Since I took ds13 and ds10 out of public school a year and a half ago, they have been doing most of their schoolwork together. I keep it somewhat simpler for ds10 -- not in terms of content, but in the amount of work that he's responsible for. Examples: he can choose 3 of 5 comprehension questions for literature today, his essays don't have as many sentences as his older brother's, and I make his end-of-semester exams a little shorter. I have tried to choose curricula that are not necessarily lighter in content, but perhaps presented in a more interesting way than your average textbook to help keep ds10's interest. Lots of Ellen McHenry science with all of the accompanying activities and games, SOTW coordinated with Human Odyssey and Mapping the World with Art, LLLOTR this year with an accompanying audiobook, Life of Fred etc. Now I have a rising 9th grader, and I'm torn about what to do next year with all of the rigor that high school requires. Do I let my rising 6th grader tag along, or do I craft his own program? In many ways they are on the same level. They'll both be through Algebra 1, at the same stopping point in social studies, have finished LLLOTR together, taken the same IEW writing and grammar programs... I'm sure it helps a lot that they are playmates and generally prefer to learn together. However, these programs I'm intending to use next year seem like a significant step up. I'm not so worried that he can't grasp/remember the concepts, but more that they'll be presented in such a dry "adult" way that his eyes will glaze over and he'll shut down. I'm also concerned about social studies and literature being age-appropriate (sex, violence, language...) for him. Have any of you let your younger AL tag along with your high school student? How did it turn out? Any advice?

The Tyranny of Metrics Imagine there's no angstrom It's easy if you try No area of a circle No reason to use pi Imagine all the people living measure-free Imagine there's no timepiece It isn't hard to do No days, hours or minutes And no seconds, too Imagine all the people living life in peace yoo hooo ooooo You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope some day you'll join us And the world will be as one

When I hear the term "jellyfish mom," I think about a mom who's looming ominously around the house, and you'd better stay on her good side or those stinging tentacles will get you! The kids are agreed that I'm a mix between tiger and dolphin, with an occasional smattering of jellyfish in the above sense.

Yeah, I figured the underlying reason was something like, "Discard your child's car seat even in the case of a minor accident, because there might be invisible stress cracks"... ETA: We have a X-it ladder which is marketed as a reusable ladder.

Do you hold fire drills in your house? If you don't live in a one-story building/first floor dwelling, does your family practice getting down from two- or three-story windows? We live in a two-story house set on a hill (basement walkout) that has all the bedrooms upstairs. We could easily be sleeping as a fire starts downstairs, getting trapped up there like This Is Us. The master bedroom window opens to the roof, which reaches around to the back porch landing, a 7-8 foot drop, and then access to the porch stairs. Our baby and 4yo sleep in there with us. We have a "safety rope" in the master closet to tie to bedroom furniture and snake out the window for the first adult to get down (not a great plan). We could sling the baby, but we should buy one of those large breathable baby rescue sacks. The bedroom halfway down the hall is a guest room/storage room. There's a two-story drop with no roof platform. No contingency plan to escape through that window. Oldest boy has a bedroom at the end of the hall with a three-story drop to the backyard. No contingency plan for his window, either. However, he only has to open his door and turn right into his brother's room... Second boy has the other bedroom at the end of the hall with a two-story window (also drops straight down). When we moved here, we bought a fold-up metal fire escape ladder which sits in his closet. I've talked many times about having a drill with the ladder in our second son's bedroom and another drill out the master bedroom window. If we were separated by a fire in the hall, ds13 would hopefully be capable of getting the ladder set up and helping ds10 get on it. Every time I bring it up, though... I encounter so much resistance. I get that everyone in my family except me is afraid of heights. House fires are uncomfortable to think about and we'd all rather ignore the possibility. Escaping would look silly to the neighbors (plus we'd have to tell them all so they don't call 911 for us!). We might damage the house in using the ladder. There's a significant risk of accidents. At what age do you think a child would be old enough to participate in such a drill? What about practicing at night as well as daytime? As I'm typing this I realize we need a good flashlight in every bedroom, somewhere it won't get lost.

I am also new to high school. Very, very tentative plans for 9th grade: Literature: Illuminating Literature: Characters in Crisis Writing: IEW SICC-B followed by Elegant Essay Math: Holt Geometry with Prof. Burger online lectures, also looking at Derek Owens ($$ kind of an issue) History: ???(modern) Science: Kolbe Academy Honors Biology (w/lab) Language: Better Chinese: Discovering Chinese Pro; Chinese With Mike: Intermediate; online tutor Health: homegrown (a full credit is required in my state) I'd love to work in 1/4-1/2 credit of art as he has talent, but I'm afraid to overload him this year. Piano, Boy Scouts

Hi, I'm a high school homeschool novice with a rising 9th grader. We have vague ideas about everything he'll do for next year, except history. We are not on the typical history schedule. 7th grade (the first homeschooling year) was ancients through the the Middle Ages, and this year should end somewhere in the mid- 1800's. We want to continue chronologically. One idea is to spread out the FundaFunda US history course schedule over two years and coordinate it with... some awesome world history resources (suggestions?)..., doubling back to revisit early US history after we are through the modern period. He might then take the APUSH as a sophomore. Each year would count as approximately 1/2 credit US history + 1/2 credit world history. Looking for advice/validation from anyone who has done something similar... or to shake me and scream, "Are you crazy, woman?!?" Yes, yes I am. I have NO idea what I'm doing.

