OK, so ummm...I appreciate all of the work this entails, and am utterly impressed with what's already assembled up to Algebra2, but I really need some pre-calc here, guys!

Yeah, if i could find a work at your own pace, that would probably be ideal... So far as tutors, I haven't beat the bushes yet to see who might be hiding and willing were they asked, but I do know no one in the area actually *does* tutoring.

Wow. Thirty-five views and not a single suggestion? :(

I'm looking at doing this online for Buck next year for a couple of reasons. 1. He has gotten to point his math is nearly beyond mine 2. He wants to go back to B&M his junior year (next year is 10th) or take college classes, so I want him to start working with a non-parent teacher again. But we like Saxon and have had really good luck with retention, understanding, etc. (please take your Saxon hate elsewhere ;) ) So, I'm on the hunt for an online class that uses Advanced Math. I've found a couple but am wondering if anyone has one they can give some feedback on! One concern-- he will only be in 10th grade so I have no idea whether he'll be able to continue cruising through at his usual pace for math, or if it'll slow him down to a 3-4 semester instead. And how this uncertainty would affect a class...

We have an ipad, a Kindle Fire and a rooted Nook running Gingerbread. Our options are open. Buck(15) was flipping through Time today (the twin-study in space cover article) and was pondering questions. I asked him if he'd actually read the article and he, embarassed, said no. "It's a 3 page article, Mom." Less than a page, he's good. Infographics, he's good. But that big wall of text still overwhelms him and he avoids it if it's not a requirement...Even if it's something of personal interest. I said we can get the e-mag version of Time (or anything else we get) and he can use VoiceOver, but he pointed out that "Apple's VoiceOver is just so bad, Mom." which is kind of true. Kindle's text to speech is pretty decent for a computer-generated reader, and VoiceOver is pretty clunky in comparison. What are some other options out there for magazine e-readers?

Our homeschool group is about 75% high schoolers. What I find interesting is that it's the younger kids' parents who are forever tossing around the co-op thing. Sometimes doing stuff, sometimes just brainstorming for more ideas. We high school parents aren't particularly receptive, and all I can figure is it's because they're busy enough the way it is. Youth groups, 4H/Scouts, jobs... And we're all rural enough, it's always going to be a time commitment, just driving TO activities.

Slightly off topic: I hate IEP rules that require 2 grade levels behind in order to qualify. So your gifted dyslexic is bright enough to keep himself functional, but not successful. :(

My mom was a moderate/severe SpEd preschool teacher for about 30 years. She was considered an unofficial autistic specialist to the point where parents would opt all of their kids into the district just to have one in her classroom. The ARC even awarded her Teacher of the Year for our state, a couple of years before she reitred. I have always admired the work Mom did. I cant even guess how many thousands of hours she spent outside the classroom on more college classes (she never did get her Masters as she always took a scattershot of classes that were specific to what she was needing for her particular situation) or building specialized communication devices in the days when homemade picture touchpads were all that existed. Seeing all of the Christmas cards, updates on grown kids and such that she still gets makes it clear how very worth it ALL kids are! Her favorite is probably the non-functional, autistic, 3/4/5/6 year old who went on to graduate high school and join the work force. REALLY graduate, that is, not just passed through. A good example of you-never-know when talking about kids' potential.

Around here, it seems like most quick stops and liquor stores have singles on their top shelf in the beer cooler...

Since we've wandered into gifts specifically, I'll add another "me too." I hate coming up with gift ideas. If I run across something accidentally that I think, "boy, so-and-so would really like this!", that's great. But *having* to get my dad something? Just because of the calendar? *sigh* Or someone got me something this year? Well now I feel compelled to get them something, too. There's goes the budget and creates one more layer of stress. *another sigh*

Yeah, when most of us say "boxed," this is exactly what we're talking about. ...Not necessarily *purchasing* the new, boxed program, rather that one is *following* a prescribed curriculum.

Add me to the list. Buck (14) is happier and more successful homeschooling, Bean (13) is more so in public. My complaint is also the school schedule. The whole family is tied down, just because Bean has school...

PS: I should toss in that I get out of the decor/"special day" preparations part this year. We're spending Christmas in a snazzy motel in FtCollins with DH (who works in the oil field). Hurray for my teeny little desk size Christmas tree and dinner at Golden Corral. ;) Then we'll do extended-family Christmas at my folks' over New Years. The only things truly weighing me down this year are gifts and stuff like Christmas programs, caroling, etc.

