Following - I need to do something to get my diet under control {as well as lose some weight}. I like the idea of Whole30 - but my budget does not.

Well if you turn it into a true pond, you can put small fish that will prevent the mosquitoes. My vote is a duck pond :)

Boy that title is a mouthful! I have a few years yet {dd is in 5th but working on a 6th grade level}, but wanted to pick your brains so I have time to buy materials ahead at sales. I've been reading back posts on the forums today as it's too hot to do anything else right now, and also thinking ahead to high school. I stumbled across these two threads: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/419375-oldschool-homeschool-so-of-another-thread/?hl=+oldschooling and http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/418535-long-time-hsers-what-are-your-tried-and-true-programsmethods/?hl=+oldschooling and it got me thinking. For those of you who oldschool homeschool for highschool, what do you use? How do you do it? I would assume oldschool homeschool at the high school level means no co-op {I know for us it will mean that}. How do you cover needed subjects at the high school level without farming things out? Is oldschool homeschool possible at the high school level? I'm assuming Saxon math would probably be on that list, since it's been around a long time. But what else would be on there?

Yes they do discuss all 20 books. I'm told it's a fairly informal discussion - what book was it, who wrote it, did you like it, etc. They do allow you to do multiple books per visit, especially if you are coming from out of town. I doubt the volunteers have read every book - they have a 20-something page list of books to choose from. I don't know that they allow parents to volunteer for this program - I'll have to ask. Mainly they are putting an emphasis on the teens of our community being the volunteers as a way of doing "missions from home".

DD, age nearly 10, has suspected ASD and sensory issues. She has come a LONG way, but still struggles with small things - including talking to strangers {especially males} and unscripted conversations that aren't group conversations. I'm ok with this - she is working on it in her own way on her own timing. Our local home school center does a summer reading program. DD would like to participate {the kids earn $20 by reading 20 books, and possibly more if they win top reader} - except that you have to meet with a unknown volunteer {normally homeschool moms or teens} and discuss the book one on one with them. The kids also have to turn in a form with information from the book for each book. DD was in tears this morning - she wants to participate and earn her $20, but the mere thought of having to talk one on one with a volunteer was sending her into a full blown panic attack. I've offered for me to go with her, but it's the talking to a stranger that is giving her the hard time. This is the third year we've gone through this, and every year it's an issue because she wants to participate but can't handle doing so. And of course every time we go there in summer the staff ask if she is going to participate which normally equals a meltdown from her. Would I be totally out of line asking if they could accommodate her by allowing her to just turn in the form & not do the meetings? She's a strong reader - it's just her social skills that need working on. ETA: I'm struggling with deciding to ask for an accommodation because 1. The program is optional {though most local homeschool kids do participate} and 2. Dd's issues aren't readily apparent.

Okay after looking over my shelves again, I have a tentative plan! Still open to ideas so keep them coming please! History: Lifepac Grade 5 {I haven't been able to find anything cheaper that is still workbook based & really covers history the way I want to} with added historical fiction. Science: Human Anatomy Math: Ace Paces / Saxon 54 and Khan Academy. I *think* I can get dd up to 4th grade level in math if we work hard this summer, in which case she could go straight into Saxon 54. I know she'll hate it, but it is a very solid math program. Art: Artpac Language: Spanish {found Spanish for Children set on my shelf!} Language arts is still up in the air. I've looked at some of the free suggestions mentioned on this thread, and haven't found one that would work for us. I went back through my shelves again, and found the old Writing strands level 2 & 3 from the late 80's. I was tempted to use that, but when I started reading through the lessons it was confusing to me {and these were sections DD was supposed to do herself} so that is out. I also found Caught Ya: Grammar with a Giggle for middle schoolers - can anyone chime in on that program? It looks great, but I am not sure if it is supposed to be a program on it's own or used in conjunction with something else. I had found it at a thrift shop a while back and forgot about it. I also am eyeing the Spectrum Language arts 5th grade workbook - I can get it pretty cheaply on Amazon and it seems to cover everything I want covered this year. Maybe the two together? Are there any other subjects, in your opinion, that I need to add in?

So far my summer line-up is: Tacos {I brown a BUNCH of hamburger at once at night, then just reheat with proper spices added in the microwave} Walking tacos - same as above, but make with doritos / tortilla chips in a bowl Lunch meat sandwiches Cold cooked meats - chicken {I get the clearanced rotisserie chickens at walmart for $2.50 each}, beef, etc. Fish tacos - corn tortillas, fish takes maybe 15 minutes in our oven but could easily be made on a grill or toaster oven {we have neither} Cottage cheese fruit salad {cottage cheese, any flavor jello powder {I use strawberry}, crushed pineapple, canned fruit of choice, marshmallows and coolwhip all mixed together}. Very filling and yummy when it's hot Another thing I do in summer is flip our meals. We'll eat dinner for breakfast {when it's cooler}, and then breakfast foods like milk & cereal for dinner.

