Just coming back to this. Wow! All the info has been great. I think we've got a plan. I'm going to check with our CC and see what they require for admission. I have thorough records of last year's (freshman) work, so making a transcript should be easy enough. Honestly, THIS child will major in something as far away from numbers as possible. She is a stellar student in Lit./Comp, History and Spanish. Her brain quite clearly thrives on WORDS. Her brother is in advanced math, and they will both be in Algebra this coming school year (8th grade and 11th) so you just never know. I feel much more confident now about issuing a diploma with what we are doing, and she will have finished Algebra 2 by the time she graduates. She has been working through the summers for a while; I was actually considering finally giving her a summer off to explore things in line with her interests, driver's ed, working at church, etc. instead of obsessing over this one subject that has always been her nemesis. I think we can deal with whatever math we need, even as a remedial course, AFTER we get through Alg. 1 and 2. I stunk at math. REally bad. I struggled through basic college math…and then went on to a grad. school and did just fine. I think she may follow a similar path. I was so glad to hear the positive testimonies and encouraging words. THank you!!!! BTW I have no clue what STEM is -- ?? Now I need to decide on math for next year and decide if we are staying with TT for algebra or changing, so you will probably see another post very soon. :)

That is so encouraging! Thank you. (I was panicking a bit). OK, so where does the diploma come from? Does there need to be an official diploma from the state? I have heard HSLDA can issue a diploma, but I wonder if we as parents come up with that too?? As you can see, she is my oldest. ;) All new territory for me. I will add that Jr. College is the plan right out of high school. So there doesn't need to be a diploma? Probably at least a transcript though? Funny, in all my education I NEVER even remember my high school diploma. Don't remember if I even got one as a homeschooler, but managed to do a LOT of education after hs. …and here I am worrying about this. P.S. I see my sig line is extremely out of date. DD is now 16!

We have been rocking along for nearly 8 years now. My daughter has been slow to develop in the area of math. As a result, she has never quiet caught up. She is finishing her 10th grade year and just now finishing Pre-Algebra. I wouldn't change anything, as she is now starting to "get it"; catching up has not been an option. Problem: It doesn't *look* like pre-algebra is an acceptable high school credit for the state of Texas. I hesitate to ask someone from the state about this, for fear of making homeschooling look bad for having a 10th grader just finishing pre-algebra. Does anyone know the math requirements for graduation? TIA Jamie R.

anyone? :bigear:

I'm either going to just go with Bob Jones for both, since it is all in one and easy to implement... OR I am going to take the plunge and get IEW for writing, which means I would also need to find a separate grammar. I will have an 8th grader, 5th and 2nd. What do you think? Is IEW *really* worth it? If so, what grammar do you use to go with it? Thanks!

Thank you, All! Anyone know if Geometry is on the PSAT? If the PSAT is given in the fall semester of 11th, then that would be our only remaining problem. Ohhhh I wouldn't dare move from Teaching Textbooks behind or not. SHe is finally learning math instead of crying through it!!:lol:

When is the PSAT given...and then the SAT? What grades? If we were on track, she would be doing geometry in 11th. I was thinking at least the PSAT was given before the senior year - ?? Ugh, so many things to consider for highschool. :confused:

We got off to a rough start in math because when we started homeschooling 5 years ago I chose a curriculum that first year that was a repeat of DD's previous year in public school. :glare: Sooooo since math is not her forte, we have just trudged along without ever catching up. DD is doing TEaching Textbooks 6 although she would actually be in grade 7. I was looking at their list of subjects and saw that if we continued on this path she would be doing geometry in 12th grade and just would not reach pre-calculus. To me that would not be a problem at all since I never took that and didn't have any trouble in college. I'm just wondering if it will be a challenge in the math portion of the SAT if she is behind. Thoughts?

Hi all. I'm looking for a good skin care program. I'm over 40 now and realizing that probably my normal routine of, uh, basically doing nothing for my skin is not going to cut it. So what do you recommend...Oil of Olay, Mary Kay, Clinique...? Thanks! Jamie

Thanks very much!

I want my 7th grader to end with a thesis paper of some kind. We have studied US history this year as part of MFW 1850 to modern times. I know there are tons of great ideas in there waiting to be wrestled with but I can't seem to nail down a good thesis statement from the vast spread of history. Any ideas? :bigear:

That is awesome! I sent you an email (deeinfl) Thanks!!!!!

