Saxon is not proof based. Itius procedural in that it builds incrimemtally, but it does not create a situation where you are examining the fundamental mathematical principles which construct mathematical systems. It teaches you to do a lot of process inside and out. It teaches you to use those processes together for various results. It does not teach you that negative numbers are the opposite form of positive numbers so that the numberline and thus the infinity scales are balanced so that all numbers can have an identity property, fractional exponents and negative exponets work, reciprocals exist, ect. It teaches you that dividing is the same as multiplying by the reciprocal, but it does not take that apart to the point that you understand how all the operations are essentially functions on adding, all based back to that same balanced numberline and that is the reason you flip the fraction when you divide fractions. Do most people need that? Probably not. Does a math geek enjoy the beauty and simplicity of mathematics when it is explained like this? You bet. Does that same individual love math because to them it is a creative art? Yep. Saxon does not teach creative mathematical thinking. It teaches you to know process. It is not bad. That statement is not judgmental. It just is. Neither way of working with numbers is a bad thing. IEW is a very formulatic writing program. Brave Writer is the opposite. Both a very good curriculums. They just serve different students. Same deal with Saxon.

My son had terrible test anxiety (nose bleeds, throwing up, tried to run away from home). We would have completely removed tests, but he wants to go Ivy League. High stakes testing is in his future and a lot of it. So we canceled the chater school that made him test and we started doing five test questions a day, every day. Then we would sit diwn and talk through them. It took MONTHS. Now he not thrilled about tests, but does not have complete meltdowns. If your child does not HAVE to test, I would not have him do it. It is very much a skill, but your child is also in third grade. There are many ways to prepare him for testing that do not require him to feel overwhelming anxiety or develop bad habits.

My son requested ACDC at an open air concert the city puts on every year in the summer. Most of the kids did not know who he was talking about, but the band thought it was fabulous. He played some air guitar and a rather dramatic drum solo. My parenting responsibilities are complete!

A bit ago we were free styling history with the Crash Courses. My son had to look up three things mentioned in the video over the course of the week. They could just be fun things he saw, or something he did not understand, or even a pop culture reference. For each one he had to tell me 1) general summary 2) how it connected to the topic of the video 3) how it connected to his life. We did one or two videos a week, combined it with Art History and literature, and talked a bunch about it. It was fun.

The biggest jump for me when I started attending CalTech in the summers was how seemingly tiny everyone's proofs were. They were elegant and mine felt so clunky! I was just inexperienced and self taught. Within very little time, I started seeing the numbers flow differently. It was a good experience and I gained so much. I am really glad that I developed my own way of seeing things first (it has helped with teaching and it helped with creativity), but the humbling experience of seeing what formally instructed students could do made me understand there was another world.

I am this way in middle school. Somehow it all matters now and I am getting weird :) I made a list of what I thought my son should be able to do. Then I paced it out over the ten months of the year. That made it feel more manageable. Going to the library and getting every homeschool methodology book I could find also smoothed this out. I found a style that I thought fit us (Charolette Mason, Classical, unschooling, Waldorf, whatever). Each style usually has some guidelines to help. These sorts of parameters made me feel much better. I had benchmarks and when we met them, I could feel success. The first year is always hard. K or 10th or 3rd or whatever, it is always very difficult and everyone is sure they are failing. There is no script. You stumble your way to it. By year two, you have a bit more gained. By year three, you are going along.

Lol. When I first read the title of this thread I thought, "Even if it is non-toxic, why would anyone try to eat such a thing?!" Perhaps I should not have skipped dinner....

We just Interlibrary loan what our library does not have. Often, the books have a passcode for online materials inside them. It allows you to not spend anything, study well, and eliminate so much of the ridiculous game this industry has become.

Once you finish the Singapore you have, just let him go at Alcumus. He will be stuck a lot. Help him here and there. If it is horrific, switch to having him try Khan Academy for a bit. Letting the information stew awhile is not a bad thing. Often, it really helps to solidify processes and concepts in the long run. ETA: He is 8. There is no transcript you have to uphold. You won't break him if he takes a couple months of doing less intensive math. I promise. :)

We have a friend who is called "doggie hospice" by the human society. She takes in up to five dogs at a time. I cannot even imagine doing such with children! The puppies rip my guts out, but kids?!?! I am glad such individuals exist.

There is A LOT more to them. It is too bad they do not use them with the resource selections. It allows students to begin learning research skills, narration, summarizing, and provides a large woven story to history. The cards are just the spine.