My dd and I are the same - we detest pasta salad. But both of us will gladly eat cold mac & cheese {the good kind} or cold alfredo with garlic - would those work for you?

I will check - we have a digital only library here that has a so-so selection. I'll look at Easy-Peasy again - I looked at it before and it seemed very disjointed. Spectrum LA is on my look-at list - I think our Barnes & Noble carries them. I probably can get a gift card to pay for them too, since Amazon has them as well. I'll look at this again. I saw a couple reviews that said it left sections of American History out {like Slavery} and had taken it off my maybe list.

Right now they aren't taking requests it seems. Looks like they haven't had requests open since early this spring. I was all ready to send in a request and found it when I checked their website for the address. She is - she actually is an excellent reader, but the amount of reading for school was killing her love for pleasure reading, which I feel is FAR more important than reading academic fiction. Maybe bogged down wasn't the right way to describe it. She was continually putting off school reading for things like American Girl, Happy Hollisters, Beverly Cleary, etc. On days when I strictly enforced school reading, afterwards she would complain she was bored but didn't feel like reading because she'd already done a bunch of reading for school.

I am, but we don't use it honestly. By the time I spend $5 a trip on city bus fare to get us there & back, plus the inevitable fines from returning books late due to illness / bad weather / I simply got too busy, it isn't cost effective for us. Plus the closest branch is in a public high school, so I tend to avoid it because I don't want dd exposed to the student's attitudes.

We started out with Climbing to Good English back in 1st, and then tried it again in 2nd. Both years dd got bogged down in it - it was simply too much bookwork for her. I'll look at the 5th grade program - maybe it's less bookwork.

DD will be doing 5th grade this fall. Trying to come up with a plan for what I'll be using, but I am working with almost no budget thanks to recent hail storms that destroyed multiple windows and our roof {and I have no insurance}. I do have some Amazon gift cards saved for Christmas that I could use if absolutely needed. SO - WWYD for a 5th grader that doesn't cost an arm & a leg? Needs to be open and go, no prep for me as I'm a super busy single mom with health issues. Not something that needs a ton of printing either. I used Sonlight until this past year when it just was too much reading for dd and she got bogged down in it. In a perfect world where I'm not out of the house half the time, it would have worked great, but with my busy schedule it was too many days off for dd to keep up with. DD has requested more workbook based materials - she prefers being able to just fill in the blanks and get it done. I was planning on putting in a request to the Book Samaritan, but it looks like they may have closed as their blog says "moving" and they haven't taken requests in months it seems. Here is what I have so far: Science ~ Apologia Human Anatomy {picked up for $5 at the used book sale} Math: Ace Paces 3rd grade / Saxon 54 1st edition and Khan Academy {We started Khan Academy 6 weeks ago and it truly has helped dd's lagging math skills} Art: Artpac Language Arts: ? {I need something that covers about a 5th/6th grade level AS WELL AS something that covers basic terms that dd doesn't get like nouns, verbs, pronouns, etc} History: ? {Needs to cover American History from colonial to modern as I'm trying to stick to the Sonlight cycle. I was going to get Lifepac Grade 5 history as I think it would work well for us since it's portable & a workbook, but haven't been able to find it in my budget} Our local convention is next week, so asking here first for ideas so I can preview if that publisher is in attendance. Language Arts: ? History: ? {Needs to cover American History from colonial to modern. I was going to get Lifepac Grade 5 history as I think it would work well for us since it's portable & workbook, but haven't been able to find it in my budget}

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Doesn't affect us, but wanted to post this in here. According to one of the class action website I frequent, there is a class action in the works for those who took the June test. No info yet, but worth keeping on your radar.

No Ideas, but I am following as we'll be doing Astronomy this fall as well.

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I do this too. My friend was shocked when I said my just turned 5yo was selling her outgrown toys to buy herself an American Girl doll. And even more shocked that I made dd split the profits with me 50/50 {I did all the selling portion, including all photos, meeting folks, etc - quite a bit of work}. DD sold enough toys in 2 months to buy the doll off ebay {yet another lesson in "buying used saves"}. DD {now almost 9} understands money wonderfully now, and that if you want to buy something & don't have the funds, there are ways to raise funds {including those outside of traditional jobs}.