Well, I was reading the comments, and I just had to say that the world is not secure with a MAC. Ask the two that I took malware off of last week that had the same misconception. The only difference really ... you don't know you have it until you find out your credit card no longer has an available balance while standing in line at the store checkout. Just saying. BTW, last year was known as the worst year yet for viruses and malware. Phones and tablets have seen a 37 percent increase this year alone in attacks. You are your first defense, but when it all comes right down to it ... what is 25 dollars of protection worth to your identity? A LOT.

Hey wait a minute it is not just a "country thing". I sorely missed GRITS! I lived in Pennsylvania for a few years, and the best we could get the grocer to order was instant. Ack! Now ... I miss Pennsylvania sausage. Go figure.

Well for videos, that is another story entirely; however, for pages of content ... Open WordPad on the computer that you are using - Word if they have it. Open the site that you want.and make it your viewing window. Press CTRL + A and then CTRL + C Go back to WordPad or Word and press CTRL + V Go to File - Save As - and choose the location of the USB drive and name the file. Videos are not something that can be saved easily to a flash drive. Often they are really large too. If allowed, that is you have the option to "download now" per se, then you would click download and choose the location to save to by opting to save as instead of save. The same for large audio files.

That's true. We really don't stop schooling through the year, but I typically only report 180 days. We are always doing something, such as reading and math.

Well, I obviously start with a bunch of little squares, LOL. I open Excel, list 180 days in column A, and add a column header for each subject. From there, I plan each and every day. I like this because I can see where it is intensive in one subject and lighten the others for a particular day. Once this is done, I print anything needed for the first semester. I add 18 hanging file folders to a milk crate. I add all print outs and a weekly list of assignments for each of those folders. I add all textbooks and workbooks to the crate. I have small carrying baskets and clipboards for supplies. In each basket goes the needed items such as glue sticks, pencils, pens, crayons, paper, etc. Once this is done ... I am done. In December, I will go through all of the folders for completed and graded work. Selected items are placed in a portfolio. I keep one binder for each student. I tried to journal each day, and I failed miserably. More time is spent up front, but overall we come pretty close to finishing everything by end of year. We take off about 2 months and spend this time reading for the next year and enjoying favorite fiction,

I love Miller. I get the blank books for writing journals too.

Review and go crazy... that sounds like a plan! LOL :lol:

My dear children must often have independent work during the day as well as have mom time. I make the plan for each and every day for each and every subject. It is something born with horns and pointed tail for sure, but it is necessary here. :-/ I work too. We both work, and switch off the kids during the day. Our family is one that proves you can work and still homeschool, but you do have to do without a bunch of the extras, LOL. Are you all sure that you don't want to fill in the next 800 squares?

I have done pocket poems. Poems that can be printed to card stock, accordion folded, and stuffed in purses, pockets, and bags. They all get placed in a refurbished oatmeal box. For a journal of any sort here, we use composition notebooks and "smash" in them. Scientists, composers, artists, etc. - We just doodle, copy, draw, and paste throughout the pages. I would take a very informal approach such as this. It makes one really neat book by the end of the year.

I use Excel... I make one column for days, and I drag them down until there are 180. I go across the top with the course title. From there I have 180 x 7 (We log PE journal style.), which makes a grand total of <insert drum roll> 1260 little squares! I still only have about 200 of them filled at this time. After today ... There should be about 550 filled. BTW, I print it out on legal-sized paper. We make pretty covers and staple. I make two. One for the portfolio and one to use. We have to either journal or keep lesson plans in our state. Even if we don't complete each and every thing, I still have them!

I just had to :w00t: All I see is my Excel sheet's 180 squares! Please oh please make it be done now! Thank you for letting me vent. You see that I am not even half way through the first semester. :001_huh:

I have never been on the site, but I can offer some advice. Make sure that your Java is current and that you have downloaded Adobe Flash. Most games are compiled in one or the other. Now, in addition to this, you may or may not need to toggle compatibility view in IE. As well, most things are browser dependent, which means that they were meant to be used in Internet Explorer or Google Chrome only. Take these things into account and pop back. :)

I would comb and blow dry her hair each day. I would not want the mess of the Vaseline or the mayo. I have had good success with the electric comb too for live lice. It does not remove the nits but it electrocutes the louse. :) It beeps to let you know. I have used this personally twice. I also have the best nit comb ever. We do the dryer "thing" too. Being in the south and having girls with long hair, I think lice are an event like a birthday. It is just going to come and go. So, three heads later and three weeks later, we are free. I do shampoo as instructed, but it is not my only solution and it never would be. You have to have an EVERYDAY routine. I would have the kids come out of the shower at night with wet hair, spray on condition, and start combing. Blow dry hair. Every other day, we ran the electric comb through the hair. We would send all pillows and loose blankets through the dryer and vac the sofas and floors each day. We used one brush between us and cleaned the rest (freezer and then hand wash). All hair things went in ziplocs and into the freezer each night. We were typically free after seven days, but continued the routine with more and more time in between until we are once a month. I think the biggest thing for us was keeping things in the freezer - all barrettes, ponytails, bobby pins, etc. I relate this to taking care of bedbugs, and they are much nastier to deal with. It is all in the duty to adhere to the routine.

