Well, we're in the first year of REAL science and really enjoying it, so I feel your pain.... I think we'll probably use R.E.A.L. Science 4 Kids for Chemistry and Physics (in that order) and supplement with something else as well since each is only 10 weeks long. I know that the author is ID, but from all the reviews I've read the text itself is secular. Much like REAL science, they just avoid the evolution issue alltogether, and we'll be doing chem and physics anyhow. So to supplement-- perhaps Singapore? We're using a McGraw-Hill school text as a reading supplement this year and enjoying it, particularly the pictures. Of course, it has the strange "all sciences in a year" structure and we just pick and choose.

Oh no! I have to call me dh... this is a big deal for us. We've gamed all our lives, we actually met playing D&D. How sad.

On school days that I teach, I pop in and out for a few minutes every couple hours at least. On weekends or evenings when I have free time, if dh is doing something I'm not interested in then this may be my choice for entertainment. But this is also my brain break when I'm in my office at work (2-3 days a week)--the one window that is in the background when I sit at my computer. I absolutely must multi-task. When the board switched, I tried for a few weeks not posting, but discovered I was simply spending time reading news sites and blogs instead. At least here I get some interaction with real human beings rather than just consume pre-digested information.

Though I would disagree with them ;-) There was a really interesting article I read (and lost!) online a few years back about "geek" culture and pronounciation. It was written at a sci-fi con, I believe, and one of the observations was that geeks tend to voice un-voiced consonants (we say "foLk" not "foke" for example). I would guess "Feb-RU-ary" would fall into that category as well. I think both my parents drop the R, but the analysis was that since much geek culture is print based they develop habits of pronounciation that differ from their birth families. Just reminded me of that...

Praying here too... DH and I've had amazing experiences with ICUs, ventilators and organ failure---prayer really can work miracles. I know she's in good hands.

I would... but a 45 minute drive doesn't sound that long to me (hey, I live in So Cal, right?), and I love my veggies. I wish I could find one that I liked that close to us...

My older son was my very early reader (so far, he's the only 2 year old)... though he was past Bob Books and such before he turned three. He's six now and he reads fluently--in this case meaning he decodes words on an adult level, though his comprehension is clearly not on an adult level. Occasionally he'll mispronounce a new word ("sylph" is one from recently--I think he said "slyph") but we simply correct him and he'll never miss it again. He's just wired that way. My younger son is 4 and is just starting to sound out words (as you may have noticed on the other board!). It was such a thrill to see all the pieces fall into place as he realized he could actually sound the word out... wow! I'm not expecting fluency for a while, but it will be nice to start Kindergarten next fall with a little bit of reading under his belt. Part of our dillema is that we've never really had a non-reading child before, and most of our family activities involve reading (we play lots of games--board games, role playing game, card games, etc). It's been hard to adjust and make life fun for the younger son as well, and we are pretty chuffed that he'll be reading sometime soon.

I immediately thought of this amazing British place that sells history posters that I saved in links long ago... they look awesome, and they do indeed have composers! Of course, it's in England so probably not the cheapest, but they look so cool... I also second that you can find simple posters with pictures of famous people at your local educational supply store. http://www.schofieldandsims.co.uk/search.asp?subject=History&stage=&genre=Posters

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=69703#poststop I'm using the one Dana posted from "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day", though I'm thinking of baking it in my dutch oven, a la the NYT, rather than do the steam bath thing.... of course, you see how good I am with planning to bake! I'm lucky to went in to look at it, or my whole fridge would be a sticky dough mess.

It was indeed your recipe... but I just wasn't thinking quite how BIG it would get! I'm not sure I could fit a much larger container in my smallish (and very full) fridge), but I can manage to fit two of the 8 qts--luckily I bought square ones so they are space efficient. Now--tell me about how to do the cinnamon rolls, and any other favorite variations?

OK, the bins came as a set of 2, so I moved half the dough to the other one. It had already expanded the lid off the first bucket, and was overflowing by about an inch, so I was just in time. Of course, moving it deflated it by about half, so now it looks pathetically small in its two huge containers. We'll see how it turns out... and please let me know if it says anywhere in the book how big a bucket you are supposed to use?

He's doing pretty well... hasn't been in the hospital since last November. Always lots of upkeep, but in general life is good!

