I put dd's hair in a pony tail high up top of head at night. This makes it less tangly in the am. We do the detangler & combing thing every am but this makes it easier. Also, I finally discovered a leave in conditioner that works well at http://www.mixedchicks.net I prefer the adult formula for dd6. We aussie brand detangler because it works, is cheaper & we go thru a lot but I splurge on the mixed chicks 3 product set of shampoo, deep conditioner & leave-in because it works so much better than anything else I've tried. I think I got the pony-tail idea from their website.

I either scan & email it to myself or I'd I'm at my office where I have an epson wireless printer I use the epson print app to scan directly to iPad. I then use free app noterize to write on it. If it's something that can be typed on I use PDF expert. I also take photos, convert to PDF with PDF converter @ open in noterize I'd I'm away from my computer & printer. This works well for things like taking notes at church where I receive a typed outline. In noterize u can add additional lined pages to add notes to file.

I'm also using FLL3 and think it would work well for you. I skipped FLL2 because of the amount of review and repetition and because it was still mostly oral. I liked that level 3 has student pages and introduces diagramming. I felt like dd wouldn't mind the review if we were learning something new at the same time. So far it's going well and hasn't been too difficult. My dd is working on about a 3rd grade level.

I felt like dd and I were ready for the increased difficulty in LFCa. When we first finished SSL I didn't think we could handle LFC. When we finished Prima Latina & looked at Latina Christiana and LFC but ultimately decided to go with LFC. Here were my reasons: 1) LFC materials are a little more entertaining. I'm not usually one to go out of my way to make school "fun" and other parents who do would probably not consider LFC fun but dd likes the children on the dvd and the little story vignettes that they have between some lessons. 2) LFC seemed to have more new material. Latina Christiana repeats a lot of the same vocabulary from Prima Latina. DD is a fast learner and probably wouldn't want to spend half a year reviewing what she already knows. 3) The website with videos, electronic flash cards & games. We don't do much screen time but this was a nice option to have and we occassionally use it. 4) The memoria press materials have a Catholic slant. We're no Catholic but the prayers/songs to memorize in PL were find with our protestant beliefs but looking at the books that come later in the series there was a little more Catholic content. Nothing major but since the LFC is written from more of a general Christian perspective I thought it was a better fit. This one really wasn't a bit deal for me but with the other reasons it tipped the scale towards LFC I figured if LFC was difficult we would just go slowly and spend several weeks on each lesson if necessary. So far we are 7 chapters in to the book and it's going great. I don't think we could have done it a year ago.

You should not list minor children as the beneficiary on life insurance. Expecially, if you have an ex who you don't want to get the money. Listing children as the beneficiary is essentially the same as listing as listing your ex. Also, listing minor children delays the distribution of the money. Basically, depending on your state you have to wait until a guardian is officially assigned by the court. If you have a person in your life you trust (relative, friend, etc) to handle the money just list them as the beneficiary on the insurance. Insurance is a contract and can be handled outside the estate process. It's a good idea to have a will for the distrubution of other property but it's not necessary for life insurance IF you have a trusted adult you can designate as beneficiary.

When we were at the same point I added mathusee math with the manipulatives. I thought dd was just a faster learner with the language arts stuff than math but discovered that for us we needed the switch to a new program and she started moving just as quickly in math too.

I did SSL with DD and when we got to the end decided to go with Prima Latina. We're now done with PL and have moved on to LFCa. LFC does have a lot of parts. I think it's a great program and we love it. DD really enjoys the program and loves the dvd's with the children chanting and the activity books. However, it is more difficult and covers declensions and grammar and we just weren't ready for that when we finished SSL. PL was a good bridge between the two. It mentions parts of speech and covers lots of derivatives but doesn't get too detailed. Like SSL it's more about learning vocabulary than the structure of Latin grammar. I liked that she learned derivatives and some prayers and hymns in Latin and DD learned a lot. On the downside, it's not near as fun. When we completed it and pulled out the LFC and plugged in the DVD dd actually started clapping. I don't know how far you have to go in SSL but they are working on SSL2. Had that been ready we probably would have skipped PL. If it's not ready I say go for PL before you do LFC.

