Thank you, Yvonne. I, too, am competent in French, with a less-than-perfect accent. ;) Dd used BJU last year with Veritas, but I don't want to continue with them for reasons other than the actual method or content. I think that your comment about "getting the job done" is actually the crux of the matter. I should probably quit searching, just buy the darn thing, and get it done. Thank you for responding. Jackie

Looking for a grammar-based French course for High School. From the little bit that I can see, Discovering French Today looks good, but I want to be sure before I buy. Has anyone here used it? Or, alternatively, if you've had success with another high school, grammar-based program..... please share. Thanks, Jackie

I've been elected to the board of the local public library, and we have our first meeting Monday night. I know what kind of things I like to see in a public library.... a nice, quiet, inviting space, bright and colorful children's area, an emphasis on books as opposed to computers and videos, and a dynamic assortment of featured books. (to name just a few) I would like to hear from others who have an opinion on the subject.... So what do you think? What makes a library great? Oh, and this is a very small town with a budget to match. :)

I use Baker's Chocolate for lots of recipes. When I bought a pack last week, I couldn't believe it!! Why is no-one calling this exactly what it is???? ...INFLATION. It's been happening everywhere. When you have to spend the same amount for less product, it's the same as a price increase. It's inflation. It is due to the Federal Reserve Stimulus policy that the current administration has been using to try and get us out of the recession. You just cannot pump 85 billion dollars per month into the economy without causing inflation. I fear that this is just the beginning. Hang on tight!

Update: Drop-off went OK. Creighton literally had a big brass band playing for the freshmen as they arrived. Only the first of many things that began to overwhelm dd. But she's doing OK. We're texting a lot! When she told me she had lettuce and cantaloupe and an apple for dinner, I said, "That doesn't sound like college food. Don't they have any pizza or burgers?" She replied, " Yes, they have all that, but that's where all the boys are, and they're SCARY!" Lol. That's my girl. I can't wait to see her and hug her again. Surprisingly, I didn't shed any tears, but dh did. :( I just feel a deep loss in my heart. As if a part of me is missing. I hope that will subside a bit when we visit next month..... Sigh...... I know this is how it's supposed to be. I know we've been preparing her for this for her whole life. But that doesn't make it any easier. As homeschoolers, we dedicate so much of our selves to our children. I don't think that's a bad thing, necessarily, but it does make days like this extremely painful. Do you think that other moms have it easier, since they're used to relinquishing their children to school each and every day? Thanks to all for sharing. I'm glad to know I'm not alone. :)

It has done my heart so much good to read this thread! :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: To all of you! Dh and I will get in the car tomorrow.... TOMORROW! to take our oldest dd to college 8 1/2 hrs away. I have been making all her favorite foods over the last week. I've been doing her laundry, and helping her with lists, and staring blankly at her. I wish I could capture her somehow, and not let her go, but still allow her to go and start this wonderfully exciting chapter in her life. I wish I could feel joy in seeing all the years of preparation for this moment come to fruition. Not gonna happen. She will be fine. But she will be gone. And life will never be the same. Ouch. I've already made our hotel reservations for the family week-end at her school in September. I don't know how I will make it until then. I feel like I'm being ripped in two. :sad:

Wow! What great ideas. You ladies are fabulous as usual! :) I'm going to get busy looking at these options.

Hi all, I'm looking for a literature-based history program for my two sons, ages 13 and 12. We've been using Veritas Press history and have made it all the way to WW I. I think it would be really cool to do WW I to the present next year. I think the boys would love, love, love all the stuff relating to the world wars, Korea, Vietnam, Space Exploration, etc. I'd like to make it Literature based because they're still weak in that area. They just don't like to sit and read. I'm hoping to take one more stab at that this coming year. I welcome any and all suggestions..... I'm not very good at piecing different things together..... I just have difficulty following through with all the distractions of the ranch work. Thanks for any help you can offer. And we're off to move some cattle, so I'll check back later this evening. Cheers!

