My son has a great teacher. But overall, I cannot stand the public schools. I did let my 9 yr old go back, mostly because his brother has Aspergers and all day long, the two of them butt heads. Plus, the child with aspergers has some limitations that kept us from doing a lot of things that I would normally have done with my homeschoolers, meaning, when I homeschooled my older children. Well, the 9 yr old has a speech problem. It is a small one, but it is enough that the public school has him in speech therapy. When he was spelling a word today, in the spelling bee, he stuttered on a letter. But he did spell it correct and it was clear to me and the parents around me that he spelling it correct. I jumped up and filled out the appeal paper. The teachers debated it, and then went to the principal. Then they said that one letter was not clearly said, so he was out. OK..so...I watched a lot of children with thick accents say letters that did not sound at all like the letter. And they were not knocked out. My son was never asked to repeat himself. It seemed very clear to me that he spelling it correctly. Some of the parents around me said he was very clear. He does have a great teacher this year. But, sometimes, it just feels like enough is enough. I am thinking maybe at the end of this year, I should say this is enough. My son with Aspergers has come along enough that he has been able to participate in most things this year, so that is no longer a barrier. I had originally planned to let him stay in the public school through 5th grade, but, I am so tired of the way they act there. We have a lot less money than most people with this school (or perhaps we have just as much money, just way more children) and they know we home school and there had been remarks about that in the past. Am I just overreacting? I just got home from this and am just so upset they did this. For the most part, they have been fine. I am just so frustrated they did this. Edited to clarify: I need to clarify that this is not just about the spelling bee. First, there is no way at all that I will ever allow him to go to the middle school here. Second, it just feels like every time I turn around, there is some petty, jerk behavior like this. The academics are inferior there. That has always been an issue. The financial thing bothers me. But the frequent petty behaviors bother me. I think we are very lucky he has such a great teacher this year, and speech teacher. But beyond that, my opinion of the school over all, while better than what I think of more schools around here, just is not that high. And I know that while he has a great teacher this year, he could end up with a terrible one next year.

I would let her drop. Some of the top schools in the world for ballet will not even allow kids to start at this age. Ballet is a rather precise and repetitive activity. It can be very hard for a 6 yr old to stay focused on that. Look for a different activity with more movement. At that age, we did gymnastics, soccer, swimming, that sort of thing. Good luck!

I am not trying to be contrary, but how can you preplan this far in advance that she will not be ready for algebra until 10th grade? Plus, different people use different programs. Some programs, the algebra is equal to another programs preA. Other programs, you need to get through algebra 2 to have even a skeleton of what another program covers in algebra 1. So, it is not really a big deal. I am assuming she is not planning to go to college for engineering or math.

Would you give your child 100% say? What would you overrule if anything?

I would not consider 190's to be average. My daughter scored 182 in 10th grade and 216 in 11th grade.

Everyone here I know already got the PSAT results, of the home schoolers I mean. You should call PSAT and ask them about it. Press the number fr school counselor.

I learned early on to not do a reading curriculum. That is all I can help with here. For us, we do journal writing (story starters, this is not graded), and strong grammar program, spelling, and handwriting. I do not generally purchase something for everything. So far, I have always used BJU English for 3rd grade, Spelling Workout, and different handwriting programs depending on the child.

I am planning to use Horizon's prealgebra. I am not sure that it is the best or anything. But, it might be worth looking at for you. In the past, I have used Jacobs for algebra 1 and geometry and then Foersters for algebra 2 and precal.

I think the scholarships and such should be kept instate. I went to a state university where all scholarships went to out of state students "to bring in diversity." That drove me nuts! It was not a wealthy state. Many actual instate students could not afford to go as a result, or ended up with tons of student loans, while mediocre students from other states took all the funding. Now I live in a different state. I am unsure, but, UT Austin almost seems as if it admits out of state students who might not be able to get in if they had been instate. Not sure. Some people will post on college confidential that they got in from out of state, and I know people who are instate , with the same stats, did not get in. However, at least in UT Austin's case, I do not believe they are giving a bunch of grants and such to bring in the other of state students. So basically, I think the instate students should be a priority and all scholarship and grant funding should go to the instate students. The only reason to bring in out-of-state students should be to raise the stats and/or bring in more money from the higher tuition rates. I know that some other states will bring students in who are top students with instate tuition scholarships and such. I can see that, if the students really are way above the usual for the university and the university needs that boost.

