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H_Household

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Everything posted by H_Household

  1. I love Heartland and Wildfire....both about horse farms with teens. They sound like something you could enjoy together and are clean but have teen issues. Heartland has only 1 1/2 seasons on Netflix but you can watch others on YouTube since it's a canadian show. I also enjoyed a Make It or Break It about teen gymnasts. Switched at Birth was good about teens that were switched and find out but it's a new show so only one season. Enjoy!
  2. Costco is so much better than Sams IMO. Get an executive membership which gives you cash back and then also get an AMEX and get cash back there too. I get two checks a year that more than pays for my membership. Plus they have coupons. They are great with service and returns. The only thing Sams is better with is their hours.....that's it!
  3. We just had to put our dog of 10 years down last week....so I understand and feel for your family. Praying your family can remember the fun and wonderful times you had together. :grouphug:
  4. My daughter has the same issue. We've been seeing a Pediatric Ophthalmologist for over a year and he has us patching her eyes. We patch one eye for 30 minutes each day rotating between eyes. It has really helped but is a long process. Good luck finding the right doctor!
  5. I love hounds and we've had 3 beagles in the last 12 years. They are awesome! Sometimes loud but so lovable. They are smaller (25 lbs), don't require much grooming but do shed. I would recommend them if you have a fenced yard though because they are lead by their nose.....and can get going without paying much attention to anything else. They love to go for walks and have been good with my kids. Who can resist their sweet faces and soft ears. They love to eat...so you have to watch that they don't get fat. We just lost our female last week....and my kids are already asking if we can get another one. We love beagles! Good luck picking what works for your family!
  6. That is so funny!:lol: Thanks for sharing that....I passed it on to my hubby who has a blackberry!
  7. We just got news last week about our beloved beagle. She has a mass in her chest that is pushing on her windpipe. We completely understand how you feel and have also lost another dog in the last few years. Sending up a prayer for your family as you deal with it. We are loving on our dog and enjoying the time we have left with her. They are family...it's so hard! :grouphug:
  8. I bought AAS to help my oldest son and discovered that I loved the Orton-Gillingham approach which it is based on. So I went looking for a reading/phonics program that was based on that....because what we had tried just wasn't working. He needed a different approach so I found a curriculum called Discovering Intensive Phonics for Yourself. It's a great program which includes a lot but is a little pricy. It was worth it for me to have a solid reading/phonics foundation. I don't regret my decision and I am now using it to teach my younger son and soon my daughter too. The thing I love about it is that it teaches the "rules" for phonics by having the children mark the words with symbols and it's great for my visual learners. I bought the whole program which is K5-2nd grade. I do the lesson with the kids on the white board....then they do worksheets, read the books and then review by doing the lesson on the computer. It has given my sons a great start in reading. One thing I also have to say is that my 3rd grader has come so far over the past year using the curriculum but I also decided to take him to the eye doctor. We discovered that he also has issues with his eyes not moving together and needed glasses. I understand how it feels to be dealing with eye issues and wanting the best for your son. Here is a link to the Discovering Intensive Phonics. Hope you find what works best for your family....I know it can be hard! http://athome.readinghorizons.com/
  9. I have a 64 gb and I'm glad I did it. I love to buy digital copies of movies...and they can take 2-3 gb each, plus all my music and apps. One thing though is that you can put your items in iTunes so you don't have to put them on your iPod all at the same time. You can resync your iPod with what you're using at the time....so you could very easily get away with a smaller gb. I love mine and am very glad I bought it. I didn't want to pay for a data plan on an iPhone so this was the best way for me. My kids love it too. The biggest thing I use it for homeschooling is the audio books, including CC memory work, and the fun educational apps that we play. Enjoy:001_smile:
  10. No suggestions....just a :grouphug: We are in CC Foundations but not at the Essentials stage yet. I am considering doing Essentials at home...even though I love to program, for the crazy day it would create for our family after being there for Foundations in the morning. I am a Foundations tutor so I also understand the pressure of tutoring but can't imagine also being a director on top of that. Hope you get some peace and rest to enjoy your year.
  11. Since he is older, you might consider IEWs Phonetic Zoo which is similar to AAS but for older kids. They have a budget package (program without the audio) that is only $29. You could then if you have a way (iPod or MP3 recorder) make your own audio to go with it instead of their cds. I'm pretty sure the Phonetic Zoo is all 3 levels of A, B and C so it would last several years as well. I haven't used it....right now we're using AAS but considering it when I get to that age.
  12. I guess I'm the only one who didn't really care for it and returned it. I guess I must tell you I disliked PR also. I realized that I'm a very systematic person who likes reading (and math) taught a certain way. Though I wanted to love PAL Reading for using the poems, farm and games....I ended up deciding that it might just be a good review tool for my kids but didn't like it for teaching O-G phonics the way I wanted. I use a very systematic program to teach phonics along with AAS for spelling which might not be as fun as PAL but uses visual marking which has made a big difference for my kids. I think PAL is great for certain kids and I like I said, I would use it for review if needed but it just didn't do as well as what I already had. I am thankful for IEW's return policy. However, I did keep the PAL Writing which I'm using with my 1st grader over this year and next to prepare for TWSS. So even though it didn't work for me, I suggest if you're interested, give it a try. However I would buy it from IEW so if it isn't a fit...no problem....they are great and will take it back.
  13. Reading programs - Bob Jones K5 (way too much concentration on word families and not phonics) Phonics Road to Writing and Reading (teaches phonics in a random order that I could never figure out....so I sold it!) OPGTR (didn't like having to follow a script that took the fun out of reading) PAL Reading (same issue like Phonics Road....taught phonics based on poems not a systematic order) Math - Saxon....don't like the system for teaching new topics daily. I'm sure that there are plenty of other things that didn't fit but those are the ones that REALLY didn't fit our family!
