We're using this collection of poems for children. My son is only 9 so I wanted to get the children's one but this publisher has other collections that are also just as inexpensive that we may get later. We flip through the book and just pick whatever we feel like that day. I'm encouraging him to start with the shorter ones because those are the easiest to pick apart and we're new at this. Sometimes we just read it and don't try to analyze anything because I don't want it to be just another chore. The book is small and not flashy but is just what I wanted.

I'm not sure what the best thing is but I've always kept the seeds in a small plastic container in the fridge and they last about a week.

How long is it or did it take you to finish this level and what do you do after it is completed? We started in August and my son has finished Grammar Island, Building Language, and Music of the Hemispheres already. We are in Sentence Island now and I think we'll finish it by Feb. at the latest, but probably more like early or mid January. He is doing one practice sentence a day and I haven't checked how many we have left but it takes no time at all to do so I'm not concerned. We are continuing to do 1 poem a day, 1 new word stem a week, and 2 vocabulary words a week, and I am happy with how it is working for us. I'm wondering what we should do when we finish with Sentence Island? I don't want to move on to the next MCT level yet but can't imagine doing nothing but practice sentences, poems, vocab., and random writing assignments for the rest of the year! Are we moving through this too quickly? It doesn't seem like we are going at an especially rapid pace. we have just been reading through the books one at a time and stopping for the day when we feel like it. What would you suggest doing between MCT levels to reinforce what he's learned and prepare for the next level? Or maybe something else for language arts that I'm not thinking about that is not really covered well in the early MCT levels? He doesn't really have a reading curriculum, maybe something for that? I don't want something that will take a full year since we'd be starting sometime in Jan/or Feb.

I would get her 00 and xxs. I have been about her size. I'm a little shorter but weighed less, so I'm guessing we would have been close except for height. For underwear, get her Victoria's Secret xs. Nothing from Lands End or the like will probably fit her. I have some fleece pj's with elastic waists also from Victorias Secret that I would wear every day if I could. They are a little long on me but probably would fit her ok if she cinches the elastic or rolls the waist band. Really, VS in xxs and 00 are pretty small and not everything is sexy time wear. That would be my first place to look if I were you. Old Navy and Gap also sometimes have xxs and 00 clothing. The petites are cut smaller, though so I'm not sure if the regular length would fit her.

It isn't just this cycle that has been dirty. As an adult, I am shocked that every vote actually isn't counted in America and that people are ok with that. It seems they are using statistical models to assume that even in tight races that absentee and provisional ballots don't need to be checked. :thumbdown:

My kids tend to have very low iron and the pediatrician told us that Multi-Grain Cheerios had a ton of iron. My girls who had "the lowest iron I've ever seen," according to the pediatrician needed more than just Cheerios but my other daughter who was just normal low had her iron levels back to normal after a few months of Multi-grain Cheerios a couple mornings a week. I'd give that a try before trying anything nasty.

I have seen research that suggests there are families where identical twinning runs in the father's side. It was hypothesized that something in the sperm of men in those families increased the odds that a fertilized egg would split.

Do you keep them on the same curriculum? Mine use the same curriculum for everything. If I could have had them use the same curriculum as my older son, I would. I want to keep things as simple as possible. Do you teach them at the same time or make an effort to do one-on-one? Some things I do with them together and some things we do one on one. It depends on the subject and what is involved in the curriculum. I do phonics and spelling one on one and most everything else together. Do they move at the same pace, and if not does one feel like they are "behind" the other? Mine move at about the same place. They are identical and I do think that matters. I would expect fraternal twins to vary more in how they learn and progress. Is there a lot of competition? Sometimes one will do a little better and there is some competition between them but it is mild and not really an issue so far. I find that they take turns having days where one does better or moves faster than the other but over the week, they even out and are fairly equal. This is my first year homeschooling them so my opinions and what we do may change as time goes on but so far, they are doing great and get along as well as they always have with each other.

I would expect a 12yr old to know the truth. And, I would expect that if they believed, then they would have already developed an explanation for other people's disbelief by now and having an adult express disbelief would not be surprising. There are so many books, tv shows, and movies where the main idea is that the adults or children don't believe in Santa and then find he is real. Has she been sheltered from all that too? It seems bizarre.

