time out of DS#2 each day pretty painlessly. Yes, it meant planning more time to complete papers and written assignments, so we went for *quality* not quantity when it came to writing -- less was more. One last thought is to build the brain hemisphere connections for better focus/concentration through doing a few 3 minute cross-lateral exercises first thing in the morning, and then again after lunch. Examples: - writing 8s - sideways figure 8s in the air in front of you for 1 minute for each arm -- use one hand/arm to draw big sideways figure 8s in front of you, with the mid-point of the 8 at the midline of the body; keep head straight and eyes facing forward (don't follow the arm with your eyes), and don't switch arms to complete the 8s - touch right elbow to left knee, then vice-versa; continue to alternate for 1 minute - alternate arm/leg marching (left arm swings forward while right knee comes up high to march in place, then left arm swings back while right leg goes down; then right arm swings forward while left knee comes up high... etc.) - "grapevine" BEST of luck in finding what helps! Warmly, Lori D.

Also: puberty hormones eat their brains. Needed for riding it out: patience scaffolding (sitting WITH them and gently giving prompts or re-directing them back on task) patience breaking into smaller bites with frequent check-backs by you patience "snack, shower, nap" (SWB's general tween/teen advice) and did I mention patience?? (:D

My Father's World has just US History from 1877 to present. I believe they use Notgrass Exploring America as the spine. Programs that cover Modern World History: Biblioplan: Modern (1850-2000) Beautiful Feet: US & World History (1850-2000) It looks like Pandia Press' History Odyssey series does not yet have the level 3 (high school) for Modern Times yet.

We used English from the Roots Up, using the book and making our own cards. (What about making your own very visual word wheels?) We adapted EftRU and made it more game-like -- see my past post in the thread "Vocabulary Curricula" for more details of how we used EftRU, plus links to websites with ideas for more activities. EftRU vol. 1 has a good set of roots to start with for a 3rd grader -- vol. 2 is better for slightly older students. To add a visual element, you might get one of these cards with images from Teachers Pay Teachers: Root Words ($4.99) FREE Greek and Latin Root Words For engaged/hands-on activities check out: Greek and Latin Root Word Puzzles -- a Teachers Pay Teachers cut out and assemble large puzzle pieces Rummy Roots -- a "Go Fish" type of game Here's an online-only game for learning/practicing Greek roots: Go For The Gold.

USA contemporary lit ideas2001 = Peace Like a River (Enger) -- realistic; set in the 1960s 2005 = Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Foer) -- 9-1-1 aftermath 2006 = American-Born Chinese (Yang) -- graphic novel set at time of writing 2007 = Auralia's Colors (Oversetree) -- fantasy; first of a quadrilogy 2008 = Anathem (Stephenson) -- sci-fi 2009 = The Help (Stockett) -- African Americans working as domestic help in the 1960s Deep South 2011 = The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Skloot) -- African American woman/medical ethics; nonfiction, 1950s 2012 = Night Circus (Morgenstern) -- fantastical/romance 2016 = Hidden Figures (Shetterly) -- African American mathematical women/space race; nonfiction, 1960s 2017 = The Hate U Give (Thomas) -- or -- All American Boys (Kiely & Reynolds) -- Black lives matter 2000-present world contemporary lit ideasAfghanistan -- 2003 =The Kite Runner; or, 2007 = A Thousand Splendid Suns (Hosseini) -- PREVIEW! intense/adult content!African Savannah -- 2003 = Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai (Lekuton) -- nonfiction autobiographyAlgiers -- 2002 = The Swallows of Kabul (Khadra)-- PREVIEW! intense/adult content!Canada/India -- 2001 = Life of Pi (Martel) China -- 2001 = Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Sijie) German/Australian -- 2005 = The Book Thief (Zusak) -- set in WW2Iran -- 2000 = Persepolis (Satrapi) -- autobiographyIran/USA -- 2003 = Reading Lolita in Tehran (Nafisi) Japan/UK -- 2005 = Never Let Me Go (Ishiguro) -- dystopianJapan -- choice of classic work of MangaMalawi -- 2010 = The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Kamkwanda) -- nonfiction autobiographyNigeria -- 2008 = Say You're One of Them (Akpan) -- short story collection; -- PREVIEW! intense/adult content!Pakistan -- 2013 = I Am Malala (Yousafzai) -- nonfiction autobiographySierra Leone -- 2007 = A Long Way Gone (Beah) -- nonfiction autobiography South Africa -- 2008 = Invictus (Carlin) -- about events in the early 1990s UK -- 2011 = Shades of Grey (fforde) -- NOT the s*x book; this is is creative dystopian novel

