This thread developed at the perfect time for me -- thank you, all, for making it happen! I took several days (over Christmas, lol) to read through it, chase down a few links, and let things sink in. My own opinion is that I am a naturally extremely organized person who can't organize / tackle / take care of things fast enough to keep up with the tasks, projects, and paperwork of a busy homeschooling household. Especially as, until very recently, I always shoehorned in plenty of personal pursuits that took my time, energy, and interest. Er, recently I started grad school, hmm. This is SO TRUE. After reading "Hamlet's Blackberry", I acknowledged that in order to create more thinking (and doing) time, it was time to restrict my tech use. The first, very effective decision was to stay off the laptop until the very end of my morning personal time, check email quickly, then get off until lunchtime. It really increased my effectiveness in the rest of my life, and made me more careful with my laptop time, too. I also made the realization early in the semester that I can't spend hours on one project; instead, work on it for an hour (or whatever), and then set it aside and come back the next time I schedule / find time for it. Again this made me more effective with the time I did spend on a project. In truth, I am a tech-oriented person in a tech-oriented household. For general organizing and tools, partway through this first semester of library school it became clear to me that I needed a digital, portable to-do list again (like on my Palm PDA years ago), and maybe some sort of notes app as well. Ideally they would both be "in the cloud" so I can use them on my iPad away from home (basic smartphone only), and on my laptop at home. After some tinkering, I am pretty happy with Remember the Milk for to-dos, with a Google Calendar link, and Evernote for general notes (still exploring that, as I have time). I totally use Google Calendar with lots of calendars for the various aspects of the household. At the moment I'm using the iPad apps Remember the Milk, Evernote, and Calendars by Readdle (better Google calendar interface), and on my laptop I use my browser to get to Google Calendars with a Remember the Milk add-on, and Evernote on the Web. Thanks to this thread, I also started working on a better solution for my ds12's homeschool assignments. I've always created paper checklists for six-week periods, but this year it has been incredibly hard to sit down and do that. I wondered if I could somehow use Google Calendar, especially as I already use it for everything else calendar related AND my son has a Gmail address and an iPod Touch, so he could look at his calendar on the computer and on his Touch. After some research and tinkering this morning, I settled on a new Google calendar just for his homeschool assignments, with each type of assignment (math lesson, history reading, ...) as a repeating event. The setup was so fast! Now I will do my standard divide the rest of the curriculum by the number of school days left, and set up the daily assignments for the next 4-6 weeks. That's as long as we can go before I assess and adjust for where he is behind or ahead of pace. What a relief. Anyway, thanks for this great thread. I am excited to work with these organizing tools so they help me tend my life.

You could try Quizlet.com -- and check out the sets I've collected in my "German at home" group to help my son who is trying to finish (sigh) German Online 2. My username at Quizlet.com is BarbaraEll. I love Quizlet, by the way.

I'm considering using it for a 1-2 month naked-eye/historical astronomy focus for my 7th-grade son, with supplemental books we own: 365 Starry Nights, North Star to Southern Cross, and some reading about astronomers & astronomy in history. (Other months: botany in garden & field, backyard birds, geology of our state, weather.) I'm not sure we'd follow it as a curriculum given our abbreviated timespan anyway, but to me it would need supplementation to be a semester or year of science. I believe the author put together a lab supplement that he says is necessary for it to be a *high school* course.

My son is older, but I let him choose the topic for the week. He would choose, do the game(s) and the worksheets, and then we discussed the topic. In general. Btw, he's 16. It was interesting to me that my 16yo quickly found the shortest games to be the least interesting, so he really had to put a little time into it in order to enjoy the time!

