I would consider 4th grade our transition year.

I love family pictures! Here is the one I sent with our Christmas cards. (I hope.)

I'm an hour west of Gainesville. :)

In looking through the geography section of Rainbow Resource I see several different sets of geography workbooks. I am looking for workbooks in the grade 1-5 area. So, what has been your favorite geography workbook set? (And the workbooks do not have to be available through Rainbow Resource.)

I believe the one you listed does require a roof rack. Here is one that only straps to the car top for $39.99. I would call them to verify as I haven't used that exact product. http://roofracks4less.com/soft-sided-car-top-carrier.html

In place of Harvey's, we use Michael C. Thompson grammar (4th-9th.)

All of my girls have them and it hasn't been a problem. They listen to them on long car rides (2 hours or more,) in bed (where they just as often double as flashlights for reading) and sometimes when doing chores such as washing dishes. They will often all set their Ipods to the same song and sing out loud. They are really terrible singers. :D I had my dh put a bunch of things on them like the multiplication tables, latin songs, poetry, classical music. If nothing else, they know the first line to several poems and have figured out how to hit the skip button without even looking down at their Ipods. :tongue_smilie: I did lock the volume at just under the halfway point for each Ipod.

Michael Clay Thompson Writing - grades 4-9 Classical Writing - grades 3-12

We are done today with the exception of some math that needs to be caught up. We go back to school on the 30th. We do have several Christmas read alouds we want to do this coming week.

We do the meeting book with each lesson. I schedule an hour and a half to get three kids through math (two of them in Saxon K-3.) I bribe myself with a fresh cup of steaming coffee each morning as I begin the first meeting book. The kids don't mind it and the meeting book is what provides the solid base I want my children to have heading into upper elementary math.

I would say a "main idea" is needed for paragraph writing, just as a thesis is need for a composition. A topic sentence is a more concrete way of being sure there is a main idea in the paragraph. I would consider it a beginner's strategy. Once a student understands the concept, she can move from topic sentence and supporting sentences to main idea and supporting evidence. Yes, compositions need to have an "order." But, that order will depend on the thesis. :) I do believe that if you are outlining a good writer there will be an order to the composition and the main ideas followed by supporting evidence will be there as well. It just sometimes takes more time and several readings to put it together. My thoughts would be that outlining an encyclopedia would be similar to finding topic sentences and supporting sentences whereas outlining a good writer's essay would require finding main ideas and supporting evidence. So, rewriting from an outline of an encyclopedia would basically be summary work. And rewriting from a good writer's essay would be work in composition, thesis writing and essay writing. I think WTM tries to start a student with encyclopedia outlines, topic/supporting sentences, summary work and then move the child into essay outlines, main idea/evidence, composition and thesis work. I haven't seen R&S writing, but it sounds like they are doing something similar and I would imagine they intend the student to move on from topic/supporting sentences, proper order, etc. into a standard essay with a thesis, evidence and good flow.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. She will not read anything "girly." I've already tried. :) I love Anne of Green Gables, as do my girls, but she won't read them. She has read Redwall and some Agatha Christie. Here are the ones listed so far that she may not have read and would consider. I am looking them up now. I looked at the Earthsea trilogy last night and wrote it down as a possibility. Any reviews or thoughts on the books below? Any additional suggestions would also be appreciated. Thanks! - Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde) - Something Wicked This Way Comes (Bradbury) - The Giver (Lowry) - The Time Machine (Wells) - The Invisible Man (Wells) - War of the Worlds (Wells) - Flatland (Abbott) - Aurelia's Colors; Cyndere's Midnight (Overstreet) - Momo (Ende) - Smith of Wooten Major; Farmer Giles of Ham; Leaf by Niggle (Tolkien) -- short stories - Wizard of Earthsea; The Tombs of Atuan; The Farthest Shore (Le Guin)

Well, I don't think this seems like too much for a ten year old, unless you are doing additional writing in other subjects. I know that many people do at least part of R&S grammar orally. If he is writing all of the exercises I would start there for eliminating some writing. So your daily writing: 1 day per week: spelling some grammar 1/2 page of handwriting history outline or narration 2 days per week: spelling some grammar copywork Remedia outlining book 2 days per week: spelling some grammar 1/2 page handwriting copywork If it were too much, I would be flexible on the handwriting. Maybe he would rather do it on the weekend, if he has no other schoolwork? Or perhaps before breakfast or after dinner would be a better time? Maybe keep it for summer (if you break for summer) - a good way to keep up hand strength over the summer and lighten his load over the school year? And I would also look into doing the grammar orally. Not using the curriculum myself, I can't be too specific on that. But I have heard that many people use it that way - successfully.