We started with Winter Promise phonics last year, which was not a good choice for us. I ended up checking out Phonics Pathways at the library and doing a bunch of games with him from that book coupled with flash cards. He did really well and learned the basics of reading in a simple yet fun way that worked. This year we are using MFW 1st grade. I am very pleased. I also use AAS and love that too. It seems like a really solid foundation; I feel at ease with our progress and don't have the itch to change as I usually do. lol

I so appreciate all the wisdom *overflowing* on these boards. Thanks! :grouphug:

thanks for the info. I was looking for a place to create sheets like..short verses or various kinds of copywork using the HWT font and 2-lined paper so I don't have to write it out myself! ha

Anyone know of a site where I can make/print my own handwriting sheets using the HWT style font?

"When I experienced the optimal "uncluttered" schedule and focused only on the kids and my life as mom and wife, I was so centered and content. Now I enjoy the things that I add in much more, because I have learned not to let them take over the other roles." That really clicks for me. I think that hits the nail on the head, in fact. THIS [my life as mom and wife] is my primary role. When I stray from that or let other things crowd in things do not go smoothly and I feel stressed. Thanks. :001_smile:

Thanks, everyone. This has been very helpful. I'm going to re-read all your wonderful posts and links and use this weekend to re-group. It's time to buckle down and get to work. The school year is getting away from us... Actually, I think I just realized my "emergency" mentality that is a total drain on me. True, I have work to do and there is school to be done but setting a tone of pressure to "get it all done" does not help anything.

I have hit a snag in our homeschooling journey. I have gotten caught up in too many things and feel myself being tugged away from my priorities (homeschooling) by too many things. I find that when this happens, I starts to wonder if I am really doing the best I could for my kids. As I seek to find center again, I wonder what are the things in your homeschool, your home organization, or habits that: a) Help you to feel centered, peaceful and calm b) are your "go-to" resources, or things that seem to help you get back on track c) perspectives or words of wisdom that help you to prioritize when needed, and juggle all the necessary roles as well Thanks, Jamie

We are using MFW this year with a 4th and 7th grader. I am SOoooooo pleased. This is our 5th year homeschooling and I can finally say I'm done looking for curriculum. It is very user/mom-friendly esp. for combining grades. It has been VERY easy to drop things when I needed to without totally losing ground in the whole schedule. It is very full, very complete and very rich. I agree that each student needs their own student sheets. MFW was correct in that -- that was the one thing I wish I had done from the beginning b/c I ended up buying a second set. I love this curriculum!!! It has been a long and frustrating journey, which is probably why I am so happy with it. ~ Jamie

Thank you! That is very helpful!

We have made the switch this year after doing SL, TOG and WP. It has been really great. I'm never turning back. I find the schedule to be very versatile and easy to adapt when the weeks are busy with other things. I have found that it is very full if I do all the things suggested. I use the suggestions in the back of the book for literature and/or Book Basket. Sometimes Book Basket is also nonfiction books related to topics we are studying. That may be a matter of building your personal library since you don't have many resources available to you. You could also buy SL's reader packages, or at least part of it to supplement. The nice thing about the idea of a "Book Basket", though is that they can enjoy the readers rather than laboriously plowing through them, which I found to be true with SL for my less enthusiastic reader. We. LOVE. MFW. It is an answer to prayer. I have never said that about a curriculum. ever. :)

I can chime in with similar experiences teaching piano. My mother has taught for years and regularly switches the context to teach and help cement new material. A child can stare at a middle C that they have seen for weeks on a theory page and not know it when it is in a new context of a musical piece! Our amazing brains! They just sometimes go :001_huh: and have to process the new data. No worries. :)

Is there a concise, easy way to tell which workbook to get for a 4th grader? I have the textbook, but I am wishing there were a quiz to give that is extremely clear: ("If your child misses ___ or more, purchase workbook ____") KWIM? Or a set of questions. It has been a while since I read through the text, but I honestly don't remember it being that clear to me which level to choose. Advice?

Great idea! Maybe what I' ve been looking for to re-vitalize things around here AND keep my boys productively busy when they zoom through their work and start to eye the video games! :D