My daughter (who is being taught not to hit everyone) looked at her hands in little fists and said, "Don't hit guys, don't hit". Beth

I didn't have time to read all the posts, so forgive if this was already mentioned. CC is a lot about training your brain rather than the material. In the foundations years, you are training your brain to memorize so memorization becomes easier. Even Leigh Bortins admits that it's not so much what was memorized, but the brain training that is the important thing. There are lots of books about how memory work builds connections in the brain and can even create brain cells. Also, the more you memorize, the more you can memorize. Beth

We did Adventures and ECC. Redundant - that's the best word to describe it. THe book basket was great, but the main schedule was VERY redundant. I finally sped up ECC toward the end (put 2 weeks into one) and didn't feel like it was too much at all. I just needed to finish it and get it done. We moved over to TOG. A LOT more variety. Beth

How do you keep the soil good? Do you have to take out the old soil and add new? I have some with just cedar boards screwed onto square posts. The first two years, I grew lots and lots--the past two years I've had major soil problems and don't just want to dig out all the old soil. Beth

Just so you know - CC has a "rule" of sorts that says if a 4 year old is on the premises, they need to be in the foundations program. It may depend on your director, but just so you know it may not be an option. Beth

I'm married to a man who's mom chose not to have the D&C due to thoughts that she had a miscarriage. Beth

Good to know-- he does have some trouble with words - he can't remember the word for things at times. I think I'll just come back to it next year and just work on simple stories. He likes to be read to - we'll see if he remembers ANY of it! Beth

He's reading at a 2nd-3rd grade level. No- he really isn't able to tell me back a story, but on the flip side, he can recite an adventures in odyssey scene word for word. He's a different thinker...His learning style frustrates me to no end. BEth

My ds 6 does not seem to get this AT ALL. I am so trying not to lose it. Here's a for instance (this is much like all the weeks so far). We are on week 4 and he was supposed to name two people out of four that were in the story. I read it 4 times (just the part where the names were) - still nothing. He would say someone who wasn't even in the story. I read it 3 times when yelling out the names and reading the rest of it normally. Still nothing. I read it again discussing if this was a name? "yes". At the end of the paragraph, still nothing. Eventually, he got it and my stress level is really high and I'm irritated. He really doesn't know. He's not being naughty - he really has no clue. Do I just drop this for a while until next year? Help!!! Beth

Ditto with a strong reader in 4th grade. He does it independently. Beth

We've taught our boys to "not look" when the scary/icky commercials come on during football/kids shows if we can't find the remote right away. What if -especially during kid type daytime programming, we wrote to the other companies buying commercials and said, "We are turning off/forwarding through YOUR commercial in order to avoid inappropriate network commercials." If enough people did that, something might change. I only say "might" because I really don't think networks understand what is inappropriate for children. Beth

I like it also most of the time except the big blizzard we had in December. We had snow from the snow plow at the bottom of the street up to my shoulder. I really wanted to cry since the rest of the driveway was also under 18 inches of snow. Thankfully, a friend plowed us out. Other than HUGE snowstorms, it gets me out of the house doing something physical. Beth

Does the sequence of lessons bug anyone else in Saxon? it seems so jumpy to me - like they're not really mastering anything before having to learn something completely different. I'm on a MUS/Saxon fence coming from Singapore. Beth

No on cosmetic...my oldest has a missing front tooth that needs to be pulled down, an impacted eye tooth that needs to be pulled down, another eye tooth that started in his upper gum line...I told the orthodontist that I just wanted him to be able to bite down on stuff - I really don't care how it looks with him. I just want him to eat! DD was born with cleft lip/palate. She literally has a tooth on the roof of her mouth. Braces are not an optional thing in our home - they are necessary. Needless to say, we will know our orthodontist well in our home:ack2: Beth

I'm using a truthquest book guide for early american history. We haven't done a lot of early american history so I chose the first book for primary. It really can go up to 6th grade. Beth

Can this program be done independently by a math minded child? Do I really have to watch the video with him AND teach him the lesson? I'm willing to be there for lesson helps, but am really looking to make him less dependent on being taught everything by me. Beth

I have my kids contribute to a pool pass each year. They are willing to do that because it's a fun activity. Beth

I like this: "The school stresses student independence over teacher-led lessons, scientific inquiry over rote memorization and freedom and self-expression over strict structure and discipline." and this: "At its heart is the idea that the teachers, not to mention the students, will collaborate and learn from one another, rather than being isolated in separate classrooms." The first quote just makes a true classical educator cringe, the second is a main reason many of us homeschool. I hope these kids don't wind up on the streets because no one was able to control their classes long enough to learn anything of value. Beth

As a person who has very thick slightly wavy hair, be careful about layers. I've had layers start around the level of my nose and the result is what I call "mushroom head". Usually if the layers begin close to my chin, the weight of my hair pulls it down where I don't get the mushroom. I think the stacked bob would work nicely with the layering. I may try that for my next haircut. Also, I use a large rod curling iron to straighten my hair - it goes pretty fast. The thing with shorter hair is that it takes a lot less time to make look nice. I can tell when it's getting too long because I'm spending too much time on it. Beth

I wound up buying TWSS because I was in a very similar situation as the original poster. I don't really care for the program, but it is helping me teach writing. The nice thing is that it is formulaic. It requires the student to improve on their writing. After my ds did a co-op class using it, I found some dress ups naturally moving into his summaries. I have found it to be the best program that teaches me to teach my children. Like I said before, I don't really care for it - the TM is just notes and I'm not a DVD for the teacher lover, but it really gets the job done. I can get past all that for the sake of making writing instruction easier. Beth

She needs to stretch her math time tolerance (at least that's what I tell ds). Soon enough, she'll be in Algebra and you can't get away with 15-20 minutes of math per day (which is again what I tell ds). Beth

It's expensive for what you get, but it's well done. They do have homeschooling days. The last one was in October? I got 3 kids and 1 adult in for $15. THAT was worth it. I would never pay full price. Beth

We took ds 11 off of dairy and it seems to have really helped. We let him eat pizza one night after two weeks of dryness - wet pull ups. This child is not getting dairy for a while - I think I'll try magnesium also. Can't hurt! Beth

My son (10) started whining on Sunday about not wanting to start school on Monday. Monday morning I told him he would have to be in bed by 7pm any day that he whines about school. "Obviously" he needs more sleep. If nothing else, it gets the whiner away from me for a respite. It did work and so far, has helped him keep it in check (I can tell when he's trying to hold it together). Beth

I am beginning to wonder if ds 6 years old is right brained (he is a lefty). He learned to read just fine and I wonder if part of his success is his ability to remember how words look rather than the phonics - he knows phonics, but I think he just "remembers" the words. About math - somehow there seems to be a disconnect. For example, we have been working on making 10 ( 5+5, 2+8, 3+7 etc) for 5 months and he still doesn't get it. I'll ask him what number goes with 2 to make 10. He can't tell me. I've put up numbers on boards, done stuff with manipulatives, and played math games with making 10. Still nothing. We're plugging along with other stuff, he can add up to 10 in his head, I just know he won't go further until he gets the what make 10 thing. So, today, I got out some math u see blocks I had laying around. I told him a story about how everyone wants to be like 10 and they have friends who will help them be like 10. He understood completely and knew the matches almost instantly - the thing is - I think he "memorized" the colors that matched first. All this to say, I've been trying to do Singapore math with him but am wondering if Math U See would be a better fit? Beth