Scouting is definitely a worthwhile organization for your boy(s). My oldest 2 are both Eagle Scouts and the other 3 are on their way. I agree with the other posters that leadership in your pack/troop is key. However, I was somewhat disappointed that there were no suggestions for you to get involved as a leader or committee member. I have been a Cub Scout/Boy Scout leader/committee member for 14 yrs now and what I have found is that most of the jobs are only done by a few parents in the pack or troop. This is very disappointing because most of the parents work and volunteer in their church or sports also. In my opinion most Scout leaders are spread too thin and this can affect the program for the boys. Most leaders have good intentions but many times "life" gets in the way. You may also have good leaders who are great with boys but the paperwork bogs them down (this is where a good committee comes in, a perfect opportunity for parents to help that excel at organizational skills). As far as camping goes, they are normally very safe and well-run functions. As a former day camp director there are many, many different checklists you must complete before beginning camp, such as site planning, safety plans for police/fire/ambulance (you must notify each in writing about camp), as well as volunteers. Most Cub Scout camps are ran by registered leaders and a few parent volunteers (remember 2 adults for every boy) and Boy Scouts must have registered leaders (think background check!) plus health professionals on site for each camp. You will find groups that push their boys to earn achievements (patches or loops/pins) and forget about the character focus that Scouts are famous for. My suggestions: 1-determine your reason for joining Scouts (camping/outdoors, character, socialization, etc.) 2-visit different packs/troops in your area and find one that matches your focus 3-study your leaders, do they have alot going on? if they are committed but totally disorganized offer to help in some capacity. make sure they are trained, even committee members should be trained, it only takes about 6-8 hrs. beginning a few years ago any registered leader must pass a background check. this looks mainly for drugs, any sexual offenses, etc. many people think traffic tickets will stop them from being approved but unless they are excessive or whatever the Scouts are looking for something that will potentially harm boys. be wary of someone who will not fill out paperwork to be a leader. 4-don't look at Scouts as a babysitting service (not that you are, BTW) many parents think just that and you would be surprised at how many kids are dropped off for meetings and never have a parent show up for awards night. Once parents find out they are required to attend campouts with their sons they lose interest fast. sadly enough, this is just the kind of boy that Scouts could really influence in the right way. 5-Scouting and homeschooling go well together. many of the activities in each book can easily be done by homeschoolers, especially in Boy Scouts with merit badges. just keep in mind that a Boy Scout must have a merit badge counselor (your troop or local council can give you a list of approved counselors). 6-keep in mind i'm not saying you have to be a registered leader or committee member. any parent can help at any time without being registered. in my experience, parents who become registered participate more, their boys get more out of the program and both of you are more in the loop about what is going on with your pack/troop. also, one more thing to add. local packs/troops recruit from schools nearby. many times these schools are in low-income areas (title I schools) so be aware the boys are from these areas. many parents do not like their sons being exposed to boys from this environment so ask yourself do you mind. in my experience these boys have nothing else in their life so they really need Scouts. these children require alot of prayer and patience with (as a general rule, definitely not all of them) but there is nothing more satisfying than seeing one of them later on and having him speak to you and telling you what he remembers about Scouts and the fun he used to have. Oh and for those who like a religious focus (not character) Scouts also has a program called PRAY (indepedent program) that has books for many, many different religions that you can use to earn religious awards. Adults can also earn awards from PRAY for church work too. HTH, sorry so long!

1 quick question, are only vendors selling books at the book fair or do people sell used books also? not really sure about that because they were talking about how big it was and I couldn't fathom that many vendors coming! Thanks!

Supposed to be. Not sure if we will make it since we had a death in the family 2 weeks ago and are trying to move my son back in with us before the month is over. Will have to play it by ear. I hope to go because this will be my 1st hs conference ever! I am wanting to meet Carrie and Julie from HOD!

I'm glad I'm not the only one using copywork for handwriting! My 7-yr old hates handwriting but loves writing about animals and doing his Bible verse like older brother. I also bought Queen's Spelling through Copywork and he is doing that too. Neatness is expected as well attention to grammar and punctuation. I intend to continue using these methods and wish I knew about it alot sooner!

I third HOD programs. We are doing American history with Bigger and overview of history with LHFHG. LHFHG uses CLP books and BIgger uses Eggleston books as spines. Beyond also uses CLP books. Preparing uses CHOW as the spine. CTC uses a variety of living books for the spine, incl the Diana Waring CD's (this is 4th grade +). There is a great variety there and the beauty of HOD is you can substitute something else if what's planned doesn't work (a little harder to substitute history spines but doable).

I have several of both the FFF tapes and the HarperCollins tapes. My younger kids liked the FFF tapes but I thoroughly enjoyed the HarperCollins tapes. If you want to stay true to the books, get the Harper set.

All you can do is cancel the request. There is a required field that you can fill in with a reason. I sent an email to them because I wanted to know how to post books so I would have my whole library on there but when I listed them they would go straight to post. They emailed me back and said to put my account on vacation hold and then post my books and I could move them to hold then click back off vacation status when i am finished. You could try that and then if you decide to part with something put post it.

:iagree:Don't feel bad! Both my kids are guinea pigs this year. We started with HOD and I got overwhelmed doing 2 programs so switched to WP Sea & Sky and combined them but we lost interest quickly so we're back to our HOD stuff. This is my 1st yr hsing and I am having so much trouble sticking to a schedule plus I work FT which really makes things hard. We have to school on Sat and Sun sometimes depending on my work schedule and it's hard for them to get into that. I'm thinking about signing up for Time4Learning to supplement and can be something they can do on days I've worked the night before and am sleeping late.

