Consider what you believe about when Adam and Eve sinned. If death only entered the world after they sinned, then the first animal to die was the one God had to kill (for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins) in order to make a covering of animal skins for Adam and Eve (who were hiding from God and now realized that they were naked). This view helped me to understand that there couldn't have been millions of years of dinosaurs if there was no death until sin came into the world (when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit). And it makes sense to me that most of the fossils likely were formed due to the Genesis Flood... not millions of years earlier. The Genesis flood plus the young earth worldview also helps to explain the current human population totals. If people had been around for millions of years and there was no Genesis flood, then the current population could be a 10 with 43 zeroes after it (according to John D. Morris, Ph.D in his book, "The Young Earth", Colorado Springs: Creation Life Publishers, 1994, 70-71. {I took this from a MFW manual that I just read to my dc yesterday :)). Brenda Answers in Genesis is a good website to view for the young earth viewpoint.

I recommend allergy shots! My ds started them just before he turned 7. He used to have to take Flovent, Nasonex, Singulair... it was awful. We had to slow down the progression for getting the shots (his allergies were so bad), but they have worked wonderfully for him and he now only takes occasional Claritin and a rare puff of his albuterol inhaler. :grouphug:, Brenda

That is hilarious!!! I love it! :lol:

I am still pondering what to do, and I didn't mean any reflection upon any others when I used the term, 'crutch'. You see, I have a ds who skipped right over the story in wk 7, day 4 in WWS about treating gunshot wounds by cauterizing... he didn't read it AT ALL. And he was very upset that I made him go back and read that part because he thinks SWB just wanted to put more (in his mind, useless) words in her book so she could "up" the price!?! :001_huh: :tongue_smilie:Ugh!!! This is what I am dealing with here. The highlighter idea is great, but I am concerned that my ds will read NOTHING ELSE but the highlighted parts and as little else as possible to get the job done. That is why I am still pondering.... Regarding raffle tickets, we have a big stack of blue ones for my ds and red ones for my dd, and they bid with their hard-earned tickets a couple of times of year for small prizes that we bring out (such as gadgetry that my dh picks up from work conferences, etc.) The biggest goal I have for my ds this year is that he learns to follow written directions (which requires careful reading that he doesn't like to do). For my dd, it is that she puts everything away when she is done using it. Hence the use of double tickets each day the #1 goal is met! :D Brenda

I've decided to give double raffle prize tickets each day that my 12 ds actually follows all written instructions correctly. :D This is, in fact, my very biggest goal for him this upcoming 7th grade year! (And yes, we are doing WWS... much to his chagrin... and he has forgotten to put in dialogue one week, and a direct quote the next week)... hence the new raffle ticket rule that just came out today! I am hesitant about the highlighter usage. If I prepare it for him, wouldn't that be a crutch? Isn't he supposed to be learning to follow directions by middle school???? I only mention this because the idea is intriguing, and I know he would really love to speed through WWS and never read anything he didn't have to... so I guess I cannot use this "highlighter" method FOR THIS PARTICULAR child. Too bad.... :tongue_smilie: Brenda

Another idea for AK is to do Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House... the earliest possible so you can rush off to a safari ride or Expedition Everest or the Dino park section. It's a great breakfast buffet and meeting Donald and Goofy in safari garb is a lot of fun, too! :D Brenda

I will have to try again to get those papers graded and returned the same day. Another issue is that I know my ds just wants to skip this part :glare: and not have to be 'corrected', if you know what I mean. Last year we had BJU school papers that I waited a week or more to grade (true, bad confessions... especially Reading class, which he doesn't even have this coming year... YEAH!!!). I think I will try not even ripping out the pages this year, so that everything stays contained and I can more easily locate things. Organization has not been my strong suit, that's for sure. I like the idea of taking away 'free time' if directions are not followed and they have to redo an assignment. And I only have 2 dc to grade... :tongue_smilie: One of them is my dd and she LOVES school and has no problem doing worksheets. And then there's my ds, who gets easily frustrated and stressed during the school day. He doesn't like it if I return papers for him to correct when he is in the middle of any other subject, or if I do it at the beginning of the day. It is interesting to read how you all approach this aspect of schoolwork. I know IEW tells the student to pay someone to be your editor so you don't have to have long lectures from your mother! :lol: Brenda

