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Rebecca in VA

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  1. Lightning Literature 7. I ordered it last week, and the UPS man delivered it on Friday. I looked it thoroughly (it didn't take long -- things are very clearly laid out), found that it was EXACTLY what I wanted in a literature course, and started using it with my daughter immediately. We're going double-speed, which means we'll finish the course in 18 weeks (before the end of summer). Lightning Lit is extremely easy to use -- it requires very little from the parent. Yet it covers the kind of material I would want a seventh-grader to know in an easy-to-use format. I'm excited and impressed.
  2. I don't know what the weather's like down in Florida now, but it's been so awfully icky and rainy lately. It poured this morning, and there's more rain in the forecast. It's been years (literally) since it rained so much here (we've been plagued with drought for years). So all of us have been housebound, and one of our remodelling contractors has been standing us up, which means we've had to reschedule other contractors, in addition to rearranging our own plans. It's been hard to stay perky! Hope you're feeling better soon! Take lots of pictures at the birthday party -- years from now you won't remember how you felt in your heart of hearts, but you'll be glad you made the extra effort to do something nice for your son.
  3. "Survivors of the Holocaust." It's a documentary made to promote Steven Spielberg's Holocaust survivor registration project, and it's excellent. I loved hearing the survivors tell their stories, seeing their photographs, etc. The documentary was made in 1996. I bought it when it first came out and still have it, though I only watched it once. There are used copies available for sale through Amazon.
  4. Thank you so much for your kind reply! I wasn't aware of how the series worked since I've never read it. I've been thinking of having my daughter work through LL7, then LL8, and then Literary Lessons from LOTR. The information you've provided is extremely helpful.
  5. Lori, I noticed that LL8 contains "The Hobbit." If you do LL8 first and then do Literary Lessons from LOTR, won't the student be reading "The Hobbit" twice? Was that a problem for you?
  6. You don't want to skip BJU sixth-grade science! It gives an outstanding introduction to the topics the student will see again over the next few years. The student covers earthquakes, weathering and erosion, natural resources, stars, the solar system, cells and classification, animal classification, plant classification, plant and animal reproduction, heredity and genetics, atoms and molecules, electricity and magnetism, motion and machines, the nervous system, and the immune system. It's true that he will see the material again in future years, but this is a really well-done introduction that will set him up well for the much more difficult middle school courses. The very best way to teach the material is to use the DVDs -- or the new online streaming option. Mrs. Dunn (Science 5) and Mrs. Vick (Science 6, 7, and 8) rock! They're exactly the sort of teachers you would *want* your child to have if you ever sent them to a school. You can get kits with materials for the experiments at http://www.hometrainingtools.com. Having the kit available has saved me many emergency trips to the drugstore, hardware store, grocery store, etc. for experiment supplies.
  7. I had this over and over a year ago -- at least five times in a year, if you can believe that. I was under a lot of stress at that time. This year I'm not under stress at all, and I haven't gotten sick. One of the times I was sick, I kept getting worse and worse, day after day. It was during the summer, too, and no one else was sick. I finally (after three weeks or longer) went to the doctor, and he prescribed antibiotics. He said the cold itself was viral, but it was possible that I was developing some sort of bacterial infection as well. After a couple of days on the antibiotics, I was just about well. The last time I went through a bout of this, the nurse told me to use a salt-water nasal rinse (she gave me a kit). She said that would clean the "gunk" out. It worked very well.
  8. Hey, ~Jenn~, I visited both your blog and your photography website, and I have to say that your photography is STUNNING! It's the most thoughtful and altogether beautiful I've ever seen. (I'm not kidding -- if you are ever in northern Virginia, I'd love to meet up with you and have you photograph our family.) Your little boy is adorable. We're lucky to have you with us, and I look forward to hearing more about your homeschooling journey.
  9. The R&S Bible courses start out slowly, but they get much more difficult. Bible 7 goes very much in-depth. An advanced third-grader might get *something* out of Bible 7 and 8, but truly, a middle-schooler would be able to appreciate the course much more and remember it better long-term. There's information in these courses that most adults don't know.
  10. There's a lot of information about the courses on the Art of Problem Solving website. They say that a good pre-algebra course will prepare the student for AoPS Algebra I. I don't know if Saxon 87 is considered pre-algebra or not. My daughter didn't do RS Geometry specifically to prepare for these classes; I just thought it would be helpful in teaching her to think geometrically. The AoPS courses are continuing to be developed, and possibly there will be a pre-algebra course in the future. I know they recommend "Kitchen Table Math" for elementary-level students. Read the website; it's full of good info!
  11. My daughter will take the Algebra course this summer and fall (it was originally called Introduction to Algebra, but it has since been broken into Algebra I/Algebra II). We've received the textbook and solution key, and they look really good! The class will meet online on Wednesday evenings. She has taken Dolciani's Pre-Algebra: An Accelerated Course (enriched track) this year, as well as the RightStart hands-on Geometry course. She also did the Rod & Staff math lineup through Math 8. I feel that she's as ready as she can possibly be for this, but we'll see. If things go well, she'll continue on with the Number Theory and Counting and Probability courses, followed by the Geometry course. Those together will make a nice middle-school lineup, and she can take the advanced courses later. I've heard nothing but good things about the Art of Problem solving materials and courses. I'm relieved to know that this resource is available, since I'm not at all mathy and can't teach these courses myself.
  12. I wouldn't do anything. The mother knows that 911 is there if she needs it. Your letting her know that you "know" anything will just embarrass her and make her avoid you. The little girl may have misunderstood the situation. Even if she is reporting it correctly, she's sharing information that's too personal. You'd be best off letting it go and not mentioning it to anyone (though of course you'll want to make a mental note of this incident for possible future reference).
  13. Well, I definitely wouldn't use the word "challenging" in front of her -- it might scare her off, LOL! I'd make her schoolwork more "interesting" and provide lots of "enrichment" (you can use those words if you have to explain why life's getting harder). You'll have to decide if she's ready to skip grade levels in math and English. I'm not big on skipping levels, but I definitely skipped lessons at the beginnings of the books that were clearly all review. I had my daughter work through summers. Last year when I taught a Tapestry Year 1 group of girls who liked to read, I assigned challenging books that my daughter would *never* have read voluntarily but had to so that she wouldn't lose face in front of the other girls. She actually flourished with the challenging material and still speaks fondly of those books! (We also did cool activities such as plays and festivals.) We do many, many outside activities -- too many, I think. She is almost always enrolled in an art-related class. She has done piano and ballet for years and is now moving into the competitive piano world. She does Junior Cotillion (she flourishes there, because she really does want to be socially acceptable, and she likes the hard-and-fast etiquette rules!). She participates in Bright Lights (a discipleship group for tweens). She sews, knits, and crochets. We travel a fair amount, which thrills her and enlarges her world. All of these give her enrichment, but they're not dreaded schoolwork. So you don't have to skip levels to make her life more challenging and interesting, though you may want to. Hope this helps somewhat!
  14. The fact that she wants to come home should trump all your objections. She wants to be with you and her brother. She may be difficult, but she loves you. I'd talk seriously with her beforehand about your expectations. She'll have to tone down her "difficultness" in order to make this work out. But you may need to take her learning style into consideration. Have you thought about using different curricula with them? She might react well to online classes like K12. That would do a lot toward warding off competitiveness. She may very well be picking up some of your reluctance to homeschool her and your coziness with your son. You will probably have to work extra-hard to make her feel welcome and loved. As for your son being used to having the computer to himself all day long...well, he needs to get over that.
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