Based on the advice here, I'm going to take some time off the curriculum and work on the facts, but I won't just do flashcards. My plan is to do some Rocketship Math style worksheets with them. I'm lucky that I have 2 at the same level so they can work together, I'll have them play a few easy games on the computer, and we're getting Sum Swamp to play together. I'm also going to spend some time with the manipulatives reviewing plus 0s, plus 1s, and the commutative property. Thank you for all the thoughts and ideas. I agree that sight math alone is not so good but I also think that just memorizing the facts is important to being able to do more complex math down the road. My 3yr old could have told you that 1+1=2, 2+2=4, 4=4=8, and 8=8=16 by the time she was 2 from listening to They Might Be Giants, for example, but she can't do math. But, maybe in a few years the memorization she has done of that song will help her move more quickly when she starts learning real addition.

FYI- the Peter and the Wolf with the Russian style puppets was a little traumatizing for my kids. It's dark, and one of the boy's only friends gets killed on screen in front of him. Granted, it's a duck but you should have seen my kids' faces! We liked Liberty's Kids. My 6yr olds loved it! My 6yr olds also like Sid the Science Kid, Beakman's World, Meercat Manor, Cyberchase, the Disney Tall Tales and Legends movies, classic musicals like Oliver, Annie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I consider it cultural education), National Geographic Creepy Creatures, and Super Why. Most of the other documentaries we've watched have bored my 6yr olds and they leave but my son, at 9, is starting to enjoy them. He likes the ones on ancient history and the body. I also have some art show by Sister Wendy that I plan to try soon. I've never seen it but it looks interesting. I know I should underline or italicize titles but I don't feel like it.

Right now they are just using the red unit blocks from the Shiller kit. The tens are green and the 100s are blue, and they all have indents on them to match with the unit blocks but we are just working with numbers through 12 now. They do know how to do it and what adding and subtracting mean, they just have to figure out each problem slowly. Nothing is immediately recalled. Even with 6+0, they have to get themselves 6 blocks, say to themselves that 0 means no more blocks, and then they can answer 6. If they try to do it without the blocks, they would probably say something like 60. Or if they have to find out if 6+1 is equal to 6 or not, they can't just look at it and see how obvious it is. They will have to get the blocks and do 6+1, and then write the answer to get it right. Otherwise, they'll say it is the same or that 6+1 is smaller or something else that makes my brain explode. But I guarantee if I gave one 6 skittles and another 6 + 1 skittles, they would know in an instant that it wasn't equal! I agree Math Mammoth has had them practicing addition a lot, but I sometimes wonder if they struggle because we just need to drill them with the facts so it comes faster or if they struggle because they really don't get what the problems are talking about yet and if it is too soon for "sight math." I don't understand how they can get stuck on the problems adding or subtracting 0s and 1s.

For my son, working independently means I can give him a list of things to do for the day and he does it. He goes through the list and checks off what he has completed and gets me only for problems or questions. I will check his work once he checks it off, and then we go over any issues together. He has a mix of workbooks, reading assignments, writing assignments, and a few DVD or computer courses. I have to set up the DVD for him because he can't reach it but other than that he can push play, pause, stop, etc. as needed. When he's finished everything he can do by himself, he brings me his checklist, I double check everything, and we move on to whatever subject or sections we need to do together. He does not need my help to stay on task and go through his list. I say 75% or so (varies by day) he does on his own based on how many things I see on his to do list that he does on his own. The 25% that we do together, however, sometimes takes more time than the other subjects.

I'm thinking of ditching my girls' curriculum (Math Mammoth) for a few weeks and just getting some math flashcards, playing some games, and drilling them on their basic addition and subtraction facts until they have them completely memorized. They do understand how to do it themselves but it is painfully slow. They have to get the blocks out to add or subtract over half the time and sometimes will have counting errors with the blocks, make a mistake, and get more frustrated. I'm thinking if we go the sight word route with these facts so they can just see it and know it in an instant that we can move on more easily with the rest of the math. Their math curriculum is moving on past basic adding and subtracting and while I know they could do it, given time to work it out slowly step by step, I don't want to suffer through it. Are there any reasons not to drill these basic facts into their heads with flash cards, speed games on the computer, and adding games, so they memorize them more quickly? Will it bite me in the butt later if they embed the facts in their brain this way rather than by slowly memorizing by doing the problems?

I'm using AAS with Alphaphonics and they complement each other nicely. They also use Climbing to Good English for spelling and phonics reinforcement and they read out loud daily.