We are using bigger w/ext this year. this is my 1st year hsing and i bought DITHOR but decided not to use it because I wanted to ease my children into a schedule. My 11 yr old has had no problem reading the extensions and I think now we could handle DITHOR with no problem. If you have been hsing for awhile you could probably handle it no problem. Also, my ds is a child who didn't like to read before this year. Having said that, I read most of the books for him except for the extensions and storytime. These he reads himself, often at night in his room. Next year I will implement DITHOR with him using Preparing and my 6 yr old using Beyond. I foresee no problems with either of them using these programs.

At our ED we code any child with a fever over 103 to get a room ASAP, especially infants and we don't want them sitting in the waiting room getting exposed to gosh knows what. Their bodies are not able to compensate for high fevers as ours so it can take them alot longer to come down. The threat of febrile seizures is not how high the fever gets but how quickly it goes up or comes down. We normally give them Tylenol or Motrin first unless it is really high (combo then). Most kids have nothing show up and we send them home after running lots of tests (RSV washing, flu swab, Urine analysis-know that you child may need in&out cath for sterile specimen if they can't pee and no, we don't use collection bags) and we get the fever down. You would be surprised (maybe not) at how many parents bring their children in for fever and never gave them a thing at home first. That drives me crazy!! I can count on <2 hands the # of times my 5 kids have been in the ER, all but 2 for stitches, never for fever. If the fever came on suddenly or your child is dehydrated bring them in. If your gut tells you something is bad wrong, by all means bring them in. Most of the docs in my ED take into account that a mother knows her child best and can sense when something is really wrong. HTH, sorry so long!

how about them making leis and hula skirts. they could also make some sort of skewer snacks with pineapple and fruits. check http://www.usscouts.org/ also for good ideas.

at the age of 38 i started taking community college courses in the hopes of getting in the nursing program. i took our placement test (compass) and did great in english but not so good in math. i had to take math 80 (no college credit) but that course did me a world of good. i did no prep work before taking the test but 4 yrs later i have an associates in nursing. i did my 1 1/2 yrs of pre-reqs and then took extra classes that i would need if i got accepted in a 4 yr nursing program. have you looked into the book list for what a remedial english course calls for? most of the classes at our cc use Holt's for english. what is he looking into getting into? nursing, respiratory, MLT? most medical courses are science heavy and require basic english and math. i think statistics was required for nursing. will he need to take a SAT or ACT to get into the program he wants? i have heard Jensen's is great for sat/act prep (never used it myself). i would check into what he wants to do and see how many english/math courses he actually needs. HTH and good luck to him! i think it's wonderful he has this goal.

thanks everyone, i wasn't sure if high school hs classes were written for a whole year or semester and it sounds like it depends alot on the child. i am old-fashioned and used to the whole year thing myself and when my oldest started high school in the ps system and i was introduced to the block system, it went against my thinking. but i see many young people who do well with this type of scheduling. my tenative schedule listed is what he would do in 1 semester-4 classes only not 5. the spanish would be spanish 1 of course. i think we will take it slow and see how he does. thanks again!

if your child can participate in a co-op music program that would be wonderful. also, are there any private music teachers in your area that could offer instruction? many public school band instructors offer private instruction to make extra money. i know my oldest was in band and was offered the opportunity to play in a band with several of his friends. he declined because that wasn't his interest at the time. these boys learned to play several instruments and piano on their own or with minimal instruction and today have a successful local Christian band that plays at many functions. The lead singer was in high school band with my son and played tuba in that. He is a music major in college now. if your son has like-minded friends that could get together that could really help him pick up on other instruments also. most high schools around here offer marching band, concert band and that is it. does your school district do All-state or All-county? perhaps he could audition for that, you would have to check with your district administration. most community colleges only offer music appreciation now. maybe you could see if a music camp is in your area? we live in a rural area so there aren't many music teachers around here, other than a few piano and guitar. hth!

my 15 yr old 9th grader is finishing up his 1st year in ps this year. i will be hsing him along with my 2 youngers next year (they are hs-ed this year). my question is about how long it takes to earn credits in hs? our ps in nc is on the block system where the student takes 4 classes per day and earns credit each semester. most hs products i have seen don't say if it takes a semester or a year to complete. do most of you take a whole year to complete everything? after his 10th grade year i am planning on putting him in dual enrollment for his lab sciences and higher maths as he is very mathy, science-oriented. not so much LA and reading. i guess i am wondering about history/english and i've seen some classes as being worth 1/2 credit of this or that. any help you can give me will be appreciated! this is what i'm looking at so far: Notgrass Am. Hist Saxon Alg 1 LLATL-gold or something else Apologia Biology Spanish-Rosetta Stone maybe? and that is only the 1st half of the year!!!

have her check the requirements for any colleges she is interested in. there are some here (nc) that require an associates degree OR an SAT or ACT score. i just finished nursing school myself at community college in may and i had to take the ACT or have a bachelor's already, go figure! i did take it back in the 80's but as a pp said my score was too old! in any case it can't hurt. i took mine after my 1st year of nursing pre-reqs to which i added math classes (college algebra/pre-calc/statistics) because i applied to several nursing schools-4 yr and 2 yr. i did really good with those as a refresher from high school. buy her some preparation books or try the kaplan SAT prep (available from homeschool groupbuy coop for like $70?) to prepare her. she may be able to use the ACT which is what i took and it does not have the writing. Good luck to her!

Winter Promise has several science programs for k-5. They have one that we have ordered but haven't used yet "Rock Around the Earth" that looks good with Cd's, DVD's and rock/mineral kits.