Since you already have the stuff, and a dd who loves and uses it. . . Can you just take batches and distribute some stashes around the house? Can she be allowed to have some of it in her room? In the kitchen in a bin on the floor of the pantry? Alternatively, you could pack up a box or two and put it away in storage for a few months and rotate supplies through. Personally, I think that it is awesome you have a dd who loves to use it. . . and you already have it. . . so I'd try to find places for it! :)

I have definitely seen instructions for restoring cast iron. I think you'd need to scour it down to bare/rust free. . . and then reseason. Google it up and you'll find good instructions. It's DEFINITELY not ruined. You can restore cast iron, no matter how ugly.

For a number of years I wore green birkies if I didn't have a pair that matched what I was wearing. I believed that since green matches the grass, it always works. I'd still make that argument, tho' my green pair (and the blue, and three brown, and the red) pairs have died since then. . . So, now I wear my brilliant purple suede birkies with anything I happen to have on. Not that they match the grass. . . but, well, they are just pretty and I don't care. ;)

I believe that permission is only required when photos are used for commercial purposes. I don't know that churches would fall under this rule. I believe that non-commercial photography is generally free of regulation.

I disagreed. Life has changed. Everyone is photographed many times a day. Their pics will be out there. I just noticed today that two of my dc (11 & 13) not only are pictured on the main website of a community volunteer thing they do, but with their full names. As are all members. Ummm. Well, I'd never have given permission for that. A couple years ago, I'd have had a fit. Up until a year ago, I routinely refused all photo permissions for organizations, with or without names. Honestly, I think everyone will need to just let it go. Privacy has changed. Like it or not. You can bang your head on the wall and get worked up about it, but it will not help. Their photos will be out there, everywhere, all the time, if you are out and about in the world. I am sure there are hundreds of photos of my dc on the web that I didn't authorize. Hundreds, at least. Everytime they are in a concert, workshop, volunteer event, community event, birthday party, etc. . . there are photographs taken. Many end up on community, business, or facebook pages. Let it go. You are fighting a losing battle. Personally, I don't name minor kids anywhere on the web, and generally don't even use my own kids' names (just one initial) on my own fb posts. On fb, I tag no-fb-account/minor kids with their parent's name sometimes. . . and of course the parent can then untag easily enough, tho' I've never had anyone do that to a photo I tagged. I tag fb member kids with their own name, of course. It's hard to accept this nature of information being so public, but I am trying to adapt. I am trying to teach my own dc etiquette about not posting anything embarrassing about anyone, and not allowing pics to be taken that are embarrassing. . . b/c once a pic is taken, it is forever.

thanks so much! I had a theme based book in my cart for weeks and was meaning to order it. You saved me $4.90! Thanks for being so thoughtful!

Fall behind in math & science in 1st grade? IME, 1st grade math can be easily taught in 15 min 3-4 times a week (to a 4 - 5 year old). So, if you are worried, pick up a nice, simple math program. (Love Miquon or Singapore here.) and do it, for fun, a couple times a week. Science can't be gotten behind in at that age. It's all gravy. Pick up some Let's Read & Find Out books and some Magic School Bus books and read one or two a week for fun at bed time. There you go.

Y'all ROCK!!!!!! He won!!!!!!!! And, neither of us vomited or fainted! ;) The under 15 division of a major guitar competition! And has offers from the two top guitarists in the midwest to be his teacher! It was a spectacular workshop -- awesome master classes, awesome concerts with world class performers, working with & then getting offers from the potential new teachers (which we are in the market for under the direction of ds11's first & only teacher who has told us it's time to move on), and winning the competition was icing on the cake! I am so proud and so exhausted! THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (We're off to camp at the beach for 3 nights, so pls forgive me in advance for not replying promptly to any more messages!)

It is a very readable account of how a couple ran book club discussions for 2nd - 5th graders. It walks you through how to lead such a discussion, identifiying the theme/protaganist/antagonist/setting/climax/etc in a very do-able way. It is very helpful to me. It's on amazon for more info.

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ds11 could use as many strong positive thoughts & prayers as possible around 4:00 - 4:30 EST today. He is in the finals for a major classical guitar competition this afternoon at 4ish. This is his first major competition, and he has done wonderfully so far. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Since he is still in pain a day later, I would. For me, private parts and eyes get medical attention same day if in doubt. Skin, colds, snot, moderate fever, muscle aches/sprains/possible mild break. . . those things can usually wait a couple days. But eyes or privates get VIP care, lol. But, then again, I go to the DR at the drop of a hat, lol

Are you sure Core 6 is what you are after? Is your oldest really 9? Unless she is quite accelerated, 9 is quite young. Is this your first SL core?

I'd be sad, depressed, and so lonely if I were in either marriage. TBH, I am pretty sure I couldn't do it. I'd hate dh in no time flat either way. Thank God I am lucky in the dh department.

How about one polished essay a month plus quickie essays every week? In 11th grade, I first learned the 5 para. essay and we did one every friday on an in class essay test (surprise topic, no preparation other than studying the chapter) and we had 45 min start to finish. By years' end, we were all pretty decent with them. I see no reason my rising 8th grader can't learn this skill now instead of in 11th grade. . . So, I am aiming to have her write an essay every week, but most of them will be 2 hour jobs. . . Just really polishing one a month or so.

