Is it too early? I tend to pass these February days by planning for next year. Anyone want to pencil in their plans or ideas? Here are my DRAFT plans: Latin: 4th Form Latin (MPOA) Math: Finish Geometry, Start Pre-Calculus (Derek Owens or AOPS) English: Lit and Composition for Underclassman (Integritas Academy) Science: Clover Valley Chemistry History: Some type of American History (Maybe MPOA?) Classical / Christian Studies: Classical Studies II (MPOA) (Roman year) Elective or Extracurricular: ??? Covid has really made this difficult. We were involved with debate, but I am worried that might be too much given his school schedule.

My advice? Do as much math as possible and make it a priority in your homeschool no matter what your student thinks they want to be when "they grow up". 🙂. Why? Well, let me ask you this: has your child ever changed their mind in the past? If so, there is a good chance they may change their mind in the future. Having a strong math background will give him options and choices. That is a good thing! He may be set on being a police officer or fire fighter NOW, but a lot can change in a few short years before graduation! And a lot can change throughout someone's life! I know many adults who have decided to go back to college, but have struggled to change careers because they have a poor math background. It wasn't impossible for them, but it was definitely another hurdle that made changing careers that much more difficult. Math is an essential core subject....just like writing or learning to read well. And, I think given our current job market, math is becoming even more important. So my advice is to do as much math as possible. To clarify, I am not suggesting that anyone push their child ruthlessly; I am suggesting that you encourage your child to keep working to the best of their ability and make as much progress as you can before graduation. I'm also not t going to make the argument that you NEED to study calculus, but getting ahead in math now frees up time to study any number of advanced math topics. He may decide to study statistics or advanced number theory or advanced probability or maybe even "counting" (which is used a lot in computer science.). that is just my 2 cents!

I've used it with two students so far, and both were well prepared for AOPS Pre-Algebra after 5B. The only area where there were a few weaknesses were multiplying and dividing with negative numbers. I had to teach that a bit more before pre-algabra.

I hope you will let us know how the class goes!

Just a bump! I am looking for any recent reviews of instructors or providers. Thanks so much!

The topic pretty much sums up my question. 🙂 If your student took an AP US History class that you LOVED, who was the teacher and where did you take it? If you could also tell me why you loved it, that would be helpful also.

Deleted: Double post

Hi Flatlander, Sorry for the late reply! Figuring out what to buy with Miller Levine is the hardest part. 🙂. I decided that I would rather spend my money on lab equipment, so I tried to save money when buying the textbook. For that reason, I purchased the textbook used and got the cheapest version that I could find. We are using the Miller-Levine MacCaw version 2017. I just got the student version, and I have not needed the teacher's edition. I found most of the solutions to the book online for free. (https://www.slader.com/textbook/9780133669510-biology/). I did not think that the lab manual looked all that great (personally). I did look at the 2019 and 2020 digital samples online and thought they looked REALLY cool. A lot has been happening in the world of Biology, so if you have the money (and can figure out how to order from that company! hahaha), you might want to go with one of those. I thought the updates were very interesting.

I put together my own plans this year using Miller-Levine Biology as a spine. We supplement with Ameoba Sisters (YouTube videos) and then we are using Experience Biology (Advanced) for labs, lectures, and weekly research projects. We also are taking this time to learn to write lab reports and are using the Lab Report book by the guy who wrote the Novare books. (My 7th and 8th grade kids are doing this.

I've used all three of those programs that you mention in your title. (And reading eggs....and 100 Lessons, and so many more!) Wtih my youngest child, we have been using Logic of English Foundations A-D and I like it MUCH better than everything else you have listed. It is SUPER fun, very easy to teach, and kids just get it! We pair it with the I See Sam Readers once he has learned enough of hte phonograms. (LOE recommends Bob books, but IMHO the I See Sam readers are so much better.)

Yeah, it is sort of like trying to describe why I like to own an actual book rather than a kindle e-book or something.

My husband is also fighting lymphoma! I am glad to hear about your happy ending and praying we get one too!

