Hi, we are planning to do Astronomy for 9th as well. It was recommended to me to use Apologia's Astronomy along with Signs & Seasons by Classical Astronomy to beef it up for high school. But I've also been considering Intro to Astronomy by Jason Lisle. For history, we are doing World Geography using Around the World in 180 Days along with various literature selections from Give Your Child the World.

Hi! We are in Pender County :). We just moved here from Wilmington, lol.

I have the same problem with my 6 yo son. My 12 yo dd's actually helped me when it came to handwriting. One day, I walked away because he was refusing, complaining, and dawdling and while I was gone the girls told him to surprise me when I got back by having it all done neatly...that did the trick! It's a big deal to him now to "surprise" me with his handwriting. I don't know if you have older children, but maybe you could tell her your going to check on the younger one and for her to surprise you when you get back? Just a thought, I hope it gets better for you :)!

I feel your pain! I have 12 year old twin girls who constantly bicker too. They have to share most of their textbooks and it's usually, "MOOOOMMMMM! She has the book where it can't see it!!" Most of the time I wait and see if they work it out themselves, I'm pretty good at tuning it out, but sometimes I move the book to a neutral position and tell them they can't each have the book right in front of them. The biggest thing that has worked is when they say, " I'm never talking to her again!", I'll say "okay, stick to it :)." Because, inevitably they will want to talk at some point and won't be able to...

Haha, I don't know how to do emoticons, but that really made me laugh...I can see mine doing that at some point and I would probably have to walk away to compose myself :).

Thank you for all your responses! I'm grateful that this board allows me to see opinions that are different than my own. We are all parents trying to do what is best for our children :). Yesterday, I went to the library and checked out a ton of early readers and that is what we will look at today... This morning ds and I discussed what he doesn't like about Phonics Pathways and his response was, "Reading just isn't my thing." I asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up that won't involve reading and his response was a builder, fire fighter, or policeman...Needless to say, we have discussed why each of those professions (not to mention everyday life) require reading :). We spent some time looking at samples of other reading programs and he is of the opinion that CLE or Plaid Phonics would be "way more awesome" than PP. So, we will give one of them a try...that's the beauty of homeschooling. We will have more of these situations, I'm sure, and there will be consequences. But today is a new day and if all goes well the xbox will be plugged back in.

For what it's worth...he came to me before bed, gave me a kiss and told me he's ready to do his work in the morning :), pray for me!

Not to this extreme...usually when this happens he rolls his eyes and mumbles in the beginning but gets over it and moves on. Usually, a trick of moving his "behavior smiley", something they did in kindergarten, from blue to green works like a charm. But, I think that has gotten old :).

If this punishment doesn't straighten things out, weekend school is a good idea, thank you! I don't think its vision, but it can't hurt to have it checked. I will also talk to him tomorrow about the food, dishes, and laundry etc...that may get through to him. The thing that gets me is that he's a little charmer like my dad. He knew I was upset about it and spent the afternoon doing every inside joke we have together trying to butter me up - he's such a little stinker! And the topper was when he announced he was ready it was "Moooom, guess what I'm ready to do" in his sing songs voice, grr. :)

I can definitely relate! He did the first half of kindergarten in public school and keeps saying that he wants to go back...it was not a good school, at all, which is why I took him out. I know this is a phase where he's trying to see what he can get away with, but it's sooo frustrating!

No, I didn't do it when he was ready...yes, I was busy with dinner and had a meeting to go to, but honestly I don't think I'd have done it with him anyway. Yes, it is a power struggle and I believe he has to realize that I am the boss - not him. If I had done it with him when he was ready wouldn't I be setting myself up for him to do the same thing day after day? I have to stick to a schedule or chaos will ensue and nothing will get done. I'm just looking for options, in case losing his xbox isn't that important.

