Those are gross!! Someone at the farmer's market sold me a little plant called a borage to keep away the hornworms. This is my first year gardening so all these pests are new to me. After seeing those pictures I am no longer doubting whether I should have spent the four dollars on that little plant!

:grouphug:praying

Wow, I was surprised to see this thread resurrected. Thanks for your input, but my intent wasn't to start debating the theories. Let's just say I have not arrived at my present position without research and thought. If you want to find out answers to your specific questions I would suggest a couple of compelling books. The Language of God, written by Francis Collins, scientist known for mapping the human genome (also a Christian), and Beyond the Firmament, by Gordon Glover.

I second the rec for Garden Wizardry for kids. Also, the square foot garden we've done this year has been a phenomenal hands-on experience for all of us. I have a brown thumb for sure, but we have a beautiful garden right now and we just harvested our very first vegetable (a zucchini) today! Oooh! I would also highly recommend you check out the series on plants by David Attenborough. I think it's called The Hidden Life of Plants. We watched it on YouTube. My kids were dragging their feet when we started, but they were enthralled once they got into it.

Acadia National Park in Maine is absolutely beautiful. There are many different hikes you can do based on your ability. Our kids really enjoyed several hikes we took, one around Jordan Pond which we ended with lunch and the most heavenly popovers and lobster stew you can imagine. One hike was at the top of a mountain you can drive to and see the spectacular sunrise at the eastern most point in the US. We also enjoyed the hiking around our campground picking wild blueberries. A great memorable trip!

sorry, wrong board!

I am fighting the urge to try out TOG and want to think it through before I jump in and regret it. I am not the kind of person who is highly organized and structured. I loved some aspects of Sonlight, for instance, but there isn't a prayer that I would ever be able make myself stick to their schedule. The kids and I love to read aloud, but if there is too much to read, it's no longer fun to me. I feel like we are zooming through books and not really absorbing it. We enjoy history around here, but does it take over everything if you do TOG? I don't want to squeeze out everything else in favor of history, KWIM? I guess I want to know if I should keep on doing things TWTM way, or if I am missing something great by passing on TOG. Plus, would I be wasting my money if I got it and wasn't able to stick to the schedule?

Orzo pasta yellow and red pepper diced small green onion sliced toasted pine nuts kalamata olives diced fresh dill chopped capers crumbled feta cheese course ground mustard to taste (2-3 Tbs) toss with olive oil I could eat this breakfast, lunch and dinner and whenever I make it I often do!

We use hot chocolate or lemonade or juice along with tea. My dd and I are the tea drinkers. We usually have some kind of treat snack to go with this. Sometimes we will do a special lunch if we have it at lunchtime. This past week we had crepes with a choice of fruit or peanut butter sauce. The poetry is read round table style with the boys usually choosing Shel Silverstein and I'll read from an assortment of various books. If we go too long without having one, they will complain!! I use a Japanese style tea set we bought at Target and light a scented candle with tablecloths and fan folded paper napkins (if I think of doing it).

:grouphug: I am sorry beyond words.

The Outer Banks is a great trip, but it is a MUCH longer drive than to the mountains. We live outside of Charlotte and met some cousins from NJ there a few summers ago and our drive time was almost as long as theirs! There aren't any highways that make it a direct route from Charlotte and the bottle-neck once you get to the sound adds even more time. If you only have 2-3 days you should hit the mountains in my opinion. It is absolutely gorgeous there in the spring. We went to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and the Cherohala skyway a couple of years ago. This is a bit off the beaten path of the usual tourist hot spots, but it is one of the few old growth forests on the East coast and simply breathtaking. The avatar you see here is a picture I took there. There are some great whitewater trips all over. Blowing Rock is a great trip. It is a nice place to spend a day shopping and lunch in the park there. Biltmore is always great. There is the Grove Park Inn which is nearby. A historic hotel where lots of famous people have stayed through the years. That is a great place to pop in and have lunch and check out the awesome art gallery next door. There is just a smidge of all my favorite things about the mountains! If you really want to try the Outer Banks let me know and I'll list my favorite places there. It's really great too, like I said, but a closer beach trip from Charlotte would be to SC; Charleston, Myrtle Beach, or Hilton Head maybe. You are sure to have fun wherever you end up!!

