We spend a lot of time in the car driving my oldest to dance. Twice a week she goes early enough that I have to bring the two youngest along on what is a 45 minute to 1 hour round trip. I've been thinking about playing Audio books for the little guys but I want something that's going to last most of the trip, not be too annoying for me or oldest DD and will hopefully keep their attention. Any suggestion?

:iagree: You mentioned this wasn't a good neighborhood. What if something had happened to these girls? Is he worried about a parent accusing you guys of insufficient supervision or something. We've all met the parent who has kids that can do no wrong - everything they do is someone else's fault.

Non-childproof prescription bottles. You can usually buy them at pharmacies - they have lids that snap on (like the old film canisters) instead of the push and turn. Only problem is they are usually the amber see-through material instead of opaque.

Keeping in mind that I spent almost 20 years as an Executive Assistant and have serious over-planning tendencies...this is what I do for our Unit Studies. (Our Math and Reading we just do what comes next in our lessons or do extra games if we seem to need more practice so I don't write these down ahead of time.) I have a loose schedule of what topics I want to cover this year, some based on specific dates (like Holidays) and others just random. I have a book list under each topic - what resources we have (so I don't forget to use them) and what books I've seen recommended and want to get from the library. This is in a Word document. For each unit we are getting ready to do, I make a list of activities including books to read, crafts/activities to do, etc. in a separate Word document. I find this keeps me more on track and less likely to be distracted or forget something. For instance, we're currently doing the human body and part of last weeks lesson looked like: Body Parts/Systems: Trace bodies and hang. Color. Read: From Head to Toe Read: Amazing You: Getting Smart About Private Parts Put up body from Giant Science Resource Book Read: The Skeleton Inside You Read: Science Odyssey Skeletal and Muscular Systems Color skeletal system pages from TBB and Evan Moor while reading Put up skeleton parts from Giant Science Resource Book and color. Read: Science Encyclopedia pg 156-157 Try to make a tent using just blankets and pillows. Then use chairs and tables. Point out how it was easier with something firm to help support and compare to skeleton. Feel arm from shoulder to wrist. How many bones can you feel? Watch: The Magic School Bus Flexes Its Muscles Read: MSB Activity Guide pg 8-9 Read: Science Encyclopedia pg 158-159 Feel arm while bending elbow back and forth. Feel the muscle move. Color Evan Moor Muscular system page After a lesson is over, I copy the booklist from my year plan into another Word document, add any Math, Reading, Science, Crafts/Activities we did and the put this page in a binder with a few samples of work from the week. A recent one of these looked like: Colors/Artists WYKNTK MSB Makes a Rainbow (video) Science Encyclopedia 13 Artists Children Should Know Art by McDonnell A Color of His Own by Lionni The Snowman by Briggs Color Dance by Jonas I Spy Colors In Art by Micklethwaite the Magical Garden of Claude Monet by Anholt Begin at the Beginning by Schwartz Mouse Paint by Walsh Harold and the Purple Crayon Reading: -at word family worksheet; did short A phonics reader for –ad and –ab; read I wish I had duck feet, Great Day for Up ; played picture/word board game; played Word Whammer Math: Finished MEP Lesson 7; MEP Lesson 8; greater than/less than; read What’s the Time and discussed clocks; dice addition game Science: Observable properties – transparent, translucent and opaque; refraction of light; visible light spectrum; Crafts/Activities: cutting practice; Chutes and Ladders; Sequence for Kids; Leapster games; color mixing activities; warm/cool colors; types of lines; viewed artworks – Tahitian Landscape, Hunters in the Snow, The Purple Robe, People and Dog in Sun This is even worse if you know I live in a state that requires absolutely no reporting, notification, portfolio or testing whatsoever and that my children are not even legal school age yet. What can I say, I think I'm a little OCD. But all this actually makes things LESS stressful for me.

I printed a bunch of games from www.kellyskindergarten.com under Games To Make. She has UNO, Snap, Old Maid, Go Fish, Board Games - all with sight words, CVC words, etc. She has a lot of popular characters and seasonal themes. I recently printed Cliffords Bones which is a word matching game and Nick (Dora, Scooby Doo, Spongebog and Spiderman) UNO cards. Her games are in Word so its real easy to change the words to whatever you are working on. I changed our UNO game to be the short A words and sight words we are currently working on. As we progress, I'll print out more for the new words we do. Other than that, we do a lot of custom bingo, dominos, lotto and memory games.

My oldest gets asked (or it's assumed) if she's Irish all the time because she has red hair. She is Irish but also Italian, English, Swedish and German. We have a very Hispanic last name (DH was adopted by his stepfather) so we get publications in Spanish and telemarketing calls where they are speaking Spanish all the time. None of us currently speaks any Spanish and DH, DS and youngest DD are all blond hair with blue or hazel eyes. My hair is dark brown but I have very fair skin so definitely don't look anything but the Anglo-European Mutt that I am.

I used to work for a Pharmaceutical Advertising Agency and the choice of fonts was a major, big deal. Some are definitely considered too casual/unprofessional to ever be used. I use Comic Sans because everything I do is for a 4 or 2 year old and they both like the more casual look of it. My son especially is a perfectionist and would try to match a font exactly. I just started laughing because I realized how many of our signatures are in Comic Sans (including mine).

When my youngest was real little, I got almost nothing done. I concentrated on laundry and dishes and was happy if that worked. Now, my kids are almost 16, 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 things are better but I still don't get a lot done. My house is usually a wreck - toys everywhere within 5 minutes of cleaning up (unless the kids are out of the house or asleep). Everyone talks about the 16 year old must be such a big help. Not exactly - she's the one making us get up early in the morning to drive her to school, she's the one I have to interrupt our afternoon to pick her up from school, she's the one that throws off dinner having to drive her to dance, she's the one who keeps me out until after 9pm four days a week to pick her up from dance. Yes, I can leave the little guys with her to run to the store quickly, to go to the library, etc. but she's more often part of the problem, not the solution. Thankfully my dh has always been very understanding. He cooks dinner every night (including any special shopping needed) so that's one less thing I have to worry about. He's always said my primary job is taking care of (and now teaching) the children.

I always considered myself fairly well read and aware but I had never even heard of people still believing in a young earth until I joined homeschooling groups. I always thought it was up there with the flat earth, geo-centric universe ideas. It seems most common among Evangelical Christians in Bible Belt areas.

How often do you use your formal dining room? If its pretty infrequent, definitely switch. Why keep a room for nothing but looking pretty? Although I can sympathize with having one area of the house that is "adult". We've made a lot of unusual decisions for our house due to lack of space and very infrequent company. Our only company tends to be family anyway and they can deal. I'm a Fly-Lady drop out but I try to do some things: Bedtime Routine: Shower Dishes/Clean Counters Sit down with little guys for Quiet time and hope they fall asleep (they seem to get a second wind around 9pm). Morning Routine: Wake up when YDD gets up, run her into bathroom so she can pee on the potty before overflowing her nighttime pull-up. Drive ODD to school if its a week she's here (every other) -or- Stagger into kitchen for cup of tea while younger kids watch Team Umizoomi or Magic School Bus. Check calendar, email and bank balance. On Mondays - start laundry Unload dishwasher so daytime dishes can be loaded right away. Open curtains in kids room so its not so dark in there. None of us get dressed unless we're going out of the house (and dropping dd off at school doesn't count). In my blog pictures, the kids are almost always in their pj's. :tongue_smilie:

I'm surprised so many are okay with the younger teens watching the movies but not reading the books. The two movies so far are very similar to the books. (some of the dialogue is almost word for word).

I like the idea that my daughter is learning about some of the issues and pitfalls of dating and relationships long before she is likely to run into them on her own. She's still not allowed to date (although we are less than a month away from her 16th birthday when she can) but we've had the opportunity to prepare her for all kinds of things - not letting a guy become more important than everything else in her life, making sure a guy treats her right, that noone has the right to lay a hand on her (abuse) or to do anything that she doesn't want, etc. She has a lot of male friends and has for years. To her guys are just people, nothing overly special, some are nice, some are jerks. She (unlike quite a few of her friends) does not feel like she HAS to have a boyfriend at all times to be fulfilled. I may feel differently about her reading habits if we didn't talk openly and frequently about a wide variety of things and often books can open up the doors to an important conversation. (Of course this will only work if there's a parent willing to read them as well). When my daughter read the books in question she was actually about 3 years past the "brink of puberty".

Thank you. I'm definitely going to take a look at it.

I once ate Steak and Kidney pie because my ex husband's, best friend's mother had made it and everyone else decided to go out to eat. I detest organ meats - the taste, the texture, everything about them. But I felt so bad (and that everyone else was being so rude) that I forced myself to eat some. I was only 19 at the time and I knew better than to be so rude to a hostess.

As for the original thread - I have no problem with the dress-up. My oldest had a few of the Disney outfits when she was young but far more old dance costumes (she's been dancing for 12 years now) or dresses Grandma made. We have a dress up box with mostly hats (cowboy, construction), beads, bracelets, and a few animal costumes grandma made. We have two Cinderella dresses we won when my oldest was in the play at her high school. But, my little girl prefers to run around in nothing but a pull-up. We go through multiple outfits and pairs of socks each day because she takes them off and we can't find them when its time to go out.:tongue_smilie:

Playing princess doesn't bother me. Playing bride doesn't bother me. Playing mommy doesn't bother me. Here are some things that make me want to vomit: 1. the wall hanging I saw in a little girl's room, that said "My prince did come. His name is Daddy." 2. Purity balls. 3. Guardian of Purity necklaces UUUUUUUUUUUUUGH. Okay, that necklace is just creepy on so many levels. Besides the whole - a women is under the control of her father until she is given over to her husband - bit, its just so wrong. The wall hanging implies something pretty gross as well.

How hard would it be to do this secularly? I'm planning Geography studies - doing one continent at a time - for next year. I haven't done detailed plans yet - I have the Evan Moor Beginning Geography, a Sticker Atlas of the World with animal stickers, a Globe, a large wall map, Children Just Like Me and I just discovered Children Just Like Me Our Favorite Stories. I'm interested in including studies of World Religions but don't want a curriculum that is overly Biblical. (I know this includes Considering God's Creation but is it really necessary?)

There's a semi-new Facebook group called "I homeschool and I teach the science of evolution".

My daughter did read them when she was in 7th grade. It was actually this series that got her very interested in reading and she now reads constantly. I only read them because she recommended them to me. My general policy with her book selections (which I'm sure will be somewhat unpopular here) was that she could read whatever she wanted, but she had to discuss any questions with me. I read a lot and I read fast so the majority of things she read, if I thought they might be iffy, I was able to read them and initiate conversations. The first two books in the series aren't bad from a sex standpoint - the third and fourth are a lot worse and graphic with a birth scene in one of them (don't remember which right now). Edward actually wants to hold off on sex until they are married. What I did absolutely HATE about them is Bella's attitude of "can't live without him", "life is nothing without him", etc. I did talk to my daughter about that but she's not the type to give that much control over her life to any boy. Only you know your daughter so its up to you to decide if she can handle it or not. Is she the type to really take that kind of behaviour to heart and want to emulate it? Or will she think it's stupid but enjoy the other aspects of the story?

Chilean Sea Bass is on the list of fish that should only be eaten on rare occasions (and never for children) for women of childbearing age due to the mercury content (I have the list posted on my fridge). So, I would've told her that out of concern for her health I couldn't possibly serve it to her and I hoped she'd enjoy the side dishes. We eat a lot of fish here (we're having tilapia and seafood scampi for dinner tonight, LOL) but I wouldn't know how to begin to cook it (DH cooks). And, I definitely don't think I could eat it to the exclusion of all else - YUCK. What a way to get totally sick of something. If it wasn't so expensive, I'd cook it and botch the job but she'd probably spit it out and say yuck since her manners are obviously lacking. Definitely an @ss. I think any guest should let the hostess know about any food issues (allergy, religious or otherwise) and be prepared to provide their own if the issues are very uncommon and/or difficult or expensive to meet. I definitely think she should have told you more than 5 hours before the meal.

This is actually the reason I use Comic Sans in a lot of stuff I do - I want it to look like handwritten letters so it's not confusing to my son. I also have a font called Billy's Crayons that actually looks like a kid wrote it in crayon.

Would they fit in one of those craft store containers used to hold spools of cross stich floss when it's wound on cards? This is the only one I was able to find with a picture: http://www.createforless.com/Darice+Organizer+17+Hole+Floss+_and_+Needlecraft+with+100+Cardboard+Bobbins/pid17677.aspx?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=cse Otherwise, maybe a toolbox of some kind?

I took your question to mean a belief in a Young Earth/24 hour day/7 day Creation? I grew up United Methodist. They don't take any stance on Evolution but below is their statement on Science in general. I know the UMC is pretty liberal on most issues, pretty much a "live and let live" attitude. I've definitely never heard anything resembling a belief in a literal, 24 hour day/7 day Creation. Science and Technology We recognize science as a legitimate interpretation of God’s natural world. We affirm the validity of the claims of science in describing the natural world, although we preclude science from making authoritative claims about theological issues. We recognize technology as a legitimate use of God’s natural world when such use enhances human life and enables all of God’s children to develop their God-given creative potential without violating our ethical convictions about the relationship of humanity to the natural world. In acknowledging the important roles of science and technology, however, we also believe that theological understandings of human experience are crucial to a full understanding of the place of humanity in the universe. Science and theology are complementary rather than mutually incompatible. We therefore encourage dialogue between the scientific and theological communities and seek the kind of participation that will enable humanity to sustain life on earth and, by God’s grace, increase the quality of our common lives together. From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2004. Copyright 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.

I saw a thread the other day about the RS Abacus and when I did a search I found a site that shows how to make one using pony beads, narrow dowels and popsicle sticks: http://satorismiles.com/tag/abacus/ (I believe the author of this blog is a member here). I also saw abacus activities here: http://www.alabacus.com/pageView.cfm?pageID=315 and some other ideas here: http://homeschoolmath.blogspot.com/2007/05/basic-abacus-as-manipulative.html

I'm laughing at all the experiences we've had. I've also avoided ever assuming that someone is pregnant unless it is very obvious (9 months along with a firm belly pointing out front with a t-shirt saying "Baby on Board"). We were visiting another state a couple of years ago and arranged to meet some of my cousins, who I see VERY rarely while we were there. We met my one cousin at a restaurant for dinner. She arrived looking pregnant but was wearing a very loose (maternity style) blouse so it was hard to tell for sure. So, I said nothing and acted like I didn't notice anything. (she was single, divorced from her ex-husband). Two years later we were invited to a party for her father (my uncle) and when we got there - she had a son. In this case I feel kind of bad - does she feel like I ignored her pregnancy because I disapproved? she might have been able to use someone sympathetic to talk to you (we are close in age and I had also been divorced). We did end up talking a lot when we saw her at the party, even stayed at her house and ended up having a great time so I hope that made up for any slight she felt previously.