The exact reasons that J-rap gave.

Sent my dd to eighth grade. I second all of the advice given. We made her complete 12 weeks of full time public school. She was so far ahead academicly that was literally bored to tears. So, we ended up having her only going to the last two periods of the day. That was the perfect amount of time for us to complete home school work at home in the morning, a nice lunch at home, and she had her friends and social time at public school in the afternoon. She rode the school bus home so I was not driving back and forth all day. This work out so well for my dd that we are continuing this for high school. Three credits in public and four credits at home.

It is true that you would not be able to use the questions that are directly related to the novels assigned. But, you can easily replace those questions with her own written journal entry. Beautiful Feet can be quite time consuming. I sometimes have to whittle away some of the work off the lessons. So, not having to answer every question in the lesson may be a blessing in disguise. About the unit study of horse breeds. It would easy to assign new novels. For instance, The King of the Wind focus on the breed, Arabian. That horse was brought to England and became one of the founding horses that became the breed called the Thoroughbred. So, I would replace that book with Seabiscuit or Secretariat. I I would replace Brighty with the novel Captain which is also about a donkey. But, I would not kill my self trying to match the books. Having the drawing and breed study separate from the novels would not harm the study. If horses are truly her passion, this study would be off the chain.

I would in a heartbeat. But, I would exchange the fiction titles with higher reading level novels. For example, Sea Biscuit: An American Legend, War Horse, The Eighty Dollar Champion: Snowman, Captain, and lots of books on Secretariat. There is a ton of great horse novels.

Well, my idea of having my Dd schedule her own curriculum is working out beautifully. She has taken full ownership for her own education. She has joy, interest, and pride in her work. She writes down her daily lesson plan, I read and approve it, and then she completes it. I do require her to complete one math lesson daily, one lesson in Writing & Rhetoric completed each week, and she works on one of her core books; right now she is completing her Spectrum Science. Her typical day looks like this: Her and I read our daily devotions, read alouds are read, and any other "teacher mom" thing I need to do. She completes her math lesson. Works on Writing & Rhetoric for 30 minutes. Completes on lesson in Spectrum Science. Lunch 1-3 pm. She reads poetry, classical literature, Bulfinch's Mythology, Shakespeare, Latin, and Spanish. Her afternoons are very literature rich. I would never assign her such difficult works or the quantity she assigns herself. But she is thriving on it. I have to be honest that it has been very hard for me to let go of the scheduling; I'm a very type A person. But, it also has been very freeing when the panic and self doubt of not being in "total" control isn't fluttering in my brain. It kind of scary to see your child totally rise to the occasion and not really need you. I'm seeing a glimpse of what she will be like as an adult and I'm very proud of her. She is organized, fully invested in what she is learning, and she has a strong work ethic. But, she is still a teenager. So, I will be lurking in the shadows, waiting to be there when she needs me.

My experiment with Monkey letting her write her own schedule is mostly a success. But, I've noticed the small amount of work that I want done(Tiner's Exploring Earth, Writing & Rhetoric, and math) are not getting done. I think I need to have these subjects completed first before she starts her own schedule.

Bzymama- I am on the camp that says let him just read books. If it's a book he is excited about it; ask him questions. Not teacher mom questions; but, genuine questions. Make sure you go on weekly library trips and let him pick his books. I have done a lot of research to find for my child good books based on her own picks; but don't get offended if they still don't want to read them because mom picked them out. Another way I have got her to read a book, is by me reading the first few chapters aloud. Then I hand her the book and it's her choice to finish it. About 12, my daughter was ready to begin to learn foreshadowing, allusion, and all those other literature devices. Now, at 13, she is shifting it in high gear and is enjoying getting to the meat of a good book. But, I don't think she would be where she is today if I would of pushed comprehension questions and book reports. That is what has work in our home.

Unfortunately, those Peanut Butter Cups were not mini's; but, full sized cups.

We love using Victor's Journey Through the Bible, Concordia self-study Bible, and an Atlas during Bible times. Perfect amount to read, it's divided into small lessons, and we are both learning and gaining new insights. Most kids 10 or up could easily do this on their own. If I had my Dd do this on her own I would require her to write a summary, or a verse which stood out, or a picture, or a narration.

Thanks to daylight savings, we were starving at 11am. I also ate eight Peanut Butter Cups. Did you know that Disney's Lion King was loosely modeled after Hamlet? A small discussion if it is morally right or wrong to be killed by a Roman god or goddess if you are more skilled than that god or goddess. SQUIRREL!

For school this week, I am only requiring Dd five lessons of CLE Math, finish the last five chapters of Tiner's Exploring Planet Earth( she loved his one on medicine, but almost hated this one??), and one lesson of Writing & Rhetoric. The rest she has to fill in from the curriculum on our shelves. This worked beautifully for both her and me last week. We still do Bible together and our couch time in the morning. That reminds me that I need to switch out our book basket to a more thanksgiving theme.

Jean- that's crazy. I always wonder why people do what they do.

Problem solved. Told dd that it was teacher's in service and she was responsible for the rest of the week. She sat down and planned a three day schedule and it is Momma approved. She has a bounce in her step and I'm going to try and get that guest room painted and completed.