As an aside, Flagyl was a wonder drug for me. I had contracted C-difficile from ANOTHER antibiotic (Clindomycin) that I had taken for dental issues... and had to take Flagyl for 10 days. I really liked it because I felt so much better afterwards. I guess that's why they always right that your doctor has determined that the need for such and such medicine outweighs the potential side effects. I did take a LOT of probiotics, though, at the time, which I would advise whenever antibiotics are prescribed! I hope and pray that your dd starts feeling better very soon! :grouphug:, Brenda

For some reason, this part of the day ends up being a bit stressful and uncertain for us. I often grade and hand back papers first thing in the morning, but it often gets my son grumpy and 'feeling behind' before the day even gets going. Do you have your dc redo all their missed responses, or just have them look over the red markings and then continue on? I know that Math has to be corrected every single day and I usually have them redo every single problem that they got wrong (dc are now 12 and 10). I know that sometimes errors are just because they didn't read the instructions correctly (this happens often in Grammar and in Math), so I sometimes have them find and correct the errors. But it takes so long.... Also, what about WWS? When they complete Day 4, do you do the rubric right away with them and have them rewrite their paper (perhaps even before doing the rubric)? I just am having trouble knowing how to schedule the correction of papers into our day. Would love to hear how you all do it! Brenda

AMEN! It's amazing to realize how much one can memorize when they are young, and I agree that memorizing big 'chunks' of Scripture is a great idea. I am older now and my memory is still pretty good for what I remembered 'back then', but I have a much harder time memorizing new things now. I agree with having a habit for always thinking, "What chapter shall I memorize next?" Psalm 119 is long, but I loved memorizing this one because it is full of reasons/benefits for hiding God's Word in your heart, and it is a chapter when the psalmist is talking directly to God... so it becomes like a meditative prayer. Isaiah 40 is good, too. You'll laugh, but when I was in college I even had the idea to memorize entire books of Scripture. I started with Isa. chapter 1 and got all the way to ch. 9 before I decided to skip right to Isa. 40 which is the chapter I especially wanted! :lol: MFW has students in Exp. to 1850 memorize either portions or the entire book of James (you choose the track). I memorized a lot when I was young, and I am now continually blessed by it. I am excited for my dc learning the book of James this year, and I am going to try to do it, too, even though I know it'll be a lot harder for me this time around. :tongue_smilie: Blessings, Brenda

I heard a ER physician speak at a homeschool conference many years back. I cannot remember the details, but he said something about waiting until your dc has hit puberty before starting Algebra! I guess it has something to do with the ability to do abstract thinking and what happens in the brain during puberty. I found it interesting because I did not 'get' Algebra in 8th grade but got straight A's in 9th and beyond in Algebra... AFTER I had gone through puberty. Interesting to think about, anyway! Brenda

My 12 ds avoids all ice cream except Breyers Oreo Breyers Grasshopper Pie... and yes, this is hard to explain to people! :tongue_smilie: He can also eat Klondike Bars safely (not Heath Bar Crunch, of course, but the basic ones). My ds is allergic to all nuts, soy flour, and he seems to react to real vanilla flavoring (but not imitation, go figure). He would never get an ice cream cone at a restaurant/stand. Sad, but he is now happy enough if someone will give him a dollar or some french fries instead. :lol: Brenda

This hasn't happened to me, but I think you can be SO THANKFUL that you had an appt. this a.m.!! Talk about catching it early!!!!!! Hope your dc starts on the mend very soon! I do know that pneumonia is no fun at all. :grouphug:, Brenda

