We are enjoying this Earth Science Daybook http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/038248along with some other reading and activities. Very well done, and has comprehension questions (see preview).

My oldest took right about a school year (late 3rd to late 4th), about 1 hour/day 5 days/week. My son (3rd grade) is on track to do about the same. Definitely slowed them down. :) They do all the problems and exercises, and half the review and challenge.

My 1st grader did Folk Tales earlier this year, as a fun change of pace between WWE1 and WWE2. It worked well, she enjoyed it and it did have value for her. It was mostly independent, but there was sometimes some prep work and/or explaining what she needs to do before she got started. Things that called for writing sometimes had her interrupting to ask how to spell things, but otherwise it did keep her independently engaged while I worked with her siblings. She did one story per week, I'd say usually working on 3 separate days for about half an hour or a little more, and sometimes longer depending on the activities and her attitude/focus.

That would make sense. That is a good idea to check out the samples when we're closer. That would be great, if she does it, if you could report back. I would really appreciate it. Yes, I was thinking it definitely would not be enough without a study guide, but just unsure if the gap is small enough that a study guide could easily bridge it. She's actually started the series this year (we're using the original series) but at a pace to finish next spring.

How big is the gap between Hakim's History of US and the SAT II US History test? My oldest will be doing Hakim next year (last year of middle school) and I was wondering if it would make sense to add on the SAT II study guide and take the test at the end of next year - or if there's too much missing, and we should just wait on the test. I tried the high school board but didn't get any responses.

How big is the gap between Hakim's History of US and the SAT II US History test? My oldest will be doing Hakim next year (last year of middle school) and I was wondering if it would make sense to add on the SAT II study guide and take the test at the end of next year - or if there's too much missing, and we should just wait on the test.

Where in the valley are you located? I do know of some options supposed to be geared for more gifted students, depending on where you are. That said, we are continuing to homeschool our oldest 2, who are highly gifted. My youngest, who is more moderately gifted, is going to try a self-contained gifted classes next year with the district, and I think it will be a good fit. BASIS is on our possibilities for the future, but I get the same uneasy feelings (my oldest could have started this year in the original 5-12 campus - I know they have primary campuses now, too) and homeschooling is going well for now. We are also considering Davidson Academy (would require moving to Reno) for the future. I do know someone who has one highly gifted and one moderately gifted child at BASIS, and likes it well enough. I think she feels that it's the "least worst" for her family (you may have heard of this concept wrt gifted education).

My 6 year old is doing Homeschool Spanish Academy's Early Development program once a week and Getting Started with Spanish with me the other days (a couple lessons a day, orally). Either or both could be possibilities for your daughter.

We definitely do (we are not at all religious), apparently too well. Today we were packing food for kids in very poor countries, and my daughter asked if it would probably get there right before Christmas, and I said, "Maybe, but I don't know if the people receiving it are Christians anyway," and she responded, "Why does that matter?" :lol: She does know the Christmas story/religious aspect of the holiday, but I guess figured everyone everywhere celebrated it anyway, just in a secular manner if they're not Christian.

I think a lot of people are misunderstanding the situation. I would have done exactly as you did, and depending on my state of mind may have rolled down the window and quickly yelled back, "I was waiting in the intersection until they all crossed!" at the end.

We've always stayed (we do Suzuki so it's part of the deal), but our teacher is a mom of 9 so not bothered by regular kid stuff, and she's also fine with whoever's not having their lesson exploring her large yard. Now all 3 take lessons, and we bring things for them to work on which take about as much time as 1 other lesson, and then during the other lesson they can go outside or do something quiet inside like read. We started with her before my youngest was born, so we've been through stages from nursing there to toddling around (hardest!) to youngest going outside with one of the older 2 to (now) doing their own thing. If she doesn't want you to leave, but can't calmly deal with the logistics of having you stay, I would definitely shop around for another teacher, and ask them upfront about dropping off or staying with siblings.

I agree with getting a highback that can later be converted to a lowback. Check out the Parkway; it has a very high max height even for highback, and can be converted to a backless. I just put my tall 8 yo in ours in highback mode yesterday (usually his little sister uses it and he uses a backless) because he had an outpatient surgery and was still a little floppy; he fit great and it provided him the support he needed. It also has a "slideguard" that comes up between the legs and you slide over the seatbelt, for extra protection.

Yes, CTY has 9 levels for Spanish for elementary kids, and they'll pre-assess, so it sounded like just what we needed. While I've heard mixed reviews of other CTY classes, until this thread I'd only heard positive about their language classes, so we may still give it a try. I don't post super often, but I read a fair amount, especially on this board, and from what I've seen you write about him, I would guess Athena's would be a good fit for Sacha. We haven't done the Geology, so I don't know about that class in particular, but my kids have enjoyed the classes they have done.

