Wow! Thanks for the how-to. I'm a very texture-oriented person and it would take a bit of gut-clenching before I could see myself cutting the bindings off my beloved books in order to scan them quickly:001_huh::tongue_smilie:, but, oh! the space saved . . . !! Definitely something to keep in mind! It's amazing what you can do when you have no other acceptable option. Mama Anna (Musing over how to separate the voluptuous feel of an elderly hard-back book in my hands and the mental/emotional joy of dwelling in the much-loved contents. It'll take awhile! :D)

Rainbow Valley, by L. M. Montgomery Pride and Prejudice, by Austen - either the book or the A&E video Moser Roth chocolate from Aldi - honest, it's better than either Hershey's or Cadbury, I think! A quiet house - but only for so long A spontaneous hug from a munchkin Spontaneous song fest whilst doing dishes. (Poor upstairs neighbors!!) Mama Anna

Wow! So much good stuff! Angel, I've thought about TOG. It would definitely be the type of thing to get comfortable with stateside instead of just pack it all up, ship it out, and try to figure it out while dealing with culture-shock, kids in a new culture, and everything else! I'd want to start it early. Amira, you made my jaw drop! Whew, that would be a year-long project! Yet to have an entire home library in electronic form - that could be incredibly convenient. Does an ereader work with picture books or only text-oriented ones? Do you have to use special software to scan books into one or will any scanning printer work? How about copyrights? nd293, I'm not sure about an International School because I'm not sure where we'd be. I know there are International Schools in both Kampala and Dar (as well as Nairobi) because we've visited each of those cities. I guess it would make sense for them to be willing to open their libraries when possible since the ex-pat community tends to do such things. ZooRho, thanks for more info on Sonlight! I guess it would be one of those build-up-to-it things, too. Thanks for your suggestions, Teachin'Mine! I love that I can ask such a "far out" question on this forum and get solid suggestions!! :D Mama Anna

Thanks for the suggestions, Dayle! I'm familiar with some of the ways of getting stuff out to the field because of our prior experience. I hadn't thought of an e-book reader. Dd7 would definitely be able to benefit from one of those by that time - dd4, too, possibly. I have no problem with the planning ahead - I get a charge out of detailed planning. It's just the thought of either losing so many supporting books that we presently get out of the library or else buying most of them. The space?!? The transportation whenever we move?!? And, of course, the cost! Theoretically, (this is still early enough in the planning stages that nothing is certain) we'd be in Uganda or Tanzania. Dh would be doing Bible Translation while I might be doing a bit of ethnomusicology. Starrbuck12, thanks for the suggestion of CLE - I've heard good things about it and I know I could do such a thing if I had to. But I'd rather stay away from a completely workbook oriented approach for the long term (5 years or more) if I could avoid it. Thanks! (Still mulling things over . . .) Mama Anna

Thanks for the suggestion! I have no problem with the religious belief angle, but the prices they quote on that website - ouch!! And dd7 is presently at about 3 levels in her subjects, dd4 is likely to be at at least 2, and who knows about dd17mos. Can Sonlight be done in such a situation (3 kids, many levels) for under $1000 a year? (You gals/guys would know!:D) Mama Anna

I've got to start wrapping my brain around this possibility, even if it's likely more than 2 years out. What is your advice as btdt (or heard a lot about it) hschoolers re: homeschooling as an expat in a third-world-country? I've been near this place before (It's in Eastern Africa) - we lived around there for 2 years when I was pregnant with dd-now-7 and after she was born. But I have no experience with thinking through hschooling over there. Here (USA) I'm so dependent on the local public library and I know there's not much chance of doing that there - at least that's what my experience tells me. I've always steered clear of boxed curriculum, but would that be best? What about supplies? Is WTM-style (we've stuck pretty close to it thus far and I love it!) even very practical? So many questions, so many possiblities . . . Sometimes I'd like to slap the blessed Stephen Curtis Chapman for coming up with that song, "Life Is a Great Adventure!" :tongue_smilie: TIA! Mama Anna

:grouphug: "And the truth shall set you free" comes to mind. Yeah, totally out of context, but it still fits. Courage! Mama Anna

I'll play. I've been around for several years but rarely feel qualified to comment on stuff so I'm not known well. (Sometimes I comment anyway, unfortunately!) Jean in Newcastle showed such compassion for an unknown soul when she came to my rescue one Saturday night about preparing fish - everyone who ate Sunday lunch was indebted to her! I see Peela as the flexible, low-key person I wish I was. Rosie comes from a totally different perspective than I do - it's good to see through other's eyes. Remudamom has the tag line that makes dh laugh! And she reminds me so much of the great-aunt I had who was still riding her horse after losing one leg below the knee. I want her guarding my back next time I'm in a tense social situation! I so appreciate the vulnerability of Aubrey and Simka2 - they bring up stuff that I really relate to but would never dare to share. That doesn't even start mentioning everyone else whose screen-names I can't remember right now! Mama Anna

