Wow, congratulations! I'm in the early stages of my de-fatting journey (don't want to post how awful much I have to lose), and this is a really helpful thread. LOl on the brussel sprouts because I could eat 'em roasted (with parmesean cheee!) all the live long day. I'm impressed and hope I can be you one day!

I'd be finding a new doctor who could either 1) solve the issue, or 2) help you to get these as excused notes. Get a new doctor and explain the problem and see if he can write her an excusal note for these issues, to be used as they crop up. You may have to also get 504 plan in place with the school though (I am not sure if that is the right plan, but I also think you have to put this plan in place with the school).

I like the rock and mineral kits, and the weather station, from Home Science Training Tools. You can get several weeks' worth of mileage out of each of those kits with the experiments/activities that are suggested. I also like the video "How The Earth Was Made" (History Channel) for lessons on plate tectonics and related Earth Science stuff.

I think I would try to find out why, in a gentle, non-threatening way. Perhaps the child felt pressured to pursue one major over another, or even college itself over some other preference; or perhaps they feel scared; or perhaps they just feel a bit depressed at leaving a comfortable high school experience. If college is still desired, but it's the major that is causing the pause, then going to college for the first year with an undeclared major is no shame; it can help someone schuss out what they enjoy and what they want to do with their life. So I would probably suggest that, assuming college is still appealing and it's the major that is up for question. Another option would be a well-planned out gap year (not to mean sitting on the backside listening to the iPod). Either way, I would keep digging, and doing it without desperation, threats, anger, or poorly-veiled disappointment. Some kids hear their own inner voices with great clarity, and they discover things about themselves that it would take others until middle age to discover. If you've got one of those, you and the student are lucky to have discovered the discrepancy now, rather than later.

The book "the Latin-Centered Curriculum" gives a great overview (right along with schedules and literature suggestions) for implementing a Latin-Centered curriculum. It also has an entire chapter on how to "jump into the curriculum in the middle". I don't have a child at that level yet, but I am currently reading the book and it's a quick read and very helpful.

We did find an apprenticeship for her on the eastern shore of Virginia on an organic farm, but we have to wait until she is 16. After looking around, I was surprised at how many apprenticeships there are out there!

See, I still think that an advanced degree in the discipline and additional, targeted training is best for teaching all children, evn those with different learning styles. I have a graduate degree in a STEM field and teach at a local college and I run into students at that level who need variable teaching strategies because their learning style is a bit different. But again, this can be taught in a few targeted courses, particularly within special education. It still makes more sense to me to know your discipline inside and out and spend a semester on targeted courses such as lesson planning, variable learning styles and special education.

I do agree with this wholeheartedly. If a person has spent his 4 (or 6, or 8) years of higher ed not learning the discipline in which he will teach, then he isn't an expert in it. I do see the value of such things as composing effective lesson plans, as a previous poster mentioned. But it would seem that that specific talent could be learned with a few well-constructed teaching courses, rather than 4 years of learning herd management. OTOH, 4 years spent getting a teaching degree is 4 years not spent learning the discipline.

Have you considered Writing With Skill I or Write Shop I, alongside a creative writing program (if that's what your daughter would like)? They would both teach the skills you are looking for and are solid programs.

Not everyone hates Saxon, but the ones that do hate it *really* hate it. We love Saxon here. Take stock of your child's style; she may like it.

This is why we ultimately pulled DD out of public schools, and will be pulling DS in the near future. The reason for the bolded is because educrats insist on equal outcomes for everyone, even if that means dragging down the bright and talented in the process. Can't have some people further ahead than others, you know.

This could be my post. Except here, we can't even elect a school board -they are appointed.

The question of teacher tenure used to bother me and I used to go back and forth on it. But after seeing the public schools in action for years (my son is in 3rd grade and my currently-homeschooled daughter went through 5th grade in public school), I've come to the conclusion that teachers aren't the problem; I do think our society, the testing culture, and what we have set up as expectations for our schools are the problem. I don't think getting rid of teacher tenure would improve things much. I also don't think certified teachers are necessarily a plus and I would be OK with non-certified teachers for my kids, as long as they could teach. Several years ago, I went through a year of teacher certification courses at the graduate level; I felt then, and still feel, that they are pretty worthless classes. In fact, I am one of those people who think teacher certification programs are just ways to teach herd management and inculcate social values to teachers with the intent that those values be passed on to students. But maybe it was just my school's teacher training. I am torn both ways on the issue of privatization of schools; I can see both harm and good in that. I do think there is a certain segment of the population that is using the current problems of the public school to get a foot in the door and make money, but I am not sure that is a bad thing or not. We already have "McSchools", thanks to the testing culture. I'm not sure privatization would make things bad, and it might make things better, especially if parents had choice in which schools their kids attended. I do also think that homeschooling and attending private school is privatization and I am OK with that, and even vouchers, as long as parents could chose the school. I used to think that the only way to change schools was to get involved and change them from the inside. But after trying to do so for many years at the local level, I decide to homeschooled because I was not willing to sacrifice my kids for that ideal, an ideal that I don't think will ever come about, and will certainly not come about in my kids' school lifetimes. In fact, I've come to think that the fastest way to get attention and change things is for middle class and well-off parents to walk away from public schools. The public schools around here always say they want to keep middle class families, and if they see them walk and listen to the reasons they are walking, it will probably promote change a lot faster (unless they are BSing on wanting to keep middle class families, in which case, we are better off gone anyway). At any rate, I *am* selfish about the opportunities my kids have, and I am wholly unapologetic about it. If everyone paid attention to their kids' educations the way I do, we wouldn't have troubled schools and wouldn't need to have this discussion.