How about teaching them some 50's dance fads like The Twist, The Madison, The Hand Jive, The Jitterbug... I love the idea of a classic car photo booth prop, shaped like a classic pink cadillac. Yahtzee, Mille Bornes

This -- also add a couple tablespoons to a glass of milk, hot chocolate, smoothie, milkshake, creamy-type soup...

https://music.avclub.com/sunshine-on-the-waste-land-20-songs-about-nuclear-an-1798246408

Schindler's List Taking Chance My Girl

My ds13 and ds10 were taking two different science courses for the fall semester. We will be moving on to ACS Middle School Chemistry (both boys) until the end of the year. Ds13 has not yet finished his fall course (he is very close!). Ds10 finished his course a little before Christmas break and we started on a Thames and Kosmos wind power kit/project to bridge the gap until his older brother is done. But it is so... cold... not practical to do his experiments outside and I don't have a fan powerful enough to make this large windmill work well indoors. I didn't plan to do the wind power kit at this time of year! Would you recommend an online science unit course or unit study he could do, just for a couple of weeks? Any science discipline. He is accelerated for 5th grade and has started algebra, if that makes a difference.

My son just won an enormous Willow Tree nativity set with over 20 pieces, and at first I thought I would absolutely hate it because... faceless creepy people... I have never been attracted to the store displays of the angels etc. Strangely enough, it's growing on me a little, especially the stable animals. I like the heft of the figurines. Go figure... ~~~~~~~~~~ I collect insects (real ones, on pins), craft supplies, cookie cutters, music, non-fiction books particularly DIY or field guides. I also collect Brio-type wooden train track/pieces, lego, and playmobil "for the kids".

I like my scroll frame. (...aaand I just added the Stitch People book to my wish list.)

I have been using this site to find local people in need of various assistance. http://www.2hands.org/ Through 2hands we are supplying Christmas gifts for a little boy and helping another family with some unexpected burial costs.

Singin' In the Rain

I'm taking this game to surprise my side of the family. I. Can't. Wait.... https://wymgame.com/

Green Toys are the Deal of the Day today. We have some and they are really sturdy; the vehicles are pretty much stand-alone with no accessories. https://www.amazon.com/s/browse/ref=gbph_tit_m-2_91cd_f7c99fc1?tag=slicinc-20&ascsubtag=02de262edf9d11e78fe73a4e4378d8700INT&node=17385827011

Do you have a great recipe? Print it on a recipe card and attach a bag with all the spices needed for 1 batch. Frontier Natural sells 16 oz bags of herbs and spices for a good price: https://www.iherb.com/c/Spice-Seasoning?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzb-JxNb61wIVyIqzCh11AwGSEAQYASACEgLgK_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&bids=FRO

A classic Stanley thermos for drinks and soups.

Boring stuff: a few graphic tee's, a memory foam pillow, a large (dishwasher-safe!!) mug and some coffee samplers, chocolate, beer. Megabloks Kubros Terminator figures. I'm looking at Metal Earth models, leaning toward Notre Dame Cathedral even though Chartres is his *favorite*. I want the Queen Anne Revenge for myself!

I would make a treasure hunt all over the house with one clue leading to the next clue. Have the program ready on the computer and turn the monitor off. The last clue would lead to the computer and tell him to turn the monitor on, and he'll discover the gift.

I've had mastitis resolve without antibiotics. I followed Kellymom's treatment advice. Be prepared for your supply to possibly take a real beating afterward. It was weeks before my breast was producing at pre-mastitis levels.

I'm looking at "illustrated encyclopedias" like this, this, and this. I bought the pants online during Black Friday... haven't seen them yet, but they have good reviews.

Mine is 13.5, is that close enough? :tongue_smilie: He's not needing much grooming stuff, yet... Nerf gun stuff. I'm looking for a tactical vest but they don't seem to come in adult sizes. extreme dot-to-dot books and pens graphic tees fleece lined sweatpants undershirts flip flops wallet bathrobe pokemon cards and a megabloks pokemon building set another megabloks set - Terminator multimodel erector set a reference book on weaponry Concept board game expansion for our Smash Up! board game