Check out classroom direct I had a whiteboard last year and hated it because of the smell, things ghosting, and if my kid get marker on their clothes it just doesn't come out. I use a chalkholder and dustless chalk. No problems here. I just bought a 3' X 5' board from the above store and it's not a slate board, but it is working really well and was about $140 after the shipping was figured in. I bought the Valu-Rite one and as I said it's not a great as a porcelain or slate but it works really well for us. and the price was very reasonable.

We are using Growing with Grammar. It's fairly short and to the point. My kids really like it.

I think if your going to go with "Piazza" you should probably go with something like Piazza Academy or something like that as "The Piazza" does kind of sound like a hotel :001_huh: There are 6 of you now right? A synonym for Piazza is Square so maybe something like 6 square academy. What are some other things you think of when you think about schooling your kids, maybe we could help come up with something if we had some other ideas you like.

It was amazing. I was worried too because about an hour before the power went out here. Luckily 20 minutes before the race it came back on. I know many don't see how he could have won, but the Serbian's did challenge it and it went to super slow motion replay and the technical com. did find that he touched first. Even with the slow motion that NBC can give us it would be almost impossible to see .01 second, it was literally winning by a fingernail.

I recently bought "What your Pre Ker needs to know" and the Activity book 1 from Core Knowledge and it looks like something my little one will like. My youngest just turned 3 on July 25th. Another I've thought of using is a free program online called Letter of the Week If you click on that up above it should take you to their website. HTH

Mine is up, no pictures yet but I have to set up the scanner. Maybe tomorrow they'll be up. My link is in my signature. My blog background is also acting weird so bear with me. Edited to add: MY background seems to be working correctly again and the pictures are UP!!!

Thanks all, Keep the ideas coming. I don't know if the TV is a trigger for him to keep him up, because it never was in the past. Until recently if that's what he would choose to do before bed he'd be out within an hour of being in his room. Maybe it's just a cycle he's going through. I'll keep you all posted on things we try and what does or doesn't work for us.

I've had my LG tromm's for about 4 years now and I do love them. The only thing I've had problems with is my dryer sensor doesn't work as well anymore from all the build up from when I used Bounce dryer sheets. I cleaned it really well with vinegar and now only use Sun and Earth dryer sheets and only a half of one at that, or dryer balls instead. I also only use 1oz of detergent no matter what the detergent I buy (currently sun and earth) that's more than enough to get our clothes clean.

This is why I switched to the cardboard ones from Really Good Stuff. That way they have solid sides and they are pretty sturdy. I also like that when the navy makes us move again, I can just unfold them so they don't get ruined in the move.

Hi all, I know that I've said time and again we're night owls and I'm ok with that. I have no delusions of trying to get myself or my kids up at 7 am or anything like that. I'm having trouble with my oldest though. The kids all go in their rooms at 8pm and may read, watch a DVD or play quietly until 10:30pm. We've never really had a problem until recently. I don't expect them to get up until 9:30 or 10am. Lately my son is having a terrible time falling alseep, which makes getting up by 10 difficult. He tries, he really does. He's obeying the lights out at 10:30 rule but then he'll lay there and toss and turn until 1 or 2 am, this can't be good for him. We've tried making lights out earlier but then he just lays there longer. We also have been making sure he's getting enough exercise so it's not that he sits around like a lump all day. The only thing we've found to help lately is giving him benadryl, and then he'll fall asleep by 12, but still lays awake for 1.5 hours, and I don't want to give him benadryl everyday. Any suggestions, is this something that he should be seen by a doctor for? Thanks in advance for your help.

Yes I did, Dang that <shift> key gets me every time :tongue_smilie:

I got that big giant wire shelf at Target. It was $50 but so worth it. It's 4 feet wide, 6 feet tall and the best part is it's 18 inches deep, so behind all those magazine and book holders are more of them since I can fit them 2 deep on the shelf. So books from last year I'll need again or ones I've bought for years to come can be in there too.

I guess I'm the oddball. I had a piece of shower board and the ghosting drove me nuts. I also couldn't find any markers that didn't give me a headache, even the "no" or "low" odor ones didn't work. I bought a 3" x 5 " chalkboard, granted it did cost me $130 but I love it and won't go whiteboard again. I guess I love the old fashioned feel of a chalkboard. I really don't have a problem with the dust, sure there's some, but it's not that bad.

I'm glad to see all the positive reviews here. I just got my SP book and discs yesterday and dove right into the reading. I've heard lots of complaints about how long it was. I didn't think it was all that long, maybe it's a big change in the 4th edition from what it was. I then watched the quick start DVD. Today I gave my 9 year old (4th grader) the survey test and it said to start with Level C (grade level 3.2) I wasn't to surprised since last year spelling was our hs thorn. I just couldn't find anything that worked or we liked. I decided to get the record book since my son likes the color green and likes having all his stuff together. I may just print them out next year, we'll see how the student book works for us.

I did the same thing, because being a Navy wife, our stickers say "Midlant" meaning mid atlantic. I guess I never thought of VA as being in the South other than during the civil war.

Terri, I got your PM and sent you one back, but for anyone else interested I thought I'd post the link here too. I got them from Really Good Stuff. I love all the sizes they have and I thought the prices and shipping were reasonable. The link above should take anyone interested directly to the "book storage" page. PS. We also have a Pug, his name is Festis. They sure are characters aren't they?