light/humorous The Princess Bride (1987) Enchanted April (1991) -- humor / relationships Cold Comfort Farm (1995) Galaxy Quest (1999) Miss Congeniality (2000) -- action/humor Austenland (2013) -- humorous spin on Jane Austen Austen/Bronte/Shakespeare Persuasion (1994) Sense and Sensibility (1995) -- or the TV mini series (2008) Emma (1996) Pride and Prejudice (2005) Northanger Abbey (2007 -- TV movie) Becoming Jane (2007) Jane Eyre (2011) Much Ado About Nothing (1993 --or-- 2012 film version) relationship / dramedy Only You (1994) -- with humor Dear Frankie (2004) Millions (2004) Stranger Than Fiction (2006) -- quirky; with humor Lars and the Real Girl (2007) -- quirky; with humor Queen of Katwe (2016) -- inspiring Paterson (2016) -- lovely; like watching poetry discussion-provoking Gattaca (1997) The Truman Show (1998) Millions (2004) Stranger Than Fiction (2006) action/adventure Labyrinth (1986) The Princess Bride (1987) -- with humor Galaxy Quest (1999) -- with humor Flawless (2007) -- heist Get Smart (2008) -- with humor Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) -- with humor Logan Lucky (2017) -- heist, with humor fairy tale The Secret Garden (1993) Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998) The Princess Diaries (2001) Ella Enchanted (2004) Enchanted (2007) classic Hollywood musicals Singin' in the Rain (1952) The King and I (1956) West Side Story (1961) My Fair Lady (1964)

What a great opportunity! (:D How about something like this Internship Agreement and Learning Plan? Also, the first page of this Internship Guide for State of Maryland Agencies might help you set goals for the internship. Also, if you google search for "INTERNSHIP AGREEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES" you come up with a link to an automatic download document from that same Maryland agency that may be the sort of contract/agreement that you're looking for.

Two DSs here, who needed radically different materials for Math and LA. I speak from the experience of having an extremely strong-willed "wild child" with mild LDs and who hated anything having to do with academics / school / formal learning in any way -- so forcing particular materials was NOT the battle to fight that was in his best interest in the long run, IMO. Switching materials until we found what worked for him AND what he could tolerate meant learning could actually take place, and we saved the head-butting for issues where it counted. As a side note: I also found that using different materials made ME a much better teacher, as I was seeing subjects (esp. things like Math and Writing) from more than one angle, and it was much easier for me to problem-solve and come up with new approaches and "go off script" of a program, as needed. In regards to your specific situation, OP: The 3Rs is where I *would* make sure to match up with how a student best takes in information. The last thing you want to do is kill a budding interest (or even kill just a "tolerance") for Math or LA by forcing a child to use what you used with a previous child just to save money. JMO, but spending the $$ to switch to a different program that clicks better for the child helps prevent the child from starting to actively hate Math... and then by extension, hate school... is money well spent. And there are ways to add more color: a colorful Phonics workbook in place of B&W, and some stickers and colored markers for using with Spelling are not expensive. For Reading, stepped readers with colorful illustrations can be checked out at the library. Perhaps get Draw-Write-Now for Writing (just the first book or two) -- or get lined paper that is blank at the top half for drawing pictures with colored pencils/markers/crayons when finished with the Copywork or Writing on the lines below -- again, not too expensive. For things like History, Science, etc., for such a young student, no, I would not invest in an expensive switch. It's easy enough to supplement with free resources to slightly tweak what you already have to make it more of a fit for a different student: - library books - educational videos and computer CDs / games - youtube, brain pop, and other learning channel videos - download/print coloring/learning pages - ideas/instructions for hands-on activities to go with your studies - etc. For History videos with a storyline, check out Nest Family videos (biographies of famous people), Liberty's Kids, and Time Warp Trio cartoons. For Science videos with a storyline, check out Magic School Bus, Kratt's Creatures or Wild Kratts Sid the Science Kid, etc. Most of these can be found for free at the library or streaming online. And as a monetary consolation: from your signature, it looks like you'll have more opportunities to use the MP materials with a later child. 🙂 BEST of luck, whatever you decide. Warmest regards, Lori D.

