I used PM with my 4 boys, and I never used anything else. They were fine! I did not do the spelling, though. We use Sequential Spelling, so I just skip those lessons. But I am always too busy with other kids to add anything!

I actually did have that idea. We have friends whose DH is deployed, and they received "Flat Daddy" posters pretty much just as you described for them to carry around and take pictures with while he's gone--"A Year With Flat Daddy". But I never got around to getting an enlarged picture made, and we've already started doing things, so that's why hopefully the digital idea will work too! Of course, I was talking about this with my dh last night, and he thinks we should get photoshop--a good excuse to get something for him to play around with, LOL.

Yes, exactly--it definitely doesn't have to be perfect! I will try this video--thank you so much!

Is there an easy way to add a person into a digital picture, without any sort of expensive software (we don't have Photoshop), and without any special time-consuming skills required? We're in a small jr. high/high school co-op of only 5 families, and one of the families left this summer to live in Hawaii for 2 years. They are still in our co-op (they wake up at 3:30 AM and participate by Skype!). We go on a lot of field trips and just do a lot of fun things together. Last year we made a yearbook, and we're planning on doing so again, but we were thinking it would be fun to put E and C in some of the pictures--for example, we were at the National Gallery of Art today, and we could stick E and C off to the side of one picture, just so they would know we were thinking of them and missing them. Unfortunately, I don't have any idea how to go about doing this! Any (easy) ideas? Thanks!

My blog is public. My dh was active duty when I started blogging, but I really never referenced his job at all. I blog about boring, mundane things, mainly to keep my family members and close friends up on our family, since they live all scattered around the country. I guess I really don't care if strangers read about my family--they will probably be bored to tears after awhile, LOL. I lurk on the blogs of a few people just because I think they are interesting or similar to me (or different from me, in some cases!), but I'm not real great about always coming up with comments, etc. to get to "know" strangers on the internet. Sort of the way I am on here, where I've been on here since the old boards, but only have a few hundred posts! So since I am shy and have a low internet presence, I guess I just assume most strangers who read my blog and don't comment are the same way! I think my blogging has taken the place of scrapbooking in my very busy life. I want to put it all on blurb or someplace and make books out of it! That is what really keeps me motivated to blog. And I don't worry at all about who reads it.

My 3rd and 4th sons were wrestling around, and my 4th son chipped his front tooth on his brother's head. Gah. It's a pretty large chunk that chipped off the bottom (and it's a permanent tooth, of course). We have an appointment with the dentist at 3:30, but is there something we should be doing with the broken-off part, which we have? The receptionist didn't say, and I didn't think to ask. And does anyone know what the dentist might do? All I can think is--sounds expensive. Ah well . . . boys.

I've had membrane sweeps with all my pregnancies, sometimes more than once! Some have been more effective than others. Really, if your body isn't pretty much ready to go into labor, it probably won't work. The ones I have had that were most effective were where the OB did it VERY slowly and thoroughly. When they just sort of stick a finger in and run it around real quick--that doesn't usually do anything but bring a few contractions the following hour. I've never had any problems with infections or anything. And I definitely consider membrane-sweeping a whole lot less intrusive than an induction, so I would give it a go! It feels a bit like an exam or something--not comfortable, but bearable, you know? Just breathe deeply and focus on the ceiling, LOL.

We have 2 boys named Boaz in our homeschool co-op! The older one (in hgih school now) is always called "Bo", and the younger one (in maybe 1st grade) is always "Boaz".

We have friends at our church with a daughter named Jemima. She's a cutie! They call her "Jems" or "Jemsie" for nicknames. So I definitely think it's possible here!

This is what we do as well. We have a really long table, so we have the world map on one end, and the US map on the other. We also have a stuffed globe that we got from Timberdoodle. It's called a "Hugg-A-Planet's World Globe". We pray through Operation World, praying for a different country each day, and we use this globe on the couch for everyone to find the country. It's surprisingly detailed, and VERY durable!

I did cow eyes last year with my jr. high class, as well as with a CC group. You will definitely have to do the cutting! The sclera is really tough. Plus, there ais a ton of muscle and fat surrounding the eyeball you have to take/cut off before you can even start cutting the eye. Be careful not to cut off the optic nerve, which come out the back of the eye, as you are taking off all the muscle and fat. There are some good eye dissections on youtube. You should watch a few of them before you do it--then you will better know what to look for and exactly how and where to make the cut (you want to be behind the lens, for example).