How's the Greek for Children going? My dd really wants to start it soon. We are 7 chapters in to LFCa and I've been putting her off because I wasn't ready to try to tackle another language right now. We did the Code Cracker for the alphabet and she has the letters down pretty well (me...not so much:glare:). Is there are particular point you think we should pass in LFC first or would you recommend just jumping in while she's interested?

I was going to suggest something similar. We never actually spend 30 minutes a day on Latin and go through an entire lesson. We take 1 1/2 to 2 weeks per lesson. Generally we watch the video the first day and then for two or 3 days just practice the chant several times. A lot of days we do this in the car on our way to activities. After a few days of practicing the chant THEN we start the workbook pages. I've found this helps both of us. We are definately figuring it out together. Some days we have to look at the answer key to make sure we're getting it right. We also do the activity book which dd enjoys and is reinforcement. I guess my main point would be don't rush. We plan to work on Latin year round to make sure we don't forget things so I don't feel compelled to spend 30 min. a day on it.

We are using MUS but ran in to the same situation. We're on Delta which starts division and she just gets it without having to do the lessons. So that we don't miss anything I'm using an approach suggesed by someone else a few days ago. We watch the lesson video (or in your case review the concept to teach) then go to the test for the section. If she gets everything right on the test we do the next lesson. We have done 11 lessons in two days but I'm thinking we'll slow down at some point. If not, we'll just move right on to the next book. Incidentally, this seems to have made math more fun for dd. She's good in math but doesn't necessarily like it. Now she's asking to do it so she can "test out" of having to do so many worksheets.

I really like the Kay Arthur Discover 4 Yourself inductive Bible Study books for children. We start with the one about How to Study the Bible. There are several different books. My dd was a little younger than the target age when we started so we did it together but now she does them herself. www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Thanks for the reminder about Deconstructing Pengiuns. That was on my lists of books to read and somehow I didn't get it yet. I'm downloading it on my ipad now. I'm looking forward to using it to develop our little family book club we've been planning. To accommodate dd's preference and still get the benefits I'm hearing others reference we're going to start doing some outloud reading. I may just have to agree to let her read every other chapter or possibly re-read stuff she's already read on her own. That way we won't have to deal with her frustration with the slower pace.

I didn't take any Latin in school so dd and I began learning together. We started with ssl for pre-k/k, then moved to Prima Latina and now are working in LFCa. We're 7 chapters in to LFC. So far we are both learning and keeping up. SSL & Prima Latina were both more vocabulary based with little or no grammar (PL did reference parts of speech but no conjugation or declensions). So far I'm feeling comfortable with my ability to keep up and learn along with her. I will say the video instruction that comes with LFC has been helpful for me. We also do the chapter "chants" together daily. Not having a Latin background influenced my decision on curriculum to use. I wanted something with video instruction and that moved at a reasonable pace. I thought PL was a good curriculum and dd learned a lot of vocabulary and derivatives from it but we prefer the Classical Academic Press materials.

I say go ahead and start but still work on printing. dd6 has been pushing me to start cursive for well over a year. We finally started in September and I've found it's improving her printing and she's coming along well. I'm using HWOT and there was a section in the teacher guide about teaching cursive to children to help improve their printing. I don't have the information with me now but I remember thinking when I read it that if I had that information I probably would have started cursive when she first asked for it.

We're in a similar spot. We just finished gamma yesterday. Dd doesn't know all her division facts but she knows some. My plan is to watch DVD & do tests daily until we get to a point where it's new material. She enjoys the DVD lessons and there are always cool tips on there so I figure it can't hurt to watch them. We did the first party of gamma the same way. I think we did the first 10 lessons in 2 or 3 weeks.

She does read on a high school level and we discuss books. We are working on a schedule for a family book club where we are all reading and discussing the same books. Also she reads out loud to me a lot which handles the pronunciation issue. She likes listening to stories on tape...like Jim Weiss mp3's but not audiobooks. She has the same issue I do with audiobooks in that they are generally read too slowly for her taste. She is a very fast reader and is able to answer any and all comprehension questions. We spend most of the day discussing and working on schoolwork together. I think maybe we have just been deferring to her preference. I don't dislike reading to her...she just got in to the habit of reading on her own silently. After reading some of the responses I might try to schedule some family reading time...maybe we can rotate the responsibility of reading outloud and see how that works.