My 16yo son will be entering public high school as a junior this fall here in Oklahoma (because he really wants to, and we decided to support him in this). Our state requires that students coming from an unaccredited situation be tested on the coursework they have done in order to receive credit — no grade, but credit on the public school transcript. He needs 11 recognized credits to be considered a junior. Every level of public school in your state can add regulation, I bet; it's true in Oklahoma. It's complicated, but I'll try to relay what I've learned over the last several weeks. Why does one need credit, and why 11 to start as a junior? Well, basically, in order to graduate, as far as I can tell. If one didn't care about graduating from the high school, and simply wanted to do 1-3 years of high school, it seems as though one could do that — though the school wouldn't understand and it would be a struggle. There seem to be at least two sets of requirements for all high school students in Oklahoma, all of which the school thinks you need to meet: 1. Credits needed to graduate -- 23, allocated to specific areas (4 English, 3 math, etc.). Also, credit requirements to be considered a sophomore, junior, or senior. I'm not sure why this matters, other than priority in class enrollment, being on track to graduate, and maybe because it's easier to not fight the system on everything. 2. Tests passed to graduate -- seven (7) End of Instruction Tests, of which at least five must be taken and passed at the 60% level, completely independent of the grades, exams, etc., in the actual classes. This is to meet federal requirements (No Child Left Behind, etc) as put into state law and regulations. These tests are now part of the graduation requirements in our state. Here in Oklahoma, for a homeschooler entering public high school, it looks like this: 1. Credits for previous coursework: Oklahoma's laws & regulations say that students entering high school from an unaccredited situation must take tests for any coursework for which they would like to receive credit. At our high school, there are eight (8) subject tests available for homeschoolers to receive credit, most of which are the EOI tests. The standard is the same as for EOI testing: a 60% score or better (!). Enough credits to be a junior (11): At our high school, there are 8 tests for credit…. Not enough for an entering junior. In my son's case, they will accept his two years of German Online through the state university for 2 more credits, and we are looking at ways for him to earn the 11th credit relatively easily. It looks as though he will either take a district-offered world history online course at our expense to make up the "missing" credit OR take the world history proficiency exam aiming for a 90% so he can receive credit without taking the course (an option available to all students for all courses). 2. End of Instruction Tests for graduation: Oklahoma's dept of education has issued specific guidelines for homeschoolers entering public school. We can substitute sufficient scores on alternate tests, if we have them, for any of the EOI tests. In my son's case, his PSAT scores meet the standards to substitute for the EOI tests for Algebra 1&2, Geometry, and English 2&3 — five of the seven EOI tests. So here's the fun part. I am making an appointment with the district director of secondary education to make my case that my son's PSAT scores "demonstrate proficiency" (the state legal and regulatory language) sufficient to waive those five EOI tests, and therefore they should grant him credit for the related coursework done at home. Wish me luck. If we can get credit by PSAT, he will only take tests for U.S. history (from 1868), freshman biology, and physical science. Hey, we're homeschoolers, we question authority. :lol: Research tips: My research included scouring the websites of the state department of education and board of education (especially looking for "promotion", "transfer", "nonaccredited", and, interestingly, "accreditation" — as in, the accreditation requirements for the public schools). Then I poured over the websites of the local school district, local board of education, and the high school itself. I talked at length, twice, with the school counselor, the second time in person with printed documents from my research AND a printed list of my son's courses to date with credits and his PSAT scores. Final thought: My younger son has always wanted to go to high school. We are now planning that he will enter in 9th grade (none of the above even applies!), or, better, in 10th grade (especially if he takes the PSAT in 9th grade and can waive several EOIs, hey, why not).

Hahaha! ... though I can't decide whether I think it's funny because I have studied too much math, or too little (and therefore don't know what I'm talking about) :blushing: The last math class I took was complex analysis, during grad work in meteorology. A friend did the abstract algebra route, and that stuff was incredibly baffling to me. There's a LOT of mathematics.

Thanks, Margaret! We've tried to back off from our automatic "do everything" stance for involvement in anything, as it was clearly too demanding. Yet again our firstborn gets to be the one we learn on! Of course there are other complicating factors -- various troop changes and frustrations, DH and myself attempting to advocate for boy-led and patrol method, a cohort of 16/17yo boys under the thumb of their patrols' adult advisors, those same boys losing/having lost interest in Scouts, etc. I'm trying to encourage our son to finish up the little he has left for the next rank (Star), but I'm losing hope that he will stay in Scouts after that. We'd change troops, but that is too big a change for DS with his tenuous connection to Scouting. SIGH.

Yep. (I read the entire Guide to Advancement when it came out last fall.) Our troop doesn't have established expectations, so in our son's case... hmm.

The October 2011 Guide to Advancement seems to allow more flexibility, not less, in how a Scout meets the requirement to be active. There seems to be a good summary of the changes at ScoutRoom.net, especially this: This year my 16yo son has not been an active Scout in his father's definition -- attend every patrol meeting and activity, every troop activity, every troop service project, and as many Eagle project as possible -- but after four years of meeting my husband's definition, DS was pretty burned out on doing everything among many Scouts who did a lot less. This past year DS was a den chief, went directly from den meetings to catch the end of most patrol meetings that lasted long enough (arrgh), worked on at least one merit badge, and did some troop campouts and a service project. How much is enough? Hmm.