I love the production quality of National Geographic shows. They do a good job capturing my son's attention, he listens, he likes them, and he learns. But, ugh!!! Why do they have to show a naked woman on a bed with silk sheets when they begin to talk about skin? Totally unnecessary. I think the parts were mostly concealed with angles and shading but the whole scene set up seemed a little too much. Then, for vocal cords, they used Steven Tyler. I have no problem with Aerosmith, I like their music. But, why did they have to pick "Love in an Elevator" as the song to have him singing on camera? There are many songs that would have been a little better. We're only 15min into the hour and a half show, so who knows what will be next. I know they try to appeal to adults with their specials too but I wish they would think that maybe kids would like to watch "educational" specials too. This is just a frustrated, whiny, rant. My kid is still watching this one because it is a really good fit with his curriculum and he is learning. We can deal with the racier details but I just wish I didn't need to either preview everything or watch with the remote in my hand. We tried to watch one on babies in the womb and the way I could see their explanation of conception going before I turned it off was :ohmy:

Do you have an anti-spyware/malware program? It might pick up something the virus scan didn't. I haven't had any ads pop up. You could find them by googling spybot, adaware, or malwarebytes anti malware. I have the last one running right now but have used the others in the past.

I believe only you can decide whether or not you will feel comfortable going. I believe the church members will welcome you and your family as regular visitors for as long as you want but you probably should not join the church if you can't profess the same basic beliefs (ie- one path to salvation and the mandate to make converts). I do not think it is strange that the couple did a 180 when they saw you. They knew you probably didn't know anyone else and wanted to make you feel welcome and comfortable. I don't think it is any different than if I invited someone I casually knew to a playgroup. If they came, I would feel sort of like a host and feel responsible for making sure they had a good time and did not feel lonely even if we had never really talked much before.

They have sample routines at http://www.hotnfit.com/ And you can go here to see how to do it: http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html Click on the body map and it will give a list of exercises for that muscle group, and when you click on the exercise, there's directions and a short video clip of someone doing it with proper form.

My 9yr old does more than half of his work independently and my 6yr olds do 95% of their work with me. If I left them alone, they would either not do anything or would do it their own way (the wrong way!) without bothering to read directions or ask for help. I can give my 9yr old a list of what to do for the day, go take a shower, and he'll be fine by himself until I'm back.

Baptist churches want people who do not share their beliefs to come to their fall festivals and VBS programs. Really. In the churches I've been a part of, I think the people would feel that a program was a flop if only people from their church participated. You would be welcomed and not in any way be looked at as a freeloader. The money raised at VBS's usually go to missions, as others have said. The purchase of the supplies and the salaries of paid staff come from different parts of the budget and the money should not mingle. But- if you strongly believe in not supporting the spread of the Baptist doctrine, or doctrine of whatever church you are at, then you may want to find out exactly what charity the money is going to. Many times it will be to sponsor missionaries of that particular faith and not organizations that provide charity with no religious agenda.

I used to prefer Miracle Whip until I read the ingredients list! :ack2: Now I only eat mayo by choice. I grew up on miracle whip and really preferred the taste but after many years of mayo only, miracle whip now tastes weird and icky. I can't believe I used to prefer it.

The reason I think he would benefit from precalculus is that my college math I was required to take as a prereq. for all future math classes and all degrees was very, very, very similar to my high school precalculus class. It isn't just algebra or algebra 2. I had a hard time with it because math is not my favorite subject and it had been so long since I had done it before. (Still got an A, just not an easy high A). I am sure if I hadn't had precalc in high school that the college math class would have been horrible! The high school class went slower and was smaller. The college class was really large since everyone had to take it. It will also improve his math scores on entrance exams and should he ever change his mind in college and want to switch to a major that requires higher math, it would put him at a disadvantage, and I think having precalc on the transcript is pretty much expected these days. So many kids have already taken calculus in high school, that anything less than precalc looks pretty weak in comparison and he will be compared.

This is my first buy, but you just join the co-op and promise you are a homeschooler. Then, you buy it through the order form on the co-op page, and they send you an e-mail with a coupon code to use on the Mark Kistler page and a link to the right page on his site. Click on the link, sign up on the Mark Kistler page, put your coupon code so the price there is $0 and then set up your account. I did it last night in under 5min for everything! I was a little scared when I saw that the co-op charges a separate service fee and I couldn't find out how much that was until I ordered. It's only $1.95, though, so not a big deal at all.

I had a hard time voting because I can't imagine that situation myself. I would imagine that 45min away is not going to be something you pop in and pop out briefly regularly during the week. So, my vote would be for 1, 3-4 hr, visit a week, probably a weekend visit, but if it was every week, it would really get old, IMO, to have my weekends always about visiting grandparents. I would not be able to do any visits during the school day because it would be way too disruptive. I could see maybe once a month, scheduled so I can plan around it, but more than that would be too much unless I was on a 4 day schedule (I am), and I had nothing else planned for those days (never), or if they only came late afternoon after school was done and we had no other activities that night.