Chapter 19 this week; Chapter 20 next week, then break. This was week 15 of school for us. We start STOW 3 or 4 weeks early as a way of easing into school, and we will still have some left that we will finish over the summer.

We are currently in WWE2 as well, and I think I will be trying your narration idea. DS can answer the helper questions pretty well, but when I ask for the 2-3 sentence narration, he freezes up and says that he's thinking over and over. So I plan to ask the question and write each answer down, and read it all together at the end. It has been encouraging (for lack of a better word) to see so many struggling with WWE2 as written. Even with our little tweaks, I see so much progress in DS over time. What a great program! DS is excited each week to see what the reading selections are!

I them for letters and sight words. For the games with phrases and sentences, I typed them out in large font, printed, and cut. Then I didn't feel obligated to save for other dc; DS got to keep game, and I have the file to print next time.

We recently did the chapter on Vikings, but didn't get to the boat. This inspires me to get to that. Thanks for sharing! How fun that your son gets to have a friend over like that!

Beautiful... I lost a son 8/09. We were having the big ultrasound at 20 weeks, and learned that we had lost him several days before. :grouphug:to you all.

Barbara McClintock :) Also, here is a good book on Pasteur http://www.amazon.com/Pasteurs-Against-Microbes-Science-Stories/dp/0812097939/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349110181&sr=1-1&keywords=pasteur%27s+fight+against+microbes

See my signature. We are in Level A of Spelling Power. I haven't begun Drawing with Children yet, and we have begun piano lessons.

We do the same.

My family members and DH's almost always look at me like I am an alien when I explain this principle. I don't think I explain it that poorly. :confused1: Anyway, I'm glad to see that others do understand it.

DH is off so we are not having school. We may do a science or history activity that we skipped and finish reading a book, but that would be it. Our Fridays are usually lighter, so this Friday will just be a 'regular day.'

My seven yo spells like that. We pretty much wasted a year going through Spelling Workout A. Zero retention. This year we've started Spelling Power, and I am loving it.

This sounds great! Sorry you're not feeling quite ready. Hopefully you'll reap the benefits of a two week break without feeling overwhelmed.:001_smile:

Just returned home! Great morning! We completed all of the school that I had packed, and DS was riding like a pro by the time we left (one advantage of procrastination, I guess). We ran into a family we know, so we even get to check "socialization" off today's list. :thumbup: My only 'complaint' is that the park staff was mowing today, so I had to watch DS1 a bit more closely, and at one point I was yelling to read history over the mower noise. This was our third Monday of the school year, and I think, the best so far. I'm pretty tired at the moment, so I haven't decided if we will do it next week yet. I'll see how the rest of the day goes.

We are going to the park for school in the morning! I have already packed our books (just some subjects), snacks & water, and bikes. DS7 will get some good time to work on biking sans training wheels. We live in the mountains, so our home will not work, and with a napping toddler, it is difficult to go out 'after school.' Here's to homeschooling flexibility!

Masters are mostly in the workbook (I know the apple one is at least one exception). For example Master 1-35 (randomly chosen #) would be before the Fact Sheet (speed drill) for Lesson 35. A 1.2 is a Fact Sheet (speed drill); this label appears under the name line near the top right corner. All of these are in workbook. All of the sheets called 'A 1.2' are exactly the same. These are placed in the workbooks with the appropriate lessons. You only need to pay attention to that label if you plan on recording the speed drill results.

I've just completed my first week of Spelling Power, so if I'm incorrect, please disregard or correct me! Spelling Power words are divided into 11 levels (A-K) which are divided into 20+ Group Lists each. Each group teaches a spelling rule. Daily Test - each day - covers any words missed the previous day and the next words on the Flow-Word Lists - 5 minutes or end of Group 10-Step Study - process used to study words missed on that day's test; these words will be on next Daily Test Review Test - These appear after every 5 groups or so - this is conducted "in the same manner as you do with a regular Flow-Word List Group." Delayed Recall Test - There are 2 of these per Level - one at the middle and one at the end. If there are any words missed, there is a process to review the rule and you retest the entire Group(s) from which the missed words come. Then you give Form B of the Delayed Recall Test. I would do the Review and Delayed Recall Tests as you come to them as they are placed among the Flow-Word Lists. You will be working through the lists at your child's pace. End-of Level Test is administered like the Delayed Recall Test. HTH!!