I need some suggestions on what books to give my younger sister for Christmas. She is 11 years old, highly gifted, and reads all of the time. She sticks primarily to fantasy, magic, dragons, etc. although she does read some mysteries. She also loves horror books. She has only read older horror books along the line of Edgar Allen Poe (her favorite author.) She is not allowed to read modern horror. I have already given her the L'Engle series, the Conan Doyle books and gave her Phantom of the Opera for her birthday. I usually give her a full series for Christmas, but am running out of ideas. She has all of Poe and has read anything recent in the children/teen fiction - for example Harry Potter, Eragon, and anything else that has come out in the last three years. I would love some suggestions on some older books (preferably a series or author that has written several books.) Something written at a fairly high level, but still suitable for a pre-teen. I know that she has Tolkein, Dracula and Frankenstein as well, although I don't know that she has read them. My father pre-reads and makes decisions about books along those lines. Thanks!

Apologia has an elementary zoology book that focuses on animals of the seas and oceans (Zoology 2 maybe) and I think it includes additional writing assignments or activities for older students.

K-2 - Copywork/Dictation 3 - CW Aesop A 4 - CW Aesop B, Sentence Island 5 - CW Homer A, CW Poetry IA, Paragraph Town 6 - CW Homer B, CW Poetry IB, Essay Voyage 7 - CW Diogenes Maxim, CW Poetry IIA, Academic Writing I 8 - CW Diogenes Chereia, CW Poetry IIB, Academic Writing II 9 - CW Herodotus, CW Shakespeare A, Academic Writing III 10 - CW Plutrach, CW Shakespeare B 11 - CW Demosthenes, CW Poetry IIIA 12 - CW Demosthenes, CW Poetry IIIB In determining writing assignments for history, science and literature, I combine what we have learned in our writing curriculum and the WTM suggestions for that grade. My oldest is still in Homer, so I don't know if this schedule will hold up in the long run. I did find after adding my 3rd child into the mix that I wanted more open and go curriculum that still met my high standards. I find these two programs do just that. Trying to pull together my own thing for each child and for each subject was just eating too much of my time. We were becoming a family consumed by homeschooling. :) As to what I have learned: I tried to put my oldest dd into CW early (1st grade) because she was an early writer. I won't try that again. She is now on my schedule above and a much happier person. Third grade is already early and I don't find we need any more than 15-18 short writing assignments in 3rd grade (CW Aesop A) and nothing more than copywork and dictation before that. ETA: All of my children have been early writers and love writing. Even dd5 is working through the Draw Write Now series on her own, for fun. I made my curriculum choices knowing that my kids enjoy writing and could handle a large amount of writing in their daily work. I may have chosen differently if my children were reluctant writers or found the act of writing difficult for any reason.

Could anyone suggest a good place to look for an aqua or turquoise colored wallet for a teen girl? What are good wallet brands for teen girls? I would like to purchase one for my younger sister, but I really don't know where to look. I have looked in the few places that came to mind, without any luck. Has anyone seen cute wallets lately while shopping? Any suggestions are welcome!

Thanks for the responses! They have good ratings on Amazon as well - so I think I will go ahead and get them.

I think they are put out by US Game Systems - or something like that. There are a whole bunch of them. Inventors Scientists Explorers Presidents Authors If you own these - what do you think of the quality? Would they work as everyday playing cards? Do they hold up to repeated shuffling and lots of use? Dh and my older two dds like to play rummy in the evening and could use some new cards. I thought they would make a nice stocking stuffer. I can't decide whether to go educational (the girls would like these) or standard long-lasting Bicycle cards.

We put 15% of dh's gross pay into an IRA and his company matches 4%. So 19% - all retirement

http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Pretend+and+Play+Baking+Set/015857/1228677359-2087279 http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Pretend+and+Play+Cooking+Set/015858/1228677359-2087279 My dd, just turned five, is getting these. The cooking set is to take outside for mud pies, etc. We have an old play kitchen outside as well. The baking set is to use in our kitchen. We make our own "play-doh" and this looked like a nice set for making dough creations. She can also use the cookie cutters for actual cookies.

I am considering purchasing a used curriculum package where the current owner has had the spines cut off and the pages three-hole punched and put into binders. I do not like my curriculum in three-ring binders. Can I take all of the binders to Staples or somewhere and have them convert them to spiral bindings? Has anyone tried this before? Do the three-hole-punch holes cause the spiral to be too loose and the pages to tear out? Thanks!

Thanks for the link to homeschool share. I'll have to think more about using FIAR for geography. I'm not looking for anything elaborate or time consuming, just a gentle intro to geography. And I really don't want to pull something together myself. :)

approximately $2300 including taxes, property and flood insurance Yes - we do indeed pay for the sun in Florida. :D

One gift each for all children, our parents, grandparents, and 2 younger siblings (but none of our siblings close in age to ourselves.) Our children choose their gift from us. Christmas cards are given to everyone else. We also buy a few small stocking stuffers for our own children. (They don't get to pick those, but can offer suggestions. :))