Hi Everyone, At this point in my life, I have about 15-16 years of digitals photos stored on a drive in my office. (All of our wedding photos, baby photos, etc..... Basically the history of our whole family. Really important stuff!). I haven't done anything with these photos because the process of going through them just seems so overwhelming and I've been really busy, of course, as a homeschool mama! The thing is...it gets even more overwhelming as each year passes and I collect more photos and memories. Recently my husband has been diagnosed iwth cancer, and he is really sick. Now that we are faced with so much uncertainty about our family, I feel like it is more important than ever to document the moments we have together as a family. So I am feeling determined to start somewhere and not be paralyzed with perfectionism. Whatever I can get done is going to be good enough and better than nothing. Right? SO--I have decided that I am simply going to start with 2020 and create a "year book" for each year going forward. Then, as I can, I will try to work upwards through the years catching up when I can. And if I never catch up, well at least the situation won't be getting WORSE! 🙂 I just need to decide if I am going to do quick phonebooks or a quick photo album. My husband says that he prefers the old fashioned photo albums with actual prints. I know what he means. I can't quite articulate "why", but those types of books do seem so much more special and important. Maybe we are just feeling sentimental remembering the old albums we looked as as a kid. So does anyone still do photo albums? And if so, what is your process? Do you have a photo print source you recommend? And what about an actual album?

Is this for a speech issue? Logic of English is a FANTASTIC program. I have three dyslexic children, and I have used just about every reading program out there. (Or, at least it feels that way sometimes.) And it is one of my favorite programs. It is so fun, so open-and-go, and my child just GETS it. But...is it worth purchasing "just for pronunciation help"? Probably not. It tries to prevent common language related issues as it teaches the basic phonograms (like letter reversal when wring, speech issues when speaking, etc.)....but its primary goal is to teach reading/writing/grammar....it is not a speech program IMHO.

For those of you who have done course descriptions for a Derek Owen's class, did you use what is provided on his website or change it? (Can you even change a course description for an online class? I am thinking that you can, but I want to check with some homeschoolers with more experience first. ) Here is the course description from his website: "This course will cover the topics normally covered in a second year course in high school algebra. This course is normally taken by students in grade ten or eleven, after Algebra 1 and Geometry and before Pre-calculus. Students should have completed Algebra 1 before enrolling in Algebra 2. A detailed course outline is shown below." Also, did you list the textbook that he based the class on?

We are huge Derek Owens fans here! You can work through them as quickly or slowly as you want. You can also start the courses whenever you want. (Mid year, summer, etc.). He grades homework and tests meticulously and quickly. And he is always available via email to answer any questions.

Hi Everyone, My 7th and 8th grade students are taking a high school level Biology class in middle school using the Miller-Levine Biology (macaw) textbook. I am also supplementing with an online class called "Experience Biology-Advanced", which is *supposed to be* a complete high school level online biology class. (I say "supposed to" because it is really light in my humble opinion. But it works as a nice supplement to the Miller-Levine textbook because it has some lectures/quizzes, research questions, and 24 labs with reports ). FYI...I will still have them take a science class each year of high school, so it isn't like they will need these science credits. They will either take DE/AP...or maybe some less common science electives of their choice like organic chemistry. I was told that I should include all high school level math/science/foreign language classes taken in middle school on their transcript. So if I include this, what exactly should I do this year to validate any grade I give them? They have no idea where they might want to go to college, so I need an option that will cover as many bases as possible.

Thank you so much! I didn't realize I started a double post. Next time I will do a better job searching the forum. 🙂 As always, thanks for your great ideas!

Is it too early to talk about advent? I am looking for some good ideas on how to help celebrate it this year. My children are ages 7, 12, and 14. In the past we would eat dinner then light the advent candles, read a chapter from one of the books from "Jotham's Journey" while the kids ate cookies around the candle light, and then we would do a Jesse tree ornament and read a chapter from the Jesus Storybook Bible. I know that kids typically like tradition, but yet they seemed to be bored by the readings last year. Does anyone have any other ideas for me this year?

