Thanks so much for putting this together, and for sharing too!

We did have vegetable tempura with soy-ginger dipping sauce (from TJs) for lunch--does that make up for the dull apples? :001_smile:

I'm watching too, but not letting my boys watch. I think they would enjoy it, and I don't have a problem with any of the nudity... but that tarring and feathering gave me nightmares for days. Way too gruesome for my viewing. Otherwise, I'm super enjoying it!

I get the binding cut off my SOTW student pages, have the teacher's pages separately comb bound, and then put the student pages in the appropriate place with my SOTW workbook pages... at least I did last year, and I will this year if I get the SOTW II pages finished. You can check out my workbook pages here: http://www.lulu.com/content/796912

Ground beef. Grew up lots of places, mostly midwest, west and east. I've never heard anyone say "hamburger meat"!

Here it is--out my front door as of this morning. Wow! Amazing! You guys are all so lucky with all that land... I look at the side of my neighbor's house-- in townhomes with just a patio!

Does anyone have a computer scheduling program that allows you to schedule everyone's events, and will also sync to Palm OS (dh and I both have Palm based cell phones)? I've found a few things online, but I'm wondering if anyone has used anything like this. My only other option is to buy a Weasley clock.

Usborne makes a dinosaur atlas... basically a nice dinosaur book, but organized geographically. I have an older version. http://www.amazon.com/Usborne-World-Atlas-Dinosaurs/dp/0794517390

Stick with what works. Nothing is going to be "perfect", and you're less likely to end up with missed areas if you don't jump around from curriculum to curriculum, as they generally cover it all but at different times. Personally, I like Singapore--great coverage of concepts. But it expects that you do math fact drill/memorization at a different time, and requires you to schedule that on your own. If that is a weak area, I'd spend some time focusing just on fact mastery for a while.

Welcome back, Links! I was on vacation when the board switched, and it took me a couple of weeks to adjust. Now I'm pretty happy with it... Glad to see you! Maybe you can help me find an avatar picture that looks just like me...

Plan for 2nd grade, starting this summer: SWO D GWG 4 CW Aesop HWT grade 2 printing book and copywork Literature 400-1600 AD (kids versions of Beowulf, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Arthurian legends and other medieval lit, maybe some unabridged as read-alouds) Minimus Secundus (is latin part of language arts?)

Who was it who stored their's for years in the freezer, and then it was mistaken for frozen strawberries? That was a great story!

I push in their weak areas (or the areas they don't enjoy, anyhow) and lure them onward in thier strengths. For me it's all part of the education process--while I want them to excell some day in thier chosen field, a barrel only holds water up to the top of its shortest stave.

OK, I'm a stickler for it. In this day and age, I shop online to save money... if I go to a store, I expect some service. Case in point: We went shopping to a new game store today. Game stores are few and far between, so we drove almost an hour to get there. We had collected items to purchase that would have been a couple of hundred dollars. Then... I went to ask a question of the employee, and he basically ignored me for a while because he was talking to some friends (the only other customers in the store) about their Warcraft game. Finally I got his attention, and he wouldn't let me open a wrapped book to see what was inside it--fairly unusual for a non-sealed book. Nothing horrendous, but that, combined with the eye rolls at my kids for liking Pokemon and his ignoring me and general "please don't bother me with business, I'm hanging out right now" attitude ticked me off. It wasn't horrific rudeness, just 'tude from a 20 something man, not the middle schooler he was acting like. He was actually snickering at me with his friend when I walked out after asking for his name. My feeling was that I don't care to support anything but good customer service, and prefer not to shop there. My dh thought he was rude, but it was a good store in terms of selection, so just ignore it. My dh thought asking for his name was "making a scene". He is totally unassertive about these things, so it's hard for me to judge if I was just being over sensitive. How about you? Does customer service trump all, or are you willing to put up with it to shop where you want? How bad does bad have to be? I don't want to be the "service-Nazi"... really.

Oh yeah, I'm with you on that! Give me real maple or I'll pass on the pancakes, please.