Miquon done the way it was intended (child-led). I was in a Montessori school K-2 and I vividly remember being able to select what I wanted to work on each day. If you do Miquon as designed, it is very much that way and very exploratory and self-teaching. Buy the teacher's books to get the idea of how it works.

If you are interested in SonLight, Core 6 for 6th, then 7 for 7th, would fit nicely with what you are doing and give your middle schooler a nice zip through world history in 2 years. We like it. :)

Care to post your schedule?? Aha, what schedule, lol? Now that you mention it, maybe I should write things down as the year progresses. :) Then I could post it for you. My plan is to not have much of a plan on a week-to-week basis but I do plan to have a plan for the three 4-week-experiment blocks. . . but said plan is not yet made. I plan to have a plan at least by the day before said experiment blocks begin. LOL. Is you dd13 science minded? Hmm, well, she is quite bright in science and in general. Lately she seems facebook minded, lol. My plan was for her to read over the science level 1 over 6 weeks -- about 4 chapters a week/a chapter a day. That would have been relaxed and easy. However, she procrasinated a LOT and so actually read over it in about 8 days to get it done by my deadline. We did 3 chapters a day. It probably took her a couple hours most days. It really wasn't hard. It isn't too long. I had her bring me the books to go over the exercises orally when she hit the end of a chapter. I think if you took about an hour a day, you could cover 1 chapter a day pretty darn easily. (Note that chapter length varies a LOT.) This is the bane of my science existence! Tell me about it. So are you letting the kids choose? Yes, on a week-to-week basis, completely. I am not requiring experiments outside the 4 week exp't blocks (although you certainly could easily do so. . . I just am streamlining my experiment stuff into those 4 week blocks when we'll do multiple exp'ts each week for a while), so if they have time and motivation to choose, I will go along with whatever they want to do. For our 4-week experiment blocks, we'll all 3 collaborate to choose/plan/organize. They like experiments enough that they'll go along with pretty much whatever I want to do if I am organized enough to make a plan. I do plan to have them write a couple lab reports those weeks, so that'll be something different. I think we'll do one lab report each week on one lab, plus several other just-do-it labs.

My best advice is to get a mixed breed as a puppy. Read up on puppy-testing for personality and then go to a few shelters and try it out until you find a match. DO NOT take the kids to the shelters until you know which pup you are bringing home, IMHO. Puppies are more work but come with less baggage.

"Dr. I Like You a Lot, I only want You and only You to treat me and my family from now on. Please note that in our chart and let the receptionist know. I always make our appts with you, but last time we were here, in walked another doctor! I felt put on the spot and agreed to treatment, but I regret it. I really like all your doctors, including Dr. Hurts Us, but we often leave in pain when the other doctors treat us and I am just not willing to do that again. It makes me feel uncomfortable to say no in person, and I don't want to have to change practices to a solo doc just to ensure I get the doctor I expect. Can you help me?"

I've been getting a lot lately and got exactly that one (school books) last week! When she told me that she had resources that would help the kids with their school work and homework, I told her, "We don't participate in the school system." so she asked if we hs, and i said yes, and she started naming various publishers wanting to know what we used. I felt very uncomfortable and pretty much told her that I knew plenty about school resources and just was not interested. . . She also wanted to know about the neighbors. I told her a few houses that had no kids, so she could skip them. . . and one that has a mean lady there. . . but I told her "I feel uncomfortable giving out private information about my neighbors" when she asked ages, etc. I really had to be firm. She had obviously been well trained in the hard sell. I hate these door-to-door things.

Depends on how special & involved the class is. . . 1) Does it offer something I cannot do? Could I do it at home instead? If so, how hard would it be? How much would we miss? 2) If it was 2-3 hrs/wk for a whole school year and involved either extensive lab and/or outside teacher time (grading essays, preparing labs, bringing in speakers, etc.), then maybe the $$ and the work would be worth it. . . But, if not, well, then, no. I rarely do outside classes. They just haven't been worth the time, trouble, etc. I hire a tutor for oral spanish help, and the kids have music teachers for instruments. . . but everything else we do at home so far.

yes!

Aww, bummer. Rod & Staff is solid and quite independent, but it is on the boring side. My dc learned well with it, but disliked it enough that I actually repurchased appropriate levels for them . . . to have on the shelf. . . as a threat against bickering or giving me a hard time when we are doing MCT together. How long has ds been hs'ing? What else have you tried for LA? Maybe he needs to see the grass on the other side of the fence in order to appreciate MCT like my kids do, lol. For a 12 yo, I don't know anything about LA beyond R&S and MCT, but I'm sure some other folks will chime in. Well, IEW might fit the bill for writing if you used SWI/SICC B. . . but it is really just writing with a touch of grammar and/or vocab tossed in depending on exactly what you're using and so isn't the comprehensive LA program that MCT is.

I found that the level 1 courses were about 8-12 weeks of material, assuming we're doing all the labs, etc. I think a chapter per week was reasonably easy. The Rs4K covers a good bit of solid info, but I'd want to spend some more time on science over the course of the year. . . but you could use the RS4K as your "spine" for the year and then follow your interests & explore other things with your other science time. Either do RS4K for a couple months to one semester and something else the other semester, or I guess you could sprinkle RS4K over longer but it might be disjointed to do it so infrequently. . . You could do some nature study, or plant a garden, or explore a special interest, or go to science museums/club/etc. . . Or. . . If you want to do just Physics this year, you could add other reading/books/kits/etc. Maybe a TOPS exp't book on light, magnetism, electricity, etc. . . HTH