We've only used the Jr. Histories, but overall I like the series a lot. I wrote a brief review here... http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143650&highlight=galore

Here are the non-office jobs that come to mind... US Postal Service? National parks staff? Museum staff? Police officer? CNA? Fire department? Gardener? Daycare provider? Housekeeper? Dog walker? Also... I'd love to hire a female plumber or electrician or carpenter or home inspector or auto mechanic ... all of those are well-paying jobs that wouldn't take years to qualify for - and you'd surely be in high demand!

I was raised Methodist and my partner was raised Roman Catholic. We visited several churches before finding the right fit in the Episcopal church. In the end, the sermons and message and readings and music were more or less the same between all three churches. But the feeling was different. We found the Episcopal church as a wonderful middle ground... a church that was warm and friendly and smart and socially progressive and yet liturgically conservative... It met our need to be a church that has a respect for tradition, a focus on the community, and room for people wherever they are their 'journey' in faith. So I find it refreshing and comforting and progressive and traditional all at the same time. But not everyone is looking for what we were looking for!

My 6 yr old dropped the screwdriver on the ground today as we were fixing her bike and couldn't find it. I can't tell you how difficult it was to get her to figure out where it was. "Look at the box with the orange cord. Do you see it?" "Yes" "Good. Now look in front of the box.... No, not in the box. On the ground, next to the box... No, not the tackle box, you're looking for the blue screw driver that is in front of the cardboard box with the orange cord. It's right there. Next to you. In front of your right hand. Reach out your hand. It's a blue screwdriver. Pick it up." "NO, don't pick up the tackle box. Pick up the screwdriver!" "But where is it?" We were both near tears at the end of that conversation. At two? Not a chance.

My daughter picked up the Roman mysteries Omnibus (first three and second three novels) on a recent trip to the UK. She had finished the first omnibus on the 16 hour plane journey... I think it was about 500 pages or so. She's working on the second one. I I haven't read it, so I can't comment... but my 8 yr old thinks they're awesome!

We do about 20 minutes at bedtime. I absolutely agree that reading aloud is a good thing and I've done it nightly since my girls were toddlers, but honestly... I wouldn't say it's really working for us. My second grader prefers to read alone and wants to read faster and longer than I am willing to read. My kindergartener has never really been interested in listening to stories and generally doesn't pay attention. She's getting a little bit better at not constantly interrupting with random thoughts that pop into her head, but she still generally doesn't have any idea about what I have read.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome will give you irregular periods. It's super common and not a big deal (unless you're trying to get pregnant!).

I've got the same situation with a first and third grader. We've actually decided to go back and start the ancients all over again. We used a different curriculum last year with my older daughter, but she adores Greece and Rome and wants even more and I'm happy to oblige her because it'll be nice to start my younger at the beginning too. Plus, I think the third grader will get a lot out of it a second time and she's very motivated. So we'll give SOTW1 a try this time and see how it works for us. Unless I change my mind over the summer...

I'm considering Mr. Q Biology for my first and third graders... I don't have first hand experience though. http://www.eequalsmcq.com/homeschoolers.htm Last year we used RS4K Chemistry and I wasn't very impressed, so I'm looking as well. My other thought is something like Galore Park Jr. Science 1 for the two of them... http://www.galorepark.co.uk/product/textbooks/682/junior-science-book-1.html It's aimed at 2nd grade.

I don't own the books, but I saw some samples recently -- I think Sentence Composing had samples on amazon and Story Grammar had samples at http://www.heinemann.com/products/E01246.aspx I'm intrigued too...

We go skiing there... does that count?

Toyota Tercel - I don't remember the year though... maybe 1989 or 1990? I bought it with money I'd earned from working at Wendy's. I was so very, very proud of that car.

I'd recommend Minimus... We're almost finished with the first book and my daughter loved it. We're going to try "Learning Latin Through Mythology" this summer. I have no idea whether it's a good option or not, but it might be something to look into.

I am not bothered at all by dictionaries. If anything, I think that dictionary definitions of 'bad' words are often so dry that they kind of take the excitement out of those words. Plus, I'd rather my kids were looking up such words in dictionaries than asking the kids on the block.

