:grouphug: Maybe you can focus on what to do even with CC's overwhelmingly enthusiastic presence in the community? Maybe do more of your own advertising? Offer some park days to get to know one another better? I don't know what to suggest since I don't really understand the focus of your unbrella group. We don't have many support groups in our area. I'm in one that is holding on ok. I think they feel the pinch of leaders leaving the group to become tutors with CC and even families focusing heavily on CC. I myself will have to make that decision this summer. We just can't do it all.

Have your umbrella group set up rules for CC advertisements. Each director can only send out one per month through our umbrella group's email.

We have grown to 3 communties in our area. However, there's a reason that it is taking over communities. I think that it is because it offers very consistent methods and you know what you are going to get for your costs. Teachers aren't inventing the classes as in many co-ops which can honestly be hit or miss. Directors have incentive to recruit in CC because that is how they make money. And, yes, it is for profit. How could anyone not think that? Personally, I don't see why that is a bad thing because we are paying for a product delivered in a certain way. I don't think anyone in our community is getting rich off it, but I certainly don't believe that CC's coorporate is lacking in profit. I'm not sure why you are concerned, though. I have found that there is always a group that CC isn't for and that's where other groups come into play. I think if there is a successful co-op in your area, it will continue to thrive even with CC's presence. At least that's the experience in our community. Our local co-op always has a waiting list and because of that, they rarely advertise. I couldn't get into CC the first year I tried and the other co-op really wasn't for me. I'm greatful that we have options in our community. The advertising will die down by the end of July.

Mine went away when I started exercising regularly and using a day & night cream that I picked up at Aldi. I also switched to Everyday Minerals foundation around that time.

It goes by too fast. Just let them play! He will learn how to read if you start later. And he will be able to sit for longer periods of time as he gets older. Yes, even without practice now.

Before bed update! Kitchen: Dishes (boys) Sweep & Mop floors Wipe down counters & table Dinner (DH? or out? I'm not cooking!) Living room: Clear coffee table Move chest to other room, put new chair in place Quick vac Misc.: Jog Pay kohls bill bra shopping (yuck, but success!) Bedroom: Put away laundry on my bed Organize my vanity

No peanut allergies here but we still love our Sunbutter! I scoop out a tbsp of it and dip a banana in it. So yummy! The kids love it on a sandwich with apricot jelly. I'm not sure about the health differences. It is the same weight watchers points as PB though. I don't really like to eat PB off a spoon like I do SB.

Giving it a try! Sometimes pinpointing just a few things I want to get done in a day, does help!

Thanks, Jean for telling me about this thread! So this is what I want to accomplish before bed tonight with some carry-over to tomorrow: Kitchen: Dishes (boys) Sweep & Mop floors Wipe down counters & table Dinner (DH? or out? I'm not cooking!) Living room: Clear coffee table Move chest to other room, put new chair in place Quick vac Misc.: Jog Pay kohls bill Bedroom: Put away laundry on my bed Organize my vanity

I would want to appropriately correct my daughter if she ever did something so mean. I don't think you overstepped at all.

I need a serious kick in my pants. I know that I should just be a grown-up and do what needs to be done around here but it's just not happening. I grow so weary of the non-stop urging my children to help, the follow-ups, and trying to keep up. But I'm sinking further and further into mess and disorganization. It's really just picking up and putting away and making the house look sort of tidy and working on some organization (ie make sure everything has a home and if it doesn't, it's out of here). I start and feel overwhelmed and then quit. I've tried all kinds of cleaning plans/routines but they don't really help because they aren't asking me if I actually got it done and they are generally way too overwhelming. DH is too sweet to complain and keep me accountable and thinks I do enough. And all my IRL friends are perfect (LOL! I know that's not true! but it seems that way!) I've hired in some help, too. And I don't want to waste that and use that time wisely to really get some organizing projects knocked out. But I'm the ultimate time waster. Ideas? Groups I could join? Hire a drill sergeant to come in and yell at me periodically?

The download & transfer via USB should download directly to the PC just as any other files downloads BUT you have to tell it which Kindle you will want to transfer it to. It downloads to your PC though so that you can use USB in the future to transfer.

My suggestion is to see if you can get funding for kits and parts through your county's 4H program as they have robotics teams and competitions all over. They must be 10 to compete. If you go through 4H, you will build a team as interest is very high. The time commitment was very high to finish the project for the competition my DS's team participate in a couple weeks ago. It was about 4 hours per week and then grew steadily to 6 hours. But they won the championship! We just bought the NXT kit and not the homeschool or education kit. It's my understanding that they won't all be upgrading right away and the bricks for the standard vs. education are not different. He will need access to a computer for programming.

That's true in many fields, so I don't find IT to be that odd. A degree and many years of experience are required as an IT Enterprise Architech, the level my DH is working. Many without a degree (systems engineering or even an MBA) will stay in the desktop repair, small server & hardware management without one or will need many years to climb up higher. Without an undergraduate degree, it is a n exception to move to any higher project management levels. My husband hit that ceiling and that's the reason he got his graduate degree. You are correct that the type of computer engineering with which he is involved rarely involves him actually touching hardware but that has not been the focus of his job for many years as he isn't about building technical gadgets as most computer engineers. I don't think online is always the way to go. I'm hoping to make a point that in some careers it is welcomed and shouldn't just be thrown out as an option and may even be the only option available. The student has to really understand the environment in which they hope to work. But I think with businesses continuing to allow their employees to work at home and moving new employees less and less on location, that any extra online group project training is highly useful.