We have used IEW this past year through our involvement in Classical Conversations. It can seem very involved with all the different products available. I don't think you would need any of that to participate in a class. The ancients book we used this year was not difficult to understand even without ever seeing the TM. The gist of the program is learning to incorporate a variety of vocabulary and sentence structures into rewriting a model piece. The lessons build incrementally to more complex variations. This allows the writer to access a mental "toolbox" as they mature and use the techniques more naturally over time. The Ancients book is pretty beginning level. She should be able to manage.

Thanks! This is helpful to know. It sounds like a big job to undertake for two groups. Maybe it would be better to start off with just the Jr. Club this year. Any other tips for a first timer?

I have a girl and a boy about the ages of yours, and we have homeschooled since my dd was in first grade. I wouldn't say it is ever "too late" to dive into a classical model. I would start your son off with the basics first. I think it's pretty normal for the 8yob to be resistant to seat-work. I don't know how much you have tried as far as structured phonics lessons. You didn't say whether the frustration is that he wants to read and write and hasn't had the patience for formal lessons, or whether the instruction he has had isn't getting the desired results. If it's the former, the motivation to learn should speed things along. I would start a comprehensive phonics program. If you used something like Spell to Write and Read you could tackle several areas at once. This program is pretty easy to adapt to a wide age range and can progress quickly once he catches on. There is a learning curve to using this, but it is pretty easy once you figure it out and shouldn't take too much sit-down time. I don't know whether he is used to any formal math program, but if you are interested in starting one there are lots to choose from. I would continue to do math games and other unschoolish activities and ramp up slowly to a workbook. I really like Math-U-See, Math Mammoth, and Singapore. I wouldn't require more than 20-30 minutes a session. You could continue to work alongside him and dictate his answers while his writing skills are progressing. First Language Lessons and Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts are both great grammar programs which could be done mostly orally. In fact, many people use MCT with older students as well; you may be able to teach both your daughter and son with this. With your daughter, since she already reads and writes well, you could get her going with a grammar program. The MCT would work well unless she thinks it is too "young" for her or she would rather do something independently. There are a myriad of workbook type programs for this. WTM makes some good recommendations. Junior Analytical Grammar may fit the bill if you want to get her up to speed in a short time. She could start any beginning Latin program at this time. On the math front, you just need to start where she is at. For this I recommend some type of mastery program. Math On The Level, Math-U-See, maybe the Key To.... series; something like this would let her progress quickly as she masters each topic. Then maybe Math Rescue to get her up to speed for an Algebra course. For writing, I would listen to some of the lectures Susan Wise Bauer has given on the topic and/or just follow the rec's in TWTM. With both of the kids it is really easy to incorporate some history read alouds. Story of the World and some supplementary historical fiction here and there would fit the bill. Just start with Ancients and go from there. You can incorporate both your children in some memory work together. I know it can be overwhelming, but just start where they are at and don't stress. This is a great place to get advice. I know I have learned a lot from the "hive" that I wouldn't have gotten to on my own. Best wishes to you and your kids!!

I am considering coaching a team for the fall. I really don't know a lot about it though. I'd like to know what is really involved in being a coach. I've never even attended an event, so I'm not even sure what the gist of it is. I know my guys like science and legos. My daughter is probably also secretly interested ;). My idea was to maybe get a co-leader to take a younger group of kids for my Jr. aged guy, and coach another team for the olders. Is this something only a highly organized person should attempt?! :001_huh: Help me decide!

My brother had a lazy eye. This was years ago when he had to wear a patch. He also had surgery. I don't know how treatments may be different now. He was never able to fuse the images together and has to use one eye at a time, but you would never know there was anything wrong with him. In fact he has exceptional vision. I've taken a three year old in for drops and exam when he had a scratched cornea. It was not the tortuous experience you might imagine. If I remember correctly, he was really quite cooperative and the staff worked well with kids. Good luck!