Mid morning snacks that include a protein really helped lunch not be SUCH an emergency feeding frenzy, and helped with homeschool brain concentration/focus all morning. We did things like trail mix with nuts; peanut butter on something (celery; crackers; banana slices; etc..); little cup of peanuts or pecans or almonds and raisins; cheese cubes that they skewered with toothpicks; yogurt & fruit. Below are some lunch ideas -- getting kids involved in the making will help reduce stress on you. BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D. ___________________ Roll-ups -- have kids take a cheese stick and roll it up in a slice of lunch meat, then roll both up in a lettuce or spinach leaf (optional: a squeeze of flavored mustard down the cheese stick before rolling up) Hummus and veggie sticks -- purchased tubs of hummus, and have kids make an assembly line, each cutting up a bunch of one type of veggie -- enough to last several days; store each in a baggie in the fridge, and kids can choose their own assortment Boiled eggs -- at breakfast, bring enough water to cover a dozen eggs to boil then turn off heat; put eggs in hot water, cover with lid, and let sit till lunch; drain and let everyone peel their own egg or two for lunch Baked Potato Bar -- mid morning, take 5 minutes to prep potatoes and put them in the oven to bake; pull out at lunch, and have everyone chop/grate/prepare toppings -- anything from just salt and butter, to grated cheese, to onion, tomato, broccoli florets, avocado, to left over taco meat and toppings to make "spud-tacos" Zoodles and Sauce -- have kids make zucchini noodles with a "zoodler"; cook briefly; top with a heated-up jar of sauce that works for your family; optional: cook frozen meatballs that are friendly to your family's dietary needs and add to the noodles and sauce Mini Dogs in Blankets -- wrap a little purchased gluten free pizza dough around a purchased Paleo mini-hotdog, bake, serve; kids can do the wrapping Bunny Salad -- put out ingredients (canned pear halves, cottage cheese, almonds, raisins, lettuce, carrot) and let kids make their own Our Paleo Life: Kids Paleo Lunches -- in addition to her lunch food ideas, her idea of the small-size divided plastic storage containers as a make-your-own Bento box might make it more fun as your kids transition into making their own lunches

Agreeing with Farrar and Freesia. And agreeing with Freesia about "any program" -- you'll get good info that will move you forward from most any program you choose. If your students have a particular need or learning style, or you have a particular need or teaching style, you might check out level's thread of "My evaluation of numerous writing curricula", or look at Cathy Duffy reviews, to get an idea of which program might best fit your family. Without knowing your students, I'd suggest possibly one of these solid, comprehensive programs: 4th grader - Wordsmith Apprentice -- gentle, mostly solo-working, brings some fun to writing, covers all 4 types of writing (Descriptive, Narrative, Expository, Persuasive) - Writing & Rhetoric, Book 3: Narrative II = part of a series of levels that build on one another, and expand into new topics with each level - Writing With Ease level 2 or 3 = structured, formal program For your 7th grader: - Jump In = comprehensive program (covers the 4 types of writing, and the writing process) - Writing & Rhetoric, Book 5: Refutation & Confirmation or possibly Book 6: Commonplace - Writing With Skill 1 -- but only If the student is a pretty strong thinker/writer; otherwise, wait a year or two Also bear in mind that "seeing results" varies with the individual student's time table of development. Also, being able to *write* comes out of being able to *think*. Writing is NOT the same as putting your speaking down on paper, lol. So developing critical thinking, reasoning skills, and debate skills will help a lot in providing the foundation of thinking that needs to go into good writing. For your 7th grader, you might look at Twisting Arms: Teaching Students How To Persuade to start seeing what is needed for building an argument of support for a thesis claim.

