To be honest I don't really have too much of a point of view. This is one of the areas that I really struggle with, so when I see "good writing" I am all ears. I have one natural writer and one who can put together good sentences, but it's like pulling teeth to get her to do it. I've only used the method outlined in the WTM - initially doing it myself and then this year using WWE and WWS. I think those are working well but I'm so unsure of myself with this that I feel nervous about it.

This would be a very interesting discussion but it seems to have evolved into a feeling of needing to justify one's choice of writing curriculum. Sorry that happened as I think there are some really interesting, important things we could talk about. Oh well.

Can someone put me out of my misery and tell me what OSU stands for when talking about foreign languages. I've tried searching but just can't find it. Thanks

I had the privilege of going through that journey with a very very good friend. I called her often and apologized once for doing so, assuring her that she did not need to answer my call if she didn't feel like talking etc. I had assumed that she was getting calls all day from people, but she said that, in fact, she actually got very few calls and so appreciated mine. The other thing I did, not sure if it was the right thing, was to do my very best to not be emotional when she talked about hard things. I felt like she needed the opportunity to talk without having to worry about me. If you wonder if you should call, talk etc, I would advise you to err on the side of doing it, of course being sensitive, but I think often people don't want to intrude and so don't make contact, and I think it is easy for the person to feel somewhat isolated. I wish you and your friend the best, she is fortunate to have you to care about her.

I too say don't get Hughsnet. We now have Wild Blue Exceed which is a million times better than Hughs but only have 10 gb. There is free unlimited between midnight and 0600 I think. We just make do - no other option. I'm afraid I can not say anything good about Hughsnet except they do fix a problem if you send a certified letter to the CEO - or should I say they did - that's what it took though.

I have to vote for Venice and Florence in Italy. I loved Venice - didn't expect to but it was my favorite place. If they go to Florence they should definitely try and see nearby Sienna. As for Spain - the Alhambra is beautiful and I'm so glad I got to see it.

I am so sorry. Am praying for you and your family.

Actually that's not what she said. You may want to read her post again. Also, I think the standardized tests she is referring to are the ACT and the SAT which are taken by most students.

:bigear:

:grouphug: A lovely tribute. Thank you for sharing it with us.

This looks really good. I'll be interested to hear more about ages for using this study too. Anne of Green Gables was my absolute favorite book as a child and I'd love my dds to love it too. ETA: I forgot to say Thanks for sharing this

Wow! Now I'm really looking forward to it! Thanks again for all the ideas. It's OK searching on the internet but personal recommendations are much better.

Thanks for the suggestions!! We're looking forward to it and it's good to have some recommendations for things to see and do.

We have the opportunity to spend a few days in Austin, Tx at the end of February. I would appreciate any ideas for fun, not too expensive things to do. My dds are 12 and 9. Also, is there a homeschooling store there, or a good used book store? Thanks, I appreciate any information you can give me. Trenna

Could your dd do the International Baccalaureate (IB) ? I'm fairly sure that some universities accept the IB.I think it may be possible to take A levels in other parts of the world. I know that there are international O levels but not sure about A levels. Hope someone can tell you. Some schools in New Zealand and parts of Africa take British courses and exams.

Thankyou. I'll look at those.

Don't want to hijack the thread but I wondered if you could tell me which program you use. My dd is taking a Spanish 1 class at the school this year and would like to carry on with Spanish. It's a lot of driving each day for 1 class so we're thinking of doing it at home next year. Thanks, Trenna

Depends on which age group - we've read and enjoyed Our Island Story by HE Marshall, which is geared towards elementary children, I think, but we've all enjoyed it.

I don't have any wise advice but just thought I'd mention that practice may help her. I just tried the test myself and found that I got some wrong initially but did much better towards the end with just the practice of doing the previous questions. I really think that answering reading comprehension questions for tests is a skill in itself, and can be improved just by practicing answering the questions. However, I'm afraid I don't know how to improve real problems with reading comprehension.

Best sore throat remedy for me is to dissolve soluble aspirin in water and then gargle with it and then swallow it - that way it works both locally and systemically. Hope you feel better soon.

I'm interested in the Differentiating Instructions book and have looked at the sample pages, but there doesn't seem to be any examples of the actual work required from the student. I can see the blank menus, and that sort of makes sense but I wasn't able to find one example of what exactly the student is required to produce. Can anyone enlighten me about this. Thanks

I would be very interested to see these facts then. I looked at the incidence of school shootings in the world and the USA was by far the country with the most incidences. How does this fit in with saying that the availability of guns lessens this violence? Maybe I'm not understanding what you're saying. Compared to say Europe, guns are much more available in the US - and so are the school shooting incidences . How does this add up?

I'm pretty sure I saw it at Target earlier today.

Done

My high school history teacher was one of my favorite teachers ever! He would act out the whole thing at the front of the class - it was fantastic. We studied the French Revolution and he made it really interesting. The other thing that made him a good teacher was that he really cared about the kids. If someone from his home room was playing truant he would go out to their house and pick them up himself. This was in the late 70s - probably not allowed to do that now. He wrote pages and pages of notes in his terrible hand writing that we were supposed to copy out in our notebooks - that part wasn't so great.