Why are you waiting to age 6? letter sounds followed by combined letters sounds (phonics) is pre-reading.

My son is 11. He is never allowed to go to a restroom completely alone. I'll either go in, or stand guard outside the door. But, I live in Los Angeles are, and my work involve the sickness of society.

For math, pre-algebra wlll cover most of what you need. Much more to pre-alg than simply alg: pre-alg locks down your +. -. x, and x/y; fractions, decimals, and conversions, pos/neg #s, and basic geometry (terms, volume, area), and basic algebra expressions. Then an algebra 1 class (certainly, if you are in CA). Try an online class. Classes are reasonably priced, can do it in the middle of the night, and can replay until you understand. For pre-algebra, I have no problems recommending Thinkwell ( about $120 for a year, though regularly on 1/2 price at Homeschoolbuyerscoop) . For algebra 1, my son enjoyed TW. The board has many other opinions on algebra.

Ahead of the posse.

i went the cc route a long time ago. No choice--poor grades, low sat, no money. In California, just have to be 18 to enter. Then the UC/ Cal State transferable classes are clearly identified. Guaranteed transfer from a California cc to UC/Cal State systems with 60 transferable credits, and appropriate gpa. None of the high school stuff required or mattered. Worked for me. Ended up turning down a Berkeley transfer for a private equivalent. In retrospect, if I could have entered the university I attended as a freshman, I would not have chosen the cc route. For me, there were social issues entering as a junior. Also, I learned the hard way that the writing requirements for cc classes were way lower.

Brave man.

Try the Middle School Years, Michelle Hernandez. Good info on study tips, note taking, and organization, and how to read a textbook, and the importance of reading ahead before the class. I started using her suggestions a year ago with the 6th grader. I've also given copies to struggling college students.

A copy of Dr. Ruth's WHERE DID I COME FROM? has been around the house for years. I know that my son has read it several times because it is often moved about. Now that he is 11, probably time to move up to the boy's body book. ordered today. thanks.

With the 6th grader, we use a Khan explanation only as the 3rd or 4th option.

Private schools have non-stop fundraising. We donate, buy, contribute to all causes. The money is used to stock the library, and hire coaches, art and music teachers

Last semester, the then 5th grader did the writing class. We thought the class and material (Spilling Ink) pushed his skills. He showed great improvement. But, a writing class probably allows for a more individualized program than a science class would.

We signed up for the free subscription. Unfortunately, turns out to be too general and a little young for the 6th grader. Another poster referenced Bozeman science videos (free also). perfect for 6th grade science and higher.

RebeccaMary, thanks for the Bozeman science tip. My 6th grader just finished a text chapter on plate tectonic, then watched the corresponding Bozeman video. Everything in the text was covered and well explained.

My 11 y.o. son (6th gr) must be in bed, lights out at 9:30. Wake up is at 6:30, and out the door at 7:00 for school.

coursera has beginning python throug python certification at low /little cost.

This summer was less about education and more about developing independence for my new 6th grader. He spent three weeks at a CTY residential program. Then a week with out of town relatives, and flew home as an unaccompanied minor (1st time). Then off to an away summer camp for a couple of weeks.

Are you using Wordly books or on-line? We started with the books, then discovered the online. Much more engaging with pronunciation, and auto grading. Into our second year of online. My son loves it. Regularly on 1/2 price sale at Homeschool coop. btw, The subscription is per year, so you can easily get two grade levels completed during the period.

Another poster, in the past few days, referenced Holt textbooks site go.hw.com. There is a "HOMEWORK HELP" section. Additional hw problems x-referenced to the video class. This takes away the concern I am having with the amount of practice problems with TW. .

Deliberate exclusion, even if it doesn't appear that way (and girls can be slick and deceptive, so that adults don't always get what's going on). Always leaving the same child last to be picked for gym teams (but haha, those same kids picked me first every time we had to do a group project). Starting the Blond Haired Girls Club. (Or whatever -- I made that one up.) Purposely flaunting parties that obviously included all but one or a couple of kids. You had a sleepover with five of your closest gal pals, out of a class of 20 girls? Okay, not that big of a deal if the others overhear about it, if you're not deliberately flaunting it; you're not required to be best friends with every kid in the class. You had a sleepover with 17 of the girls and made a huge show of talking about it in front of the two who weren't invited? That's being a bully, IMO. (ETA: These things aren't necessarily bullying; they can just be rude and mean. When they're parts of an ongoing dynamic, especially targeted at specific other kids, then they're bullying behaviors.) i just resolved this last semester with my then 5th grader. He attended one of the excellent private schools in our area. Walk on campus, the kids are so polite, never any commotion. Did not have any clue that my son was having problems., until I realized his birthday/xmas gift money was missing. He had started to giving it to some kids in school. Turns out, that a few of "rich" kids ( as in driven to school in Bentleys and Maserattis) very quietly controlled the social dynamics of his grade. They picked the teams that played at recessed, picked each other to pair for team projects, did not attend his parties, and told the other kids who to talk to. Basically they locked arms to bar him from entering their chosen circle. My son was giving money to the kids on the fringe of this group--"the ones closest to liking him." The school handled it very well when brought to their attention. Things didchange immediately change. . But I am still upset that I did not realize it sooner. In retrospect, the problem had been going on for years, and came to a head with the missing money. My son just did not understand that he was being quietly bullied, so he could not seek help sooner.

