Look into "Handwriting without tears" book for upper elementary called "Can Do Cursive".

I just sold a book on amazon marketplace and took a loss for it... the priority mail envelope arrived without the book inside. I figure it's my job to get the book to the buyer - so I refunded the price of the book and the shipping costs. I'll file a claim with USPS, but I doubt I'll see the book again.

Any thoughts on which of these novels have female protagonists? My 8 yr old claims to be unable to get into any book without a girl as the main character.

There's a world of wonderful things to learn, and it's easy to get excited about teaching it all to your child, but it doesn't have to all be encountered in first grade. My 6 yr old daughter is not academically inclined at all. I am struggling to accept that she simply doesn't have a natural interest in history or science and that my efforts at engaging her are currently inefficient and futile. I hope that she will, in time, come to enjoy (tolerate?) the areas I love to learn about. But currently, I focus on her learning how to read, print neatly, and do some math. She is okay with these subjects and can handle about 1 or 1 1/2 hours of work, so for now, that's really where my focus lies. I hope to increase this and expand her subjects as she gets older.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon is a pretty awesome Franco Zeffirelli movie with a great Donovan soundtrack... be on the lookout for Alec Guiness as Pope Innocent III.

We'll also go the simple route... Phonics/Spelling: ETC 4-6 Handwriting: HWOT 1st grade Math: MM Subtraction 1, MM Place Value 1, plus some other materials I have on number sense and time and money. History: SOTW 1 Art, Music, Science: (Outsourced to Homeschool Support Program)

That's a big undertaking... Here are the questions I'd be asking: 1. How many hours a day? 2. Where are the lessons going to take place? 3. How old are the kids? 4. What level of English do they have? 5. Can you accommodate them all in one class (in terms of level/age/classroom materials)? 6. What skills (Reading? Writing? Listening? Speaking? Pronunciation? Grammar?) are they hoping to work on? As for materials, look into: OUP's "Magic Time" or "English Time" or "Let's Go" Pearson/Longman's "Backpack" Word-by-word basic English picture dictionary Brainpop ESL Rosetta Stone English Good luck!

I like nice achievable, quantifiable goals best of all... I work with my kids to identify goals like: - write a letter in cursive so that somebody else can read it. - memorize the times tables - sew a dress for my doll - learn to ride a bike - make dinner for the family by myself - swim across the pool Goals like "be more organized" are hard to figure out whether you've actually met the goal, but goals like "make my bed every morning" are more clear.

Oxford Univ Press puts out the World in Ancient Times (and the other series). We've read only one of these, but I liked it. When I taught at a middle school, years ago, I used "A Message of Ancient Days" and "Across the Centuries" which worked fine. Also, check out Journey Across Time (I think it's Glencoe). I know some folks on here have recommended it.

What about Lial's Basic College Math?

We just moved last week into a new house and want to paint our bedroom. All the walls are currently white. Our bedding is this: http://www.amazon.com/Calvin-Klein-Acacia-Duvet-Cover/dp/B0013YNJ9Q/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=bedbath&qid=1279206617&sr=1-5 The room is small (12x12) with French doors out to a deck and, like the rest of the house, has wood floors and exposed beam ceiling... also wood trim and louvered closet doors and doors. So it's a lot of wood. The wood and trim looks like the ceiling in this house (not mine... alas). http://greenhomedesignbuild.com/jordanhills.html Any thoughts on which shade of paint would suit all the wood and fit with the bedding?

What about Oxford Univ Press's "World in Ancient Times" series?

Top priorities -- For my 6 yr old: 1. Reading 2. Math 3. Handwriting 4. History For my 8 yr old 1. Math 2. History 3. Grammar/writing 4. Handwriting 5. Latin (She has science, health, art, theatre, book club at school)

My older daughter loves reading the Murderous Maths series. She refers to the jokes all the time and loves the puzzles and story lines. Much of the math is beyond her, but she loves it all the same.

I agree that you should email the author and tell her. I've never actually used the answer key and don't bother to print them out.

The easiest ice cream cake ever is to use a container (cake pan/bowl/bundt pan/mold) in the shape of the cake you want. Let the ice cream melt slightly and then pack it into the container leaving as much room as you want for the crust. Stick it in the freezer. Meanwhile, crush some oreos with melted butter and when the ice cream has frozen solid, pack them into the cake pan on top of the frozen ice cream. Stick it back in the freezer. When it's solid, run a little hot water over the pan to get the ice cream cake out. Flip it over and cover the entire cake in magic shell and quickly decorate with sprinkles and M&Ms before it hardens. A little whipped cream can be added too. It is in no way a healthy cake, but if you are a closet Magic Shell fan, as I am... it is awesome!

My partner is a Polish foreign medical grad who was in residency with some FMGs from Caribbean schools. Some schools have better reputations than others. Make sure that the university is on the approved list for the ECFMG and California We've been through the whole UCMLE/ECFMG thing and it was an endless stream of bureacracy. What I've found is that there is a fair amount of prejudice in hiring and residency for FMGs and DOs. The question becomes... 'why weren't you able to get in to a US medical school...'. Most likely, you'll match to a community hospital rather than a university residency program. Internal medicine, family practice, pediatrics and psychiatry shouldn't be a problem... But once in practice, it doesn't really seem to matter where you attended university or where you did your residency. If I were interested in medicine, I'd choose to go the PA or NP route...

"Who Needs God" by Harold Kushner was really interesting and helpful to me as a teenager with lots of religion issues. I remember at the time, I found books written from an evangelical Christian perspective to be too heavy on the proselytizing and too light on the real questions I had. Because the author is a Jewish rabbi, the book looks at God and religion from a wider perspective than those books that seemed to focus on proving why evangelical Christianity is the "one right way" to approach God. You might want to keep this in mind as you explore...

go in the front yard without you? - Current (safe) neighborhood / fenced yard: 3 - Old (unsafe) neighborhood / unfenced yard: 6 stay home for a short period of time with you near by (like if I took the dog - About 5 Stay home while I was at a shop or running a quick errand... - About 7 Babysit younger sibs? - Not really applicable... But hypothetically for a short time with, say, a 3-4 yr old child... - More mature daughter: 9 - Less mature daughter: 12 Ride bikes close to home but without you right there? - Both kids 7

Galore Park Jr. Science is secular I would comsinder RS4K to be secular... though there have been debates. What about Ellen McHenry's Chemistry? Or Hakim's Story of Science?

I don't like buttercream either... at least not the type that comes from a supermarket. I usually just frost cakes with a stabilized whipped cream (or even just regular whipped cream if it'll go in the fridge and be eaten soon). OR... I use one of the "Cake Bible" recipes - neoclassic buttercream is delicious. http://www.starchefs.com/chefs/RBeranbaum/html/neoclassic_r_beranbaum.shtml

Testing sig... Thanks!

I agree... take a serious look at the curriculum and teaching style in your child's class. If it looks like they do a lot of rote learning or pages of worksheets, then get out the RS or Miquon or program with a heavier emphasis on manipulatives. If your child's class, however, is using TERC Investigations or Everyday Math or Mathland or whatever, then now is the time to head straight for Saxon or MM or Singapore to really solidify the math skills that she needs to know to be efficient -- (esp. standard algorithms that just aren't taught in some of these programs).

I think it's better than most other software out there... but it's no replacement for a native speaker. Still, we use RS Polish and my girls like it. I agree with the pronunciation -- we skip it when possible. Sometimes it's ridiculuous.

I've never seen the teacher's manual and my kids are doing very well with HWT. Maybe we're missing something with the manuals, but I feel like it's pretty complete as it is.