Thanks for the suggestions. I've never tried Amazon or Half.com! I do have my limit of free items on homeschoolclassifieds.com. :) I clearly remember thinking Ebay wasn't worth it and I don't have any really big items, so I think I will try Amazon.

I really want to get rid of a bunch of curriculum this month. Is it worth it to put it all on ebay? I seem to remember thinking to myself last time that I would never sell on ebay again. :D Is there an online curriculum seller? You send all of your curriculum and they send you a check?

I believe these are Janice Campbell's guides. There was some talk on the boards about them a few months ago. I have level 1, but haven't used it yet, if you have any questions about the curriculum itself. She has samples of level 1 on her website. http://www.everyday-education.com/literature/eng1.shtml

This is interesting to me. I don't see that choosing to keep something private should hurt a friend (even a good one.) I keep lots of things private. I keep much of my personal history and medical history private. I keep many political beliefs private. I keep our financial situation private. And I keep our religious beliefs private. I have found that good friends respect one another's privacy and don't feel a need to have everything out in the open in order to have a pleasant, friendly relationship. I think that simply declining to go is being honest. I don't really see why a friend would feel she has the "right" to know anything about another friend. Determining how to decline respectfully and sincerely without choosing to share private information to me is considerate and honest. So I am simply curious, why would others be offended at not being told of a friend's religious beliefs?

You might like the Suppose the Wolf were an Octopus books: http://www.rfwp.com/series24.htm#134 Each book covers approximately 50 children's books. For each children's book there are about 20 questions/projects. They are literature based questions - not related to grammar, spelling, etc.

Thanks! That is a great list.

I believe they find one thing per book in the next three books and finally Morgan - somewhere later in the series.

Our stock answer when invited to attend a church service is that we have chosen not to attend any church at this time and prefer to worship at home. When asked to come to Christian homeschool group meetings I say that I have simply found homeschool groups to be too time consuming and cause me to lose our school focus, disrupt our routine and interfere too much with our family life and other outside commitments. I wouldn't even mention it is the Christian part that concerns me. My kids have lost friends more than once by admitting we are not Christian, so we just don't mention it any more. :)

Hi Melinda, Sorry I missed your post the first time around. I have found that fountain pens seem to be a matter of taste. Or it could be that some pens work better than others depending on how you hold them. So, it is trial and error, in choosing a pen. Because dd11 and I are lefties we use a fine point (nib) which writes thinner and dries faster, but in general is not as smooth. Different people will say different pens work better so I really don't know what to say there. I use a low end Waterman with a fine nib and I really like it. I bought dd11 a cheaper pen, but with a fine nib and it seems to work for her (but she hasn't tried any others to have an opinion.) I can't remember what brand she has, but I'll try and remember to ask her tomorrow. Many people prefer a medium rather than a fine because it moves smoother and therefore faster. The disposable fountain pens Spy Car mentioned have a really good reputation so you may want to start there. I think I will try them for dd9 who is interested in improving her handwriting, now that her older sister's looks so nice. (Sorry, I've never tried the dipping ink.)

I would at least get them used. :) Here are a couple on homeschoolclassifieds right now. Sonlight Core 3 - almost complete with bonuses, Gr. K-5 -- $250 ppd. Good. IG-2007-incl LA IG & all but 3 books; VGC; incl 8 bonus bks Sonlight Core 3 History Readers and Read-alouds -- $100 ppd. Nice. c2004. No IG included. I would search WTM swap board as well.

I switched over from First Start French as well. I wanted to, but I could not get that program to work for us. My dd11 is doing Galore Park SYRWTL French 1 as well (not sure why that isn't in my signature.) She is doing Easy French, Jr along with her sister for the added vocabulary - she doesn't do the projects. We've only done the first few lessons, but I really like it. There are about 15 or so new vocabulary words or phrases per chapter. You hear all of the words in a dialogue as well. The Cds have all of the dialogues, all of the vocabulary lists, the abc's, the numbers and six songs. There is a coloring page for each lesson that I give to dd5. A major part of each lesson is a page for the book about him/herself that the student is putting together. You can print off each page and have the student do it. It is usually drawing a picture and filling in vocabulary. But we use blank paper instead. I have dd9 write all of the sentences in French (there are usually two) and not just fill in the blank. We also add pages, usually at least one extra per week, using the vocabulary we have learned. There are also activities for at least one (usually two) lapbooks for each lesson. We do not "lapbook" but do many of the projects as notebook pages and that works just fine. They are things like an opposites page (or lapbook) a family tree page (or lapbook) a cat page (or lapbook) etc. There are games and additional activities as well. There is also a short list of picture books that take place in France and a list of about a dozen famous people from France with a biographical note on each in case you want to add these to the curriculum. I think it is plenty for dd9 and she is enjoying it. Dd5 listens to the songs and sometimes the vocabulary and she colors the pictures. I will have her go through it again around age 7 or 8 (and her younger brother can listen in and color the pictures. :)) I am considering buying Level 1 for dd9 next year. The program is working well and I think SYRWTL French will be too much for her anyway.