Yes! Picture books are wonderful. I have noticed that if I even strew a few picture books on our coffee table, my 14 year old will still pick them up and read them. Especially if they look funny! He will stumble out of bed in the morning and pick one up and flip through and read it...to this day! Even as an adult, I enjoy a good picture book! Other easy books that kids tend to casually pick up are graphic novels, joke books, Guinness book of world records, "1000 amazing facts" type books, etc. One tip I have is to limit "easy entertainment" such as screens as much as you can*. (I don't care how good a book is...it is HARD for it to compete with screens for a child!). Then, put a bunch of easy books all around the house. I don't care if they are twaddle at first because my only goal is to get them to associate pleasant feelings with picking up a book. Lay them on surfaces next to chairs where they commonly sit, put them in the bathroom (seriously!), casually stack them on the kitchen/dining room table by their breakfast bowl like you are cleaning up, etc. etc. My trick is not to put any pressure on them picking up these books. Just make it an easy option that you subtly encourage them to do on their own. I also steer away from incentive charts for reading because I feel like that conveys that reading isn't something you would just DO for pleasure. I don't give them incentive charts for playing video games, right!? Well, reading shouldn't feel any different. That is the subtle message we are trying to teach...reading is something you can do for fun! Then, do what you can to set up their environment so it naturally happens by limiting other "easier" forms of entertainment and make books available. *how do I limit screens and "easier" entertainment: Well, it is not easy! We have a rule that you aren't even allowed to ASK for screens until after 5:30PM. If you ask before then, the answer is automatically no for the entire day. I made that rule and then stuck to my guns. I also emphasized that they are aloud to ask, but I may say yes or no. I may also offer them screens before 5:30PM, but they aren't allowed to ask. Hey, know that you are not alone with this technology creep into the bedroom! There is no shame there and you are definitely NOT alone! It is so easy to have this happen. And it is so hard to make changes here once technology does creep in! I feel you! Some ideas... 1) My son is on the spectrum...a bit of a 2E type kid, and I noticed that giving him knowledge with the intent to inform and educate is very helpful. For example, instead of saying: "You have to eat all of your vegetables!" I will pull up actual scientific studies and authoritative non-fiction articles on the subject and read to him about all of the benefits of eating vegetables. And studies on how the taste of certain foods takes a long time to develop. (Sometimes you have to try things on average 50 times before they taste good to you! That type of thing...) Then, I will explain something like, "Because I love you so much, I want you to live a very long and healthy life. That is why I will always put a serving of vegetables on your plate. I know that these foods may not taste good to you, but if you can try your hardest to get them down, it is REALLY good for you body." I feel like this acknledges that the act of eating vegetables is difficult, but it puts him in control to make good choices that benefit himself. You know? I do something similar with screens. Outside of bedtime and during the day, when we are not stressed or getting ready for bed, I would give a little "health lesson". I might pull up some studies on screen viewing before bedtime... and explain that even though we think watching videos makes us fall asleep, studies actually show that we get poorer quality of sleep. I would also read or give some informational text on the importance of sleep on brain development, mental health, happiness/mood and talk about how his brain was growing/forming/changing. I would also share some antidotal stories about times in my life when I had gotten in bad habits with screens and bed and how I was going to try to make some changes. THEN, I might explain that for that reason, we are all going to be limiting screens for 30 minutes before bedtime so we can get better sleep. I would acknowledge how difficult this change is going to feel at first and share how it was going to be hard for me too! And I would say something like... "to make it easier, I have all of these audiobooks from the library and these books. You can stay up as late as you want reading/listening as long as you stay in your bedroom unless you have to go to the bathroom. (Assuming that is ok with you. That is what our personal rule is. I know there is nothing else in their bedroom for them to really do too!)." (Note: I would totally put in any type of twaddle book that you think he might be drawn too! Make this reading easy and fun feeling!). I know every kid is different, but when I approach difficult changes like this, it seems to have gone better in my house. Maybe it will work for you too? My process for new hard change looks like this: I prepare them WAY ahead of time when we aren't stressed or getting ready for bed that way they have time to wrap their minds around the change;I inform them about WHY we are making the change giving them science/facts/logic; I acknowledge how hard the change might feel instead of being dismissive...and share that I was feeling that way too! etc. 2). Finally, maybe bedtime is too hard to change right now! Well, implement a quiet time each afternoon. Send them to a reading nook for 20 minutes per day. Let them read or listen to anything they like. Treat it like a special time they can earn or look forward to, and give the child lots of choice on what they read or listen to at first. If they are resistant to a 'quiet time', I would schedule it at the same time that I was cleaning around the house. I would let them know that they can either help you clean or have a quiet reading time (whichever they would prefer). 😉 Then I would stick to my guns...cleaning or reading/audiobooks. Again, every child is different, so I don't know if that would work for you. My kids know that they are expected to help around the house--so they would jump at the chance to sit around and read/listen to audiobooks. 3). Final idea-the tv suddenly breaks and you tell him you can't afford to fix it?? (Just kidding....half.) 😉

Who is good at freezing food? If so, could you give me some advice? I made some pork carnitas in the instant pot out of an 8lb pork shoulder. The roast was frozen solid, so I had to put the whole thing in my instant pot instead of using half the roast like I normally do. This means I have a ton of leftovers! Can I freeze these? If so, what would be the best way to reheat them? And will they REALLY taste as good as they do now?

