I've made my own planner book for two years now, but this next year I'm going to try an electronic option with Homeschool Helper on my IPad. When the novelty wears off, I'm curious if it'll be something I like. I figure for less than 5$ it's not much of an investment to lose.

I have two foster daughters -- 4 & 5 who are affectionate and lovely girls... but are very needy and have a complete lack of understanding of social boundaries. Both girls happily go up to strangers to talk to them, hug them, pet their dogs or ask why they have crazy hair or a broken leg or look weird or smell bad. Earlier this morning, one told an adult she had never met that she had pooped and not wiped. At the pool, they spend their time going from adult to adult (who they do not know) trying to be held by them and at church try to sit on laps of adults they do not know. I do understand where the neediness is coming from... and we talk about boundaries and I do my best to prevent... but it's hard for me to try to balance keeping them safe with encouraging positive social interactions. It's also hard to try to explain to non-family/close friend acquaintances that we are working on boundaries and I don't want them to hold or hug the girls. I find many adults don't really understand why I don't want to encourage their being affectionate. I was thinking it might help to do some role playing with them... what about any materials or books for kids? I was thinking perhaps something aimed at special needs kids might more clearly spell out social boundaries?

I just had this problem with my 11 yr old... We ended up at JC Penny's where I found some cute tankinis in size Small that fit her 5ft, 85lb frame.

We have a teen area and my pre-teen loves to hang out there. I think she feels she's outgrown the kid room with the train tables and puzzles and story time, but she doesn't feel comfortable hanging out in the adult section. It's good to have a place to go. I've sat in the area before without comment, so it's not too strict...

We do foster care and right now have two sisters. One of them has an incredible ability to ask nonstop questions. For the first few weeks, I didn't find it a problem. After all, it's the sign of a curious mind... a desire to communicate and learn about the world, right? So I would do my best to answer her questions. But I'm now going nuts. Seriously... It's too much. Just a nonstop series of questions. I don't think she knows how annoying it is, rather she seems to be using the question asking just to get the adult attention she craves. Many times, it'll be the same question again and again. I totally understand her need to know what is happening in her life -- so I happily answer questions about what the plan is for the day or what is for lunch or when is naptime. And I can handle a few esoteric questions per day about where water comes from and what the sun is made of and why we have two legs. But after that, I'd like to stop. I do turn the questions around and ask her what she thinks... but she'll just switch to a new line of questioning. Seriously... will I be doing any harm if I just say I'm not taking questions right now?

When I went through the books myself, I just used graph paper and a fountain pen and did extra practice of forming letters from corner to corner of each square at that 45' angle. I would make a game of trying to think of all the words that had the letters I had learned.... (name mane man enema anemone, etc...) By the end of the first book, my girls had gotten board and penmanship was a struggle. I switched them to Pentime and they both have lovely writing... I stuck through all 5 books and my writing is much, much better than it used to be.

We did it just like this... Botany is not a subject I like much, so I did the assigning and grading and they were otherwise independent.

I have lately noticed an outrageous noise coming from my knees. It is no gentle grinding, but literally an across-the-room kind of creak that happens when I walk up or down stairs or get up from a chair. It's pretty crunchy just lifting my leg, but insanely loud when walking down stairs. I'm very moderate in my exercising -- only walking and biking lately, but this week I wanted to go to an aerobics class. The lunges, squats and step classes were disturbing. Should I be avoiding these? Should I see someone? Is this a sign of impending arthritis? I'm thinking it's normalish to crunch and creak a bit, but this is pretty nuts. Thoughts?

Spencerian is my favorite... But Pentime is the prettiest of the modern cursive workbooks. Plus they're cheap. I think it's a Mennonite publisher, so it's got a few religious quotes and mentions themes like obedience and cheerfulness a little more often than necessary. A small price to pay for nice handwriting.

I liked the format and layout of Galore Park SYRWL Maths. It 's not mind-blowing or inspiring, but it's not pricey, it offers plenty of practice and is not intimidating. I supplement with CWP and Zaccaro for trickier word problems.

Yikes - I have some homework to do to get up to speed! She started with the QuickStart balls and was quickly moved up to the "rookies" and now "challengers" class. I don't know what that actually means in terms of level, but she definitely plays on a regular court with regular balls and older kids. I'll ask her coach more specifically which tournament to sign up for. I did register her for Usta membership (free for under 10's!) . Thank

My 9 yr old daughter has been taking tennis lessons for a year now and is getting really good. Her coach suggested she sign up for some tournaments this summer... I don't know how to play tennis and I definitely don't know a thing about competitive tennis. Can somebody translate this entry information for me? " Entry Information: $33.00 per player for BG(18-12)s,FMLC, Challenger. $18.00 per player for BG(18-12)d,FMLC, Challenge" What does that mean? What do we need to know to do this? I don't have a clue about what a tournament looks like or how it works... Help!

You might look into: Evan Moor Galore Park Critical thinking co Barrons Painless series All have a reading component with questions to answer.

My daughter read it and sequels at 10.

