I bet over half those were answering questions about Spalding!

We read this book and made illuminated books. http://www.homeschoolshare.com/marguerite_makes_a_book_unit.php

Oh, and now my mom, retired elem. teacher, just brags about how smart my kids are, what a good job I am doing and that they are learning the way kids used to learn before standardized tests ruled the world!

I come from a family of public school teachers (and was one myself), and when I started homeschooling I felt like I had to justify my choice to everyone and anyone who felt the need to ask about it. I got the really good "pass the bean dip advice" and really started following it. After the first year or two, the "proof is in the pudding" and my family stopped bugging me. They saw that my kids were just normal kids that did not, in fact, belong on the island of misfit toys, and I had not ruined them. Now, when I meet new people, they do not even question the choice. I don't know if I just have more confidence or they think I am too old and set in my ways. You will get there too. There are always going to be people who want to give you their unsolicited opinion on everything from baby names, to political candidates, to educational choices.

Okay...guess I will play... History - Ancients - various AO books, k12 Human Odyssey Math - continue Saxon Algebra 1 Science - Prentice Hall Science Explorer and maybe Science Bits (thanks to another thread) Literature - various classical works - Iliad Odyssey, other AO titles (from AO 6 and 7) Writing and Grammar - either finish CW homer/Aesop or move on to Diogenes Bible - read it Latin - probably Big Book of Latin 2 Spanish - 1 phrase per week Or since we are moving to Orlando we will just do Disney School, just kidding (a little)!

"Oh, no. We really need her to stay at home to do the taxes. No, just kidding. On a totally unrelated note..."

Ugh, right now I know more about what we are NOT going to do!

I wanted CPO to work too as I had heard so many good things about it, but it was a bust here!

Thanks for this thread! I had not heard of some of these things!

I totally agree with Ethel, I got the lowest amount of memory and I regret it as I am already out of memory! I might go with the mini next time...

Yea, and I am reading these threads! What does that say about me?

Where I live (and have lived in the past - really hot places) you really can't be out in the heat too much past 10 in the morning, until about 3-4. Even being in the pool or at the beach, unless it is shaded is too much for my fair skinned bunch, so we really have time to do more school, or "fun school" as we call it. We have time to do all those fun things that we rarely seem to have time to do during the school year!

I took my kids to Mardi Gras a couple of years ago and they thought it was the best thing they had ever been to, a parade where you just get presents! They are now spoiled forever for any traditional parade! We did go to a day parade, so it was tame. I do understand your point, though, especially the Gatsby theme.

We do portfolio and it is a WONDERFUL experience for my kids! They get to show off all their projects which they are proud of, and our evaluator is FANTASTIC. She is so positive with the kids, always has some helpful hint or resource for me, and takes pictures with each kid and gives them their own certificates - telling them, "Congratulations! Welcome to ____ grade!"

AND, we were thinking of switching to Verizon, now...not a chance! AND I love Zappos! ;)

Yeah, I was thinking more along the lines of just busy-bodies in general, not ones you want a job from. Although, I think that sometimes those types of comments by people in "authority" over you are simply meant to belittle or shame. If I really needed a job from someone like that I would probably just take the "laugh it off" course and make a joke of it, to at least signal to the person that they are being inappropriate.

We had Sprint years ago (for like 15 years) and we had a fantastic plan with several discounts. Well, they switched over their billing to a new system and all of a sudden we were being charged $25 more per month. I had argument after argument with several people before getting to the bottom of the matter, that their new system did not have a "code" for our plan. I had SEVERAL CS reps tell me that they had just upped the price of our plan and that was now what we owed per month. I explained to them that they couldn't just decide to charge me more one day, and I would have to do it. So, finally I got tired of having to call every month to have it removed, only to be assured that the problem was taken care of.

I think I am going to teach my kids this little ditty for times like these, as I know they are going to encounter this as they get older: "You know, I thought all public schooled students were just kids with herd mentality whose parents didn't actually care about their education until I actually got to know some and then I realized how asinine it was for me to simply judge others based on archaic stereotypes." SMILE

I would say, "Mom, I feel sure that you meant this to be humorous. If it were given to me I might even chuckle a little; but considering -'s age, I really feel it is inappropriate. At this age kids are very sensitive to anything and everything and the words you used were very negative and hurtful. I would think you would want to have a positive relationship with your grandchildren."

My parents didn't give me a figure that they would pay, they just paid all they were able to pay (with two brothers in college also). I worked on and off campus the whole time I went to school, I got some grants, and made up the difference in loans. Granted, the outlook for paying back loans looks MUCH different now than when I went to school, but I did it...or should I say, my husband and I did it. If I had gone to another school I would not have met my husband, would not have my children, would not be homeschooling...so I think I made a good choice!

I chose. I am glad I did because my parents would have picked the cheaper school. I chose the perfect school for me. The other school would have cost lots less. My parents paid of half, and I paid for half. Where I went didn't determine how much my parents were going to pay. I just had to pay more. And it was worth it!

I like FIAR much better than BFIAR, but I think it can be helpful to those who just don't know where to begin.

Yeah, why didn't she read it? And what could it be? Do you think he could be a spy? Okay, maybe that might be a bit out-there. Anna's storyline is irritating to me as well. It just doesn't seem that someone who worked so hard to be with someone would just sort of dump it all.

I loved the AAR program that we did with my dc a couple of years ago, but I left it because it just seemed too time intensive. I did, however, hold on to the readers, as I loved the illustrations and the stories. Well, my youngest ds LOVES the readers for level 1. He just started the last one. In looking to next year, should I buy the level 2 ones for him? My hesitation is that they are $20 a piece! I just can't decide if it is worth it if I don't have the whole program. I only used the level 1 ones because I had them on hand. I wasn't prepared for him to loved them as much as he does. Thoughts?

Another thing I have learned (for me) is that really my best friendships have been with people who also homeschool because it seems that our random schedules seem to work better together. (Except for my friends who were friends before homeschooling.) I will say also that if I invest time into a friendship and really share life with people, I will be your friend for life (if you want me to be ;) I still text and keep up with friends that I may not ever live near again. We try to plan trips to see each other. Maybe I am not the norm, though. Maybe some of you are reading this right now thinking you are glad you have never run into me, ha ha...ignore the extrovert...