I have two adult children. They call me more than once a week. Both have made some bad choices, but they're OK. I am always there for them and give what I can financially. They have not come back at DH and I to blame up for some of the choices they've made. They come at us for advice because we try to give them reasoned advice. We explain our thinking and they can take the advice or leave it. We are very open with them as adults. I have no expectations of them other than their being happy. I like to talk to them so I know they are alive and well. My dad and I had a great relationship always. My mom's relationship to me is very complicated for her.

Looking into this. Never knew about it until you posted. Says they are UC approved. Will get back to you. Not sure about this??? Found this while looking for info: http://svflex.k12.com/ It is a K12 associate. I look for accreditation.

That America is saddling it young with student loan debt is shameful. Young people are foregoing marriage, buying a car, buying a home, or having children because of student loan debt. Should college be free? No, but it should not be as costly as it is now. Today it seems that college is not about learning so much as it is a for profit venture. College should not be about getting job training. College is a place to expand one's thinking, to explore interests and possibilities, to work in state of the art labs, to pursue interests not because it might make you rich, but it might change the world for the better. Student loan debt is at 1.4 trillion dollars and growing. When will congress step up?

I want to love Dimensions Math--I think it is just me--but it is mind bending. The jumps in thinking in the problem sets from what was demonstrated in the lesson leave me :sad: . I used Singapore 6A and 6B with DD, but Dimensions math just doesn't jive with us. I use Dolciani Pre Algebra and Critical Thinking Press "Understanding Algebra" to help us wade through the difficulties. AoPS is too discovery for my DD. It would not work. I've looked at CLE and like Horizons, but we are on this path now.

What we did: SOTW in elementary grades. In middle school, I combined History Odyssey with K12 Human Odyssey texts. The Kingfisher Encyclopedia is weak for outlining, we own it but prefer not to outline from it. Instead, DD outlines from K12's Human Odyssey. History Odyssey makes for a rounder look at history and a varied approach to history than just outlining the Human Odyssey. Extra readings have been a surprising delight. We especially enjoyed reading the Canterbury Tales aloud together.

As an eBay seller, you need to give a seller time to respond over the weekend. It could just be an honest mistake on the seller's part. Sellers have lives too. Emergency happen, holidays arise, and mistakes do happen. We are people too. Think about your communication with the seller. The seller may have verified the books were 3rd edition, but did you ask about the tests too?

Prescription goggles at Swimoutlet are cheap. Look for AquaSphere. As for counting laps, devise an easy to remember set of 500 and repeat that. Include kick and pull laps. Think about trying to accomplish 2000yds a swim. You can use IM order to help you remember your order: Butterfly, Back, Breast, Free. Drop the Butterfly and just use the other three as a memory cue. Example: Warm-up 500yds 150 free-5 laps 150 kick-5 laps 100 pull-4 laps 100 free-4 laps It is more motivating to swim with a masters group than alone. A masters coach will correct errors in your stroke and you will swim more efficiently. The group aspect will keep you motivated to swim even when you would rather not swim.

The traffic from north bay, that is north of the GG bridge, is ridiculous during rush hour if you do not live in either Sausalito or Mill Valley near Hwy 101. Taking the Ferry into SF is the way to go. No bridge toll or parking fees. Ferry terminals are in Larkspur, Sausalito, and Tiburon. Rents are high in south Marin, but access to outdoor activity is high too. An auto in CA is a must. There are auto share programs. Sausalito rents are highest, Mill Valley your get more room and more outdoor space. Corte Madera can be cheaper. Bus in Marin are fine. It is public transit subject to traffic delays. Golden Gate Transit goes far north into Sonoma county.

I was planning on using Foerster Algebra 1 book next year along with the Home Study Companion thumb drive. currently we are struggling with Singapore Dimensions Math, but using Dociani Pre Algebra for support and this works. Gosh! I hope going with Foerster Algebra 1 works :huh:

Can you tell me more about Coursera and how it works? Did your daughter audit this course? A course for purchase? Is it the same as "How to be a Superstar Student"? Thanks for the resources!

