They're going to be free. You just show up and get them.

I'm using CW Aesop B with my fifth grader. In Aesop, all the grammar you need is included. I don't think that's the case for Homer and above, where the author specifically says you need an additional grammar source. In our case, I chose to add Junior Analytical Grammar at the Aesop level because we never did much grammar in prior years and I wanted ds to acquire mastery this year. There's just not that much to know about grammar, iykwim. Each lesson, the author suggests 3 or 4 spelling words from the models and describes a system for analyzing them. She includes instructions for adding additional spelling words from your other subjects. My take from a first reading was that I was going to need an additional book to teach me how to teach my son to annalyze spelling words. Instead, I chose to continue with our Spelling Workout books which have worked out very well for us, and include phonics as a bonus. As to penmanship, there is none. If your dc are still practicing penmanship, you have to provide that separately.

You don't sound like a slacker to me. I don't think the OP had anyone remotely like your family when she posted.

Took the words right out of my mouth. Also, anybody that is doing this with their kids doesn't want to know what you think. They are in the own little world of denial.

Thanks, Melissa. I checked our county school website and they don't have anything yet. Perhaps in the next few days. I'll keep checking because I'm sure that's one of the first places they will post vaccination schedules when they receive them.

Wow, I'm gone a few hours and what a great conversation. The H1N1 vaccine has started to arrive in Miami. Tons of the fluMist, a few shots. We don't normally take flu vaccines. Frankly, my sister has them every year and she gets the flu every year. It's so hit and miss with seasonal flu vaccines -- they literally have to guess what's going to be circulating almost a year in advance. The H1N1 vaccine, on the other hand, is specifically targeted to a group of virii that are most certainly out there right now. This flu probably won't kill any more people than the regular seasonal flu will. The problem for me is that in the case of H1N1 it is most severe in children. Children are dying of this strain and that is the exact opposite from regular seasonal flu where the elderly are at most risk. On this one, I'm going to have to take my doctor's advise together with my own research. As to the conspiracy theorists... all I can say is, thanks for your input.

I just talked to our son's doctor who said that pediatricians will not be sent any vaccines. (Some token few - perhaps 10, presumably for staff?) The health department is going to control the stockpile and will start with public school kids. Since ours don't go to public school, does anyone know where our own kids can get theirs? Children and pregnant women are in the first tier. We're in South Florida, but I imagine most states will have a similar system.

We own a vacation home on a lake in rural Nova Scotia. Beautiful! We drive all the way from Miami almost every summer and spend two or three months there. Last year, dh wanted to do something "special" during our summer vacation, so he went to summer school at a little Waldorf place in our village. Their summer program was all art/music/play. (Only a homeschooled kid would ask to summer school for his vacation!) Best money we ever spent. We love the time we spend there. And it's dh's college fund.

Anyone on the boards from Sunny South Florida?

We're in the middle of this now. IT's two disks. After 45 minutes of the first disk, ds begged to be let off the hook. I sat and watched with him for about half of this time. I found it interesting but I can see how mind-numbingly boring it would be to a 10-year-old boy. It's going back to Netflix in the morning. I'll have to find some other video for my very visual learner.

We have SOTW broken down into 36 weeks. Follow my sig to The Examined Life, click on Enrichment and download the 2009-2010 curriculum. It includes other subjects, but you can see how we've broken down history into 36 weeks. Hope this helps.

Ten or eleven hours of sleep for a 9-year-old is not unusual for some kids. Wait until the teenage years. They can sleep 14 hours at a stretch! When my oldest daughter started doing that, especially on weekends, I asked her pediatrician. He said she's growing at a phenomenal rate right now, lots of things are happening and all that sleep is required for some kids. Now that she's 27, she sleeps 7 or 8 hours each night and that's all she needs. I wish I could sleep 14 hours at a stretch. Just once! ;)

First, :grouphug: I feel your pain! Ds gave me a year like that last year when he was nine. He was compelled to challenge everything. In all my years homeschooling, last year was the only time I ever seriously contemplated sending him to public school and letting someone who gets paid for it deal with the kid. This year he seems a lot more reasonable. He still complains about everything, but it seems half-hearted. There is *always* a comment about "too much writing," but he does it anyway. Last year it was like Viet-Nam at my kitchen table every day. Nine seems to be a magic number when boys and sometimes girls just simply out-do themselves being disagreeable. I agree with the PP -- hormones are starting to flow and the brain is starting its last big rewiring job. Don't give up. You just have to push through the nasty stage and have faith that it's not a permanent character trait.

I'm up waaaaaay too late tonight because I'm ... working. Yes. I'm researching something for a client. ;)

Definitely too fluffy. Good luck! :001_huh:

Has anyone used Rosetta Stone Latin? We've done so well with Spanish that I'm thinking of supplementing or even replacing our current curriculum with it. This might be an option for the OP, as well. Any thoughts?

That's right. In Academia, classical pronunciation is used. Unless you're sending the kids to seminary, it's probably best to teach them the classical pronunciation. I think Prima Latina teaches ecclesiastical pronunciation (am I correct in this?). Not so useful in academia, but great if you're going into seminary. ;)

I've had their tracts shoved into my hand as I was slamming the door. Incredibly rude. Not only did they disturb my home uninvited, they make me deal with their garbage too. Darn right it's going in the recycling bin.

You got that right.

That happens. I've seen stories on Fox morph during the day. I think they just throw out whatever they have and then fix their mistakes as they're discovered.

They specialize in that. Look at how they've whipped up the birthers and teabaggers.

Wrong 1. Vaccines are not injected into the bloodstream, and 2. they do not bypass the natural defense mechanism. If that was the case, the vaccine would be worthless. It immediately interacts with the immune system and creates immunity.

Now you're just confusing people with facts.

Really? That's unconstitutional. Would you share a link?

This is normal in little ones.. Don't worry about anything being wrong. Lots of kids do that and eventually get it right. Be patient and remind your little guy each time he starts to read backwards.