Is it because Caledonia is near Racine? Does that disqualify Mt. Pleasant also? Also, why? Beth

My dh and I are considering moving to south eastern Wisconsin - Mt. Pleasant, Calcedonia, Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie area. are there any yes go there or NO DON"T DO IT suggestions? Beth

My 7th grade son is completing Saxon Algebra 2 and because of his age and his increasing workload, I am thinking about having him take another Algebra 2 course at a higher level of difficulty. He is completing Saxon Algebra 2 successfully and usually misses problems because of stupid calculation errors rather than true lack of understanding. I am looking for a homeschool friendly textbook. What that means to me is that I do not want to have to hunt down a detailed solution manual and answer key nor have to ask a publisher for special permission to buy their very expensive teacher manual. Part of the reason I do like Saxon is that it has a simple answer key for him to check his own progress, but it also includes a detailed solution manual that writes out the steps taken to get to that answer in case we both don't know how the answer was arrived at. Any suggestions? Beth

You take 4 weeks to do that particular paper correct? One week on beavers, one week on ants, ect...So, each week, we did that one paragraph with all the dress ups. By the fourth week, all we had to do was to add an introduction sentence and a concluding sentence and stick all the paragraphs together. We had already done all the dress-ups. There's another paper with inventors later in the book. We took 4 weeks for that one also. Am I missing something? Beth

Yes, when I was a director a couple of years ago, they were changing things up with area leaders (I'm not sure what they're called). They got paid based on new enrollment and new groups opening up. I'm not sure if they got paid if all their groups stayed open, but I know there was kickback for new groups. The business is run with a ministry mentality in the lower leadership levels (i.e. I don't have to get paid as much because I'm doing it as a ministry to homeschool moms) with a profit mentality in the upper levels (i.e. how can we make money in this venture). Right or wrong, it's what is happening. Beth

I also got honeymoon cytist when we honeymooned in Mexico. We were at a timeshare and couldn't find a doctor. So, we heard you could get antibiotics without a prescription at any pharmacy. So, my husband is trying to explain a UTI in his broken Spanish. Something about fire coming out of my nether regions...whatever I got did the trick. Beth

I've been counting down the number of lessons we have in each book. I am tired of winter and keep wondering if my kids are as moody as I feel. They haven't been able to go outside a good portion of the winter because it's been too cold. Winter just whammed us with another foot or so of snow and now has decided to turn arctic cold again. The main highways to get anywhere fun have been deemed "lethal". I am sooo done with winter and really wish February had something interesting to look forward to. But then again, anything of value around here would probably have to be cancelled due to weather. I need to go get some vitamin D now... Beth

Online classes and being mostly independent to accomplish a certain workload. He likes doing things his own way without my interference. He's 13, so it's working for us this way so far. Beth

My son is currently doing a Narnia class at the Potter's school. Each week, he needs to write out answers to questions and almost every week do some sort of creative writing assignment of 100+ words, write 2-3 paragraphs comparing/contrasting, or some such extra writing assignment. In addition, he is learning how to craft a well written 5 paragraph paper using quotes, a thesis, and arguments to back up that thesis. It's been really good to have someone else to push him farther than I could. He just needed some outside accountability. My plan is to start in 6th grade with my 2 other children and enroll them in a basic writing class for that age and progress through Potter's school writing classes as they get older. I can use IEW to give them a decent foundation, but I need outside help to build on that foundation. I'm a math brain and writing is something I just need outside help with. Beth

Microscope, science kits - Magic School Bus, Imagineering videos by Disney,

I had ds#2 do IEW for 4 years. It worked well enough and I do think it helped him to learn how to write a paragraph, craft a sentence, and use words he wouldn't otherwise use. By the 4th year, I was only having him use some of the dress ups once in a 3 paragraph paper. Then, he wrote something without any direction from Key Word Outlines or using dress ups. I was impressed and realized for this particular child, IEW would hold him back. I do think it gave him a foundation of how to write, but I also think it was good to stop when we did. He has a writing class this year and is doing well. I listened in on a class and one girl was reading her paper. She was most likely a type -A follow the rules because I could sniff IEW dress ups a mile away. She used ALL of them in EVERY paragraph. Honestly, it was hard to listen to because it was so full of adverbs and adjectives. Wow--- That all being said, I am using it for ds#3 to get him started on the path to writing. It gives him a place to start and to stop and is helping him write. My plan is to continue for 3 years with IEW and then also enroll him in an online writing class. I think it can work to get kids used to writing and teaching them some foundational skills, but I'm not sure how it would work as a program to use throughout their whole school career. Beth

Do I know you?!? Seriously, my son had a girl in his mainstream class with the same name. Her parents were immigrants so I just always assumed they were learning the language and got mixed up? Everyone who knew her thought it was a little on the odd side because no one would really believe that was your real name. I'm in Minnesota btw. Beth

My mom and 2 sisters live in Mt. Prospect which is a 30 minute express train from downtown. It is an older neighborhood that feels like a small town in a lot of ways. There is a central "hub" with the library, ice cream shop, and other cute stores and a suburban feel outside of that. My mom moved there in the past 3 years and loves it. Beth