Today was good, not great. School got done. Attitudes were acceptable for both her and I. But, I feel something missing. I can't put my finger on it. I don't know. She is learning and gaining new skills. She is happy; I should be content. Maybe, for the rest of the week I'll let her unschooled. Maybe, I need a short week. Teacher's in service. I need another cup of coffee.

Got to go wake up my sleeping beauty, or school will never get started.

Complete: Math Geography Writing Frankenstein Latin Laundry: washed, dried, put away Dinner in the crockpot Dishes done Need to go grocery shopping, but can't get motivated.

Maybe just the Greek roots.

Soror- we also went on a small nature hike in a wood ducks sanctuary. It was just a two mile hike, but we saw woodpeckers, frogs, and lots of interesting animal tracks in the mud. The foliage was brilliant and we couldn't complain about the gorgeous weather. Critter- I can relate to the old animals scenario. The majority of my sheep in my flock are 14 going on 15 years old. We have a sheep pass every month or so. But, as the sheep get older, the frequency is increasing. My mom was attack by their cat this week, resulting in her needing ten stitches in one finger. Even with the doctor's valorous effort to clean the wound, it became infected. So, we will be going over to her house today to cook Sunday dinner. School wise, everything is planned and ready. Dd will finish Frankenstein which she has announced it is her all time favorite book in the World.

Busy "social" week for us. Husband's birthday, dd started a new youth group, chess club, teen cooking club, and I'm starting a once a month group where homeschoolers share there projects, writing, memory work, or any other schoolwork to their peers. Dd really needs to work on her public speaking. Moms seem a lot more excited than the kids. We will be meeting at a local library. We will see how it goes. I'm trying to set up the first meeting in November. Besides all that social activity, schoolwork has been getting done. Her focus came back. Dd is so excited that she is in book 707 in CLE math, half way done. She also so excited that she is not struggling with any of the concepts and she feels like she's learning a lot. Good for her. Math use to make her cry and feel stupid. She still doesn't love it. But the tears are gone. She is loving Frankenstein. We have been using Sparknotes for analysis and discussion. Also, John Green has a crash coarse video on it. Today for school will probably only a half day. Nothing big. I really need to finish a half painted guest bedroom, but I don't see that happening today.

My child thrives on routine and she stresses out if she doesn't know the schedule. I on the other hand would love to unschooled. So, what our school looks like is this. Monkey is in bed by 9-9:30pm Monkey wakes up about 7am and she makes her breakfast. As she does this and eats, I read our Bible lesson. This is also the time If I need to read like a poem, or newspaper article, or anything else before her independent studies starts. She starts her independent studies of Math, Latin, Spanish, writing, and literature or language arts. If she is not reading a book the she uses that time to do her language arts. She is very independent, but she is very good about getting my attention if she needs help. At noon, we stop all work and have lunch and watch previously recorded The Daily Show and the Steven Cobert show. Then from 1pm-3pm she finishes any independent studies and works on science, history, and or geography, her choice. At 3pm, school stops. That's our schedule. What helps us is that we homeschool all year round. That's our saving grace. It gives us the time for those days when no matter how long she stares at her book, it doesn't get done. Also, what helps us, is that in the beginning of the school year I determine the bare minimum that I want to completely accomplish, nothing extra. When those are completed, then we do the extra until the new school year starts. It takes a lot of the stress off. For the talking during the school lesson, she is an only child, so no problem there. But, we can both be pretty chatty at times and we are both guilty about chatting about non school subjects.

Completed: Bible Two chapters of Frankenstein read and discussed One lesson in Spectrum Science One lesson in CLE Math Needs to be completed: Lesson in Writing and Rhetoric I have organized all this morning the emergency preparedness. I live in an area where we lose our power a lot. So, I like to get it done before the first big storm hits. Also, I like to be prepared because my husband's job requires him to respond to emergencies; therefore, Monkey and I are always on our own. Almost panic, I could not find my fireplace percolated coffee pot. Coffee makes it all better!

I'm very happy this year that I have plans to combat those doldrums without completely changing everything in our curriculum. For instance, for her science I used a vintage book called Fall is Here! and I matched it with topics in the Spectrum Science. It changes it almost like a unit study and not just chugging along with the same old, same old. It makes October's curriculum a little bit more special. For November, for history we will change it very slightly by using Child Craft's Indian book with the units on Indians in the Critical Thinking Ancient History book. Each month, I slightly change a resource we are using and make it a small unit study. It helps it make it a little more fresh and something new to focus on.

Going slow. Until that brain reboots. No schedules. Just one subject at a time. It's not going to be a long day, Daddy is only working a half day. I'm looking forward to the weekend. Good news. A coworker of my husband gave us a almost new Keurig machine. Hope everyone's day go smoothly.

Not going too fast here. Poor dd her adolescent brain is giving her some problems. She wants to focus on her work but her brain won't let her. I can tell she really wants to complete her work so I'm going to cut her work load until her brain starts working again. Wonderful part of it that she is seeing the "funny" side of it and not letting the angry, frustrated teen monster out.

Going pretty good so far. Bible, science, and Frankenstein done. Attitudes of both parties are good. Weather is beautiful.