The only reason I say we would still use a desktop is that I envision using it as a sort of server for for managing content between the iPads and possibly doing some bookkeeping work. Plus we have years of pictures, presentations and other files for our business and personal things we need to store somewhere. I also like the idea of a large screen. There's probably a way to do my bookkeeping on the iPad but I'm not sure I'm ready to convert everything from quick books yet. With the iPad I have a remote access app which allows me to access my computer from anywhere. This eliminated the need for a laptop for travel. Now I just leave my laptop and access it from the iPad if I need something on the computer. It's possible when the laptops die that we just decide to buy a server or hard drive instead of a desktop. I'm still thinking this thorough and deciding what we need. As far as what I can do on the iPad that I can't do on the laptop I would list writing in it like a notebook or journal as the biggest benefit for me. I'm a big note taker and prefer to write when taking notes. I type quickly but just find that I retain information better if I write. The iPad has taken the place of a notebook for me. It's also better for having dd do schoolwork while we travel. We are out of town now and I brought math and some language arts worksheets in PDF that she writes on directly on in Notability. I also prefer the iPad for watching movies. It's easier to hold in a chair or in bed than the laptop. I take video on the iPad and can edit it. I have both a digital camera and a digital video camera but always hated that I ended up with a bunch of short videos and without expensive software I was unable to edit them. On the iPad last night I took 7 or 8 short videos of a parade we attended and in a short time used iMovie to edit them and combine them in 1 video. I use the reminders app to make shopping and to do lists that are always with me when I'm shopping or working and need them. I never liked reading on my laptop but I read frequently on the iPad. For a lot of things like reading it's not that I can't do it on the laptop it's just faster and more convenient on the iPad. There seem to be an endless number of apps available and it seems every day I discover something new I can do on the iPad to make school, work or entertainment easier. This is just what I can think of off the top of my head.

I didn't see the attraction for the ipad until I bought one. I don't know specifically about programming and numerical calculations but I would say that in general, anything you can/want to do on a computer can be accomplished on the ipad but it might require changing the way you think about the task or doing it a little differently. For me, I think the ipad has eliminated the need for a laptop but not necessarily a desktop. I can see our family moving to one shared desktop and individual ipads.

:iagree: You don't have to skip the 4 level analysis all together with your 6 yo. I would either move slowly with the sentences in the practice island book or make up easier ones myself. My 6 yo is doing the sentences now and it is improving her understanding of grammar and good sentence structure. Another option would be to just use FLL and read the Grammar Island for fun.

We saw The Muppets (Dh, 6 yo dd & I) today since we're in Colorado on vacation and it was 25 degrees outside. People from Texas can't do outside things when it's under 30 degrees outside:D We all loved it. DH and I normally aren't big fans of musicals but really enjoyed the movie. It was exactly what a family movie should be; lots of silliness, a struggle between good and evil, little or no crude or adult humor and no attempts by the writers to preach to the audience about some controversial topic in the modern news. This was a sharp contrast with Happy Feet 2 which we saw last week. DD enjoyed it but DH and I both hated it. Between the weird side story with the 2 male krill who discussed raising a family together, the bathroom humor and the slow boring plot it was torture to watch.

It depends on who we are visiting. In some situations we make dd stay with us and remain still and quiet (not interrupting or interjecting unless she's invited in to the conversations). We've often had her read a book while we visit. If the converstions were highly inappropriate it would be a very short visit. If it's people we know well with children we're comfortable with we go with option 1. If we're with close family like grandparents option 2 with less restrictions on joining the coversation. ETA: I realized after reading Jean's post that my answer sounds like we don't let dd talk so I wanted to edit to add that we do feel it's important to have children who comfortably socialize with all age groups and don't have a problem with her participating in coversations when appropriate. That's another reason the answer has to be "it depends" for us because I also feel we need to respect others opinions on where they fall on this issue. We have older family members and families we visit from church who are offended if childrend try to join in adult conversations and consider it to be bad manners so we would handle a visit with them differently than with a family who doesn't feel that way.

I think we provided the same answer but I was really long winded.:lol:

I think the recommendations in the WTM are about when the "average" child is ready to begin particular stages. One of the problems with ps or even most private schools in my opinion is also that they have to work with what's best or appropriate for the average student. Every child is different and one of the benefits of homeschooling is the ability to tailor your child's education to their needs. In my case, I have a 6 year old who reads on a high school level so if I followed the exact recommendations in the WTM she would probably be bored. Even though the books you mention recommend the grammar stage starting at age 9 I believe they are referring to more formal education. The classical methods we're attempting to employ for our children might have started at 9 formally but if you read about the education of Greek scholars, Martin Luther and various others who were brought up with classical methods there was a whole lot of informal schooling taking place in their homes before their formal schooling began. Things like Scripture, reading, Greek, Latin and other subjects were taught by parents or nannies to their children when they were very young. I don't see what most of us are doing with our elementary age children as different from that method. I do see making 5 and 6 year old children (boys especially) in a classroom for 8 hours a day as a horrible method for education and very much in opposition to the methods described in the books you referenced and the WTM.

