My dd is in Mr Hummel's Prep for Expo class and I felt the same way. She started out in an Expo 1 class with another teacher and it was too much for her. She's an avid reader but her writing skills were lacking. At first I felt Mr H was way too laid back but I just went with it. Boy has my daughter flourished with Mr H and his laid back teaching approach! She really enjoys his class and writing.

My daughter is taking this class online at Veritas Press. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if they email a syllabus for this class? I don't want to have to buy all the books at once. I was hoping to buy half for the first semester over the summer and the rest later on and I wasn't sure when everything was needed. I'm assuming I can just go chronologically, but I just want to be sure I'm not missing anything.

Has anyone tried the live classes at CurrClick? I'm very tempted to try the IEW writing class with my dd. The prices seem reasonable but I haven't seen any reviews. Hope someone can share their experience with me.

Well, the Biology class at VP is 1.5 hr two times per week and at MP their Biology class is 1hr and 15 mins once per week. VP biology is $645 and MP biology is $500. Even though I think my ds needs two class meetings a week, the MP biology course looks a little meatier and maybe more interesting. I just can't decide which is why I'm glad the OP started this discussion.

Me too!! Hated Classical Comp!

I'm thinking about enrolling my dd. My ds is taking science online at Veirtas Press and we've been happy with them. VP classes meet twice a week and most of the MP classes are once per week, I'm wondering if my dd would be okay with once a week. Hope someone chimes in with irl experience with MP online!

There is usually a writing assignment every other week. Occasionally Mr Turnbull has them do peer reviews under his guidance, but he gives feedback most of the time. Like you, I don't like giving feedback on ds's assignments unless he asks me to. So far the longest essay required has been 5 paragraphs. They also read some of the paragraphs or essays aloud during class and there is a "word of the week" they are encouraged to use in their essays. Mr Turnbull also incorporates some IEW techniques. Here is part of my ds's last essay with feedback from Mr Turnbull: In Charles Dicken’s acclaimed novel, A Tale of Two Cities, we learn a great deal about Sydney Carton, the titular character of the novel in question. Griffin, your phrasing in this opening sentence is superb. Your voice has a sound of confidence. (I am pretty sure "titular" means that the character's name is actually in the title of the book or movie, etc. Otherwise, it is a wonderful word.) He is introduced as a cold and distant man, but it’s hinted at that there’s something more to him. As the reader continues, it is revealed he has an underlying layer of emotion. After a great amount of development, he is shown to be arguably the deepest character in the entire cast.<These three sentence form a clear and logical progression of Carton's development. And they provide a logical progressive structure to the introduction. Bravo. During the climax of the novel, he is imprisoned and later executed, a phenomenon that is marred by but a single catch: Sydney Carton’s death ultimately held no real value.What a wonderfully surprising thesis. Your reader (and your tutor) is gripped. Sacrificing something that one doesn’t value is an action of little significance. Your topic sentence is a clear and direct support for your thesis. Rarely is it difficult to part with a thing of little value. It is described early in the novel that Sydney Carton places scant value in his life, therefore it must not have been difficult for Mr. Carton to part with it. This is a clear if/then argument. Good work striving to be logical and clear. One shouldn’t place much importance in the execution of Mr. Carton, as it is likely he himself didn’t. He describes his life as a pointless existence, a struggle without a purpose. If you quoted here from Carton's own words, it would give your argument even more persuasion. Even after confessing his feelings for Lucie Mannette, he thinks himself worthless. To be sure, the court wasimplacable, but Mr. Carton had opportunities to save himself if he wanted to. This is a strong argument.