Oh, I agree with this!! I find poems, speeches, or whatever that have to do with what we are studying, and I break those down into weekly chunks. We just keep building cummulatively, but it's not overwhelming at all. The 32 point timeline is just something I made up, using some VP card titles, and adding in a few events from other than American history that I thought were important in the last 2 centuries. PM me with your email address and I will send you the file, if you'd like. I actually posted on here a few weeks ago about my memory work stuff . . . let's see . . . here's the link. I pasted a few week's worth of examples of what I do. Maybe it will be helpful!

Yes, your kids are still young--I wouldn't want to do afternoons until I had people in at least jr. high! Plus, we are all teaching our strengths. I have a degree in biology, so me teaching higher sciences worked. Another mom has advanced degrees in languages and has worked as a translator, so teaching foreign language was her fit. Pray in a science person for when you reach jr. high and high school! : )

Fascinating blog posts! We actually have been on the same journey as you, except that we were only a part of CC for one year. The year we did CC my oldest was technically in 7th grade, although we still put him Foundations. A good friend and I were trying it out, to see if we wanted to start a challenge program the next year. But we found many of the same frustrations as you did (my oldest also LOVES history), and it was just too much for us to be gone 2 days of the week (we were already in a wonderful enrichment unit-study-type co-op for elementary kids that we both loved and is extremely well-run and beneficial, so we weren't going to give that up). After much prayer and discussion, last year we started a small jr. high/ high school co-op with 4 other families using TOG. It has been WONDERFUL!! We meet the same day that the younger kids are at their other co-op, so we're only gone one day a week. We do history, literature, and writing from TOG, and then we also do science (physical science this year) and Spanish. The older boys are there from 9:30-4:30, and after the elementary kids are done with their co-op, one of us moms picks them up and brings them around the corner to our TOG co-op. There we do a young writers class (using an IEW e-book), and I do memory work with them--we're memorizing a big Scripture passage, a 32 point timeline with dates (which we also learned last year, so we're reviewing it) the kings and queens of England, a science fact each week pulled from the BJU Physical Science book, and several poems over the course of the year. Then I do TOG map work with the little kids, and sometimes we do fun projects. It's a long day, but tons of fun. And it gets most of the school stuff assigned for the week for the older kids--only math and Latin, mainly, are not done here. TOG has really worked well for our family, and for this co-op. So funny that we have travelled such a similar path!

Oooh, I did! When I was young, I helpfully drew lines and arrows in my mom's Bible, rearranging the fruits of the Spirit into the order of the songs in Music Machine, LOL. She was, um, not as appreciative as I had imagined she would be. We also have a CD now for my kids to listen to, and I can honestly say that not one of them has ever considered writing in my Bible like that (not that I told them what I did and gave them ideas, LOL)! My favorite one is the "Have Patience" song with Herbert the Snail--I sing that to my kids all the time!

I would combine them. We do PL all orally anyhow. I did it last year with my 3rd and 1st graders, and I also did my older set of boys together at those same ages. Actually we do most of LC orally as well. I really think if they can REALLY memorize the declension and conjugation endings, plus the vocab, when they are young, they have such a leg up when they are ready to start the higher Latin. So that's what we mainly focus on in those younger years. As far as practical tips, when drilling vocab or whatever, I would ask one boy one word, then the other boy the next word, and so on. Otherwise, my older boy usually is faster on the draw, and that would frustrate my younger one.

I have What Tree is That?, which is put out by the Arbor Day Foundation. It's pretty small, and it asks questions about the leaves to lead you to which tree you are seeing, so as long as you know basic leaf terminology (simple, opposite, alternate, etc.), it's pretty easy. I like it! Of course, it isn't as specific to your area as a website, like AuntieM said. I still have to look up trees online because this book just isn't big enough to get too deep--like there are too many species of oak, for example, so not all VA ones are in there.