This is interesting. A few years ago, I had a double oven installed as part of small upgrade to all stainless steel kitchen. At the time, I got a large ss countertop toaster over. I have yet to use the built-in ovens. The countertop one has handled all our needs. Have not even used it for the holiday turkeys because these get smoked. . The ovens are now convenient storage cabinets. sigh.

My new 6th grader did Athena Academy last semester and loved it. I liked the structure of the class.

I've been involved with a now college sophomore since he was in the 4th grade. However, under the dynamics of the situation, I have little say or control which is why i cannot help resolve the problem unless I can present something more than my hunch. He has always been an A student in public school. But, standardized tests have always been mixed. Strong in materials covered, very weak in the stretch questions. SAT above average but not great. Poor AP scores even though A's in the classes. He shows little interest in the world around him. Since he stopped reading those Stine scary stories around 4th grade, he has not read a single thing that was not assigned at school. No newspapers, magazines, comics, books. He does not watch tv, tv news. If he is given little food on his plate, he does not ask for more. If given way too much, he will eat it all. We have to constantly remind him to greet people, even relatives. This is more than a teenage phase, as we have always had to remind him. When he meets new people, and people are fawning over him (You are so tall, you look so handsome), he is engaged and people will comment how polite he is. But when not being fawned over, he changes. Here are a few other examples of his behavior: a couple a years ago (when he was taking calculus), we had a hamster. I asked how far that hamster would run in the wheel in a minute. He said 3 miles. I tried to have him talk it out. He could not explain how to solve the problem. When we started giving him chores at 15, he spent 20 minutes trying to drape a flat unopened bag over the trash can. I had to show him to open the bag at the top and to stretch it around the rim. Give him a tool such as a screwdriver or hammer, he holds them with two fingers like poop diapers. When it was time for college recommendations letters, teacher more or less had him write them, because they knew little about him (even though he was an A student with great attendance). Other than running, he has no interest in sports. Does not watch, does not play. Does not even watch track events. He keeps things tidy. Does not seem to threw anything away. Gifts go unopened for years. they just sit unmoved on the shelf. Have no clue as to how smart he is because he doesn't join in any conversation. I have never heard him ask a question. You would not know he has traveled extensively throughout the U.S., because he never ever brings up anything about the trips. Can spend a whole day in a car without him saying a single word. He does not react to anything outrageous. I joke that if a parade of naked clowns were marching down our street, he would tell no one about it. The others involved in our dynamics don't share my concern. They say I don't understand him or that he is shy. But now, that he is struggling in college there might be an opening to help him. thanks

I have only used the physic (solar) kit and was not impressed. The writing was way over the head of my then 5th grader, but still would not consider it sufficient for a text/class substitute.. .the materials were limited, cheap feeling and not easy to manipulate into anything other than their examples. Did not compare to a good Erector set..

On most rc passage tests of exams that I am familiar (isee, ssat, cpt/erb) , the last question for each passage is usually the inference question, and will have the word "infer", ."inference" as part of the question. There are usually 4 options. 2 answers typically have nothing to do with the passage. Then there is is the conclusion answer that is so tempting because it contains accurate information from the passage (conclusion/summary), but is not an inference. That leaves the correct inference answer. At first, these questions are hard to handle because your child has to learn to resist the seemingly correct conclusion answer, to pick the subtle inference answer. When I was working with my son, I taught him "inference" means think. Took a year of practice before he could reliably do this under test pressure.

If you mean that he misses the last question on an passage test--the inference question, remember that rc testing is a test trap. try taking passages from upper level ssat, isee, or psat preparation materials. You will have to work with him to resist the conclusion answer (bird wings come in many shape and sizes), to pick the inference answer (animals adapt to their environment). I worked with my new 6th grader a year before he got it. it takes practice to do this under test pressure.