I've always hated.... "Oh, snap!" "Hell's yeah!" "Not for nothin'" (a NYC thing. I can't stand it). It runs along the lines of another phrase I hate, which is: "With all due respect" "Summer" and "Lunch" used as verbs "Supposably" (I hear this every day) "Manha'an" (Manhattan), "mi 'ins" (mittens) Pronounce your friggin Ts. "birfday" (don't care. I will correct this every time I hear it) "Close the light" "I gotta ax you somethin' " "Wow. Just wow" "I, personally" "You shouldn't of" "24/7" and even worse, "24/7/365" "Don't even go there" "Let's touch base" "I'm keeping it real" :glare:

:seeya:

My oldest dd (almost 16) was allergice to cows milk. She was on a soy formula (Prosobee) and then something called Next Step (soy) from age 1-2. Then at 3 we started using Edensoy milk with added calcium and Vit. D. She was on that until age 4 when she was able to drink cows milk without projectile vomiting. Looking back, I would have used almond or rice milk since I didn't know about "precocious puberty" until a few years later. I found out that soy has phytoestrogens similar to bc pills. :eek: Thankfully, there were no effects from it, like precocious puberty (she was 13, like the rest of the family). But I definitely worried about that for years.

The envelope with your child's papers inside must also be known as a PIF (as opposed to the online one). Still, they should learn to be clearer. :001_huh:

I needed to hear this too. I turn 40 in exactly 7 days. I enjoyed your ponderings, your realizations, and your goals. You've inspired me to come up with some of my own. :001_smile:

We're taking an eclectic approach with dd13. Here's her 8th grade schedule: Lof Beginning and Advanced Algebra (Daily) The Everything American History book (2-3x/week) Barron's Painless Life Science, Painless Writing, Painless Grammar, Painless Vocabulary, and Painless Algebra (we like these, lol) (2-3x/week) Spectrum Grade 8th Language Arts (2-3x/week) Daily Sparks Vocabulary, Writing, and Grammar (2-3x/week) LiveMocha Spanish (1-2x/week) Various classic literature (most taken from Ambleside lists) (Daily) Written and oral narrations, essays, and research reports (varied) Poetry, copywork, and dictation (Daily, dictation is weekly) Nature, Artist, and Composer Study (1x week) I plan on spending about 2-3 hours per day with her and she'll do a good portion of work on her own. Heavy focus this year on English and Writing.

Sounds like arepas.

Yeah, I felt I should have re-worded that. I just figured you would understand what I meant. For my dd, "to live on" means being able to cover her own expenses ("necessary" to her right now) - apart from what I give her as her parent. For example, she buys her own: clothes (again, apart from what I get for her), shoes, mani-pedis, bags, food out with friends, movie/concert tickets, gifts, etc. She saves the other half of her weekly pay for long-term items (maybe a laptop, a car, or something else she'll think of). She is 15 and does not have regular bills. I'm proud of the way she's handling her money and I have no doubt that as an adult she will continue to handle it wisely. I know at her age, I was spending every cent I made on cigarettes, beer, and junk food and then I'd ask my mom for more money. :ack2:

DD(15) goes to a journalism high school and has been working for about 6 months at a pizzeria. Her schedule varies but she usually does about 16 hrs/week. During the summer she's done between 20 and 40 a week. She asks for the hours. She has been enjoying a rich summer even with her job - concerts, the beach, amusement parks, and out with friends every day. She just enjoys it all more now that she has her own money. Her job is about 10 minutes from home, dh or I drive her, and she makes enough money to give me half (to put away for her) and live on the other half. I feel this job has been a wonderful experience for her. Since she started working, her school grades improved (markedly), she has learned the value of a dollar and how to budget, and has really learned responsibility. She still has plenty of time to study.

Well, I can tell you, we're not morning people - at all. The kids go to bed around 11pm. I'm up with ds(8) at around 9am and we start academics at around 10:30. By the time dd gets up, I'm just about done with ds and we can start - usually around noon, but we tend to make use of any free time during the day. I actually prefer late afternoon academics with dd. Our homeschool group classes and trips are mainly in the afternoon and other things like dance, cub scouts, basketball, etc are in the late afternoon/evenings. So, the kids' sleeping late does not get in the way of any of our regular plans. Like I said, if something does come up that's early, they have no problem getting up and ready fast - on their own.

My 13yo dd gets up every day between 10am and 11am. I think one of the beauties of homeschooling is that teenage girls (especially) get the sleep they need. She has a lot going on in her world and when she needs to be up at 7am - she is, without any problem. My 15yo dd gets up at 7am every weekday since she goes to high school, but will sleep past noon on the weekends. I figure, they"ll have to get up early most every day as adults. Why make them start now? :001_smile:

http://livemocha.com

Just make sure it's not MRSA. My friend's son cut himself at the park. After a day it was a red bump. Then it just got worse from there.