8th Grade with an eye on high school. LA: Grammar: G.U.M. Vocabulary Lit Level 1 and 2 Spelling Wisdom Bk.4 Excellence in Literature English 1 Article of the Week Independent Reading with response journal. Writing??? Undetermined LA Revised: Oak Meadow grade 9 current edition combined with an older edition to sub out books DD will not read. Shurley English 8 Spelling Workout H Vocabulary Lit Level 1 Article of the week My writing syllabus from years of homeschooling Math: Foerster's Algebra 1 with Home study Companion AoPS Algebra? or maybe just alcumus? SS: Human Odyssey and History Odyssey completing Early Modern and Modern level 2 World History Unfolding DBQ Oak Meadow Civics SCI: Science Exploration Advanced + Hewitt Conceptual Physics because I own it. Foreign Language: Russian Latin Extras: Piano Swim Team

I am not sure dementia is something that comes on suddenly, rather it progresses over time. You've received some great insight from the responses thus far. My only addition would be to get a referral to a neurologist. The neurologist can determine what kind of dementia your Mom has, and give you an idea of which stage she is at in the disease. The neurologist will not tell you outright how far the disease has progressed, you must infer from the visit and educate yourself. One of the best ways I've found to cope with my parent suffering from dementia is to take the parent-child relationship out of our interactions. I look at my parent as another person, like an older person in the supermarket, that needs someone to talk to and help finding the coffee aisle. It helps me stay compassionate and focused on my parent's needs. Watch out for the stress on your dad. Is incontinence an issue? Does your dad dress her everyday? Dental health?

Student loan debt here we come!

The above explains why Dimensions Math 7A has not gone well for us. I am not a math person. I found the "Try it!" problems easy enough to do with DD, but the exercises were something beyond just extrapolating from the "Try it!" problems. The first 4 chapters were a big struggle, and I felt the text lacked support. Would I choose this again? Yes, but now I know how it works. Will I continue with it through 8B? Maybe, but most likely not. DD is doing IXL math online for review. She is finding this review easy compared to how hard she works in Singapore. I own Dolciani Pre-Algebra. It's OK. We did not use this. EDIT: Another bad morning with the Dimensions Math. Maybe it is just me, but this program is not friendly. I took my Dolciani Pre Algebra off the shelf and retaught the same material in Dimensions Math this morning. Reteaching from Dolciani made more sense to both DD and I, so this is what we will stick with for the rest of the year. I really wanted to like Dimensions Math, but it is not for us.

:hurray: :grouphug:

Sad to say this looks like my future. Not that I am going to move around in an RV, but after taking care of parents and kids in college at the sametime, plus running a small business in this less than stellar economy, there is no economic room in our budget to save for retirement.

You are not alone! While I am not working through Profit and Commission with my DD, I do feel frustrated with our lack of progress in Pre-Algebra. We are not using Dolciani, it was a bomb in the past with my older kids, so we are using Singapore Dimensions Math. I am sure if I were more of a math person Singapore would be a breeze, but I am not a math person, and the jumps in thinking confound me. Singapore is CC aligned. I use the Pre-Algebra videos from Art of Problem Solving as well as the videos from Prentice Hall Algebra Readiness. Sometimes I think how a text explains concepts and works problems does not mesh with my DD's learning style. To address, this I bought Prentice Hall Algebra Readiness to supplement how Singapore Dimensions Math explanes a math concept. Prentice Hall is a busy textbook, and it is not CC aligned. We will slog through Singapore Dimensions Math using Prentice Hall as support for the remainder of 7th grade. For 8th grade I am considering either Chalkdust Algebra 1 or Foerster Algebra 1 with the Home Study Companion by Chandler-read review here. I have used Chalkdust Algebra 1 before and liked it, but I sold it thinking I would not use it again. Things change, and now I am strongly reconsidering it because of the video instruction. Neither of these options are CC aligned. I don't care. About Common Core: My opinion about Common Core is that the ideas behind the Common Core goals make sense, common sense, but how textbook companies have chosen to express these goals does not work. CC textbooks lead to more confusion. The Common Core only matters if your child attend a public high school, and then those scores only reflect on the school not the student--yet. It may be in the future those CC test scores will matter more to the student and determine college entrance eligibility. While I support the idea of Common Core, I've given up on trying to do the Common Core at home using CC aligned textbooks, etc.

