My DDs love those overpriced kits where you chip away to unbury various faux artifacts. We've tried making our own with plaster of paris but the result was not satisfactory (too brittle and easy to uncover the hidden items). I imagine concrete would be TOO tough to dig. Any great ideas out there? :D Thanks in advance, Pegasus

I'm just curious how other families handle hosting a guest with medical issues. My FIL has diabetes as well as other health considerations but does not eat appropriately. When he visits my family, I cook the food he likes to eat, even though it is not good for him. On the other hand, when he visits his daughter and her family, she cooks meals appropriate for his diabetes. The last time he was here, he complained to me about his daughter's meals and admitted to sneaking out of the house to get food while visiting her. I'd love for my FIL to eat right and stay as healthy as possible. Am I wrong to enable his poor eating habits while he is here or would I be a "better" host by making him unhappy with healthy meals? I welcome all views. Pegasus

We haven't tried groats but my DDs love steel cut oats. They call them "poppy oats" because they have a lot more texture than instant oatmeal or rolled oats. The steel cut oats take about 30 minutes of simmering. Groats are not for me if they take longer than that! Pegasus

Once again, as a stranger talked to my DDs, they got the impression that my DDs were British. This has happened a number of times over the years. This most recent incident was at a furniture store as they told a salesman what we were looking for. We live in East Tennessee; the girls were both born here. DH grew up in North Carolina but has no Southern drawl that I can detect, and I grew up in South Dakota. I've never been mistaken as being British and neither has DH. Why would my DDs get that assumption over and over again? It doesn't bother me except that I want to know WHY! Any theories will be entertained. :lol: Pegasus

Bee, you aren't alone in having a student who is resisting needing more time to finish schoolwork. I've been ramping up the amount of work assigned to DD13 over the last year and she does complain. However, I do not make her work for a certain amount of time of any subject - I assign a certain number of chapters in history, for example, rather than telling her to read it for 50 minutes. This works for us because if I gave her an amount of TIME to do something, she'd fritter the minutes away. When I give her an amount of WORK to do, she is much more likely to concentrate and work steadily so that she can be DONE. I know I'm in the minority on this board but I do NOT expect even high school level work to take DD 6 hours of focused study per day. She reads fast and picks up on concepts quickly. If she finishes the amount of work I expect, she's welcome to finish it as quickly as she can. This will change in a couple of years when I expect her to start taking community college courses. Between the class time, lab time, and outside studying, the hours will definitely get longer. Pegasus

I don't know your particular circumstances but maybe there's a way to manage a tutor. Could you maybe offer to trade tutoring (you tutor a a student in foreign language or writing or whatever you excel at in exchange for that parent tutoring your daughter in math)? Another alternative is to find a student who just finished Saxon 8/7 and did well or even someone who is still in Saxon 8/7 but a bit ahead of your DD. They'd probably be willing to tutor for less than the going rate for adult tutors. Self-teaching can work really well in a student's strengths but it's a bit unfair to expect it from a student who is struggling in a subject. Good luck! Pegasus

So far, DD13 doesn't find "socially expected" to be a sufficient reason to do anything. She doesn't see the point in shaving and that's fine with me. She may eventually change her mind. Pegasus

Please share your idea! We have 3 years of dance costumes piling up (3 to 4 costumes per year) and I don't want to throw them away. Pegasus

Honestly, this sounds just like something one of my sisters would say and we would shrug it off and try to change the subject at the time. However, she's mentally ill and I've had to explain a LOT of things to my children later after she's visited. Pegasus

We still use the old version of MUS - Foundations, Intermediate, and Advanced levels take a child from counting to ready for algebra! I think the older version was better at being "well rounded" as it didn't focus as much on a single topic at a time. Of course, that sometimes makes it feel like it is jumping around so I'm not sure which way is better. :tongue_smilie: Pegasus

That's hilarious. No way would my kids have eaten it though! I am WAY more mellow now than even a few years ago. I made a conscious decision not to argue about things that don't matter. So, when I know I'm right and DH is wrong (:tongue_smilie:), I state my position once and if he insists he is right, I let it go. Just the other day he then asked me if I agreed with him and I said "No, but I'm saving my arguments for something I consider important." :) Pegasus

I grew up in Sioux Falls, SD. What do you want to know? It's flat, hot in summer, cold with lots of snow in winter, and is big with hunters in the fall who like to go after ring-necked pheasants. My family moved back to Tennessee when I was 18 so I can't answer any questions about the homeschool climate/laws. Pegasus

We've used a "Little Professors Science Kit" from the Academy of Science for Kids and enjoyed it. The kit really did include everything we needed. They claim the kits are good for grades 1-8 and maybe it varies by kit but I'd say the one we did (Seeds) is best for grades 1-4. I did like the journals that the students had to fill out for each experiment. They are a great introduction to lab reports! We also used Exploration Education and loved that program for physical science. It was really open the box and go. My first DD did great with this starting in 4th grade and did almost all of it independently. However, my second DD struggled a bit with it in 4th so we will try it again with her next year (5th). The lessons and instructions are on an interactive CD. I just checked the Exploration Education website and noticed that they have come out with an Advanced version for older students. I'll definitely have to check that out! Pegasus

I've sent an e-mail with my inquiry to Geography Matters so I'll let everyone know what the official word is when I get a reply. Cocoa - I'm not trying to recover any money for these files so if GeoMatters says that I can give them away, I'll PM you. You would still need a Trail Guide book as the student pages don't contain all of the program information. Pegasus