You can use it 99% of the time without the keyboard. You only need the keyboard for long typing sessions. Even with the keyboard it's still smaller and lighter and easier to use. Even with my case it fits in my medium sized purse. Flash does not work but I don't find it a huge problem. One thing we need flash for is brainpop but they have an ipad app that enables you to see the videos on the ipad even without flash. I find the availability of education and productivity apps to be so numerous that pretty much anything I want to watch a video about is available in itunes or an app and I therefore don't need flash. My laptop hasn't left my office since I bought the ipad. Since dd and I are sharing right now I still need the laptop because she uses the ipad for schoolwork a lot and I work on the laptop while she's doing it. If we had two ipads I don't know if I would use the laptop at all.

Yes and if they would accept it you could even have them sign the pdf on the screen using pdf expert or notability. Either way you can print and/or email the files from the ipad.

There's a device that allows you to mirror the ipad on a tv, projector or monitor. I think I remember a thread recently where someone talked about using the ipad for circle time with her kids and showing everything on their big screen tv.

You can use an app called documents to go which is 9.99 to access and edit Microsoft office files. You will also want to check out Dropbox which is an app for moving files between your computer and the iPad.

When my dd was about 2 1/2 my husband and I went on a 4 day trip. It was a business inventive trip he won and we weren't sure about leaving her. Up to that point she had never spent the night apart from us. My dh struggled with the decision and tried calling to check on her multiple times per day. When we got home my parents picked us up from the airport and we all went out to eat. When we got ready to leave the restaurant dd cried because she wanted to go home with grandpa instead of us. It was a good lesson for us that as long as she's with someone she loves and who loves her she is fine.

I saw this in the skymall magazine earlier this week. It looks pretty cool and dd immediately added it to her christmas list when she saw it. http://www.skymall.com/shopping/detail.htm?pid=204093035&c=10320

There was a really cool shark model in the skymall magazine I read on the plane Tuesday. ETA link http://www.skymall.com/shopping/detail.htm?pid=204093035&c=10320

I agree with this post. I am a little confused about why some people bash mus so much. I am a person who always did well in math and understood concepts easily. I don't think a child benefits from understanding concept if they can't do arithmetic. It's very similar in my mind to trying to teach creative writing before learning grammar, spelling, and good sentence construction. MUS provides a great foundation in basic math skills. I believe we're on a similar plan which involves accelerating it quite a bit. I like the ability to move at dd's pace.

Check the apple store for refurbished iPods. They are less expensive and some with the same warranty as a new one. They have free shipping or you can pick up at a store near you.

:iagree: my 6 yo dd is enjoying the Island series also. She's doing well with the 4 level analysis also. I think it would be fine to read/discuss it together but expect the 8 yo to do the analysis on her own.

I could have written this exact post. We're actually traveling this week and for the first time I'm not stressing over schoolwork not getting done. We will probably get serious again in January but until then we're keeping the schedule light.

I'm not sure how one gets banned but i'm not so far. Trust me, once you get your iPad you will use it enough to discover any issues on a few weeks. I stayed up half the night for the first week or so just playing and figuring out cool things I can do with it. I decided against the 3G. I didn't want to pay for the service so I just have wifi. I might upgrade my cellphone to one that can turn in to a mobile hotspot when I'm eligible but so far I haven't had trouble because so many places have free wifi now. My husband already had a mobile hotspot from verizon & to me that makes more sense than getting the 3G service. When we travel we can use the hotspot for all our devices. Hopefully this message comes across as coherent because I got up at 3:30 this morning to make a 6am flight!

I've been traveling all day and just logged on to see that Reg is banned so I'll try to answer. I bought a new iPad because I didn't know about the refurbished option. I think Ref recently bought 2 original iPads refurbished and I plan to buy my dd one soon. From what I understand the warranty is the same whether you buy new or refurbished. Also, if you aren't concerned about having a camera on the device you could consider the original iPad which you can get for $399.

You can email them to yourself from ibooks and then when you open the pdf from your email use the "open in" option to open in Notability. You can also do this from webpages if you have the ability to get the original pdf again which saves a step. For things that I need to read but dd needs to write on I just open the pdf two times..once with ibooks and once with notability.

I was thinking it would work for us because when you export it as a pdf the original file that can be changed is still in notability and dd could make go back and rework. I make her redo all incorrect problems also. Homeschool moms have high standards.:lol:

I played with this last night and found out you can export to email as a pdf and it worked fine to read on my computer so I assume it would work okay on android too. I was testing this for my husband because he has finally realized he could use an ipad for his business presentations and brochures. He wanted to highlight/annotate and then get it back in ibooks. He also wanted to send stuff to his computer to merge/reorder pdf's in his Adobe software. Everything we tried worked great. You're question got me thinking about this more and I realized that dd could email her completed pdf's to me to check her work. I would think that would be even more useful for a mom with lots of kids!

I was planning on doing a light schedule today but dh decided to golf and take dd along so I'm organizing and packing for our 6am flight tomorrow. We'll be in Colorado for a week so we won't do much formal school. I loaded the math worksheets for the week on the ipad along with a few other things and I have a Thanksgiving unit study I plan to print for her when we get there. It is mostly fun/crafty stuff she can do on her own. I do plan to spend some time planning while we're gone because we've been a little of track so far this month. Also, if I don't forget while we're in Colorado I plan to have Mikaela write a letter to Sylvia with some mountain pictures and a Colorado postmark.