My son will be studying Biology for science this year. He'll also be studying American History. Does anyone have recommendations for something that is easy to understand for the biology and something more indepth for Am. History? Thanks so much!

We live in a suburb of St. Paul, Mn. We recently moved from a much more rural area where we were paying a lot less for housing then we're paying currently. So, to me, the cost of living here is high. We went from a 1700 sq. ft house with 5 bed/2 baths on acreage, to a 1300 sq. ft. house with 3 bed/2 baths in a suburb and we almost doubled our rent payment. Granted, there is MUCH more to get out and do/see here, so I'm not complaining.

Ours is anywhere between 17-20%. We're a family of six, with 2 teen boys that eat a lot.

UPDATE: I was able to find a used tm for MFW. OhElizabeth was also nice enough to send me one of the books that I need. So, the plan is to buy the other books used as I need them (probably three months at a time). Thanks for all of your suggestions!

My boys are teens, so no little kid type whining, more like teen whining. It's different, but annoying none the less!

TY, but he did Biology last year. I think this year would be physics or chemistry. Can't recall which one atm.

You're right there...I do really like the curriculum and have been using it since 2006. You have some good ideas there. I did happen to find a used TM for $55, just waiting to hear back from the person selling it. Then, I thought I would buy the books used when they're needed (probably do a three month buy).

Thank you so much, Lori! This beyond helpful and very kind of you to walk me through. I've been going through a lot of big changes over the last few months (dh lost his job, found another 4 hours away, moved to the suburbs when we're used to living a very rural lifestyle). So, to say that I really appreciate your kindness, I mean it. Now, with having to work outside the home while hsing...WHEW. Sorry to go on and on...

Another thing that I'm looking at is, my ds wants to do PSEO after this year. So, he could very well end up taking PSEO classes and the rest of the classes that he needs to graduate. He is thinking of being a dental hygenist and looking at the college where he'd go to get his certificate, he will need to take some biology, chemistry, and english with his PSEO before he can take the dental hygenist courses. So, if he goes in that direction, I take it he'll be doing those prerequisites along with the courses he needs to graduate high school. I think I got that right anyway!

I was slightly dumbfounded reading that we don't have to go by the public schools credits to graduate. It's a whole new concept to me. It also helps us, because, with MFW, he has credit for ancient history from last year and *if* we continue with MFW this year, he will have a world history credit too. But, if he does PSEO (which he's intending to do), we wouldn't have the US history credit that the ps system says that he needs to graduate.

I was wondering if it has any merit. It basically says that we, as homeschoolers, determine what credits our high schoolers need to graduate, not the public school system. Here's the link....https://homeschoolers.org/homeschooling-info/teens/ Look under the Graduation heading. Obviously, colleges require certain credits, but is it true that we don't have to follow specifically what the public schoolers need to graduate?

Many wonderful ideas. My mind is on over-load right now, so I will need to come back and dig deeper later on. I'm also starting a part time job and hsing three other kids besides my high schooler, so I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. I do have another question about hsing high school, but will go start a new thread. Thank you!

My oldest ds will be a 10th grader this year. We have always used MFW, but this year it doesn't look like we'll have the funds for the next level (it's $442 new). Not sure what to do next. I know that Easy Peasy has a high school level and I've looked at it, but I'm not sure it's for us. I know he could do free public school on-line, but I've heard horrible things about it. We have math taken care of and I can probably swing money for a used Apologia book, but I'm at a loss for history. Last year he did Ancient history with MFW. He will continue to take German on duolingo. Looks like I'm really looking for social studies (American history, economics, gov't, or geography) and language arts. Ideas? Thanks!!

We moved to the area one month ago and really want to meet other hsing families! There's a co-op that meets not to far from us, but my kids want to find friends to hang out with. So, anyone out there that would be willing to meet at a park or something to hang out once every couple of weeks or so? I have four kids, two boys (15 and 13 years old) and two girls (almost 10 and almost 5 years old). The boys are the ones that are having a harder time finding other teens to connect with. Don't get me wrong, the girls would love to meet more kids too! If no one wants to or can meet up, do you know of others that might? I would appreciate any heads up! Thank you!