Thanks for the responses! Good points! After laundry, which I'm finally splitting with the boys, the most effective thing for us is a fully stocked pantry and plenty of meals planned, so that's high on my priority list (to get there and stay there month after month!). I'm testing more slow cooker recipes, and this summer I'm going to slot in my husband cooking once a week and my sons learning a few go-to dinner recipes too. My husband has told the boys more than a few times, "We'll have to chip in more when Mom starts school." This year has brought a sea change in our family that was necessary for me to be able to imagine grad school. The key is that our youngest child reached some sort of maturity tipping point, and is now doing a lot of his studies on his own, with daily conferences with me. In addition, our oldest began learning to drive and is getting his driver's license this week. Suddenly we have a lot more flexibility in all sorts of ways. We have at least a year to go before I'd go full time, so I think the demands on us will be workable. Hmm. It sounds as though my thinking is pretty much on target, then: I will need to start using my time very, very well. With my research to figure out the whole grad school thing, various related meetings, putting together my application, and auditing a class this spring, I've started "upping my game". I'll continue this summer -- auditing a short, intense course in history of science (and practicing my read-a-book/article skills!), and then prepping for the French proficiency exam (better now than as a full-time student!), as well as dejunking a few key corners of the house and taking care of various "someday" things that are going to wait three-plus years if they don't get done pretty soon. Again, hmmm. If anyone has further comments, experiences, suggestions, I really appreciate hearing a variety of perspectives. It helps me figure out what I'm missing and what is at least somewhat on target.

My application is in, and I should hear soon on whether I'm admitted to library school at the in-town Big University for the MLIS program to start this fall. All indications are that they will most definitely admit me. This fall I'll submit my application for the MA in history of science program at the same school, to start the following fall. They offer a dual master's degree, and I would love-love-love to do it. So... Anyone have experience in attending grad school while homeschooling? Or doing something else that's a similar commitment of time and energy? Tips, suggestions, warnings, advice, ........? I'll have one son homeschooling, for 7th through 9th grade during grad school, and the other son at public school for the first time, for 11th & 12th grade, and then starting college. At first I expected to continue homeschooling both sons, but my older son wants to attend the public high school and we decided to support him in that. My first year I'll take 1 or 2 classes. If I get a graduate assistantship working 20 hours a week in a campus library, I can do 2 classes. These are library school classes, and almost all are online -- no in-class schedule commitment. If the history of science program accepts me, my second grad year will be very busy, with 3 classes and a ton of reading and writing. The next year will be mostly thesis work, a library school class or two, and the library school exams. One of the reasons this seems possible to me is that my sons are now doing their own laundry, doing their daily chores with little nagging and no re-doing on my part, and seem not unwilling to learn to cook specific dinners for the family! Another reason is that I feel really comfortable with our homeschooling track and what that will look like over the next several years. What did you learn, what did you wish you'd known, how did your family adjust, ...?

I just have to share. I wonder if there are other grad school student/homeschooling moms here, whether done in the past, doing now, or in the future? Here's my transformation. In the span of about eight weeks I have turned into a grad school applicant whose older son, 16yo, has decided he wants to go to public school. We're both excited, but it's such a change from mid-March when I was homeschooling high school, expecting to homeschool for six more years, and not really sure what might be around that far-away corner. I've always wished I could go to grad school and study church history or something like that... someday. The catalyst came this spring in the form of unofficially auditing a junior-level religious studies class at the in-town Big University at the encouragement of my friend who was teaching it, and discovering it was completely do-able (humanities work, getting the reading done, class participation, paper writing, finding a place to park, getting to class on time, ... and still homeschooling my sons). Around this point my husband said, "So, when are you going to go to grad school?!?" Much research ensued! Now my goal is a dual-degree master's program at the in-town Big University for an MLIS and an MA in History of Science. My B.S. is in atmospheric science, and before getting married I did a master's program in meteorology, quitting "ABD" with a mostly written thesis. I'd hit the wall for me in science, and just stopped. But history of science? How cool! Becoming a science librarian? Nearly as cool! Possibly working with an amazing history of science collection of rare books at this very university?!? Possibly researching the intersection of religion and science in medieval Europe?!? And... both programs here appear to have decent funding for masters students. I've applied to the library school, and should hear from them in the next few weeks. It looks reasonable to expect to start this fall. Most of the MLIS coursework, though not all, is online courses, and it looks as though it'll take me 12 months plus two more courses. I'll apply this fall for the history of science program, to be a full-time HSci student in years 2 and 3 of grad school and then look for a job. All this while my older son, 16yo, goes to public school for the last two years of high school and then starts college, and my younger son, 12yo, homeschools for the rest of middle school and the first year of high school. My younger son would LOVE to go to public school, so when I'm done with grad school he'll start going to high school, in 10th grade. If the history of science program doesn't offer any funding and I get no scholarships, I'll just finish the MLIS in about 18 months total and become a science librarian, and that will be fine with me; I can keep being the autodidact I have always been. We'll figure it out as it unfolds. Did I mention that I was an older grad student the first time around, at age 27, but this time around I'll be turning 50 during the first semester? Hahaha! This is not what I imagined, but I'm pretty excited and all of my friends think this is perfect, perfect, perfect for me.

