For primary levels? Have fun, read lots of books on various topics, play math games, encourage learning to read, exposure to spoken foreign languages, messy art projects, nature study.

My younger DD used to do this all the time. She'd rearrange the series books on the library shelves to be in order of the series (Book 1, Book 2, etc.) It wasn't until my older DD started volunteering at the library that we learned that they shelve series books by author and then by TITLE, not the book order. Oops! Anyway, I used to inwardly moan about the picture books only being in very rough order but older DD confirms that it is the only possible way to keep the picture books unless they had 2 full time people doing nothing but straightening this section.

I was actually wondering if a paid position for special ed instructors even exists in the African schools where the OP's DD interned. Is she planning to go back and volunteer?

My dual enrollment homeschool student loved this!

We all loved My Side of the Mountain . You could consider some of the novels used in Lightning Literature 7 and 8, especially: All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (and if he likes it, there are several sequels in the series, very fun to read, very funny) The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (excellent and fun to read, but it is fantasy) My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (hilarious, a real joy to read) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (genuine classic, short, easy to read)

Is she taking it so early to qualify for something or just to familiarize herself with it? Keep in mind that the colleges/universities that I've looked at want applicants to have taken the ACT/SAT within the last 3 years. So, even if your DD knocks the test out of the park, she'll likely be retaking it again later in high school. Personally, unless there is some particular goal to taking it now, I'd wait a couple years. The Real ACT Book (red cover) has 5 actual ACT exams in it so it is a great prep book. I just had DD take one test at a time and review all the answers. Good luck to your DD!

Your plan sounds fine. You could call it a modified block schedule or I've heard colleges call very short intense courses "mini-terms." We haven't done anything like that for high school but when the students were younger, we'd use our summer term to do long stretches of the fun stuff: science experiments and art projects, etc.

I must say, this was my first thought when I read the update about her taking all the skirts apart again.

We bought a Kindle Fire for one of our DDs for Christmas. The whole family has been using it. We bought a very basic cover for it at Big Lots (~$3) and that's is all we've spent since we bought it. We download free games. Not many of them are very good but we enjoy a couple of them. We use it as a tablet to browse the internet. We use the local library for e-books. Their selection is getting better as time goes by. While the Kindle gets a lot of use and I do not regret the purchase, we do not use it to buy books. We have a great local used bookstore that we love; we use the library extensively; and we still buy new books from Amazon. I haven't found the Kindle book prices to be a savings so we just go ahead and buy the regular book.

I would work on crate training, slowly, at home, before trying to mix the crate with car trips. Use rewards and don't use the crate as punishment. It may take some time but your dog can learn to associate the crate with good times. My dog happily runs to his crate when I say "crate" and he seeks it out on his own for naps or when he feels uncertain (like a stranger visiting). Good luck!

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Sounds like I need to start by asking the people we already know. I wasn't sure if people just cold called an agency/company to request a job shadowing experience for their student.

Lightning Literature is fairly light and can be done independently.

Given a choice, dogs will always go in someone else's yard. They like to keep their own area clean. Unless you convince all your neighbors to start abiding by a leash rule, confronting them about their dog(s) pooping in your yard will not solve the problem. You could try the sprinkler suggestion. I just did a Google search on dog deterrents and there are apparently several products on the market. I can't vouch for how well they work. I understand your annoyance. I have a dog who stays leashed when outside and I clean up after him. I STILL don't want to clean up after inconsiderate owners who let their dogs eliminate in my yard. I just haven't found confrontation to lead to a peaceful resolution in these situations. I wish you luck.

Poop scooping is a great character builder for the kids. :huh: I'm sorry for the situation but I agree with the previous posters. A little dog poop is better than hostile relationships with neighbors.

DD16 has no idea what she wants to study in college or pursue as a career. I think job shadowing is a great opportunity to see what people actually do on a day to day basis. However, I am at a complete loss on how to set something like this up. Any ideas?

There are so many math programs out there, I'm not sure what to recommend. Harold Jacobs is a popular one for Geometry. Math U See (with DVD instruction) goes all the way through Calculus. Teaching Textbooks is CD-based (computer) and provides step by step solutions to all problems. There's many other options. What are you looking for? What programs have you looked at and discarded?

We used Vocabulary Cartoons, SAT Word Power

No, I wouldn't have a 10th grader take the level 8 Lightning Literature course unless there were some special circumstances (learning disabilities, etc.). She shouldn't have any trouble with the American literature course. I feel like I should let you know that many folks think LL is quite light as far as literary analysis goes. This suits our needs perfectly but if you are looking for something to teach your DD rigorous literary analysis, you should ask for other recommendations that would help to meet your goals. LL probably isn't it.

Wow, it really depends on the student and the courses. On AVERAGE, I would say that 2 to 3 hours of study time per hour of classtime is more than is usually required, but it is a good rule of thumb. I took between 16 and 19 credit hours of undergrad courses in an engineering major per semester and still found time to work 20-30 hours per week, get regular sleep, and have fun. I know I wasn't studying 32 to 48 hours per week outside of class!

Ah! This explains it. I do believe there is an access code for the course. Even the Rate My Professor entries warned to get the books at the college bookstore for this course. They seem to get you one way or the other. I've also noticed "custom" texts so that you can't just get the book somewhere else.

The high school American literature sets are especially recommended for students new to Lightning Literature. However, I'd recommend browsing the book selection for each level and choosing the one that most interests your DD. We used levels 7 and 8 (middle school), American lit, and now Shakespeare. The British literature did not appeal to my student so we took a year to do Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings. Great fun.

I really do not understand the pricing for textbook rental where my DD is dual enrolling. Here's the prices at the college bookstore for a class she'll take in the fall: New: $184 New (rental): $174 Used: $138 Used (rental): $130 At these prices, why would anyone rent? Any ideas?

We just list a straight grade, no + or -. I agree with Jane in NC that homeschool grades don't really mean much. I'm not sweating the grades we assign but will rely on test scores and dual enrollment courses to demonstrate DD's academic abilities.

Thanks, everyone. I guess I'll start calling and e-mailing tomorrow. I'd like to get a location nailed down before school lets out for the summer. Good to see that most have had luck with the public schools. I'd even be willing to pay a fee to have DD take the exam at a private testing center, if that were an option. Pegasus

A local private high school just turned us down. I was hoping to avoid the giant public high schools but I guess that is where we try next. Do the public schools have to let DD take the PSAT there? I'm wondering what to do if they say no. Sheesh. The ACT was easy: registered online and had DD show up at the community college.