Well I can tell you that there surely is money in being an artist! My dd goes to a high school where fine arts is one of the majors. The school has a pretty good track record for success, too. Check out some of the artists HERE. Don't forget, children who love drawing and coloring as a child grow up to be photographers, architects, fashion designers, book illustrators, interior designers, not to mention tons of things related to computers. Show this to that teacher and tell him where he can shove it. :)

Oh my. This makes me so angry. This is not the way things are at my dd's studio. She assistant-teaches 3 & 4 y/os. Ok, the costume price sounds about right. The chaos should not be. We have all the moms in the dressing rooms with the kids. They are usually all dressed and made up before they get there. They line up in a bright hallway - some get nervous and dd is there for hugs - and they all hold hands out onto the stage. This year dd was on stage dancing with them (in costume). Other years she stays in the "pit" with shoes on her hands doing the movements. After each number there are several assistants and teachers that lead them back to the dressing room. The moms have "wristband seating" which is in the front and a bit off to the side of the stage with easy access to meet their kids when they come offstage. The backstage hallway always has a table full of bottled water, snacks, and extra accessories in case someone forgot something. I can't imagine parents having to wait til intermission to pick the kids up. The dancing should be pretty ok after a whole year of paying for classes. Communication with parents is SOOOOO important. Emails are what makes our studio run. We didn't have them years ago and I always felt lost. Each dance room have a huge glass window so parents can watch. The SO created a really nice waiting area for each of the dance rooms. I would switch. They're not going to change how they do things and you're going to get angrier. Visit other studios and bring a list of things you want to see (and a list of things you want to avoid!). Ask a ton of questions. Good luck.

Oooh. I'll jump in here. 5th Grade Spelling/Grammar: Spelling Skills 5, Spectrum Word Study & Phonics, Simply Grammar Writing: Writing Strands, Copywork, Dictation, and Written narrations Math (daily): Teaching Textbooks 7 Science: Ambleside Online Year 3 readings, Nature study (1st term: reptiles, 2nd term: flowerless plants/crops, 3rd term: fish & amphibians) - along with the Outdoor Hour Challenge blog, ScienceSaurus, lots of experiments, and several trips to the NY Hall of Science museum. I might try the ACS Middle School Chemistry online lessons, too. [books: The Handbook of Nature Study & Secrets of the Woods] Spanish (2x/week): Immersion Spanish History & Geography: Ambleside Online Year 3 readings (1400-1600 - Renaissance to Reformation), History timeline & book of centuries, mapwork, Study of Marco Polo, NY History, several trips to different museums. [books: An Island Story, This Country of Ours, A Child's History of the World] Biographies: Michelangelo, William Shakespeare, Squanto, Marco Polo Poetry (daily): William Blake, Sara Teasdale, Hilda Conkling, H W Longfellow Literature: Ambleside Online Year 3 "free reading" selections - as many as we can get in. Also, daily independent reading with a book of his choice. Art: Picture study (the works of Fragonard and Rockwell), Drawing with Children, several visits to art museums and galleries, and lots of handicraft stuff Music: Composer Study (Mozart, Mendelssohn, Bartok, Hindermith), Guitar lessons...maybe

Really?! And there's no way you can work part-time and homeschool in NYC? Not for nothing, but this is an amazing place to homeschool and raise kids. :D

I did speedtest.net (can't figure out how to paste the page view) DOWNLOAD SPEED 51.06 mbps UPLOAD SPEED 5.12 mbps

:iagree: These are my goals as well. I also want some more emphasis on reading and vocabulary. My goal for myself is to be more consistent, limit the field trips to only 1 a week, and get more "inside" what ds learns.

I remember picking out Karen (Marie Killilea) at the card store when I was 9. Charlotte's Web or The Black Stallion might have been around this time, too.

This is how we've done things over the last few years - except we came from total interest-led learning to adding in some basics. Ds does math (TT), a spelling page, copywork. I read to him from a bit of history, science, and literature and he narrates (mostly spoken, a few written). He reads silently for about 15 minutes a day. Throughout the week we listen to some songs from a certain composer and look at some art from a certain artist while I tell him some facts about them. Nature study is fun and carefree - ds observes, inspects, investigates, and draws. Lessons are short (10-20 min), we're usually done in about 2 hours, and afternoons are free. Ds's tons of interests lead the way for everything else. So much learning goes on outside of the planned stuff. I try to provide him with as many resources as I can - kits, documentaries, museum visits, supplies, books, classes, etc., so he can follow his rabbit trails wherever they lead. I would have loved this kind of education.

Dd14 will be reading The Book Thief (Markus Zusak) for required school reading. Ds10 is reading Hatchet (Gary Paulsen). I'm not sure what dd17 is reading. I'm reading Age of Innocence.

