In SF area: CA Academy of Science Tidepooling @ Half Moon Bay NASA Ames San Jose Children's Discovery Museum A little further north: Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield If you like amusement parks-6 Flags Discovery Kingdom Up Near the Redwoods: Trees of Mystery and the Sky Trail are kitschy/tourist trap, but we always loved them as kids on the way to grandmas Hope that helps!

This will be our first year HSing...I hope my 8yo will: -regain her love for learning (actually, this summer (since she was told we would be leaving PS for HSing next year) she has begun showing that spark again) -gain confidence in her math skills -learn how to explain her math reasoning (she can tell you that 8x5 is 40, and that if you take 5 from that you have 35, but ask her to explain it and she immediately shuts down with "this is too hard") -improve her writing skills (both the appearance of and organization of) -learn not to worry about the right answer or the product...learn to focus on the process instead (all across the board for this one) -learn to utilize resources more independently -learn to self monitor more (ie, keep herself on task, do things w/o being reminded by me, etc. Hmm....love the topic...definitely has me thinking....

Thank you! This is right up 8 yo's (who needs the practice) alley!

Very interesting...the first thing that happened in our home after making the decision earlier this year to HS next year was a more thorough Spring cleaning than I've done in years. Our place was already pretty organized, but I went through the whole house with an eye towards flow and function for us-and how I wanted the space to work when we begin HS. The adage "a place for everything and everything in its place" could be used to describe our home now-I want a space that is "wipe and go", where we have easy access to materials that we know where to find. I want space to sprawl and move create in while we learn. I enjoy having a space that is well organized, but more importantly I love having a space that works for us. I can see how that reflects in what I am drawn to now that I am delving into curriculum. I was drawn into TWTM and intend to keep a copy to refer to. I would love to have a curriculum that is all organized and ready to go. It's the "works for us" part that's keeping me looking and leaving me drawing from a variety of sources, though. I feel as though 8 yo is all over the place style wise-some things she picks up just by reading, some by hearing, some by doing-and skills wise...she is advanced in language arts, behind in math, etc. so I can't convince myself that 1curriculum will meet all her needs...but that was the point, right? I should consider my own preferences 1st....at least looking at it through this lens opens my eyes to why I am drawn to one style while feeling as though it just wouldn't work (at least not if we used it exactly as written) for us... Sorry if that was a mess-tried to post 3 times and kept getting interrupted and lost train of thought lol...