Vices

I believe I am like most people, in that, on the days when I accomplish many tasks before I feel great. On the days, when nothing really gets done, I feel like a failure. I don't recall if I have mentioned here or not that in June I was put on some meds for my head. In May, I was very close to a complete mental breakdown. While I cry at commercials and songs, and so many things, I don't usually breakdown when someone ask me how I'm doing. That was how my May ended.

We've been adjusting to many things around here the last year and I think May just kind of topped things off for me. My Dad's health, of course, has been on my mind. I think he is doing better. His numbers are doing well and he hasn't had a blood transfusion in a few months. He was getting one every month at the beginning of the year, so I think he is doing better.

We have also had some family issues we've been working on that kind of managed to attach themselves to explosives at the beginning of the year. We are currently still working on things. And while some have improved, I feel others have worsened. No, John and I are great. No worries there!

The one big thing that is bothering me now is I'm now out of meds. No refills. I could probably call the office and get a new prescription, but I'm thinking I don't want to do that. I really want is to find a way to deal with all the stress we are going through without medication. Risky I know but further down the road would be so much better.

Yesterday the girls and I spent the day working on some things that have been stressing me around the house. It hasn't been "Hoarders" bad, but bad for me. In fact, the other day when I mentioned I'm a neat freak John laughed. I think he has forgotten my normal tendencies. Since we had children I've had to do a great deal of adjusting to the new "norm". Eleven years later, I still don't like it. So, yesterday the girls and I worked on a few of the major issues.

First, we rearranged the classroom just a bit. You see our classroom is also the gym, John's office, and the craft room. I stay away from the office and the gym part as much as I can, but the craft part was bugging me. Since we put in the girls new desks, I have wanted to move their school bookcase. We switched the school bookcase and the craft pantry. Now the crafts are closer to my desk and the girls books are in front of their desks. Somehow in my head it just makes more sense that way.

We also did a lot of general cleaning. Jesse still does not sleep through the night most nights, so having a clean floor all over the house is essential to me not hurting myself at night when she calls me. It also just looks better. I keep reminding the girls our neighborhood is filling up and one day we'll be at the point (hopefully) that friends will just drop by to chat or play. I don't want us to be embarrassed by our home. Somehow I think this just bothers John and myself and the girls could careless, but I'm still hopefully one day they will see it our way.

My friend, April, pointed out last week that while stress can be dealt with by medications it helps to find a way to relax. She is so right! I am really hoping to start yoga soon. I've been saying that for quite sometime now, but I finally have a place downstairs where I can actually do it and not be in the living room. Since we rearranged furniture a few weeks ago, there is plenty of room in our bedroom to stretch out. I even talked to John the other day about me having fifteen minutes everyday with no interruptions so I can meditate. I'm working on getting things together for all this, but I'm hoping by the end of this week I'll start with everything. Yeah!

Halloween: I'll get pictures posted soon. Today, we are baking two batches of cupcakes for the CCT S.T.A.R. after party, and working the show this afternoon. So many things to do. lol

New classroom arrangement

The desks went together so easily! It took a couple of tries for us to figure out how to set them up, but this is where they are for now. We may have to tweak it next week when school starts back. We'll see.


The new desks

By having the desks angled this way, I think they will both have good light on their desks. Fingers crossed. The only thing I'm concerned about is the fact that I am behind them. We do oral drills everyday in English, spelling pre-tests and tests, and history map work may prove to be problematic with me behind them. Then again it may not be a problem; we'll know next week.

They are both facing the white board.

While both girls could see the board before, they had to turn sideways. Now, they just look up at the board. 

My desk.



Constant flux!

My mother tells me, often, that I'm constantly rearranging. I have to agree with her. I always feel like things can be improved, even if they seem to work. Today, the classroom is getting a new arrangement.

Of course, school has been going well. We've now completed six weeks and we are starting our first, one week, break. I suppose this would be the week to change the classroom; I mean we won't really be using it. Well, they won't (I still have a bit of work to do, not including the rearranging).

Are you curious yet, as to what is changing? Well. :)  The girls have new desks! Yeah, we broke down and now each one has a desk. The desk are put together, but not set-up with their stuff yet. When they get it done tomorrow, I'll post pictures. John and I had tossed around the idea of each of them having their own desk for awhile now. But tonight we went in to buy them a lamp, for the school table, and came out with two red desks! LOL  The girls have been asking for some color in the classroom and now they'll have some.

