Poo. The coupon code didn't work for me. :(

This makes me happy. :) Due to some crazy business in my life lately I haven't been able to read my last several issues of the Economist. I have, however, spotted B curled up on the couch reading the Economist, engrossed. Every now and again he excitedly tells me about what he's been reading. This is my try-to-get-out-of-as-much-as-possible kid, so I'm doubly pleased. If you do want to subscribe, look up their academic subscriptions. The Economist allows homeschool teachers to take advantage of a (substantial) academic discount.

Thanks!

Could be the brain fog thing. The author of "How to Make a Good Brain Great" says that age 11 is when the brain-synapse-pruning begins. I'd rule out the eyes/other issues before assuming this is the case, though.

I just found this word doc on my computer. I don't remember where I got it, so can't give credit where it's due. It also starts with the Normans: Kings of England Norman Kings: William the conqueror long did reign; William his son, by an arrow was slain; Henry the First was a scholar bright; Stephen was king without any right. Plantagenet: Henry the Second, Plantagenet's scion; Richard the First was as brave as a lion John, though a tyrant, the Charter signed; Henry the Third had a weakly mind, Edward the first conquered Cambria dales; Edward the second was born Prince of Wales; Edward the third humbled France in its pride; Richard the Second in prison died. House of Lancaster: Henry the fourth for himself took the crown; Henry the fifth pulled the French King down; Henry the Sixth lost his father's gains. House of York: Edward the fourth laid hold of the reins; Edward the fifth was killed with his brother; Richard the third soon made way for another. House of Tudor: Henry the seventh was frugal of means; Henry the eighth had a great many queens. Edward the sixth reformation began Cruel Queen Mary prevented the plan. Wise and profound were Elizabeth's aims. Stuart line: England and Scotland were joined by King James. Charles found the people a cruel corrector; Oliver Cromwell was called Lord Protector; Charles the Second was hid in an oak; James the second took the Catholic yoke. William and Mary were offered the throne, Anne succeeded and reigned alone. House of Hanover: George the first from Hanover came; George the second kept up the name; George the third was loved in the land; George the fourth was polite and grand; William the fourth had no heir of his own, So Queen Victoria ascended the throne. When Good queen Victoria's long reign was o'er Edward the seventh the English crown wore. House of Windsor: His son George the fifth, ruled the realm amassed where the sun never set, it was so vast. Edward the eighth gave up the throne for his wife. George the sixth ruled through World War II's strife. The second Elizabeth rules today And "God save the Queen" all her subjects' hearts say.

I could have written this. :tongue_smilie: I have sooo many organizing/housecleaning books. I read them, love them, and then try to design the ultimate-master-plan that combines the best elements of all of them...which I implement for one week, tops. :glare: I love making plans, but am terrible at following them, as I love variety & switching things up. This article on decision fatigue (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-fatigue.html?_r=1) made me realize that having some kind of basic don't-need-to-think-about-every-decision-/-re-invent-the-wheel routine/schedule thingy might help reduce decision fatigue as well as provide the kids with some needed structure. I'm still not sure what the routine/schedule thingy should look like, exactly, though. I'm trying to combine ideas from this book (http://www.amazon.com/Large-Family-Logistics-Kim-Brenneman/dp/1934554499/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315118131&sr=8-1) and the workbox book (I know, I know, back to the ultimate master plan to rule them all again...argh!) I've purchased an "Iris" brand scrapbook chest from Michael's for each child to use for a workbox, since my poor, crowded dining room does not have room for the workboxes in the book. Haven't actually set them up yet, so I'm not sure how well they'll work. I think T & L will love theirs, and B will find some way to game the system, because that's just how he is. Anyway, I'm starting to ramble here...should really be sleeping. ;) I hope someone who used to be totally unscheduled/unorganized but has figured it all out chimes in. :D

You could allow her to take some above-calculus-level math through the U of Wisconsin's distance program. That would certainly legitimize her credits for any potential skeptics out there. :) http://distancelearning.wisconsin.edu/search_results.cfm?keywords=mathematics

