Yeah, I have thought of that. But I just can't take another child who talks loudly and gets into everything while distracting the whole room; all the while the parent is chatting in the back just as loudly. I would rather have a few families who are serious about providing a beautiful, stress free learning experience that a whole bunch who make it miserable. I also think once people get a taste of it, others will follow. "If you build it, they will come. " :)

I have been apart of too many co-ops and classes where students and parents are interrupted with small children crying, running around getting into stuff and parents are too distracted to help or even take care of discipline problems with their older children. So, as I am writing out the rules for the new co-op I am starting, I have decided that no child under of the age of 6 will be permitted to attend the co-op. I would like to see parents get babysitters for their younger children. Another area I have seen again and again over the years, is the mom's will sit in the back of the room, completely unengaged with their kids and distracting with their chatter. My plan is that every parent (not having any little ones to take care of) will be required to participate and do the activities the kids are doing. For example, we will be doing a nature journal each time that includes drawing and painting. I want the parents to have their own art pads that they participate by also journalling. Any advice on wording these in my handbook?

I am having a giveaway on my blog for a brand new copy of Memoria Press' 1st grade Enrichment Guide. I have a full review posted as well. You can find it at: BarnWood Girls Blog

Yes, I can get the pell grant.

I am in my second semester at college, currently with a 4.0 GPA. Because of my stupidity 20 years ago (I stopped going to school in 1995 without dropping the classes and ruined my transfer GPA), I wasn't able to apply for any scholarships when I started school in the fall. So now I am preparing for next fall to get as many scholarships as possible to not only cover those classes but also pay back the little loan I had to take out for this school year. I am applying to all the ones available at my school and I have even applied for a United Autoworkers for one they are giving away since my mom worked in that industry for 20 years. But I am looking for some legitimate scholarships that you may know about without digging through 10,000 on these "scholarship" sites on the web. I figure all real scholarship opportunities are worth applying for, even the little ones so any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. If it is helpful, my situation is... 40 years old Single Mom 5 Kids One in college full time as well.

I am in my second semester at college, currently with a 4.0 GPA. Because of my stupidity 20 years ago (I stopped going to school in 1995 without dropping the classes and ruined my transfer GPA), I wasn't able to apply for any scholarships when I started school in the fall. So now I am preparing for next fall to get as many scholarships as possible to not only cover those classes but also pay back the little loan I had to take out for this school year. I am applying to all the ones available at my school and I have even applied for a United Autoworkers for one they are giving away since my mom worked in that industry for 20 years. But I am looking for some legitimate scholarships that you may know about without digging through 10,000 on these "scholarship" sites on the web. I figure all real scholarship opportunities are worth applying for, even the little ones so any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. If it is helpful, my situation is... 40 years old Single Mom 5 Kids One in college full time as well.

Ok, that is helpful. Thanks so much!

I know about how to make the sounds. What I mean is how do they know when to read a word with one sound over the other?

How do you teach your child to distinguish between words that sound like that and think? or Then and thought?

Yes, I completely agree. :)

So I don't have the greatest yard for nature study and I don't get the kids out on nature walks nearly enough. I love it when we see something that inspires us. Today we spotted a few birds at our bird feeder and did some Internet searching to identify them. Turns out we have Junco's in our back yard. Then I went looking for a video that could show us up close what they looked like when I came across this awesome video. It made me realize that we can still do nature study even if it isn't always in our own backyard via YouTube. So I thought I would share.

My daughters boyfriend is having an Eagle Scout ceremony tonight and I found out a gift is a good idea. So what do I give for this sort of thing besides a card with money? I am completely at a loss.

Day 5 Sickie… I watched Arranged last night. Touching, funny, great movie!

I've watched a few of the suggestions but I'm finding myself completely addicted to Bletchley Circle. :) it's a real gem, which is just what I needed since I'm still sick. :(

Thanks everyone! On day 3 of sickness so ill try some out.

I have been couch bound all day and am getting antsy. Any recommendations for some good movies or TV shows? Too bad Outlander isn't out yet. I like just about every category from Documentary - Science Fiction. Some things I have seen and loved to give you examples of my taste... Olympus Has Fallen (I love dramas like this) Arthur BBC Merlin BBC Breaking Bad (surprisingly I LOVED this show) (I looked at Weeds and couldn't stand that one) Anne of Green Gables Little Women Pride and Prejudice North and South Cranford Wives and Daughters Emma Sense and Sensibility Once Upon a Time Once Upon a Time in Wonderland Walking Dead Blackfish - Documentary about Sea World Dances with Wolves The Patriot Roswell Sleepless in Seattle The First Wives Club

Also check out Memoria Press' Enrichment Guides for K & 1st. They are very FIARish.

Not annoyed at all. Thank you for your suggestion. I don't know if it is our cup of tea, but I appreciate the feedback. :)

I see Amazon Instant has the Ken Burns and Netflix has the National Geographic one. Any recommendations? Any others I should be looking for? Maybe something about Sacajawea?

This is good, and we do a lot of this in our other subjects so I'm looking for something different for our history studies. I have keep school so streamlined this year that I stripped away all the really interesting things to save time. Now I am looking to add some of that back in but I want some fresh ideas. I have limited amounts of time with the kids as I am a full time college student so I can't do a lot with all my subjects, but History could be one area where we have some fun.

