I've heard great things about these CISS systems for epson printers. We're about to try one out for ours as a last ditch effort!!!! I agree, the manufacturer's cartridges are redonkilous!!!! ;) http://cgi.ebay.com/Non-OEM-CISS-CIS-Ink-Epson-CX7450-CX7400-CX5000-/400115964852?pt=BI_Toner&hash=item5d28c51bb4

Ergo

Call your doc in the morning and ask them to phone you in some magic mouthwash. You can thank me later! ;) Strep has been REALLY bad this year. I haven't had strep since highschool and got a horrible case right before Christmas. No fun what-so-ever! But the mouthwash was fabulous!!! Get some! Hugs & Prayers!!! :)

Because preschoolers are AWESOME and preschool activities are FUN! When else do you get to paint 3 days a week, cut playdoh snakes daily, play "real life" Farmer in the Dell for 3-days straight, sing silly kid songs and dance like a fool?! Yes, my kid likes to sit down for 20 minutes FIRST thing in the morning to work on ETC but the boy knows that first we work, then we play all day!!! I just try to have engaging activities and materials available for them and they are free to do as they wish. And I would never "make" a preschooler "do school" but when you have one who is ready, and ASKING for schoolwork--then you provide for your child's need. Simple as that!!! :)

We have two main spots in the house for preschool activities (well, 3 if you include "workbook work")... all the games, books, puzzles, musical instruments, trains, manipulatives that can be played with in the floor like wooden blocks, legos, autoblox, trio blocks, etc--those are all stored in the playroom (sorry for the fuzzy phone pic!) All the art supplies are stored in buckets that are hanging from a shelf in our kitchen. Play doh is stored on the kitchen table, about 20 ziploc activities-in-a-bag are filed in a filing cabinet for them, all our math manipulatives, etc are all stored in the kitchen (we also now have a full-size double easel in the kitchen, thanks to santa!) This is where we do all our MESSY work or anything that's too small to get out of the carpet easily (rice, beans, beads, gems, etc) This works out great for us. Everything is in view for them but the really dangerous stuff (paint!) is up where they can't get it without asking (paint, glitter, glue, stamps, etc) They have crayons & markers and plenty of paper within reach and are allowed to use them at the kitchen table whenever they please. We don't take anything that's IN the kitchen OUT of the kitchen (same for food)--this keeps the mess at a minimum but allows them some freedom to create at will. :) I would LOVE to get some under-bed storage containers for farm animals/little people, legos, etc... Not sure who's BED they'd fit under though!!!! ;)

bumping b/c I was about to post the same thread! :lurk5:

We have a Caleb. :) Also, Chance, Colby, Carson, Cameron, Corbin & Christian are some of the C-named boys we know. :)

We went from MUS Gamma to Singapore with great success. Singapore is a soft spiral, but it stays on one subject for a fairly long time. For instance, in 4B we've been working with Decimals since starting in January. We'll be doing all things decimals (working with decimals & all 4 operations) until April, then we will work on geometry and graphing (using what we've learned with decimals) for the rest of the year. So in essence it's a mastery program (mastering decimals) but there are tons of spiraling exercises (converting from fractions, addition, subtraction, multiplying, dividing, graphing and working with geometry) that get it done. It doesn't *feel* like a mastery program, but it is. And that's what I like about it! (and DS TOO!!!) :) HTH!! :D

THIS is great to know!!! I think, after a night of sleeping on it ;), that we will stick with what we know--with what's working!!! We just inherited a nice set of encyclopedia's (FREE from uncle Craig's list) that we can put to good use for deeper study and outlining, etc...I just have to keep telling myself we WILL get to use, HO -- when the time is right!!! :D Maybe since we won't be buying the littles history curric he'll be able to do the online course too...?? Again, rambling & thinking aloud! ;) Thanks for the thoughts, ladies! :)

DS(10) is just about to finish up SOTW2 and we'll be starting our new history curriculum in April. It's time to make a decision and get my order in!! I have LOVED the SOTW series thus far and feel like we're in our groove. I just feel like the reading level is a bit below my ds at this point. I'm just wondering if I should order K12HO vol 2 for him, or stick with SOTW3? I wish we were moving into SOTW4 as I would LOVE the help with introducing outlining and such but that doesn't happen until the 4th book of SOTW. Does K12HO have any outlining instruction? I know it comes with the workbook and teacher book if you buy through K12, what are some of the assignments in the workbook like? Are they busy work or do they seem to line up fairly well with TWTM history suggestions? Are there additional History & Lit suggestions with K12HO? The MAIN reason I would stick with the SOTW series is because I already have vol 1 & 2 and will be using the 4 volume set with my littles in the coming years. It would definitely be an investment. AND--DS will be able to do the K12HO courses in the coming years, regardless of whether we start them in 5th grade, or 7th, yk? I'm just rambling... thinking out loud!!!! Any advice or suggestions/BTDT would be GREATLY appreciated!!! :D TIA! :)

My ds(10) has 9 assignments daily, except Wednesday when he has 7 +2hrs of PE at co-op.

