Especially as a mom. I hate that critical part. I guess that's why being a grandmother is so wonderful. Leave the correcting to the parents, grandmas just get to praise like crazy! One day...

I would stick with what you have and pick two/three to cement during the week. I think you'll find MP lit guides are sufficient, just my opinion after only one full year of usage though. We are doing the 7th grade MP core and you wouldn't believe the words we are assigned :) I'm not stressing it however. I have my student define the words using the internet and she marks those definitions in her workbook. As we read (right now we are doing Legend of Sleepy Hollow) I point out those words as I can. We stop often through the reading to be sure she understands the context. MP choices are advanced or at least challenging, in my opinion, so it makes sense they are going to encounter tons of new words. We had to stop altogether yesterday because I couldn't figure out this statement..."The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his character." We had fun figuring out together cognomen had something to do with name and read the context again and again and realized the name "Crane" fit his physical features perfectly. I have repeated the words/statement often during our literature time and will try to do so again today. It's just familiarity at this point. I don't think their goal is mastery of every word. I would venture to say with the methods of defining, understanding in context, and daily/regular usage those words would be mastered and become a part of her vocabulary. I bet the way Highlands Latin School would go over it, mastery would happen because of usage over time. That's what I'm hoping will happen in our hs. I realized I have to use the words though, or they'll just turn out to be a rote exercise in vocabulary, no matter what curricula.

Just to keep it real some days are hard. Kids want to play, mom wants to quit and outside it is beautiful. So worth it but so difficult sometimes. Anyway, this quote helped me gain perspective, education is work for everyone. Didn't post because I feel like spanking everyone, lol. Just to commiserate that some days - grrrrrr!

His school-house was a low building of one large room, rudely constructed of logs; the windows partly glazed, and partly patched with leaves of old copy-books. It was most ingeniously secured at vacant hours, by a withe twisted in the handle of the door, and stakes set against the window shutters; so that, though a thief might get in with perfect ease, he would find some embarrassment in getting out; an idea most probably borrowed by the architect, Yost Van Houton, from the mystery of an eel-pot. The school-house stood in a rather lonely but pleasant situation just at the foot of a woody hill, with a brook running close by, and a formidable birch tree growing at one end of it. From hence the low murmur of his pupils’ voices, conning over their lessons, might be heard in a drowsy summer’s day, like the hum of a bee-hive; interrupted now and then by the authoritative voice of the master, in the tone of menace or command; or, peradventure, by the appalling sound of the birch, as he urged some tardy loiterer along the flowery path of knowledge. Truth to say, he was a conscientious man, and ever bore in mind the golden maxim, “Spare the rod and spoil the child.â€â€”Ichabod Crane’s scholars certainly were not spoiled. 10 I would not have it imagined, however, that he was one of those cruel potentates of the school, who joy in the smart of their subjects; on the contrary, he administered justice with discrimination rather than severity; taking the burthen off the backs of the weak, and laying it on those of the strong. Your mere puny stripling, that winced at the least flourish of the rod, was passed by with indulgence; but the claims of justice were satisfied by inflicting a double portion on some little, tough, wrong-headed, broad-skirted Dutch urchin, who sulked and swelled and grew dogged and sullen beneath the birch. All this he called “doing his duty by their parents;†and he never inflicted a chastisement without following it by the assurance, so consolatory to the smarting urchin, that “he would remember it, and thank him for it the longest day he had to live.†As I school my own teenaged "urchins" :) who can be a bit "sulky", "dogged", and "swollen" (and who potentially should be experiencing the rod), I appreciate reading Mr. Crane's experience. I can only imagine adding more than three to my schoolhouse. Sigh. Off to corral the madness on week two of a 36 week long year.

"This is what is wrong with this country. In a nutshell." Surely the responsible party must be the elected officials. Not a few outspoken radio hosts. Respectfully (I am just asking...) would you be willing to clarify what you mean by that?

I love YNAB. Use it faithfully, though in the past month I stopped due to having reduced time on the computer and moving in-laws in with us. I just did a fresh start, simply entering budget amounts, it is fairly intuitive. What do you think is the trouble? Feel free to pm me, I'm no YNAB pro but I did start and stop and finally pushed through the "fog" and have had great success with it.

What "diet" would I be looking at if I were to vastly decrease intake? I think I want "eat this" "don't eat that" type information... There are so many diet names now and I'm not looking to diet - but I am looking to get back on track with what I'm eating and feeding my family. Sugar eating in this house lately is out of control and the foods that are carbs are just very confusing altogether for me.

You know how SWB did the Day in the Life thing a long time ago? I just couldn't resist sharing the email I sent to DH this very morning... "so the plan of waking the girls at 745 gently then again at 815 and allowing them to remain covered with blankets didn't go perfectly but they moved out of the bed before 10 at least however, even after, "now lets sit up a bit, now open your eyes" they still couldn't answer when I said, now which is Calvin and which is Hobbes? Cue soft flowy music, lol. I read poetry (only one), a nature study journal biography (two paragraphs long), and two pages (short pages even) of the Logic and detecting fallacies book. Got to the end, asked my question, and they sort of snored/snortled, and asked "Are you talking to me?" I continued on to read my book on being a polite young lady character study trying not to be snippy and preachy. Welcome to homeschooling 2014 I guess." I will be disciplining them for this, we will have conversation about what is expected and Mom is in authority here type conversations but I thought you all would get a kick out of this real mom's attempt at Cindy Rollins type morning time. ;) On a brighter note, the youngest whom I thought was not able to grasp most of it was indeed listening intently and did get the lessons I taught. All of them given the conversation she had with Daddy after dinner. Oh happy day. One day down, 179 more to go :)

Farrar, is the Economist a magazine we could read without knowing the backstory? I am finding since I haven't watched the news in so long it is difficult (with any source) to "catch up". I'd love something that is more teaching in tone, but not preachy, if that makes sense.