I would just talk to your 8 year old. I have a 7 year old, and he is perfectly capable of understanding and respecting some time alone. I said something along the lines of this: "I am trying to exercise so I can be really healthy! It helps me get stronger so I can carry you and play with you and do all of the things we like to do together. BUT---sometimes I don't like to do it, and it is hard for me to get motivated! (Said in a lighthearted manner with a smile on my face.). I wake up early so I can get it done right away and not make any excuses. (Again, big smile!) So when I am working out, I want you to respect that time and not interrupt unless it is an emergency. OK? I can make you breakfast either before I start or afterwards at 7AM (or whatever time.). And if you need help on your math I can also help you at 7AM, but not during my workout. Do you understand?

I just pulled up a school "checklist" from when my oldest was 10 and this is what his day would look like. I bolded the parts where he was reading. It is not a lot! But a ton of audiobooks! 1) Chores/hygiene/breakfast 2) Play for 2 hours, read younger brother 3 picture books of his choice, and get a snack 3) Lessons with mama- (basically the 3 rs) (Math, ELTL, Phonics, Spelling). (There would be some reading practice with me built into this time.) 4) Lunch and Clean Up 5) Rest and Reading. He would listen to an audiobook for the literature portion of ELTL, read some extra history books or science books that I checked out of the library.....Or maybe even listen to a history book audiobook. Whenever given the option, I almost always chose the audiobook version of a book because his comprehension was so much higher. ("Rest and Reading" went on for about an hour every afternoon unless we had a field trip planned that day. ). 6) Song School Latin 7) Independent work (Shepherd Software for geography, typing lesson via website, xtra math, etc.) 8. Play, Dinner, Clean up Not on this list was free reading he would do before bed. (BTW...I joke that this is my secret guarantee to produce a reader. I would give them a pretty early bed time, and they could either choose to sleep or read. There were only stuffed animals in their room, so not much else to do. Even after a lot of resistance, they all chose to read.) ---- And here is a checklist from when my middle child was 10 for comparison. At about this point, we switched to a modified version the Memoria Press core. They contain pretty much the perfect amount of "school" each year IMHO. I get into trouble whenever I try to add too much to them. 😉 It looks like her day looked like this: 1) Breakfast/hygiene/chores 2) Lessons: Latin, Math, English Grammar, Composition (maybe a small fable reading or something in that lesson), Copywork/penmanship, and Spelling all before lunch! 3) Lunch and Literature and clean up (This must have been a Christmas week because we have some Christmas books scheduled! I probably read those aloud. Normally we worked through the MP lit selections and would buddy read about 2 chapters per week. The rest would be writing and reviewing.) 4) Christian studies / Classical Studies (we would "buddy read" one chapter from the Golden's Children's bible PER WEEK. And one story from Greek Myths per week. then review it the other days, etc. Not a lot!) 5) Science / Geography (one small reading from each every week doing buddy reading. Again, not a lot. Most of the work was writing and review.) 6) Audiobook or read aloud (we often did audiobooks so I could relax too). 7) Play / Dinner / Clean UP She also had a lot of free time to read before bed.

I haven't read a recent review on ANY of The Potter's School classes for a long time. If you have used them, could you please tell me your thoughts? What were the classes like in terms of workload? Was there much feedback from the instructor on student work? Do the teachers vary quite a bit in quality? Thanks!