Dd(17): Optimistic, Trusting, Sentimental Dd(14): Silly, Popular, Cautious Ds(10): Curious, Fearless, Focused

Ok, I know you said USED, but I just bought a new 2012 Mazda5 (micro-minivan) a couple of weeks ago AND I LOVE IT!!!!! It was 3rd for overall best minivan after the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna (which are $$$$$$$$$). Excellent safety ratings and excellent reviews by everyone... ...and it only costs $20,000! It seats 6 (I have a dh and 3 kids, too) and the 3rd row of seats fold down individually (in seconds). It's not huge like my old minivan (which I hated - Nissan Quest) and it drives beautifully. It might be just what you're looking for. Check it out!

The number of the Great Books of the sacred in Italy is The impediments in the way of slaves to be taken are Not sure what it means.

My 17y/o homeschooled only for 8th grade with full intention of going to high school the following year. She is an awesome writer so she chose a high school for journalism. It's been wonderful and she's graduating next week. My 14y/o started homeschooling 6 years ago. When she was 12 she gave a lot of thought to going to a performing arts high school. She had no interest in any others. She auditioned for 3 of them and was accepted into one of the best PA high school in the country. She just finished her freshman year and she has nothing but great things to say about it. Every day is a like a dream. I prepared for doing high school at home if that's what the kids want to do. Since my town has dozens of very good public high schools to choose from, I'm ok with them going. (We also have several hundred mediocre/crappy high schools in my town, but the kids would never think to apply to those, lol). The experience so far has been really good. They are thriving socially and academically and have had no real issues with peer pressure. I think it's a combination of all of these. By high school age, I feel that most homeschooled kids have reached a certain level of maturity and independence. They know how to think for themselves and can really benefit from what high school has to offer. The opportunities presented to my kids have been incredible (Dd saw a ballet at Lincoln Center and 2 Broadway shows this year - for free). Academically, it was fine. Nothing outrageous or too much. Socially it has been surprisingly better than I could have imagined.. My kids have always been extroverts with tons of friends. That has carried over into high school and it's been wonderful so far. I've notice that the cliques, drama, angst, bullying, and puberty hormonal rage that I have always seen in middle school is practically non-existent in my dd's high schools. I know that's not the case everywhere, but it's been my experience (and I've certainly been keeping my eyes open as to what goes on). My ds is only 10, but I'm pretty sure he'll go to high school as well. I'm looking at the same PA school as younger dd (for tech!), but he may choose one of the math- and science-based schools instead - or maybe one for film-making. We'll see where his interests lie in a few years. So I say let him go if that's what he wants. See how it goes. Nothing is ever permanent and he can come home again anytime.

6 since June of '09.

To put them to sleep, The songs I would sing over and over while walking them around the house or rocking them were: "You Are Special" (from Barney) "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad" (all verses) "Bushel and a Peck" (from Guys and Dolls) LOL, I used whatever worked.

I had 3 C-Sections and all were fine. Each hospital stay was about 3 days, there wasn't much pain afterward, and everything always healed up fine. I prefer them, actually. :)

This is me (and my dh) as well. :)

This summer's going to be great. Oldest dd is graduating high school on the same day as her sister's dance recital. Thankfully there's lots of time between both. We'll just be going out with our extended family to a nice big lunch - to the same place we went after dd's Kindy graduation. She's sentimental, lol. In July, younger dd has her dance Nationals and we'll be heading to Connecticut for a week. Ds is starting day camp at the end of June and that goes to the end of August (he'll miss 1 week for Nationals). He'll also be doing some light homeschooling - math, spelling, & reading a few times a week. I plan on getting this apartment organized all summer. There's so much I need to buy and do. My weekly report is HERE

:iagree: This is how I was taught as well. As children we all learned about Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, but as we grew in the Church, it was more about the symbolism and the many lessons that came from it all. I remember asking my 8th grade teacher (a priest) about how cavemen could have come before Adam & Eve if the latter were the first humans. I got a wonderful explanation - similar to the nun's from the OP. As I got older, it all fit together so nicely.

I love this. To me, everything sounded right... ...except Brooklyn. I don't think I can recall more than a couple of non-natives that can get the Brooklyn, Queens, or Staten Island accent right. I truly believe you just have to be born into it.

No. The call center where I work is about a 15-minute drive from home. Yes. Actually we start around 10am and finish up around noon. In the afternoons, we head to a homeschool group class or field trip, take care of errands, or just hang around home. Dh gets home at 6pm (he's awesome - he makes dinner and takes care of the chauffeur duties). I get home at 10:20ish.

I work 20 hrs a week and take home about $1800/mo. (plus about $300 worth of free stuff each month just for working here)

It's pretty difficult being from Queens, too, lol. My kids got very confused with some phonics books. I realize I do, in fact, sound like Fran Drescher sometimes - she grew up one town over from me. :) And dog (dawg) and log (lahg) definitely do NOT rhyme in these parts.

I'm partial to Ambleside. We've been using it for 3 years now. Ds loves it. It's very easy to implement, has a good amount of Bible (I use it secularly, though), and spent about $140 for all the required reading. I spent a bit more on other workbooks for spelling (which isn't necessary, but ds is dyslexic and needs some extra help), math, and science experiments (that ds requested). It's very rigorous, but we find it very enjoyable.

I work 6pm-10pm Monday to Friday for the cable company. It works out great. We have plenty of time to get everything done.