I have fine, straight, horrible hair and sometimes yearn for the days of perms. But really, I never had a good perm. They'd start out nice and tight and curly and after washing, they'd be back to being straight on the top and curly underneath. So whenever I feel this way, I google-image "bad perms".

We had long fiberglass sea kayaks as a teenager, but unless you live on a lake or bay or beach, they'd be kind of hard to transport and store. Lately, I've been working with some little hardshell kayaks for whitewater. They're fun and zippy, but they'll tip over pretty quickly. I think, if I wanted a recreational kayak for a lake or Class I-II rapids, I'd go with a good quality inflatable. THey're easy to store and transport and won't tip over. Another option is one of the plastic hardshells that you see in mainstream sporting goods shops. I've puttered around lakes in those and had a good time.

I don't *require* dresses, but I do *encourage* dresses. I figure since I usually wear jeans, I can just have my well-dressed girls stand in front of me and we look kind of put together as a family...

:seeya:

For spelling rules, the book "Spelling Works" is a nice, fun, age-appropriate kind of book. I've also used "Painless Spelling" with teens. Many folks here love "Megawords" for kids your daughter's age. You might look into that.

My own doctor suggested that I take 2000 daily, but later my partner (also a doctor) was talking with a friend of ours who does family practice and she said that she prescribes 50,000 once a week for 8 weeks. She said there was some study done showing that it was the most effective way of increasing vitamin D levels.

We had some dead animal (squirrel? raccoon? cat?) under the porch that we couldn't get out without tearing a hole in the wood. The stink got so bad, that we actually wrote out a sign and posted it on the door explaining the situation so that the postal worker wouldn't think there was a moldering corpse in the house. It was really less than a week of intense nastiness and then a lingering dead smell for a few weeks and then it was gone. Good luck!

We do love our Miele Callisto... are there cheaper vacs that are as good? I don't know! We only had cheapie vacs before this one. They usually lasted a few years. This is our 'forever vaccuum'.

After reading these posts... I wonder if my fatigue and soreness this past two weeks is actually maybe from the fifth disease? I've been weirdly winded and tired and it came on very suddenly. Hmmm... I just thought it was a bizarre lacy rash on my arms and legs and a light flushed look on my cheeks.

I've used the Light blue series for one year and a combination of the blue series for another year. Much of it is the same. Also, I've never had any special answer key (they're in the back of the books... and you won't need them for teaching 1st grade math anyway) and I've never used any testing material... If I were you... I'd get a new printer. It sounds like you need one anyway. Then, I'd just download books as you need them since you're not going to need 7 worktexts for first grade all at the same time. When I print them, I have my kids draw covers and then take my printed copies to a shop that spiral binds them for $2. They get a little excited about their new books.

I suspect the closest you could really come is to look at which standardized test it is that your state is using and then check Math Mammoth (or any textbook you are considering) and make sure that the scope of the book for the grade level is aligned with the expectation of the standardized test for that grade level. I think if your goal is to have your children perform well on a standardized math test, you should use that test as your standard for what they should know. You might even consider using a test prep book as your 'spine' if that's the way you want to go.

I'd start with taking sudafed (the real kind that you have to get from the pharmacist, not the stuff on the shelves). If it was still a problem, I'd consider going back to your doctor.

My daughter takes a knitting class at the alternative school and she reports that there are more boys than girls in her class. Woodworking is also popular with kids her age.

We all had fifth disease last week with no symptoms except a weird rash.

My experience is that trying to teach a child to read before she is truly ready is futile. It's kind of like learning to walk. As a parent, it's cool to have an early walker, but there's not a whole lot you can do to get a child to walk until they're ready. And really... unless there is something pathologically wrong, they all do it in the end. Not that you couldn't try to teach reading (or walking) or that you couldn't make it fun for both of you, but just that when it clicks, everything falls into place quickly and doesn't require much effort on your part. That said, if your 3 yr old wants to be like his big brothers or play at school, I'd definitely work on letter sounds before attempting simple consonant-vowel-consonant words. You could try the "Get ready for the code" books. The alternative is to take a sight word approach where your child memorizes words rather than letters (think 'Dick and Jane' or those infomercials about how to teach your baby to "read"), but in my opinion, it won't serve him well in the end.

Perhaps a marine biology or physical oceanography field trip/vacation?

I'd like to see a more accurate visual than this one. If they are going to do increments of 0.9% (2.0-2.9%, 3.0-3.9%, 4.0-4.9%) than there is no reason to sneakily lump together 7.0-9.9% as one increment. Of course there's going to be a larger number of counties with those unemployment rates. And frankly, if the average unemployment is around 9.7%, then I think it's important to know which counties are higher than average and which are at average. But just "above 10%" isn't helpful at all.

I took my 6 yr old to see it today... She's kind of a funny kid with a short attention span. I don't think she has ever seen a full-length non-animated movie. But she followed the story perfectly and was enjoying it until PickyPicky died, which was really kind of a minor point in the movie. She's been sobbing about it all evening. I don't think it's a typical reaction though... It was a sweet movie, though the books are much better. Still... maybe it'll encourage people to read the books?

I'd be interested to see what you come up with! My 8 yr old and I have been reading them... and aren't currently doing any other formal science... but I wouldn't really call it a program.

I think you can have a Montessori-themed homeschool, but it's not going to be truly what Maria Montessori envisioned education to be (which is okay, as long as it's working for you!) What you can bring in is this: - lots of experiences where children are doing work in an accessible way (i.e., with kid-sized tools).... from a really young age, let them make pancakes, do laundry, diaper a baby, feed the dogs, sweep the floor, make the beds, wipe the tables, hammer nails, sew a pillow, pour their own milk, etc... basically, anything they can possibly do, they should do. - a lot of manipulatives - not just for math! - child-led learning where kids make choices about which work and where the teacher knows how to direct/guide and how to step away from the work and let the child encounter the solution themselves. - multi-age learning where older children work with younger children or have younger children teach a skill or knowledge to an older child - for older kids, focus on agriculture and work and business, and for everyone, focus on peace, environment, charity, etc...

We're doing the same thing next weekend. Currently half of our guests on evite have responded: 15 adults and 17 children. You'll have to post how it went!

:lol: As a lesbian myself, this cracks me up!! FWIW, I didn't go to a women's college. And really, I didn't even know anyone who was gay at my college before I actually realized my own orientation. I'd have to say that the quantity of lesbians in a college just doesn't have any influence on a person becoming a lesbian. :tongue_smilie:

I spent a few summers in Eugene and loved it. Like the previous poster said, it's a progressive, outdoorsy, friendly university town. I'd definitely consider it!

I'm going to read it again this year and can't wait, this time with my older daughter. I wouldn't have chosen to read it with an 8 yr old because there are some difficult themes in the book, but she will be auditioning for the part of scout in the play of it and I think it's good to know the story. Plus it's an awesome book. And she's a very mature girl. And if (as is most likely) she doesn't get the part, we'll be watching it on stage next year anyway.

My kids don't really like MM, but then, I don't think any math book would get their approval. Actually - that's not exactly true, what my older daughter said is: "Life of Fred teaches me new things and MM really packs it in. I don't like packing." That said, I like the small incremental steps that MM takes. Maria is really good at offering mental math strategies, building up slowly, giving clear descriptions and offering lots of practice. It's no miracle book and it is a little bit plain, but I recommend it for its clarity and simplicity and price.