Can I just use the writing component (Paragraph Town in our case) or do the books need to be used together?

The recent MCT threads got me curious and I was browsing through the MCT language arts curriculum on their website. I was looking specifically at "Paragraph Town". There were loads of sample pages to browse through. They had a lovely story with two ducks hopping around on rooftops talking about how to write a paragraph....but as far as I could see, no actual writing assignments. Is it just the sample choice? Are there actual writing assignments? On average, how much actual writing is done with this curriculum over a week? Thanks! Jenn

Ya' know, the "d" doesn't have to stand for "dear". I could think of some great replacement words ;) .

This is going to sound shallow and lame...but I dismissed the curriculum as soon as I saw the font and design used on the sample pages for grammar island. I think it's a stupid font and I hate it, lol. From a design standpoint I also despise the page layout. So there..I told you it was shallow and lame, but these are things I just cannot get past :) .

I had a fairly benevolent thread I started last week deleted with no explanation :confused: . No pm...no nothin'.

I've never had one, so I really can't say anything....BUT....my fil is a doctor and this has always bothered him too. He's treated patients who have caused serious injury to themselves (put their heads on a hot stove, attempted to drill into their skulls) because of the intense pain caused by a true migraine. If you're posting on your FB page about your "migraine" then I'd have to guess that you don't actually have one ;) .

Okay, I'm confused. We're learning about how to use direct quotations in a sentence. My question is about where to put commas when using a direct quotation. The textbook says, "A comma is placed between the speaker's words and the other words in the sentence." Okay, I get that, easy enough. They then go on to give examples.. Samantha said, "I love horses." "That apple is juice," said Anthony. Elijah asked, "Where are you going?" BUT THEN there are examples where they DON'T use the comma to separate the speaker's words and the other words in the sentence. For example... "Look at that bull!" exclaimed Jane. "Go!" yelled Percy. Ds's dictation today in WWE was the same thing... "Where does she live?" asked the wolf. Sooooooo does anyone know the "rule" for when to use the comma to separate and when not to? Thanks so much in advance!!!! Jenn

Here's what I would do. I'd tell her you're going to take her somewhere she'd really like to go...an amusement park, a movie, whatever. Put it on the calendar. Mention it often to get her excited about going. Then the day of when she's ready to go very non-chalantly tell her "Oh, sorry, I lied." Yes. It sounds mean...but she's also 10 and could stand to be taught a lesson. But I bet she'll think twice before she lies again :) .

I haven't found Sonlight to be even mildly religious....let alone very religious. We use a different Bible curriculum so basically we're using Sonlight for literature, history and some geography. If you cut out the Bible portion, it's basically a secular program.

Not sure how old your kiddos are but there are loads of great books written at the same level as the Phantom Tollbooth that would be appropriate for younger readers. Keep in mind that no matter how advanced a reader..they're still kids :) . There is so much great literature out there...don't be so quick to rush them past all the great stories out there because you feel the reading level is below them. It's okay if they read something that's at or (gasp) below their level every once in awhile..I promise :) .

I'd call a meeting with the girl and her parents. Present them with the evidence and let her know how disappointed you are. After that I'd leave it in the parent's hands as to how to deal with it. It's up to you whether you give her a second chance in your class.....I wouldn't, but that's me :001_smile: .

Sounds like we're right on target then :) . We're averaging around 4 hours including Bible, math, grammar, spelling, assigned reading, writing, cursive/penmanship, history, geography, read alouds, science, art and logic/critical thinking. I didn't count in piano and chess which he practices daily or free reading which is probably another hour or so. There seems to be a significant shift in what's expected in 3rd grade with regards to writing but I just wasn't sure if 4 hours was too much. Sometimes with activities and extra hobbies/interests it seems like it is..but from what you have posted so far it seems we're doing fine :) . Thanks!! Jenn

Hi everyone :) I'm just trying to get an idea if we're spending too much time on school each day. So...if you currently have or have recently had a 3rd grader how much time are you spending on school work (the whole shebang including art, music, science, history, etc..). Thanks in advance for your input! Jenn

Unless someone can link me to a crochet pattern for a Lego Hogwart's Castle I'll be buying ;) .