I think it will work great for them, but honestly I'm a little curious as to how this will work for me. You see this year, I decided to put my laptop on my desk, instead of the end of the classroom table. This year I used the end of the classroom table for my teacher guides as they were working. It is also where I graded their papers, since my laptop is on my desk. I was thinking of putting my laptop on the "keyboard" pullout of my desk, but I don't think it is wide enough. So, this week I'll be trying to figure out how to make what works for them, work for me.

The cafeteria has reopened!

The girls were sad to lose their cafeteria when we donated our bar chairs a few months ago. John had decided they were too tall (the backs) and distracted from the kitchen...or something like that. Anyway.

John and I have been discussing what kind of stool to put there for awhile now. I knew I saw one somewhere I thought he would like, but we couldn't find it. I know IKEA used to sell one, but when we went a month ago they did not have one like we wanted. Yesterday, we set out again to look. We started at Target, of course, and found just what we were wanting. But they only had one! Of course! ;)  Today, we went to another Target and found our second stool.

It is a bit modern, especially for us, but the girls are loving them already. I predict when school is back in session on Wednesday (I am leaving home a few days, so I know John won't do any schoolwork), that two girls are going to want to eat in the cafeteria.

NOTE: The girls used them the first time on Tuesday (before school started back) with John while I was in Charlotte. :)

Books!

Finally, a few weeks later, all the books I ordered have arrived. Well, with one exception, but it was an add-on. Homeschool parents, especially those who do the schooling, will understand the excitement. There is something fun and exciting about getting new books. I haven't had a good chance to study them yet. I did flip through them as they arrived and they look quite interesting. John thinks I'm a bit odd to go absolutely ga-ga over new school books. However, I am simply thrilled to have been lucky enough to find these books when they are out of print.

Finally, something actually goes my way!

I have to admit I have always been jealous of my friend Courtney who seems to find the best buys ever...and often.

I believe last summer I wrote about finding out all the books my edition of The Well-Trained Mind recommended for science, for fifth through eighth grade, were no longer being published. I searched the web scouring for them to no avail. Today, I was struggling again. While I feel Jesse enjoyed her science this year I'm not convinced she learned as much as I wanted her to. I sat at my computer most of the morning looking at science curriculum and wishing things were different. Then, on a whim, I checked EBay (again). I was surprised to find one of the books I needed. Shocked when I found two! When all was said and done I had found all six of the books I could not find last summer. All six!! Just when I felt all was lost and I was failing my girls in science there they were. Yes, some my say divine intervention. I say the universe smiled upon me today. Whatever the reason, I am grateful, incredibly delighted and excited about what lay before us. Courtney would be proud at the bargains too! :)

Squeezing in a moment

John found me last night at the computer. A place I somehow feel I live at, yet never have time for. Last night, while we were in town, we went to Books-A-Million so I could go ahead and buy the girls geography workbooks for next year. Searched all through their workbooks and there was not one geography book of any kind. That brings us back to John finding me on the computer last night.

"What'cha doing?" he quietly asked.

"I'm looking for new geography books. The ones I was looking for tonight are no longer available."

"How does that always happen to you?"

It is a question I ask myself often.

In fact, I was thinking about that very thing yesterday afternoon. So, when I was talking to my friend Wendy on FB about her son's math, I asked her if she was having problems with any of her other curriculum. "No." The response didn't make me feel better then, nor later as I sat by the glow of the computer screen searching out new geography books.

I know what you're thinking. Just find a grade level book and buy it. Sounds simple...it isn't. First there are no 2nd grade level geography books that I have found not to cost an arm and a leg. Second, Jesse is further along than what they are putting in the 3rd grade levels. However, I did find a 4th grade level I wish she had had this year (I wrote it down for Chloe for 3rd). I did finally find a couple of options for both of them so now I have to decide. I hate deciding. I had already decided on the ones they are using and now that series is gone. Same thing happens in the grocery store. I find something I like then they stop carrying it.

Two days ago I thought I was doing well. I ordered next year's spelling books and had enough left over to buy the geography books. Yesterday afternoon I checked the website for the spelling books, because I never received an email saying they had my order. It was still in the cart. But I put in my card information to make the purchase, yet there it sat. So is it still going through? Did it hiccup? Do I need to do it again? Am I going to wind up with two sets of books?? This company has the worst site, as Courtney, would verify. It is beyond horrible. And every time they change it to make it better it only gets worse. This is my stress.