For the record, and not for the sake of an argument, I am aware of what I am asking for when I ask for a conservative news source. Backstory? My live in in-laws are very left leaning. I hear their evening local news source far too often while I'm in the kitchen cooking dinner give a spin I don't THINK is fair. I'd like to learn more and be sure. I'm asking for a conservative source so I can decipher for MYSELF what the bias truly is. I'm also interested in teaching my children about media bias this year and am looking for actual examples. I have been on the boards for quite a while and the lack of support women are giving each other here is sad and frankly, astonishing. I think homeschooling is hard enough without our fighting each other. I need help, ladies. Not a fight. Thanks so much for the sources, I will be checking them out.

We subscribe to God's World News but it isn't exactly "current" events, more like events in the past two months or so. I'm looking for a weekly video update that will not center on fluffy "look at this dog do tricks" type segments but on real news with meat on the bones.

I can throw some frozen stuff in the oven and make a salad in about 15 minutes but 1) I don't want to eat that way and 2) it is too expensive now that there are 7 people here. It can take me 2/3 hours to make dinner if I make it from scratch. Seriously, I'd love to hear how long you are spending in the kitchen on a normal day?

My dh raves about a local Himalayan restaurant's chicken chili. I've tried an internet recipe for him before but he says it's just not the same :) Do any of you wonderful cooks on here have a link or a tried and true recipe that would be similar to what an Indian restaurant's offering of chicken chili would be. I've googled it and keep getting Ree's white chicken chilli. Not the same thing. At. All. lol

Not looking for Tfal or round bottom. I am stuck with electric heat with no chance of moving to gas, even in our new construction.

Share your favorite - but only if you've actually used said recommendation ;0

Nicole Miller super soft PJ Two piece pajama with lace and satin details. These were under $20 and are the nicest pjs I've had in a while. Fit is perfect, waistband cozy, and the fabric is amazingly soft! Just thought I'd give a tired hs mom a share that would help her unwind from a long week :) I don't want to get out of mine!!!!!

We just finished the non-accelerated HS I with my 7th grader. I've talked with Scott Piland at MP online academy and he has "warned" me HS comp II is quite a change in workload from HS comp I. I'm hoping we've made the right decision by keeping her on the HS comp II track. That said, HS comp I went very well. My students both found it a bit redundant and were more than ready to move on towards the end of the year. I think that is a good thing, mastery not volume! My call to Mr. Piland assured me that we will not find HS comp II redundant and that the challenge is one they are ready for. I would encourage you to talk to him about any concerns. He was a great help and wealth of information sources for me to learn more about the progym. Best wishes to you. I don't think you'll regret it, I so appreciate having MP online to help with my large teaching load!

For the life of me I can't find it. I see many blog reviews of it, but not the actual ipad app. If anyone has it and can tell me how to find it, I would be grateful.

Just because this is so beautiful, I felt I should link it as well for anyone who may not have heard anything like this before. I am SUPER new to listening to classical music and think it is amazing how it evokes such emotion.

I see this is listed by Gabriel Faure, but that Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote Requiem in memory of his father. I'm not Catholic but desire to understand more of this piece and its use in catholic worship. I would also love to hear your thoughts on what may be important to share with my first grader about it. By that I mean what do I draw attention to as we listen, or should we simply listen and not talk at all, lol. It's a beautiful piece and after reading the english translation, I think the words are lovely so I will definitely share those. Showing my complete ignorance here but this video almost makes it seem like this was a movie, although this could just be a thing done for the song... Thanks for taking the time, the more I search, the more confused I am becoming.

With addition families and subtraction. While we don't need multiplication or division yet, if they are a complete set, I'll go ahead and buy them. The only sets I've purchased so far (except the pull apart paper ones in the Saxon math worksheet set) are missing some problems.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006IB5K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 hope this helps

There will also be an additional 20% off regular and sale items delivered to your inbox if you text "offer" to 273283. I missed out on the extra 20% off but got two albums, three card packs, one mini album, a corner cutter thingie, and multiple picture insert pages for $120. Great deal I think! A 24 pack of Primsacolor pencils was roughly $38

We've finished the first half of Rod and Staff first grade using MP lesson plans. I'm considering getting Rightstart for some hands on enrichment and think the lessons look like they would blend well into our schedule. I'm not sure though whether I should put her in A or B. Rightstart website asks if she knows addition facts 1 - 10 for determining placement. She does not yet so she would be in A but from the looks of it, most of it would be redundant for her. The main thing we would be learning is Rightstart's tricks. That in itself may be where the wealth of the program is and if so great, we'll do A. If however, we can move on to B I surely would rather do that. Thoughts from experienced users?

I guess I'd like help in figuring out how to make it less appealing to her at 6 when she sees dad for work and big sisses on their phones. Thanks for the reply though. I'm sure I'll get an idea, just thought other moms might be dealing with this in their youngers.