Yep, ours honks if there is a car in the driveway. Otherwise, he leaves it on the porch. It's never bothered me. But then, we live rather rural and everyone honks as they arrive. I think it is considered more polite than just appearing at the door. Especially since the kids are outside quite often. I don't like to be surprised by someone looking in the window of the door or down talking to the kids without me knowing. (My kids do know to come get me anytime a car comes down the driveway.) My neighbor to the left only has property (no house) and he calls everytime he is coming to his property! He feels it is an invasion of my privacy for him to simply arrive and walk his property. People here are very private and careful to respect that of others.

Dad or Daddy Papa is the name of one of their grandfathers - the other is Opa.

We use OM, but tailor it quite a bit to suit our goals. I use parts of OM math along with another program for as long as it is included in the main syllabus - I think that is through year 3 or so? Once the math book is a separate book, I drop OM math completely. I find that Oak Meadow fits nicely with the WTM philosophy. In the early years we are simply doing WTM at a gentler pace with more of an art and nature focus. :)

I just talked to my father about this last week. It looks like we will be renting and paying on our home beginning next month. :glare: My father said one thing you can do is insist that your security deposit and last month's rent or pet deposit (if required) go into an escrow account rather than just being given to the landlord. You can also stipulate what happens in case of foreclosure right into your lease. That way you at least get the escrow money back. You can also ask (demand :)) to see proof that the home is paid up-to-date when you first move in. You can go online and make sure the taxes are paid as well.

Alicia, When are your children able to comfortably go from writing words they already know how to spell in cursive to writing words they don't know? I have noticed in the past that when my children cannot spell a word they resort back to printing for just that word - even dd11. When we are going over rough drafts of papers, I can always easily see when she is struggling over the spelling of the word. I'm not sure if it is easier for her to visualize in print or easier for her to write slower so she can think more about it. She doesn't know why she does it. But I am seeing her younger sister do it now as well. I sometimes wonder if this is something I should address or just let it go and assume they will outgrow it.

Bill, You'll have to post back on how the pencils are working. I just let my dd9 start using a mechanical pencil for math this year. It just seems that it would raise the frustration level of a younger child. The lead breaks so easily. And I can certainly see my kids constantly pushing the lead out and snapping it off. But that could certainly be sheer assumption on my part. That is interesting about the coloring. Some of my children (as well as myself) are left-handed and we color slanting left, opposite the direction that we write words. I wonder if that would matter? The motion would be the same, only backwards. Did he say what age range he thought best for his program? It seems everything I read was vague. Everything you have said makes sense to me, except at an older age than I was first picturing. I would think at least age 8 and up, maybe even 9 or 10. (Fountain pens with quick-drying ink are wonderful things for lefties. They smear much, much less than a ball-point or pencil. But, we never share them. The tips form to one hand, so if more than one person uses them the ink doesn't flow as smoothly.) If you buy the program, I would love to hear what you think. And even if you don't, an update on how his methods are working would be great! I am going to have to sit and watch my kids color this week so I can ponder the link between coloring and handwriting. I'm also going to see just how differently they color using crayons and colored pencils. This has simply never occurred to me before. And now it seems like such an obvious link! :)

Yes, Spencerian uses a 1 cm. line. It seems very precise for a young child. But, I really don't know. I teach my kids to write using crayons and unlined paper until 2nd grade when we move up to dulled or thick lead pencils. :D Here is the link where I read about not reselling. On that same page, there is a link to an interview with Bruce Smith. http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/curricula/reviews/smithhand.php

Thanks for the suggestions. My dh went to the funeral this afternoon. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to find a sitter for Superbowl Sunday. He said most of the people from work were there and all of the employees plan to do something together. They want to wait a couple of weeks to let things settle. It is a large company, people were there from cities several hours away. I think they might put together a school fund for his daughter, or something along that line. I think that would be nice and very helpful to him. I agree it would be nice for us to do something more personal for his daughter as well. I'll talk to dh about that tomorrow.

And there is the downside of requiring (or strongly requesting) that your products not be resold after use. A pet peeve of mine :) - I think they lose more in the lack of discussion and word of mouth than they do in lost sales. My oldest dd uses the Spencerian books. I plan to use them for all of the children around grade five. I don't know how I feel about kids using the narrow little lines before that. It sounds like he uses the same small line technique. But, I've never seen a sample. On a side note - Did he happen to mention why the payments are mailed to Ohio, but sales tax is only paid in Michigan? :tongue_smilie:

Primary Language Lessons / Intermediate Language Lessons Harvey's Grammar Michael Clay Thompson's Grammar Our Mother Tongue

Oak Meadow uses the textbook, workbook and CDs for each level. But, I haven't seen the program to say whether all three are necessary.

Aren't there any other relatives that could keep the boxes? My cousins' mother died when they were young. (I was only 6 months old.) Their mother's mother took all of those things and kept them for the kids. My aunt (their new mother) did not have things of my uncle's first wife up, but the kids saw their grandmother regularly and she kept pictures and things displayed. Other relatives would have done the same. If there isn't anyone else, I would box it all up, label it and store it away somewhere until the kids are grown.

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I would use Oak Meadow. I use bits and pieces of it now. If for some reason I could no longer teach them myself, I would probably have the children enrolled in Oak Meadow using the online/teacher services.