I don't know of a generic name. However, Mindware sells books of those to practice arithmetic. We happen to have one sitting around for addition.

I would start by separating out "things that can be done away from the house" like spelling, grammar and history, with things that are "easier at home" perhaps science and math? Then, Ice you know the exact schedule, you can plan it which things you carry on what days. Another thing to consider, can you do science, say, Saturday morning altogether? In return you could designate a busy weekday for minimal school and errands.

Swear jar worked for dh. Mostly because I didn't want to deal with the fallout of toddlers using various words in inappropriate settings. I can't imagine it would be very successful with kids. I had a discussion about swear words this morning. When I used them all the time they lost their potency, so I started limiting their use and got pretty thoroughly out of the habit. I did tell them I would willingly tell them about any words they wanted/needed to know. I remember feeling a bit behind trying to pick up actual meanings from context of use. In our house it has never been terribly necessary, but I have used the "potty words being in the potty" (and had it said to me). Also, I use the super-long-winded explanation approach. Nobody wants to hear that any more than they have to!

Sometimes for iced coffee I add a bit of hummingbird food from the refrigerator, haha. They don't mind sharing as long as I keep the feeder full, and this gives me some vested interest in keeping a supply on hand "for them".

Psshht. Even as a student I didn't like spending class time on movies. I think it is idiotic, but done, and I would valiantly try to limit my comments on the whole thing.

I've read a lot about Minimus and thought it might be fun for summer variety, so I ordered it. Received an email from the seller that it was damaged so badly by the shipper that it was returned, and they could no longer sell it, so I got a refund. Bummer, but okay. I went back to Amazon and ordered another used copy. I checked yesterday and tracking showed a vague-sounding entry two weeks ago and nothing since. The seller issued me a refund today saying that since the window of reasonable shipping time has closed I didn't need to pay, and if it ever shows up I am to keep it with their compliments. Soooo, should I order it a third time?? Is it that good? Should I just carry on with the latin we have and see if it shows up? If I order it again, the lost copy will definitely arrive, any reason I would need two copies? Have I offended the Higher Powers of Used Books, do you think?

Forgot about the Black Cauldron series. I was glad I didn't have to try to figure out pronunciation myself. We all enjoyed the voice actress for The True Meaning of Smekday (we liked the book, too).

One thing I try to teach them is to have an end time or event before they get started. "How long are you going to play? How will you know when to stop?" We also have a minimal list of things that need to be completed before starting, like school, piano, and done independent project work. Take it with a grain of salt, though, my kids are still young!

Don't know how old your dc are, but there is a YouTube video of Daniel Redcliffe (Harry Potter) singing the Tom Lehrer song...

If you search by specific SOTW volume, or by time period, you may be able to find threads where people have listed favorite books for their families. That might be another way to come up with a "to buy" list. Otherwise I suggest going through the lists in the activity book and picking out ones that appeal to you. Sorry!

Thanks for the laugh. Maybe she will offer your family a group rate! I did something very similar in high school.

My dh's response is to mutter "sweet honey mustard!" under his breath. We read it in the comics 25 years ago. I've had occasion to use it in him, too!

Summer might be a time to "test-drive" a few teachers without having to commit. From the boys' perspective you could take the summer off from lessons, and then find 3 or 4 teachers to meet and try out. Then you can tell everyone that you will be making a decision in the fall and leave it there. I know what you mean about overscheduling. How do you decide if piano lessons are more or less important than, say, Latin or Spanish or scheduling regular time for art or a fun, supplemental logic day for math.The times don't match exactly, the skills don't match exactly, it's all good, and we could probably do it all... It does sound like you could use a new teacher, though.

Thank you! I find that very reassuring. I have been having difficulty expressing my concerns about this.

Wow, that's great, thanks! I'm a little surprised it was ds and not dd. Probably cemented an unwarranted, negative stereotype in her head. Glass half full, glass half empty, huh?

I got an email that says ds "placed nationally" can anyone with experience with the contest explain what that means?

You should bring it up. I was so clueless about weddings when I got married, I could have used a little more of "hey, here's what to expect", "often people do this", "have you thought about", and particularly "you don't have to empty your wine glass every time they fill it"

You don't have to leave your dentist even if you take the kids elsewhere, do you?

I just finished The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman. Set in a post-apocalyptic America, Ice Cream Star wants to save her brother from the plague that kills everyone when they reach 18. The author has allowed the spoken language to evolve also, which I found so amazing.

Yes! Why do they all seem to be operating in random, self-interested ways? I don't have any dental insurance, so if you recommend a procedure or product, I am suspicious if you don't know how much it will cost. If your fancy laser machine doesn't beep to indicate a cavity, why do you decide I need $2000 worth of filling work? Why do neither of you comment on the "issue" the other dentist focused on? Whoops, sorry, the siren song of the soap box proved too much for me.

Friend's kid's front tooth came in at 90º, her dentist said it would naturally straighten, for what that random anecdote is worth. I am very skeptical of dentists, myself. I would definitely get a second opinion before taking any action. I'm glad it sounds like a benign problem, although that would rob me of a lot of the motivation to stay on it!

Ever since I hard about the raccoon thing Hornblower mentioned, I can't comfortably go barefoot. Also, seems like the study I heard on the anti-allergy benefits said the benefit was actually from the parasites or worms that were picked up due to walking barefoot in places where they are endemic. Sigh, I used to love going barefoot.

Hobbit was great. Fortunately the Milk short, funny.

You might check out Miquon (workbooks and Annotation book). Math Mammoth - teaching is done in the student books. MEP is a reputable program that is free but for the printing. If it intrigues you, I recommend printing the first set of student pages and lesson pages and then look through then side-by-side. In MM or MEP I would heavily edit down the problem list, since this is supplemental. If you want to go another direction, you could order some old Math Kangaroo tests to work through together. They are more like logic problems, with little computation required. Nice for variety.

So the policeman made a personal visit to tell you...nothing? Everything you're doing is fine, as far as the police are concerned? Yikes. The real message here is that you either have a mailman problem or a neighbor problem, sorry about that.