Not sure about the diaper problem, but have you tried the incontinence pads? At least it should spare you having to change the sheets? Look on amazon under "chux pad" or "bed pad" and various things should come up. Good luck!

Wow-it reminds me of a greek goddess-lovely!

Will you be cooking over a grill or fire? If so hotdogs are easy and pack well. Add in grapes, chips, carrot sticks, etc and you are set for one meal. Other easy things: cold meat/cheese sandwiches/subs crackers and cheese/meat pasta salad cut up fruit or veggies and dip cheese sticks (a must for our kids) cookies trail mix walking tacos is a hit here too: taco meat (precooked so we just warm it up over grill) individual sized corn chip/doritos bags lettuce cheese tomatoes/onions You put all the ingredients IN the bag and eat out of the bag-a little weird but the kids love it. hamburgers/turkey burgers are easy too but the raw meat thing makes me nervous if it's really hot

Wow, I'll admit it, I'm surprised at 7+ hrs a day. But, we are not a strictly "classical" family either. We are not nearly as rigorous as many are here (obviously from these hrs!) but I feel comfortable with the 3-3.5 hrs a day for my 3rd and 6th graders. This does not include reading time just because that is done various times day and night. It also does not include karate classes or guitar lessons because I see those as extras. We try to have lots of discussions about things and DH likes to have "supper table" discussions about a topic of interest. While I don't count this in the daily hours, I think they learn a lot from these discussions and it takes the place of some of our daily work depending on the topic. My oldest will be doing more next year with history, lit, and science, but I don't see him doing more than 5hrs a day. First off, I know he'd burn out doing more than that. He also won't be doing all these subjects every day-such as science 2x a week and history 3x a week. I think these threads can be dangerous because everyone does their thing based on their own kid's needs and parent expectations. But they can be so intimidating to others that are just starting and think "geesh, I thought homeschooling was supposed to save time on school work and now I should be expecting 6 hrs a day? Maybe he should just stay in school." They are just seeing the hours but don't necessarily understand what's behind them KWIM?

Always like to start my day reviewing new curriculum....thanks for the morning entertainment ;) PS. Who HAD to look since it was 16 pages!

We don't have that here but it sounds great. We are in 4H but we don't have anything like you mentioned. Guess NC is the place to live ;)

As I tackle this planning I realized I was focusing on the "standard" sciences of biology, chem, and physics. Which I still have no clue on BTW ;) But I realized DS is very interested in nature and outdoor things. We've talked a little about him being a park ranger, DNR officer, or maybe Coast Guard. He's still in the "I don't know stage" which is fine at his age but these are common themes that have been consistent for the last year or so. So I was wondering about some good science books or programs in the ecology or environmental or nature areas. I'm thinking in the 8th-10th grade range I think sine I'll still save chem and physics for the last 2 yrs. If you have any ideas for biology leaning toward this type of job I'd appreciate those too! Thanks!

Thanks everyone. After a lot more reading I'm coming to the same conclusions as you posted. Thanks for the links Lori! Besides Notgrass, have you used any other world history that you did like?

Thanks Janice! I have the newest ed of WTM on reserve at the library so I can read more when it comes in. This planning for high school is hard work! ;)

I see the 8th ed is the most current but the 7th ed is only 4 yrs old and is less than $1 on amazon compared to $30. Does anyone know if there is enough added in the 8th ed to make a big difference? I also saw there is a "brief" addition. Anyone use this? It says it's "more concise" which sounds good.... Thoughts? Also, would this be readable/understandable for an "average" 9th grader or wait until later years? Thanks

I've read a lot more on this subject and it's pretty divided. Most of the criticism seems to be that there is not a good world history (thus, tweaking is needed) and that the lit analysis is not deep enough. But others still love it and feel there kids have been prepared for college just fine. I'm still curious to hear people's experiences with ACT scores and any CLEP tests they may have taken. I'm still doing research myself so no decisions here except that core 100 will be done in 7th or 8th grade because it looks good for my son.

As I was thinking more about this I realized I got a much better education, in general, in junior high. Our junior high was 7,8,9 and high school was 10,11,12. I took spanish in 7-9 which was very good (and counted towards my grad requirements) and my English teacher was very good and I can probably thank her for my writing skills. I had one terrible science teacher (close to retiring) but one very good one. I also had 2 good math teachers. Maybe the junior teachers felt like we were still "moldable" at this age so they worked harder on us and in high school the teachers just gave up ;)

I'd also suggest Italics. Honestly, I encourage my son (who has HORRID handwriting) to do a mix of cursive and print. Basically, connect the letters in a way that makes it easier for him and connecting the letters makes him slow down a little which improves the handwriting. This basically turns out to be italics.

