Thanks for the recommendation on Angel of the Square. Needed a read aloud for next week's study of Russia in geography with my 7th grader. My library didn't have a copy, but it was only $2 on Amazan Kindle.

I have a shelf in our 'library' that has magazine boxes. Each one is color coded for a kid and holds one subject's worth of materials - textbook, workbook, notebooks, readers, etc. When it is time to work with me in that subject, they bring the whole box to my table and when done, file it away.

I have used Treasures from 2nd grade through 6th and have been very happy with it. Excellent link, btw. I found a likewise link but for Florida resources years ago. Everything you need except the student text is there. Lots of material to juggle, but I downloaded all to my ipad and switched between at will. I agree with the writing. I used their prompts but taught it my own way. I supplemented the program with daily fiction read aloud (20 minutes daily in early grades up to 1 hour a day now in middle school), novel studies (use TpT guides for chapter books in a couple of weeks to MP guides at 1 book a quarter in 5th grade and up), and independent reading - 30 minutes daily on self-selected, but AR ranked materials. No projects or tests, just discussion except for the novel studies.

I've used Glencoe Florida Science (8th ​http://glencoe.mheducation.com/sites/0078693918/index.html) for several years now. It's a little dry, but gets the job done as a spine.Got it super cheap for TE, SE, and CD with printable workbooks, etc on eBay - like $10-15 for the collection. For the most part, the labs were good. Used many of the virtual labs in a pinch. I supplement with Bill Nye, BrainPop, etc. as interest allowed as well as read alouds, Tinker Crates, and field trips. Sorry, not familiar with the Grammar/spell/vocab as we used Holt Literature in the middle grades.

We read...a lot. For middle grades we did: 1 - Literature Anthology daily. 30-minute classes. Various genres and styles read in class and discussed with an occasional project, paper, and/or quiz. Units centered around skills and used for testing. Each of the 7-9 units a year ended with a week-long writing project with a capstone research paper for 2+ weeks. 2 - Novel Study - each 9 week quarter had an MP or other guide book assigned 2x a week and a test at the end. Usually not the MP one because IMHO they are waaaay too detailed. So 4 of those a year. 3 - Independent Reading - I used their reading level and Accelerated Reading goals for 30 minutes daily that they reach by reading and discussing with me their books. Otherwise, they wouldn't pick up a book at all. Sigh. I incentivise these goals by awarding ever biggest/taller trophies for increasing points earned year by year. I also give 1/2 credit for books read under their level to simply encourage reading. 4 - Read Alouds. For 1 hour daily, I read a fiction read aloud. It could be for fun, a classic, tie in with social studies or current events. Sometimes I'll read the entire novel that was an excerpt in their literature anthology. A nice mix of 30-40 titles over the course of the year. No tests, papers, or anything, just a good discussion is all that is needed. I also read 1-3 nonfiction titles a week as well that pertains to content classes.

Language Arts - Holt Literature 7 anthology for reading and writing, Novel Studies (Anne of Green Gables, Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, The Giver), Grammar (IXL and Moby Max), daily fiction read aloud and independent goals Math - Glencoe Mathematics Course 2 with IXL & Moby Max Science - Glencoe Science 7 with labs (virtual and hands-on). Documentaries and field trips as appropriate. Weekly nonfiction read aloud tie in Socials Studies - Holt McDougal World Geography with lots of documentaries, projects, field trips, and CNN 10. Weekly nonfiction read aloud tie in Elective: French - Bon Voyage 1A and DuoLingo Elective: Music - Piano Lessons, Practice, & Theory with a composer study or two Misc. once a week classes: Health (Teen Health Course 3), Greek Mythology, Critical Thinking Company games, and anything else I can think up.

I am showing my age, but back in my day, high school was, well, high school. You took a series of classes for 4 years, graduated, and THEN you went to college. Dual enrollment was rare, and AP classes were for the gifted and talented, not the general population. I recall the privilege reserved primarily seniors in the top 20% of the class. You had to apply with the grades to back it up. Yet, on this board and at the public high school my son will be a freshman next year, the expectation is to start college coursework earlier and earlier. For example, my son can take AP Human Geography as a Freshman with no admission requirements other than a willingness to work hard. He hasn't even started high school yet and they are willing to sign up for college level work on his say so? To what advantage? I don't get it. If you graduate high school with an associates degree or pretty close to it, what is the point of high school? Is high school too long these days? Should it only be two years? And for some students, college is NOT the goal. What about them? I guess many dual enroll to save tuition in college, but I think it puts undue stress on some kids. College level work should be saved for, well, college! I remember the saying that "college is the new high school". I thought then it meant that to succeed in today's world a college degree is necessary. I think it has now morphed into college replacing high school with this jumping from middle school to college level work. What is the place of high school in today's educational strata?