:iagree: After I have to spell a word, I have DS read the sentence up to that point to regain the flow. It has worked the two times we did it in Week 1 last week. We had a near-meltdown that first day, but I was very gentle and encouraging. He did better than we both expected, so I think that gave us a boost for Day 4. Since he had two compound sentences for his narration, we just did half of one.

Characters who change from good to bad are enslaved to their driving desire. Anakin Skywalker despairs at his lack of control. Pain ( & fear of future pain) and his abilities lead him to desire omnipotence and believe that it is within his grasp. Everything along with the emperor's grooming back him into a moral corner, if you will, and he follows his desire at the expense of the good. Fear is a good overall description. Characters who do not exhibit fear (White Witch, Voldemort, etc) are not typically "relatable" (for lack of a better word) or 3D characters.

:iagree: Is it possible for your husband to sit with the toddler one Sunday? That way you can have an entire worship service unencumbered to see what you think of the service apart from the policy on children. My DH would certainly want to know what I thought in such a situation. Then you could determine if this is something you want to make work. Personally, I would shy away from such a church like many PP's have said. Do there seem to be other families in the same boat - now or recently? I would seek out families with energetic toddlers, etc that you can speak openly about the policy to see how they have dealt with difficulty. I guess it is possible all other toddlers just grew up in this nursery with these policies, so it doesn't come up too often. Since it is a new church, is it possible that you are not comfortable with leaving toddler in new nursery so you stay with your toddler upon any sign of discomfort? I'm not saying that I don't trust your evaluation; just throwing it out there. Or are the nursery workers asking you to stay? If the latter, I think that is unfair of the church to strongly encourage keeping children out of the service and not be willing to endure discomfort/separation anxiety issues. Sorry I'm jumping around - lunch is ending on our first day - so I'm just trying to finish! Bottom line: If you and your DH decide that the pros of this church outweigh the cons, this will eventually become a non-issue. I REALLY think your husband should take a turn so you can experience what he has.

I was given old edition Activity Guide 1, and I used successfully with new edition of the Volume 1 text. However, I'm using updated versions of Volume 2 text and AG this year, and I do like the maps and pictures sooo much better. I am contemplating buying sets of student pages for Volume 1 for future use. Like I said, I received my AG 1 from a friend who bought it and didn't use it, so if you have an opportunity to use an older edition to save money, it will work fine. I wonder if the additional reading lists were updated at all? Either way, the older edition lists worked fine for me last year. Hope this helps!

The one day of review is from Saxon. If you go at a pace of 4 lessons/week, you will complete the book in 30-36 weeks (depending on level). I like having the buffer for sick days. days math just doesn't get done, Labor Day, etc. I also don't review since DS hasn't seemed to need it yet; he just gets a math break on Friday if we are caught up. I skipped the Meeting for a while during Saxon 1 - until I noticed that his skip counting was starting to suffer since he didn't have it down yet. Skip counting, money, and time are reinforced during the Meeting. It really doesn't take too much time, once you get into it. Like pp said, I go through and work on what DS needs work on. At some point the instructions will tell you, "Do the following once per week," so it does move on. When we are pressed for time, I will skip the Meeting altogether - knowing that we will cover it on days we have more time. If we do more than one lesson a day, I will do only one fact sheet and one Meeting for that day. If I want to skip a lesson if it is really easy or I think DS knows it, I just look at the "Lesson" part, cover it quickly, have DS do only the relevant problem(s) on that day's worksheet, then move on.

This is very similar to the one we use except our version calls for cooked noodles. I'll have to try this one!

I saw this in the Veritas Press catalog. I'm thinking about the Grade 1-2 for DD7 who is finishing OPGTR this week. I would love to hear others' experiences and methods in using this book.

Here is a FamilyFinds deal that looks interesting. I haven't decided if I will take advantage of it yet. I was thinking one of the keyboards would make a good Christmas present.