I am in the process of doing IEW with my 2nd learner. The first child did IEW for 3 years and we stopped because I found out he was a much better writer without the Key Word Outline and dress ups. I'm in my 2nd year with my 3rd grader. The problem that I've seen with both children is that as boys, they state the facts and never elaborate. The more creative writing paper my 3rd grader wrote is BORING. Yes, the IEW dress ups add a bit to it, but otherwise, dull dull dull. Very factual and to the point. I've looked at classical Composition and have wondered if this would help my ds to be more descriptive in his writing. Any thoughts? Beth

I like anything by Jamie Langston Turner. The one I'm reading does have some romance near the end, but it's not over the top and fits into a normal person's experience. She just has good stories. They can be read in any order and characters from her other books show up in the new book just as a person you would meet at the grocery store or something like that. Beth

I'm starting to think about high school and requirements for college. I'm not sure any of my children will attend college, but I would like to make that an option and will do a college prep for high school. That being said, foreign language is something I cannot teach at all. Everyone has their weak skills and that is mine. How can I have my children satisfy the foreign language requirement? Would Latin be an option? It's either that or Spanish. I'm open to on-line classes. Let's just assume for the sake of argument that there are no community college options available. Beth

He has absolutely no thoughts about the future. He is a very typical 13 year old boy. I'm trying to give him some control over his future and he'd rather just have dh and me decide for him. We're working on that. He is pretty good at marketing/selling stuff. He's come up with logos and marketing plans for his little businesses he has created. I can see him starting a business in the future if he could figure out a product. I'm not sure how to prepare him for that. Beth

My ds is only in 7th grade, but as I'm thinking about 8th grade, I realize I need to have some sort of plan in place for high school so that his 8th grade year is preparing him for that. I have two thoughts that I'm wrestling with right now. The first is making sure he is prepared rhetorically to stand firm in his faith in order to combat the various worldviews roaming around out there. High school would be college prep dealing with a lot of rhetoric. The second thought is to have him try to get as much college credit as he is able so that his possible debt load is either non-existent or very reduced. I am seeing too many young couples having to wait to start families because of college debt. Then when they do try to start, they face infertility issues because they are older. One of my friends said if you want your grandchildren to have a stay at home parent, you need to make sure they have little to no college debt. I believe he has the ability - maybe not the motivation though. I have homeschooling friends whose children have completed college while in high school, completed at least 2 years of college, and one who has gotten a para-legal degree. We will not have the money to pay for any college unless dh gets some sort of unbelievable job that will provide for our special needs son long term while having extra for college tuitions. I'm just debating which is more important. I know ultimately, dh and I will have to decide because honestly, ds has no opinion on the subject whatsoever at this point in his life. I'm just looking for input for those who are actually in the midst of it. Beth

Raccoons got into my home growing up through the chimney and decided to live in our basement while we were on vacation. My dad found out about their presence only after he discovered fleas growing in his bedroom shag carpet. Beth

I have sat with my ds who was doing a lot of problems wrong and helped him see the mistake right away. That way, he only did the lesson once instead of twice which he was doing to correct all his mistakes. I like Saxon because it does spiral and helps a student "get bored" with the problems. A bored student really understands the problems. I think some kids like my son miss the details. I also really think those kids need to learn to pay attention to detail.

While living in MN, we have conceived two children. One born in late September and one born in the middle of October. :lol: Beth

nope Antarctica At 9 a.m. Monday, the temperature in Minneapolis was a sitting at about -20. At the same time, the temperature at Concordia Station in Antarctica was -19. ESA Concordia Station, Antarctica Ice cream freezer Most grocery store ice cream freezers are kept at about -20, a perfect match for morning temperatures in the Twin Cities. Not quite as cold as Mars The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station on the planet Mars most recently recorded air temperatures between -60 and -125 degrees Celsius, equal to -76 to -193 Fahrenheit. Temperatures in Minnesota bottomed-out at about -35 F. A WIND CHILL WARNING is in effect until Tuesday at noon, with wind chills of -40 to -60 Monday morning and frostbite times of around 5 minutes. The high temperature in the Twin Cities will top out at -16 Monday afternoon, dropping to -20s with wind chills between -40 to -60 again Monday night.

My friend's dh mentioned that we are only 100 degrees away from a really nice day. Wow. That's quite the swing of temperatures! Beth

My oldest student was also an intense personality (I'm not sure why God is giving me these children as an introvert!). He was my only student with an older brother going to school and a younger brother by 4 years so it was very do-able. His best times of the day were late morning. Around 2-3 pm, he was cranky and irritable due to hunger, being tired - I'm not sure. I realized that if I had sent him to school, all I would see is this miserable, cranky boy and think that was all he was. I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see a different side to him that was a really fun, excited to learn kid. I enjoyed being his teacher and he enjoyed learning whatever I could throw at him. My dd on the other hand is not ever happy about school, so it's a little different. I am hoping for right now as she gets older, she calms down a bit. I am also assuming we may not be near a school we can afford or like so I'm trying to figure out how to make the subjects she has to learn bearable for the both of us. I can see her liking any science I give her, it's the rest of the subjects that terrify me a bit... Beth

I have a black and decker one cup coffee maker (http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-Single-Serve-Coffee/dp/B008YS1WXE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1388788889&sr=8-3&keywords=black+and+decker+one+cup+coffee+maker). It makes coffee and doesn't require filters. The travel mug isn't great. It doesn't make anything special though. Just simple coffee. I had a Bodum french press coffee maker for a while until the glass on it shattered. It worked OK - I did get some grinds in it - not too much but enough to notice. Beth