Market Research Well, I just stopped people in a shopping mall and asked them to participate in surveys, to watch videos/commercials and answer questions, to do taste tests, or to take products home and report back by phone. It was so interesting and a lot of fun.

I use IEW solely for writing (we've done SWI-B, and we're in the middle of the Cont. Course B). For grammar, we've used FLL and are now using Hake (without the writing portion).

Good advice! :coolgleamA:

Thanks again!

Lori, your entire post was super helpful! Thank you.

I never knew to think of credit hours per year in terms of hours spent working per day. This helps tremendously, thank you!

Thank you Julie. :)

Thank you, I'm going to keep it to no more than 7 credits.

Thank you. Do you think reading and writing (short summaries or 1 page essays - nothing major) about Great Books would be included in 1 English credit? That's in addition to a separate writing curric, grammar, a short speech boot camp, and poetry study? I was originally going to count Ancient Lit. separately but now I plan to award 1 English credit regardless of how many aspects it includes.

Thank you regentrude!

DD is "not sure yet" if she will stay home for high school. I have a feeling she will and I'd like to plan ahead. Any comments or advice are very much appreciated! :) I actually have 4 questions: 1. As I understand it, if a proficient student breezes through an Algebra 1 text in, say, 85 hours, and a less proficient student takes 225 hours to get through the same material, both get 1 credit for math. Is this correct? 2. What about more subjective subjects like photography? DD spends at least 120 hours (I assume 120 hrs is the standard amount considered 1 credit??) per year on photography. It's her hobby and takes most of her free time. If I add a photography class or video series, she will be well over 1 credit (like in the math example) but I still award one credit for Art or an Elective, right? 3. It seems like it doesn't matter if one goes over a certain amount of hours per credit, as long as the minimum is met. Is this accurate? I ask because if I want to include everything for next year, it seems to be about 8-9 credits. This may be way too much, or I may be counting it incorrectly... I don't know. 4. Is this too much for 9th grade? Saxon Algebra 1 - 1 credit Thinkwell Biology - 1 credit SWB's Ancient History - 1 credit Ancient Literature/Great Books - 1 credit French (haven't decided on curric) - 1 credit Writing (maybe WWS1 plus IEW's Elegant Essay) - 1 credit Photography - 1 credit P.E. - 1/2 credit Music/Guitar - 1/2 credit Speech ?? Grammar ?? should these two be incorporated into Language Arts/English? Should I try to stick to 6 or 7 credits per year either by eliminating or combining subjects? Thank you!! :)

I open the kitchen window (which is at a 90 degree angle to the front door) and let Hound do all the talking. :lol: It's impossible to hear anybody speaking, and the person gets the hint very quickly that I'm not coming to the door.

My kids do this. It's the only thing they know how to say in DH's native language. :o I let it go...

I know what you mean. Our hound is mellow and calm, and prefers to sleep on the porch all day long, basking in the sunshine. But as soon as any truck goes by - delivery, landscape, plumber - he's right at the perimeter of our yard defending his territory (we have an electric fence to contain him). When the truck stops and the technician walks up to the house, hound is wagging his tail and trying to get the guy to play or to scratch him. He will also sometimes nip the tires of my truck when I'm backing out of the driveway.

I own the bolded above, plus, Aops Intro to Algebra, Aops Intermediate Algebra, Saxon 8/7, Saxon Algebra 1/2, Saxon Algebra 1, Jousting Armadillos series, LOF pre-Algebra with Economics, LOF pre-Algebra with Biology, and about a dozen workbooks. :o I'm equally likely to read a math book for fun, as I am to read a novel. :D

Adding summer camp counselors to the tip list. It's how they earn most of their money in my area.

All 4 of mine would get naked when they were younger (maybe 5 thru 7) and roll around in the muddy grass after a good rain. The object of the game was to be completely brown with no skin showing through! Last spring when our street flooded, they ran outside barefoot to jump in the muddy water up to their knees.

Yes. When I asked my kids why, it turns out it's from reading "vs." as verse.

Capris.

I second IEW. I would just get the 'Student Writing Intensive' because it works well for a broad range of ages with minimal input from the parent.

You mean people actually finish?? :)

Clicked.

I don't name our vehicles, it's simply "The Truck." But my kids do name all sorts of household objects like the old TV, which is Sylvester. And our spatula is Mr. Spatchie. There's lots more but I'll stop here...

37 is the age I finally recovered from having my second, AND third, AND fourth child at age 28.

Just returned from an ortho consult... ds and twins are each getting braces put on in two weeks, that's $6000 down, $675 per month for the next 16 months! DD13 already has $7000 in her mouth and is looking at two more months of braces. Poor thing was hoping to get them removed today... AND I had to pay $750 out of pocket to get all their teeth cleaned. No dental insurance here either.