We're using AmblesideOnline Yr. 2 and Teaching Textbooks math for our 3rd-grader this year. We also use various workbooks for grammar, science, and Spanish. We spend less than 2 hrs/day on academics and get everything done. Another huge part of his homeschooling consists of homeschool group classes and field trips. No matter which curriculum (or lack thereof) you choose, you will most likely cover any state requirements. I use the Worldbook site as a nice easy general checklist each year. http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum

NYC public transportation here. It takes dh less than an hour to get to work. This is with a 15 minute bus ride, a 30 minute train ride, and a few blocks to walk. Same coming home. (It's only 6 miles away, but morning rush hour and the fact that it's Manhattan make driving in ridiculous. I've driven to a hospital a few blocks from dh's work and it took about 8 minutes at 2am, lol. Wish it took 8 minutes all the time!)

Maybe this one? http://kidswhothink.blogspot.com/

We run TT7 on Vista no problem. Not sure what it could be.

We use AmblesideOnline (starting Yr. 2 soon) and the composers are as follows: Ralph Vaughan Williams Edward Elgar Edvard Grieg Jean Sibelius Maurice Ravel I know next year (2010-2011) it will be Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Chopin.

I'll be in that situation by this time next year. Dd15 is in high school and dd13 will be auditioning for performing arts high schools in a few months. Ds will then be 9 and it will just be us at home. I'm actually looking forward to it - he'll get my full 1-1 attention, we can go on tons of field trips and homeschool classes geared for just his age group, and just enjoy being together.

Just to throw a Christian slant in all of this: "Jesus Christ is the New Covenant, rendering all of the Old Testament practices, including the Abrahamic covenant of circumcision, null and void." Not only that, but the original way to circumcise (old Jewish Law) was to just nick the foreskin, not completely remove it. http://www.noharmm.org/christianparent.htm http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/396937/circumcision_in_the_bible_what_christian.html?cat=25 And as far as health is concerned, the US is the only westernized country still advocating this practice. Europe and most of Asia do not practice this and they have the lowest rates of STDs and AIDS in the world. The highest rates of these diseases are in Muslim countries and parts of Africa (oh, and the US) where circ is widespread. Compare the circ and AIDS rates by country and you can see, for the most part, how they correlate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_HIV/AIDS_adult_prevalence_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_circumcision

Would you share how long you've been homeschooling? Since Feb 1, 2005. What did you use that first year? We did lots of classic book readalouds, nature journaling, poetry, copywork, history timelines, handicrafts, field trips. What was your approach the first year? A loose Charlotte Mason approach then a slow ease into unschooling, which lasted 3 years. What are you using this year? A more structured Charlotte Mason Approach: AmblesideOnline. Has your approach changed? The kids have always loved CM. We would still include lots of CM activities in our day all through our years of unschooling. Eventually they came to me asking for a more definite schedule (rather than the ones they were making for themselves). We did research together online and we all decided that AmblesideOnline could be the answer. We're now going into our 2nd year of AO and we all still love it. What stands out as helping you find your groove? Knowing what the kids like, how they learn, and making sure they have lots of input. I believe this is what has kept our homeschooling virtually stress-free. I don't have resistance or whining or defiance when it's time for academics. We have a fantastic groove that works and works well.

We've raised hamsters. A "male" that ds got for Christmas had 13 babies 2 weeks later. :ohmy: . It was a fun winter, that's for sure. We've also raised a tadpole to a bullfrog. And a caterpillar to a butterfly (painted lady). We're doing that again now as a matter of fact - this time it's a caterpillar to a luna moth (dh found it in the park). We've had an anole lizard for 2 years - those are cool, they eat live crickets (hmm, they don't stink and have never escaped - maybe because we get the really small ones and Godzilla's tank is a 10-gallon). Ds holds him all the time. It's pretty calm. We also have goldfish, a snail, and a parrot. Ds is begging for a bearded dragon next. I would probably suggest you try a tadpole (these are just cool to witness them changing into a frog) or a lizard (easy maintenance).

Just wanted to mention you do NOT have to include your list of books. All you need to put down is a general overall plan for each subject (as minimal as possible, really). An annual assessment can be a narrative, test, or peer review - whichever you like. Testing is required in 5th and 7th grade. Or you could do 4th, 6th, and 8th if you prefer. And then 9th through 12th. Paperwork is due every 2-3 months or so. It's not a big deal. I have samples on my blog if you'd like something simple and in compliance. :001_smile:

And don't forget about it being the state of no left turns :glare: :D

I so totally would have said something - just because she incorrectly pointed out some else's incorrectness. :sneaky2: