We've bought two from kmart/Wal Mart. They both broke within six months of purchase. (in the $40 range - I wouldn't say that's very cheap but that was the lowest they had) I'd go with a nicer one from Best Buy with a protection plan. Ours get beat up, obviously :) (paid $99 for it and it's still working GREAT) HTH

Wow. Ok. Didn't mean anything near that... I'm sorry my regret (over taking those days for granted) and the attempt to help (by replying to the thread in my own way) was misconstrued. Apology quickly requested. I in no way meant to pass judgement on anyone but myself.

From the heart, Shannon, sadly it's truly spoken:001_smile: Thankful it benefits you today.

Call me party pooper on this thread...I love the comments but couldn't resist adding some seriousness. My rebellious, sleepy, not wanting to work boy is out of the house and about to get married.:001_huh: I never saw it coming. It went waaay too fast. I'd give alot to go back to those days when he was here. All the time. Sleeping in. Making me crazy. Asking for food that he loved when I was exhausted :D from getting him to work (for his benefit might I add). I'd tell him how important he is to me and I'd kiss him alot more. He and his dad and I would have spent much more time playing around and "bonding". I'd be more about the business of encouraging him and not making it my business to beat him down when his dad came home. I'd not be throwing out idle threats about being sent off to public school or wherever I thought I'd send him. Talking bad about him to my friends. In front of his siblings! I'd be sure to do better at my role in ensuring the SWB secrets to handling teens were performed - bath, nap, food. Good food that he liked. I'd have been MUCH more patient and gentle in my response to his normal boy behavior. I'd be sure to keep my snotty bitter angry comments to myself much more. That way, when he grew up to be as old as he is now I wouldn't shrink with guilt each time he comes in and kisses my forehead and holds me for longer than needed and whispers how much he loves me. When he tells me what a great mom I am for making all that sacrifice for him. How I've done such a great job with being his mom. Ladies, these days seem unending (like when they were toddlers) but believe me. They will end. Don't miss making them all you can ;)

Thanks, everyone. You made biting the $95 bullet a bit easier. We will forgo the DVDs and I'll be ready for the teacher intensiveness but gladly surprised when it isn't :) Just kidding. To each his own when it comes to curricula, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to breaking free from Rod and Staff, if even for a season. Thanks again.

Not sure about ordering them mainly due to expense. Are they worth it?

Boo. Hiss. That's not good. I understand though.

so....out with it...where is the polzole recipe? board rule right? Why don't you just send me all your recipes, girl? You can see they're in high demand:lol:

I've read you can download the first 15 weeks by emailing SWB's executive assistant, right? Is it only the first 15 weeks? Have we heard a date for release? I've read many threads but the info is confusing.

Beta testing? How do I get in on this? I probably missed it...

Yes, I agree Pozole sounds great. You don't do that meatless do you? Tell me you found a great pork substitute and I'll be asking you for your recipe for that too. I LOVE pozole, but without the pork it'd be, blech.

Helena, are you moving to Va yet? Come on!~ We could have so much fun together!

I have WWS level 1 and am looking to plan the next sequence...

Just curious. Thx

I used Jann in Tx on these boards for individual tutoring for ds, loved that. DD is doing Alg I. We're very excited about the way the class is structured and the books look very incremental. HTH http://www.myhomeschoolmathclass.com/available-classes.html

DD participated in a year long yearbook co-op class last year and now this year she wants to do this program... http://www.learnwithworld.com/writewithworld/ to allow her to further explore her interest. If we were to count some of this as a credit, what counts, what to add? This year instead of yearbook she is documenting activities and taking pictures as well as working on scrapbooks for our church youth group. This could become as large or small a job as we would need it to. I'd love to further her interest and capitalize on it for credit :) Thoughts? What are we missing?

Bump???????????????

Just wanted to plug Jann's math classes. My dd was fearful entering Algebra I but after the Boot Camp Jann did she's feeling very confident and even went so far as to say she thinks math this year, "is going to be easy. It's very understandable the way she's teaching it." What a compliment from this student who has never fully felt confident regarding her math abilities.

DH is handy so this may affect your outcome :) but we used the mantle as what he calls the "cable trough". Then he ran the cables down the side of the fireplace and made a hole at the bottom for them to come out. We're going to buy a nice bookcase with a cabinet in the bottom part to hide the equipment. Took a while and he had to buy lots of HDMI cable. It wasn't cheap.

Ah you wonderful woman. Sounds delicious!!!! Can't wait.

Thanks, Sophia and others. This..."Every September I feel a wave of self doubt wash over me. It doesn’t matter that I have been home schooling for 12 years; I still question the soundness of my plans and my own adequacy as a mother and teacher. Although I feel these doubts year in and year out, I don’t entertain them anymore. They were just signs that I was shooting for the wrong goals and fashioning idols out of clay. I wanted to raise intelligent, articulate children who could succeed in life, and I was trusting they would get there if I just used the right methods. I was focused on worldly success in this life, rather than striving for crowns in the life to come. God’s Word says that “…some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.†(Psalm 20:7). Are we trusting in the Lord for the success of our homeschool, or are we trusting in our carefully fashioned plans? For that matter, how do we define a successful homeschool? Who or what do we look to in our quest for that success?" speaks volumes to me, right now. Thank you so much. Off to read and pray about Psalm 20.

I'm sorry to sound snarky but if you think SL is overkill...TOG will blow your mind. The book ordering alone will take you a while. Wonderful, rigorous, deep stuff. We're enjoying the ease of SL for me personally. Order, open, read, discuss, write, discuss, open again.

Meal planning, hands down for me has been Plan to Eat. I love it. It took time to learn and to get my recipes in. Now that they're in, however, I can do it all - plan week, print a shopping list, move stuff, delete stuff in minutes. I've spent three weeks learning HST and it is amazingly flexible. I feel great knowing I have, by the minute, a schedule to fit everyone's needs. I also appreciate knowing I can move stuff, schedule our field trips, etc. I'm still learning but it's very, very powerful. Not pretty, not intuitive, in my opinion, but what I need. Sorry, not exactly what you asked for but hopefully helpful.

Blogs Online conference mp3 suggestions Scripture Feeling slightly dry and overwhelmed regarding hs'ing 3. One is done and the three left will be demanding. Good demanding, but still more than I think I have in me :)

I have a fantastic relationship with my MIL. She deserves all the credit. I do however, think I did some things that helped. I respected her when she became silent regarding an issue. She walked carefully around some things...I needed to learn the cue and do the same. I understood her desire to remain neutral and not be the "out" of my husband and my early days of marriage. I tried once to call her up for help during a fight. I only did that once :) She would not entertain my negative comments about my husband nor did she EVER add one negative thing to them. I completely admire that. It took me a while to model it in my home after her, unfortunately. She was always, always thinking of me, my husband, and my children first when she was with us. And she made me believe this was the case even when she wasn't. She modeled servanthood, as does her son, my husband. Every. Single. Day.:001_smile: Tough shoes to fill as mom but wonderful, amazing, Godly, gracious lessons she has taught. My role? Learn as much as I can from her while she is here. She's 85 and I thank God He gave me her. I do not, honestly, know where I would be as a wife or mother, or woman in that matter, without her. One thing I should add now that I am about to have my own DIL. Let her help. Either one, MIL, DIL. Woman are created to help. Let them :) They'll feel useful and you'll bond over dirty dishes in ways you might not over a stuff dinner with the men around, lol.