The snowball effect of trying to do one simple task and it doesn't go the way it is suppose to go. Seems to be how things are with me.

Christmas Eve 2009

I am happy to report that Santa will be getting cookies from the Morgan children this year. In fact, they made the dough yesterday afternoon with the aide of John and last night they cut them out and put on the sprinkles. I did get to cut out a couple of them (everyone's favorite part).

John says I make him look crazy here, so I'm going to address that for those who do not know John like I do. John loves to "find" things to pick on me and the girls about. When he does find something (like computer use) he doesn't let go. He'll pick about something off and on for months! I can go an entire day without checking my emails but I sit down late to do it then John will find me and act like I've been there for hours. He's not being mean or demanding, but when he is in a good mood he loves to pick. Luckily, his mother warned me of that trait years ago.

The girls room is still a work in progress, but it has come a long way. We still have to work on half the room (where their beds are) but we'll get there by the end of next week I'm sure.

I still have not touched the classroom. I just need to rearrange a few things to make it work better. I also need to finish their grades for this semester. And I'm still working on the list of books I need to order, so when school starts I don't have to worry about "thinking" just doing.

Santa arrives tonight and the girls are excited, kind of a sedated excited. Jesse is still pointing out to Chloe that it is giving and not receiving that is most imporant. We "gave" the librarians more treats yesterday. I think Jesse likes to give things that are baked/made so she can help. I don't think we could do enough for the people at the library. They are always so willing to help us every week with our homeschool selections and the "for fun" reading. I am very thankful for them.

Well, off to start a turkey!

Okay, so I'm a slacker!

I've been meaning to post for a few days now. But with trying to wind up things for school by Friday, Morgan family Christmas party this past Saturday and making my first "I'll pay you" goodies today I've been swamped!

I have to admit something happened late last week I wanted to post about but for the love of John I can not remember what it was.

So, I'll start with the Morgan family Christmas party. We met at John's sister's house. The girls always have fun with their cousins and Saturday was no exception. So many packages! The girls both received a gift card from Claire's from Grandma Morgan. Of course Sunday morning that is where they wanted to go. I knew that would happen. Jesse got the cutest ice skate earrings. She picked out five other pair of earrings, a new silver/black headband with a small bow (festive). Chloe bought three pair of earrings, some hot chocolate lip balm and (no shocker here) an earring holder in the shape of the Eiffel Tower.

The adults played Combat Christmas (or White Elephant or whatever you personally want to call it). The game where you bring a gift then you can open one or take one from someone else. John took the XPExpress from Keith and I opened new grilling utensils (another gift for John).

Jesse also received a gift card from Michael's. I have to be honest I did not think she would have a hard time picking out things at Michael's, but it was rough for her. She finally decided just to spend half of her money on Sunday then she'll go back later. I'm trying to remember what she finally decided on: a log cabin bird house (she painted it Sunday), two stamps (one is Christmas ornaments and the other was, well some kind of fancy do dad), an orange ink pad, and a dolphin cross-stitch that glows in the dark.

I believe we are as ready for Christmas as we will ever be. The girls are excited and they are asking for all kinds of things...for the dog. Yep, Rosie is top of their list when you ask what they want. "A sweater for Rosie." Too cute.

And yes, you read correctly, someone did ask me to make them some goodies for cash. No one could be more shocked than I. However, they turned out fabulous. I made candy covered pretzels in the shape of Christmas trees with red ornaments and snow on some of the limbs. I hope she is as happy with them, when they are delivered tomorrow, as I was with how they turned out.

We are finishing school on Friday, but Chloe has to finish her current spelling book and Jesse has to complete her current chemistry book. Both are moving on to new books next semester. I am still working on history notes for Jesse, currently I'm just a wee bit ahead of her. I'd like to get finished. I also need to revamp our reading list for second grade before Chloe gets into second grade. Make a list of books that need to be purchased for the next school year (all the good offers are in January thru April when most people are not thinking about it yet). So many things going on inside my head! Also! Did I tell you? I can't remember. John bought me Rosetta Stone Spanish for my Christmas present. We loaded it last night and I went through the first three lessons. It is amazing how quickly some of it comes back after twenty-plus years! I wanted the girls to start in January with the new school semester but they are itching to get started. John will be doing it too. Our goal is once we get some knowledge we'll make one night a week "Espanol only" (I don't have the right key on my keyboard).