Check out Khan Academy online for your math & science. TONS of great online lectures for FREE!!! :D

DS just turned 10 at the end of January. I *shoot* for 9pm bedtime. They're usually all in bed by 9:15-9:30. He will sometimes go to bed a little earlier if he wants to get some good reading time in. Lights Out at 10p and he's usually asleep within minutes. I usually wake him around 8:30 or 9, or else he'd sleep til 10-10:30. Sometimes I just let him sleep. :) He always seems to be more "Up and At'em" if he wakes on his own. His room is complete darkness though so I worry he'd sleep past noon in the coming years if we get in a pattern of letting him sleep as long as he wants on schooldays! ;)

OK #1 you need to explain to him that her threats to hurt herself are a means of emotional abuse. She's trying to manipulate him to get what she wants--she *thinks* she wants him but there is NOTHING he can offer her to make her happy. People who say things like that are selfish manipulators and I would tell him as such. Then pray he cuts all ties with her and learns from this experience. Hugs! What a tough/sad situation for you & ds!! :(

My ds is only 10 & in 4th grade but he has been a fairly independent student since we started homeschooling (2nd grade). I work ahead of him in Latin, Math, History & Lit so if/when he gets to something he has a question about we can discuss accordingly. He loathed me standing up and teaching from FLL in 2nd & 3rd grade so I got him a fairly independent LA program through K12 for 4th but I still have to help guide him with writing assignments, Lit discussion and new grammar concepts, if it's something he's never seen before. I just try to lay low but still make myself as informed and available to him as he needs me to be without squelching his desire for independence.

They need morning chores. :)

Those are hilarious, ya'll. :D My ds(10) said something like that while we were cooking a little while ago but now I can't, for the life of me, remember what he was saying... :confused: Of course, I'll remember the minute I lay down to go to sleep! :001_huh:

I would still get the books, even if they were 3 weeks late!!! I find the "review" helps nail those pegs in a little tighter. :)

Oh I'm sorry, I ASSumed she was finishing up Beta if she was just finishing 2nd grade. SORRY!! :D We had only used Gamma for the end of third grade (he did the whole program in less than 10weeks) and he had already had some of the info that was on the placement test in 2nd & beginning of 3rd so he tested right into 4A when we took the placement tests. If she's testing into 2B on the placement test, that's where I would start her. (she needs long division before 4A)

IDK but she can get some really nice replacement glasses for CHEAP at zenni optical (just sayin') ;) She just needs to call her optometrist and get her prescription. http://www.zennioptical.com I would NEVER pay $400 for a pair of glasses after using zenni. Good Luck! :D

Definitely start her in 2B. The workbooks are very small & manageable. If you did JUST Textbook & Workbook she would fly through them in about 10-12 weeks. She'd get good review of topics she's already covered in MUS and she'd also get the taste for Singapore's Mental Math. She could definitely be ready for 3A by fall and have the added benefit of better understanding 'the Singapore way' before she starts learning new material in 3A. My son finished MUS Gamma and went straight into 4A with no problem. We're using 4B now and use the HIG w/ Mental Math, Textbook, Workbook & Intensive Practice. We also use MEP online interactive worksheets for fun. :) HTH! :D

I started Cambridge (CLC) with my 4th Grader just this semester. He is LOVING it! (me too! :)) It's easy to teach, learn & understand. You're translating from day 1. LOTS of vocab and easy retention because they're using the material from the beginning and the vocab builds upon itself (immersion-type learning). CLC is weak on grammar instruction, IMO, but a PERFECT intro for a child who has never had Latin/foreign language exposure. It DOES teach grammar, it's just not drill, Drill, DRILL! like some of the other programs out there. CLC is SUPER heavy on Roman culture and we have learned a TON in just 6 weeks about how Roman's lived, where they worked, what they ate (peacock, anyone?! :001_huh:) etc... it really does an EXCELLENT job of bringing the Roman culture to life for the student. Overall, I feel like this really is the PERFECT program for a beginning Latin student in the logic stage. It's quick to build vocab and kids quickly get the knack for translating. It's a great INTRO to grammar and the culture is just a bonus that I don't think any other Latin program offers (I honestly don't know if other programs offer the culture part, but it's definitely a perk for us). We will continue with heavier Latin Grammar work after we finish CLC II (CLC I & II are each 1/2 year (1 semester) courses. CLC III & IV are full year courses). We may pick up Latin Prep beginning next fall and work Latin Prep & CLC II together to drag CLC II out a full year. After that, I don't really have a plan and will be watching this thread for suggestions as I will have a 6th grader then, too!! :D HTH Some!!! :)

natural childbirth. :o wasn't all it was cracked up to be, imvho. :blink:

These are from my 4th grade DS. He just turned 10 Jan 31st. I actually had to go back about 4 chapters to find this narration--it's fairly decent but most of them are NOT at this point. He's just learning to type so tons of errors and bad punctuation/capitalization, etc... Chapter 30 Narration 1.20.11 India Under the Moghuls When the the great Babur died his eldest son took over.Then like a week later he was overcome by invaders. He finally got it back,but by then he had lost half of his empier.Then after a year or him being back he fell on the steps of the royal library,bumpt his head and died.Then his oldest son took over.His name was Akbar.He set out on a caimpain to take over the land that his father lost.Once he got that under conrol he added even more land.By that time he hade more than half of india under his control. This is his science paper from last week. Still not finished (imo) but it has been edited from the original version (completely by him--I just try to give hints at what I see needs improvement, but have him figure out how to correct it. I may be asking too much at this point. :o Animals & Adaptations I have been learning about adaptations in animals. An adaptation is what makes an animal speacial and helps it survive in it's environment. I have been studying the rare and endangerd siberian tiger. Siberian tigers live in Russia, China, and Korea. The tiger lives in the coldest parts of these countries. The siberian tiger barely has any fur. The only way the siberian tiger can survive is by eating atleast 20 pounds of meat a day. The tiger can eat up to 300 pounds at one meal. Its teeth & claws are longer than regular tiger's and used for griping its prey. These physical and behavioral adaptation are essential for survival. It's diet includes monkey, fish, elk, deer, and hog. Another interesting fact Is that It can jump up to 25 feet. One of it's cousins is the white siberian tiger. It is also rare and endangered. The white siberian tiger being white is a phisical adaptation. Definitely a work in progress here!!!! :D

you guys did a wonderful job! Congrats on the "new" room! :D