Since you are using the same curriculum path I am planning to use maybe you can offer some suggestions. My dd6 is good in math but it's not her favorite subject so she's not self-motivated to work through pages and pages of math like I hear other people's accelerated kids like to do. We are on the last gamma lesson now. I came to the same conclusion you did recently and stopped making her do all 6 pages each week. Her tests are almost always perfect. She makes mistakes occassionally during the week while working on worksheets because she isn't focused and doesn't want to do it (i.e. she stops in the middle of problems and daydreams about tinkerbell). If I sit with her she works every problem correctly with no errors. She generally does this the very first day we watch the video and doesn't require any extra instruction. Here's my questions: 1) By doing only 3 sheets a week (I'm doing worksheets d-f so she gets the systematic review) we'll finish 2 or 3 lessons per week which would put us even further ahead in a subject she's not interested in. Would you slow down...maybe only do half a page a day? supplement with something else on same topic? Spend the extra time in Science or History which she loves? Or would you just keep moving ahead? 2) Would you go straight from Zeta to AOPs with a child who doesn't like math or would you just go ahead with MUS thru Algebra and then switch over? 3) Do you think AOPs will be more interesting and therefore switching sooner rather than later will benefit a child who is more interested in language arts than math?

Am I the only one who doesn't read out loud to my child? I'm sure she would tolerate it if I suggested it but it seems kind of a waste of time since she reads so well on her own. I read to her a lot before she could read fluently on her own but we haven't done any consistent read alouds since she was about 4. She's 6 now and reads for hours on end without being asked. Is this a critical educational component that I am depriving dd of receiving or do others just skip this too?

I have used Vrbo as both a renter & to rent out my family's lake house. We've never had a bad experience. Lately i've been using home away instead because they offer deposit insurance which saves us from sending off a big check & having to wait to get our money back. I paid $39 for a house we rented in July instead of sending a $1500 deposit.

I was going to say upwards also or the YMCA. Basically you need a league where the mentality is less competitive. As a person who was a competitive athlete I know our local YMCA leagues are pretty laid back. To me they go a little far in the everyone is a winner & gets a trophy & not even keeping score direction for my taste because I think it's important to win or lose graciously. It's hard to do that I'd there's no winner. I would also meet with the coach you are assigned to make sure he or she is in line with the leagues philosophies...there are bad coaches everywhere.

I started reading the nasb Bible to dd very early. Not sure exactly what age...maybe 2. I had a curriculum at the time that came with a story book but referenced the verses it came from. I would read the verses...the the story. Obviously the animated children's story version was more engaging and interesting for her but I think it helped her to know where the stories were coming from. We also started memorizing short verses at about the same time. Now at 6 she reads proverbs daily and other books when we are covering them for lessons. I can't remember where we got the idea but she gets up every morning and reads the proverb that corresponds to what day of the month it is. I.e. today she would read Proverbs chapter 16. I'm trying to get her in the habit of daily reading. She's actually more consistent at this point than me...which is convicting!

Awesome, thanks!

Don't know if you saw the other latin thread yesterday so I'm posting here too. Someone mentioned http://www.ispeaklatin.com & I checked it out as a supplement for us to use with lfc. It looks like it might meet your needs.

I see "books for living math" referenced but I don't really understand what everyone means by this. Would someone please explain the concept a for me and offers some suggestions for what to use for a child working on about a third grade level. Dd has finished alpha, beta & gamma from mus & we are starting delta next week. She is good on math but doesn't care for it so I am trying to find something to supplement that might help her enjoy it more. She is a voracious reader & I would estimate reads on a high school level.

:iagree: My dd was 5 when we started the prima Latina book. She is probably working a few years above grade level but I selected the prima Latina after ssl specifically because I thought lfc was a little too difficult at the time. It quickly gets in to declensions and more difficult grammar. I didn't want to take a year off so we did prima Latina. The grammar is gentle, mainly just discussing parts of speech. I thought it reinforced english grammar for her. Also, the derivatives with each chapter served as vocabulary lessons for us. I think you'll find thar it's a solid program. It's not quite as fun as ssl but it gets the job done. Like ssl it's focused on acquiring vocabulary & not actual latin grammar.