Well, I'm particularly lucky because my dh shows love through acts of service - so he will often see things that need to be done and just do them. However, we have an agreement that I can't hold him responsible to do something unless I've vocalized the request. If I don't ask in words, I have no right to be resentful about it not getting done. It works, most of the time. :) When I'm sick or out of commission in some way, I either need to leave a detailed list and go over it with him personally or else just be okay with stuff not being done. Mama Anna

Lately, poopy cloth diapers have been at the top of my list.:ack2: When dd17mo potty trains, we're going to party!! I'm sure I can figure out how to make a cake in the shape of an old diaper pin.:party: Just try me! :D Mama Anna

We've done three years of science as per WTM and dd has really enjoyed it! I simply bought the encyclopedias/experiment books recommended and divided them up as suggested by the weeks of our school year. I'm not sure how thorough I've been, but I'm not looking for an absolutely comprehensive program for grammar stage. I know that dd7 now loves science, we're building a good foundation, and that's what concerns me. Note: I planned things over the summer before each year in pretty good detail to make sure things would be easy and go smoothly during the year. I also added a six-week (or so) unit on physical geography (names of oceans/mountain ranges/rivers, etc.) at the end of the second grade year. I also tried to reserve library books on most of the topics as we prepared to cover them. HTH! Mama Anna

:grouphug: So sorry! Mama Anna

:bigear: I love this stuff, myself! Mama Anna

We are! I also love the fact that it lasts all the way through! I also love that it's non-consumable and you can tweak it around in lots of different ways. I'm hoping to be able to update to a newer edition this year - one with a CD. One word of warning: The program is pretty involved and you have to wade through (at least in my old edition) many pages of how it is supposed to work and how you need to use it before you put it into practice. I found this pretty confusing and needed a couple of read-throughs before it began to make sense. It's a program to get to know over the summer, not to open up for the first time on the first day of class. On the other hand, it's incredibly simple to keep up once you've begun. I recommend you look into buying the Activity Cards, too. HTH! Mama Anna

I don't know how much help this is, but I've got a handbook in front of me titled, Keepers at Home: A Handbook for Young Ladies We're not using it, so dh has listed it on his Amazon.com account. The handbook is divided into sections such as "Biblical Girlhood" (Scripture Memory, Prayer, Bible Reading, etc.), "Creative Skills" (Calligraphy, Candlemaking, Crochet, Dollmaking, etc.), "Homemaking" (Baking, First Aid, Cleaning, etc.), and "Recreational Activities" (Badminton, Bicycle, Ice Skating, etc.) Each entry has a summary of supplies needed, the purpose behind a skill, and instructions how to do it. It seems from the book that girls can win achievement awards for completing a certain number of activities. I believe it is tied to a club, on the general idea of Girl Scouts. That's about all I know! Mama Anna

My girly dd really loves Swallows and Amazons - I'd put in a second for that and the others in the series, although sometimes the technical language of boats and sailing gets a bit much for her. She's getting into horses now, so anything by Marguerite Henry has been a hit, as well as Dorothy Lyons. I love hearing the other suggestions, too! Mama Anna

:bigear: Mama Anna

My goodness, that's creative! I love your idea!! I don't know how stuck-in-a-rut me would manage to make time for something so . . . non-bookish :D, but it sounds exactly like what my friend would love to do. Thanks for helping me see it from another angle. (Mulling it over . . . It really could be a guard against too much information, especially since she's acquainted with several different cultures. How to know what to read - so much rubbish out there - living life is so much more important . . . yeah, I could see that . . .) Mama Anna

When we had to help our third dd learn to sleep through the night in the same room as her sisters, we used shooter's ears. You know those headphone-looking things that people use for ear protection when doing target practice? Those. Her sisters wore them and slept through it. I didn't mind being mostly awake as long as they weren't! Mama Anna

I love that idea, but there's no money for that. Now, the way I got a book on homeschool curriculum into the house was to check it out of the library (on my card) and cart it over to the next apartment building and offer it to her . . . :D Don't know that I'd want to do that on a regular basis, but it sure worked that time! Maybe if I just share the coolest books we find occasionaly, she might see how much there is to discover. It helps that she's now going through SOTW 1 and I have experience with that to mention favorites. It of course doesn't help that her oldest is 6 or 7 and she's just found out she's pregnant again with #5. Makes library work much more difficult when you have ankle-biters. (Not impossible, just more difficult!) Anyway, thanks for your perspectives, All!! Mama Anna

