I like this!

I'm just now printing all my stuff out for this and am looking at the "test bank" for each chapter. They have a bunch of multiple choice questions, then at the end of those they have the answers listed. Then after that are fill-in-the blank and short answer. The problem is that each of the answers is printed there in red right under each question! Am I missing something? Is there another document somewhere else that just lists the questions that I can give ds, without him seeing the answers? The files I'm using are named "test_bank_2" for chapter 2, etc. Thanks!

I only sorta did this over the summer last year with my rising 2nd grader and rising K-er. I would not buy a workbook for both of them - way too expensive and, in my opinion, not something super-critical for K! In fact, I don't even remember that we wrote in it at all - we did it orally. I'd either do that, or else only print coloring pages for the younger child and make it a point to say that that's his special thing (implying the older doesn't get any), and the older one uses the book. It sure works well in my house to say something like: "the author of the book says to make sure I've printed nice pages for anyone under age 7, and to have anyone age 7 and up write in the book"! Maybe get him a nice folder/binder to decorate and keep them in, and older sibling doesn't have one of those.

There are several high school teams here in town that are just for homeschoolers, and they play against other regular high school teams. Although those other teams are usually smaller Christian schools, but not always. I saw some of the big Catholic schools on their schedule as well. I was just looking into this last night and came across an article about a girl who just went to college and is playing basketball. She was homeschooled, so that's kind of what the article was about. I just sort of skimmed it and now can't remember where it was, unfortunately!

Dawn, are you doing just the games or are you going to use the curriculum? I can't decide! It looks great (just like everything else, right?!).

GREAT idea!

Thank you, I'll pass this along. And she's fine with MP Osborne, I just think there might be something else that excites him a bit more than that. The Odyssey book is also something like 5.6. (I checked recently for my son). But I am starting to question the ratings since Scholastic seems to rate them differently! I do think he'd like that book. Yes, they read out loud a lot. I also suggested audio books in addition to that. Great, exciting stories to get him excited about reading. I used to do that with my ds to get him hooked on a series.

Drat. I can't get it to work. If you click on the link you posted here, can you see it?

Thank you, thank you! I tried to click on the link, but it said it was not a valid page. ?? I have been printing out just the Activity Sheets, Student Reading and Tests. I wish I'd know about bestvaluecopy (never heard of it!). That sounds like a great price. Thanks for that, too. Great for future reference.

thank you all! great ideas!

This website says Grade Level Equivalent of 4.8. So this is very interesting that the other site I looked at says 5.6. Hmmmm....this is making me wonder about about who grades the books and how they are graded!

Thank you, I think you might be right and will pass this along to her.

He loves Star Wars. GREAT idea, thanks! Yes, she wants him reading fiction. See my post a few back about that. Thanks!

Thank you. I just looked it up and it says the reading level is 5.6! Where did you see that it was between 3-4? That seems strange, doesn't it? My kids loved that book.

Are those fiction? My friend really wants to get him reading fiction, mainly because she hopes he'll become engrossed in a story and follow it along. He does read non-fiction about these sorts of things. But I will also mention these. Thank you. And thanks for the comment about Boxcar Children. Some of those are actually 4th grade level (I think the original first one is 4.2), but a few are lower. Thanks!

Thanks. Never heard of the Buddy Files, but they are about the right level. I will suggest those. Looked up EB and Hank, and they are both 4th grade, with Hank being closer to 5th grade.

He is really into insects, not sure if there is a fiction book about that subject! He likes stuff like Indiana Jones, action, not sports. Except I guess he does karate. Maybe there is a mystery book about a karate kid that is studying to be an entomologist.

Can someone help with suggestions for a friend's 4th grade son? He is almost 10, and reads at a 3rd grade level, but it is a struggle for him. So she'd like to find him some good chapter books written at a 2nd grade level and is having trouble. He is reading Magic Treehouse books right now, but isn't being sucked into the story so that he loves them or anything. And I don't think they're all that well written. He likes Cam Jansen. Maybe something like a mystery would be good. I thought of Boxcar Children, but it might be a little higher reading level than they'd like for him. So it needs to be something that doesn't seem babyish and will appeal to an almost 10-year-old boy, but at a 2nd grade level or maybe even low 3rd grade. Fiction. He doesn't enjoy reading since he struggles with it, so hoping to find some great books he'll love. Thanks so much for any suggestions!

Well, I'm sure the parents don't really want or expect a pile of gifts for their kids. It's often stuff you don't want or need, so they'd probably be thrilled to have less of that. And their kids won't notice. Or you could get a couple of things that go together and wrap them together. Like coloring book and crayons (if kids are young) or something that would work for older kids that goes together.

Thank you - I saw this the other day and thought I might look at it to see if there is anything I can use.

Ok, I'm sure I read about this several times, and now when I go looking for posts about it I'm not coming up with anything! I'm not sure what it is, but I got the impression that the student makes one page for each element studied. But I'm not sure what goes on that page - what sort of information, etc.! I guess I should mention that I don't mean something like lapbooking/notebooking or Charlotte Mason (not that I have anything against that, just wasn't what I pictured!). I guess I pictured that it was something more like a regular notebook (either 3-ring, spiral, etc.) and each page had information about a particular element. Notes the student kept for each element. Maybe even a printout for each element that student then filled out? This would be for a 7th grader. Any tips appreciated! thanks.

I want to order Ellen McHenry's Elements, but am not sure if I should get the audio as well. How many songs are on it (the CD), and how helpful were they for your kids learning the information? Thanks!

I think it is good for the kids to get some sun without sunblock, but I think my kids would get too much sun or burn without sunscreen from 9-11. Especially out in full sun for that period. I'd prefer they have sunscreen from about 9:30am or so until about 5:00pm. I know that seems like a long time, but I think they are getting plenty of sun before (playing outside) and after that (playing outside or at the pool) and not only do they not need more, but they'd probably burn. But you obviously know what works for your kids and if they aren't burning or getting a dark tan, I guess I wouldn't worry about it.

I'm not going to print the entire thing out. I can't remember all the parts right now, but I'm just going to print out some of it and read the rest online. So I think it is the student part I'll be printing out (the activity sheets and something else, I think).

I didn't pump exclusively, but I want to say I am very impressed that you have been able to do it for 10 months! That is wonderful! I think one thing you could do is to cut back slowly over the next few weeks so you get more of a break. That's what you'd be doing anyway if you were nursing. Maybe go another week of 3.5 hours, then move it back to 4 hours and do that for 2 weeks and see how it goes. Maybe you could do it for 3 weeks, or else cut back to 4.5 hours after the two weeks. Etc. until they are a year old. Even if you are only pumping 3x per day at that point, that is still great for them and wouldn't be so difficult for you. Good luck and good job!