I was looking into buying this curriculum and I came across an obscure reference to a new edition coming out later this year. I can't find anything on their website, but I could have easily missed it in my brief look. Thanks for any information you can give. Jo

He needs a "briefcase" that will hold his paperwork, workout gear, change of clothing, and sometimes a laptop. He will be biking to work but still needs to use this bag while in his various uniforms (Navy officer). Clarification- he will bike in athletic clthing and change into his uniform. Are messenger bags really bike friendly? Are backpack laptop bags nice enough to use with uniforms? Can you suggest a good one? I like Timbuk2 and Northface bags but they are both spendy. Thanks so much. Jo

We struggle with this decision in our home too. We don't get our money's worth, that is for sure. For us, it is a grown up thang'. We are sports watching people. I couldn't do without the World Cup or the Olympics. Now we have the Soccer Channel- dear Lord, help me have restraint.;) We also watch news every evening. We only watch one show (Lost) regularly, but we have benefited from many historical programs on Discovery or National Geographic. If it were a decision for my dc we could drop it in a heartbeat. They only watch DVDs and we are pretty selective. When we are at our best we can go a couple weeks without turning the TV on- and we have done these sorts of TV fasts when all my children can think to talk about is the latest movie. :glare: It is good to be the master of this contraption and not the subject. My kids have heard me say more than once that until I hear intelligent conversation for an entire day that doesn't reference any television or movie we will not turn the TV on. The older kids are learning to be discerning in their TV viewing and are getting more freedom in their TV use. That was a little more than you were asking. I have seen kids who don't have a TV in the home who look like drug addicts in the presence of a television. Even my kids have done this before- the "whoa, dude. look. at. the. pretty. lights..." My dh is a firm believer in teaching kids use the TV as a *tool* and not avoid it or any other media. Okay, except for TV game units (Xbox, playstations, etc.), he draws the line here. He won't allow them in the home until they show self-direction in all their upper level studies. :001_smile: Every family has to find their fit. Ours isn't a good choice for others, and yours will be just right for you. But please know that you are not alone in your struggle.:grouphug: Jo

After posting I went to lay down and read. I chuckled when I came across this statement, "Children should not be culturally indoctrinated by well-meaning but heavy-handed parents any more than by insensitive classroom teachers. Homeschoolers need to take care not to overwhelm their children with elaborate 'meaningful experiences,' for didacticism can be as antithetical to education in a museum or zoo as in the classroom. After all, the purpose of exposure is to encourage growth, and certainly not to inoculate against the expansion and development of interests." I like that. Btw, we do sometimes prep for our field trips. If we are going to a museum we will pre-study an artist or painting. It seems to give my kids "ownership" when they experience the real thing. We study battles before going to the battlefields, etc... We did study oceanography before moving to Hawaii. Now we just joke about our days at the beach and our study of "oceanography". :D Fieldtrip to visit Battlemaiden, Sebastian, Mrs. Mungo, and the rest of the WTWahines! :grouphug: Jo

here's my "thump in the head" moment. We live in a very Hawaiian/local neighborhood. Nary a homeschooler for miles that I know about, but tons of kids. Actually tons of boys. They ride by our house every afternoon on their rip-sticks and bikes and generally hoot and holler. My son sometimes looks at their situation longingly. He gets along with them, but they don't "click". These neighbors have grown up together. They also seem to speak their own language. They ooze cool and my son doesn't know the TV shows, video games, or movies of which they speak. He can get along with anyone, but in groups he looks like he is trying to "catch up". I have been sad for him. I want him to have friends, but with "good" boys, nice and genuine fellas'. This morning I looked out my window to see a police officer drop off one of these boys to his home. :glare: I guess waiting and praying for the right friend isn't such a bad idea. Jo

I'm a strong believer in Oceanography (the beach), the scientific study of local flora and fauna (Parks and hiking), Consumer math (shopping errands), and of course the occasional music appreciation class (concerts in the park). :D We still get to the zoo once a month, and when we lived in DC we visited a Smithsonian every other week. We also took advantage of three plays/operas during the three years we lived there. But I had two babies there and between pregnancy and newborns we were limited. Much of our field trips these days are baby dependent. I can't go to all the concerts and plays and symphonies I would like because of the little ones. Ideally I would send the older ones to various performing arts productions with my dh, but...um...well...that's not really reasonable for a variety of reasons. ;) Jo

All the cool stuff happens after I leave. I lived five minutes from Quantico up until last December. How about everyone comes out to Hawaii next? :001_smile: Jo

I'm willing to bribe with positive rep points? ;) "bubbles! bubbles! My bubbles!" name that movie Jo

I'm off to buy glycerin at the local drug store down the street since all the glycerin-free recipes I tried yesterday were failures. Who has a tried and true successful bubble formula? Thanks so much. Jo

I say yes. Get the ultrasound. There are a lot of unnecessary tests ordered for a variety of maladies, but when it comes to the health of a baby I'm not sure you can do enough. The ultrasound will check for many things that I find *BASIC* in prenatal care. But I'm a biased former L&D nurse, so you I fall on the conservative side. If everything is fine than you have a lovely vision of your precious child and you are reassured. Honestly, I couldn't live with not finding out. I do hope all is well with you and your little one. :) Keep us posted. Jo

But here it is.:D Jo

Thanks. Jo

Are there any tricks to ordering curriculum and supplies cheaply? I've always used Amazon Prime for book purchases but I don't qualify now that I'm in Hawaii. I need to purchase some miscellaneous items but the shipping costs are crazy- and I'm not patient enough to ship media mail since I hear it can take up to 2-3 months to arrive. For instance, I need a map, Italics books, science supplies, and some literature selections. I had hoped to find some things at the CHOH conference (grrrr)...what a waste of money that turned out to be. My feelings about this conference would fill another thread. ;) Anywhooooo. Any shipping hints? Thanks WTWahines. Jo

Do you mean that Godzilla has layers? He isn't the one dimensional creature I naively assumed him to be? This is indeed eye opening. I asked the question tongue in cheek, but my dc were actually taking sides on whether Godzilla was bad or good. It so happens that in this episode Godzilla is a parent. This naturally caused all children under 8yrs to categorically declare Godzilla as good.:D Of course my older two, whose youthful innocence has been shattered by the fact that indeed parents can do bad ;)(or breath fire like their own mom) decided it must be a bad creature. I would love to hear your son's input, and I appreciate you opening the door of possibility that Godzilla is more complex than I originally believed.:p Thanks Karen. Jo

Is Godzilla bad or good? I'm serious. I've never seen a Godzilla movie, and God help me I had hoped to die without ever having so. But I live in Hawaii and we have a Japanese channel that my child-like dh thinks is HILARIOUS. They have discovered an episode called Godzilla versus MechaGodzilla and my entire family is enthralled (all my efforts in exposing the children to cultural excellence flushed:p). So the question remains...is Godzilla good or bad? I'm so ashamed ;) Jo

I don't intend to go so far as teach footnotes on this first paper. I agree for an introductory effort that would be a bit much. The goal of this paper is to teach research methods and topical reports. The elder pupil ;) is capable, if not always willing, of completing hand written book reports that are single space full page. He does quite well in this opinion based format. I would think 2-3 page research papers written over a couple of weeks is quite do-able, but I wanted input. Thanks. Jo

Why America Is Free, A History of the Founding of the American Republic ISBN 0-931917-29-8 Published by The Society of the Cincinnati 202-785-2040 My dh picked up this book on a visit to historic Williamsburg. It was a whim, but we have really loved the intermission it provided from SOTW to focus more intently on the American Revolution. It actually focuses on the years of 1750-1800. I have appreciated it's stress on why the foundations of our country have provided for future freedoms of it's citizens. It is a good primer for future study of the Constitution and it gives mini biographical data of some of the founding fathers- just enough for the younger years. I would read sections of the book aloud to my 11, 9, and 7 yr olds. The 11 and 9 yr olds would give me written narrations, and I took vocabularly words from the reading simply by writing words on an index card during the reading. The 7yo would give me an oral narration only. We would review key concepts on a white board after the reading and I would have them repeat these concepts later in the day or week for reinforcement. They have learned as much from this book as I remember from AP high school Am. Hx. HTH

This was on the curriculum board for a while but with no bites... We are in between history curriculums- with a two week gap expected- and I plan on filling the time with our first full research paper. I'm looking through my Writer's Express and Write Source 2000 books for input, but I'm not finding just what I'm looking for. I want to assign them a research paper on Hawaii- including multiple topics like geography, history, flora and fauna, etc. Essentially it will be a lesson in research at the library and a report written in Encyclopedia format- but with less detail, of course. Perhaps there is a good resource you could direct me towards? Or let me know how much you would expect for a topical paper like this. Thanks so much--again :). Jo

We are in between history curriculums- with a two week gap expected- and I plan on filling the time with our first full research paper. I'm looking through my Writer's Express and Write Source 2000 books for input, but I'm not finding just what I'm looking for. I want to assign them a research paper on Hawaii- including multiple topics like geography, history, flora and fauna, etc. Essentially it will be a lesson in research at the library and a report written in Encyclopedia format- but with less detail, of course. Perhaps there is a good resource you could direct me towards? Or let me know how much you would expect for a topical paper like this. Thanks so much--again :). Jo

I need to order some cards for my husband's next job- official "letter head" but on cards instead. Thanks for your help. Jo

I have been pulling my hair out because of Prentice Hall's website all afternoon. It certainly hasn't given me a good first impression. And why, why, oh why, don't any of these science/curriculum sites let us have a little peek into the books? Are they trying to stay mysterious? :rolleyes: But thanks for easing my mind about the PH website. Jo

I need the most parent-free science curriculum you can suggest. :rolleyes: This is for my 6th and 4th grade children, but they will be advancing grades during implementation. I'm having our 7th baby while my dh is deployed this summer and I know myself well enough to finally buy a check the box science program- I always bump science when I'm stretched thin. I really want to be hands on, but it just *isn't* going to be practical. Help! Help! Help! And thanks a bunch! :o Jo ps- I just need curriculum names, I'll do the researching footwork. Thanks again.

We absolutely giggled through The Mysterious Benedict Society. The Chronicles of Narnia are always fun! And the Hobbit flows nicely when read aloud. We are only at 11 and 9yo for my oldest children, so I'm only mentioning the most recently enjoyed books. I'll have to watch and record some of the selections mentioned by others. Thanks for the post. Jo

You know some, I know some, and obviously this journalist has seen or met a few. :p We have also had many conversations on this board with conservative Christians who do not fit the mold. I'm not offended, I expect a certain level of naivete on the part of people who have had no other exposure to the rich diversity of even the "conservative Christian" segment of the homeschooling community. They would not pick my long-haired, dark skinned surfing friends from church as conservative in their ideology or Christian in their worldview. I hope I've learned from my time on this board, if nothing else, not to judge swaths of the population by a few outspoken voices. ;) We are all insightful, full of faults, full of opinion, and able to share our unique experience with each other in multiple situations. I love it. ----Okay so this was over and above the original topic, but I felt moved. :D Take care Crissy. I'm off to make snickerdoodles! Jo

But, to assume that all homeschoolers are doing so as a protection against the secular world is an indication of his assumptions towards homeschoolers- a fact that this very board could have shown him are ridiculous:D. Jo