Wow. Well, you know what they say about threes . . . In our neighborhood church (not mine) the media frenzy this year happened when a church secretary was found murdered while volunteering in the church food pantry. She was found with a gunshot wound to the head. The police were hush hush for weeks regarding leads, and then one day arrested a fellow female church member. Here, she was jealous because she felt the pastor was giving too much special attention to her, while she had a secret crush on him. Anyhoo, I can see how a string of deaths can make you feel uneasy . . . Lisa

Which version is the Colin Firth? If it's the BBC version, yes, I agree. Darcy was (breaking out in a mild sweat . . .) sooo wonderful. The Kyra something version that came out a couple years ago doesn't do the book justice at all (not that any could), although Darcy was pretty hot. Congrats on finishing your first classic (oh that sounds so snobbish since it's the only classic I've ever read). Lisa

"Dammit, John, think of the mission! Besides, those fingernails could come in handy. Now come on, we're wasting time!" Leaving the shop, they knew the most dangerous part of their mission was still ahead of them. They needed to make their way to The One. Would he be pleased with their part? They shivered to think what would happen to them if not . . .

Pam, Sorry to hear this, but aren't student loans guaranteed? Did you fill out a FAFSA? I funded by BSN with student loans, and am currently working toward my MSN with student loans, and I didn't hear anything about possible problems. Now you have me worried . . . Hope it works out for you:) Lisa

"In fact, Obama, his running mate Joe Biden and their campaign have barely mentioned Wurzelbacher. Obama and Biden both attacked McCain for portraying Wurzelbacher as representative of most blue-collar workers, asking how many plumbers make $250,000 a year." __________________________ When I heard this I thought it was typical class warfare rhetoric. The man does not need to be a licensed plumber to be in the profession. I don't think when he asked a simple question he was expecting the details of his profession to be examined. He said he was a plumber when asking a legitimate question of a candidate, that's close enough for me. He makes a modest income now, but hopes to buy a business someday, thereby pushing him into the higher income bracket. Isn't this the American way? Shouldn't this be commended? Why is he being vilified? I will say it again: He was approached by the press after the debate and asked who he supported. If he had said he supported Obama, he would be portrayed in a much different light by the mainstream media. No liberal bias? Yeah, right. Lisa

This is ridiculous. McCain should have vetted Joe the Plumber before mentioning his name in the debate? I saw it as mostly symbolic of blue collar America, not him specifically. He used his example to draw comparisons between tax plans, that's all. The fact that this has become about him, with his life being scrutinized, to me is very ugly. He asked a question without any way of knowing it would be latched on to by the politicians. Whether you are for McCain or Obama, surely that should be evident. I have no doubt that if, when questioned after the debate, Joe the Plumber said he supported Obama, none of this personal information would be deemed relevant. Lisa

(((Hillary Clinton declared before her husband was elected that her platform was going to be Health Care. There is a difference is being involved in the political process and Todd Palin making phone calls from the Governor's office to have someone fired for personal reasons. What is Todd Palin's platform?))) As far asI can see, Todd Palin is a private citizen who has a right to try to get this trooper fired, regardless of his wife's position. Good try, but this doesn't seem to amount to much. Lisa

:lol::lol::lol: LOL, I just love this thread. So funny!!

I'll be the first to admit that politics brings out the worst in me. I had a response all typed earlier in a knee jerk reaction and somehow hit a button that accidentally deleted it. I took it as a sign. I really have to remember that this is politics, and three weeks before a hard fought election there is passion on both sides, and it's hard to resist. Deep breaths . . . Lisa

Heather, just wondering if you feel you are missing out by not using the student activity pages by switching literature selections? There are many SL titles I would like to substitue for TOG titles, but wondering how much they'll miss by not using the SAP and discussion for that selection. How have you dealt with this? How much subsituting do you do? Thanks!! Lisa

I totally understand your desire to do both curriculums. They are both so wonderful it's hard to choose!! I'll let you in on my little secret. I do SL with dc, but I bought TOG and am working through it myself. Shhhhh. Please don't tell, as I'm afraid people will laugh at me:) I've used SL for years and really do love it. Right now I'm using cores 1/6, and it's going fine, but I'm using Core 1 loosely and when time is tight it's the first thing to go. I've taken a crack at TOG before, but really didn't invest the time and energy to make it work, so I reverted to my old love, SL. There's so many things I love about SL, above all being the literature selections. It seems to fit into my somewhat relaxed, quasi-Charlotte Mason take on education, figuring that if nothing else we're at least reading lots of good books. However, with high school years approaching, I am again looking seriously at TOG. I really would like to finish SL through Core 100, but just can't stop looking at TOG with admiration. Therefore, I decided that I just need to have it in my hands, even if I'm not planning on using it right away. I decided that I really need to try and master the material myself so that I can have meaningful dialogue with dc an a higher level. I've so enjoyed learning along with my children with SL, but in secret I'm educating myself with TOG alongside. Right now I'm enjoying the ride of SL while being a student of TOG in preparation for the higher grades. I'm not saying this is right for everyone, but it helps rid myself of the grass is greener syndrome and the "oooh, I maybe I should be doing that instead" by actually working with it on some level, becoming familar with it and learning so much, without the pressure of actually implementing it at this time. It also gives me lots of good ideas and talking points without feeling like if I don't plan my week around it we're not going to get anything done. I know this didn't help you at all in your decision, just thought I'd give you a slightly different take . . . Lisa