Yes, my DH has his graduate degree in Systems Engineering. My brother does as well and works for a major engineering company the builds planes and various military equipment. They both took the course online/remote and did group projects remotely with other class participants. As I stated earlier, these projects trained him to work in a remote business setting for a company that is both national and international. DH maintains that this extra special training (combined with experience in the field) helped get him the job and he greatly appreciated the assignments, although very challenging, because they set him up for success to work in today's business/engineering world. My brother, just got a promotion within the ranks and doesn't seem to use the remote project management side as my husband does as he is an electrical engineer. This program is offered entirely online and considered top notch and my brother went through it based off of his employer's suggestion. Now, I'm not certain how a mechanical or chemical engineering degree could be obtained without a lab setting. Systems engineering is more about management and projects. And DH's focused on IT systems with an emphasis on security. They did have online labs, though, but with IT, that's how the job is done in the first place. I believe it is only offered as a graduate degree and to people that have science or engineering backgrounds. I really think that in some cases, online degrees can help put you in a better position with an employer. It proves that you can work independenly from home, and in some cases that you have the ability to do remote projects outside of a conference room. That skill is in very high demand in many IT jobs. And to respond to an earlier post, I was employed at a library after graduation. They asked very little about my degree but a lot about my work study experiences, especially since I worked in a library. After that job, I was never asked about college experience again in an interview. But I had a typical undergraduate degree and that's all they really needed to know.

Mine loses the book coverart in the conversion. Yes, the content is otherwise the same. But, I'm new enough at the process that I probably have a setting incorrect.

I wouldn't get too discouraged. Building that muscle does put a damper on weighloss and it seems like it gets harder as we get older. I stayed at a high weight for a very long time but started looking fit with consistency and eventually the pounds started falling off. The good thing is it stays off with the muscle I've built up--even when I'm not trying to diet. I did up my cardio workouts which also helped push it over the edge.

Talk to the director, not the person at the desk. Our director has forgiven a number of my fines or cut them in half. To my knowledge, everyone at our library has to follow the return/renew times. Teachers do not get special excuses.

I think you will probably need to strip the DRM unless you load via USB and don't allow the kindle to access wifi (the is only if the book comes up available). I'm in agreement that this is something you paid for have a right to. They aren't holding up their end of the bargain, which Amazon/BN at the very least should automaticly refund for unavailable books we have purchased. I haven't stipped DRM yet. I don't like how it the books appear on Kindle on the the stripped books load via USB.

Go to "My kindle" under account settings at Amazon.com. There you will see a list of every book you bought and can use the drop down menu, "Actions" to download it to your PC. Put them in a file that you either burn to CD or have another place that it backs up to. This is just so if your computer crashes and Amazon pulls the plug, you have everything. No, new books should download to your Kindle. Then you can read them. ;) The download to the PC would only be for back-up purposes.

No, there is not. I have heard it encouraged at the practicums, as well, that if you don't want to join a community, just do it at home. As long as you aren't building an alternative community, CC does not have a problem with personal use. I know a number of families that just don't want to give up the day, do not have a community nearby, or truly can't afford the cost of joining a community and use CC foundations materials at home. You can even attend a parent practicum without signing up for a community. They are free in my state and give you an opportunity to peruse the materials in their traveling bookstore. But you have to admit that if you purchase the materials to use at home and you use them for more than one year, then you are getting a great value. Initial costs seems high, but I will only buy the pack of flashcards this year and maybe the corresponding cycle science cards. I bought everything updated last year and I'm glad that my costs will be so much lower this year.

I think more and more are offering classic books digitally as "always available." And also, it's easy enough to download them free (or cheap) at home without a hike to the library. This may be the reason that circulation of those types of books have dropped? At least I haven't checked out a paper classic for this reason in a long time. Our library still has a classics "kiosk" though with real books. I can't explain the non-fiction children's books culling though. I just assumed that another homeschooler never bothered to return the book or it was damaged by the time we got back around to it. I know they don't like to purchase older books as they want the latest on the shelves. I've requested some and that was the response I received. But if I want them to order something that has been published in the last two years, I have a pretty high chance of receiving a pick-up notice.

This problem is easily solved by downloading the Kindle book directly to a file on your PC. You can transfer it via USB at a later time and the usage rights will remain intact. Make sure you back-up your PC so you won't lose them in a crash. The issue above is that it is not available through the cloud. I don't think we should entirely rely on Amazon to store our digital library as that is risky.

I would never have my child do an expensive and time consuming EC that they really didn't desire to do. If they were begging and pleading every day, then *maybe* I would try to make it fit. My DD tried dance when she was 6 and didn't really enjoy it. It was a lot of work for her as she wasn't naturally talented. Dropped without another word. Years later, her BF is a ballerina and it doesn't seem to cause much of a problem in their relationship that DD prefers Karate and archery.

We've had this happen with a Nook e-book. It's not just Amazon... It's the publishers and their stupidity about e-books. They are shooting themselves in the foot.