Today my six year old son refused to do his work. No tantrum, no back talk...just stubbornly stared straight ahead ignoring me and his reading!! It disrupted the entire day. My girls were distracted from their math test trying to urge him to do the reading. We are using Phonics Pathways, he doesn't really like it, but in my opinion that's no excuse! So...I took away his xbox and told him if he wanted to stare at the wall that was fine but all fun stuff for the day was off limits. Around 5:00 (when he's usually allowed to play Minecraft), he came to me and said he was ready to do his reading. We didn't do it and he still has no Xbox...have any of you run into this kind of thing? How do you handle it? I am searching for another reading program, but how do you handle this type of stubbornness?

We are doing Singapore and Miquon with him right now...I am definitely going to look further into MM before we get too far because I'd really like to find something we LIKE and stick with it :).

Lol, thank you so much for your post Calming Tea, especially the last sentence :). This is only our second year homeschooling so I still have the "I don't want to screw this up" mentality. I looked at Dochiani last year, and I think it's the same book I used in the 80's for pre-algebra! You are so right about the word problems...I think that's my main concern with Saxon. I went with it last year because coming out of public school my girls didn't really have a good grasp of math facts and even though 7/6 was review for them and easy ( according to them) I thought it was the best choice at the time, because I really didn't have a clue... I don't dislike Saxon, but I don't want to cheat them either. I will look at MM again - I looked at it for my son who is in 1st grade. And, if 8/7's lessons are longer than 7/6...they may tie me up and throw me in a closet...sigh Thank you for the input!

Hi everyone, My DD's are finishing up Saxon 7/6 (we started homeschooling last October). We had them tested in May with the Woodcock-Johnson and they did very well in math scoring advanced to very advanced in the math sections. They don't particularly like Saxon, so I'd like to explore other options. I had planned to do Saxon 8/7 next with the DIVE CD's but I'd like to hear others input. I looked at AoPS Pre-Algebra and like that it has videos to go along with it, does it review much or could I supplement something to review? Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks!

Thank you so much! I will definitely look into Caesar's English and all the other suggestions :). I have a copy of The Well Trained Mind from the library, but, I think I will get my own copy!

Hey! I would really love some input from seasoned homeschool moms!! We pulled our 11yo daughters from public school last October, they are in sixth grade. My questions are in regard to curriculum choices for next year, mostly science, math, grammar, and writing. Right now, they are doing Saxon 6/7, Apologia Anatomy, Story of the World, and a sort of hodge podge for grammar and writing. I'll say up front that I would like to be as economical as possible without sacrificing quality. Here are my questions: 1. They are tolerating Saxon math but don't really like it...they are doing well though (all tests have been above 90 percent, and when they do get one wrong it's mostly because of a careless mistake). Any recommendations on what to do next, I'm not sure I want to continue with Saxon? 2. I had planned to do Apologia General Science for 7th grade but I'm not sold on that either. They really like science so I'd like something that will keep them interested. 3. Language Arts is my biggest concern...I'm fairly sure that they were not taught spelling phonetically and I would like them to learn those rules without buying something written for a second grader :). For grammar we have been working through The Language Mechanic, but I would like something meatier for 7th grade, I bought everything on the fly when we took them out of school. I have a copy of The Magic Lens Vol. 1 that I picked up used, I tried to start it with them but it seemed to go over their heads (or mine, I was having trouble teaching it to them). I also purchased a Spectrum Writing workbook for this year, but again would like recommendations. In ps, they were just beginning to "write" and I'd like to get something that will be good for them but not overwhelm. I download a sample to WWS to try on them but they didn't really seem to get it :/. Also, I also have a 5 year old son who I pulled out of Kindergarten after Christmas Break. We are doing Phonics Pathways, lapbooks on various subjects and math worksheets I make up or get online. I'd really appreciate some suggestions on solid math curriculums. He really seems to have an aptitude for math and I'd like to nurture that. Oh, and I have the girls registered for the Woodcock-Johnson later this month...am I correct in assuming that will give me some insight on their strengths and weaknesses? Thank you in advance, I really love reading the posts in this forum!