I thought her essay was hilarious! It was a welcome relief around here after all the worrying we've done about college acceptances and rejections. Take it with a grain of salt. I'm pretty sure that's the way it was intended.

I outlined my concerns in another response, but in a nutshell, it seems like CLE 6 doesn't have the level and amount of work with fractions that I would like to see. It seems to have a lot of geometry and some consumer math. Those are fine and necessary. I just know that my kiddos will benefit from a lot of work with fractions. Maybe I will supplement with LOF. Most likely, my 6th grader will start CLE 6 in the second semester of 6th grade, and finish in the 1st semester of 7th grade. If I supplement, I can probably stretch it out through 7th grade, then Pre-Algebra in 8th, and Algebra in 9th. That track is sufficient for my boys. I don't see them doing Calculus in High School..... but one never knows. We will see how things progress.....

I'm really glad to hear you haven't noticed any problems.with CLE 6. When I looked through it the other day, it looked heavy on geometry, and light on algebra.There doesn't seem to be enough work with fractions. It also seems to have a lot more consumer math than I would usually expect in a program that's headed the way I plan to go. I already own the light units. I had planned for my older daughter to work through CLE 6 in preparation for pre-Algebra. But as it worked out, she pretty much skipped the review, and went straight into pre-Algebra. Perhaps I'll stay with it, and find something to supplement with for the fractions....... Thanks for your thoughts!

Hi all, I haven't posted for a long time on the K-8 board, but I've come up against a decision with which I need your help. A little math background: We used MUS for many years with my older 2 dc. I was not always thoroughly pleased with MUS, but it appeared to be working, so I stayed with it. Enter my 2 younger dc. MUS just didn't work for the boys for some reason. Frankly, I was also bored with it, and I didn't want to put up with the gaps any longer. We switched to CLE. The boys were in 4th and 5th grade, but I started them in CLE 2 so that they could fill in the gaps. I expected much of CLE to be review, and it was. The boys love it, and are flying through it.My oldest, now in 6th grade, will be ready to start in CLE 6 next year. But looking at the scope and sequence of level 6, I just don't like it. CLE has made a very logical and thorough progression through CLE 5, but they seem to loose their focus in CLE 6. Has anyone else noticed this? Am I mistaken? I want the boys to be ready for pre-algebra in 8th grade, then Algebra in 9th, etc. Sometimes I think they would be ready for pre-algebra after CLE 5, but I really don't want to push it that much. So where do I go for ds, who will be in 7th grade next fall? What is a logical step between CLE 5 and Saxon Algebra 1/2 (our probable pre-algebra program)? I look forward to hearing what has worked for all of you. Thank you!

What a great example. Brava! Janelle and family.

Thanks Lisabees! After reading the responses here, dd has sent an email to her admissions counselor, telling her that V is her #1 choice, that she would like to possibly meet with a prof. in the classics department, and that she would like to sit in on a class, etc. She has also asked if an interview would be possible. We shall see.... Thanks for the great advice, Jackie

Have any of you ever done this? What were your results? Dd has been accepted to 4 of the 7 schools to which she has applied. We are waiting to hear from the other 3, one of which is her dream school, Villanova. I have a real sense that she is right on the bubble, as far as being admitted. We have never visited Villanova, as daughter was not really clear that it was important to her. As time passes, however, and the more she looks at her goals, and the schools she has applied to, she is very sure that this is the school that has the ingredients she wants. Dd is going to email her admissions contact and see if we can have a face to face meeting next week. I was also going to contact the financial aid office, and have a face to face with someone there. The goal? Admission, and a clear understanding of our financial picture. We will have to fly halfway across the country, at considerable cost (for us). Dh thinks that we need to do all we can. If it works, great; if it doesn't, we'll have no regrets, right? I am willing to go; I just wonder if a visit and a face to face will be worth the effort. Advice? Comments? I value the collective wisdom of this board! Jackie

Braised beef short-ribs, baked potato, mixed veggies, and lemon bars for dessert.

