Oxford, CT here!

That's GREAT to know! My folks live in Dead Fred... I mean Fredericksburg (sorry, old habits die hard... it was such a quiet farm town back in the day). I'll be sure to check it out next time we visit them.

A friend on the boards took SOTW 3, dived deeper into American History, spread it out to be ~1.5 school years and condensed SOTW 4 into a little over a semester. I am in the process of planning the same thing (literally... that's why I'm online and poking around this topic). I will omit a chapter here and there in SOTW 4 and cram and jam the last book so to speak.

Wow. It took me a minute to wrap my head around what you both did (granted it is a Friday night :D). This bar method is new to me so I appreciate your help. Thank you very much. Now... onto number 23. :lol:

Okay, this is the first time I've been stumped since I've started homeschooling (it is humbling and it is only the beginning). I have a math background and I can't figure out how to explain to my dd how to solve this word problem without using algebra. :confused1: Using the Singapore bar method explained in chapter 1, can someone please help me understand how to explain the following problem to my kid? Again, the solution must use the bar method Singapore is using... no cheating with algebra or trial and error. Ch.1, #22 Gina had 3 times as many strawberries as Fanny. After she had given 24 of her strawberries to Fanny, Gina had twice as many strawberries as Fanny. How many strawberries did they have altogether? Altogether? I'll be lucky to figure out how many strawberries Fanny has! :lol: Seriously, help, please?

Me too. But now I feel like my family is penalized for NOT being on facebook. Even the church only updates everyone via facebook (um, there are great grandparents at our church and I somehow doubt they are on facebook too). Everyone plans activities via facebook so we never hear about them. But frankly, then I hear about the drama and I remember why we don't have an account. Plus, I was stalked the first few years of our marriage. The dork found my MOM on facebook and tried to get in touch with me via her just this past March. I just don't want to go "there". I am more peaceful with less to do. I need to focus my time on my marriage, my kids, family, friends and time with God... not all the drama, brag fests, etc. I could go on but I won't.

me too!

To the OP and many others, I hear you loud and clear. My heart has been resonating those same, or VERY similar thoughts for the past year. I have emailed and asked many others as to how to deal with this desire on my heart. Here is what I have come up with for OUR family: 1. I am trying to study or spend time with the Lord daily, me, myself, BEFORE the kids get up. In fact, I start back tomorrow morning. No more excuses. Time to get back to good habits and rebuild ME before I can start leading the kids in the classroom in August (22nd). 2. I chose to invest in BJU Bible for the kids. My oldest will be going into 4th and my middle into 2nd so I opted for 3rd. Bible is the first part of the day so it will hold me accountable to start our day in prayer. I tend to get focused on check lists and school that I forget WHY we homeschool! 3. I opted to invest in BJU Science at each kids' level. I wanted the kids to have a Christian view on science and I love how BJU glorifies God in all of the teachings. Many would complain too much but for those seeking God in their classroom, this is a nice thing. It is a good fit for US. We have used BJU in the past and loved every minute of it. 4. I am trying to do a devotional for tweens with my 9yo which helps HER to see God and Christ in her choices. 5. Last but not least, we subscribe to Sirius/XM to listen to The Message Christian radio when we are in the car. We have Christian music on Dish Network (channel 975) we turn on when we aren't in lessons. Praise music helps refocus me and keep my "Satan Deflector Shield" up. I hope these ideas help.

Is there any regularity to the order of the resources? If so, you can use the autoincrement and sequencing in combo. So like this: Assume 3 books. Each book is used 1 lesson and then repeat. Set up book 1 with an auto sequencing incremementing by 3 (1, 4, 7,...) Set up book 1 with auto incrementing on pages (1-2, 3-4, ...) Set up book 2 with auto sequencing starting with 2, incrementing by 3 etc. If it is totally random, yep, its drudgery but still worth it, imo, because my kids thrive and love assignment sheets. I can take a lesson plan and send it to assignments with dates (picking the days of the week we do it) and voila. I hope that helps. PM me if you have any issues. I've been using HST+ for years and am up to date.

resurrecting this loop. Anyone else want to weigh in since this thread was started about a month ago? Any of you planning to put your system in actually do it?

Okay, after a year in New England and a LONG winter and rising oil prices with no hope of them getting better, we are looking at alternatives to heat our home. Our biggest challenge, as it turns out, is that the main living area of our home (not the basement) is 2700 sqft. The house is going on 11 years old. We started seriously looking at pellet stoves yesterday (nonstop research, went to a store, the works). We are focusing on inserts given we have a fireplace. What we are discovering is there aren't a lot of units designed for a house as large as ours. We are not looking to replace the oil furnace, just do something to prevent it from coming on so much! Last year's oil bill was $4,200 and it is expected to be significantly worse this year. If you have a pellet stove, what do you like? hate? If your stove runs well and is easy/manageable, what brand model do you have? If you hate your stove and have done nothing but fight with it, what model do you have? If you considered a pellet stove and opted NOT to get one, what did you decide to do instead? Has anyone had success running a heat pump to cut oil bills? But I hear they aren't as efficient or useful at below 30 degrees... December, January, and half of February had highs in the single digits. Sigh... my falls and springs are gorgeous?? :) Guys, we can't continue to feed this tank all winter. Each fill up hits about $800-$900 every 4-6 weeks and the prices are only getting worse. A pallet of pellets run about $270 and last the same 4-6 weeks. Help. :bigear:

No kidding! Days had passed and I didn't see the refund so I emailed them. Here was her response: " Thanks for writing. You must email us to request a refund for the ecamp so that is why it never got processed because we didn't receive any request from you until now. I have went ahead and processed your refund of $87 for the summer ecamp. You can expect to see this refund on your account within 1-4 weeks. Thanks for trying out the program. " I would think the cancellation was the request but whatever. I wanted to pass the word along in case anyone else assumed it would just be taken care of like I initially did. I am happy to put the money to better use right now. :)

Hey. SS e-camp did not work out for us this summer. I thought it was a great program, just wrong season for us. I found out that if you opt to cancel and want a refund, you MUST cancel from your account by June 30th AND request a refund via email by June 30th. If you just cancel and don't contact them for a refund by the 30th, you won't get a refund. :glare: Anyway, just in case anyone needed to be aware or forgot to cancel after not using it.