My 14 yo ds is taking Mr Turnbull's Writing the Essay and History of the Christian Church tutorials. We are very happy with his classes and plan to take more next year. Matthew Turnbull is a wonderful, nurturing teacher. What, in specific, would you like to know? Assignments are emailed weekly and there are online quizzes a couple times each semester. Here is a sample email: Dear Discupuli, Please read up through chapter XXX in Ivanhoe. This brings you to page 259 in the Dover edition. Enjoy the dangers of castle battle. This week you get to write a short two- or three-paragraph story (it can be longer, if you wish). Take one of the menial tasks you perform each day. For example, you might write about brushing your teeth. Make sure you include some dialogue in your short story. For example, when brushing your teeth you might encounter one of your siblings. With this in mind, describe your task and conversation as though it were a chapter written by Sir Walter Scott. Write in his style. Dramatize the event with rich description. Include noble speeches. Include as much danger and moral reflection as you can. As it is with many excellent stories, you want yours to contain some good tension that resolves at the end. Next Tuesday, print a copy of your story and ask your mom or dad to make comments on it. Ask them to be the tutor. Ask them to comment on your description, dialogue and to suggest any improvements in your writing style or mechanics. Also, please send a copy to me so I can enjoy your writing.

WOW! Great info, I'm glad I asked for help. I'm going to print it all out. My head is spinning and I can't wait for my Rick Steves guides to get here on Friday.

I am going to Europe with my 11 yo dd!! My sister and her husband are taking us to London, Paris, Rome and Florence for about 17 days end of May beginning of June. Are there any books we should read before we go. We want to have fun, but I sure would like to slip some learning in! What things should we see for sure ? I ordered a bunch of Rick Steves' travel books, but I'd also like to read up on history so we can better understand what we are seeing. We will be in Paris for almost a week so we'll see the Louvre and Orsay and Orangerie Museum and then Rome for 3 days and Florence for 3 days and London for about 5 days. I need to brush up on art and history.

My daughter wants to read books set in the civil rights era. She read The Help and Secret Life of Bees but there has to be others. Any suggestions?

I sold something 90 days ago and I get an email today that the buyer is requesting a "charge back" because of an unauthorized purchase. Now paypal put a hold on $37. Ebay only lets you see the past 60 days of transactions, so I can't find the tracking number for the shipping info. The buyer even left me feedback saying "fast shipping". I've contacted Ebay and they are supposed to get me the tracking information .... we'll see. But how can they allow that?? Ebay and Paypal are owned by the same company, the buyer got his item, left positve feedback and he gets to keep the item AND get his money back? Isn't that fraud? GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR I know it's not much money, but it's FRAUD!

My ds-14 is very disorganized. All his classes are online this year through 3 different websites. He is constantly forgetting to get his work done. How do I know what he is actually capable of or if I am expecting too much? Also, I'm ADD and have terrible organizational skills. It's like the blind leading the blind over here :confused1: . He absolutely HATES writing things down. Maybe a white board or something? I've tried iCal on the iMac but I don't know if he actually "sees" it since the reminders keep popping up and he just ignores them. How do we organize his paperwork (there isn't much), he keeps losing track of it. I'm wracking my brain here! I just don't know how to teach skills that I don't have. He has Algebra, physical science, Church History (Alexandria Tutorials), and Writing the Essay (Alexandria Tutorials). That's it for now because I've realized since just recently finding out ds has Asperger's that I have got to work on life skills with him. But that is a whole other post!

http://nrich.maths.org/frontpage It's got some great stuff on it! I'm looking at the Plaited Origami Polyhedra .... very cool.

Dd-30 helps a lot, but she lives and works 3 hours away. If she can come home a few days before a holiday she does a lot of the cooking and baking with me. Dd #2 works and is a single mom so I just ask her to bring a dish. Dd #3 used to help but she moved 2 hours away. Dd #4 is a full time college student and works - she helps clean some, but she is usually pretty busy. Youngest dd helps some. Ds - forget it - long story - I need to lower my standards, start cleaning earlier and plan/shop/cook earlier. Seems simple but I can't seem to do it. Somebody gets sick, a pet pukes all over the carpet, a paycheck is late so groceries aren't purchased early, ADD daughter locks herself out of the car, etc .... all it takes is one thing to just throw me off my schedule and I'm back to stress and panic. Every holiday like clockwork.

Yes, she did and that's what really irked me. She's an education major in her senior year and for some reason she's taken it upon herself to tell me what I should and shouldn't do lately. I did tell her that what I do is not her business and to keep her judgements to herself.