It took us only two days to sell our house in a bad housing market. There were plenty of foreclosures on our street, urban, pretty unsafe neighborhood. We got two offers at full asking price (but unfortunately no bidding war). I think that two things that helped were: - having the house in move-in ready condition before listing it -- we refinished the floors, repainted the walls, fixed up the bathroom nicely (which we saw as the weakest part of the house), deep-cleaned the house and mimized our footprint in the house. Basically, whatever we thought a buyer might balk at, we fixed in advance. - pricing the house based on listing price of comparable sized houses in our neighborhood (knowing that ours looked nicer and required less work than others). We wanted potential buyers in our price range to see our house as better than the others listed at the same price and jump at ours. We had to get over the idea that our purchase price (bought at the height of the market) had any relevance to the sale price. Despite our losses in the housing market, we're set to buy again. Now the tables are turned as we are buying a house at a really nice price (considerably less than it was sold for 4 years ago). So it all evens out in the end!

I made a bunch of worksheets once from Startwrite's free trial... but you can only do it the one time.

I took a bunch of art classes in college and find that you get over it pretty quickly. I wouldn't be bothered by a teenager interested in art to take a drawing class or a teenager interested in biology to take an anatomy class... It's academics, not p0rn.

My kids go to a public "homeschool support" school and we love it. I don't mind giving up a little autonomy. It's a nice community of folks and I like the balance and choices that we have and I wouldn't change a thing.

The home remedy I've been told (and used successfully) is to hold the finger in super hot water. It was painful but effective. I've also heard of using boiling water and epsom salts. Of course, if it's a big enough infection, I'd just go to the doctor!

You might try the wikipedia entry... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Support_Our_Law_Enforcement_and_Safe_Neighborhoods_Act

How about Mythlopedia? http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Look-Up-Mythology-Mythlopedia/dp/1606310585 There are four in the series and my daughter reads them over and over. They'd definitely tickle middle school kids.

We just got back from a trip to the UK and had a wonderful time. Two of the highlights of our trip that aren't mentioned extensively in guidebooks were Vindolanda, along Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland (especially relevant if you use Minimus!) and Dunnottar castle outside of Stonehaven. Dunnottar would make an easy day trip for you and is accessible by train, with a 3 mile hike along a public footpath. Vindolanda is also a 2-3 mile walk from the nearest train station, but there is also a bus that stops at tourist sites (leaving from Newcastle). It could make a nice overnight if you stayed at a B&B or hostel... Neither are teaming with tourists and were just really wonderful sites. Also, we enjoyed reading "Scotland: A very peculiar history" (two volumes) before going.

My 6 yr old daughter is a fridge-climbing action-adventure kind of a kid too. One thing that has helped us is to begin introducing academics in small doses right before bed. My original thought was to catch her when she's calm, but it actually turned into a really good time for her to learn. I get her ready for bed really early (like around 6:30) and then ask "Hey! Would you like to do a little math or are you ready for bed?" and "Let's do some handwriting practice... or are you sleepy?" Every once in a while she really is sleepy and she prefers to go to bed. But most of the time she loves working and loves that I let her choose whether or not to do it. And it's not like fridge climbing/soccer/bike riding/TV etc... was an alternative... the alternative to working is sleeping. Just having a routine of bath - pajamas - teeth - math - handwriting - reading to mom - sleeping... really helps out. I can get a good hour from her.

My 8 yr old loves summer camp... she's been to a number of girl scout and church camps, starting with short mom-daughter overnight camps at age 5. This year she'll do a 5 day farm camp and a 7 day girl scout camp. My younger daughter will go to her first mom-daughter camp this summer. She's very independent and would love to head off to camp like her big sister, but I'm not convinced she has the social skills to handle it. Having been a girl scout camp counselor, I have a good feeling about the organization and the safety regulation and the levels of oversight that exists there. But other organizations? It's worth checking up on. Check to see if the camp is ACA accredited (http://www.acacamps.org/)... it's a sign that they've met standards and have been reviewed. But plenty of camps haven't been through that process - in which case I'd dig deeper. I'd try to talk to parents who've had kids there before... and talk to the director of the camp too. Ask about the staff and background checks and safety and whatever other concerns you might have (what do they do about homesickness, etc...). Also, many camps have an open day where you can come check out the facilities. I'm sure your daughter will have a blast at camp! But I do know how hard it is to let them go!

My daughter loves these and we have a number of horrible histories around the house. My only reservation is the... well... horribleness of them. Sometimes when I read them, I'm overwhelmed by the focus on torture and the horrible things that people have done to each other. But... I guess that's what makes them popular with kids (particularly pre-teen boys!) I prefer the horrible geography and murderous maths and non-history books because they don't seem to involve as much details about torture. But if you're okay with 'history with the nasty bits left in', I'm sure they'll be a hit!