I think of 'Uncle Cam' (Cameron Townsend), founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, who was told... "If your God is so great, why doesn't he speak my language?" And, of course, He does! During the time of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 10, the people of the whole earth that had had just one language and a common speech, became scattered over the face of the earth and the Lord confused their language so that they would not understand one another. But Revelation ch. 4 refers to the fact that, by the blood of the Lamb, men were purchased for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And Mt. 24:14 states that this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Wycliffe Bible Translators is working to translate the Bible to fulfill Mt. 24:14 and to let everyone know that God does speak their language. It is exciting to see that in heaven (according to Revelation 5) there will be people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation praising God. When I worked with WBT back in the '80's, there were about 3,000 languages left in the world that needed to be translated (much fewer lgs. left today). We know that it is God's will for Mt. 24:14 to be fulfilled, and that it won't all be done with the KJV translation for obvious reasons. I am just sharing this to try and widen the perspective with which we consider this question of KJV only. I believe that the scene in heaven of the richness of every language being represented in worshipping God will be completely awe-inspiring. Just think about how the Greeks have such a rich way of expressing the word, 'love', for example (compared with our 'bland' way of just one word that needs modifiers to explain the difference between loving God and loving ice cream :lol:). Or how we have just one word for 'snow' compared to Inuit languages that multiple different words, depending on if it is 'icy snow', 'fluffy snow', etc. etc. How can we think that there could only be one best translation? What extraordinary worship of God there will some day be, to take the best way to express each attribute of God using as our base every language in the world! I grew up memorizing using the KJV only (and I did a lot of memorizing), but now I am happy if I remember any verses out of either the NIV or KJV :lol:. Oh, and I agree that the poetry in the KJV is beautiful, BTW! And some may successfully argue that the KJV is the best translation in English. But to broaden the argument, we know that the KJV cannot be the best translation for people groups in a remote part of Russia, for example. And the expression of the gospel translations from this part of the world will be glorious and beautiful in heaven some day as part of that Revelation multitude that no one can number from every tribe.... praising God. AMEN!

I remember reading once that Austin, TX was one of the best U.S. cities to move to! .... or something like that! :D I lived in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for about 5 years and loved it. Now I'm up in the often snowy North and still dream about those wonderful winters in Texas... sigh!!! Brenda

I think "Wits Included" would be a good one! Blessings, Brenda

With a 5-year spread in ages, I bet you had to hold on to that 'other' curriculum for a few years while you were waiting to try it out on dd #2. I'm glad it worked out for you (both :grouphug:)!

For us, it's been IEW. I first bought it when my dc were in 4th and 3rd grade and it just didn't seem to work for them (or for me). What an expensive, embarassing waste I thought at the time. Maybe I should just turn around and resell it, even at a loss?!! Well, we kept it and now I am so glad. My dc have just finished 6th and 5th grade and we are using it for some much needed writing workshops this summer, and 'I get it' now, and so do they! It is a tool that is presently working wonders in our homeschool!!! In addition, we didn't use WWE as much as I could have in the earlier grades, but we are using WWS now this summer (as well) and it is all coming together. I just needed my kids to be a bit older to be ready for all this writing. Perhaps there are others out there that are so glad they didn't sell/get rid of curriculum that they didn't think was a good fit at the time, but that actually just needed to 'ripen' a bit in order to be a good fit for all! I just wanted to encourage others to hold off (perhaps) on selling certain items until you know your family has outgrown them, as you never know when you might change your mind and wish you still had that curriculum item still hanging around!!! Blessings, Brenda

I am lured by "the deal", but I don't think this Boston Go Card is really a deal unless someone is purchasing the one for 7 days because they're coming out from Iowa for a weeklong vacation to Boston, or something like that. I am rethinking this whole thing. Maybe I should just pay the $100 for our family of 4 to visit Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower as one day trip, and then drive up another time to go walk the Freedom Trail and see the U.S.S. Constitution and do the Duck Tour. Then we wouldn't need to stay at a hotel (it's about 90 miles or 1 1/2 hours from our home to Boston). I'd also love to go to Philadelphia sometime this upcoming year, as I have yet to even set foot in this city which has so much history as well. :), Brenda

