We take a number[jk] . Seriously, though, each day we plan ahead so we all know when each person will be taking their shower. Otherwise, it becomes bad news if two of us decide on a whim to shower at the same time before heading out the door.

I know this has nothing to do with homeschooling. OK, yes it does. A glass of wine in the evening helps us calm down from the daily stress of homeschooling so we can quickly go from this :willy_nilly::eek::cursing::banghead: (you're a liar if you say you never get this way [jk]) to this :party::cheers2::thumbup1::D . Does anyone know the real scope on health differences between drinking red wine vs. white? Yes, I've heard all the talk about red wine being more healthy but is it, really? What do you know about this?

For high school, I used 2 main ones that I liked : Ready-To-Use World Geography Activities for Grades 5-12 By James F. Silver (secular text) Abeka World Geography in Christian Perspective This one was designed for school use in gr.9 but works perfectly for gr.12 as well.

Thanks, Kathleen.

Does Kathleen or anyone know if Johnson's Modern Times includes the 2001 World Trade Center attack? Or does the book stop in 1999? I have a number of high school/adult history books that cover just shy of the 2001 attack and precious few that actually cover it. If I buy another world history book I would want it to include the early 2000's.

It would depend. Since you're posting on the high school board, am I correct in assuming that your ds is in high school? I don't know about your financial situation for college but ours was such that any money made was and still is earmarked for college. Currently, both my girls are working part-time because they pay for all or some college tuition and they both purchase their own college books. (We are too wealthy :sarcasm: to receive academic grants.) :smash: :angry: :mad: :rant: :thumbdown::cursing::banghead: Dd#2 is beginning CC full-time in the fall. All her earnings to date, since Dec 2007, have been going in her savings acc't. I don't collect it but I have been taking her to the bank every 1-2 weeks so she can put her earnings in her acc't. She's not overly happy about that but she sort of "gets it". I tell her, "This is life!" Eventually, she will fully understand the importance of saving this money but save it, she must. Without her savings, she would not be able to attend CC because she has no scholarships and no student loans. She's been paying all her tuition and buying all her books. Dd#1 already understands this concept. She's on a 3/4's academic scholarship and still has to make monthly payments to the college for her 1/4 portion.... and she pays for her own books. She's starting her second year of college in the fall so she's been banking her earnings for over a year now. Both girls keep a small amount of their earnings for spending money but it is a very small amount. Does the term "poor college students" ring a bell? It fits our girls well.

Yes, to that! Colleen, if math comes naturally to your ds, he could easily fly through the entire text.

Colleen, I don't have my copy before me but I know the first few chapters are basically review. It was natural for my kids to whiz through that review portion of the text. Give it some time and once your ds is moving on to new (to him) material, he may likely slow down his pace all on his own. For now, if he's doing well on his daily work and tests I wouldn't worry. As for adding anything to Lial's--- nope. For us, nothing else was needed for either of my girls. Fwiw--- In college this past year, both my girls have completed all the algebra they will need and have done well with it. Dd#2, my learning challenged dd, ended up with a "B" average in her CC class. Dd#1 finished math at her college with a "B+" average. Both of them only did Lial's in high school. Both of them hate math and are leaning in other directions for their declared majors but I was satisfied that they made B's in their college math work.

We allowed each of our kids to choose their first CC course. Only advice we gave them was to decide on something which they thought they would really enjoy.