I know religious beliefs are included in the range, but this woman is one who I would never accuse of desiring to be close-minded or raise her children that way. To me it seems like it might be just a lack of familiarity with what you can get out of books. ("Maybe if I can just make her understand . . ." - that's my take on so many things!:)) She's so relational and very visual - trained as a fine artist - that I wonder if the written word just doesn't work as well with her learning/teaching styles and she's never really gotten excited about it. She'll read novels - the only books I've seen in her house (and being an academic community, most homes around here are overflowing with them) are a set of Francine Rivers - but maybe she finds nonfiction to be boring? I used to. I don't know. It wouldn't hurt anything to leave well enough alone and let her figure things out. I just wish I could help. (See above. :D) Mama Anna

ETA: Actually, that title should read "How few 'Real' books are too few?" Sorry! Background: I'm one of two WTM-type people in the homeschooling community that dominates my larger (small) community. I began seriously hsing not long after moving here and I learned pretty quickly that most people here use Abeka and aren't really interested in an independently put-together eclectic approach. Now quite a few people are using MFW, but there's still only the one other WTMer and her oldest is 4. All of this means that I don't know whether I'm different in my outlook on things because I'm looking at things from a more neo-classical perspective or because . . . well . . . um . . . I'm right and someone else is wrong . . .? :001_huh: I just met with a friend of mine who's been doing Abeka with her dd for 2-3 years now and is hitting the wall of negative attitude, non-existent attention span, and lost interest in general. I remember chatting with her back when I was beginning WTM with my dd. She redirected the conversation pretty quickly with "That's great for your family - you're all into books and everything, but I don't think it would work for ours." I got the message. When we met this week I was trying hard not to just shove my hs philosophy down her throat but to offer advice that might span both philosophies. I discovered she's begun doing SOTW and gave her a short run-down on WTM principles in case she's interested in it as well. Some of the ideas resonated with her. What she wants is a high-school graduate who is aware of her beliefs and can articulate them well. She told me that she's not really concerned with her dd knowing a lot of information. (Which, I guess, is why neither purchased nor library non-textbooks are very present in her homeschool environment.) Is it possible for a high-schooler to be aware of her beliefs and articulate them well when there's no emphasis on non-textbooks in the home? How will she learn how to articulate beliefs if she doesn't read models? How will she know what she believes if she doesn't engage with books filled with the type of information that her belief system is going to have to be able to engage in order to deal with the modern world? I'm not looking for supportive friend-bashing here. Is her view valid and I need to work to help her figure out how to make it work or is she just working from a shaky premise that it would be best for me to try to gently correct? Thanks! Mama Anna

Mama Anna's DH writing here... Pr. 18:22 (NIV) - He who finds a wife finds what is good, and receives favor from the LORD. I am highly favored. Pr. 17:1 (NIV) - Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife. Mama Anna bakes our bread, so we always have a dry crust or two by the end of the week. We never have the strife. Pr. 19:14 (NIV) - Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD. Pr. 31:11 (NIV) - Her husband has full confidence in her, and lacks nothing of value. I am a dirt-poor doctoral student. We have neither houses nor lands, but I can cheerfully say that I lack nothing of REAL value. And... she makes a killer cup of teA! :drool:

For me, it would be Sounding board. "Which writing program do you think would be best for dd7? You read these reviews and give me your opinion." Give me time for professional training - homeschool conferences, retreats, time to read up on new ideas/curricula. So many of these other things he already does! Mama Anna

We're presently working through Adventures with Atoms and Molecules 1. What we've done is pretty simple. We do Science on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. We'll do an experiment and then take turns writing/taking dictation to do the experiment page. (The "What did we use?/What did we do?/What happened?/What did we learn? questions) At the end of the page we define each of the underlined words. Now, we usually try to get the definitions out of AAM instead of the Usborne Encyclopedia for reasons of simplicity, but if they're totally circular or just not there, we'll go to the Encyclopedia. We do all of this each day and it usually takes about 30 minutes, depending on the experiment. Oh, and if the experiment totally bombs - it's happened to us twice, I believe - we still go through the entire experiment page anyway. "Failures" can be just as important as successes in science! Dd7 loves science! I know that we're not going into things as deeply as we might, but I also know that dd7 is developing a love of experimenting that all the colored pictures of the Usborne Encyclopedia haven't given her. We'll dig deeper into terminology next go-round. HTH! Mama Anna