This has often puzzled me. Why must everything be "Great literature" or considered twaddle. Sometimes you just need a good read and all the better if it makes reference to something you've learned. We have all the ones in the original series and some in the Merlin Mysteries series. My kids loved them. We just finished reading "Buffalo Before Breakfast" while doing a little study I made up about Native Americans. My kids love reading SOTW as well but they also love things that are just a story with some facts that reference things we've learned.

I don't want to burst any bubbles but most of the things mentioned here can be found in Westvon Publishing's (history scribe people) The Master Planner. You should check it out.

UGH I hate that. I don't think you should be aloud to mow until at least 9am. I mean not all of us go to bed at 9pm and get up at the crack of dawn. This especially bugged me when I worked 2nd shift and didn't get home until midnight. I'm sorry but I needed to unwind after work so I didn't go to sleep right away. Now what I did wake up to was the same thing I usually wake up to. My pug snoring followed shortly there after by my almost 3 year old waving a diaper in my face saying "Muh muh, I pooped again"

I would definitely go with a clear coat poly. Pine can be tough to stain evenly unless you use a wood conditioner first.

Another vote for GWG. My son is working on GWG 3 now, but loves it. His favorite part is the diagramming LOL

I would start with GWG 3. My son used it for half of last year because we spent the first half of it searching for a good grammar program that fit him. It is all explained very well and it's not something where you need to have done the first book. My son just turned 9 last month but was having no trouble using GWG 3 at 8 years old even though we'd done absolutely no grammar at all until that point. I mean none, nothing, nada, zip LOL. I had emailed the writer of GWG and she told me to start him with 3 as it would make no difference that he'd not done 1 & 2. I believe it covers the same things as 1 & 2 but is not a review of those. It is thorough enough to start with. HTH Kel

I'm one of the Two-tone people. I use sunscreen but even with it I tend to get some color. I don't go out seeking an even tan. I really don't care if I get tan or not. I just tend to get some while doing yardwork or by taking the kids to the Y to use the pool.

I just use whatever I happen to be in the mood to grab LOL

Thanks so much that looks like a great book

Thanks for all the tips. I will most likely just use the DK one I have. I am going to use R.E.A.L. Science for my 4th and 1st grader this coming fall, but wanted to have the basic WTM plan for a back up in case R.E.A.L. tanks for us. I also want to have a back up plan for when my youngest is coming up the ranks since who knows what type of learner he'll be.

I'm not a huge fan of Shakespeare but I'm sure I'll cover something with my kids. I think a lot of my dislike of books is that I was forced to take AP English lit in high school and it was the first class of the day. I'm now going back and trying to re-read some of the things from there. We never had to read Jane Austen and after watching the movie "Jane" I went and picked up Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice at Barnes and Noble but after the first few chapters of S&S I just can't get into it. Next on the list is Thomas Hardy. I really hated Jude the Obscure in high school, but had to do my research paper on Hardy and read Tess of the D'urbervilles. It was ok but very similar to Jude which was a bit annoying after being forced to read Jude. I'm now going to give Far from the Madding crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge a shot.

Got it! Thanks so much for your help

Ok I'm a bit confused. Is Encyclopedia of animals by kingfisher or is it the big DK one with the polar bear on the cover. I have the DK one so I could just use that right?

I have a copy of WTM and for first grade is lists The Kingfisher First encyclopedia of Animals listed as a resource. I'm unable to find a new one and since I won't need it for a bit I'm wondering if there's a replacement that's been suggested. Just curious

I'm currently reading it for the 2nd time and I've never laughed so hard in my life. My dh thought I was going crazy the first time I read it as I've never laughed out loud so hard or long when reading a book. I will warn you though that the ending is a bit sad, but still worth all the laughs.

I have a bumper sticker but I haven't put it on the van yet. When I do it will be my only sticker not issued to me by the government. On the front window I have to have my DOD decals so that I can get on base. :001_smile: The bumper sticker I bought for the back is from our local homeschool used bookstore (Moore Expressions) it says "I am my kid's teacher" My ds loved it when we saw it on another van when we were waiting for a red light. He looked over and said "Hey mom there's a group of homeschoolers, we should get a sticker for our van that says we homeschool" I've been looking for one but hadn't found any at the time. They also had one that said "Public School" and below that said "aren't YOU worried about socialization?" My dh thought that was great but they were out of them so we'll have to wait until next time to get one.

Not sure if it's the reasoning, but maybe for people, that only need or are only looking for a writing curriculum. My kids didn't do well with the way FLL presented grammar so we use something else, but I need something for writing and none of the other programs have worked. So instead of having an all encompassing program like FLL, WWE gives me just the specific area I need. Just a thought, clear as mud hey? :001_smile:

I'm currently reading 2 if you don't include my constant need to re-read parts of TWTM to make sure I'm not going to screw up my kids with next years plans :lol: I usually keep a book upstairs and a book downstairs so that I don't have to remember where I last put it down. I read whenever I get a free minute so it's usually only 5-10 minutes here or there until the kids go to bed. Downstairs I'm currently reading "Marley and Me: Life and love with the world's worst dog" by John Grogan for the second time. I love this book, it gives me a good laugh. Upstairs I'm reading "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" for the 3rd time. I just can't get enough of Harry and now that there are no more books to look forward to and no new movie in the near future I keep reading through the series. I also have "Mr. Blandings Builds his dream House" which I just recently got from Amazon. It's my favorite movie so I thought I'd finally read the book. I'll probably start that when I'm finished with "Marley and Me"

Just another idea to throw out there. Click n Kids phonics. It's a different online phonics program. We tried Headsprout and it was ok, but my dd LOVES click n kids. Oh and with Click n kids you never loose your subscription. When one kid is done you can just erase their account and put in the next kid. You can also then pass it on to another family you know and they won't have to pay at all.

:iagree: I do the exact same thing :001_smile:

I haven't posted one in a while, but I finally put one up. Link in signature.

We use weiner for my boys although at times we'll use p*nis. For my breasts we use boobs, I guess because that's just what everyone in our families always called them. We don't have a specific word for the lower female anatomy but my dd used to call it her "front butt" I guess because she thought it looked just like her butt just smaller and in the front LOL. Now she just calls it her parts. DH and I use the medical terms when it's just the two of us.

I absolutely loved this movie. I didn't realize there was a book so now I'm going to have to put that on my library list. I cried and laughed through the movie. It was one of the best I've seen in a while.

Well our family is complete and we weren't going for a biblical name but our youngest is Lucas John. It seems to go well together and Lucas although somewhat more popular isn't as common as others. Our other son is Everett Matthew.

Another Lynn, Our plans do look really similar. I will also have a 3 year old in the mix but his was simple he'll be doing some Kuman About Two workbooks and I'll read to him from "What your Preschooler needs to know" definitely the simplest of them LOL Thanks to everyone else as well, for your well wishes.