I'm thinking of starting a blog. I don't know anything about blogging except that I enjoy reading other homeschoolers' blogs. I know there is wordpress and blogger, but I'm sure there are others. I'd be looking for a free one. Which do you recommend?

Another vote for MapTrek for historical maps. :) I haven't tried WonderMaps, so I can't review those. I love MapTrek though. Like others I bought the hardback atlas with cd-rom. I'm using the maps with the SOTW curriculum integration guide as I'm using SOTW a second time around with older students and the detail and level of the MapTrek maps is a better fit than the SOTW maps this go round.

With the coupon code LEARNINGJAN and the $1 items I bought 14 books for $9.80.

I just wanted to let everyone know I used coupon code LEARNINGJAN and got an additional 30% off the $1 items. :)

Pretty often. Sometimes they change the books though.

I am using them the second time around with my 4th and 6th grader. I didn't use them the first time reading the books when the kids were younger.

I'm curious what other websites are out there like Teacher's Pay Teacher's? Also are there any websites like that just for homeschool teachers?

I'm curious what other websites are out there like Teacher's Pay Teacher's? Also are there any websites like that just for homeschool teachers?

Looks good! :) I'm always looking for efficient ways to add Math review.

Sorry the pic is low quality. I'm assuming it is blurry because I resized the pics? I forgot to change the camera setting. Our schoolroom is our dining room. I don't try to hide it one bit. :) We lived in apartments for years homeschooling and space was always an issue. I love having a decent size dining room to devote to school. We do have bookshelves tucked elsewhere in the house with books and craft supplies, but for the most school supplies and books are in the dining room. There's 3 pics in the album.

Sorry about that, I can no longer edit my original post to update the links there. Here are the links again for five weeks worth, student book and teacher book. The teacher book is necessary to implement the student workbook. Thanks everyone for cheering me on. :) It will probably take a while to complete. The vintage book isn't 100% accurate, but very close, so I've learned I need to be very careful with redoing the exercises and double checking all the rules. It is taking far more time to edit and check for accuracy than it is to make the actual worksheets, lol. I'm enjoying it though. While I'm using the vintage book as a base, I am adding rules, exercises, and review. Just a warning if anyone wants to use the lessons straight from the vintage book, preview the lessons before you use them. As I said, it is for the most part correct and usable but there are things here and there which are not modern and up to date with common American spelling.

Eclectic and secular. Inspired by many things. :)

I needed to fix a few things. :) Here's five weeks worth, student book and teacher book. Let me know if you see any mistakes anyone, please. For the most part the words are correct in the vintage book, but I've had a lesson or two that it took me a few times rereading it before I caught a word misspelled or that I wouldn't have used to show a certain rule. Anyway, it has been harder than I thought it would be and I jumped the gun a bit on sharing in my enthusiasm! :tongue_smilie:I should edit more carefully in the future before sharing. That said, hopefully all is right now.

My cardigans are mostly shades of brown and that guy Dick Cavett is just a clown. :)

wendilouwho I think your daughter looks absolutely darling in both of those outfits. :) I love them! Bright, cheerful, funky and fun!

I get what you're saying and agree. I'm not dishonest with my daughter though. She doesn't ask my advice on what she wears. If she did I probably wouldn't have much of an opinion anyway because fashion just isn't my thing.

My mom, my sister, my cousin, and several other people I've known have had eating disorders as girls and young woman, so I'm probably over sensitive. I just shudder inside to hear someone pointing out clothing showing back rolls and such. If it was done with sensitivity I'm sure it is fine. Like I said I probably wear unflattering things all the time without realizing it, lol. I don't see myself ever having issue with something dd wears purely based on whether I think it flatters her.