A lot on my mind...

more than usual it seems.

I've been thinking a lot lately about different kinds of things. One is remembering why we chose to homeschool in the first place. I've been tired lately and sometimes I must remind myself that I will only make these sacrifices for a few years then our girls will set off on a journey of their choosing.

I've been thinking a lot about family. What does "family" mean to me? I don't think of "family" as just those who happen to have the same bloodline. I feel a very strong bond to those who are not bound to us by blood, but have included us as part of their family; and they are certainly a part of ours. I have recently found my "little brother" on Facebook, which has led me more recently to his mom. Who I claim, and have for quite a while, to be my "second" mom. A lady whose poise and quiet nature always amazed me in a classroom full of nitwits! Well, not full but those few do stand out in a room of less than twenty.

Religion has been on my mind a lot lately too. Maybe Jesse's history studies have been playing in my head or life as it is right now. I am, brace yourselves, atheist. I am. I have been for quite a while. It took me a long to realize it. I mean after all I grew up in southern Baptist church getting yelled at the minister every Sunday until I was a teenager. But somewhere along the way, I found myself. Most readers of this will choose to believe I "lost" myself, but that would not be correct. I spent many years being what other people around me thought I should be even though it wasn't me. Now, today, I can see who I am and I have to say I am proud of who I am. I am a strong person, both mentally and physically. I have depth. I can see in people who they are, usually before they say anything. (I am not always right, but mostly.) I am accepting of others who are not like me. I mean really why would I want everyone to be like me...what would we have to discuss. Some of my closest friends are...dare I say...Republican. Deep breath! lol And no I am not a Democrat either. On that matter too I show and Independent thought.

Back to religion. I wish, and believe me this is hard for humans, everyone could be accepting of people's religious views. There are so many views going back so many years and they have changed so much over time. People seem to be in the mind set that what they believe is the only thing to believe. When really it is the only way for that person. That individual could not imagine believing anything else, and can not understand what is wrong with the rest of the world and tries to convert everyone. Something I find ridiculous, annoying and quite frankly disrespectful. Believing that anything you could say in a brief conversation could change a person's religious viewpoint on the spot is arrogant. I beg you to stop trying. If a person is going to change it will only come from within. Here is one I love! I personally get this one a lot. People who constantly tell me they were put in my life to show me the way. Really? Maybe I was put in your life to show you another way! Now, we are even. And by the way, stop that! Religions are delicate and fragile, yet create the strongest emotions possible in people. People protect their religions like they would protect a child, so be gentle.

I have a lot more on my mind, like why does laundry never seem to end even after you finish it. Why is it the neighbor's dogs prefer to poop in your yard? Where do all the pumpkins go after Halloween? Why do sweet things have to be so incredibly bad for you? Why can't lunch fix itself? And of course, where did the extra sock come from in the laundry? My mind seems to have, well, a mind of its own lately. If I have upset you, I apologize that was certainly not my intent. My intent was to clear my mind on my blog. If you have more thoughts, please feel free to clear your mind on your blog.

Note: I wrote this the morning of Nov. 5th. I didn't post it because I wanted to "sit on it" a bit. We had school in the afternoon so the TV was off. I did not hear about Fort Hood until I arrived at TaeKwonDo and Master Mike told me. This morning I listened to GMA as they discussed the Major being harassed because of his religion. I also heard he had been reprimanded for pushing his religion. Religion is not a two-way street...it is each person's own private road.

The girls get a new "school"...

and Mom finally gets a break!

A little over three weeks ago, I had an idea of moving the girls into the bonus room and the classroom downstairs. I just kept looking at all the space we were not using upstairs and the girls stuff was everywhere downstairs. I called John and he said if I thought it was a good idea we would do it. Of course, me being me, I started moving things immediately. That night I wanted John to help me move my desk and a few other big things downstairs. We were standing in the new classroom (once Jesse's room) and John said, "Do you want me to paint while its empty?" Well, DUH! So instead of moving furniture that night we went and bought paint. And we bought paint for Chloe's old room which was going to be a room for John. Three weeks later we almost have the house back to normal (except the girls' room), though there are still a few things left to do. We love the new classroom! I haven't taken pics of John's room yet. He is still working on a few things, but hopefully soon we'll have pics of it too.