Dd has applied to 7: 2 reaches, 2 safety, and 3 middle. It was really hard for her to decide what type of college she wanted to attend. And her desires changed from her junior to senior year in high school. I told her to cast a wide net. She has 4 acceptances so far. Both reaches, and one of the middles have not yet responded. She feels she could be happy choosing among her acceptances, so it will all be OK, if she doesn't get accepted at the other 3. (I think she will be accepted, though, judging from the scholarships and high level of interest from the colleges which sent acceptances). I think our next dd will be completely different. She will probably apply to the nearby state college, and be completely happy there. She's just not as adventurous, or as curious, as dd #1. I'm really looking forward to all of this being settled, and knowing where dd will be for the next 4 years. I'm not good at not knowing. :tongue_smilie:

Well, I guess we'll see how this turns out. It will be interesting. On the profile, my "home market value" was "0", because we live on our ranch, and the home has no value apart from the ranch. The value of the home (very nominal) is included in the value of the ranch real estate. We had a ranch-related capital gain last year, which was then plowed directly back into the ranch. On the profile, there was a lot of room to explain this one-time occurrence. Not so on the FAFSA. (At least I didn't see a place to do that.) Consequently, the EFC is huge. There is no cash lying around. There are no liquid investments. No retirement. Just cows walking around eating expensive hay and grazing on expensive real estate. Maybe I should send them pictures of our 1918 home (very basic), and my 1998 ranch pick-up! My plan at this point is to contact each school individually and explain the capital gain, and the true financial picture. It is what it is. We answered everything honestly. We will find a way to send dd to the school that we think is best for her.

Clearly I am in the minority here, but I completed the CSS Profile for the first time this week, and as a former banker/commercial credit person, I really appreciated the intelligence of their questions. We have a complex financial profile. As ranchers, we are asset-rich, and cash poor. But when some of those big numbers move around and touch the front page of the tax return, it can muddy the financial picture. I also appreciated the intelligence of the software. I thought it was very user-friendly, and excellent at pointing out potential input errors. I much prefer the profile to the FAFSA. Just one geek's 2 cents. :tongue_smilie:

You had a shower in each room??!! :drool5: Wow! I shared a bathroom with 3 other girls in our "off-campus" housing. The living accommodations were one of the reasons that I couldn't wait to graduate from college! When I did graduate, and started my first job, I rented an old 2-bedroom house. It was cold, drafty, and out-dated. I loved it. It was my own place with my own space. What will graduates have to look forward to if they live a luxury lifestyle while in school? Why would they ever want to leave school? Part of the beauty of college is learning that you can "rough it", and make it through OK. At least in my humble opinion. I really don't understand this sort of entitlement thinking.

Yes, I agree with these..... so the question seems to be, which is better- the colon or the dash?

Dd is working on an essay. I am stuck on a couple of sentences. I know something is wrong with them.... but I'm not sure how to fix them. Can you please help this grammar/punctuation-challenged Mom? Here they are: 1.) I was too busy breathlessly turning the page, impatient to see what happened next. 2.) I will keep going ‘further up and further in’; always exploring, always learning, always traveling through hundreds of worlds, and loving every minute of it. Thanks so much for your expertise!

Still in the "stressed out" phase here..... Two more essays to go; then we will sit and wait and hope everything was done correctly! It sure was easier back in the day.... :tongue_smilie:

Lisa, Thanks so much. Your description really gives me a picture of Villanova that I didn't have before. "Vanillanova" :rofl: . Love it. Dd doesn't exactly do "preppy" after having been raised on ranches, but she is looking for a change, and I say "good for her". She has been to Philadelphia and loves it, so I guess that's a start. Thanks again. With warm regards, Jackie

Know that I am praying for your dear family.