I am going to be reading the following books to my 7 & 10 year olds when we start back to school this week: Weekly This Country of Ours - 1 Chapter Weekly - Reading about the presidents starting with Washington The Lewis & Clark Expedition - Landmark book - 1 Chapter Weekly Caddie Woodlawn - 2 Chapters Weekly Carry on Mr. Bowditch - 1 Chapter Weekly I want there to be some activities that we do daily, either during the reading or after. A few ideas I have are: Narrate Color Presidential Pictures Copywork of short passages Make books - I was thinking of some sort of book making activity Label maps I feel like that is a good start, but I am looking for more ideas to keep it from getting stale. I also don't want to just write and label constantly. I don't know, I'm just looking for some fresh ideas, possibly something we can do over several days. I feel like making books has a lot of potential but I need ideas on how to really use that. I am open to art activities as long as they are meaningful. Something we can save. Any ideas?

Here is the rough version. If you want one that is pretty and includes links, go to my blog http://saywhatchasee.blogspot.com . I went through everyones posts and stole a few ideas so thanks! M 6 Muffins & Milk Mac & Cheese with Ham Chunks - Fruit Chili – Cornbread - Applesauce T 7 Dippy Eggs & Toast Hot Dogs – Chips – Apples Baked Parmesan Chicken – Broccoli - Rice W 8 French Toast Sticks - Milk Baked Potatoes & Fruit w/Whipped Cream Tacos w/lettuce & tomato – Yellow Rice TH 9 Waffles Ham/Cheese Bagel Sandwich, Goldfish, Jello *Navy Bean Soup – Crusty Bread F 10 *PB Banana Smoothie & Bacon Chicken Quesadillas – Whipped Cream/Fruit Pulled Pork Sand. - Applesauce - Chips SA 11 Cereal Ham/Broccoli Quiche – Grapes – Bread Pizza Night SU 12 Cereal Enchiladas – Yellow Rice – Apple Slices Leftovers M 13 *Breakfast Burritos Hamburgers – Fries – Deviled Eggs– Apples French Toast – Eggs – Oranges T 14 Muffins & Milk Taquitos – Refried Beans/Chips – Apples Steak – Baked Potatoes - Salad W 15 Scrambled Eggs & Toast Club Sandwiches – Chips – Apples/Dip Spaghetti – Garlic Bread - Salad TH 16 Baked Oatmeal Dagwood Sandwiches – Chips - Fruit *Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup - Bread F 17 Waffles Spahettio's & Meatballs, Apples Ham and Cheese Potato Soup – Bread/Salad SA 18 Cereal Bean Burritos – Fruit Salad with Yogurt Pizza Night SU 19 Cereal Meatloaf – Mashed Potatoes – Green Beans Leftovers M 20 Strawberry Banana Smoothie & Bacon Chicken Soup, Biscuits, Yogurt w/Teddy Grahams Cheeseburger Pie – Corn - Applesauce T 21 Egg MoMuffins Sloppy Joes, Chips & Veggies *Chicken Fried Rice – Fruit w/Cream W 22 Muffins & Milk Grilled Cheese – Chips – Apples/Dip Cool Taco Salad – Apples TH 23 Scrambled Eggs & Toast Paula Deen Mac & Cheese – Bread - Veggies Pork Chops *Broccoli Casserole, Applesauce F 24 Oatmeal, w/Fried Apples & Cinnamon Dagwood Sandwiches – Chips - Fruit Lasagna – Garlic Bread - Salad SA 25 Cereal Cheesy Ham & Potato Soup, Bread, Salad Pizza Night SU 26 Cereal Roast/Potatoes/Carrots – Bread - Coleslaw Leftovers M 27 *Breakfast Burritos French Bread Pizza – Pears Tacos – Refried Beans T 28 *Ham & Cheese Frittatas Baked Potatoes / Fruit w/Whipped Cream Porcupine Meatballs–Cornbread – Salad W 29 *PB Banana Smoothie & Bacon *Amish Casserole – Apples Steak, Steak Fries, Veggie TH 30 Muffins & Milk Chicken Nuggets, Macaroni & Cheese, Fruit Chicken Burritos, Yellow Rice, Apples F 31 Scrambled Eggs & Toast Hot Pockets – Chips - Fruit Turkey – Yams – Stuffing – Mashed Potatoes

I am on the Trim Healthy Mama diet so this meal plan includes that. Sunday 29th B: Eggs / Toast L: Fettucini Alfredo, Chicken, Broccoli, Salad, Bread D: BLT w/Turkey Bacon & Apple Slices S: Muffin in a Mug Monday 30th B: Smoothie L: Trim Healthy Pancakes (Kids: Pizza Bites, Veggie Sticks, Yogurt) D: Salad with Grilled Chicken (Kids: Bread Sticks) S: Deviled Eggs Tuesday 31st B: Trim Healthy Pancakes (Kids: Reg. Pancakes) L: Deviled Eggs, Greek Yogurt & Berries (Kids: Chicken Rice Soup, Biscuits, Apple Slices) D: Cool Taco Salad S: Muffin in a Mug Wednesday 1st B: Omelet L: Chicken Salad , Greek Yogurt & Berries (Kids: BLT's, Chips, Berries & Whipped Cream) D: Hamburger w/Guacamole (Kids: +Buns & Fries) S: Deviled Eggs Thursday 2nd B: Mason Jar Cold Oatmeal L: Leftover Hamburger w/Guacamole (Kids: Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas, Berries & Whipped Cream) D: Cheeseburger PIe S: Muffin in a Mug

There have been a lot of thoughtful comments made and I just want to say thank you. Many blessings to all of your families and I hope you Christmas is filled with love and joy. :)

Sorry for the typos... Typing on my phone.