Reorganized...

whew! I spent the majority of yesterday standing. I'm not used to that. I reorganized our master bedroom and the kitchen. Our bedroom wasn't so bad, really it was just a good cleaning. I still have yet to figure out why some pieces of furniture get collections of junk on them all the time.

The kitchen was a different story. I had a couple of goals for the kitchen: find a new home for the crock pot (I shouldn't have to lift if off a shelf over my head to use it), the "baking" drawers were impossible to find anything in. So, I set off yesterday after lunch to see what I could do. The "baking" drawers I actually did Friday (I think). They are so organized now; no more searching for me! I finally decided to keep the crock pot on the counter (the last thing I wanted was to add more to the counter tops, but it was the only way). I put the cereal dispenser on the end of the breakfast bar and the crock pot to the left of the sink. The red teapot is now in the new "red corner". John made a shadow box for me a couple of months ago (I just hung it a couple of weeks ago). It has the cookie cutters my Mom used when I was little and they are red. I had bought a red tray for the deck table and my Mickey and Minni cookie jar has some red too. Hence, the "red corner" because everything red is in one corner of the kitchen, now the teapot is there too (it just made sense).

Now, the only thing left is finishing the classroom. I still have to finish grading Jesse's math and send everything off to the association, file, and general "go through stuff". I'm hoping I can finish it this week but I just found out last night John will not home for three days, but he for seven. I'm trying not to think, "there goes my clean house". LOL I'm really hoping by Thursday or Friday the only thing I have to work on is SOTW II (no, I still haven't opened the book yet).

Not much going on...

I can't believe it is Wednesday already...the week went where?? lol So, much has happened this week, but nothing really exciting. We will finally finish school for the year on Friday and get our longest break yet. Yes, three whole weeks! lol I know it doesn't seem long, and it isn't, but when you factor in that we are out of school whenever John is off (every other Monday) then you start to see why our year takes so long. That too is why my planning for the next school year starts in January and the last things are purchased about now. It would cost way too much for me to get everything at once and since I buy from several different sources it works out on shipping. Anyway, I've bored half of you!

TKD was good last night. Wendy and the boys are finally back after an unwanted break. It was awesome to finally have someone in class stick up for me rather than (me being the only woman) getting bashed by all the guys. So, Wendy, "Glad to have ya back!"

What else? Well (I posted on FB-Facebook, for those who don't know) about Rosie yesterday. She scared the snot out of me yesterday morning while we were having class. She had been trying to bite the girls' chairs then I saw her chewing on something. I looked expecting to see a piece of black (from the chairs) but saw something shiny. She had a push pin in her mouth!! I told the girls what was going on in my panicked voice. Jesse, without thinking, reached down grabbed Rosie's upper jaw and lifted it up. The pin got in between her teeth and skin of her jaw so I had a hard time getting it out without injuring her. We finally got it out and she was fine, but I did redo the classroom bulletin board so hopefully we won't have that problem again. Hopefully.

I am going to a wedding shower tomorrow. One of the ladies in John's office is getting married soon and her shower is tomorrow. I'll go to the shower while the girls visit with "Dad". Should be interesting.

There have been a lot of things going on that I won't talk about; like waking up at 1 am to find one of the girls up and not well. The enormous size of bugs in Kershaw county. The fact that I still have done nothing with SOTW II.

Happy, happy, joy, joy...

Yes! My order from Rainbow Resource arrived today and it did contain book II of Adventures with Atoms and Molecules. I couldn't get it from the publisher, Books-A-Million or Barnes & Noble, but RR came through!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still working on school for next year...

In fact, I don't feel like I ever really stop thinking about "next year" no matter what time of the year it is. I still have not done anything more for SOTW II. I do have an alternate plan for science if I can not get book II of Adventures with Atoms and Molecules, but I'd rather have book II. I'm still waiting to see if it ships from Rainbow Resource or not, which means I'm still waiting for the geography books I ordered. The geography books look like that are going to be a great fit for what I want; I am just anxious to hold one in my hands.

Tomorrow I'm going to meet Julia, somewhere at sometime (don't know yet), to see her newest version of TWTM. I'm really looking forward to it. She wants to see my notebooks, which should be very interesting. I started doing mine the way TWTM suggested but then decided it didn't work for my brain, so I switched it up a bit (Courtney is rubbing off on me).