What age are you looking for? If this is for an older student (grade 8+) you might find some of the overall thoughts about writing from these past threads helpful for figuring out what you need for *this* specific student: "Resources for teaching writing for high school" an oldie but goodie "Bringing Karen's mention of essay writing to a new thread" -- good discussion on how to go about teaching writing As previous posters mention, some children just are NOT going to click with writing before grade 6-8. And, a lot depends on the student. DS#1 = average writer, but disliked writing / DS#2 = struggling writer with mild LDs in Writing, Spelling, and Math. Writing was a long, slow, painful process all 12 years of homeschooling here, and I never did find any program that was the "silver bullet" for writing. At best, I was able to pull bits and pieces and great tips/ideas from various programs, and then tweak to fit MY students. (In retrospect, it might have been best to have outsourced writing for a year or two in high school -- says the woman who is now teaching Lit. & Writing for OTHER students at the local homeschool co-op, lol.) A few things that helped me in our learning to write journey as I homeschooled our DSs: ELEMENTARY - daily short sentence practice (gr. 3-5 for DSs) -- practiced a variety of journal prompts, Ready-Set-Revise, adding to a book report until after a week or so it was finished; and other things to just get pencil to paper regularly in short bites - IEW excerpts (gr. 4-6 for DSs) -- idea of keyword outline; breaking the work into bite-size pieces and doing a little each day (or at several times during the day) - Wordsmith Apprentice (gr. 5 (DS#1) & gr. 7 (DS#2)) -- helped both DSs to "not mind" writing (huge step forward from pencil phobic and hating writing, lol) MIDDLE SCHOOL - 2x/week paragraph practice (gr. 6-7 for DSs) -- write a paragraph about a country from our research to go in the "geography atlas" we made that year - Jump In (gr. 8 for DS#2) -- helped him think of what to say, and how to organize his thoughts HIGH SCHOOL - Window to the World (gr. 9-10 for DSs) -- chapter on how to write a literary analysis essay - weekly practice of timed essays from essay prompts (gr. 8-12 for DSs) -- idea from 8FillTheHeart, WTM poster - importance of a checklist/rubric -- idea from Marcia Somerville (Writing Aids author) at a homeschool convention session on writing -- write out very specific expectations for the assignment and when each is due; make it a checklist that the student must check off and hand it at the same time they hand in each stage of the assignment - understanding that a commentary sentence explains how/why the example supports your thesis claim -- specific tip from Nan in Mass, WTM poster: Wow! I think I fixed my son’s writing! A few things I've learned from teaching writing at the homeschool co-op: - no one writing program works for teaching writing to a co-op class - students need a LOT of scaffolding as they are learning to write -- lots of feedback, lots of encouragement, lots of brainstorming with them - students do better with an extremely specific checklist/rubric - students do better with an example of the assignment to see what types of sentences are needed and where they go in the paragraphs - students progress better by doing lots and lots of 1-3 paragraph assignments to learn how to "think" and get all the mechanics of writing flowing, and do just one longer assignment at the end of the year Hope you have a much less rocky road of it than we did! BEST of luck in finding what works for YOUR student! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Christian, expensive, gentle but complete, and mostly done independently by the student is Rainbow Science: Year 1 (7th grade) = Physical Science Year 2 (8th grade) = Life Science + some general science topics

Yes, analysis in art, film, literature, etc. is very similar. And the types of writing (essays, research papers) is also similar. I was thinking in terms of traditional "school subjects" and how credits are traditionally accrued and "output" sorted. In other words, how to put credits on a transcript that a college admission officer will understand (and accept). (:D