Has anyone used this program by Guest Hollow? I'm considering it next year for 8th grade. It looks fun and she enjoys cooking. But I'd like to hear some feedback on it. http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/science/chemistry_highschool/chemistry_home.html

I had a six-month subscription last year and found a lot of books that weren't published only to Kindle. Many popular books I found on Goodreads' reading lists were on it. Not always the newest of books but many I put on my to-read list from the last few years were there. If you search on Amazon for some possible titles, you can see which ones are included. The audiobooks are only available for some books. Some were free audio and others were a reduced cost (the cost it is to add audible narration if you buy the book). I've been waiting for the sale & was hoping they'd do a 6-month option again (they had 3, 6 & 12 last year). I did use it on multiple devices under the same account. The kids' put books on their Fires, I put books on my Paperwhite & I put audiobooks on my phone.

We will be there the following week as well. We are doing just Universal this time, a mini-trip on the way to ILs in Fort Myers for Thanksgiving.

It looks like it is. I think there was also a PBS documentary on it and maybe a movie, too? I'm late to the game getting to it and I'm wishing I had started sooner! The details in the book are amazing. That sounds really good. We aren't in WA anymore but I find the history of it really interesting. I'll put that one on my reading list.

OT for the OP's topic but on the topic of WA history, I'm listening to Boys in the Boat about the crew team from UW & the 1936 Olympics. It is fantastic for WA history & geography. I'd recommend it both for the story & for the geography and history woven into it.

I finished Rocket Girls this summer, which I loved. I'm really looking forward to this book now. I love that NPR introduced me to both books. They aren't the type my friends generally read, so I'm not sure I would have come across them otherwise.

Bumping for those of us working on plans this summer!

I use Amazon, mostly, but I have also used soap.com (and its sister sites diapers.com, wag.com,etc).i think drugstore.com also does but I'm not sure if they carry any household products. Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

We have done a rental cabin in Cloudcroft that sleeps 8. If you're interested, LMK and I'll message you the link. Very clean & well-cared for. We've been to Cloudcroft a few times but that is the only place we've stayed.

Only some things can I do it with. Most things? No way! Thankfully, most times we are at other homes, it's a potluck-type thing so it's easy to skip the things I can't force down. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to have even more control over my food and not trust others to tell me what is in it. The Sneaky Chef book was really popular when my oldest was a baby and I was so turned off of it for this reason.

Yes! Most restaurants require basic enough changes that it isn't hard for me to eat there...but people's homes?? I hate it. I get so nervous and have forced many things down, trying my best to not gag. Luckily, I also love to host, so I'm more likely to have people to my home than go to someone else's home. But, yeah. I hate being picky. I'm far better than I used to be and I'd love to be more adventurous....but I'm just not.

I don't like cheese. Or most dairy. So that cuts out like 90% of every recipe ever. LOL Add to that my other dislikes (including quite a few veggies) and, yeah, I get it.

Growing Kids God's Way is the "Christian" version of Ezzo. I think it's geared toward a class setting but I may not be remembering that part correctly.

In Indianapolis, the Children's Museum is WELL worth a visit. It's spendy (if you have memberships to any other musems, check if they have a reciprocal discount) but it is SO good. The museum isn't just the type that's geared towards the 5 & under crowd. They do homeschool classes, too, so you could check if it would coincide with your trip. The White River canal is also really nice to walk down, if the weather is right. The IN State Museum & Eitlejorg Museums are on the canal but I wouldn't really recommend paying to go into either unless the exhibits are really interesting to you.

Congratulations! My Matthew has the same middle name. :)

I'm on there. Happygrl6 is my username. I'd love to have more PTE friends. :)

I switch between Google & Cozi. Cozi syncs with Google for things I already have in there. It also has a shopping list & I prefer it's to-do list over Google's.

This thread has been fascinating and horrifying and has left me in tears. I have nothing to add...but, wow. I do read some about schools in the US but, obviously, not enough. All of this...I'm just sad. Thank you to all the posters who have shared so much knowledge.

Threads like this are one of the many reasons I love this board. Most HS boards/groups I've been part of would have looked at me like I had two heads for asking a question like this and say it obviously doesn't matter. I never thought to wonder about this...but I'm glad I know now! Thanks for asking it, OP.

We are moving to Fayetteville in May and I'm not having much luck finding homeschool groups that don't appear to be conservative Christian. I'd be willing to drive to Raleigh if the group was right. I'm mostly looking for a park day/field trip/MNO/occasional activity type of group but if we could find a good WTM-type co-op (core or enrichment), I'd love that. Anyone in the area that could give me some guidance in groups? Or even reassure me that we aren't going to feel out of place? We're Christian & military...but not that kind of Christian, military HSers. :closedeyes:

I have used Stitcher for about five years and I love it. It's my favorite one of the ones I've tried.

We did that one last year and I remember it being a bear...but we don't have the book anymore to look it up. Sorry!

Thanks for the feedback! We're at a pause point with Writing Strands, so we'll start the samples tomorrow. I looked at the samples myself but didn't even think about having her do them! LOL

My daughter will be 12 next year and I'm really stuck on her writing program. We used Writing Strands this year with the hope it would give her some confidence & lessen her resistance. And it has. But neither of us have loved it for a main writing curriculum. I'm back to looking at Writing & Rhetoric but I'm wondering about jumping in at this age. Could I jump to somewhere around Book 5? Or do you really need to start at the beginning? I would say she's probably more around a 5th grade level for writing. (I looked on their site for placement advice and didn't see any besides the grade level.)

Thanks for the ideas here. I'm looking to put DD in an online writing next year (she'll be a young 7th grader). She is so resistant to writing, wants to put down nothing but the bare minimum and wants absolutely no editing and very little to no input from me on help at any point. (She's like her father with writing!) I can't figure out how to break through and I feel like we are not progressing together at all. This is the only subject she & I don't do well with and I'm incredibly frustrated. And starting to feel quite desperate to get her writing improved. I have no idea what online writing to do with her. I am drawn to Brave Writer but I'm not at all sure it'll be good for her (she's doing a 4-week class this spring). I don't expect she'll ever love writing or write profusely, so I really want a program that will teach her the basics well...and to have someone else do it so we don't end up hating each other! LOL