anything from coffee people I really liked the green mountain Island coconut.

We get a few hotter days, but it isn't a bad heat, not humid and there is normally a breeze. The Oregon Coast is lovely, but the mountains are also great. I love that when I am driving home I see Mt. Hood daily standing over our neighborhood. On really clear days when I am driving in the hills I also can see Mt. St. Helen's. From SW Portland area (sherwood) You are 45 min from the airport (and ikea), there is a target in Sherwood, a GREAT day spa (abba), a few other big stores. However Sherwood has a nice small town feel to it, unique stores etc.... Also, Sherwood High School has really nice new athletic facilities. With Oregon law you can Homeschool and still take part in Public School sports. If dh didn't have to think about commuting we would be moving out there. (we are not far and I go there about once a week)

You did pretty much describe the Portland area. You could get a nice house for that price. We are a little further out of town (where it is cheaper), but if you look around Multnomah Village and Sellwood, they are closer in to Portland. Further out Wilsonville and Sherwood are both really nice communities. Very laid back and out of the rat race.

It depends. It is very Christian, but it is also supposed to be a good program. There are so many practice sentences that, I have read a lot of people on here only do odds or evens. You can easily skip questions. How secular are you? Some people can use it as they will also explain that Christianity is one of the world religions, and this book was written by Christians. If religion really gets you angry and you don't like seeing it, then no, God is on every page. If you can see the great grammar program and read God as another word, then yes. I hope that helps. Best of luck. ETA: Have you looked at KISS? http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/KISS.htm This is our first year with R&S (I was hoping for ALL after FLL) if it doesn't work I am trying KISS next. It's free and supposed to be good.

Well, it is the k-8 curriculum board you are posting on, there is less curriculum on the general board:tongue_smilie: (I do realize you are talking about around where you are living, I am teasing in I hope a funny way) This is an interesting thread. We are starting our third year of homeschooling. I think all the styles and everything have come up to make it easier to navigate all the curriculum choices out there now. If I didn't first fell some resonance with Classical Education it would have been much scarier starting to pick. I fell that I am getting to a similar place going the opposite way:D I started off Highly structured and following TWTM plan. This year I feel that I understand more of the philosophy. I am not looking so much at the curriculum as what I want my kids to learn, and how. It was nice having 2-5 different curriculum's narrowed down when I was starting. I learnt a lot from them, of what worked, AND what didn't. Also, the dreaded socialization, we joined the classes and activities as I was not confident. If my dc were with kids there own age everyday I had something to say to MY peers, who really can be quite judgy!:boxing_smiley: This year, we are breaking out on our own. I am using the library now and just focusing on a lot of free reading time for Language Arts (and telling me about some of the books that they are reading). We do not have activities scheduled everyday. In fact we have 2 activity days and 3 days where we are just chillin at home. We are going to spend more time on cooking, and I am teaching them to knit this year. Now that I have 2 years under my belt (and they are still at level with their peers) I am relaxing. Thanks for this thread, it relaxes me more about relaxing:D Maybe the pendulum is swinging toward old school? I am just going to hold on and enjoy the ride.

My friend was an auditor for Costco. The Huggies that Costco carry are the regular, cheapest huggies. The Kirkland diapers act like Huggies as they are the (normally more expensive) Huggies Supreme. A lot of the Kirkland brand are name brand items. Here is an interesting article about the Kirkland brand

Heathers Pump up the volume 50 first dates Dirty Dancing Pleasantville Nobody's Fool Lord of the Rings Rent (These are really not Highbrow)

Has anyone received it yet?

I would look for more current research before going down that road. The article you linked was originally printed in 1935 based on research from 1929....

We are another Latin Prep family here. We started in 4th grade, and are taking 2 years to go through the first book. My ds was doing Latina Christiana and found it boring. Latin Prep is harder, but he really enjoys it.

We are supplementing with it and it works great. I have not considered it as a spine as it is still being released. We do a combo of TT, LOF, and BA. It seems to be a really good mix.