Ha, true. Yeah, that's a subset, and a more recent addition to their lineup. Since my oldest is 10, I haven't looked into them. I assumed they added them because some of the kids who'd been through their original lineup were asking for more, and a little more meaty, and I also assumed it was geared for something like ages 12-14, not a lot of high school age kids, but I don't really know. There are more of those than I realized, so I could definitely be wrong. They do also state "All classes are designed to appeal to advanced readers who wish to study material above grade level. Above-level writing skills are not required unless specifically noted in the course description." http://www.onlineg3.com/OnlineG3/Placement_and_Progression.html To me that means they are not the equivalent (nor attempting to be the equivalent) of regular or gifted classes at the stated level, but are appropriate for younger students ready for certain aspects of that level. And, again, I have found that to be true so far, for mine.

Thanks. We have looked into those other ideas a bit. They've also been doing Homeschool Spanish Academy once a week, which is good for the live conversation with a native speaker aspect, but I don't find their curriculum strong enough to use as a main program. The local programs are age restricted so the ones they could do, they are beyond. It is tough to find something that's higher level but appropriate pace and intensity, which is why I was hoping CTY would provide that. If we don't do CTY, we will probably go with a tutor. My 10 year old has done Athena's classes (and now does some at G3), and my 8 year old is doing one this year, and they have been a really good fit for the classes they've done. I saw both site offer Spanish, but just introductory, so it would be review for them. They have been a good fit for my PG kids, in that very sense. My 8 year old is taking Athena's "6th grade" level lit and my 10 year old is taking G3's LLtLoTR and will take her first "high school" level (American Lit) next semester. They are ready for these books and topics, but not for the intensity of that level of course. I don't say my 10 year old is taking a high school class, because she's definitely not. They are not classes for PG high school kids; they are classes for younger PG kids reading with comprehension at a high school level. I can see that some parents might take it that way and get that false idea, though. Yes, sorry!

May I ask which provider you liked for language for advanced elementary kids? My 8 and 10 year olds are doing Spanish for Children B this year, and I was thinking about CTY Spanish next year since I don't think they will be ready for the pace of a high school class (much less getting one to let them in), but I don't know of any other non-high school Spanish classes for the level they will be at.

Paragraph Writing Made Easy (although it's short) CAP's Fable (and continue on with the series until you feel she's ready for WWS)

Thanks! I didn't even think of asking them. That's strange about the printing.

This may be a silly question. In the last lesson, did you have your student write the story they prepared? It never actually assigns it, and my daughter is trying to convince me they didn't intend for the story to actually be written. I said otherwise, but thought I'd ask what everyone else did. :)

We used these for some of our history pockets: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TQ814G?

Thanks. I'll check that out.

I want a timer to go off multiple times in the day, in a pre-set but flexible way. Basically, I want to be reminded to do things at certain intervals throughout the day, but not necessarily the same time every day (depending on prior events) like so: I hit a "Start", like when I wake up. Then I get reminder 1 at a pre-determined interval after that (like "Eat Breakfast" 30 minutes later). So if I wake up at 6, I get it at a different time than if I wake up at 7. Also, if I actually do this a little earlier or later, future events (like "Eat Lunch") would be pushed back accordingly. I would like to be able to have a lot of such reminders, and ideally I could determine which were dependent on which prior event (eating later would push back the next meal but not the laundry cycle, for example). So, for example, reminder to eat 30 minutes after waking, then 5 hours after I first eat (even if that's 45 min after I woke), and then again 5 hours after the second meal. Separately, start laundry an hour after waking, transfer clothes an hour after I start, put away an hour later. Separately, start school at 9:00, switch subject 45 minutes later, then 45 minutes after first switch, etc. Does anybody know of a timer like that - or close? I have not been able to find anything like this, but it seems like it would be very useful in a number of situations. It could be a self-contained item or an app or whatever. TIA

Infinitive (in English, the infinitive form is "to __")

Does your husband have the energy and interest to do some of the group things (Bible, history/science) with the kids after he gets home? That would take that time out of your day, and give you time to yourself for a break and/or cleaning while they do that. Then you're also working with the desire to be with Dad when he comes home instead of against it when your day runs long. Other than that, I think the only options are to combine them more and/or have more independent curriculum. For the interrupting, maybe if they have something they can definitely do on their own, you could tell them that if they need help, switch to that until you have a minute? You would have to be good about letting them know when you do have a minute, maybe even set a timer while you're working with someone so that both you and they know when it's question time.

Alcumus is a great idea. You could also have him do just half the review and challenge questions at the end of the chapter, and then the other half after however many months or chapters have passed since completing the chapter initially.