I went to a piano competition with my oldest (8yo 2nd grade) today. I had several parents ask me where my child went to school. I replied that we homeschooled. I then was questioned as to what kind of tests my children take to be sure they are on track. I had to say that in our state we are not required to take tests such as the ISTEP. I just got a lot of blank looks, and even some noses in the air about it. :confused: I honestly didn't know how to reply to the question! It also made me start to wonder myself, "How am I sure my children are on grade level?" We do the appropriate curriculum for their grades, my children take spelling and reading comprehension tests, but how accurate are they? One of the mom's at the contest talked about the school her children attend and how it is an "advanced" school. Her children summarize stories in 1st grade, she said. Ugh. I always feel like I'm giving my children an exceptional education, but am I? Are you? How do we know? I felt like the cast off in high school today, although everyone was very friendly! :o

O.K., what *is* threading??? I'm pretty clueless! I have my eyebrows and upper lip waxed when I have a hircut and pluck brows in between times.

Oh my lands! I'm dying over here! It is supposed to snow here, no blizzard warning though. There is a bit of snow on the ground. I keep looking at the birds, watching for a robin to show me that spring will come!! :) Good luck with the blizzard, hopefully it won't last long!

Yesterday while at the grocery store I saw they had re-usable grocery bags for sale. I thought "Well, everyone on the boards really likes them..." So, I'm now the proud owner of re-usable grocery bags! LOL! I really like them! They hold a LOT of food and are so easy to carry! They cost 99 cents, but I get a 5 cent credit every time I use them. I'll have them paid off in no time. :) Anyway, I just had to laugh that I was doing yet another thing I've read about on the boards!!:rolleyes:

Yes, we take the summer off. I wouldn't be able to keep going year round. My kids don't seem to loose anything over the summer and I come back refreshed and ready to "hit it" again!

I also "plan" as Susan in SoCal. I plan during the summer how many days we need to do math, grammar, Latin, etc, etc, a week. Roughly plan my history and science the same way. Once school starts I just do the next thing, every few months I kind of review where we are at and adjust things if I need to. I've also decided to not sweat 180 days - if it takes longer to get done, oh well. :) So, my plan for the end of the year is to drop subjects as we complete them and continue others until they are done - whether we are at 180 days (IN state requirements) or longer. Kathy

I take SuperMom multivitamins and Nordic Naturals fish oil. Kathy

Ah, I can't imgaine being able to find 99% of what I want to watch or read! :) I live in a town of 500 people and our library (which has only been open a few years) is literally in an old 1 room school house. It is very cute, but very, very small. And, b/c the vast majority of the people using the library are Amish, we have very, very few movies (read very few as 2 shelves 12" long). We don't have any books on tape. I love living in the country, but it does have a few draw backs!! :)

I'm kind of, sort of contemplating getting a dish for more channel options. Right now we just have NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS and FOX. We don't watch much TV. There isn't much besides PBS kids that I let my kids watch. I'm now wondering about the options of Nat'l Geographic channel, Discovery, HG TV, etc. But, I'm afraid we'll just watch more TV and I really don't want to do that. So, I'm wondering does having a dish/cable result in more time spent watching TV?

Yes, you can freeze yogurt. :) My boys even like to eat it partially frozen. We buy our meat, cheese and chicken from a place here in Shipshewana. All of the meat is grown locally, hormone and antibiotic free. While not totally organic, I feel good about the choice. I also buy hormone free cheese there by the brick, shred and freeze it too. :) What would I do without a freezer???

I used them when my K'r was 4 and really enjoyed them. I just bought them for my 3yo for next school year (he will be 4). They are just workbook books, but nicely done. Some cutting and pasting, some matching sounds, some learning numbers and letters, etc. I think it is very good preparation for Kindergarten. My son enjoyed them too.

We have an upright freezer and will never be without one. We buy a 1/4 of a beef at a time, as well as 20lbs. of chicken at a time, freeze various types of fruit, freeze homemade applesauce, freeze homegrown corn, homemade jam, make several loaves of bread at a time and freeze that, umm, last week I found a great deal on organic yogurt and stocked up and froze that. :) I've thought about an extra fridge, but it wouldn't get plugged in very often here! We have 6 in our family.

I just purchased Happy Scribe and will use it with my 1st grader next year. I would not use it with a 3rd grader. It just isn't enough writing, one easy sentence a day. However, it is just what I was looking for my 1st grader for next year.

I really like GWG, but I feel my kids need to memorize the definitions, etc. of the parts of speech. I thought about just listening to the FLL CD without using the book. What do you think? Thanks for your help. :) You all are awesome!

I did too.

Hey Jean! I'm going to try it all - chocolate, medicine, Unker's (the Amish Vicks!) on my chest and feet, a pillow propped under me, all but the salt bath. I don't have any salt and I'm not digging it out of the softener. :) Hope you sleep tonight!

happen again tonight. I have a bit of a cold, a slight nasal congestion, but a terrible cough. I'm nursing so I have to be careful what I use. Last night I ended up taking Tylenol (thinking it may decrease the tickle in my chest), Afrin, Sudafed and rubbing Unker's on my chest until around 1:30am I fell asleep. I don't want a repeat tonight! What should I do? Oh, I'm coughing some during the day, but it is much worse when I lay down.

Have you ordered from them? I received a catalog today and some of their items look good. I don't know the first thing about the company though. Good quality? Not so good? Items run big? Small? Anything I need to know, let me know!

I want to teach ds to type this summer and next fall. What is the best computer program to teach him? Thanks!

Here is a thread where I asked the same question. I've started using it now and, well, the jury is still out... I'd like to like it (as another poster said), but I'm not sure my clothes are as clean as they were using All Free and Clear. I'm not giving up yet, but I'm not sold yet either! Here is the thread: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5371&highlight=Charlie%27s+Soap

I think curtains should coordinate with other fabrics. However, BLINDS, should coordinate with wall colors. So, I would try to find the blinds that match wall color as close as possible. Just my 2 cents!

I thought I would supplement the rest of this year with Singapore math. However, I can't figure out if I want their Earlybird Kindergarten 2B or Primary 1A? Can you help me figure it out? I don't really want to teach him more, just kind of keep practicing what he knows. I don't think I want to go ahead in B, b/c I think it might be hard to jump back in after our summer break. We do take the summer off! I thought starting B, from the beginning in the fall, would make more sense. So, all you helpful people, what should I do? Earlybird 2B or Primary 1A? Kathy

Dh mailed the package from work on Feb. 11. It may have not went out until Feb. 12. However, it has not arrived. How long do you ask someone to wait on media mail? And, what is the proper response if it does not arrive in the allotted time frame? I haven't had this happen before. :(

Wow! I didn't know anything about this. How can I search for children's books? Have you printed any out or do you both just read online?

No answers about the computer, just sympathy. You've got a lot on your plate right now! Can you turn up some fun music and just dance for a few minutes with your kids??? Take the day off and do whatever is relaxing and fun to you all - make some cookies, watch a movie, go for a walk, to the park?? I hope your day gets better!