*bumping* in hopes of some responses...

I did my forum duty and searched before posting this but to no avail, so I am going to put it out there and beg for some really good recommendations! :D To be specific I am looking for a great Earth Science and Astronomy spines to use with my upcoming 6th grader. I've been looking through a few DK Eyewitness books but haven't gotten my paws on anything else yet (ignore the Science in my tag ~ that's been nixed and I just haven't changed it yet :) ) Looking forward to all the great recommendations :bigear:

am thinking about "no I haven't, but will at least read it personally (not to dc yet) in order to base a fair opinion on it." does that help muddy it up? :lol: btw your tag = hilarious, I was thinking that just the other day about the 'evil history' ;)

:rofl:

while I don't have any real words of wisdom, as I am just starting out, I am noticing a real trend on the board this morning and am beyond relieved that it is all but normal to feel overwhelmed and in over my head (even 'seasoned' hs'ers seem to get this from time to time). All I can say right now is :grouphug: and cheers to everyone! Afterall what we're doing is an awesome thing and the one thing we can be sure of is that our children will understand above all else, that they were so very loved! Thanks for the op and for the responses, okay I'll settle down now :bigear:

Trying to wrap my head around it all, but oh my goodness the amount of information out there/here is making my head spin! I've heard over and over when starting out take it slow, give yourself and your children time to adjust, ramp it up, etc..but since I'm starting halfway in with my oldest dd (6th grade) I am so afraid I am going to mess this up and she isn't going to get the education she needs. I am having the most trouble with Science. I just cannot decide what to use! While we are Christian I would prefer to use a secular Science program and incorporate Christian viewpoints as I see fit, as opposed to having the curriculum author decide for me based on their po. DD wants to study earth science and I have gone back and forth with Pearson Interactive Science but like I said just.cannot.decide. Then there is just the planning of it all. I need a good way to write down daily lesson plans, monthly lesson plans, need a good student planner etc. I know I could do a search and probably find a lot of info on here about what I'm talking about but due to the sheer amount of info, I am overwhelmed trying to weed through it all to find what I'm looking for. I'm hoping to get some good advice and insight here, because *pant, pant*, I am freaking out here! :willy_nilly: Thanks in advance for talking me down :lol:

Ooh okay, so this one I know! I actually have (as a last resort to saving too much leftover spaghetti) frozen it and defrosted successfully. After the spaghetti is cool just toss it into a gallon sized freezer bag and freeze flat. Then when you're ready to use it run the bag under tepid water to loosen the edges so it'll come out of the bag easier. Then put all of the spaghetti into a strainer run hot water over it and voila! Spaghetti in five minutes :D I started doing this in smaller baggies with other noodles so I could heat them up with some frozen veg for a quick meal when we're in and outta the house all day but need to avoid the drive-thru. I have also made large batches of homemade marinara and frozen it like pp said, in a gallon zip lock flat. I am curious to hear more ideas though, I like the pre seasoned meat idea..although mine would be preseasoned faux meat, but same general idea ;) Great thread!

Being new to the whole homeschool scene I was so happy I found this board first (after lurking for a bit of course) ;)

seriously just to 'hear' someone else say this, is enough relief and comfort to bring tears to my eyes

I could not agree more!! :D

:iagree: All of it, my thoughts exactly!

:001_unsure: hmmm...thinking i jumped the gun because after watching the video and reading the FAQS it really does just seem like a wiki-ish type of thing...while I'm sure there is good enough information to be had it isn't quite what I originally thought it to be. *shrug*

:lurk5: anybody??