:iagree:

Hi Helena, I talked about this with one of the ladies from PHP at the Longbeach convention. My ds is 10, but what she pointed out is the suggested reading from the Kingfisher of Usborne encyclopedia's, have dd read from one or both of those each chapter and do a simple outline like SOTW4 has them doing. So, that is what we are doing and keeping SOTW as our spine through middle school. I wanted to try something different for Geography, so we are doing Mapping the World by Heart. Andrew Pudewa was talking about it in his mastery class. By the end of the course my son should be drawing a map of the world by heart. We have started and I am already learning a lot from it. Hope that helps.

I think it is all a matter of perspective. I think TT is probably one of the closest Math Curriculums out there that is on level with the average public school. The reason that there is so much argument and saying it is behind is because I think a lot of home school math curriculum is ahead. My son was behind in Math. In the 5 areas our Math test looks at he was really behind in one area, behind in 3, and at level in 1. He has done a combination of TT and LOF (TT for 18 months and LOF for 6 months). When he tested again in July (and the test accounts for the fact that he is a grade older) He is now ahead in 1 category, at level in 3 categories, and behind in 1. I think that is a good catch up for 18 months. If you really want your kid to be a math superstar, you probably want to look at a more challenging program (and there are a lot out there). If you want a decent program, that is going to keep your kid at level, be fun for them and not cause fights every time it is math time, with very little teaching effort on your part. TT is for you. It has worked great for our family. ETA: Here is the review that someone mentioned earlier, it is on Nance's blog. http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/124221.html

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You would want to check, but I don't think that there would be a problem with a resource that would give people another reason to buy their book, it would have the potential to increase their sales, not take away. What grades are you thinking for?

:lol::lol::lol: Here you go Just Visiting for the first 10 posts Hive Mind Larvae for 11- 40 Hive Mind Worker Bee for 41-100 Hive Mind Level 2 Worker: Nurse Bee 101 Hive Mind Level 3 Worker: Honey Maker Bee at 161 Hive Mind Level 4 Worker: Builder Bee at 210 Hive Mind Level 5 worker: Forager Bee at 310 Hive Mind Level 6 Worker: Scout Bee at 410 Hive Mind Royal Larvae at 550 Hive Mind Queen Bee at 750 Empress Bee at 2500 Amateur Bee Keeper at 3500 Apprentice Bee Keeper at 5000 Qualified Bee Keeper at 7500 Beekeeping Professor at 10,000

We school year round, so we never really stop. We do different things at different paces, so when we finish one level we just move onto the next. I did pick a day in June to say, ok, 4th grade is done! Good Job you are a 5th grader, we took a week off and the next Monday picked up where we had left off.

I have a list of what curriculum we are using each week up on the bulletin board. I look at it, just to make sure we are covering everything. Over the weekend I look through everything and write out what I expect ds to get done each day over 4 days (That gives us 3 days for catch up) I don't check his spiral until Sunday night.

The fast pass is totally worth it. We went to Disney for a few days, then went to Universal and stayed at the Royal Pacific. We did Saturday and Sunday at Universal using our fast pass hotel room key and the hour early admission to HP. Then we went back to Disney. At the Royal Pacific they have a restaurant in the downstairs. I have spaced the name, but the desk would be able to tell you. Kids eat free with adult meals, and they have a kids dining room. Our kids loved it. There is a buffet with mac and cheese, PB and J sandwiches, raw veggies with dip, fruit, all that kinda kid food. They don't have to wait, they can eat right away and then play. It made for a nice relaxing meal for dh and I after long days in the park.

You can sort them by post count (or views etc....) Just click on replies on the dark blue line.

My kids loved Coral Reef at epcot, they both got salmon with rice and veg. Liberty Tavern in the MK was good for dinner. It was family style, and just nice plain food. Mac and cheese(homemade type not kraft), Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans etc.... If they have a kids option and they are a kid they have to order from the kids menu, they were pretty strict about that. We found that there was usually one 'grown up" type food on the kids menu, usually salmon. My kids love salmon, so they were good.

Wow. It is scary, but at the same time makes me feel a little less scared. Knowledge is power.

Me Too! Just spit out my drink!

:lol: :iagree: Have fun....but I make no promises:D