Toys Go Out was always a good transition to short chapter books for my littles. It's such a cute book!! Lisa

If the day of the month falls on a weekend, they either do it on Friday or Monday. As far as knowing when to move from odd and even to days of the week, it's kind of intuitive. Usually by the time they are ready to go to odd or even, they have it pretty down pat, so we just spend a few weeks on odd and even and move on to weekly. HTH!! Lisa

I use this system five days a week, and have been for a couple years. It's wonderful and works beautifully. I use it as described for bible verses, word roots (EFTRU), history and science memory, etc. Up to this year I've used a box, but changed to a binder this year. I did this because we started IEW's poetry memorization program and we keep copies of the poems and charts in a binder, and I wanted all their memory work in one spot. So instead of a box I'm using those plastic inserts with three pockets per page, and they fit the index cards perfectly. In the back I put copies of their poetry and longer scripture passages that won't fit on cards. I have a pocket for daily, odd, even, days of the week, and days of the month. Good luck! I love using this sytem. Lisa

bump

you've given me a lot to consider! I think I'm leaning toward Rainbow, especially since I really would like dd to work pretty independently this year (I will take a look at Galore Park, though - thanks!). Lisa J, if dd did Rainbow for 6th and 7th, what level Apologia would you start in 8th? Would general science be too redundant? Also, did you by the entire package? I can't really afford everything right now, so I though of buying the books and trying to gather my own supplies until I have the money for the whole kit. Would this be too burdensome? I appreciate your thoughts and critiques of Apologia. As young earth creationists, I don't see it as being a problem right now. Thanks! Lisa

Sixth grade dd has never really done formal science. She is using SL 6 this year, and it's going okay but the spine is written way over her head. Also, I'm not sure if I want to spend the whole year on evolution (they use TOPS also, but we're not really crazy about them). I was planning on starting her on Apologia General Science next year, but without having done formal science previously, I'm wondering if I should ditch the SL and do Rainbow Science as a precursor to Apologia. This could get her feet wet and become familiar with topics before going into more depth with Apologia. I think Rainbow is a two year course, so I thought I could do it for 6th and 7th, then start Apologia with 8th. So I'm debating whether to start Apologia General Science next year, or wait until 8th and do two years of Rainbow. If I do this, should I skip general science altogether? I just don't know. Are there any other recommendations of what I could use this year to gently introduce her to general science before next year? I just feel like we don't need to spend most our time studying evolution this year, and that time could be best used preparing her for higher level science. Any opinions would be so greatly appreciated. thanks so much, lisa

(((I don't really see the point of all this. To me, Mrs. McCain is disgustingly overdressed, just showing the disparity between herself, her husband and the people they are claiming to know so well and be able to understand; Biden and Obama and their wives show class and how down to Earth they are; and this article shows how tacky Palin really is. That shirt is something I would never expect someone who wants to represent our country to wear, or at least hope she wouldn't. She goes farther down in my opinion every single day)))) Michelle Obama down to earth? To me her speech was so obviously an attempt to reconstruct her anti-American, condescending rhetoric of late. Aside from Mrs. Mccain's outfit, did you pay attention to the humanitarian background this woman has? Does it matter? Of just her jewelery. It's really sad how ugly this anti-Palin rhetoric is getting. By the way, the shirt you commented on was from college, if that matters. Lisa

I'm looking at these two programs and would love to hear feedback on either one. I know RS is most popular, and wondering how satisfied those using it are. It would be for a 7 and 11 year old. Do you think 7 is too young to start? Also, I'm also looking at Aurolog's Tell me More, which also looks excellent. Does anyone use this? I'm wondering if it's easier to navigate than RS. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. thanks!! lisa

so much for taking the time to answer. We've decided to add poetry memory and continue with longer scripture passages. It seems others have no problem doing both. thanks again! lisa

I've been looking at IEW's poetry memorization program, and think it might be a nice addition to our homeschool. We have not been working on memorizing poetry. We have a scripture verse weekly and other memorywork for history, science, etc., and the idea of memorizing poetry appeals to me, and he seems to build a powerful case for doing so. But looking at the selections of long poetry, I'm wondering if memorizing long passages of scripture is the route we should go. I like the idea of a program with built in review and charts, and he explains how using poetry develops linguistic patterns, but can scripture be as beneficial, linguistically speaking? Has anyone chose longer passages to memorize?Would doing both be too much? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!! lisa

Lets shop!!!!

(49)

(48)

(47)