This is so funny.:lol: They are laughing at themselves, for sure. Our church is like that one and I wouldn't change. It's okay to be a little predictable, just don't lose the real meaning behind it all...and definitely don't lose your sense of humor!!

I've btdt, but it gets easier. You said *he* didn't seem overly upset by this. I think as a hs mom I have tended to be concerned and upset by the occassional lack of friends moreso than my kids. One thing I would encourage you with is to remember to look at the long term, and invest in quality not quantity. A class full of ps kids to invite to a party once a year does not equate to anything resembling true friendship. These kids will be reshuffled next year into different classes and have to make new "friends" all over again anyway. It can be extra work to seek out and maintain quality relationships as your kids grow, but it can be done. It just takes time. :grouphug:

I have two boxes. When I was running down the list of all the things we planted, I couldn't believe it. I am going to have to use three trellises because of all the climbers and I guess I'll have to add a horizontal support for the corn at some point. Any good blogs or sites out there that I should visit for tips?

We have tried various plans and methods, which all of us (including me) have dropped the ball on. What I have fallen into sort of by happenstance is the current system which has been the most effective of all chore-wise. The money system we have is totally separate. We have been paying money for some school work instead of an allowance. It is mainly tied to percentage correct on math page, timely completion of school-work, putting books and items away correctly, and personal goal items. This has been marginally successful. The kids can earn from 5-7 dollars a week this way. They like having money, but I have found something far more motivating to use for chores. We are on limited non-school related screen time around here. The way this works in our house is they have a certain allotment of tokens they can spend each week on video games and television. Since we instituted this I had been just giving them their coins each week without anything being required to get them. Well, the spring weather this year prompted me to initiate a screen "fast" so they would spend more time outside for a few weeks before the days get hot and humid. So, no coins have been given out the past couple of weeks....BUT, I have been in a jam this week! We have taken a spring break from school and I have had to spend a lot of time getting ready for my brother's wedding this weekend and have had to be out doing errands and shopping and what-not. I've needed them to help out with household chores, so I've offered to pay them token coins for jobs around the house. Well, they are now trying to FIND things to do each day to earn a coin. They vacuumed and mopped the screened-in porch today which had about a 3-inch layer of pollen and dirt, HAPPILY, for a 30-min screen time token!! They have offered to do dishes, cleaned bathrooms, and folded clothes with no complaining. I am thinking I have really stumbled onto something ;)! When in the past I have connected the chores to allowance, there wasn't enough motivation on their part or organization on my part to make things work consistently. I like this method of just calling it out as I need things done! I don't know if this will help your situation if you are looking to make your kids intrinsically motivated to do chores just because they ought to. I am at a loss as to how to do that! :lol:

I pmed you!

I have learned a lot from a local group in our city, Fru-gals. It's mostly housewives and homeschool moms who are experts or wannabe's (me) on living as frugally as possible. Much of the information on local sales and such will only be helpful if you live in this area, but you could still learn a lot. I know I have. I pray for continued provision for your family :grouphug:

What are the DVT's? I just bought Lial's BCM 6th Ed. and plan on using it soon. Please don't tell me there is something I will miss out on if I don't get something else! ;)

Fwiw, I was in the OP shoes a few years ago after our first time doing CC. We didn't register the following year. Long story short, I ended up getting in it again this past year and the kids loved it. *I* don't love CC, but the kids do. They learned so much this year, too. The bottom line for me is that even though there are things about it that aren't my ideal, the accountability and group dynamic aren't things I can easily reproduce. My reluctant writers were doing papers every week, researching, excited about presentations each week, and memorizing reams of material. My oldest is going into Challenge B next fall. There are things I really don't like about the Challenge curriculum. I don't like the YE perspective, IEW isn't my favorite, I would rather have more freedom to do our own thing. My dd loves it, though. This program has been so motivating for all of my kids, I have to go back. For those of you sinking inside reading this thread because the check is in the mail, don't lose heart. The memory work doesn't have to take over your school. I reserve the right to tweak or opt out of the things I don't like. I've decided to make it work for us for now.

I used to know someone who had lived there and homeschooled there. This was in the '90's. I remember her saying it was a great place to raise a family; very small-townish and closeknit.