My younger ds has known his letters and sounds for sooooo long, and actually writes pretty well--he can print words if you spell them, upper and lower case--but no reading! No interest, and somewhat resistant to any suggested attempt at learning. Since our first son was reading younger and without instruction (yes, we know that's not the norm) dh and I have been flumoxed--are we supposed to do something? What? When? Tonight I decided to pull out the little Phonics story books (the ones like Bob books, but they aren't) that we haven't tried for a while. And it happened. "A c-aa-t. A cat. A t-aa-nn... a tan cat." Boo-yah! It was an amazing moment, one we'd never really gotten to experience with our older son, and we had high fives all around. Just wanted to share! (Doin' the happy dance) :)

OK, I finally mixed up a big batch of dough according to the "Artisanal Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" recipe that was posted here a few days ago. It calls for 6 cups of water and 13 of flour. I made it in an 8 quart container (and was really excited I found big containers at Smart and Final). I just opened the fridge after mixing it up just over an hour ago, and the whole container is already full. :eek: I thought it would be rising for a whole night--now I'm worried. Do I need a bigger bucket? Will it continue to expand and overtake my whole fridge? I'm hoping it will be fine, but I'm willing to try to find a larger container somewhere!

About Simply Spelling--this does look interesting. We're in SWO C, it's going well--but I can't say that DS loves it. He's a "natural" speller, I guess--he usually only misses one or two of the list words to begin with, and doesn't miss any on the retest. We don't do any drilling whatsoever, just let him do the workbook exercises on his own. Does Simply Spelling replace regular copywork? Most days in earlier levels just say to write one word--is that really enough spelling--seems like that would take, oh, two seconds. Did I miss something? Can you please describe how you would implement this at the 1st or second level (whatever would be equivalent to SWO D).

Ours all have to be able to be both veggie and meat based, as ds3 and I are vegetarian and ds 6 and dh are not. Frequent meals include: Stir fry -- made with chicken or tofu, served with brown rice Spaghetti and meatballs or veggie "meat"balls for TJs Lentil pilaf (served topped with cheese and sour cream) <--- my favorite Steak or grilled tofu, veggies and salad Vegetable soup with matzoh balls <--- my oldest ds's favorite meal Fajitas made with steak or "steak" by Morningstar farms Big salad

Thank you all! See, I knew you guys would make me feel better---obviously I'm not near your carts at the store. I've got to get a little more creative with my produce buying as well. Time to hit the farmer's market!

Thanks for posting... there didn't seem to be a new Torchwood this week (or our recorder missed it?) so I have to wait until next Saturday for my sci-fi fix. Sigh. At least Lost is on again...

We talked about it before we had children. I had lots of negative school experiences as a young child, and we both thought we could do better academically. The idea of a family-centered lifestyle was compelling. I found TWTM and read it when I was pregnant with our first ds--been on the boards ever since! He's in 1st grade now...

Yes. You will drive... let's see... 45 minutes to my church. You will. You know you want to. :-) You could even come to Jewish services on alternate Fridays at Makom Ohr Shalom! How's that for one stop shopping! (I did tell you that Rabbi Debra is awesome, right?) I'm kidding, of course, but in general there is something about a good fellowship that makes it worth the drive. We actually live 25 minutes or so from the church I serve, and we make the kids listen to "A Prarie Home Companion" on the way home. We love it, they complain, but we figure some day they'll hear Garrison Keillor and it will make them homesick for the good old days of mom and dad and Sunday mornings. Love ya, Michelle!

I was thinking of the Outlander series as well... fun historical adventure romance, with plenty of s*x. I quite enjoyed them, though it's been a long time since I've read the series.

We're big believers in the "bottomless" method here too... though with my 2nd ds (the stubborn 3yo), it took a month of cleanings up. (Is that encouragement, or not?) Some of you may remember my frantic posts---he was pooping everywhere, he'd sneak off and hide. We think he just prefered the standing position, and didn't want to have to sit. I'd chase him with the potty... but after about 4 weeks, he finally went on the potty once, and has never had an accident since. But he would have happily used pull ups until his dying day. :-)

Take care, take it slow and be gentle. Your friends are always here for emotional support and positive strokes...:)

I do have to say that reading the actual reading is very upsetting--it seems to dismiss the very foundation of the right to homeschool (and, actually, to use any non-public schools). I'm wondering where this is going to go?

Happy birthday to both of you... enjoy your special day!