It has been my daughter's lifelong dream to be a farmer, from the time she was 3 until now (almost 12). So we are getting her the experience she needs to make it happen, as best we know how. We have land for her that my grandmother farmed mid-19th century, but other than that, the skills will be from scratch, like you mentioned above. What advice would you give my daughter who wants to farm? What experience would give her the most bang for her buck?

Some people spend their lives looking for a reason to be offended.

We used this this year and my daughter loved it. It was a good overall introduction to world geography for a kid that knew little about world geography. It's one of those curricula where you make it as laid back or as rigorous as you would like. So, another vote for Trail Guide here!

I'm interested in the same questions you are. DD and I tried the WTM recs for The Critical Thinking Books this year and we had to quit. They were so dull we both wanted to stick an ice pick through our temples to end the misery We finally abandoned it in October. You know that scene in Gone With The Wond when Scarlett O'Hara is on her knees on the ground saying "I'll never go hungry again"? Well, Chloe and I were on our knees saying "We'll never use the Critical Thinking Books again". So we've got to find some alternative to those books. I've got Art of Argument to try next year in 7th grade, but she is wary because of the Critical Thinking experience this year, and so either way, I'm delaying Logic.

Maybe I don't understand the Lexile level thing. I put in The Grapes of Wrath and it came up at a 4.9 grade level, which seems a bit young. I am not clear how lexile level relates to grade level. To give you some idea, my son reads Maximum Ride, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and The Red Pyramid series easily. I don't know what lexile levels they are, but it would seem well above 3rd grade. Maybe it's the writing style in BSBT.

Most of the literature is easy for him and at various grade levels, too. So, MP 6th grade Anne of Green Gables and The Bronze Bow, 4th grade Farmer Boy. He can handle Little Men and Narnia and The Sword In The Stone. But others - aye, yi, yi! Others just seem out of reach for almost any 4th grader. Maybe they are meant to be read alouds, though.

All right, maybe I'm confused about reading it then. Maybe it is intended to be done as a read aloud?

My son will be homeschooled next year, and I am planning to make our homeschool a literature rich environment, with classic literature and good books. He is currently in 3rd grade in public school and one of the top readers in his class (however they measure that; but either way, he has no trouble reading and comprehending his assignments and books for leisure). Here's my issue: Some of the WTM book recommendations for 4th grade (and even Memoria Press' book recommendations) are a bit advanced for my son and I am wondering if I am misunderstanding what I need to do here. I assumed the book recommendations were for independent reading, but are they intended as read alouds instead? I ask because some recommendations, such as Aladdin or Black Ships Against Troy (Sutclifffe version), he wouldn't be unable to read or comprehend on his own. I read Black Ships Against Troy to him last year and he thoroughly enjoyed it, but I think he would be lost on his own. Maybe I need to step down my expectations, but to what? I considered for a bit that maybe he isn't as good a reader as I thought and that I need to step way down in reading level, but he reads with similar fluency and comprehension as my daughter did at that age, and she has no trouble comprehending books the WTM recommends. Any ideas on what is going on here?

One other thing I hadn't thought of - have you approached those other private schools that aren't taking applications and asked if there are any last-minute openings and explain your situation? They may be able to offer something that will help; you just never know until you ask.

This is our first year homeschooling and our first year with Latin and I am learning right along with my daughter. It's working out very well and we actually have fun doing it together! This year is was Latina Christiana from Memoria Press, and next year it will be the Form series. So consider that learning along with your child will make the whole process a lot more fun. Memoria Press is Ecclesiastical Latin; they have top-notch video teaching and excellent customer support, as well as teaching the Latin from a grammar first POV (which has made this the easiest language to understand that I have ever attempted).

Like the others said, I think that depends upon the details of the situation (such as how much hands-on, intensive, take-me-away-from-the-7-year-old are we talking about, can you hire a mom's helper or tutor or other type of help). I think I would *try* to homeschool, but with a adjustments, such as foregoing anything too intensive for at least the first year, making independent reading of quality literature the centerpiece of school, hiring out a tutor for time-intensive subjects, and so on.

I'm really not trying to be insensitive or rude, but we (collectively, in this country) have been inundated with charges of racism, sexism, ageism, and every other -ism for every real or perceived slight that I am to the point that I just don't care anymore. What do they call it when you don't want to donate to worthy causes anymore, donor fatigue? Similar to that. Government-sponsored racism and most -isms are a thing of the past in the United States, but every time I turn around, someone is offended over some real or perceived small slight. I'm sure I have been discriminated against in the past for a few reasons I can think of, but I put on my big-girl panties and move on. I think the constant complaining about being offended is actually one of the factors that has led to such truly hateful things we have seen in the news lately - people are just fed up with being told that a perfectly innocent turn of phrase means they're _______ist. I think that is why I refuse to comment on any -isms in the books I read to my kids; they'll be beaten over the head with it soon enough by everyone else, and I'm not adding to it.