I worked as a wedding planner when I was in college - before the days of all the fancy wedding shows - and my brides back then (20 years ago) paid an average of 10-12K on their North Texas affairs, of which I collected about 10% as my fee. I usually saved the brides the cost of my fee by finding discounts where I could. My own wedding was at Disney World 16 years ago, and we paid $10K (not counting engagement ring, travel costs or honeymoon) including pictures at the Magic Kingdom, Mickey & Minnie at the cake cutting, and a horse-drawn carriage with the usual stuff of photos, video, music, etc. Granted there was only 11 of us at the destination wedding. The price of weddings is crazy now, but I am sure the planners enjoy the fees. I priced out our Disney wedding recently, and I am not sure we could afford it now.

Looks like my 14-year-old got his first zit. I want to start him on a mild, daily regime but don't want to break the bank. He has like two zits on his nose and doesn't need the dermatologist just yet. Both his dad and I had very mild cases of acne resolved quickly with OTC, but it has a been a while since I shopped for such things. What do you recommend?

I live a town over from Mr. Beck and would jump at this opportunity, but I will still have one of my own at home. He posted a job description on Facebook and included travel and an extensive background check. But if I could bring my son...

TTUISD also offers credit by exam if you don't want to repeat the homeschool classes, but check with the school if they will accept it or not.

Language Arts - Holt Literature 7, Write Source, Novel Studies (Treasure Island, Hobbit, Anne of Green Gables, ? MP Guides) Math - Glencoe Mathematics Middle School Course 2. Science - Glencoe General Science Middle School Course 2 Social Studies - Holt World Geography, Sheppard Software Online Map Games, Amazon Prime Free Country Documentaries Foreign Language - Glencoe Bon Voyage 1A (first 1/2 high school text) Elective - Music - Piano Lessons, Practice and Composer/Genre study. Supplemental - IXL entire, Study Island for mostly Math, CNN Student News, Scholastic Science World & Jr. Scholastic Magazines, Tinker Crate, Glencoe Introducing Art/World Art as we study regions, Glencoe Teen Health 3, Percy Jackson Greek Gods, Critical Thinking digital programs (various), tons of read alouds, and independent reading.

I arranged a tiny immediate family only 'promotion' ceremony for my 8th grader. I ordered cap & gown off Amazon ($25 each), a fill-in-the-blank certificate (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FW5I73U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 $3 when I ordered) and paper covers ($10 total) I used MS Word to print, and made cupcakes. The ceremony included mp3 files playing 'Pomp" and Whitney Houston singing the anthem. Then I said a couple of sentences about our accomplishments in home school, presented a transcript, reading trophy, and his completion certificate. Finally, I pinned a 'Class of 2021' pin to confer Freshman status. Then we went to lunch. It was over in less than 10 minutes, lol. Pictures took longer. When I was in 8th grade, my public school did not have cap & gown but rather dressed up for a promotion ceremony for the entire grade followed by a semi-formal dinner dance. Since he is leaving home school for public high school, I believe a rite of passage was in order to mark the occasion. My younger got to dress up for the fun of it. He is still in middle school as a rising 7th grader, but older brother did get a cap/gown photo when he left elementary in public 4th grade, so this makes up for that. FYI - the decorations were from Amazon (~$10 for plates, napkins, cupcake supplies, banner & balloon), the trophies, pin and other medals from Crown Awards online (~$25 for a couple medals, trophies, pin & shipping).

I always check independent work the beginning of that class the next day. I review the questions with them and correct together; however, for my 8th grader in algebra, I gave it back for a second attempt before reviewing together if still incorrect. Written assignments checked the next day. If assignments are incomplete then there is a consequence usually a loss of a privilege for a time (ie, video games for the rest of the day). I don't hound them to complete their work. That is their responsibility at 6th and 8th grade.

My sixth and eighth graders had these long term assignments: Assign on a Monday - Due that Friday - expect about 1 hour a day including instruction. PowerPoint/Prezi Presentation on various research topics - roughly 1 a quarter Standard 3 or 5 paragraph essays - roughly 1 a month Art Projects requiring extensive time 2-3 Week Projects - expect 1 hour daily. Annual Science Fair Project - 1-week research essay and material gathering/experiment design, 1-week experiment and data gathering, and 1 week for write up and oral presentation Research Paper - 1-week topic selection & narrowing, 1-week reading and notes, 1-week writing and revising. Sometimes gets stretched to four weeks. 8 weeks - Quarterly Novel Studies. Read assigned novel and complete workbooks with vocabulary, comprehension questions, and end with a final exam. Expect roughly 1-2 hours of work per week to finish on time. For longer projects other than essay where I hand them a Rubric with the assignment I give a grading sheet with deadlines and rubric for each phase of the project.