We use the VP History and Bible cards and love them. No worksheets or quizzes here. There are resources listed on each card so you do a whole week per card with readings and stories. The card provides a condensed blurb for the student to memorize along with the date. You do one card a week. The beginning of each day you recite the previous weeks cards and discuss how they lnk to this weeks card. It was great. By having physical cards, I could pull out say ten randomly and have Ds put them in order. Ds has a really great timeline of history to now base larger studies off of. Ds liked the self paced history. It has games, video, and exercises. However, I wanted more writing and lecture in our history. We switched to The Great Courses around late 4th grade.

Is there a specific reason you chose VanDiver or another different course?

I do not understand why you would accellerate him. Is there a benefit? I am all for accelleration if there is a direct benefit. However, in PS there rarely is. The system is designed to go one way and when you start shifting about, it makes things overly complicated very quickly.

The Absolutely True Diary is also rather brutal at points. A pet dog gets shot because they cannot feed it. Like, hardcore. There is nothing fun or light. To stack it next to The Princess Bride seems awkward. It is fantastic, but brutal. I am Native though, so it might just be how close it is emotionally to my heritage.

There is a thread about PA homeschoolers classes. Not specifically bio, more just any/all classes. Bio was discussed, though. I am on my iPad, but I will try to find it. ETA: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/629913-who-did-not-like-pah-ap-chem-ap-macro-andor-ap-eng-lang-and-other-pah-courses/ This thread seemed to be a more open discussion than merely rave reviews.

We painted all of the walls a crisp, warm white. Then stained all the wood the same color (major pain in the rear! But worth it). That helped significantly. Natural light helps too, but doesn't it always. The unifying color means the space seems much more open and your eye travels. When the room was a pale green, it just didn't work. We went full Ikea and the white works so much better.

I sell used athletic and outdoor clothing on ebay. We live in a super outdoorsy area. I go to thrift stores, purchase gear, then mend and flip it. For the most part, it is a pretty sweet gig. Ebay can be a bit of a frustration sometimes due to the nature of those chosing to purchase. In any kind of retail you cannot make everyone happy. It does seem that some individuals are out to get something for nothing. That is hard for me to not call them on.

Ds does not necessarily get a ton out of the book choices. It has just plugged him to a fun group. They tend to be the kids who volunteer. They have planned an anti-Valentines party. There was an Improv Night that he helped set up because someone just had a fun idea. The book club just got him out of the house to regularly see the same kids.

We did not have good experiences with Thinkwell. Originally, I thought the video component would be engaging. However, it felt much more as though the student was supposed to link the infirmation from the various videos in a specific way, which was not explicit anywhere. There were very few exercises, no practice problems, and a general inability to ask questions. It made the course toggle between direct regurgitation and fuzzy complex understanding. I do not know if that helps.

Does your library have a teen book club? This has been the greatest source of quirky, like-minded people for Ds. The are all off beat nerds, even the adults who supervise!

If it is not costing you extra, go for it! It could match well with Wheelock. You would have to use Wheelock out of order, but just pull the exercises and the vocab from the chapter. You can also get the Visual Latin worksheets offline for free. It is no where near the entire program, but it would be written work to go through for extra practice. Ds really liked their worksheets because they were clean, no fuss, and had nicely spaced out writing. Many have had success with Visual Latin, but then you would need another program.

I am vicariously basking in you swelter. It has finally broken freezing here (about 40F) during the day, but for the last six to eight weeks we were in the singles to the twenties. There is still three feet of snow on the ground frozen into a rock sold mass. Sweaty weather sounds delicious! Though I am sure after an hour or so, I'd be good :)

Khan Academy does both math and grammar. I have found it ideal for what you are describing. I have a PreCalculus test which I have to pass in order to get into my degree program. I started in Algebra basics finished the section in a week. Now I am almost through Algebra (another week). If I keep this pace, I will be ready for the test in less than a month. When I miss a problem, it provides hints. These usually job my memory and after a few rounds of failing and hint looking, it clicks. There are a few sections that I just plain do not remember learning. For these I watch the videos. Plus, it is free and keeps track of your progress.

If you think there will be DHS, social services, or police involved in any way, I would go with public online. It completely removes any bias or question about "homeschooling." You have him in a public school and he has to answer to someone other than you. Online public ed can come into question during divorce cases, but it can really be helpful in situations where power struggles develop between student and parent/teacher/authority.