What a darling! She looks full of joy. 🙂

All of mine do better with set assignments instead of do ___ for 45 min. I do try to approximate an amount of work that I hope will take about 45 minutes to complete, but sometimes my guess is off. I end up making my own assignments and schedules for any subject I teach, and tailor the assignments to the student. Yes, this is very time consuming (for me). I read and plan and make schedules year round. I also had a gifted, ADD student (graduated now) who just fizzled out mentally after a certain point. Specific daily assignments were needed for his energies to focus on, and for accountability. I also had to stay on top of grading and feedback, because he needed that accountability and interaction to keep his momentum going. Whenever I gave any open-ended assignments, he was perfectly content to creatively do nothing (squirrel!) and then be shocked that he didn't have anything to show for his hour of "note taking." I ended up using more textbooks than I ever wanted to when teaching him. He was very intelligent, very creative, but trying to harness that for *schoolwork* was like trying to nail jello to the wall. Some subjects ended up being get 'er done type courses so that he had the head space to be creative and brilliant in his hobbies. 🙃

Greta's faith, strength through difficulty, and deep love of her family were inspirational.

Praying for strength, rest, and healing.

Praying for a good surgery and recovery.

My sympathy and my prayers are with you during this time.

Over the past few months at my Sam's Club-- store brand coffee went from $8.** to $12.** Four boxes of store brand butter-- $12.** to 16.** The 25 lb bag of store brand went up about $3.50. The 5 lb bags of store brand shredded cheese also is about $3 to $4 dollars more. The same box of Nature Valley granola bars was $3.88 more. Frozen chicken (10 lb bag) also had an increase of about $2 more per pound. While discussing some of these changes with one of the employees, she said that she paid $53 more for a repeat order. $53 dollars more for same items 6 months later. Crazy! And at multiple stores, the Suave family size shampoo and conditioner bottles have gotten 8 oz. smaller, but the price has gone up.

Maybe Evan Moor's Daily Geography? It goes through grade 6 (ish) https://www.evan-moor.com/social-studies-geography

praying for you...

Mythology was another way to sneak some history/culture into the aforementioned reluctant reader; he enjoyed read without complaining: D'Aulaires Greek Myths & Norse Myths Favorite Medieval Tales (Mary Pope Osborne and Troy Howell)-- don't let the author throw you off- higher reading level than those annoying Magic Tree House books Favorite Greek Myths (by the same as above) Black Ships Before Troy (Sutcliff and Lee) get the one illustrated by Alan Lee The Wanderings of Odysseus (Sutcliff and Lee again)

Rats, Bulls and Flying Machines went over very well with one of mine who thought he didn't like reading and/or history. https://www.amazon.com/Rats-Bulls-Flying-Machines-Renaissance/dp/1890517186/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Q0EVG7UMWWVA&keywords=rats+bulls+and+flying+machines&qid=1663078140&sprefix=rats+bull%2Caps%2C112&sr=8-1

honey and/or corn syrup (Karo syrup)

Thanks for the link ^; off to go read ...

Does the TE (which I do not have- $$$!) for Foerster Algebra give suggested assignments based on difficulty level? Dolciani conveniently has A, B, and C problems. I feel like I'm groping blind on how to schedule this for a very average, not math-motivated student (who is using this as an Alg 1 review while taking a light geometry credit). Help!

Congratulations!

Rosie can come to my house and do lit with my kids. I'll pay the airfare. 😉

I love Jacobs' Algebra, but the kid (math struggler) whom I bought it for did not. He didn't click with the writing style, and I kept having to translate each lesson which led to extreme frustration on his part-- he felt he was stupid because he couldn't just read it and get it. He did much better with a more straightforward text. Some of the teaching in Jacobs comes as you *do* the problems and have that lightbulb moment. So, I think that there is a little bit of discovery method there that doesn't always mesh with some kids. Others love it. You can look the whole book over (for free -- just set up an account) on archive.org -- https://archive.org/details/elementaryalgebr00jaco Look beyond the first chapter or two (which is a gentle algebra intro) and see if it clicks for you. Key to Algebra combined with Beginning Algebra (Tobey and Slater) worked well for my one who had working memory issues that slow him down in math. The Tobey and Slater book has a "How Am I Doing?" (review page) every four lessons or so that helps to pinpoint areas that might be a struggle so that you could stop and reteach if needed. The Tobey and Slater book drove the course, but when he felt over his head I would break out the Key to Algebra books and work through those for a while. The Key books break the concept down into smaller steps with lots of practice.

No. Unfortunately not.

I feel that archive.org love. 😉 You can also see samples of Lial's on archive... https://archive.org/details/introductoryalge0000lial_18ed/mode/2up and one that I've used with multiple kids.. Tobey and Slater Beginning Algebra (very similar to Lial's)... https://archive.org/details/beginningalgebra0000tobe_d0n6 Jacobs's Elementary Algebra is there as well ... https://archive.org/details/elementaryalgebr00jaco and Foerster's Algebra ... https://archive.org/details/algebraiexpressi00foer I would sit down and skim through each of these, and have your daughter do so as well. If she's going to be the one wrestling through the book, it has to be readable to her.

So far.. one did -- and did okay with it. Not flunking, not amazing, just okay. 😉 He was always my kid who endured math. He's in college now (not a math heavy major), and did not have to take any remedial math classes. I call it a win. one didn't -- he did Tobey and Slater's Intermediate Algebra (very much like Lial's) instead. Much better fit for him. next one will be using a Tobey/Slater and MUS Alg 2 combo this year. Because he's Goldilocks, and it is impossible to find his "just right".

At my house... Monday-- student watches the DVD on his own, reads the textbook lesson, does worksheet A *with me right there* to check for understanding. If they struggle, we re-watch, re-teach until the basic concept clicks. Tuesday-- does B or C on own, can ask for help if needed. Wednesday-- goes over B or C with me, does D or E on own Thursday-- goes over D or E with me, does Honors (not always) Friday-- test on the lesson. This whole progression can easily be condensed if the student does not need all the sheets. The last two worksheets in a lesson are mixed review. MUS Geo is very light-- barely any real proofs, and those show up toward the end of the course. We also do an more intense algebra review along with the MUS course. Because my kids need more than just the little Alg 1 review that shows up in the MUS Geo. so that they are better prepped for Algebra 2. My oldest two did MUS Geo without much input from me. I graded, but very rarely did I need to actually *teach*. Third kid with some LD's needed me more, but most of it was still on his own. Full disclosure: I actually prefer a more proof centered course (Jacobs' 2nd edition is my favorite), but it requires too much teacher time from me. So we go with MUS because it gets done. 🙂

Congratulations! Wishing you many snuggles very soon!

Praying!

Maybe Sabbath Mood? https://sabbathmoodhomeschool.com/living-science-curriculum/

James and the Giant Peach, narrated by Jeremy Irons. All the characters as so well done! It's a family favorite. 🙂