None of my kids will tell you they love school. But we work together on school each day and have pleasant days for the most part. I think the working together is helpful.

I need this kind of cleaning lady!!!

I didn't vote. My kids are older, so we don't do as many crafty things any more. My girls are very into acting and drama right now, so our extra is spent going on field trips to see different performances. Easy for me---planning involves finding the field trip! We also have lessons several times a week that involve a lot of discussion time. When my kids were younger, the temptation of spending more time planning neat activities than doing the activities often led to me burning out. It is better to do the basics in a consistent way than to go in spurts because mama ran out of energy to make everything "fun" or "interesting."

My middle schoolers go to bed at 8:30 and lights out at 9:30. I know they don't go to sleep at that time everynight. Three girls share a room, so lots of talking goes on.

I lived in STL for almost five years. You will find lots to do. Homeschooling is very common. The zoo, museums, ect all offer things for homeschoolers. There are many groups you can choose to join. The law is easy to follow--you need not notify anyone, but rather need to keep records of hours spent homeschooling.

I would go because your husband asked you to go. You need not stay for hours and hours. I'm sure there will be a point that it will be natural for you to leave long before your dh leaves. And I agree that asking if one can bring a guest to the wedding would be rude.

Extra sheets get folded and tucked under the mattress at the foot of the bed. Out of season clothes get put in suitcases in closet or under the bed in under the bed boxes.

Baked potatoes (cook in crockpot) with chili, sour cream, and cheese. Or switch out the chili for salsa. Add pre-cut veggies with your favorite kind of dip. Grilled cheese and ham sandwiches with a bagged salad. Roasted chicken with sides from the grocery store---add some fruit.

She is so cute! I love how she puts together her finds. I never would have bought those paisley print pants, but she rocks them! Makes me rethink what I pass by at the thrift shop.

THANKS so much for all the ideas. I'm going to sit down today to plan out everything.

Sorry, I totally missed what you asked. And my answer---I don't know! I have one of the handbooks and never really used it. I haven't looked at any of the Teacher's Guides for the handbooks, so I can't comment on how much they add.

I'm in! My garage needs major attention! Along with everything else!

We completed it as its own course. On Mondays we took turns reading the material paragraph by paragraph. Then we watched the DVD lesson and then rewatched as we worked along with it. We did the activities if they were a game. And one of my dd did a few that involved cooking. Oh, and we watched the suggested youtube videos. Other than that we skipped the activities. On Wednesdays and Fridays we reviewed our maps we drew on Monday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we reviewed past maps. Monday took from a half an hour to an hour. The other days we spent five to ten minutes. Here are my blog posts that include pictures of maps we've completed. http://missmoe-thesearethedaysofmylife.blogspot.com/search/label/Mapping%20the%20World%20with%20Art Warning--you do need to scroll through other parts of the post. Most are weekly wrap-ups and don't include just maps.

Setting aside time to make it happen seems to be the most important part of making it happen at our house. And I needed to accept that what is put into the notebook is very personal. What my dds choose to put in theirs is not usually what I would choose to put into it.

What you linked is a source book. It would work for 5th-grade. It doesn't have much instruction for the teacher as is. The skillsbook includes practice for correct grammar mistakes as they come up in writing. You may also want to look at this book--Write Source 5 A teacher's manual is also available. I haven't used the skillbook or the daily language workout though I have looked through both. I don't think they are needed to teach writing. If you are looking at them for grammar instruction, they do provide a simple basic level of instruction. Did this help or just confuse you more?

Yes, it does break it up. One lesson will cover taking notes. A homework assignment will be given to take notes. Don't lose that homework assignment!(Don't ask what will happen if a dc has to do those notes AGAIN!:tongue_smilie:) Later in the chapter those notes will be used to organize an outline. And so on. The writing really is well done in the series. In level 8, we just covered a lesson in creating unity in a multiple paragraph paper. Very timely for us. It is something I've noticed we've needed to work on with our history writing.

I love this idea. We have a school in the poorest part of our city that receives grants towards technology for every student. So every student has some sort of notebook/laptop computer. Perhaps, this method could utilize something like that and have internet included with the computer.

Hey, we are trying to make things all equal, right? So yes, hire parents to fill in for those that don't have them available.

Yes, they must not have a 16 yo dd going through a life crisis! NO peace here!

Yes, take pictures! And HOW will you make it until Monday!!!!

I used just Rod and Staff for writing for my oldest dd. We extended the concepts across all of our other subjects.

I have only good things to say about the program. Somewhere in the activities is a page with all the maps meant to be used in a game. I printed that off and cut them apart to use for review. I had all the ones we had completed in a folder. We randomly chose one to practice a couple times a week. It really helped to keep everything fresh.

Before you send the PM, you need to click the little box to save your sent message.

BLASPHEMY!!!!! ONLY the Christmas catalog!!!! That is all some of us have got! Jeeze---fancy pants like you with your two boxes!!!! :lol:

A friend's daughter calls herself the paper-taper. She charges per gift--a 50 cent surcharge if she supplies the paper. 1 dollar if the gift is large. She also has handmade cards available as an add-on. I drop them off and pick them up at a later time.