No help here. I just pray Apple doesn't end up being the "anti-christ" because it will be a tough choice for me. Can't wait to get my iPhone 5s!

I ALWAYS wear a bra. My b**bs feel creepy without a bra. All hangy and floppy .... :thumbdown:

I should have done this as a poll .... lol. I think that I talked my sister and bil into coming to my house for Christmas and then leaving for Africa the day after. My "age" concern is because my sister is almost 70. She's in great shape, but has little health problems creeping up on her. She just found out her cholesterol and blood pressure are high even though she is thin, exercises at least 5 days a week and eats very well. Because of our age difference I didn't really get to know her until I was in my 30's. We are like two-peas-in-a-pod now. My mom always talked about traveling but she kept waiting so long and putting it off until "later" that when "later" came her health and her mind went downhill fast and she never travelled. I don't want to end up like my mother. Also, our holidays are not very tradition filled. I don't do holidays for me, I do them for my dc. The girls all help cook, but I'm still really burned out when it comes to holidays. They are usually days I just want to hurry and get through. I'm very ADD so holidays are filled with stress and my back and neck end up in painful knots. But YAY for me! I added more stress to Christmas by having two more people here. :hurray: But now I won't have to choose where to spend Christmas, and I can recover from my neck and back pain in AFRICA! Thanks for all your input. I appreciated it all, even the stay home opinions. I think wanted to know if my 23 year old dd had any right to lay a guilt trip on me. If she would have said "hey mom, I'll really miss you and I wish you'd wait until after Christmas" instead of "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU ARE SO SELFISH! AND WHY DO YOU and DD 10 have to go to Chicago to see your sister every couple of months and now you want to go to AFRICA at CHRISTMAS?" it would be a different story. If it weren't for dd 10 I wouldn't have too many qualms about being gone at Christmas. Actually, I feel bad about not being able to bring her PERIOD, regardless of the day. I skyped with her everyday I was in Bali. Ds 14 says he isn't leaving the country unless he's going to Japan ... lol

Berta - My oldest dd has a job that requires travel. She went to Jakarta which is near Bali. She wanted me to meet her in Bali after she finished working and she paid for my airfare. My sister ended up coming with me and we had a great time!! I felt bad letting my daughter pay for my airfare, but I'm so glad I did. My youngest was 8 at the time and dh had to take vacation days too. I had a lot of guilt about it, but looking back I have no regrets. Once I stepped off that plane I just let go of the guilt and enjoyed every second of my trip. Everyone will get over it and you and your dd will have some great memories! I say we both go for it!

Thanks everyone! I always feel guilty whenever I do anything for myself. I hate that I do that. Dd 23 really capitalizes on that. Thanks for giving me the "permission" I needed!

at Christmas? My 6 dc are aged 10 - 30. Every holiday for the past 25 years has been at my house with me doing a majority of the cooking. All my life I've wanted to travel. I'm 49 years old and two years ago I was able to go to Bali with my sister who is 20 years older than me. She and her hubby are talking about going to Africa at Christmas this year and have invited me. I can't tell you how excited I am about the possibility of going to Africa! I've spent 30 years of my life taking care of my dc and I'd like to travel while my sister and I have our health. Three of my girls are on their own and dd 23 (almost 24), ds 14 and dd10 are still at home. Well, dd 23 is having a fit. She thinks it's awful that I would even consider not being home on Christmas. Dh and the others are okay with it, but not her. Is it such a terrible thing for me to want to do something for myself? I mean, I felt bad going to Bali without my dc, I would have loved sharing that experience with them but who can afford that? My sister and I had a fabulous time after I got over the guilt of leaving my youngest and I don't regret going. WWYD??

I'm trying to find an online Algebra class that includes grading. I hate grading math papers. Also, if someone else grades the papers ds can't argue with me about it.

My 14 year old ds is insisting that guitar is much more difficult than the piano. I think piano is harder, but I don't know enough about either instrument to really argue my case. My 10 year old dd plays piano which is probably why he insists the guitar is more difficult.