How about the progymnasmata area of Silva Rhetoricae?

My application for library school required a professional resume, so I listed homeschooling first under "Employment & Volunteer Work", and put my non-job volunteering under "Community Service & Leadership". I think it works. They'll want to know what you've been doing. Here's my homeschooling resume entry: Homeschooling parent, K-10th grade, [location], 2005-present. Research, design, and implement a custom education at two levels; teach Latin and most other subjects; coordinate literature, science, mathematics, art, and music with a four-year cycle of world history. :001_smile:

My 16yo son has given me the opportunity to research this for Oklahoma and our school district in particular, since he told us two weeks ago that he'd really like to go to the public high school for his last two years! The counselor at the high school said my son would have to take a test for each course he wanted credit for having done as a homeschooler (and pass with 60%), and they offer eight such tests. To enter as a junior, he needs at least 10 credits and can make up the 11th his first year to catch up. In our case, my son is also finishing his second year of German Online through Oklahoma State University, so he could actually reach 10 credits. Here in Oklahoma they have responded to No Child Left Behind at the high school level with a battery of tests, with proficiency (60%) required for graduation. These tests are most of the tests they can offer my son: algebra 1 & 2, geometry, English 2 & 3, U.S. history, and biology 1. The counselor also mentioned a test for physical science. After talking with the counselor, I spent an intense evening recently scouring the websites and online documentation of the state department of education, the local school district, the local school board, and the high school. This was VERY helpful. It turns out that in the language of the applicable Oklahoma law AND in the rules and guidelines issued by the Oklahoma dept of education, students entering high school from a non-accredited school or home school can provide alternate test results that are specifically allowed to substitute for the above tests. One of the options is the PSAT, and my son's PSAT math and verbal scores meet the modest standards, so he should be able to skip all of the math and English tests. It remains to be seen whether he will also receive credit for that coursework; the law and the state guidelines say so, but the less-recent district and school policies are less clear. My advice: do the research, and find out what the law is, as well as the statewide guidelines and the local district and school policies. Also, don't assume the high school counselor has much experience with homeschoolers wanting to attend high school. One tip: search for accreditation guidelines issued by the state department of education. That's where I found the most specific information for students entering from non-accredited situations such as homeschooling. It's funny, we're only pursuing the credits so he can enter as a junior. Neither my son nor I really care whether he graduates from the high school and receives a diploma; we're fine with college applications that include a two-year transcript from me and a two-year transcript from the high school. Wish me luck. After school is out in May, I will meet with the counselor and be my son's advocate, presenting our case and seeking the best situation for him as he enters the public school system. After we sort out the tests & credits thing, I would love to see the state law applied so that he can test (or provide scores) and receive credit for other coursework he's done at home: definitely English 1, U.S. government, and world history. Hey, if we can get the system to acknowledge more of the work he's done at home, without undue stress on my son, I'm okay with that.

Years ago I joined one of the Wheelocks beginner groups, though I didn't stay with it the whole two years. The pace is steady, and sometimes that was a challenge, but I thought the approach was pretty helpful -- and now they have Lingua Latina groups too! (in addition to intermediate Latin groups and so on) Each week you work a certain number of exercises and submit them to an email address. The group leader compiles everyone's worked exercises and emails the compilation to everyone. It is pretty helpful to see how the answers differ and how they're similar -- making it easy to see what you understand and what you didn't get.

All I can offer is that I've read the first half of the first volume, and my main reaction was, "Why did no one ever mention that his *writing* is wonderful?!?" Very easy to read. Subtle flashes of humor. Brit-centric, but of course that means Empire, too.

There is a two-day-a-week classical Christian school in our town, and several one-day-a-week "co-ops" in nearby towns (the teachers are employees and are not students' parents, for the most part). Both follow the model of classroom teaching, projects, tests, etc., when they meet, with parent-supported "homeschooling" the rest of the week as the students complete their assigned work. I know lots of local homeschoolers who have chosen one of these two options, for various reasons. None of it appeals to me because I don't want to be tied to a school-classroom-teacher mode with their schedule and their assignments and their curriculum choices. On the other hand, I do understand much of the attraction. Did you have any specific questions?