You can watch Horrible Histories on it? I thought those were just in books! I am definitely behind the times! I do nothing home school related on the computers basically. Is that an app?

I should have clarified. I had mentioned it before and I guess I forget people probably don't remember this about us (as I don't really remember everything about everyone either). My 4 yr old is developmentally delayed and DX'd with Autism Spectrum Disorder. It is very very easy for someone with ASD to get pulled in to the computer world. To top it off, we have a child in public school, and the public schools issued ipads to all students this year. So it is not that we have been neglectful parents, but rather we have a mix of the public schools mandating the ipads and a 4 yr old with ASD. Last night, we put 4 yr old to bed. Then, a couple hours later, 9 yr old (the one in public school) tried to go to bed, but found 4 yr old sitting in his bed, playing on 9 yr olds ipad. He snuck out of his bed and got in to 9 yr old's bed and used his ipad for 2 hrs last night. We took it away, and had the usual screaming. 9 yr old is in trouble for leaving the ipad in his room (he shares a room with 4 yr old).

"Resistance" It is not along the Ticket to Ride game, but, it was also featured on Wil Wheaton's show. Check out his video of it. You might like it. Plus, I watch his show for ideas too. But "Resistance" and "Ticket to Ride" are two faves around here.

I wrote this post before and it got lost (lost internet connection when I tried to click on post). Short version...I ended up buying 2 ipad minis on a black Friday. I had not planned to give these at all. I have a 2 and a 4 yr old and the people from my birth club keeping talking about how much they love their ipad minis. And then it just happened that when I walked in the store, they still had them in stock. It will not work to give the ipads to the older one and not the younger one. The older is a delayed and the two do much together and much the same. It would lead to endless fighting and upset if I gave to one and not the other. I have considered giving myself one (I have no interest in one for myself) and then I can say it is mine, but they each can take a turn, that would work. But my big objection is that I would prefer if they spent more time playing with toys, art, etc. I already bought more toys. I also went to Hobby Lobby and selected a bunch of art supplies to add to our art closet. I feel like ever since the ipad we currently have (ipad 2) that the 4 yr old will not do anything but play with the ipad. I cannot even convince them to do art with me. On the other hand, having these available might be very nice for when we just need to get things done and are in public, it keeps them busy. Then again, back in the "olden days" we had puzzle books and such. My children refuse to look at my endless books I have for them! Suggestions? Keep them? Return them? Keep 1?

That is what "Reading Reflex" says.

Is there reporting in TN at 5 yrs old? I would not give any details to the principal if I did not have to.

The other thing about the Amish school is that the parents know the teacher. They know they can trust the teacher. I think all of us had some sort of mean, if not abusive teacher at some point. When my grandparents went to school, their parents grew up with the teacher, if not the grandparents. Now days, you know very little about who your child will have, IF they are qualified, how they handle the classroom, etc. We are in a completely different world from the Amish and from our grandparents 60-80 yrs ago.

I always felt that the parents should be involved in the kids lives, but, I do not like the way our schools here, always give assignments and such, where the parents have to do them. I call it "parent homework." It really sets a bad precedent. I have found our local schools to fail to teach children how to do much of anything. Independence seems discouraged. I do not recall ever bringing home assignments and informing my parents of the work they have to do for my class. In fact, that was one of the straws that broke the camels back that brought me back to home schooling (I took a couple years off). My son came home from school and told me he had to build a landscape with Legos. I told him that made no sense. I emailed the teacher to ask, and she told me to ask my son about it. There were no instructions. He just kept telling me he had to build this big landscape out of legos and take it to school. I said he was not taking Legos to school. Later, they had a special day at school where everyone brought blankets and pillows and sodas and watched a movie. My son was pulled from that as a punishment for not having done the landscape. I never did get any sort of instructions on how to do this project. I never got any instructions on this project. But this was clearly something that required a parents help and money spending. I had already been told that the very next year, there was a very expensive project coming up. Parents were spending no less than $30 a child, but many parents were spending over $100 per project. Parents were talking about taking time off work to do the projects, and staying up all night doing the homework. In kinder, when there were bi weekly assignments for the parents to do, and I asked about it and was told it was to encourage a parent child relationship. It used to be that the schools did not come in to our homes and tell us what to do with all our family time. And likewise, parents did not go to the school and try to do things there. But now, parents do a lot of things that teachers used to do, and parents are doing the home work too. The lines have really been blurred. And kids have been taught since day 1 that school is their parents responsibility.

