I live in Puerto Vallarta, and think it's lovely in the winter (summer is awful), but I'm going to recommend Quebec since you have limited time. You get the European feel without having to cross the Pond.

Following too. Thanks for the great thread.

The whole thing sounds bizarre.

History Odyssey?

My son hated opgtr. We switched to Progressive Phonics and he's doing great. I would check it out and see if it's something your son would enjoy. It's free!

My son's curricula (1st-2nd grade level work) and supplies will be about $600 for the year. Field trips and museum memberships, another $600 or so annually. Afterschool activities are about $450/month (Hebrew, music, theatre, and sports). An IPad Mini $300. Another $300 or so in various books. Charter gives us $1200/year to spend.

I cannot imagine any school preferring a CLEP test to AP/IB/SAT 2 as evidence of mastery.

I would love to hear what you think of CAP W&R if you go that direction. This is how we have progressed as well. We've been afterschooling, but just pulled him out of his school here in Mexico. We are returning to San Diego in a few months and are 90% sure we will continue homeschooling in the fall. I just have to work up the courage to do this full-time with a baby in tow! Best wishes to you in whatever you decide!

I would see if there is a Jewish Community Center near you. We use the books by Behrman House. They have online programs as well.

I would like to start MCT in 1st when DS is 6/7, but am concerned about the jumps in writing required as the levels progress. If we took writing breaks, and did MCT along with WWE and CAP W&R, would those help to bridge the jumps between the writing levels (Island, Town, Voyage, etc.)? I looked at WWE1 and planned to start it next year at 5/6 before we started MCT, so would be in WWE2 during Island. Also, are any of you using the new CAP W&R program and using it with younger kids (before 3rd)?

Oh my! These books look great. Thank you!

If your child used EPGY, did he/she use it along with the standard curriculum (MM, Singapore, etc.)? Was it for review of concepts learned or acceleration? How much time per week did your child spend using it? DS is finishing up MM1 and I'm wondering if this would be a good resource for us to add in the summer and beyond. We already have Dreambox, so I'm not sure if it is worth enrolling in an Open Enrollment Group.

I would love to know if Bishop's allows homeschoolers to test. They are arguably the best private school in the area. If only I had an extra 30k annually laying around. :)

Also, La Jolla/Torrey Pines and the high schools in North County (San Dieguito USD) have the most extensive APs in the area. For example, Point Loma High School, which is in a decent cluster of SDUSD, doesn't even have the APs you listed.

You might try posting here: http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SanDiegoHomeducation/info

DS will be 5 in a few days. A few from this week: "Why is Pluto in my solar system set? Don't they know it was demoted to a dork planet?" Uses demoted correctly in a sentence; cannot pronounce dwarf. Was explaining to me that the area of a Lego could be calculated by multiplying the dots on each side; has difficulty knowing whether school is over is at 2:30 am or pm.

Inspirational. Great job!

I've attended several Chabad synagogues over the years and have never personally witnessed the elevation of the Rebbe to the status of moshiach. A sage and a tzadik? Absolutely, but idol worship is sacrilege in Judaism. And while the Rebbe is certainly revered within Chabad, it is not uncommon to hear the expression, "We want moshiach now!" And that moshiach is clearly not referencing a great man long since passed. I cannot speak to Chabad in Europe, but I've been around many Lubavitch, Satmar, and Breslov Jews in the U.S., and never found anything more than a deep admiration and reverence for the wisdom of their Rebbes.

By halakha, Jewish law, this is correct. If you have a Jewish mother or underwent a halakhic Jewish conversion, you will always be Jewish regardless of what you believe or worship, or how you behave. One does not cease being Jewish, according to Jewish law. You can believe that Jesus is the messiah and violate all 613 commandments, but you're still a Jew. Sorry, there's no leaving this party. Having said that, a Jew for Jesus makes about as much sense as Jumbo Shrimp. Basically, you're a Christian.

Ditto.

Exactly this. The whole thread makes me feel icky and sad.

I feel unclean reading this thread.

My DS will be 5 in a week, and has been working his way through HWT K this year. I am thinking ahead to next year. He's been doing fine with the HWT manuscript and I like their approach. It's not the prettiest thing I've read, but, well, he's 5. He is currently writing manuscript words for AAS1, which I hope to continue next year with AAS2 and adding copywork from WWE1. I've read several threads here about the benefits of learning cursive at a young age, but am not sure whether we should continue with HWT 1 and 2 (manuscript) next year and then start cursive after, or begin cursive in the fall. Do you have any thoughts on which we should do? Experience? Also, HWT Cursive. Wow, is it ever ugly. While I love their easy approach, I just cannot see using that font. I looked at samples online and seem to gravitate towards D'Nealian cursive. I was thinking of going with the Logic of English cursive program. Does anyone have thoughts on this, after having used HWT? Ease of use? Effectivenessness? Thanks so much.

The book list from Adventures in America is what we're using, with some tweaking.

I'm a Cougar (5.5 years older). :)