Hey. SS e-camp did not work out for us this summer. I thought it was a great program, just wrong season for us. I found out that if you opt to cancel and want a refund, you MUST cancel from your account by June 30th AND request a refund via email by June 30th. If you just cancel and don't contact them for a refund by the 30th, you won't get a refund. :glare: Anyway, just in case anyone needed to be aware or forgot to cancel after not using it.

I agree with the answer key part. Most aren't aware the CBD carries the answer key separately for $4.95 per level rather than a $20+ Teacher Guide. Try this link: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=vocabulary+from+classical+roots+answer+key&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCN&nav_search=1&cms=1

If you want a conservative Christian view, BJU has their American Republic book that is for 8th graders, but may be manageable?

Us too but he is CEO and I am COO - he makes the decision in this situation and I would support him ad help make it happen. Besides, the COO manages the operation of the house.... just like Titus and Proverbs tells us to. In the end, this is my least favorite situation. Rarely does he play the upper card and usually lets me have my way but when he DOES play the card, I respect him and back down (not easily and I try not to grumble too loudly). Good luck!

I did my homework with Consumer Reports. Opted to buy a Hoover Windtunnel bagged (I hate the mess with the canister and they don't suck as well). Since when did Target and Walmart stop carrying the tride and true Hoover Windtunnel bagged? Now they only carry bagless! ARGH. I have to buy online and wait for it to arrive. :glare:

Same here, but mine are 2, 6,and 9 and the $10 includes tip (I like round numbers) and I round up when there is a partial hour.

A friend of mine on the boards pulled off SOTW4 in 20 weeks by blowing through it quickly and skipping the stuff she didn't feel her kids were ready for or just plum didn't feel the need to cover at this age. With that said, I plan to do the same and use the remainder 16-20 weeks to lengthen SOTW3 so we can spend a little more time on American History. For me, I envision stretching SOTW3 by pausing and lingering to fill in American History. I have already started to collect materials for that year so I have plenty of time to plan it. I hope this idea helps achieve all of your goals: stay on cycle, add in more Am History, and lighten the intensity of SOTW4. LB

Given the size of the tick, and given mgh's posts, I did some research. It appears to have been a Lone Star Tick. The latest CDC says all research shows the Lone Star Tick does not carry or transmit Lyme Disease. They can, however, transmit an infection that would need some oral antibiotics. The good news is this infection has no history of neuromuscular, brain, or other type long term issues. We'll monitor her throughout the night and call the new ped in the morning to have her seen. I needed to get in and meet the new ped anyway. If at any point the fever goes up, I won't hesitate to run to the ER. Thanks ladies.

I agree. I used to run a custom embroidery business. I sold the 6 needle machine, thread, everything a year and a half ago and got rid of the guilt. I have cleaned out black garbage bags of fabric and craft supplies and donated them to good will and nursing homes. I feel better that it is gone because now I don't feel guilt with it staring me in the face and thinking it is going to waste. I held on to the sewing machines and I do use them every so often. I have been teaching my 2 oldest to sew which helps too. I still have a lot but it gets better and better. Can you incorporate the machines and teach your kids how to sew? Even boys should be able to fix a button and sew a few basic seams (more is ideal).

I'll try the rags and see if I can pull it off without waking her. We woke her a little bit ago and managed to get her to drink some water (yea!). While we were in there, we took her temp again. It has dropped .4 degrees. Thank you everyone. I am going to wait until morning and keep an eye on her.

We've gave Tylenol at 3 and Ibuprofen at 7. It is currently 9pm and no break in the fever. She vomitted earlier and isn't eating or drinking. To add insult to injury, we pulled a tick out of the cartilidge of her ear at 5:45. I don't know if the symptoms are truly the flu (brother had it on Monday) or if they are related to the tick bite. It was a large tick, not a small deer tick (not likely Lyme disease). We believe the tick was attached for more than 24 hours. The fever not subsiding is making me nervous. The tick upset me. We don't have a pediatrician at the moment (long story) so I can't get anyone to call me back. Urgent Care closed an hour ago. Emergency room or wait until morning are only options. We are talking a 2 year old who needs her sleep so I am not casually waking this kid to go to the ER and have them say, "Well, there isn't much we can do so take her home and keep and eye on her and rotate tylenol and ibuprofen and do your best to keep her hydrated." Help. Does anyone know any tricks?

At the end of the day, the credits they can't argue with are passing the APs. If the student has passed the AP, regardless of how he/she got there, they passed - it is the same exam nationwide. And if your child is that serious about a scientific field (medical, for example), then I would think an AP Bio is a no brainer. The only time christian v. secular really matters is creation evolution stuff which shows up in Bio and Earth Science. If the kid wants to be a doctor, take the AP Bio exam and show them he/she knows their stuff and is serious. In the end, they have to get an undergrad degree before getting accepted to med school anyway, at which point the playing field has been more leveled. Does this make sense? My oldest is very scientific / robotic minded. We have looked and considered this issue too. In the end, we opted for an AP class or two when the time comes and let God worry about the rest. BJU is plenty rigorous for ANY high school student.