  14. I used PAL Reading this summer with my now 3rd and 1st grader. I liked the idea of it...getting phonics from the poems...however, I ended up returning it and just keeping the PAL Writing. The reason I didn't enjoy it was that the phonics was introduced in a kinda random order compared to what it's like in AAS. AAS introduces an idea and works with many words that follow that idea. However, PAL Reading introduced things in different patterns based on the poems and I felt that I was doing better with my intensive phonics program and AAS...so I returned it. That was my experience with it.....don't know if that helps you at all in your choice of what to do. I've not looked at all as to how AAR will work. Good luck deciding!
  15. Praying for your family. Our second son was born with a heart murmur...so we were sent at day 2 of his life to the cardiologist. He was two holes in his heart but thankfully not big enough to cause issues. We were blessed 6 months later to get the news that God had healed his heart completely. Praying the doctors to have understanding how to help and peace for you as you wait for more answers.
  16. To make it more independent for my 3rd grader...I use it like Phonetic zoo. I bought an MP3 Recorder and create the lessons on MP3 and put them on my iPod. Then he works on his lists for AAS by himself and can go on to the next level when he has 2 100% lists in a row, like in Phonetic zoo. This allows me more time to work with my 1st grader. I haven't decided if when he finishes AAS 3 if we'll jump to Phonetic zoo or if we'll continue to do AAS by making it like Phonetic Zoo.
  17. I used CC Connected and print out a page for each subject of memory work and post them on my wall along with the week's timeline cards. That way we can go over them everyday. We also listen to the week's and previous weeks audio in the car. My kids can go on CC Connected (or the Memory Work CD) for review. We also play games...there are tons of ideas for games on CC Connected. Can you tell I love CC Connected?! This year I'm having my kids create a CC notebook with all their memory work on notebook pages. I think it will help them learn the work even better. By the way, CC prefers to let the tutor introduce the memory work in class and then work on it at home after that. It helps the information to be fresh and makes class more fun. We don't review the previous weeks material before beginning the new material. We have 30 minutes of review time where we review the past 6 weeks of material as a way to keep it fresh. The rest is up to you at home to do more review. This is my 3rd year in CC and 2nd as a tutor. My kids and I love it and have learned so much! Hope you enjoy your group too!
  18. Our family lives in SC but loves to visit Atlanta. Last time we went to Stone Mountain for camping on our way to visiting an exhibit in Atlanta called Bodies the Exhibition. It's amazing look at the inside of our bodies. It's at Atlantic Station for the time being. There is also another exhibit there called Dialog in the Dark....an exhibit on what it's like to be blind. http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/atlanta/ http://www.dialogtickets.com/
  19. You could see about tutoring to help with the cost but with a new baby coming...that might be tough. You can also just do Foundations and pick up IEW's TWSS videos and do the same IEW history book to match your cycle. Then you would need to do your own grammar program. Even with the expense of buying the TWSS videos....you would be out less money than paying for essentials and childcare. You have to weigh the expense vs. the experience. We're weighing the same thing here at our house...good luck!
  20. Some states can get Discovery Education for free....we do in South Carolina. It says that Arkansas and Georgia do to....through your state PBS station. Don't know where you live...but if you are in one of those states...try to get it for free. Otherwise, you can buy it like the other ladies stated. I've enjoyed the variety of video clips that I can use for school.
  21. My first Mac...a Mac Book Pro is in the hands right now of a FedEx driver...coming sometime today to my house. I can't wait! I ordered by calling because the online wouldn't work for some reason. They were great! I got the educator's discount of $100 off, the $100 gift card, saved $20 on my RAM upgrade and $65 on AppleCare. I ordered during our tax free weekend and I felt that I got a great deal. I hope that I love Mac as much as people say. Now if someone would make a great lesson/grading program that would run in Mac...life would be good!
  22. I'm just starting on the Mac journey as my PC laptop died and my first Mac is due to arrive in a few days. I use Homeschool Tracker Plus and love it....so I'm so upset that I can't easily use it on my new Mac. So the thing that I haven't notice posted yet and love about HST+ is that I would want to see is the ability to make lesson plans and place them on a child's assignment schedule. I like how I can make the lesson plans in advance...schedule them when needed....and reuse them for younger kids when they get to that point. It saves so much time by only creating the lesson once but being able to reuse it since I've got 3 kids. I also like to be able to make weekly lists of assignments, track grades/attendance and create report cards. Looking forward to what you create!:001_smile:
  23. I used the World Map last year when I tutored at Classical Conversations. I just picked up the US Map for this year. They are GREAT!
  24. I bought it and ended up selling it. I came from using AAS where a rule is introduced and then the words that follow that rule are studied. I found that PR didn't do that. The lesson words seems random so I could never wrap my mind around how and why she was doing the lists. I'm sure it's a good program, but for me...I ended up going back to AAS as that made more sense to me. Another reason is that it sounds great to do all the LA aspects together in one program....but I've got a son who would be in different levels ability wise...so how would that work. He's not a strong reader yet but stronger in other areas. So finding individual curriculum for the LA worked better for him. I really wanted to like it but it didn't work for us so I sold it for most of what I paid...thankfully.
  25. I've been looking at the workbox idea....I love your take on it. Much better space use....since I don't have a ton of that! Your chart is great too. Still trying to figure out our room and organization. It was great to see what you did! Great Job!
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