Is there any reason why I ought to tackle a big scary looking algebra book (Foerster) with my 11 yr old if what we're doing now is working great? Last year we finished SM through 6b. Now we've just about finished SYRWTL Maths 2 and I think we'll just move along to book 3 which reviews more arithmetic and goes further into algebra and geometry and introduces some basic trigonometry. She likes it fine and we move through the review bits fairly quickly. We also use a bunch of supplemental pre-algebra and algebra materials and it's going so well and we've got plenty more to get to. There's no real reason to get out the algebra book yet, right? I had been planning to use it next fall, but it seems so soul-suckingly dull in a way that Zaccaro and Keys to Algebra and Algebra Survival Guide and Murderous Maths and AOPS videos aren't. And there's so much there... Just reassure me that another year of doing pre-algebra is totally appropriate for a bright 11 yr old who doesn't like math. And when it comes to starting Algebra officially, remind me it's okay to accelerate those first chapters that have been fully mastered...

I like the Oxford School Shakespeare series, which does have the Winters Tale. It's not a parallel text, but they've defined the tricky words and offer a background and summary.

Spencerian improved my own cursive a lot! I really like how my cursive looks now. For my kids, though, I used Pentime. It's pretty and inexpensive. My only hesitation is the somewhat religious / authoritarian / patriotic / sappy tone. My kids have great handwriting though.

I totally agree. It makes me twitchy too. I just say equation instead.

I do! Actually, I have used a writing textbook in the past (an ESL/remedial comm. college textbook) and I will probably use one in the future too, but right now I've set it aside. Since the girls can write great paragraphs and are working on essays now, I've found it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to have them use writing prompts that are on unrelated topics. So instead of writing about their favorite pet or whatever, I have them writing about how the ideas of the enlightenment affected European society or how the body maintains homeostasis. It just makes more sense to link writing with content areas. So this past semester, all writing instruction (and literature) has been linked to what they've been studying in history or science. They are still very beginning essay writers so there is a *lot* of hand-holding. Typically, I'll assign them a question and then let them brainstorm answers. I started them with five paragraph essays, though will eventually drop this training-wheels approach. I guide them to come up with a strong thesis statement and then help them to divide the essay up. Typically they'll write one of the "body paragraphs" together and do one on their own and then combine them together. Then they work on the introduction and conclusion together. They've written 6 or 7 essays so far and each time I try to back off a little bit more. When they're finished with the essay, I help them to edit it. It usually takes two or three lessons to write it and we focus a lot on organization, using an academic voice, and mechanics. I assign one about every other week. We also do a lot of book summaries (of stories and novels we've read) and biographical paragraphs (or historical figures we've learned about). All of this writing (along with pictures and time lines and outlines and maps and such) get pasted into their history portfolios.

I budgeted 3 or 4 weeks for Cells, but when I saw the depth and realized its potential, we spent almost 3 months with it! I'd give yourself at least a week per chapter.

That is incredibly sad that a young adult (or the family of a young adult) is so frightened of the world. I would assume something else is going on (agoraphobia? anxiety problems? paranoia?) My daughters flew together at 8 and 10 and I was fine with that. Younger would have been okay too -- especially because I checked them in and their grandma picked them up. At their age they are supervised on the plane and in the airport (and we have to pay extra as unaccompanied minors), but I think I'd actually be okay with them doing it alone too. It would be an exciting adventure for them. They might run into difficulties, but I have confidence they would sort it out. I do go out of my way to encourage my kids to function independently and to know what to do when they run into troubles. For example... we flew to Disney World last week and they ended up having to sit on their own (they were happy to). At one point in the airport, I gave them $10 each to buy lunch and meet me back at the gate where I was waiting with our carry-ons. When they wanted to ride on a ride I didn't want, they went alone. They enjoyed Tom Sawyer's island on their own. They went on their own to the wave pool and lazy river at the water park and returned unharmed and happy. When one lost her sunglasses on a ride, I waited outside the guest information center while she went in to sort it out. In a way, I *want* my kids to get lost (and then realize they can figure out how to get back). I *want* them to go to buy food but realize they don't have enough money (and happily settle on a cheaper lunch). I even want them to lose their sunglasses and figure out what to do (and hopefully learn to take better care of them next time!) I know every family is different, but I honestly don't understand how this type of "overprotection" is beneficial to a child's development. In my mind, the ultimate goal of parenting is to raise children who know how to function in the world and can take care of themselves and are strong and independent and resilient. I just can't understand at all how is it helpful to never allow children opportunities to learn?

I used to think I was a 36a until I actually got measured and found I was more of a 34b or c. You might fool around with other sizes as A cups are hard to find. Bali are nice and not too pricey.

Go to a sew and vac shop! Also, don't waste money on a cheap Walmart type machine. Low end Singers and Brothers are a waste of money. Either buy a used, refurbished machine or spring for a higher end machine. I have a love affair with my Bernina.

Fun!!! We've done Maine to Florida and San Diego to Seattle several times. And one California to Connecticut and one Connecticut to Oregon. Best trips ever!

Fruit and vegetable is open for grazing... so the kids don't ever need to ask. Everything else needs permission.