Today, July 5th, the Boston Go Card is 15% off, and I am trying to plan a trip there. We live in CT, but I have never toured Boston's historical sites. A 3-day ticket for 2 adults and 2 kids costs $363.76 total and includes 58 different attractions. I need to figure out where we should stay that is cost effective and how to arrange our days. I am thinking about the following: Day 1 (or day 2 or 3): Plimoth Plantation and Mayflower II, plus Plymouth Walking Tour to see Plymouth Rock and the Jenney Grist Mill tour. Day 2 and/or 3: Boston and Lexington/Concord: Freedom Trail Tour Duck Tour U.S.S. Constition (maybe with Boston Harbor Cruise that goes by the Boston Tea Party boat) Beantown Trolley Paul Revere House Lexington/Concord: Hancock House Liberty Ride We need to know if the Boston Go Card is a good value for us, and I'd have to purchase it today for the 15% off. We are a family of 4 with kids ages 12 and 10, and we're studying Story of the World Year 3 this coming year (early American History). I also thought about the Museum of Science and the New England Aquarium, but what could we reasonably expect to do in 3 days???? And where would be a fun, not too costly place to stay... and what kind of transportation would we use (ie. the "T" which I have never ridden, perhaps?) Thanks, Brenda :auto:

We actually broke up MFW Adventures into 2 years and combined it with Winterpromise's American Story 1 and 2. We had a total blast doing it this way, and it was very full and fun. I agree with your thought that a big part of the beauty of Adventures is the book list at the back. My favorite part of the States Study was checking out these fantastic picture books from this list for each state. I have tried ECC twice and it just didn't work out well for us (the 2nd time, to be fair, I didn't give it a good chance as I was too busy leading a geography co-op. We didn't to Creation to the Greeks as I had switched to trying TOG that year. But then we went back to MFW and did Rome to the Reformation and we all absolutely LOVED that year (and I didn't need to get anything else... it was a very full program (well, except for a few activity pages from time to time from Story of the World). The sum of my story is that I wouldn't give up on MFW just because of one easy year (you know you do have permission to add to the curriculum if that works for your family... but don't expect that you will always need to add to the program! :) I have a ton of extra stuff planned for next year's Explore to 1850, but will drop whatever we don't need as we go along (I am going to try to add some BJU American Republic (1st half) and I have a consumable book about Presidents and States that I will likely substitute for the States cards (because they do bring them out again in this year... but you can either use them a different way, or find a substitute book to use). I love the cohesiveness of MFW for Bible and history, though, and I have tried pretty nearly everything :tongue_smilie:(not really, but sometimes it seems that way!) Blessings whichever way you go!!! Brenda

OhElizabeth... It looks like the Vacation Station 7 was published in 2008 and Fundamentals in Math 7 in 2009. I don't think I can follow through with your suggestion, then, can I? Or would you still recommend I do this? Thanks! Brenda

Thanks so much... I will do that!

I have 2 dc that are just completing BJU Math 6 (the old edition) and will be going into Mr. Harmon's new edition Fundamentals of Math 7 next year. Thanks for the tip about the Vacation Stations. I will check those out when I go to our homeschool convention in a couple of weeks! :D Years ago, after my dd finished the new edition Math 3, I was able to skip right over the old edition Math 4 and go to old edition 5 (and then 6 this year)... I wonder what will happen now??? Hopefully, they'll both transition okay, but I'm starting to wonder just how long all these grade 7 BJU classes are going to take!!! Brenda

I have 2 dc that are just completing BJU Math 6 (the old edition) and will be going into Mr. Harmon's new edition Fundamentals of Math 7 next year. Thanks for the tip about the Vacation Stations. I will check those out when I go to our homeschool convention in a couple of weeks! :D Years ago, after my dd finished the new edition Math 3, I was able to skip right over the old edition Math 4 and go to old edition 5 (and then 6 this year)... I wonder what will happen now??? Hopefully, they'll both transition okay, but I'm starting to wonder just how long all these grade 7 BJU classes are going to take!!! Brenda