The truth is that ease and time savings comes with a cost. It is like any other thing you deal with as a homeschooler and home maker. For example: I save a lot of money on my groceries by buying whole ingredients and cooking things from scratch. It takes more time and is more work. However, I may have the option to purchase ease and time savings by buying pre-cut up veggies, pre-baked bread, and packaged snacks if I have it in my budget and decide it is worth the cost. I can save a lot of money by giving everyone hair cuts myself...even the dog! OR--I could pay a professional to do that. I can save a lot of money by cleaning my own house. OR--I could pay a professional to do that. I can save a lot of money by painting my own walls. OR--I could pay a professional to do that. Those are just some examples. And, of course, there are various "shades" of all of those things. Maybe I usually cook everything from scratch, but one week I know I will be very busy (and to prevent myself from losing my mind 😄), I buy a bunch of "easy" food that week. Or maybe I usually cut everyone's hair myself, but before family picture day, I splurge and get a professional to cut their hair. Maybe I usually teach all classes myself, but I splurge and sign them up for a short class at a museum or something. What I am trying to say is that running a house (and a homeschool!) is a lot like running a business. How? Well, If you ever go to business school, you will spend a TON of time learning learning about when to outsource and when to do things "in-house." When you decide to sign up for an online class, you are essentially outsourcing that work to someone else. In order to decide if you should outsource, you have to ask yourself a lot of questions. Here are just a few: 1). Do I even have the money to outsource? For many people, they just don't have the budget to even consider online classes (or hiring a cleaning person, or buying pre-cut up veggies, or hiring a painter, etc.). They either do it themselves or it isn't happening at all! If you look at your budget and determine that there is NO way to afford online classes (even with other cost saving measures), that pretty much answers the question. Empowering Encouragement- Remember, you are not totally limited by your current circumstances. For example, you could decide to increase your income to pay for other services that would make your life easier. (Basically, Shifting work around.). You could decide to reduce costs in areas of your life in order to shift funds to another area. (Shifting funds around.). I had to do a combination of both. In order to pay for classes, I cut down our expenses to next to NOTHING. I also took on a "side hustle" to bring in some extra income. I test websites from home. I (personally) decided that testing websites online was easier than teaching upper levels of Latin and writing. 🙂 I know another mom who got a "side hustle" cleaning houses (and organizing) so that she could afford online classes for her child. She decided that cleaning houses was something she enjoyed (and was easier) than teaching high school chemistry. Is it easy to get a second job or cut expenses. CERTAINLY NOT. I will always be honest with you. But it is possible. 2). Do I have the skill and ability to do it in-house? Another thing that limits your options is your skill level and available resources. For some people, baking homemade bread isn't even an option because they don't have the skill to do it. If they want bread they either a) have to LEARN to do it in-house, or b) pay someone to do it (outsource.). Same thing goes with online classes. Do you have the skill to teach calculus currently? Well, then you either have to a) LEARN to teach high school calculus at home or b) pay someone else to do it. Empowering Encouragement- Remember, you can learn NEW skills as a mother. It is VERY possible to teach high school level classes at home by yourself. (Or teach yourself to cut hair, or teach yourself to bake bread...or any of those other examples listed above.). Don't limit yourself by saying you aren't "good at math" or "smart enough" or "well educated enough". Find the resources you need so that you can be successful. Will it be easy? CERTAINLY NOT. Again, I won't lie to you. Homeschooling isn't always easy, as you probably already know. It isn't easy to homeschool high school chemistry, or teach calculus, or teach writing. But it can be done...and LOTS of people have done is successfully. We can do hard things! 3) What will the trade-offs be? There are tradeoffs to any area in life. You have 5 others that need your time and attention, right? If you decide to shift your attention to your oldest (because high school classes DO take more time IMHO), what will the cost or sacrifice be? What won't get accomplished if you make this choice in your home and with your other children? Get some paper and actually write that out. Think creatively and see if any solutions jump out at you. Maybe you could enlist the help of siblings or a spouse. On the other hand, if you outsource it, what will be the sacrifice? For example, I really miss the time I was able to spend with my teenagers that is now dedicated to online classes. Also, some classes I feel like aren't taught as well as when I outsource them. I spent YEARS feeling guilty like I wasn't doing a good enough job, then I outsourced things to Memoria Press Online, and realized that my own "not-goood-enough-job" was way better than the "professionals" job in many regards. (They don't conduct Latin recitation 5 days per week. And the test became "computer graded select from a drop down list" vs. write out the answer.) On the other hand, they often make the subject more fun than I would. I just didn't have the energy to play a review game or always have a passionate discussion about the Iliad or history of the Greek People. 🙂. Those are JUST some of the things to consider when looking at online classes.