You're absolutely right that most everything is a risk. Riding in a vehicle, for example, is a risk. As a parent I know it is a risk, but to me the benefits far outweigh the risk. I can research car safety, get a good car seat that fits my child appropriately, be sure the car seat is correctly installed, be sure I know exactly how to strap the child in properly, etc. My point is by doing my best to gain knowledge and make decisions for my child I am quite possibly reducing the risk of injury. I feel vaccines deserve the same treatment as any other decision I make for my child. I want to weight the risks and benefits to my child, make what I feel is the best decision, and do what I can to reduce the risks. I would love if all parents would research vaccines and the diseases. Lots of people I've talked to truly think the statement vaccines are safe means their child is safe when they get a vaccine. That is what I was addressing. Vaccines are safe is not exactly the best catch phrase in my opinion. Parents deserve to be educated and given the chance to weigh the benefits and risks. I totally agree that pseudoscience and conspiracy theories are something to be concerned about. Fact is a lot of parents who research vaccines are very careful about their research and aren't apt to fall prey for this sort of thing. My reading was done on the CDC site, the vaccine manufacturers' sites, and in peer reviewed Science journals. I did read a few books from the library, mostly general books about the immune system and diseases, and a couple books by Paul Offit. I do not use VAERS data in my decision making process at all. I can't tell you how many eye rolls and bad attitudes I've endured from doctors, nurses, and other parents when I say I'm researching vaccines. I wish they'd give me a little credit. Regarding whether vaccines are a net positive in terms of avoiding harm to the vaccinee, this is also a complicated issue. If one were to make that blanket statement I wouldn't necessarily agree with it. Are we talking about people in the US only? Is the statement being made as a general statement for everyone in the world? Even Paul Offit and the CDC are aware that for some vaccines a child in the US is more likely to be injured by the vaccine than the disease. Let's use Polio or Measles as an example. A child in the US is highly unlikely to contract either disease and very likely to receive the vaccine. You can still make the statement the child is more likely to be harmed by the disease if contracted than the vaccine, however the children is so highly unlikely to catch the disease that the risk to the individual child is greater from the vaccine than the disease. I understand that Paul Offit, the CDC, and doctors are concerned for a future in which so many people choose not to vaccinate that diseases like Polio and Measles could become common place. They would like us all to vaccinate on schedule with every vaccine. They would like us not to research and ask questions. They would like us to not consider what would be best for our individual child. I feel the way this issue is being handled by doctors, the CDC, and the powers that be does far more harm than good. Doctors are turning away children and refusing to care for them if their parents want to alter the schedule in any way, among other bullying tactics. What kind of parent would I be if I allowed this sort of bullying to change such an important decision concerning my child's health and safety? I just wish people would be more respectful across the board about the issue. People tend to get very heated when the topic is brought up and I really appreciate getting to talk about it a bit with people who are being respectful. :)

To me it is unkind, especially in relation to a child, but as I said I am no fashionista myself. I could care less about clothes and fashion. To say something doesn't flatter a 14 year olds body type and she should change is odd to me. Does her figure need flattering? Maybe I am taking it wrong, but it feels off to me. I'm an adult woman and I'm not concerned over flattering my figure for public approval, so again it is just my own feelings on the matter. I really can't imagine making negative comments about how my dd looks. I've known too many girls with eating disorders and body issues. I'd be concerned I'd hurt their confidence and self esteem.

I think rabbits can be good pets, but it is definitely good to know what you are getting in to. Most of them do like to chew. They will chew cords, base boards, furniture, the cage bars etc. If you plan to let them out of the cage inside you really need to have just the right area to do so with nothing you wouldn't want them chewing or a constant eye. They sell treats and good things for them to chew on as well. Rabbits can be litter trained, though like cats and dogs some will have problems. Rabbits can be very friendly and lovey, same as cats and dogs, some aren't. It is good to have a cage with a litter box and at least an area where they are not on a wire bottom all the time. Be careful what bedding you buy as some can cause breathing problems for rabbits. Ask around. I don't recall which because it has been years since we had ours. They also sell outside enclosures for them. This is a very, very good thing to have for nice weather, especially if you don't have a good area to let them out inside.

4 1/2. 4 full days Mon-Thurs, 1/2 day Fridays we do review Math, Art, Piano, and reading. If we don't complete everything planned for Mon-Thurs we may make it up on Friday depending on what it is and the circumstances.

I voted yeah she could wear it so long as it was modest. Honestly I think it a little unkind to judge something unflattering for someone else. But I'm no fashionista and wear things other people probably find unflattering all the time. It has certainly never crossed y mind to consider something unflattering on dd who is 12. I do make sure her bits are covered when out as she really isn't very aware of it yet. Style is all her though, she can where whatever style she likes.

Thank you for the link. I will check it out.

This is a big concern of mine with the chicken pox shot. I worry it will end up being a bad thing in the future.

I have researched vaccines quite a lot. I spent many hours reading on the CDC's website, books from the library about diseases and the immune system, and peer reviewed Science journals when I was pregnant with my last child. I read every chapter of the CDC's Pink Book at least twice. I've read the vaccine manufacturers' literature on every vaccine relevant to my family. I know what herd immunity is and have a good understanding of the relevance to vaccines. Autism, thimerosal, toxins, etc are not on my radar of concerns with vaccines. We are told by doctors and the CDC that 'vaccines are safe'. People take this to mean your child is safe when they receive a vaccine, which simply isn't true. What they really mean is that according to research data your child is statistically less likely to be harmed by the vaccine than the disease if they contracted it. Vaccine injuries are real and do happen. Every time someone gets a vaccine there is a small risk they could be harmed. Vaccine manufacturers and the CDC do not deny this. It is a fact. I personally don't think children should be targeted as vaccine recipients for the sake of herd immunity. Giving a child a vaccine is a risk, no matter how small. In my opinion the benefits weighed should be for the individual child, not society. They need to target adults to be put at risk for the herd, not children. I also think many people don't realize herd immunity does not work for all diseases and certainly not the same level for each. I too have concerns over new strains of disease resulting from vaccine use. We've seen it in the past many times and I'm sure we'll see it in the future. It is scary to think of 'super bugs'. There will never be a 100% vaccinated population (outside of sci-fi or one heck of a scary future :) ), so I'm not sure what vaccine scheduling has to do with it. I'm also concerned about our population losing its natural herd immunity due to vaccine use. I think this could be a big problem in the future, though I sure hope not.