I have two grandchildren I will never know (Son divorced. Bad, messy situation). None of my other children want to have children of their own. It's OK. I am not a parent eager to become a grandparent. I have a 12 year old that still needs a lot of parenting. I love babies and children. If I feel the need to spend some of that grandma energy on someone, I am going to find a kid that needs that kind of love and care and indulge them.

Anecdotal, but it might be of interest. I too was at the low end of overweight for years-age 48-53. Before that I was a normal weight. When I approached menopause and went through the other side I saw as my weight increase. It became harder and harder to get off. In fact, it did not come off at all. Instead it increased regardless of the amount of exercise I did or how I tweaked my diet. Then, I took a vacation to a city where I walked all day and ate very little for three weeks. What I mean by eating very little is I ate bread maybe twice over three weeks, drank lots of water, and soup. I did have some sweets, but no more than a few cookies/biscuits a day. The soups were cup-o-soups. I did have a few fish dinners. I was not hungry. I wasn't thinking about food. Figuring out a new city occupied my thoughts. I lost 10 pounds and have kept it off for four months, but the holidays saw me gain five pounds back with lots of sweets being eaten. Yet somehow that 10 pound loss kicked my sluggish metabolism into gear. Those five pounds from the holidays are easier to lose. Goals for the second half of January: Drink more water! Cut down on sugar Eat more fruit Continue swimming 3x a week, but don't just sit on the off days. My biggest challenge is to get exercise 7 days a week--walking on my non-swim days. Weights consistently working on my core strength.

I am not sure I agree with Grandma that "online learning and/or worksheets and textbooks can not replace *instruction* in order for kids to 'get it'." My high school student last year did an online AP Calculus course, no textbook, and she thought it superior to text only learning. She got a 5 on the AP exam. The online class had many interactive components that worked. Nonetheless, I do think Grandma's generalization about homeschool students being unprepared for high school math is true. I see it all the time. Math education is too important to neglect. I think Middle school math is challenging. The challenge is to find the right program for your student. So many think The Art of Problem Solving is "the" curriculum, but it is not for every student. To me, the trick is finding a math program that speaks both to me and my student so I can explain mistakes. I find too many middle school programs make huge leaps without providing enough scaffolding for those leaps. It is these leaps that Grandma could help bridge. If it were me, I'd let Grandma do all of the math; it is her field of expertise, and I would focus on what I do best. The whole thing needs to be approached as professionally as possible. Which means everyone (adults and kids) need to separate the personal from the professional.

I was looking around for pre algebra help and came across this site (link to algebra): https://alison.com/courses/Algebra This is not video, so there is a lot of reading. I am going to use it as support to a text.

Tentative 8th grade Plans Math: Algebra--Looking for a good fit. Singapore does not work. Literature: Reading and writing literary response essays. Focus on Shakespeare and longer novels. (7th grade focused on short story.) Considering Excellence in Literature American Literature. Nonfiction Reading: Focus on nonfiction essay reading and response, using The Best of Science Writing series. Writing: Creative writing both short 500 word stories and poems. Creative Nonfiction writing as part of history, science, and current events. Spelling & Grammar: Spelling Workout and Hake Grammar and Writing without the writing. History: History Odyssey Level 2 Early Modern and Modern + K12 History Odyssey book 3 Science: CPO Physical Science Exploration Education Physical Science. Geography: Continue 9th grade text over 7th and 8th grade. Computer Science?