Oh boy! I've been dealing with prolapses for years. To make a long story short, I ended up with severe rectal, uterine, and bladder prolapses. I used a pessary for three years before it started making me bleed when I was at all active. So, surgery was next on the list. I basically had everything put back in place with sutures. I had the surgery mid Jan of this year and so far, so good. It was a pretty good recovery period, but I'm feeling like myself now. Living with prolapses is no quality of life, that's for sure. Take care of yourself. Remember, it doesn't hurt to at least try a pessary first. Yes, it takes some getting used to at first (with putting it in and taking it out), but once you're used to it, it's not a big deal. Hope I helped a little!

My (in a week) 10 year old daughter is playing softball. We just moved to the area, so we're still searching for other things, but for now, it's ok. We've also gone to many parks, many walks, practiced catching the softball. She's been playing with her sister a lot too. There are a lot of summer rec things to do, BUT they all cost, most of them cost quite a bit.

He's never been strong in math and it only seems to be getting tougher for him. We really can not afford a tutor (dh is laid off for the winter) and the only person that I know who I would even think of approaching for free help would be my mom, but she's going through chemo, so that's usually out. That being said, I've been looking into different programs with my ds today. He really likes the text/workbook ones that lay everything out (like CLP and APlus). We might be going in that direction. We were doing Teaching Textbooks until this year, then he hit a wall, so we tried Khan. I'm thinking part of the problem might be the style (video lecture) that he struggles with. It's probably only a small part, but if something else works better, I'm all for it. He's given much consideration (already) about his future and he's come to two conclusions. He wants to stay away from a traditional 4 year college to keep his debit down. He also wants to keep the math that he'll need to take to a minimum. Basically, he's looking at getting a certificate or two year degree at the local community college. I really appreciate all of your thoughts and suggestions. If anyone has anything else to add, please feel free!

I know that he's not keeping a notebook of his work. He uses a the option of "writing" on the problem. He is watching the videos, but I don't think he's taking notes.

My 9th grader is using Khan Academy for Algebra 1. It's a big struggle with him and I'm NO help. I didn't even finish algebra in high school. The thing that's keeping him from progressing is the fact that he can't remember all the steps in the problems. Is there somewhere on line that I could print something off that would lay out the different problems step-by-step?

Ok, we're from MN, but this summer we'll be traveling to the Grand Canyon in AZ and the southern California coastline (Long Beach maybe? Need help with where exactly). We only plan on spending a day at the Canyon, so I want to make it count. From there, we'll be going to Cali and spending a couple of days there. I am at a loss as to what part of the Canyon to go see. I also am up in the air about WHERE on the southern Cali coastline to visit and what is a must see/do while we're there. We're on a budget, so no Disney or Seaworld for us! Suggestions?

I've been searching for a list that that references American Girl books by year. Does anyone know where I can find something like that? I think it would make learning early American history more interesting for my 7 year old dd.

Today was my kids' first full day of school (we started doing math/writing two weeks ago). It was great! They were done before lunch, and after lunch they looked up drawing tuts on youtube, read about how the government works, and did a made up science exp. All of it on their own accord, no prompting from me. Now to me, *that's* magical! I love seeing how they learn all the time. To them it's a life style and they DON'T hate it :).

Nope, I can't either. In fact, last year, a friend was talking about how she see's pictures in her mind and I was like, "Say what?". I had never heard of anyone doing so up until then. Now from reading some of these replies, I feel like a freak :(.

Just have to say...did anyone watch the Summer Fling video by Willow Smith? OMGosh!! She's 12 for pete's sake! I have a 12 year old ds and if he was going around acting like he's hot to trot, there'd be HELL to pay. Just sayin'... EWWW!

Thanks for the replies. He currently takes zinc, fish oil, ginko, b6, and magnesium. He's been taking them for concentration, and they're working. Now I need to work on the poor kids stress. Every little thing stresses him out. I try to be understanding, but I get fed up. Maybe I will find a homeopathy in the area.