Welcome! Be forewarned! With the Hive Mind you will get waaaaaaay more info than you ever though possible!! In various ways :lol: Where in SC? :grouphug::grouphug:

Actually they are horrible for your teeth... http://www.dentalgentlecare.com/oral_piercing.htm#Tongue%20Piercing%20Could%20Lead%20To%20Gum%20and%20Tooth%20Problems... I don't think they are cool.... :tongue_smilie: They are weird...and they look like they would hurt like the dickens when you get one. Ick :001_smile:

Here are some drawers...Should be stackable! Gotta love Amazon!! http://www.amazon.com/Sterilite-20938003-3-Drawer-Organizer-See-Through/dp/B002BA5F70/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1273186762&sr=8-17

Bridge to Terabithia Secret of NIMH Will see if I can think of more!

WELL.....what subjects are you looking to change? What do you like about what you have and what do you not like? I have used... BJU A Beka Saxon Apologia Beautiful Feet Sonlight Learning Language Arts Through Literature Story of the World Michael Clay Thompson (MCT) Writing Stands Spelling Power Knowledge Box Lapbooks We also have Notgrass we haven't started quite yet (next week) and I am looking into Ordinary Parents Guide, Omnibus and Before Five in a Row... :) So what exactly do you need to know?? :D

Here ya go...I get these at Sams too...I think it might be a bit cheaper at Sams but...can't beat this price and with free shipping! http://www.amazon.com/Office-Quickpack-Brightness-Inches-11210-3/dp/B00006L385/ref=sr_1_244?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1273184307&sr=1-244 :grouphug::grouphug:

Go with a Dell or Toshiba. I know nothing of others. I have use the two I mentioned...actually I have three Dell's right now. I have had several Toshiba's over the years too. Depending on what you want to do is depending on the amount of memory. If you want windows Vista or Windows 7 then I wouldn't get a computer with less than 2k in memory. Windows is a memory hog and if you want to do anything with it then you'll need it. I used to sell Dell computers for a living :) and my Dad has been in computers for over 20 years so I grew up with them. The best way is to build your own but....it's not that easy. It isn't hard just isn't easy either...anyway... :grouphug::grouphug:

What grade is he? I am thinking since you need consumables ($18 from rainbow resource) it will be somewhere from K to 7th for Saxon. I use Saxon as well. What is it that he needs specifically? You may not need the whole program. If what he needs it tutoring the target the main areas he is having trouble with instead of going over what he does know. You can piece together stuff from the net. There are lots of free math worksheets as such. If one of your kids is the same grade use your things, just don't have him write on the worksheets. Let him use the worksheets as a "textbook". That way you have the problems but don't actually use you things. Hope this helps! :grouphug::grouphug:

:iagree: Yup...very good....we have used to too!

I did change my name...you can do it. I also don't worry about requests, I deny those I want to deny and accept those I want to accept...they never know the difference.

WOOT! Count me in...I don't have a degree and I will only ever get one under duress... I tried college and there was so much fluff that I still don't know a thing about the major I was in. I have thought about opening a "school" more like a daycare but with teachings, I just don't have the space not to mention I am out in the boondocks where it would take people an extra 30 minutes to drop off the kiddos!

Why do you need a teaching degree to teach at the school you create? Is it a state mandate in your state? You wouldn't be hired by the state since it is your school. So why the degree? I would worry more about if you could teach my kids rather than if you went to college to learn how to teach my kids. Some things just can't be learned in college! :)

Nope...wouldn't sign them up if they were adamant about not going. I would ask them to try at least once or twice...see if you like it and if you don't then we can stop but you have to at least try. My kids started and stopped Awana...didn't like it. My daughter went to American Heritage Girls for a year and a half and stopped...liked it at first...then didn't. I can't stand doing some things and I do them anyway unless there is an opt-out, so why would I force my kids to do it if there is an opt-out? :D

I would definitely homeschool her if at all possible. She sounds tired not behind. Since she has insomnia she will be tired all the time and even in public school she will still seem "behind" socially because since she is so tired she won't be up for any activities. At least at home where she can sleep until noon she can feel better. As for not wearing make up or wanting a boyfriend? Bah who cares about make-up and who needs a boy anyway??;) My daughter (now mind you she is only 12 but...) isn't interested in make-up and she verbally wonders why other girls fawn over the Jones brothers or that other kids that's out Justin something-or-other. IMPO...I don't think there is such thing as "socially behind" how do you gauge that? By looking at other teens in school? Do they have insomnia? You can't compare people in that aspect, people are too dynamic. My sister sends her 2.5 year old to daycare because she needs to "socialize" :001_huh: but that is another thread. Don't get me started there. I would seriously have to put my foot down about homeschooling through high school, especially in light of the insomnia issues. PS isn't going to be any better and in fact will be worse because she will lose more and more sleep. :grouphug::grouphug:

I didn't like bangs for my daughter either but she wanted them so I let her get them. I figure she is the one who has to live with her hair and how she looks (and how that makes her feel) I don't. I had bangs at her age, albeit they were a bit more puffy... Remember those puff ball bang girls had in the 80's? Yep that was me...:D I digress.... :)

OH! Forgot to add something... Another thing I have done too is to mix the "grades" For instance right now my son is doing 2nd grade math. Most of it seems to easy BUT the 3rd grade stuff is going to challenge him to fast SO what I am doing (and I did this with my daughter with 6th grade math and Pre-Algebra) is mixing it up. We do a 4 day week - Wed, Thur, Sat & Sun. On Wed and Sat we do 2nd grade on Thur and Sun we do 3rd grade. When it gets to a point where the 2nd grade is getting way to easy then I will stop it and just do complete 3rd.

Ahhh....You know what? We homeschool its our prerogative. Don't worry about a "grade" unless you have to fill it out on a homeschool form for the state (I know some states require it). I have struggled a bit with my daughter as well. She is "officially" in 7th grade. However she is doing some 6th grade stuff and some higher stuff and some much lower just to fill in gaps. I don't tell my daughter what "grade" things are, we go by "levels". We always say...well this is your level but this isn't. Same with my son. Put her where she needs to be, pull up your big girl panties ;):D and say she is in X grade and go from there. I am a firm believer that since we homeschool that everything will definitely come out in the wash and our kids pick up *WAY* more than you think!! Hope this helps at least a little! :grouphug::grouphug:

Sweet, but not too sweet...love the iced in summer and hot in winter. Constant Comment hot in winter and a Constant Comment/Lipton blend in the summer. Mmmmm want tea not but don't need the caffeine....yes I know htere isn't much bit it will keep me up! (Even if it is only the placebo effect it still works!) :001_smile:

I know I will probably get lambasted for this, I haven't seen anyone else mention this, but what about cutting back on "tithing"? I don't go to church (quit going for many reasons - tithing one of them) and so I don't give to a church. Even when I did go I didn't "tithe" I gave what I thought I could afford. That is just my thought, I won't get into why I think that...that is a whole different thread :) But perhaps cutting back a bit to ensure you can get a couple kids into something could be a consideration. Although I only have 3 children I am in the same boat as you except I can't tithe even if I was so inclined and can't save. We barely make enough money between my hubby and I to pay for what we have. So there aren't any extra activites. We tried a few, Awana...American Heritage Girls... kids didn't like them. Anyhow there it is :) Do with it what you will! :grouphug::grouphug:

I forget what my sig says right now about my daughters History, haven't changed it yet but I need something for her for History. I have Notgrass and I feel it is a good program but perhaps not one she is quite ready for yet. I am not sure as she hasn't started it yet. I have alos been looking at Omnibus and love the look and feel of it. Can anyone answer a few questions about either one? 1. Are either curriculum's suitable for a budding 8th grader? 2. Can either be used through High School easily? 3. What type of "doctrine" does it teach? Meaning is it Baptist, Catholic etc... or does it leave that up to the parent? (I don't want to have to do a lot of explaining in the religious belief region if it doesn't co-inside with what we teach. And lastly, are there any other curriculum's out there that are good through high school but are meaty? Thank you! :grouphug::grouphug:

If it were my daughter I would let her read for a bit but give her a time that to her subjects need to be done :) I didn't have that love of reading at that age or the age my daughter is at now. I wish I had!

Hopefully I won't have to retire :) I am hoping my kids have kids and if the can't homeschool because they have to work well then by golly Gramma can just take care of that pesky ole schooling! :) (Just so you know I would never push it but my kids would know I would be willing!)

I wish they had a convention closer to WNC! The closest is the one in Raleigh every year...can't afford to get the hotel every year to go, not to mention the time...5 hour drive from here!

If memory serves me Norton isn't all that great and is a system hog. However I know for experience that it is preference. I like AVG..if I had to pay I would get McAfee. But why pay when there is AVG? :)

I have two desktops and a laptop that have it. My Dad also recommends it and he does System Security for Lockheed-Martin. He has been in computers since about 1982. :) So yes it is fine...just make sure to update it daily!