Sonlight: loved it in the younger years, but seemed a little light for highschool. It was easy to modify for less "preaching" (we're also evangelicals who believe in exposure while the kids are still in our home). Even my dyslexic loved all the reading, though we often did Audibles instead. Excellent book choices, for the most part. Lots of Newberry selections. Tapestry: tried it for a couple Units as a freshman. MUCH fuller at this level than Sonlight. Excellent lit. analysis. Good discussions, good book choices (use a lot of the same books as Sonlight in the similar levels) . Harder to modify for "less preaching" but still do-able. We ended up going with a more text-based system because my dyslexic was losing his marbles with school going in SO many different directions. A few pages from this book, a few from that, day after day. It was just overwhelming for him. Too bad, too, because we both really liked the discussion set-up and analysis Tapestry does! We've branched out on our own, I guess. But, I'll admit, even having the confidence of having been a classroom teacher, it took me a few years before I was ready to dump a box entirely.

Yes. The whole thing--gift-giving, putting up decorations, being out of the routine, etc, etc. it completely frazzles me I hate feeling like a grinch, but there it is :(

TeachIng has been really stop-and-go friendly. I taught full time for a few years, started a family and quit teaching for about 6 or 7, went back full time for a year, and am back down to just subbing, working as much or as little as I want. I know I can go back to a contract again when I'm actually ready. I'm inclined to think that because it's still a female-dominated profession, it's going to be family-friendly and I'm not an anomoly...

We have this book, too! I grew up with it.

I remember one time when Buck was about 18 months old. I put him in his seat, then had to run back to the house for something, came out and got in and forgot that I hadn't actually buckled him. We headed down the driveway. He wasn't speaking yet, but he threw a fit that something was wrong. lol

Yes to both questions.

I was also born in '74, but I remember riding in a carseat when I was about 3…in rural Nebraska, even. It was yellow and had a METAL frame! lol (In hindsight, I always wonder if that was actually safer than just using the lap belts) My dad's younger brothers, both farmers, and their wives all car-seated/buckled their kids, too. Early 80s. We all had to wear helmets when riding 3/4 wheelers and dirt bikes, too. It wasn't until I was in college that I realized what an anomaly my family was.

Your kiddos are still young. Be patient. My dyslexic is nearly 15 and very much a patterns, Legos, engineering type of kid (the "M" in Dyslexic Advantage). Because of this, diagramming sentences was GREAT for him so far as understanding the function of words within sentences. It was very much the key that unlocked the puzzle. Which isn't to say that he actually writes that well yet, but we're getting there. But he has an excellent grasp of grammar, particularly when compared to the fact that he can't spell to save his life! His vocabulary is phenomenal. He's always picked up a lot from TV and adult conversation. And he's finally gotten to the point that he can read for context. We've struggled for so many years, reading below grade level. Now, as a 9th grader, he's gotten to where he's reading AT grade level. And, because most high school texts are written around an 8th grade level, reading has gotten to the point where it's not easy exactly, but it IS very do-able. For right or for wrong, I never did much so far as specific, dyslexic remediation. We just read. Together. A lot. I've allowed/encouraged a bunch of audios, but I also require a lot of actual reading, too. It is vital that he see those language constructs, in print.

To the issue of seatbelt laws, I tend to take everything out of the equation but money. In reality, seat belt laws exist because it costs taxpayers more when there are fatalities or serious injuries from non-belt use. This isn't a freedom issue, or a nanny-state thing, or what-have-you. It's a money issue, plain and simple.

From my experience this seems to be an urban/rural thing. In more populated areas, people are more likely to wear their seat belts. In more rural areas, less likely. I think it's kind of the "they can't tell ME what to do thing," personally. Because we live in a pretty rural area, we often run across friends or neighbors that don't buckle. My response, when asked why I always wear my seatbelt, is that I understand the concepts of both physics and statistics. With passengers in my own cars, I like to go with humor. Buck's best buds, a 15 year old pair of twins got into my vehicle for the first time a couple years ago and were asked to buckle up. I told them normally I think people have every right to ride unbuckled. If they get into a wreck, they are welcome to take their chances. However, in my vehicle, we buckle up because I'm not going to have your cold, lifeless carcasses flying around the interior of the vehicle, taking out those of us who were protected by our seat belts. ;) They laughed and buckled up. Now, whenever they get in my vehicles they immediately buckle and tell me, "We know. No dead carcasses flying around the interior of the car!" lol

Bean, my natural speller, would hate it. She likes the approach of commonly-mispelled-words, because those tend to be the only words she has ever had trouble with. Buck, my dyslexic freshman, OTOH, has really clicked with SS. It's the first spelling program, at home or at school, that has worked for him. Mathy/sciencey guy though, the pattern approach is probably his key...

My kids are ranch kids. Consequently, they truly can't remember a time when they didn't know the basics of how it all works. For us "the talk" was scaffolded upon what they already knew about livestock. lol But I do remember sometime when Buck was 6 or 7 or so he asked how dads know when moms are ready because he'd never seen other moms riding her… (Non-cattle people: When cows are in heat, other cows will jump up on her as well as bulls)