I have a friend that raves about this:Junior High Physical Science

We will be doing Yr.1 Re-design. I will do it with 1 Dialectic, 1 UG and 1 LG. I will use Map Aids, some portions of Writing Aids as I did last year with IEW. We plan on starting the 1st week of Aug. so we can get 2 units in before the 3 weeks we take off in Dec.:) We have done Year 1 classic so I am really looking forward to trying the re-design as well as trying out the "notebooks" idea posted my KarenCiavo. I can't wait!

I place samples of every subject in the portfolio. Then in the back I put certificates, photos (in those thin plastic photo holder pages), field trip information, copies of any standardized testing, and a copy of their yearly physical (you don't have to do that, I just like to). Then I take it to staples and they comb bind it for me, done!

I combine ALL in History, Bible, Science, Art, and Composer Study. My middle and oldest do Spanish, Shurley English and IEW. My middle and youngest do Latin together.

I really love this idea. I just can't imagine putting 3 children at the same table , never mind in the same room. :confused: My oldest would drive us all batty because she hums and sings through everything. I used to ask her to stop but, she is an advanced student with excellent grades and if she wanted to hum , then hum. She is usually in the schoolroom and she stays focused. My next 2 I think would do okay at the table. But if I did ANYTHING fun with my Ker my son would stop and want to join. He gets distracted easily and it would be hard for him to concentrate with any dialog I had with my Ker because he is an auditory learner and need quiet during school time. My Ker is a visual learner and she thinks it's her job in life to explain everything , even pictures in ETC. I can't imagine how I would do this without saying "shhhhhh" every minute :) to all 3 of them. I would love to see a "Day in the life of the Swanns" on video:D

I won't let me indent in "proper" outline format sorry! Here is a narrative addition to the above one: NARRATIVE OUTLINE (These are suggested topics for the actual report) Introduction (Not why you chose this country, but an introduction to the country) (Write your narrative here) Geography (Write your narrative here) People (Write your narrative here) Government and Political Conditions (Write your narrative here) Economy (Write your narrative here) Private Sector Development and Foreign Investment (optional) (Write your narrative here) Currency (Write your narrative here) Transportation and Communications (Write your narrative here) Conclusion (Write your narrative here - Please include your impressions about the country and your opinion on the country's future.)

Not sure if this will help, but here is an outline I use for my kiddos. Because they are younger I only assign several sections, for a 9th grader you could do all. Official Name: (The official name of the country) PROFILE OUTLINE (Just the Facts) I Geography A. Area: B. Cities: C. Terrain: D. Bodies of Water: E. Climate: II People A. Nationality: B. Population: C. Ethnic groups: D. Religions: E. Languages: F. Education: G. Health : 1. Life expectancy: 2. Infant mortality rate: III Government A. Type: B. Independence: (date) C. Major political parties: D. Suffrage: E. Principal Government Officials 1. President (or equivalent title): 2. Vice President (or equivalent title): 3. Ambassador to the United States: 4. Ambassador to the United Nations: IV Economy (You may have to change some of the following) A. GNP: B. Per capita GNP: (Optional) C. Natural resources: D. Agriculture: 1. Products: 2. Industry: E. Trade: (You may have to change these to fit your country) 1. Mining: 2. Manufacturing: 3. Tourism: F. Imports: G. Exports: V Currency A. Type of Currency: B. Relation to US Currency: VI Transportation and Communication A. Transportation: 1. Land (include roads) 2. Air (include airports) 3. Sea (if the country has ports) B. Communication: 1. Television and Radio 2. Newspapers 3. Telephones, etc.

This is exactly what I did although it looked more like this for us: TOG Year 1 (pre-k, pre-k, first) SL Core 1 (pre-k,K,2nd) MFW Adventures (pre-k,1st,3rd) TOG Year 3 (K,2nd, 4th) summer play SOTW 4 in the car 08-09 school year do TOG Year 1 (1st,3rd , 5th) I tried other stuff after TOG and quite honestly my children retained so much more from TOG, we decided to return.

You can start where ever you like:001_smile:. They will go back through the rotation in middle school then in High school so, all 4 years will eventually be completed. There is tons of stuff for a 2nd grader (Lower Grammar), you will need to pick and choose it's an awfully meaty curricula. We use IEW so I am not sure about Writing Aids.

It did have some comments that have been since removed. Here is more information on that LOF Reviews

I really like this in "theory" I am still trying to visualize a math time. I currently take about 20 minutes with each child for a math lesson, then they do the independant work. If I gave them only 1 lesson they would complete it in 5 minutes. I normally assign 25 minutes of coursework. If I were to attempt this should I just assign 1 lesson a day, even if it's finished in a few minutes? We do go through the summers I can see how the 3 hours a day would get them through the corsework in a little over 1/2 the time. One more question/thought, If you are starting your rotation with math, and you only get through a few subjects you then start where you left off, right? So there is a possibility they would have a day without math?

We tend to eat our biggest meal at lunch. This morning at 8 am, I popped in some leftover meatballs and sauce, I put in dry rigatoni and added water. I threw in a chopped up onion and a clove of crushed garlic with a few leaves of fresh basil (from my kitchen herb garden, indoor of course). I just put a few thin slices of fresh Mozzarella and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top. It looks and smells so good, it also tastes amazing (I did have a little bowl of it, in the pantry so the kids couldn't see me :001_rolleyes:). My son keeps coming in the kitchen saying is it lunch time yet? :glare: I figure I'll make a salad and that's lunch. Wondering if anyone has some tried and true lunch/dinner Crockpot recipes. Thanks!

