My oldest is also considering a major in Criminal Justice! She's about to start her second year at the community college. The first year, she took College Composition I & II, United States History I & II, and College Success Skills (a how-to-study course). This year, she's taking British Literature, Psychology, Sociology, and Public Speaking. She's trying to decide now if she wants to continue after high school and get her associate's degree and then transfer to a 4 year college, or if she wants to go straight to the 4 year college. She's really on the fence, as she's suddenly nervous about leaving home. We told her that the choice is up to her and we'll support either decision.

I would also suggest rice milk. My children love it! It's very sweet. In our house we have egg allergies (oldest dd, 8 yr old ds, and my dh), wheat allergies (8yr old ds and 6 yr old dd), soy allergies (me, my 8 yr old ds, and 6 yr old dd), and dairy allergies (8 yr old ds, 6 yr old dd). Get to know your local Ukrops / Trader Joe's / Harris Teeter / Whole Foods (whatever natural food store you have in your area) very well!!! Try to find a support group (check your local hospital or look in the newspaper). Even in our small town (18,000 people), we have a celiac / food allergy support group, so they're out there. They're great sources for support, recipes, venting, etc. I'd get the allergies under control before I would ever attempt to eat out. Eating out is our biggest challenge (as you can see from our list of allergies!) My poor 8 yr old has the most allergies (eggs, wheat, soy, and dairy), and he's turned out to be my best eater! He'll eat anything. So I've found that, once they start to feel better, they're willing to try new foods, so their diet won't seem so limiting, if that makes sense. Learn to cook -- take a cooking class. I will admit, I do NOT like to cook. I'd rather vacuum than cook. But I've had to learn how to do it (and sometimes enjoy it) so my family doesn't starve. Buy some food allergy cookbooks -- I've found a great selection at Borders, and of course, there's always amazon.com -- esp. for the wheat allergy. Wheat is a hard food to substitute (because the bread alternatives can be tricky to make and to cook -- it takes practice and a good recipe). Also, try visiting some speciality food sites online -- Ms. Robens is a HUGE favorite here! The kids wait on the porch for the UPS man when he's delivering a box from Ms. Robens! Here's a link: http://allergygrocer.com/ I hope this helps a little bit!

I don't start spelling until 2nd grade (we use Natural Speller after that)

I have an 8 year old boy!! He loves to draw -- loves nothing more than a 'how to draw' book and a new pack of drawing paper and colored pencils! He loves Legos and any other construction sets (K'nex / Tinkertoys / blocks) He loves to play outside -- riding bikes, playing basketball, climbing trees, wading through the creek and exploring the woods (we live in the country) He loves video games, computer games, and board games (especially Monopoly and Chess)

My oldest two LOVE Life of Fred!!! My 8 year old is begging to try Fred, too, because he wants to see what all the fuss is about! My oldest even wants to try the Calculus book, just to see how the story ends! This is a child who has never liked math....ever. And she's considering a CALCULUS text?? Now THAT is motivation!! LOL! :D

Teaching my little one how to read!! She has autism and I'm trying to go slowly. She knows all of her letters, and the sounds they make. Blending them into words will be the problem! So I'm hoping Alpha Phonics and Sonlight Core 1 will do the trick (along with the Explode the Code books). I just keep reminding myself that I've done this for years now..and my other three children DID learn to read eventually!

I love the Abeka preschool workbooks!!! But then, my youngest loves color. If you have a student who's distracted by color, then R&S would be a much better choice.

We skipped the writing part -- we were using Handwriting Without Tears Letters and Numbers for Me and I felt that was enough writing! But...if your child loves to write, they might want to do it.

Rod & Staff English (Grades 2-8). We do the lessons in the book orally and then he would fill in the appropriate worksheet (if there was one for that lesson) Handwriting Without Tears (PreK through 5th Grade). I love this program!!! Natural Speller (Grades 2-8). One book covers grades 2-8, with small lists for each grade, broken down by spelling rules / phonetic rules. Another great program!!!

We live in the country, too, and we have all sorts of wildlife here! Deer, snakes, spiders, skunks, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, possum. At least once a week, a car hits a skunk and the children affectionately call the aroma "Virginia cologne". :D What drives me absolutely crazy are the field mice!!! Thankfully, we've never had them inside the house, but they come into the garage every fall and multiply like crazy. The kids catch them and set them free in the woods...where I'm sure they find their way back! And the new thing is bears! We have black bears about 5 miles from our house -- which isn't far at all, since there's nothing but woods for those 5 miles. Just a swim across the creek and they'll be in my back yard.