We're part of a small jr. high/high school co-op, and in the afternoons our elementary age kids are also a part. I am in charge of memory work for them, and I just finished listing out by week what we're going to be memorizing. We memorize a verse a week, so that by the end of the year we'll have memorized Eph. 6:1-20 and I Cor. 13. We memorize a science fact each week (which this year comes from BJU's physical science book, since that is what the older kids are studying). We memorize a 32 point timeline (we memorized it last year as well, taking one point per week, but this year we are reviewing 2 points per week), and when we are done with the timeline, we will memorize the kings and queens of England. We memorize a stanza of a poem or other work each week, and this year we're memorizing "When a Knight Won His Spurs", "The Apostles Creed", "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening", excerpts from "Kubla Kahn", the St. Cripin Day speech from Henry V, and "Swimming". We also do some mapwork based on TOG year 2 (only units 1 and 2), which is what the older kids are doing. It took me awhile to do this, so if anyone is looking for some memory work broken down into weeks, let me know and I'll email you the file! Here's a sample of the first 3 weeks: September 6 (week 1) Ephesians 6: 1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.†Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by Pharaoh Menes – 3100 B.C. Code of Hammurabi –1792 B.C. Science: Physics is the study of matter and energy, and how they interact. Poem: “When a Knight Won His Spurs†( Jan Struther) Stanza 1 of 3 When a knight won his spurs in the stories of old, He was gallant and brave, he was gentle and bold. With a shield on his arm, and a lance in his hand, For God and for valor he rode through the land. Mapwork: Review continents, oceans, some features from Year 1 Sept. 13 (week 2) Eph. 6: 2 “â€Honor your father and motherâ€â€”which is the first commandment with a promise—“ Reign of Tutankhamon –1333 B.C. Davidic Kingdom – 1011 B.C. Science: Chemistry is the study of the structure, composition, and properties of matter, and how matter acts around other matter. Poem: “When a Knight Won His Spurs†stanza 2 of 3 No charger have I, and no sword by my side, Yet still to adventure and battle I ride, Though back into storyland, giants have fled, And the knights are no more, and the dragons are dead. Mapwork: Overview of Medieval Europe—Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines, Rhine and Danube Rivers, Baltic Sea, North Sea, English Channel, Greece, Italy, Gaul, Iberian Peninsula Sept. 20 (week 3) Eph. 6: 3 “’that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth’†Founding of Rome – 753 B.C. Reign of Julius Caesar – 59 B.C. Science: Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. Matter is usually a solid, liquid, or gas. Poem: “When a Knight Won his Spurs†stanza 3 of 3 Let faith be my shield, and let joy be my steed, ‘Gainst the dragons of anger, the ogres of greed, And let me set free with the sword of my youth, From the castle of darkness, the power of truth. Mapwork: Byzantine Empire—Carthage, Rome, Athens, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem

My son is using BtB Spanish in our little jr high/high school co-op, and we are calling book 1 "Spanish 1", and book 2 "Spanish 2". But we have a family joining us this year who was in a different (large) high school co-op last year. She took "Spanish 2" at that co-op last year--and they were doing the second half of book 1! I do think the BtB books are very good and thorough. My son really came a long way this past year!

Yes, my just-turned-8-years-old ds is 47 pounds, and he does the same thing. If he really doesn't like something, then he can make himself a poeanut butter sandwich, but he usually just isn't that hungry.

Yes, I was blow-drying my hair when the floor and walls, esp. the mirrors in front of the medicine cabinets started shaking! My first thought was low-lying fast military aircraft, but then I didn't hear any noise. So then I assumed my boys were doing something in the basement! It was a little freaky once I realized it was an earthquake. Definitely not something I was expecting, here in northern VA!

Does anyone have a discount code for Home Science Tools? I am getting ready to make a big order for Physical Science next year, and for some reason I just assumed I'd be able to use the HSLDA perx code from last year! But no, they're not doing the perx code this year so . . . I was hoping for a little bit off!

Sounds like a good plan! We'll be praying for a quick and smooth sale for your house!

In Loudoun County, VA, it is the same situation as the original poster was talking about--if you want to go back to high school after 9th grade, you are put in 9th grade. The powers that be do not allow you to test out of anything. We say, "Once you start homeschooling high school, you are in for the long haul!" But I don't believe Fairfax is the same way, so I think it is up to the district as to how they are going to enforce regulations. It's just a snooty statement that Loudoun Co. doesn't think homeschoolers are any good, and they are unwilling to work with us. They are also a pain in other ways. We tried to do a homeschool science fair under ISEF rules so our kids could move on up and eventually go to the state level or international. The Loudoun Co. officials would not let our winners in their regional level fair, even though that is common in most other places (even most other counties in VA) because they don't allow homeschoolers ANY access to extra-curricular activities. Really--a science fair?! That's ridiculous.

Is it on Wednesdays? I might be interested too!