We have used pinto beans. I soaked them in water for 24 hours, then planted them. You can see the results on my blog. I two weeks they are over 6 inches tall!

We are taking today off, so ours is up! The links in my siggy...

It's not worth the hassle, set it aside and use something else. Maybe one day you can come back to it, maybe not!

We have the older edition and I don't know what has changed, but it has worked great for us. I listen to the tapes to make sure my pronounciation is right and the I teach dd. She hated the tapes, they are kinda boring! Hope that helps!

I also had a c-section after being induced. I was exhausted and it took a good two months for me to feel semi-normal again. I wish someone had told me that was ok and it was ok not to feel like being a brand new mom was the most wonderful thing in the world, I personally felt awful. I guess my advice is let her talk about the difficulties with no judgements, which from your post, it sounds like you are going to do! Also I like the gift certificate idea. I couldn't even eat well the first week or so and people brought us food, which was nice because I didn't have to deal with food prep until my dd was 3 weeks old! Wishing your friend the best and let her know it does get better!

Melissa-- Looks good! Because I'm a psyco planner, I would like to have it laid out by week, but otherwise it makes sense to me. Looks like you guys will have fun and learn alot!

Ours is up, the camera decided to walk back to us! There's a link in my siggy...

Here's what we are doing for K Math-Singapore 1A(we are going through it for the second time), we are also working on skip counting and some basic math facts LA-HOP, ETC(working on book 3 now), we just added FLL about half way through the year but we only do it 1 or 2 times a weeks History/Read-Alouds/Bible-Sonlight Core C-this has been a very gentle introduction and my dd has really enjoyed it Science-we started with a Harcourt first grade text but now are working on the plans I wrote We do Bible, math and language arts first. If we get to the rest great, if not I don't worry about it, at this point it's only gravy. Hope our experience helps!

Sorry this is a bit early, but we are going to be on the road tommorrow, so here it is! Our weekly report is up and the link is in my siggy...

Denise-- Would you mind sharing a list of the books the unit study uses? I'd like to see if my library has them (or how much it would be to buy them) before I order it. If it's too much trouble, I understand. Thanks again!

Denise-- Are there samples of this somewhere?? From the description it looks interesting. I'm just wondering what books does it use? Are there activities scheduled? What else is involved? Thanks!

CHOW is part of SL Core 1 and there are many people who substitute or leave it out because it's boring or too much. It's the reason we are using SOTW instead. We are also adding in the AG, both seem very interesting and I think your dc would enjoy them. The AG has suggestions for other books that you could get from the library if you needed more. On top of that, they would fit in your budget. Hope that helps!

I would also reccommend Janice Van Cleave's book on the human body. It has lots of fun experiments to do. It's what I use in my science plans!

Ours is up, link in the siggy...

My dh is back getting his master's and hopefully will graduate this semester, yeah! We have had to downsize to a much smaller apartment and one car. Luckily I can take the bus most places we go. My dh is also driving the bus while going to school. I'm not used to him being gone so much, that was a real adjustment, but we make it work. My only advice is to make a budget and stick with it, the best you can. In the long run it will be worth the sacrifices.

I think that they have discounts during the day, but we've never been.

Alice in Wonderland My Father's Dragon Series Boxcar Children Series Stuart Little

As a science major I agree that all viewpoints need to be taught on some level. You don't want your kids to go to college ignorant of some of the major theories. That said, I think that it is important to start with what you believe. At this young age, if we run across another viewpoint, I say this is what some people say, but this is what we believe and I answer questions that she might have about it. As she gets older and can understand more, I will go more in depth about why we believe what we do and why we don't believe what we don't. Does that make sense?

Usually we study math facts Mon-Thurs and then we plan the roll and write game. Roll the dice and add up the numbers, my dd loves this game. Hope that helps!

From what I understand WWE and FLL are separate, but you can use them at the same time by dropping the copywork/dictation from FLL and just using WWE for all your writing. I would imagine that would mean that you don't have to do the same level of FLL and WWE to make it work. Just my thoughts on the matter...

I'm pretty sure what we are doing at this point and half of it is bought already. My dd will be 6yo... Math: Continue with Singapore Math and Miquon LA: OPGTR, FLL, WWE, ETC, early readers History/Read-Alouds/Bible: SL Core 1 Science: Biology for the Grammar Stage (Elemental Science) Art: Drawing with Children Music: Classics for Kids PE: Ballet I think that's all!

Saute about 1/2 cup pineapple(fresh or canned) and 1 clove garlic, minced in 1 tsp butter, until pinapple is slightly browned. Add pineapple and 2TBSP chopped cilantro to 2 cups rice. I usually serve this with homemade black bean burgers. It's very good! Also rice cookers make great rice and they are easier to clean!

Sorry this double posted!

I found Drawing with Children and Singapore's 2A textbook both for $1 at our Salvation Army and I was so excited and my dh was like, yeah, so what? I love when you find what you need for cheap!!!

I think that your plans look fine. Why are you drawn to the others? Is it because something your doing is not working? Could you take pieces of them and fit them into your current plan, for example order just the read-alouds? A word on Sonlight's LA, it takes the natural approach to grammar and there is very little instruction on the how's of writing. It wasn't a good fit for us.