I'm guessing you're using the SOTW activity guide, since you mentioned library books. Are these the "suggested reading" ones listed in the AG? If so, just cut back, you don't have to read them all. That would be a ton of books. Just pick a few or none at all if you want. I used SOTW for Ancients and Middle ages and all we did was 1. read the chapter 2. do the coloring page 3. answer some of the questions orally 4. do any mapwork You can also spread it out and cover a chapter in more than a week if you want. You may not finish the whole book in a year but that's ok. It's your school so make the materials fit you, not the other way around. It took me a while to not feel that I had to "do it all" to make it worth it. HTH Just wanted to add your kids are so young yet, this should just be an overview of history. They don't have to remember it all, if you're following the WTM or another classical education model you'll hit these time periods again 2 more times before they graduate, so they'll get a little more each time you rotate through the history cycle

:iagree: I hate make up. No matter what it is it makes me itch, so unless it's a big fancy Navy function, I just don't wear anything. I don't do moisturizer either because it just makes my face feel oily. I will wear sunscreen if going outside in the summer and use plenty of lip balm in the winter.

My sign is a bit more than a simple "No Solicitation" sign, which I think helps. I got my sign from a friend that was having a lot of trouble with multiple people coming to the door. This is basically what it says... NO SOLICITATION= DO NOT DISTURB We are completely Thrilled with our: Politics Religion General Outlook on Life WE DO NOT NEED: More books, yard work to be done home repairs or anything else you are selling, offering, or preaching Please RESPECT OUR PRIVACY! ~ Thank you It may be rude, but I put this sign up after I was home alone with my 3 kids (DH was on deployment so he wouldn't be home later on, in fact he wasn't coming home for another month) and some people from a local church came by (2 men and a women) I was in the middle of cooking dinner, so I politely said "We're not interested, thank you" and closed the door. Then went back to the kitchen. I went to set my dinner table, which you can see from the front door side windows, and I saw this woman with her nose pressed to the window and then I heard her try to turn the knob and open the door! I was appalled. What was she going to do, come in and hunt me down so I'd take her pamphlet. Thank God I keep the door locked! After that, I emailed my friend immediately for the sign and it's been up ever since.

We have a name for ours, although I don't have to have one in the state I currently live. We are a military family so we never know where we may go, so we named ours to have our bases covered. We recently changed names because none of us really liked our name (Voyager Learning Center) my oldest who's now 9 said it was babyish, like a preschool name. We're now Fawkes Academy, our motto is "Soaring Through Home Education" our mascot is a Phoenix (our name came from Dumbledore's phoenix in Harry Potter) and our school colors are crimson and gold. I recently had shirts made through zazzle.com as well as "Proud Parents of Homeschool students" bumper stickers made . They turned out really great. I do use my school name for discounts as well.

I never said I wasn't willing to entertain offers, I was simply saying that I'm willing to entertain REASONABLE Offers. I have and will continue I'm sure to accept reasonable offers, my problem is with those that want to get something ludicrously cheap just because I paid to have it sent to my house for my perusal first thus making it "used". If I'm Firm on a price I'll state that, but like I said in my original post. To make an offer of 30% retail on something that wasn't used, but would cost more for me to send back than it would to just sell it to another that may like it, is not a reasonable offer.

I have a 4th grader and a 1st grader this year (with a 3 year old running around) We've been starting around 10:30 and finishing anywhere between 1 and 2:30. We also don't schedule by the hour but this is what we cover each day. We do daily Grammar Writing Spelling Phonics (he's almost done with this,we had to put it away due to frustration in the past so now it's more like a fun treat) Math Penmanship Geography Science 2-3 times a week we do History. Latin, art and music are done when we feel like it, they are our "icing on the cake subjects" so if we don't get to them no big deal. Kel

This is one of those things that can go both ways. Just because it's used doesn't automatically make it worth 50% of what I paid for it. I take excellent care of my things and most wouldn't be able to tell the difference between mine and a new one except that mine isn't always shrink wrapped. I price for what I think is a fair discount for the condition of the book. Many also don't take into account that the seller is trying to make money to buy other things they may need. If I'm always selling at less than 50% of retail I'll never make enough to buy what I need for the next year. What really gets me is when I price something say that was a $100 item for $70 with shipping costs included and say it was something I bought, looked at and decided not to use, they want to know if I'll take $30 for it. Um, NO I WON'T . If I clearly stated it was only looked through and wasn't actually used to teach my kids I'm not selling it for 70% off. I do sell things like this at times because I may not be sure about a curriculum and need to see it in hand, then it's actually cheaper for me to sell and pay the postage to someone else than to pay postage and a restocking fee to return it to the company. Some think that just because we're "all in this boat together" that we should give deals, well if we're "All in this boat together" how about being reasonable about giving the seller a fair price. Just because we're all homeschoolers doesn't mean we're all entitled to like new used items for pennies on the dollar. Ok I'll get off my soapbox now.:rant:

I so know what you all are talking about. We stopped using ETC because my dd didn't like them but when my older ds went through them 2 years ago he got to one that said... Would you wear mittens on your feet and socks on your hands? I then heard my son say to himself "Well if you were a monkey..." and then he marked Yes! It was our first year hsing and I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. I am truly amazed at the reasoning of little minds. :lol:

I think it was more a matter of how she got the Silver. It was the way she reached with her hand at the finish that may have very well caused her to get Silver instead of Gold. A silver medal is still great, but it's most certainly disappointing to be out touched simply because you flexed your hand upwards more than the person swimming next to you.