I ask because 25 yrs ago my high school education was seriously a joke. And this was in a large high school in the midwest. I wasn't on the AP track because I was graduating early but the classes I took were such a joke. I remember world history being a film each day and reading a chapter in a text and answering the chapter quiz (with the book right there). No discussion or analysis. I had no government or econ. The only other "social studies" credit I had was a sociology class that was "get the book off the shelf, fill in the questions, done" type of class-again, no discussion. I rarely remember the teacher even speaking! I had one lit class that was OK and a writing class (but writing was my thing so it was easy) but no other LA classes at all! Science was 1 biology in 9th and then one earth science class in 11th that was a joke-no chemistry or physics because I didn't want to take them and no one pushed me. Entering the college of liberal arts didn't require it either. I graduated with honors but it was such a joke. I seriously don't think I learned anything except how to "beat the system." I know I've learned more about history through my kids history lessons at home! I bring all this up because my DH thinks maybe high school would be good because of the chem and physics and "analysis of world events" that my son would get. He's also worried about DS getting accepted to colleges without a "real" diploma. I said "are you serious?!" :001_huh: He seems to think schools are much better these days, I don't agree. As homeschoolers I know we all think homeschool is best, but as far as academics-do you think the academics have improved in schools? (this is at public schools, not private schools). Obviously, there are a lot of smart public school kids out there. But do you think it's really the schools or partly the kids really having more intelligence and knowing how to work the system too? Wondering about your thoughts.

I'm just curious about those that have done or are doing SL (history cores specifically) thru high school and what your experiences have been? Have you been happy with the coverage of topics? Have your kids done well on tests-esp ACT? Did you use their science or other science? I've only read a few threads on this and it seems there are some extreme reviews-some really loved it and others didn't feel it was "rigorous" enough. Honestly, my oldest is not going to be an AP student, but I want him prepared for college and to do well on the ACT. Thanks for your feedback.

I think so but now I'm not for sure because it's been 2 weeks since I saw them. But I RUN the book sale so I know they aren't going anywhere until I'm there again :D Yes, it's a dangerous thing for a book lover to run the book sale room LOL

There is a set of 40+ "Great Books" consisting of various classics at our library book sale. Not sure of the publisher but each spine is topped with "Great Books" and then the title is under that. I can get the set for $30. I've been debating about it because A. they take up so much room (but I could make room) B. I can check them all out of the library when needed and already have various editions of a few of them C. DH freaked when I mentioned buying the set ;) They are very good shape. I know we'd use them over the years but they are all books that I can access other places too. But they idea of having the set is so temping to a bibliophile :tongue_smilie: What would you do?

I'm in the same boat so I'll be checking these programs out too. Thanks!

So the latest edition has a textbook, teacher guide, and student workbook. Which of these do I really need? I've read a lot of older threads but a teacher guide was never mentioned so I'm guessing this might be newer? I certainly don't mind buying all of them, just trying to find out what folks used for the program. Thanks!

Thanks so much for the feedback! I have a boy so he'll probably like the "inner courage" books but I see what you mean.

:thumbup1: I enjoyed it. Thankfully, our "talk" was a little more planned, I don't know how I would do on the spur of the moment ;) and of course kids remember EVERYTHING so the crazy answers would be repeated again and again....

I do not get Hep A or B, chicken pox, pertussis, or anything "new" until it's been around for many years so I can see more long term research on it. I also never give more than 2 shots at a time (easier to isolate vax if there is a reaction) and no shots until after 6 mos. I tend to wait until after 1 yr for most and then space them out as needed. My drs have never had a problem with this. Since many of the shots are "combo" shots I request them to be separate if it's more than 2 vax in 1 shot. Dr has been fine with this. I also always hold and nurse my babies during ALL shots and they rarely cry-if so it's for a few seconds! (and I've never been bit despite the fact the nurses are sure I will be ;) and this is with 4 kids!) There are some great books out there with more info.

Yes, I thought of this too and thought it made sense to switch Core 5 to 7th grade, esp if I was going to use the Core 100. Can you list a few things you didn't like about it? Always curious to hear other views! Thanks!

Ours are full day but you have the option of just bringing your child half day if you want. Some schools are very good about this and others only grudgingly agree. Unless something is really lacking, the half day kids can still move to 1st grade with the class.