Thanks for the input. Now that I'm (finally) over 50 posts, I'll try posting on the For Sale board.

Are these shelves pretty sturdy, or do they start to sag under the weight of text books?

Thanks, I didn't know about them. But their website seems to be MIA. Anyone know anything about them?

Will this work? I'd like to clean up some of our bookcases by offering some text books for free, including postage, to those who have a really tough time paying the costs of homeschooling. The only "compensation" I'd like is for the books to get passed to someone else for free after their use. I'd like to ask that people who can afford to buy the books get them from someone else, leaving these for someone who needs them. Any comments, suggestions?

:iagree:At first glance, successful was my last choice. But when defined like this, it jumps to the top.

Some great ideas. I want to come to a WTM Forum potluck. And a special thanks to those who posted recipes. Gotta go now and start cooking.

A vegan chicken pot pie? Do tell more...

I'd vote for a smaller house, and more time and money for fun family activities. I don't think it's an either/or situation. Visiting kids don't care about the size of the house, just whether it's comfortable and friendly. And it's easier to keep an eye on things without being too obvious in a small house. Our house isn't really large or small -- about 3,000 sf -- but I think we could easily get by with 1,500 sf. Frequently when all four of us are home (me, wife, son, and dog), we're all within about 25 sf anyway.

Do you have a friend or neighbor with whom you could leave him, even if just for an hour or two. When my son was that age, he drove me crazy, but it only took an hour or so away from him before everything was OK again. Oh, wait! My mother still lives in Spanaway. Drop him off there for a while and you'll be all set ...

Netflix has several programs available: Learn Spanish; Everyday Spanish; and something called the Standard Deviants; and several others. Is there a particular program you're looking for?

My son, when he was 11 and 12, really like Joy Hakim's History of US series. In fact, last year he was assigned books four and five, but ended up reading the entire 10-book set for free reading. It seems to have stuck, because occasionally he'll bring up facts or correct us over dinner table conversations. Don't you love it when the pupil becomes more educated than the teacher. :001_smile:

I can see it now -- "Chef du Canine Cuisine" on the Food Network, starring Mariann. ;) I'm no dog expert, but perhaps there was a bit of something else going on as well. Our dog, a six-year-old English shepherd, won't eat or drink for up to a couple of days when his "pack" isn't around, even though he's clearly hungry. The only way we've gotten around this is to have friends he knows pretty well come to the house and keep him company while he eats. It's kind of touching, in a doggy sort of way.

Thanks. We'll take a look at it.

When that happens to me, I just the pan soak for 30 minutes or so (sometimes over med. heat on the stove), and then it comes clean. It won't rust in that short of time. ETA: You'll probably want to re-season the pan when it's clean.

Well, that seems to work well.

This is quote 2

This is quote one.

We enjoyed reading Harry Potter books, and Harry Potter certainly made Latin more fun to learn: It's clear that J.K. Rowling was well-versed in Latin, and Roman and Greek mythology. On this particular point, I tend to agree with Martin Cothran of Memoria Press when he says, "Literature is dangerous except when taken in large doses." Here's his take on the Harry Potter books.

Yes, there is such a thing as too clean. My step mother kept her house so clean nobody was comfortable in it. Spotless white carpet, couch and chairs! With three teenage boys in the house!? Her sons and I hated being in the house so much we'd dream up any excuse to be anywhere else. I've read that Japan has a growing problem with illnesses because of their long-term obsession with cleanliness. On the other, too cluttered and/or dirty makes people uncomfortable also. I strive for somewhere in the middle.

My eighth-grade son starts math at 8 a.m. virtually every morning, even if once in a while I'm not quite ready. The day goes smoother with the early start, and the routine makes everyone's life easier. Besides, he's old enough to learn that the world continues with or without him, so he needs to be ready.

I'm a soccer dad, not a baseball mom. But we've been thinking a lot about such issues since my son started playing more serious soccer a few years ago. FWIW, here are some of my thoughts, in no particular order: 1) Sports scholarships that amount to much are few and far between, except perhaps for football or basketball. Baseball and soccer scholarships, for the few kids who get them, average about $2,000 a year, or perhaps 5-10 percent of cost of a year at school. See this NY Times article. 2) The level of soccer my son is playing costs about $5,000 to $6,000 a year, and probably will go up substantially in the next couple of years. That kind of money adds up after 10 years. In other words, it's almost never a good monetary investment. You have to do it for the love of it, . 3) To get good, he would have to play with kids of his own abilities, not a church team. And that, at least in soccer, means lots of travel and year-round playing -- literally 50-52 weeks a year, 3-6 times a week. And that doesn't count the the hours you need to train on your own. And because of that commitment and pressure, at least in soccer, many very good players burn out and leave the sport at 15, 16, or 17 years old. 4) Education is so much more important, I'm already talking to my son about choosing a school solely on academics. If they have a soccer team, great, but that's definitely secondary. 5) Eight seems way too young to draw any conclusions. The body goes though so many changes and injuries that a star at 8 may be mediocre at 16, and vice versa. None of this is meant to discourage your son. It's just a good idea to know what you're up against. Despite all these issues and many more I haven't raised, we support our son in his soccer. Not because of a possible scholarship payoff, but because he loves it and it already has taught him life lessons, such as hard work can really pay off and team work is vital. Good luck, and have fun.

My house is in pretty good shape right now, so is it OK to skip mowing the yard tomorrow instead? I've got LOTS of reading to catch up on.

I didn't correct spelling mistakes when my son was younger, but started to in the sixth and seventh grade, and will be even more strict this coming year. I don't necessarily expect him to know how to spell every word (I am a horrible speller), but I do expect him to proofread and to use a dictionary if there's any question in his mind. The one exception would be when we're brainstorming. But if it's an outline to go into his notebook or to be worked into a composition, then it needs to be correct.

They are not new, but two of the books I really enjoyed this summer were Piano Lessons by Noah Adams and The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart. They have me seriously considering starting piano lessons in my old age. I also enjoyed another Noah Adams book, Far Appalachia: Following the New River North. All are easy reading, but still interesting, and are easy to read chapter by chapter (or in my case, from soccer game to soccer game).

We use podcasts quite a lot because we have long drives to work and to soccer every day. The drives straddle two radio markets, so we can't always listen to a program all the way through. Mostly, we download and listen to things like Fresh Air, Selected Shorts, etc., on NPR. I use Juice (http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net) to manage the downloads, and then simply drag the files to my Sansa View. Juice is free, open-source, and I'm not constantly bombarded with advertising. By the way, there are versions for Windows, linux and Mac. In the car, we just plug the Sansa into the aux port of the radio. I also like listening while I'm doing household chores, like dishes, vacuuming or cooking dinner.