I think, other than the books I've ordered that haven't arrived yet and SOTW II, everything is ready for next year. Chloe is excited about going into first grade and starting history. Jesse keeps telling her she (being Chloe) should enjoy Kindergarten because "it gets hard". lol Too cute! I'm excited too. We will actually be starting our fourth year of homeschooling. I just can't believe we've been doing this for four years already. While I have adjusted my original thoughts on how to school them, we haven't encountered any problems. Yes, there are times when I would like to have five minutes to myself, but I wouldn't trade a moment (as Jesse leaps into my lap because the "monster" - Dad - "is coming").

Keeping my fingers crossed...

I wrote, in the last week or so, about not being able to find a chem book I was looking to buy. Tonight, I was on Rainbow Resource and accidentally ran across the entire series. There it was book II and it said the book was available. Now, granted this is exactly what happened when I found it on the publisher's website, so I'm being optimistically hopeful. We'll know in about a week!

Preparing for a new school year...

I have already vented about the lack of chemistry books for elementary students (and Sonny half.com didn't have it either, but thanks for the info I'm sure I'll use them later). But right now chemistry seems to be the tip of my stress.

While this year was Chloe's first year to actually be in school, she had a very light schedule. I know a lot of homeschool parents put two or three children doing the same thing in science, history and other subjects, with each child doing what is appropriate for their age, skill and knowledge (a good idea for multiple children). I have two. Seriously, I should be able to keep up with two children doing different things, but honestly I'm not sure I'm going to survive.

So, far for next year I have most of my "lists" complete. Jesse's reading list and Chloe's science and reading lists. Story of the World II (SOTW II) I have not yet read the book (I make notes for them to read, but I'm thinking for book III they'll do it themselves). I think if I would at least get half way through the book I'd feel better right now I'm on chapter 5...out of 42.

Another source of stress is our books. Now, that we have a puppy in the house I can no longer use my method of stacking library books by subject, in order of being read, on the floor for Jesse to grab when its time to start a new book (and next year it will be books for Jesse AND Chloe). So, I found something that worked great now I can no longer do it. That seems to happen a lot! I think I'm just going to rearrange my desk entirely and see what happens. I'm still trying to finish this school year and plan far enough ahead so when we are out for a few weeks I can just relax with the girls. I hope that happens.

Afternoon with the ladies...

I've been planning a gathering for a new homeschool mom for about a month now. We finally had our "gathering of the minds" today. It has been such a long time since we just sat around talking about curriculum. I loved it. I had the chance to reaffirm some of my picks, for us, by looking at what others are using. We discussed different methods of homeschooling too. I'm sure we overwhelmed "D" but I think she'll get a handle on things really quickly. She had a lot of great questions and already had an idea of the direction she wants to go with homeschooling.

While I was gone, John took the girls to play at the playground at Ft. Jackson. They love it there so I think they had a fun afternoon.

Science Fair 2009...

The Science Fair went very well today. It was the smallest fair we've had, but I think everyone who attended had fun. The students all did a great job with their projects. All the projects were very interesting and I believe all the students really enjoyed trying each other's projects.

I am grateful for all the participants this year and the past two years. John and I have looked forward to hosting this event for the past three years. It has been a great experience for our entire family.

Where does time go...

I can't believe it's Thursday already. We've been working hard on our school work all week and have almost caught up to where I wanted us to be. Jesse, especially, has been working hard, simply because she has so many subjects each day. But she's a trooper and keeps plowing through the work. Chloe is just happy she's caught up.

John's school is almost over, only two days left then the third day will be graduation. YEAH!!! I can not explain how much this school has disrupted our lives. I will be so glad to get back to "normal" around here and have John's alarm go off at 6am rather than 4am. He is getting back to his "usual" self rather than the grump bucket we've been living with for the past month. Chant with me, "Almost there; we're almost there".

I've been thinking ahead about science in high school (yes, I know its way early!). I think I would feel more warm and fuzzy for it if I understood how I am suppose to grade it following the Well-Trained Mind. It kind of spells out what to do for science but nothing on how to grade it if you require a grade for reporting purposes. Really, this is the only subject I'm worried about. And really the only thing I'm worried about is grading. This is my worst subject, the only one I'm clueless on. I don't want to say I'm panicking (I do have a few years to figure this one out), but I also want them to be where they need to be in math for the science to be solid. URGH! I just keep going back on forth on whether or not to follow TWTM or find a program to follow that gives me tests and answers. But I really like the method behind TWTM path, its just the grading. I have a feeling I'm going to be dealing with this one for a while!