I do understand what you're saying as well :001_smile: . For me, as a business owner, mom, wife, homeschooler if I'm going to take time away from my family, from my other obligations...from myself, lol, I need to be making an income to do it. It's just not worth investing the time, energy and talent into something if it's not being made worthwhile. I love my job and while the joy I get from it is a great benefit if I'm not bringing in extra money I can get the same joy from just keeping it as a hobby for myself as opposed to working for free, kwim?

I don't think it's unreasonable :) . Is it expensive for your family, sure...but not an unreasonable amount to charge for upwards of 3 hours of somebody's time and talent. I do think that they should be able to ride longer though...a half an hour would be nice :) . As a business owner I've encountered this issue as well. I offer a service that costs a certain amount per person. I understand that if you have several children it's going to cost you more...but I'm still putting the same amount of work in per person regardless of how many children you have. It's not fair to the family that pays full amount for each of their two or three children to then allow you to pay less. It's also not fair to expect me, the business owner, to work for less money because you have more children in your family.

I've read that it's best to read them in the order they were written as opposed to chronologically (but you could certainly do that as well). Ds started with Redwall :) .

My 8 yo ds still plays with his train table. It's been great for legos, playmobil, puzzles, etc... When we first got it for him it had a train on it but he never really played with it so we took it down. However...to keep the train from falling apart I used that blue putty, tacky stuff for putting things on walls. I tacked down the rails that were on the table and then put it in between each set of rails too. It took awhile but it worked really well and came off easy when we were ready to put the trains away.

Yes, this. I'm glad somebody brought it up. I'm not sure what she told you happened on these nights....but you need to have her take a pregnancy test as well as get checked for STD's.

In our local district they expect kids to leave Kindergarten having mastered the sounds both the upper and lower case letters make as well as just beginning to blend 3 letter CVC words. Some kids, however have not mastered the blending yet and they're still fine to move on to 1st grade. She sounds like she's right on track! :) After the BoB books you can move into the leveled early readers like DIck and Jane, Little Bear, Frog and Toad, Biscuit, etc... Have fun!

I could have tea everyday. Love. Tea. I'm just as happy with quick, instant tea as I am with the slow steeped kind ;) . Tea makes me happy. Very happy. Dh, however, doesn't share the same drive as myself...he's quite content with once...maybe twice a week. I sometimes wonder why God timed men and women's peaks at such different ages...sigh.

I haven't read through this whole thread so I apologize if I'm just reiterating info. that has already been put out there :) . Here's my thoughts. If this really is happening, my guess would be that it's a matter of FB being extra cautious in the way of security, not a specific attack on homeschoolers for the sake of discriminating against us. Think about it...if a sex offender is going to try and lure teenagers..who do you think he's going to pose as..my guess would be another teenager. If a high school aged kid is on there but doesn't seem to have any in real life connection (such as through a school) to other teens, then perhaps they're deleting these members simply as a safety precaution. One way to verify a teen is really a teen and not a 45 year old pervert trying to lure in other teens, is to see that they have teen friends on their page that they know from real life. That's my thought anyway ;) .

I would never own a pit bull. I'd never let my child go to a house that owned a pit bull.

Ooooh, yes, let's see :) Modern Family (Love.This.Show) The Middle The Office 30 Rock Community Parks and Rec. New episodes of GhostHunters just started and Destination Truth is coming back next week as well.

This is what has always worked for me. Step 1 Be very clear and tell the child that undies are for going on the potty, and diapers are for peeing and pooping in. Having a clear distinction and boundary in regards to what you expect when they are in undies and what you expect when they are in a diaper is very helpful to both you and them :) . This way you can put the child in undies and train all day if you want...or you can put them in undies for an hour a day and do a lighter training session if that fits your schedule better. Step 2 When they're in the undies push fluids..as much as you can. Choose something the child likes to drink and give them as much of it as you possibly can. Water it down if possible. Offering salty snacks such as crackers will help to encourage them to drink even more. Step 3 Put them on the potty every 5 to 10 minutes to begin with. This is where the diaper/undies distinction comes in. This is tiresome and time consuming for both of you and it's nice to train for awhile and then put them back into a diaper when you need a break or have somewhere to go. Step 4 When they do pee or poop on the potty have a special treat ready and make sure to give lots of praise! They need to make the connection between the going potty and the treat so that they will be more motivated to go again. That's pretty much it. Don't make too big of a deal out of accidents or you'll both get frustrated :) . Good luck!