I, too, appreciate the heads-up. D was really enjoying the Apples book, but the Dogs book would likely disturb her, too. I imagine that the author probably has a quirky sense of humour and is not purposefully trying to disturb the children he's writing to. My dh will sometimes say stuff that can sound rude or otherwise off-the-wall but isn't intended that way at all. Not everyone is skilled in the area of empathy. ;)

:lol: Too funny. I had D enrolled in K12 through WAVA last year and was way underwhelmed by the math+ program. Someone mentioned that it doesn't work for accelerated kids. I found that it's terrible for non-mathy, need-plenty-of-hand-holding kids, too. For something that took so. much. stinking. time there was still not enough practice before a new concept was introduced. D quickly decided that she was no good at math and that she hated it. :glare: Hopefully K12 will take the negative feedback to heart and drop the math+ altogether. I wonder why they introduced it in the first place. :confused: I had heard good things about the program they used before.

This may interest you as well: http://www.amazon.com/Proverbs-Parenting-Topical-Guide-Raising/dp/0961860855/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314754422&sr=8-1

Yeah, that does sound pretty awful. I can see how Wagner-on-a-date and Wagner-while-pregnant-and-hot-and-having-to-pee would be totally different experiences! :tongue_smilie:

Ooooh... haven't heard this either, but it looks really great. I added this to my amazon wish list. :D

But she already likes Wagner, right? I fell in love with his music in my teens at music camp. (Awesome music for trombone!) My best friend & I tried to convince those in charge that Wagner was really Russian when the next year's camp theme was Russian composers. :D (Didn't work, of course...) I think I read everything I could find on Wagner at the local library, and I also wrote a major high school paper about him. Wasn't much of an opera fan before encountering Wagner, btw. Just sayin'...;) Same best friend & I went to go see Lohengrin at Seattle Opera together. We went a second time with my Dad, my sister, and my now-dh. (That was my first date with dh in fact. :001_smile:) *Loved* every minute of it. Both times. I still hope to see a Seattle Opera production of The Ring. One day...

:001_huh::glare: That's crazy! Also, did you see the prices for the materials? Seems a bit steep. I wonder if there's any possibility that she was taught the O-G/Spalding-esque method without being told about O-G or Spalding? Just hoping this is an honest mistake on her part rather than blatant omission/taking undue credit. ;) Reminds me of a book on personality typing my SIL is hugely into. The book mentions Galen's personality types (phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine, melancholy) without making a single reference to Galen, ancient/medieval 'humour' theory, or any other history of personality typing. :001_huh: It's all presented as the author's own discovery/fact. That kind of thing really bugs me. :glare:

Dh used to get regular intense headaches (migraines?) until he started drinking coffee daily. (Now he gets a headache if he misses his coffee--I don't think it's so much of a caffeine-withrawl thing, though, since he had the headaches for years before he started drinking coffee. Many migraine meds have caffeine as a main active ingredient.)

Thank you for this! I'm going to show this to the kidlets. :)

Queen's LA workbooks include creative writing activities. D is working through one right now and is enjoying it. :)

7th grade. B will turn 13 in mid-Sept, so he'll be 13 most of 7th grade. The cutoff everywhere we've lived was late August-Sept 1.

Thanks! Will have to check this out. :)

:lol:

I would love to see this when you're done with it. Do you have a similar schedule for HO Ancients Level 2 as well? ;)

We experienced this with B & grammar. He did 3 years of GWG (after having done a year of Shurley & a year of FLL) almost perfectly but retained zilch. :glare: Keeping my fingers crossed that Analytical Grammar will actually stick.

My sister & I are working through Henle together. I found a schedule on a Henle yahoo group that seems to go at a good pace for us. :)

Thought I'd share since I don't need to order at this time. :) 341385AZTXUX Good for free shipping on orders of $35 or more (first three uses only). Hope this helps someone!

:iagree: This is what I was going to suggest. Gentle, inexpensive...yup. The author even has free mp3 files to go with every lesson on his website. :)