Go to comic book stores, comic book conventions (OK, I kinda like the conventions:001_smile: ) and eat at steak houses.

I stole a small spool of rainbow colored ribbon once when I was about 13. I felt so bad about it, absolutely wracked with guilt, I went back the next day and "accidentally" overpaid for something else and then fled before they could flag me down. Ugh. My kids--not yet. Though when he was a toddler, my oldest ds took a wallet off a display and put it under our stroller. I really don't think he was old enough at the time to be intentionally trying to steal it. It set off the alarm at the door, and the guard and I had a fun time trying to figure out what it was. When we located it, she just let me walk it back to the counter.

Dh did the grocery shopping, and just arrived with a pint of this and a spoon. :001_smile: Wow. I'm seriously in heaven here.

I agree with you! Good advice for a general interest presentation (maybe even a guest sermon)... but for college? Grad school? Higher education should have just that--higher standards. Deeper content. I think group work and discussion can be valuable even in that setting, but it cannot replace the basic experience of absorbing information. Even seminar format classes I took (small groups around tables) were intense, long, and content-rich. And would not have been helped by a powerpoint presentation at all!

She has a daughter in 2nd grade, and a 2yo at home. The daughter's teacher isn't good this year, though she goes to an expensive private school. Public schools aren't really a good option in their area, and money isn't an issue. Both she and dh are well-educated, erudite people... and I think both socialization and academic fears are an issue. What advice would you her as she begins to investigate? Not for sure, but my guess is that she would tend to be more interested in Unschooling or Charlotte Mason than Classical.

Stock my pantry with napkins, plastic ware, sugar, cream, salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard or any other condiment packets taken from restaurants. My depression era grandmother does this--fills her purse when she eats out. Her theory: it isn't stealing because they charge way too much for food anyways. She loves to say things to waitresses like: "I could make this fried chicken at home for 50 cents! Why does it cost $9.00?" BTW, she really is not so poor that she couldn't afford these things, but believes that she is.

Lol! Pam, I've got to drive out to TN to meet you next time I'm in Virginia. I can see you now... the 80 year old male homeschooling mom, sitting on his porch with the outhouse behind. I know that many people in the world live without indoor plumbing, but it does really shock me that people in the US still do (other than while camping, but that's another story). You're going to have to write your autobiography some day "Pam: From Outhouse to Flaming Sword, The Story of One Woman's Journey to Self Discovery". Or something like that.

No way! You shock me, Amy! I actually just got off the phone with a friend/colleague and we were planning--a pedicure outing to a cool Chinese foot massage place. They don't speak English, can't explain what they are doing, but apparently it's awesome. Because you don't want to, or time/family/whatever hasn't made it happen?

I've never used illegal drugs. I've never gone to a nude beach (or a "naturalist resort"). I've never watched American Idol or Survivor. And I'm not planning on it. :tongue_smilie: On the list of things I'd really like to do but have not: Learn to surf, scuba dive, visit Egypt.

Well, when I got married (15 years ago) both families contributed to the wedding expenses. We had a smallish (100 guests), nice but not "fairy tale" wedding (church, reception, picnic the next day--at my dh's family home). We were right out of college, and we contributed our savings to the cost, our share was about $5000, I have no idea what the total was, but probably around $25,000. Plus both families paid pretty much equally--and my divorced parents both contributed. Everyone wanted to have an event they could invite thier friends and family to, many of whom travelled a long distance to come. It was important to my FIL to invite his business associates (who gave the best gifts, btw), my mom wanted to invite her cousins and other relatives I've never met etc. for the wedding of her only child. They also had input into the event-- for example: dh and I don't drink, but my in-laws inisted on an open bar, so they paid for it. I don't know about the "fairy tale" stuff, but it makes perfect sense to me that both families contribute. It was lovely, and while I probably would do some things differently now, at 22 we were very happy with the wedding. When my sons grow up and get married, I expect that if I want to invite my friends (which I will!), I'll have to contribute some money.