I loved the idea and the look of the Trail Guides. We tried it and it was a dud with my first DD. Later, they came out with the student books and I thought "Great, now they will be so easy to use." and we tried it again. It still went THUMP with my eldest. I set it aside and tried it again, this year, with my second DD. . .THUD. It just doesn't work here. Despite the program looking easy to implement independently, my DDs needed significant hand holding and assistance to find the answers to the questions and to do the mapping. The mapping the students do is way more detailed than the geography I want and expect my DDs to learn and remember. We never even tried the extra activities included in the program because by the time they had done the questions and mapping, my DDs didn't want anything else to do with geography. We've gone back to the basics and are simply working with outline maps and coming up with our own list of what we want the DDs to map and memorize. YMMV! I'm sure there are some rabid Trail Guide fans out there. Hopefully you will hear from some of them too! Pegasus

I've been to the Geography Matters website but can't find an answer. I plan to send them an e-mail but thought I'd see if anyone here knows. I'll be cleaning out our shelves and selling/giving away homeschooling materials that we either won't be using or are finished with. I have the Trail Guides for both U.S. and World. I also have the e-version of the student books for the U.S. Trail Guide. If I remove the e-books from my computer, can I sell or give the file to whoever purchases the U.S. Trail Guide? We did try this program but it was a bust for us so we only printed/used a few pages of the e-book. What do you think? Thanks, Pegasus

DD routinely misses several points on the exercises in Analytical Grammar but has been doing extremely well on the tests. It can't always be that she is learning from her mistakes on the exercises because sometimes I don't get around to correcting those before she takes the test. (I know, bad mommy-teacher!) It appears to me that the tests are easier than the exercises. Do you find this to be so? Pegasus

There is a lottery grant available that covers most of the cost of 2 dual enrollment classes each for junior year and senior year. More than that (or earlier) and you pay for it. Pegasus

Thanks everyone. I had thought about art history/appreciation so thanks for the specific recommendations through the Teaching Company. I also had not thought about the more craft oriented arts. DD has done a bit of cross-stitch, quilting, etc. Plus, she is somewhat interested in photography. Pegasus

What are non-artsy students doing for a Fine Arts or Visual/Performing Arts credit? We're needing some ideas! Thanks, Pegasus

Thank you, everyone. You have given me a lot to think about. I was unfamiliar with Conceptual Chemistry but I've now taken a look and really like what I see. I think we'll work that in to our program at home before attempting chemistry at the community college. I'd already seen a bit of Conceptual Physics so we may use that as well. I saw an excellent tip on another thread about dual enrollment that suggested going to the college bookstore and looking at the texts for the courses you are considering. I'm going to do this too, especially for biology! I took biology and advance biology in high school (many MANY years ago) but if it's changed to include significant biochemistry, than we need to know that! Thanks again, Pegasus

I would like my DDs to take the lab sciences (biology, chemistry, and physics) through dual enrollment but what do we need to do first, at home, so that they will be successful? If your DC have taken science through dual enrollment, can you please tell me what they did to prepare before enrolling and how they did in the class? Thank you, Pegasus

I have followed the MUS threads for several years. My DH and I have 3 engineering and architecture degrees between us so we take math preparation very seriously. We've used MUS from K through Algebra I so far and plan to use Geometry, Algebra II, and the Precalculus program. No other math program that I've seen can beat MUS in conceptual understanding. I don't want my DC repeating a rote process to get the right answer. I want them to understand why the math works. We love MUS! Ok. All that said, we also supplement and verify. In the earlier grades, we use Singapore's Challenging Word Problems. These are outstanding word problems and much more challenging than what you'll find in the early levels of MUS. We actually lag the CWP a year behind where we are in MUS. So, if DC are learning multiplication/division with MUS, we'll use the CWP on addition/subtraction. When our oldest DD was ready to enter MUS Algebra I, we used Lial's Basic College Math to confirm that she was ready. We simply had her take the pre-test from BCM and then complete any sections where she showed any difficulty with the problems. This only took a few weeks and we started Algebra I confident that she was ready. While using MUS Algebra I, we are also incorporating the MUS Honors book. It is challenging and is really making our DD think. Now DD is almost finished with MUS Algebra I and I have a copy of Lial's algebra book. Again, we'll use it to be sure that DD knows what she needs to know before starting Geometry. I have heard the MUS Geometry doesn't do much with proofs so I'll be checking the Honors book for more proof work. If I don't find it, we will supplement this. My long-term plan at this point is to use MUS through their Precalculus program. We will keep using the Honors books and supplement/verify with other programs as we find the need. Then, DD will take a pre-calc course through dual enrollment at a community college. If this doesn't prepare her for further math studies, I'll turn in my homeschooling credentials. :tongue_smilie: So, bottom line, my recommendation is "Trust and verify." Pegasus

Yes, that's it! Thank you so much. I love that my question was answered by "Lostinabook". How appropriate. Pegasus

I read a book a few years ago, I think based on a recommendation I saw here. I'd like to go back and re-read it but I can't remember title or author. :confused: It was about teens and peer dependency. The author mentions homeschooling but states that it is not a workable solution for most families. He emphasizes how important it is for kids/teens to be bonded to their parents/families and not to their peer group. Ring a bell with anyone?!? Many thanks, Pegasus