My dd#1 works part-time with Campus Security at her college. Knowing what I've learned from her experiences with college students... and this is a religious, private college... I would NEVER send a 17-18 out of town to live in a dorm, at least not unless they were extremely mature for their age. Dd#2 who is 17, has been attending community college part-time for the last year. This fall she'll be a full-time student there but she will be living at home. Even in college, many of these seemingly good kids will quickly turn bad under peer pressure. Or the good kid will behave himself but have a room mate or suite mate who is participating in illegal behavior. The good kid doesn't know how to deal with it, whether they should report it or what. The illegal behavior can easily affect the good kid's studies in a huge way. Faculty often tells them, "Deal with it." Meanwhile parents and students are shelling out big bucks to stay in a school and live in a dorm where maintaining quiet space to sleep and study are often next to impossible. Campus Security gets calls all the time even from *good* students who are so plastered that they call CS to come help them find their dorm. I'm not talking about their room. They can't even find THE BUILDING; that's sad. I'm sure the state schools are no better with this. Presently, most of dd#1's friends live in the dorms. She also hears from them all the nightmarish stuff that goes on. I know, there are MANY serious college students but they always have to deal with the annoyances of the kids who are there to play. If the serious student is too young, dealing with it can be a big problem while trying to get through college. Sorry if I painted a bad picture of what many of you think are wonderful academic institutions that are only filled with students who study hard and are there to learn. The same high school kids who always misbehaved... well, now they've moved on to college and still can't behave themselves. Think about it-- If these kids were not taught to be mature, serious students by high school, what makes any of us think that they will automatically grow up because they're in college? Sorry for my:rant: . Well, not too sorry. Many parents send their kids off to college and are clueless about some of the stuff that goes on. Better to go in knowing what's ahead rather than find out when your kid's in the midst of it.

You know, I went through a similar thing when my (now) college age kids began high school. I was making myself sick over it. Just last week my oldest, who will start her 2nd year of college this fall, was telling me of a conversation she had after church with several friends who were all home from college on summer break. These other girls were ps'ed for 12 years and all of them graduated from high school at the top of their classes. The girls were swapping war stories about struggles during their first year of college. All of the other girls mentioned that their classes were much more challenging then they ever imagined they would be. They commented that note taking was difficult, reading assignments were way huge and writing assignments were agonizing. My dd kept busy her first year but, overall, she felt the assignments were average in difficulty. Then she told me, "Mom, I have to say that through all the homeschooling years where I have practiced reading and writing well and broadly, I see now that it is serving me well in college." As her mom, I have never seen her quite as confident as she is now. A plan? Focus more on teaching them to be life-long learners rather than trying to stuff them with all the knowledge there is because what it all boils down to is this-- No matter how much you teach them, they will never learn it all by the time they complete high school. Use your high school years more wisely by encouraging excellence in reading, writing and study habits. These are the skills that my dd regularly uses to help a few of her college friends who never learned it in high school. My 10 cents worth (inflation)... :seeya:

I purchased a *gently used* Sonlight scope from a local homeschool mom who was through with hers and we used it throughout the high school years. No regrets.

In Sr. High, dd#1 used Gombrich along with Oak Meadow SG and thoroughly enjoyed it. She took her first college Art History class last fall during her first year of college and the class was a breeze for her; she easily made an 'A'. If you want this to be your dc's last Art History class for high school, Gombrich with Oak Meadow is more than adequate. I don't know if Hewitt's SG is written at a higher, lower or same learning level because I haven't seen it. Annotated Mona Lisa is basically a glorified time line of art history, IMO. Fwiw- Dd has declared a major in Poli-Sci but is thinking of minoring in Art History.

Thank you, dearie.:D Now I can go check it out at amazon.:leaving:

Wait Dee, come back!!! What's the author's name and what is the ISBN number of this inspirational book?

Congrats, Nadia. My oldest just completed her first year college. She struggled through the year but maintained her Honors Program status while working part-time on campus. We told her, "The year you've just completed will likely be the hardest year you will have to do for college." I wish your dd all the success during her first year. She will do well, no doubt.

Dd#1 began reading it in high school with TOG and has since read it a number of times just for "fun". She's now completed her first year of college in Honors Program with a declared Poli-Sci major. I didn't bother to make dd#2 read it.

Both of my college kids are too busy with work hours to enjoy late nights out. They know that if they don't work, then there is no money for tuition, books, cars... anything they need while in college. What about a job for your college kid? Nothing like work to make a kid crave sleep :thumbup: .