My oldest is starting August 25th -- that's when the community college Fall Semester begins. My younger three are starting September 8th. (I'm busily writing lesson plans this week!! My *least* favorite part of homeschooling! LOL)

I would also recommend Developmental Math. (I haven't used them, but I've seen them up close at our local homeschool convention and they look really good!) After finishing the series, your student would then be ready for PreAlgebra / Beginning Algebra and I highly recommend the Life of Fred books. My 14 year old son has been enjoying them thoroughly!!!!

My oldest started out with Bailey's "The American Pageant" in 11th, but then chose to take US History I & II at the community college instead. But she did enjoy the text! I'm not sure what I'll be using for my current 9th grader when he reaches 11th (he has special needs and Bailey's may be too "advanced" for him, so I'm considering Notgrass as well)

I teach reading (i.e., phonics) only during Kindergarten and 1st grade, then I add spelling into the mix in 2nd grade -- by then, they're usually able to at least read simple chapter books. I also start Grammar / English in 2nd grade also.

Rod & Staff gets my vote, too! We love it!!

Oldies!! 50's and 60's. At least that's what *I* consider the oldies!! Some oldies stations are now playing songs that I remember from high school and calling them 'oldies'. Not that I'm getting old at all..... :D

I was a disc jockey in Northern Virginia

Our community college uses Lial's College Algebra and Trigonometry as their Precalculus class textbook. I found one used, with a free solutions manual included, for $60.00 on Amazon.com. The Lial text is the third edition - ISBN 0-321-22763-8 and the Solutions Manual is ISBN 0-321-22770-0 My oldest will be using it for 12th grade math. (It has a nice review of basic algebra in the beginning of the book). It looks really good!! But we haven't started it yet.

My two boys - 9th and 4th grades - are also avid Star Wars fans -- let me know if this ever develops!!!

My youngest loves the CD!! The songs are fun and are handwriting-related. We put it in the car and play it while we're running errands. The things that helped her the most are the wooden letter shapes, the small golf pencils with erasers, and the flip crayons.

My dh is a government contractor - he sells parts to the government (pumps, o-rings, rubber products, etc.) -- he likes to say he's a government gopher and that about sums it up! Whatever they need, he can find it. Hence the reason we have to live within driving distance of Washington DC and all the military bases that surround it.

My youngest loves Abeka!! It's colorful with lots of review. She couldn't be happier!

My 6 year old, who has autism, has just started to master this concept with the help of a 100-number chart - she uses it for counting as well as for things like "What number comes after 17?". She can now look at the 100-number chart and know that "18" comes after 17. It's also been helpful for learning how to count by 10's and 5's, etc. I don't even remember where I picked mine up now .. but I think any teaching supply store would have one. As far as curriculum goes, Math-U-See is an excellent choice. My oldest son, who has high functioning autism, used this program from Kindergarten through 7th grade -- he's now using the Life of Fred books. The manipulatives were very helpful for him and the black-and-white pages weren't distracting. Another good hands-on math is Shiller Math, which I picked up for my 6 year old, but she didn't care for manipulative math!! She turned her nose up at both MUS and Shiller. She's using Abeka math and loving it!! (She likes color and she loves workbooks) So each child is different! I've also heard good things about Right Start math, but I haven't seen it myself.

Abeka is one of those curriculums that so many homeschoolers have used over the years that it's easy to find a TM used. So I would check the used book forum here or a used curriculum store, if you have one. (I found my 1st grade Abeka Math TM for $5 and I agree with the above poster that it's really nice to have, but it's not "essential"). I would recommend the tests and speed drills, if you hadn't considered adding that, in addition to the regular worktext. I hope this helps! (My 6 year old *loves* Abeka Math! It's what she wants to do first whenever she comes to the school table!)

My oldest didn't start at the CC until 11th grade (she was 16 at the time) and that was early enough. I would wait until 11th grade to begin the CC. Most of the students at the CC (at least the one where we live) are 19-25 - or even older...and that would be alot for a 14 year old to handle. I would look into a homeschool co-op, or perhaps some vitual classes online.