I used the classroom version of the Black Death PBL for a group of 5 girls last year, ages 10-14. It went very well. I found it easy to implement overall. I think the girls got a lot out of it, and I was surprised sometimes by the direction they went with things. We did it 1 day a week as a group for a couple of hours, but they had homework to complete between meetings. We did not do a ton with the roles, other than it helped break up the research they could present back to the group the next week, ie. how would this decision affect your character? I plan to do another one in the future. Let me know if you have specific questions.

Deep breath! Ok, your 5th and 7th graders should be old enough to implement schedules. I only have 2, and no little ones of my own, but I do daycare for 2 toddlers, and have 2 extra 6th graders come to my house to do school 2 days a week, and we have lots of activities, too. I am no supermom by any stretch of the imagination; the house is far from perfect, and sometimes we run out of underwear before I get to the laundry, LOL. However there is no way that school should take 10 hours of your time under any circumstances. Give your older 2 a list of the assignments for the day (I give my girls a weekly schedule, but you might need to start day by day). Your older 2 should be able to do the 4 subjects you have listed for them in 4 hours at the same time. You should not have to work with them the entire time. LOF is an independent program; if they can't do it mostly independently, then switch to something else. They should be able to do their history together, also fairly independently. I don't know what you are having them do, but my girls read their history and do summaries and projects, which they then present to me. It takes very little of my time. Your older 2 can be finished in 4 hours if that is the expectation you set, and they can help with the younger ones while you concentrate on 2nd grader. If the expectation of homeschooling were that I have to sit by each of my children's sides for each of their subjects, then we would not be doing it. However, I don't believe that is what it has to be. Good luck!

I would take it away and bring it out only for long car rides. I don't avoid technology, but I see no need to let a 6 yr old have a tablet.

But she was commenting on the fact that her mother had watched it, which is quite reasonable. However, it appears that maybe her mom heard mostly what she already believed before watching the show, which is something that we are all apt to do at times.

Yes, that is exactly how we use it, too. Botany in a Day is great; I just didn't think that it would be good for k-1st graders. But it is great to help mom recognize things and point them out to kids.

We also use the Wildcraft game ( ages 4-adult). The kids love it. It is a cooperative game - grandma has sent you into the wild to pick berries and you have to bring them back before nightfall. Along the way you run into troubles and have to find a wild medicinal to help.

Shanleya's Quest - A botany adventure for kids from 9-99 Use it as a real aloud now, and you will be able to return to it again and again as they get older. It has a card game that goes with it, too. Edited to add: It is beautiful, but starts with evolution, which from your siggy might not be ok. You could just skip the first few pages of the story though.

I think the math games at bigbrainz.com would help a visual learner if they like video games.

Also, what the previous poster said about scales, etc. My kids do use the metronome to make sure they can play their scales and other technical exercises up to the required speed for their exams. This may or may not apply to what you are doing with your child.

The metronome is a great tool for different things at different levels. We don't use it to play along with entire songs, but we do use it to help fix spots. For example, if a beginning piano student is playing part of a song in one tempo, and then slowing down when they get to a challenging measure, the metronome can help them become aware of it and fix that spot. We would set the metronome tempo for the speed they can play the hardest measure, have them play the phrase before that spot at the slower tempo and through the challenging spot. Then inch up the metronome speed until then can do it all at the same faster tempo. Then we turn off the metronome and play without it until the next time we think it might be a helpful tool. Another example - my dd uses it to help inch up her tempo on challenging runs in her violin pieces. She doesn't play the whole piece with the metronome, just the spots she is trying to work on. HTH

Exactly this! My brother always had to do this to do his math. Total auditory learner! It did get better as he got to high school.

When my dd10 takes a long time to do her algebra it is usually because of 2 things. 1) she writes slowly because handwriting is an issue; 2) she tries to do the entire problem in her head before she writes anything. She does this also because of the handwriting issue. She is trying to do as much as she can in her head so that she writes as little as she can get away with. This leads to errors, especially lost signs. She also doesn't want to have to rewrite a problem, erase anything, or cross anything out, which is a perfectionist issue. I have to tell her that she needs to write it and manipulate everything on paper, and I usually have to stay nearby to make sure that she does. The days that math goes the fastest for her are challenge problem days, because we do those together at the white board. The impermanence of the medium seems to make it easier for her to release her perfectionism about her writing and just do the math. I don't know if your child shares any of these traits, but if so, white boards and buddy math might help.

Also, there is a great deal of non-fiction reading that will challenge his reading level without having to worry about anything inappropriate.

May 2015! You go and get me all excited, and I have to wait 8 whole months! Toe tapping impatiently...

Thank you both for your posts. I think that dd just never saw the point to algebra before, and I like the idea of making it meaningful for her. I do have the AOPS intro to number theory on my shelf, so I will look at that with her and at the AOPS beginning Algebra with her and figure out a plan. Another poster asked what she wanted to do, and she said that she just wants to get through whatever algebra she needs to so that she can get to Trig. At least she has more motivation for algebra this year than last year because she wants more of the trig that she was introduced to a the end of geometry. I will look at that Gelfand book too. Thanks!

Nostalgia for our days pre-kids when we lived near Ontario, and dh and I crossed the border to spend every anniversary at a Shakespeare fest. I want my kids to love the bard as much as we do. Oh, and all the other stuff the previous posters said, too.

Yes, but fairly short novels. The only one I remember being a bit of a slog was Homo Faber.

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/#k Glencoe lit library study guides. Again hosted by the publisher.

I don't know, and I don't know how to find that out. Sorry! I know the Glencoe ones I just posted are available from the publisher's website, so that should definitely be fine.

All grades of the Glencoe LA. Here are the links to grade 9. http://www.amazon.com/Glencoe-Language-Grammar-Workbook-Grade/dp/0028182944 http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/workbooks/language_arts/grammar_gr9/la_0028182944_01.pdf

Diagramming sentences work text is available printed from Amazon and free online. http://www.amazon.com/Diagraming-Sentences-Deborah-White-Broadwater/dp/1580372821/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1411843455&sr=8-2&keywords=diagramming+workbook http://teachersites.schoolworld.com/webpages/lwalton/files/diagramming%20workbook.pdf Sorry, I don't know how to make links nice and short!

Here are the books that I still have sitting on my shelf from German lit. Homo Faber - Max Frisch Wer lieben kann ist ist glucklich - Hesse Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum - Heinrich Boll Sansibar oder der letzte Grund - Alfred Andersch Ein fliehendes Pferd - Martin Walser (Pm me if you want any of them.)

That's great! I'm glad the school was willing to work with you!

Thank you, it helps to know that it starts with review. Are you using the most recent edition?