I think her hair was so prominent because it was a physical representation of her personality - fiery, wild, a bit uncontrolable. As a mother of a ten-year-old daughter who is all of the above, I loved the movie. I guess I saw the point as less to portray a strong female character and more to portray the complicated relationship between mother and daughter. It made me think a bit about our interactions and the molds I sometimes try to fit her into. Maybe I enjoyed it more than some because I could relate to the situation.

Both of my kids have some allergies(one with just seasonal and one with both seasonal/food). One also has asthma. We do keep the house pretty dust free, but we are not germ phobes in general. We have traveled and spent time in hotels since they were little. The only thing we ever really did was remove the bedspread. They also went to the childcare at the YMCA as littles for about an hour a day. My dh is a primary care physician, so he pretty much spends the whole winter bringing germs home. Our kids are rarely sick, and if they do get something it's usually very short lived. We are amazed at little they are sick, especially our asthma kid.

Thanks so much for the ideas so far! I will do a search for past threads, too. I always forget about that until after I post:tongue_smilie:.

We are planning a trip to Washington DC and Colonial Willamsburg next fall. We will be flying out and renting a car. The trip will probably be about a week long. If you have done this trip or live in the area we would love any advice about what shouldn't be missed. I know we can't do everything in this timeframe, but we want to make the most of our week. We are also trying to decide how to split our time. Right now we are thinking about heading to Willamsburg for a couple days when we arrive, then driving to DC for the rest of the week. Our kids are dd10 and ds12 and are both good travelers with plenty of stamina on trips, so long days are fine. Thanks for any help!

I would suggest starting with A. The source material for B will have quite a bit more information, which could be overwhelming. I'm making that recommendation based on what you said about WWE 4 being a better fit than WWS 1. FWIW-I had the same reservations about the formulaic aspect of IEW, but it hasn't been a problem at all. The formula is comforting for kids who need it. It actually allows my ds (not Aspie but maybe borderline) to feel confident enough writing that some personality is starting to come out.

Thanks. My friend is sitting next to me trying to use it on her laptop and is saying similar things.

Does anyone know if the software that is available for purchase right now will work on an iPad? I saw that the mobile version isn't out until August, but I'm not sure if that just means iPhone or iPad, too.

Does she only complete a grammar program during the odd years and completely take the even years off? We use R&S, and there is quite a bit of repetition, so I guess this could work if she reviews concepts in context during the off years. I wouldn't prefer this method myself, but it's possible it could work for some people.

We use the Look I Can Talk book form Blaine Ray, too. I agree it is meant to be used by a fluent speaker, so I don't know if they have any pronunciation guides with the program. We use it with a tutor who is a native speaker, and love it!

We do a traditional school year starting late August and ending mid May. We also do an eight week "summer session" that includes only math, grammar, history, and science. The math and grammar are review and are done independently with me checking the work. History and science are done together and alternate days. Both kids have a summer reading list and practice piano everyday, as well. It only takes a couple hours per day and still gives us a few weeks off for vacation or camps.

This post made me laugh. My dh was a lifeguard in HS, college, and even early med school. He STILL has his whistle!

DS 12 made the switch to R&S 5 after FLL4 with no problems. The main thing I found for us, was that there were too many problems. We did a few class practice together orally, then I had him write out part of the written exercises. We read the lesson together first. We are at the end of R&S 6 now, and he usually reads and completes the lesson himself unless its a totally new concept. Dd10 will make the switch to R&S 5 next fall. In some ways I wish I had switched this year because she really likes to work more independently and the writing would have been fine for her. IMO FLL is great prep for R&S, especially if you want your student to work more independently.

I didn't know about this, but I'd like to come if you can still add me. I dont know many WTMers IRL, so this would be fun!

:iagree: I posted this on another related thread, but I'll add it here. If you have a Mac and are running Lion, then many of the features will not work even on a laptop/desktop. I bought one module to try it out, and many of the teacher materials and labs don't work. The ebook student edition and online student lessons do work. ETA: This is specified in their tech requirements. I just missed it in my excitement to try the program out!

Physician BS in biology, MD

On my due date with dd I attended a birthday party for our best friends' little girl. It was Easter Sunday, and I spent a lot of time running around after my two yr old at the Easter egg hunt. We left the party at about 9pm, and I started having contractions at 10:30. She was born at 7:30 the next morning. I also did my 45 minute spinning class on Friday before she was born. People at the gym kept asking me how long I was going to keep exercising. I gave them the answer my ob gave me - stop when the contractions are 5 minutes apart! I can't imagine sitting around. That would make the time go so slowly!

I recently purchased one module of the earth science year to use with my dc - 4th and 6th right now. We aren't satisfied with what we are using right now, so I was planning to switch to fusion and finish up through the summer. We use Macs, and the biggest disappointment for me was that, even though the program is Mac compatible, some of the components aren't going to work for us. The exam bank and some other teacher resources are only useable up through Leopard. We are all using Lion. I admit I should have checked this, but since it was Mac compatible I thought that meant up-to-date ones. At least I only bought one module to check it out. We are able to use the online student portion of the program, and I think my dc will enjoy that. The printed worktext that it comes with is printed on newsprint type paper, but seems fine for content. Another thing is that you can only get one book with the program. Since it's a worktext, that's a problem if you want to use with more than one child. I can't give an honest picture of the whole program since parts of it won't work for us. I really liked the look of it and was hoping to find a new middle school science.:glare:

Are you using ancients for HO as well as IEW? We are using the same combo except with Medieval for both programs. My DS is in 6th. I've just been allowing the HO assignments to be on the shorter side of the requirements. We spend more time with the IEW work on revising, since that is the actual writing instruction. I also skip some of the lit related writing in HO, as I've been assigning IEW style lit work. We will do the Shakespeare writing in HO this final quarter, so that might push his limits. Perhaps shortening the HO writing instead of eliminating it would go over better with her? HO is a very detailed, time consuming program when you do it thoroughly.

I would say this depends on how many kids, their ages and how many activities they do. When my kids were littler, say 2nd grade and under this would have been no problem. Now at 4th and 6th grade there is no way. We do finish our school work fairly early,usually by 2pm, but we have many activities in the afternoon. Dinner is never at the same time and usually not before 7pm. I also have to do laundry in the evenings and on weekends.

I voted other because my dh has an MD.

I'm going along with another friend of mine.

My daughter and I were at one of those shopping parties and were playing the game where you find things in your purse that start with certain letters. I pulled my "telephone" out for letter T, and my daughter, looking at me like I had lost my mind, said, "Mom, iPhone does not start with T!" Also, we always DVR the kids favorite shows so they have several to choose from. When we moved into our new house, the DVR was empty. My daughter loved Clifford at the time and asked to watched it. When I told her she had to wait until the show was on, she thought I was kidding. She had no idea that TV was on a schedule.

If you know the basic idea of IEW you could probably get by with the themed books. Also, you can register on their website and take advantage of the free webinars they offer. Unit VIII Essay is coming up on April 2nd, I believe. I haven't watched one yet, but my friend is a fan of them. Also, I think you can get the student notebook pretty in expensively on its own, which would be a good reference if you don't have it already from the co-op.

I have a teaching degree, too, and this is similar to what I say. I've only been asked a few times. It's usually older people.

We have a shop called DiOliva's like this. I love going in to taste before buying. I just bought a cranberry/pear balsamic that is so good I could drink it!