:lurk5: Going today to buy more quinoa so this thread came at a great time! I've never tried barley, maybe I'll pick up some of that too. :) Our family loves these Quinoa Burgers.

It needs to be one program. :)

My oldest is using MCT CE right now. I'm not sure my 5th grader is ready for it.

We have been using Wordly Wise and my 5th grader is getting quite bored with it. Suggestions?

My mom used to come in on Saturdays and wake me up (I went to PS so I HAD to get up in the mornings for school). I. hated. it. If you want a happy teenager, I'd let her be on this issue. ;) Like I mentioned before, as long as she is getting up and doing what she needs to do, don't make it a big issue. This is also a great way for her to learn to listen to her body. ;)

Does she get up and get her stuff done? If she is, I'd let her be. Is she having issues getting to sleep that might be bothering her? If so, maybe something like Valerian or a tea (Zao makes a sleep tea that has valerian in it) would help. I am NOT a morning person. I can easily stay in bed until 9:30 if I could (I did two days ago actually :blushing:). When I am able to wake up, lay for a bit and think about the day, I do MUCH better. If I am woken up before I am ready, watch. out. :cursing: :lol: If I do have the chance to wake up on my own and take my time, once I am up I go full force!! Otherwise it takes me almost an hour to not be groggy and feel like I'm ready to face the day. I'd say on the list of things that she could be doing, this is a non-issue. ;)

If you order from either of these, do you have favorites? We FINALLY have room for a good sized garden here at our new home. I'm having so much fun going through the seed catalogues knowing I get to order!!

I have a couple ways I do lesson plans. - In my binder I have an excel page that has columns for the week and each subject that we do together. When I'm preparing for the year I write out lessons here. This helps me see when we'll be done with that book, how much extra time we'll have in case we need to bump something back a week, etc. I don't really look at this much during the year. - On the wipe-off board in our school area I have a lesson plan page posted with the week's plan for the subjects we do together. When I get done with the above page, I put lessons onto these pages with more detail. For example, on the above pages I just put the lesson number and topic. On the weekly page I can write that on Monday we will read library books, on Wednesday we will do maps and work on our timeline, etc. I look at this daily and can change things if I need to. The kids can also look at this and see what we'll be doing. - Each of my children have a 3-ring binder and they each have assignment pages. On Sunday I sit down to look over the previous week's work. From that I gauge what they need to do in the coming week. Do we need to re-do a quiz? Is there a math lesson that needs to be re-taught? Has she/he really grasped the concept so that we can skip something in an upcoming lesson or skip one altogether? This way it's not planned out long-term and we can adjust as needed. They know to look in the binder and see what needs to be done that day. When they complete it, they put a little check or mark out the box.

Just coming back to update.... We're going to try MOH Vol 1. I finally had time to look over it and I think it might work. It seems to have just enough balance with information, activities, mapping, and review/quizzing.

Baked Ziti Garlic bread homemade jello

Actually, focusing on keeping the jaw relaxed helps to keep the pelvic muscles relaxed. ;)

Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn would be a good one to invest in. She'll be able to read through it after the baby is here. :) Active Birth or Fathers at Birth would be two I would also consider buying. Such good information in there, should she have children later they would be ones she could review through.

Throw away What to Expect...!!!! For her to read: Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn by Penny Simkin The Birth Book by Dr Sears Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer Active Birth by Janet Balaskas For you (and her) to read: The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin Fathers at Birth by Rose St. John (disregard the title...it has GREAT information for anyone supporting a woman at birth) Websites: http://birthingnaturally.net/ - Even if she wants meds, she WILL have to labor without them for a while. She must prepare to manage labor until they will administer pain meds. This website has some great information. http://www.childbirth.org/articles/labor.html - Again, great information. They also have a birth plan generator. It's a great thing to work through so she can see what is typically done and what choices she has. After going through that, she can read and research to make informed choices. If she wants to take that and make an actual birth/baby care plan, make sure it fits on one sheet of paper or a large index card. http://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ck=10421 - some pics of the different positions for laboring For your bag: Unscented lotion or massage oil tennis ball or other massage tools (although, I've never used them at a birth, your hands are the best massage tool) cash for vending snacks toothbrush/toothpaste a change of clothes mints and/or gum cell phone charger camera (with chargers if needed) It's easy to make a hot or cold pack at the hospital. The RNs can take a towel, wrap it in Chux, and then tape it. Then you stick it in the microwave to warm it up. For a cold pack, grab a large glove and fill it with ice, then tie like a balloon. If you would like more book and website recommendations, I can email you the list I give clients. Eh...that doesn't really mean anything. Some babies don't drop until the woman is laboring. The chances are greater that because she is a first time mama, she'll go past her due date (another thing she needs to be prepared for b/c they will very most likely want to induce her). I've never had a first timer go past 41.5wks.