For those who've used a laptop/notebook for 6 months or more and love what you have--- Would you recommend it? Which one do you own? I'm probably looking to purchase one in the $5-600. range. One of the biggest things I'm wanting is to find one that requires very little to no maintenance. If it's regularly needing repair, I'm not interested. Thanks.

Good news and congrats on the successes with your dd's, Kimberly. But.... where is your blog? Do you still have it?

I agree with Alyce and Kelli. My youngest is 17 and deals with depression. Three months ago our family doc put her on a low dose of Wellbutrin. We're just now seeing her emotions leveling off more. And just as recent as 2 weeks ago, we had to make another adjustment with the meds because she was still struggling with depression each month when her her period would begin and it would last for several days. Now doctor has her doubling the dosage each month during those "period days". Dd's also been seeing a Christian counselor every two weeks. The counseling makes a huge difference so we have no intention of stopping it any time soon. Don't take depression lightly. Usually you only see a fraction of what is really going on in their head. Your dd only wants to feel "normal" but she needs someone to take her seriously. One more thing--- If you need a professional counselor, take care in choosing the right one. We found ours through our pastor and the counselor was also on our insurance list so we grabbed her. She has worked wonders for my dd. And don't mickey-mouse around with counseling from your pastor unless he is a professional counselor.

Praying for you, Gwen. The good news... yes there is some good news.... Since your dh is type 1, you guys already know the ropes. I can't begin to tell you how horrifying it was for us to have 17yodd diagnosed type 1 at age 7 and then we had to learn diabetes care from the ground up. So sorry this has happened to your precious dd. Keep your faith. It's what got us through it.

Absolutely! I know that in my own Orthodox Christian church, at least 70% come from Arabic roots and at least half of the 70% speak fluent Arabic and love to share their native language. If you live in driving distance from a city, see if one of our churches might be in your area: http://www.antiochian.org/parishes/directory/us . Call the pastor and tell him that you're wanting to study the Arabic language and would love to find a few folks to converse with in their native tongue. If you're at all interested in Christian Arabic culture, come experience an Arabic Easter/Pascha service, our big "ta-da" for the church year. This year we celebrate Pascha on the Eve of Saturday, April 26. Exact service times vary with indiv churches but it generally begins Saturday night at 11pm and goes until 1-2am Sunday morning. Pascha service is followed by a meal of great Arabic food, great wine and great Arabic music. Pascha is an event not to miss if you're wanting to become acquainted with not only the language but the Christian Arabic culture, as well. Even our littles look forward to Pascha all year. Church begins Sat at 11pm with lights dimmed low. All of service is chanted. Around midnight, we have a procession with everyone going outside carrying lit candles. We pray/chant some more and then pastor bangs on the church doors and has verbal exchange with someone inside the bldg (in reference to Christ tearing down gates of hell). After the exchange, doors are flung open, we all enter brightly lit church and service continues. Of course, I'd only encourage this if you're not offended with Christianity. Don't worry if you have littles to tow. Some folks have their littles sleeping in the pews but they all love getting up to go outside. An added bonus--- If you're into Early Church Art, the iconography will be amazing to see that night, even for your littles. Way more than you wanted to know. And you asked what? Oh yeah, needing help finding resources to learn Arabic. :seeya: :leaving:

There's nothing porn-like in Sr. Wendy's stuff, if that's what your concerned about. However, she does show a few nudes in the program. If your kids are teens I wouldn't worry about it. If they ever take Art Appreciation in college a few years down the road they'll see nudes there. You'll not find a more interesting DVD set on this subject matter anywhere. Sister Wendy is a total delight to listen to and watch as she goes through the art pieces, explaining and adding all her humorous opinions. She's quite a character! Btw-- That Sr. Wendy DVD set you're posting about... it is the one entitled "The Story of Painting"? If so, would you be willing to post the link where you saw it? That's the set I have but it's in video format and I'd love to get it in DVD now. We all love Sr. Wendy!:thumbup:

Yep, everything that Erica said.:iagree: