I'm not a big fan of graphic organizers, but then we aren't primarily visual learners either. I've tried to use them but the kids want to skip them and do ok without them. I'd ditch them if they don't work for you.

Hi. The five steps: divide multiply subtract compare bring down If you look in the handbook section of the Teacher Edition (answer book) you'll see this. I've never really understood the great importance of the 'compare' step.

I don't see any problems with it. The pinata sounds fun too.

We switched to Calvert a few years ago. I only do Calvert piece-meal but have never been disappointed with their products. I haven't experienced the disjointed feeling others are discribing because we don't use it as a whole program. We've done the history, civics, art, spelling and others as stand alones. I doubt I'd ever use the whole program because we have other choices for science and math and integrate a lot of other curriculum.

I vote absentee because I'm a poll worker and have to vote prior to election day. :)

Accountability works both ways-for the student and the teacher. We have a weekly schedule that we are pretty firm with. What doesn't get done during the week is made up on the weekend. That alone helps keep the work on track. I also have a firm rule that all work is checked daily before I get my free time and then the corrections are made by the children that same day. I don't allow overlap to the next day. Our consequence is that the children don't get their free time until they have completed and made any needed corrections to their daily work. They don't work to a time schedule for the subjects so they have the added incentive of finishing quicker to get more free time. But finishing quicker doesn't mean sloppy work because they have to have it looked at and any corrections made before the free time. This system is working very well for us but it wouldn't work as well if I didn't have a very clear daily/weekly assignment sheet for each child. It helps a lot that they know exactly what they need to have done for that day. Hope this helps!

We did this a few years ago and it was a lot of fun! The kids loved using the markers and seeing how vibrant their pictures were when they were done. It is IMO a winner! Tip: go to Sam's or Wal-Mart and get "Sharpie" markers. They are the best for a reasonable cost. We found a set at Sam's that had 2x the pens and almost every color you could imagine. Also-do your own pictures while your children do theirs. It is fun for everyone.

Wow! I'm afraid I would have made some very unladylike comments when that gal interfered. I have a short fuse when it comes to that sort of thing these days. She was crazy out of line.

Not at all! I did Taekwondo with my son in my early 40's and we are both black belts now. It was one of the best experiences of my life. We both learned a lot and had fun getting fit! I'm planning on taking a rock climbing class with my daughters sometime this fall!

I'm sorry you are going through all of this. That group you are in sounds very toxic and I'd seriously do whatever you can to get away from it. Those nasty people will only drag you down. As far as the 2nd hand clothing goes...my folks were basically a one income family and with medical bills for a disabled sibling it was very tough. Mom used to buy all our clothes at the Goodwill and we loved it. She let us pick out our own stuff and we always came up with cool finds! She used to tell us that we were lucky because we could buy unique clothes and not the same stuff everyone could get at a store. We felt like we were trend-setters of a vintage variety. I don't know if shopping there bothered my mom...I never thought it did until reading your post and now I wonder. All I know is that as a kid we loved going to the thrift shops and shopping with our mom. :)

While I like LOF a lot, I wouldn't use it as my main math text. I see it as more of a supplement to add some fun. We do it on Friday for our day off of math day and A Beka m-th. I'm sure some people use it as a main text but having done spiraling math programs all along, LOF would be outside my comfort zone as our only math. We love LOF though and the kids beg for more every week so it is definately a great math tool!

My littlest one did that all the time. I used to do it when I was a kid too. :)

I have newly 5th and 6th graders working through the decimals series and they do 5 pages a day. That means they do a book in 9 days (a full 5 day week and one 4 day week with Friday off). It goes pretty fast.

I just bought the Hake 6. It says 1st edition. The student text is not spiral bound and when you open the book it says "student edition" inside. The student can do writing in the book but some would need separate pieces of paper-like for the diagramming. There is a "teacher packet" which are hole-punched answers for the student text. I also got the "writing" packet (which I don't use). If the stuff you got just has the answers then you didn't get the student text. That would be bad. It sounds like you got the text though but you'll need the teacher packet that has the answers too. It comes in very handy. Hope this helps!

We got ours at Staples and were lucky enough to get it on sale.

IMO Phred's opinions do not meet the definition of a troll. Therefore the suggestion that we do not feed it is good general advice in the event we find a real troll on the boards. But not applicable in this instance. I personally find the opinions interesting and not at all offensive.

:iagree: YES! Mine are too old for this but I looked at it and wished I had seen it when they were younger. It looks very well done!

We've been hsing in Fl for almost 10 yrs and never needed an umbrella. Florida is homeschool friendly and it is pretty easy to work with the regulations.

Yikes! Sounds like a situation I had to deal with some years ago. Honestly, if she is so oblivious to her own child's contribution then you probably won't have much luck talking to her. Good luck. But as one who has been there and done that, I don't hold out much hope. My answer would be to get away from her before your child begins to feel persecuted.

You have totally legitimate issues! I would have been down there confronting Coach Pants in a Wad about her pow wow with the squad AND her lack of ability to give adequate information to the parents. She would be right up there on my list. :boxing_smiley:

We do ABeka M-Th and LOF on Friday. My girls LOVE LOF and always want to keep doing more. It is great to see that they are enjoying math. 'Fred' is a very entertaining character!

We use ABeka for our 'non-fun math' and 'Life of Fred' as our fun math. :)

Accept the offer of payment for the food definately. She wanted to give it to you and you should take it. You saved her HUNDREDS in pet boarding fees so it is very fair that she pay for the food.

Well....since the teacher supposedly told the kids to write whatever they wanted and that the journals wouldn't be read, I would argue that the teacher is wrong. I would explain to the child that journals are risky things and I personally don't keep one because I think they are accidents just waiting to happen. If the teacher didn't drop it, I'd tell her no more 'journaling' for that child and give her a gift card to McDonalds and hope she plugs up a slide. That's just my opinion. ;)

Been there. We stopped our theater group for this same reason. It was frustrating to the children to be ready for more challenge and see complete newcomers getting more lines. It was part favortism and part bad management. It wasn't worth the cost so we moved on.