Depending on the child and what we need to work on, I go back and forth between HWT and Getty/Dubay. For starting to write I love HWT. I also prefer their cursive. It just seems more natural to me. If my kids need practice with neatness, we do Getty/Dubay. If we do that, I usually switch back to HWT when it comes to cursive. So far they haven't had issues doing one then the other.

Maybe the pigs are finally getting revenge. :tongue_smilie:

Blokus!!! I got it for a family gift at Christmas (I've wanted it for a long time and it was a great deal at Target on Black Friday!). It's great! Our 5yo can even play it.

Ditto Floradix. You can also do liquid chlorophyll. And if you really want to boost it, do those two together.

Art is one that I'm not sure what to use. I was looking earlier at a few books. For music, they are all getting piano lessons from me. My 5th grader may be joining the local homeschool choir. This summer we may do swimming lessons, if we have the money. And as I said above, none of my children are interested in organized sports. And honestly, I'm so very glad. I don't have time to take four of them in ten different directions. My dh can't drive and when I am on-call there is a very good chance someone will miss a practice or a game or something.

They play outside. :) I don't have any that are interested in organized sports.

We start our next semester on Monday so I'm sitting here trying to get stuff together. And I'm sitting here looking at everything like this is the very first time I have ever done this. My head is spinning. :001_huh: Can you think of anything that would be essential to add? Or does this look adequate? I think my main concern is making sure my 7th grader is on a good track to prepare her for high school. Together we do: Bible History - We're going to try MOH Vol 1 since TOG didn't fit us. Science - My 7th grader does Apologia General. My other three do CKE Earth/Space. Word Roots flash cards I have chapter book lists for each of them (complied from THIS website). That is our reading component. 7th grade: - Typing - CLE LA 700 - CLE Math 600 - Caesar's English I - she's almost done with this. I have her set to do II next year. Should we go on or wait? - Literature - She just finished Teaching the Classics. I'm going to get How to Read a Book for her to work through. Then I was thinking of doing EIW Intro to Literature. 5th grade: - Typing - CLE LA 600 - R&S Math 5 - Wordly Wise 6 (she's almost done with this and we might do something different, I think she's getting really bored with it) 3rd grade: - Typing - CLE LA 200 - R&S Math 3 - Getty/Dubay C - We were doing Wordly Wise but I'm stopping that to work with her on spelling/sight words. K: - R&S Math 1 - Getty/Dubay B - CLE LA 100 (when he is interested in sitting still to do it..lol)

What are you using for history in high school? Or did you continue with MOH for high school? My oldest is 7th grade this year. We are doing the ancients and I'm going to try using MOH (we have been using TOG and it's just not a good fit). I see in MOH that she says it is a "framework" for high school and may not be challenging enough. I've looked over some of the "older student" activities and some seem to be easy to make challenging but others aren't that in depth. Thanks!

It is a good idea for her to make a list of questions and wishes. You can google "midwife interview questions" and find several websites with suggestions. For getting started with a birth plan, childbirth.org has a good birth plan generator. It is a great way for expecting parents to read some of the options and become educated so they can make an informed decision. Regarding the other things being discussed here..... The reality is, if you have a hospital birth chances are that you WILL compromise and things will not go 100% the way you envision. If you want to call the shots and have complete freedom, a woman should give birth at home. No, home birth isn't for everyone but everyone who is having a hospital birth needs to be aware that 95% of the time, what you envision is not what happens. Yes, some things you can negotiate. Some of those are easy. Some of them are hard, especially in the throws of labor. A woman does NOT need to fight for what she wants while she is doing the work of labor. This is where a doula can be a great addition to the team. She is not going to make decisions for the client but will help talk her (and anyone else present who is supporting her) through them. Yes, some hospitals and care providers are willing to bend and fully support birth. But they are few and far between. That's reality. If only that were really true in regards to hospital birth.

I had a client who had her baby on 11/11/10. :) She wasn't due until the 23rd but had a feeling she would go early. She said something about how neat it would be for it to happen on the 11th so that next year, her dd would turn 1 on 11/11/11. And she did it. LOL!!! I'd bet money on a bunch of inductions being done. ;)

My girls and I are doing the crochet Block-a-Month 2011 group at Ravelry. :)

My last was the one I wore the most. I stopped when he was about 2.5 and too heavy to carry! My $.02...you are the parent. Not your mom. It's not about pleasing her with the way you are raising your kids. Do what you feel is best for your dd. :)