My 9 yr old never is willing. My 19 yr old son still says it. My 17 yr old daughter always says it...

I came across this website the other day.... http://www.aspergerexperts.com/1our-videos/ As far as books go, never read anything by anyone who hasn't been there-done that. It is generally nonsense.

I wish they would go with the same score nation wide. Or at least much closer. We moved from a state with a low cut off (below 210) to a state with a high cut off (219 this past year) and our child scored a 216. We really needed that money. Then we hear from old friends whose children got 205 and such who are NMSF this year. And my DD has an old BF who is quite wealthy and attends a very expensive private school, whose parents have plenty of money for college, he travels a lot and such, and his score was lower than hers and he is NMSF now. All because of the state location game.

In his case, he is not making any effort. He knows his dad has been in charge a lot lately, so, he gets away with a lot. Realistically, I could sit down with him and get busy now with the work. As of Monday in 10 days from now, my schedule that has been so hectic has really freed up. (unless there is, yet again, another accident).

I definitely have not given him enough instruction. I gave him instructions. But, normally, I would sit down with him after he did the rough draft and gone over revisions together. Prior to writing the first draft, he was given examples, and wrote out a chart. In the case of this particular paper, we went with an outline instead of a chart so much. Don't worry, I can definitely see the humor in the paper, LOL.

He got to pick his own topic....this is supposed to be a persuasive paper... ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This is why I shouldn't have to write this essay. For one, I don't know how to write Introductions. These 3 reasons also contribute. 1st of all, I already did this essay in the form of "Why we should have dessert after dinner every night." Maybe that's why I am such a butterball. Another reason could be because of my next reason. Sehcunduval GIMME SOMETHING TO EAT!! <angry face> I'm pretty hungry and that's sure if helping me concetrate. SARCASM! Butt, apparently, that isn't as funny as whtever <lowercase brother name> (lowercase G'ed!) is cackling at. Third of all, <brother's name written correctly this time> is in the background. He is playing some youtube video and is laughing at it a ton. NOW you see why I don't wanna do this, this, THING! The red button, the "substantials" (I'm getting pretty thirsty too), and the background music. Whew! I absolutly refuse to write this paper! Wait...Wait a second....I just did this paper, didn't I!?! Rrrrrrr........ ___________________________________________________ Ok..that was the paper....spelling and punctuation and all. And it was done over 3 days, where we never starved him or kept him from drinking. I do not mind that he is writing about why he should not have to write the paper. But as you can see, there is a lot more wrong with the paper than the topic.

I can try to type one in..I don't know how to scan and post..so give me a minute....

Sorry, I made a nice reply and it got lost in internet-land. I had been using BJU English. But, at this point, in the past, I have switched to Write Shop. However, I am doing Apologia Jump In. However, he requested to go back to BJU, so I got that for 6th grade. Admittedly, I have not spent much time with him on it. My oldest was in a huge accident. My 2nd has been visiting colleges and applying. My middles have had tons of things going on (including multiple Nutcrackers) and my littlest one has been sick for the last couple weeks. My main concern though, is it more beneficial to sit down with him and spend the time working on the writing at this age, or to let him just sit and read? My oldest loved to read and was content to read tons, and he now is minoring in writing in college. My 2nd child hated to read, but we did a ton with writing. She still is not a good writer. It makes me wonder if, at this age, it is better to spend tons of time reading, or sitting down working on writing skills.