A year ago I was going to actually be within blocks of the flagship Nordstrom store -- at home I'm hundreds of miles from the nearest one -- and I decided to get a professional bra fitting and buy one or two bras. This is because my Target-clearance-rack bras were actually doing me no favors, especially as they were pretty worn out! And of course, Nordstrom is supposed to have absolutely excellent, well-trained & experienced folks who help match you up with exactly the right underpinnings. It was awesome. My husband was very happy, and I was rather pleased with the results of this unusual use of clothing budget :) My thrift-store clothing looks amazingly better on me with a great br@. Then I got home and signed up for email sale notices from three excellent online underthings stores, so I can get the occasional replacement pieces at much better prices. So I say, underpinnings!

A good place to start is the Multum Non Multa chapter excerpt from LCC on Andrew Campbell's LCC website, latincentered.com -- it's a downloadable PDF at the bottom of the page. I've been pretty sold on this approach for a while, more or less following the first edition recommendations for the last several years with my two sons. We're not where I'd hoped we'd be in Latin and Greek (no one is studying Greek... except me!), but our efforts and the approach have been quite worthwhile.

I carefully chose the Lattimore translation of the Iliad, and I absolutely fell in love with it the further I read, but... my sons HATED it. So I had them read samples of several good translations, and they chose Fagles. I bought it for the Kindle app on our iPad. I'm not sure they loved it, but they -- especially my then 15yo son -- found it much more tolerable. Now we're about to start both the Odyssey (with both boys) and Beowulf (with the now 16yo only, not the 12yo). We're using the Fagles for the Odyssey, and I'm tentatively excited -- hard to predict my sons' reactions -- that our library has the audiobook read by Sir Ian McKellen, too. Beowulf, on the other hand, seems as though it'll be more challenging. I'm hoping both boys will enjoy an atmospheric introduction at night, with candles, listening to a good audio recording. Good luck!

This has been on my mind, too. I know what I would do if the sky were the limit -- do graduate study in early or medieval Christianity, or medieval French or northern European cultural stuff. I'm having an absolutely fantastic time sitting in on a university religious studies class right now. No one who knows me in real life would be a bit surprised :D But it would be great to be able to bring in some money. Brush up on my skills and return to website design? (A steep hill to climb, and I'm not sure I really want to.) Work as a barista at our beloved neighborhood bakery? (Where's the money in that?) Hire myself out as a tutor for homeschoolers for Latin, French, or ancient Greek? (Again, money? and my curriculum planning and execution skills should be improved by then, right?) Something where my heart's desire and the world's needs meet (a definition for vocation).... There's no one thing that is clear to me, but I'm mulling it over. My youngest is in sixth grade, so I have some time yet, whew.

It's not a science curriculum, it's a science apologetics program. Is that what you're looking for? I was curious about it, so I checked out the site and found the program and FAQs (in the Education | Reasons Academy area). Also, for others who might be curious like me, their approach is Biblical inerrancy and all that goes with it ("God-breathed", creation and Scripture do not contradict each other, etc.).

I forgot to mention what I use the flashcards app(s) for. My 11yo son studies his Latin and Italian vocabulary. I review his Latin & Italian vocab, try to get a little familiar with my 16yo son's German, and study ancient (Attic Greek) for myself. On a whim I also made cards for all of the progymnasmata figures of description, for reference.

I REALLY like FlashCards++ (by Lustig) for its functionality. After trying the free version I got the paid version. I was specifically looking for Quizlet import and smart study/spaced repetition (I wanted Leitner boxes, but this is a decent substitute). It's not the snazziest looking flashcard app, but it's the only app I found that does everything I want. FlashCards++ imports from Quizlet (what I use) and FlashCardExchange, as well as an Excel or CSV (spreadsheet) file via DropBox. The app compares similar sets as you import, allowing you to combine or associate similar cards, or keep them separate, and edit as you go through the similar cards. You can edit cards/sets anytime. You can study a set of cards in linear, random, or "smart study" mode; test yourself on a set; and review a set with "spaced repetition". I prefer to make (and/or find) card sets at Quizlet.com and import them to the app, mostly because I'm a touch typist and a real keyboard works better for me :D The other flashcard app I kept after testing is Quizard, for my 11yo son. It's pretty good, but doesn't have all the functionality of FlashCards++. On the other hand, it does have study games, like Quizlet. Other apps I tried out: Flashcards* (by Holliday) gFlash+ Flashcards (by gWhiz) Flashcards+ (by Zwick) Flashcards Lite (by 7HilsStudios)