Seeing that the Olympics are coming around you could do something with the first Olympics in Greece. About Athenshttp://www.edgate.com/summergames/creative_zone/ Kids Olympic Games Make Olympic Metals or a certificate

Notebook Pages Most of the schedules are on the yahoo group.

I do teach from the TM, no extra work books. They do drill daily, a combination of flash master, calculadders and wrap-up's. After we did BJU 5th, my 4th grader has been amazingly independent moving through Lials BCM. Pretty much doing it on her own. But, while she was still in BJU, I did teach from the TM. I think the reason I have been so faithful sticking to the TM is because my SIL, whom I think is brilliant looked over several math programs and said she felt BJU was a wonderful program but, she actually warned me not to skip the teaching in the TM because she felt the dialog and the concept introduction is one of the strongest components of the program. She said " Please don't hand them the workbook, use the TM and you will have great results". It was more time consuming but I am ecstatic with the results.

My little one is. She does very well with a computer based Spanish program. I put the vocab. words on index cards and she draws a picture on them. Then I hold the cards above her so she has to look up. The idea behind this is because they tend to think in pictures, this helps them to store it in their right brain which is actually better. If you ask your child a question and they are trying to figure it out, they normally look up while trying to figure out the answer and that's their way of trying to access their right brain memory which is their long term memory bank. We do other exercises to help her memorize. She actually memorizes better than my 2 older ones:glare: We do the same with Latin.

Got the IOWA results back today! To answer the BJU math question: K'er (5yod) - 1.7 grade equivalent, 95th percentile 2nd(8yod)- 4.8 grade equivalent, 98th percentile 4th(9yod)- 6.4 grade equivalent, 84th percentile (she took the 5th grade IOWAS and had done BJU till 5th and is now doing Lial's BCM) Woooohhhooo:hurray:o!!!

I got 3A and 3B used from the the boards, and I have to admit I pretty went on Lisa in WA glowing recommendations. It is my kiddos favorite class. We are almost finished with 3A, it was done with a 5yod, 8 yod and 9 yod. It worked perfectly. It's the ONLY art program that had we have been consistent with. I love the Art Cards for our weekly picture study too! As long as you have all your art supplies, it's a grab and go.

We used Gripe Water. This may sound gross but my ds instantly started passing "horrible" gas. It was so foul smelling I realized he has gas bubbles that were not working their way out. He also stopped spitting up so much. It worked well for our little guy.

I am so sorry your going through such a rough time. I agree with the others to seek some professional help in sorting this emotions out. On another note, dare I say homeschooling is not for everyone. We have our reasons for homeschooling as does everyone else. Not everyone likes the beach, chocolate:w00t:, in-laws, socializing or teaching. I have a wonderful friend who tried homeschooling her 3 kiddos. She is an attorney and she is a wonderful and intelligent person. She had the most difficult time trying to home school her kids. She started to become very depressed and with her husbands support decided to place them in school for 1 year so she had time to work on herself. In 3 months time she was back to herself, she is on the PTA, a room monitor, after school homework helper and she feels great. After this, she came to the conclusion that she had an "idea" of what it would be like and when it did not fit into the mold she felt like a failure and was always beating herself up for it. She also resented her husband because she wanted more support than he was able or willing to give. Now she is her children's biggest fan and supporter. She is a HUGE part of their schooling , she just isn't the "teacher" anymore. She is a wonderful loving mom and she like the rest of us has limitations. I supported her decision, firstly because I am her friend and I wanted what's best for HER, secondly because she was being a great mommy and wife and that made HER feel good about herself. All this to say, talk to you dh and seek support of friends or a counselor. I pray you find what's best for your family. Blessings to you!

I saw these at Rainbow resource last weekend: Summer Bridge Books

I love the in-depth year long study but in reality it does not work well for testing. We have spent 1 year on Apologia books, and we have completed, Botany, Astronomy, Zoology 1, Zoology 2 . I must admit I add in a grade level text for a reader throughout the year only because they tend to cover more subjects at a topical level which works better for testing. We test with the IOWA ITBS yearly and so far my oldest 2 have tested above the 90% with what we do. I normally pick up a used science reader at grade level, BJU or Abeka is what I have used, this way they get the in-depth study of Apologia and a general overview. If you don't plan on testing than I personally would not worry about adding to Apologia. They ALL start covering science at a deeper level in 7th-8th anyways.

I have been very excited about finding theDianne Craft website. I have found so many wonderful tools to help my 5 yod. In 4 weeks of re-patterning exercises and vision exercises she is reading so well. I am so happy I found out about her so early in the game, good luck!

My dd plays Division 1 and she and her team mates enjoy playing in the rain. She actually loves getting muddy, I dress her in undearmor and let her play.

First I would check my sent folder, than history and I would ask for the original to be forwarded back to me. I would most definitely want to know is my kids did it. It would be unlikely I think, for it to be from outside. They would've had to get into your email account to get the address. It seems highly unlikely it a "hacker" got into your system he/she would do something so strange.....but I am sure stranger things have happened:001_smile: