Unless it looks like blood or black coffee grounds, I wouldn't pay much attention to the vomit itself. Sorry your son feels so bad! Vomiting is yucky.

We have it and I do like it a lot. There are some neat reproducible worksheets in the back --but maybe only about 20 or so, some good ideas for games, and (my favorite bit) extra information about each of the topics. Is it really worth the crazy money they want for it? Maybe... assuming you sell it afterwards (it seems to have a high resale value...).

Anyone else going backpacking this summer? We've taken our girls on plenty of hikes and plenty of camping in state parks, but this'll be our first time backpacking with kids in tow. We've got a short 8 mile trip (out and back) to a backcountry lake planned. The girls are well-fitted in their Osprey Jib (a 35L pack). I'm anticipating that they will carry their own water, sleeping bag and pad... maybe a stuffed animal. Any suggestions? Advice?

My girls love dancing to 'Oldies'... groups like the Beach Boys, Abba, Beatles, Supremes, Monkees... It's not Christian music, but it sure is fun to dance to -- and I think a group like the Beatles is a cultural reference that is worth knowing about.

Actually, it's had a resurgence with ISR infant 'survival' lessons. I'm sure there's a place for this method with some families in some situations, *but* it's not something I'd be willing to have my kids do. I've watched a number of these lessons with different instructors and different kids (while waiting for my own kids to finish their regular lessons)... the ISR lessons were pretty intense and unpleasant and involved terrified, screaming babies and young kids being dunked into the pool in various ways.

Before you take the cyanide... I'm sure LFC is a good program (though I have no experience with it), but...it seems like the two options you're considering are: - LFC A this year; LP1 next year - Nothing this year; LP1 next year It looks like you'd be saving money by doing the second option... and they'd probably have a similar level of Latin with either option? Or -- could you do LP 1 this year, but just take it *really* slowly so that it takes two years? Or -- maybe you could just make this year a "taste of Latin" kind of year where they get to learn some words and get some interest without really committing to a program and wading through difficult grammar. We just finished Minimus and enjoyed it. I've ordered 'Learning Latin Through Mythology" for the summer, which might be two possible inexpensive options (as long as you don't buy the Minimus teacher's manual).

We love these! They are funny and accessible. My only hesitation is that in some of the books, the emphasis on torture and the details of particularly bloody events is more than I can stomach.

Jeanette Winterson

We've used 1-5th grade without a teacher's guides.

Galore Park Junior Science might be a good fit... http://www.galorepark.co.uk/product/parents/682/junior-science-book-1.html http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9781905735174/Junior-Science-Book-1

We really enjoyed the "Ten Best Bible Stories Ever" put out by Horrible Histories. It's a good book for kids with a sense of humor interested in stories from the Old Testament, but from a secular (or at least non-literal) standpoint.

I agree with poster who said that it's the extremes (on either end of the continuum of free/non-free ranginess) that are worrisome. It's absolutely dependent on where you live and who your kids are and how much risk you can tolerate. Older daughter -- more free range potential (she's very mature and independent) Younger daughter -- less free range potential (she's much less mature and even more independent - a dangerous combo) Old neighborhood in CT - Dangerous... Less free range -- kids weren't allowed outside of the fenced back yard. New neighborhood in OR - Much safer... kids can roam around the block and may even be allowed to walk to the park in the next year.

We have badges from Crater Lake, Oregon Caves, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, and Badlands -- all from last summer. Our kids do like to do them. They usually have one activity for ages 7+ and one for ages 6 and under, so that worked well for my girls. Afterwards, they take a little oath to protect the national park and then get their badge. The program reminds me a lot of the children's "activity trails" that are in a lot of museums in the UK (and maybe other places?) They're a lot of fun and keep kids focused on learning something.

I'm unwilling to pay the 30-40$ for a starter set of base ten blocks. Has anyone made them themselves? I was thinking of browsing the craft store today to see what might work... Any experience or thoughts before I go? Thanks!

It's just a prescriptive grammarian vs a descriptive linguist kind of thing... But I wouldn't feel guilty or uneducated about your grammar! For an English speaker born in the year you were born who grew up in the area you grew up, I'd imagine you have perfectly proper grammar. Maybe it's not proper grammar for the standard English that we want our kids to be fluent in using -- that's why we try to teach our kids grammar, right? Think of it as a dialect issue.

I wouldn't call it a 'conspiracy'. A publisher's goal is to sell books, so they make content decisions based on the desires of the market, not based on any one teaching philosophy. In the case of Saxon's books for public schools, I'm certain they were changed not to dumb down anyone, but to reflect the requirements of the education departments in the states who buy their books. Of course, as homeschoolers, we can focus not on what the state education department's latest philosophy is (and thus, what the publishers put out), but on what actually works for us and our individual children.

I always thought about it like this... Unless there is some pathological problem, every speaker of a language already has a complete grammar. Our brains already know how to make and connect words together and we don't need to 'learn' grammar. But learning about language in general and learning about the conventions of written academic English particularly is something that is worthwhile long past 6th grade.

:iagree: From a public health standpoint, it's totally appropriate to have such a form. Additionally, I think it's absolutely appropriate as a parent to say "No thanks" to the form and the fact that your physician said nothing more about it was also entirely appropriate.

Women in our area don't tend to wear makeup... so I don't think our girls have much reference for wearing makeup. If anything, it's something that older ladies wear, not something that a girl would aspire to.

We are very happy with our relatively inexpensive Ikea mattress bought 5 years ago... Certainly there is no weird mattress salesmen... you could take a nap on the beds there and I don't think anyone would notice!

I didn't like the HWT font at first, but it's really grown on me lately. It's kind of quirky, but in a non-pretentious down-to-earth kind of way. Regardless, the actual handwriting my girls produce isn't really much like it at all.

I still felt part-kid in my 20's. 30's, though, are awesome! You're grown up enough that people take you seriously, yet you still have a body that is healthy and strong and energetic.

I love clothes from Title 9 and Athleta, if you're okay to order online... but they can get a little pricey. If you're near a mall and live in the states, Macy's can have great sales at times... and H & M has stylish clothes at low prices. Actually, I've found some nice basics at good prices at Kohls too.

I voted 10 minutes... But - this poll dredged up a memory of Girl Scout camp in southern california under draught restrictions. They would have all 30 or so girls in the unit lined up in two lines in front of the showers with towels on and a shampoo bottle in hand. It was kind of like a race to see which line got through quickest. Everytime a girl went in to the shower, we would count to 20 and you had to get out of the shower within that time. Weirdly, I didn't think this was restrictive at all... I thought it was kind of exciting! Now, I think 5 minutes is a quick shower, 10 is average.

I can imagine getting my daughter a cell phone in the next few years - maybe around age 10? We just have pay-as-you-go cheapie phones and we'd do the same for her. There are times that she finishes her co-op classes and I'm running a few minutes late and would like to let her know not to panic. Or, in a year or two, I can imagine letting her walk a few blocks to the park and I'd like to have easy access to call her to come home. I don't know... she's not the kind of kid who talks on the phone with friends... (at least not yet).