My favorites right now come from Asus and HP believe it or not. I am OK with the Dells, but they just have too much "gunk" on them. No matter what, when you get one, immediately reload it. Do not add back all of the utilities. I keep a pretty app heavy desktop with dual monitors (OK, and sometimes three or four), and I am really pleased with my 1 terabyte RAID 5 drive, 12 gig of RAM, and i9. That is a bit much for most though. LOL Keep to 8 gig of RAM and a minimum of a third gen i5 and you will be so happy. Little workhorses then that can keep up with the times too.

I use these too ... http://practicalpages.wordpress.com/ Add artists and composers as well.

Power Basics are not nearly comprehensive enough in my opinion. I say this and thought that I should also add that I am a Math Mammoth, Saxon, BJU user too.

That's called History Scribe. :) DK Timelines is a great resource as well as the Design a Study guides for history.

Simply Spelling does have purpose and a list of things to focus on for each passage. However, I use Webster's speller (also vintage) and Don Potter's site to apply rules to words. Certainly no spelling until after phonics - say the third grade because most phonics typically ends at this time. You can also add Simply Spelling easily to Rod & Staff or another traditional spelling program without much problem. Simply Spelling does not take longer than 10 to 15 minutes a day. The same could be said of Dictation Day by Day, but you do not want to do "every" passage. Choose your passages for each week. Some are shorter than others. I have assigned as many as three in a week to be dictated on Fridays when we did not use a spelling book. The only other traditional spelling book that I have used with dictation is Abeka. I do not want spelling to take longer than 15 to 30 minutes at the most. BTW, Rod & Staff is a great set. There is no need to switch if it works well for your children.

I use Simply Spelling, and I have since the third grade. It is a studied spelling. I use Dictation Day by Day (vintage) too. Once we hit junior high, I eliminate the Dictation Day by Day passages (which are copywork for us with the spelling list) and use a vocabulary book. 1. Read the passage aloud. 2. Copy the passage. 3. Identify unknown words. Apply spelling/phonics rules. Make list of words. 4. Explain and identify punctuation, capitalization, etc. 5. Study the passage each day using techniques. 6. Dictate the passage and grade. For copywork in Day by Day, we copy selected passages each week and study unknown spelling words applying spelling and phonics words. I only begin a studied spelling method after they complete a good grasp of phonics, such as Explode the Code or similar.

For laminate, do the restorer before you move in. I know this sounds crazy, but do. It protects and seals the joints too. And, request that they use laminate glue on all edge pieces. I learned this as well. No for the tile. Use regular ceramic tiles. Also, you can get the "no-skid" type too. The vinyl tiles are not supposed to be put down in wet areas either.

Uggghh ... I get these too. I am trying not to unfriend, but I may block them. :-/ ETA: And the vacation buying thing that isn't a condo-share but is a pyramid new pyramid scheme. Really? We haven't learned yet?

I just purchased Destinos and plan to use the online videos too. It is meant to teach Spanish through conversation. You purchase the book and the workbook. You watch the videos online and follow the coursework for the first half. There are online activities as well. Tons of information and plans are available. http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html is just one link with the videos and plans. I mention this because DD has always been one to be above the class and places well for everything BUT math, LOL. Math is not her subject. She will get it one day. :) She is an A student in PS, and returned home again this year.

I would get SOTW audio and CHOW for reading aloud. You can get the coloring sheets from SOTW and narrate CHOW. I would do more for the oldest though, like MOH or SOC. For the 13 yo, I would stick to a good science, but you could use the library for the littles easy enough. I have even used Apologia. It was easy to mix the grammar and logic stage together. Keep in mind that the oldest will need a good foundation for high school science that includes earth, space, life, and physical science. I cheated this year. I purchased textbooks from eBay for spines, and I am using LifePac Geology, Astronomy, and Life. I have a little science nut, but I wanted to add "more" that could actually be graded. It will be her ninth year technically, and the class is labeled Natural Science, HTH I would match to the oldest.

Tank tops, big hair and bangs, plastic shoes, thick scrunchy socks, safety pins to hold the pant cuffs tight, Bass shoes and no laces or the funny rolled dangling ends, big bags, huge scarfs in the hair, giant dangling earrings, ripped jeans, neon colors, lots and lots of makeup .... NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo!!!

I look at technology as a way to document - life, work, skills. Once you share, others can use your sharing and learn new skills, develop new life goals, and view information concerning their work and career. However, I view this as mainly an adult avenue. I do think that technology in an essence will promote and create a type of ADD for kids. It is a continuous stimulant. We can create tech junkies. We can hinder social development. Social media is not a substitute or a means to social connections that should be relied upon. It is only an extension. The lack of physical ownership that words hurt or that bad people exist is hidden among the letters and pictures. The child cannot learn the consequences of their actions online or feel any empathy for the person behind text. So, what do you end up with? You end up with a child that is largely isolated from the physical world and dissociates with the reality of it. The same could be said of too much TV and too much game playing. This dissociation is why the "they" blame video games and social media now. Reality is not real to this type of junkie. Couple this with any form of mental disability or mental illness and you have a problem that will develop severe and inappropriate reactions. Add real social pressures and real problems and you get an unrealistic response - such as a school shooting that reminds you of Call of Duty game play or erratic driving under the influence similar to Grand Theft Auto. You train the brain to respond to situations. We guide our children to make appropriate responses to situations and respond to problems. Imagine hours and hours of game play in which the "bad" response is what earns you points, eg killing or stealing or driving fast. Do this over and over. How do you think that child will respond when faced with a situation based on the learned response? Ah, as with anything ... moderation. :) You can abuse anything. Something to think about.