I hear you! DS is addicted to the various apps, mindsnacks, duolingo, etc. There aren't any even in the works for Arabic, as far as I can tell.

This is so good to know. They have to memorize verses, really? Goodness. Has she started the class? We have a great program locally. DS is just too young. I might take it myself though!

I am looking for an Arabic class for DS (10). I know about CTY, and he will take the test, but frankly I have no expectations that he will make it. Potter's school has a class, wondering how much Christian content will make it into the class. I can tolerate some religion (of all sorts) but if it's the sort of thing where's it's front and center, I'll have to reconsider. Oddly, I am more OK about learning about the Quran because I know that is essential to the language. As an aside, I am astonished at how few Arabic resources/apps/etc. are there. Especially for a younger child.

Curly and spread out. He looks like Garfunkel. I want him to cut it because the daily tick checks (we are in Lyme central) are a pain and I am never convinced I do a good job with his hair, due to the jungle of it all. But he refuses. I also need to figure out what to do with his bangs, they are currently in his eyes. Thinking a sort of ponytail at top of his head.

Would this be too hard for a 10 year old boy with advanced beginner knowledge of French? Trying to decide which of the very many magazines to order/

We only have ipads in my house, but I would like to gift a tablet (or two, in the case of Fire) to my sister's family. They have no tablets at all, and really no smart phones either. The main use of said tablets would be for their (very bright) 4 year old and 3 year old to be entertained via movies and apps on long drives (to see us ;)) and on long international flights which they have coming this summer. What do you recommend? I can get one ipad mini or two kindle fires. DH, who keeps up with technology for a living, suggest the latter, but I do not use tablets at all myself, so it's hard for me to venture into the unknown (my kids use ipads). I'll do as the Hive says :)

DS is newly 10 and decent at math. I hate games though and we don't play much. I was thinking of having DH teach us both poker, but that's not really a math game, more like "life skills";) What games are enjoyed at your house? Many thanks!

Recent hits include: Wonder, A series of unfortunate events (both audiobooks. Taking a break from the series in the middle of it) Hatchet Penderwicks series His favorite has been Gregor the overlander series. ETA: I don't even know what the lexile number you mention is, so my list has nothing to with that- just books my recently turned 10 boy liked.

Same here.

I have not given it nearly as much thought as you have, and I am not hesitant to drop/postpone a curriculum whose time has not yet come. It is not zero sum, one can do both. I am going to attempt to do Lightning Lit at half speed for DS this fall. This will be in addition to any books he reads in the ordinary course.

We school year round. That said, we are going overseas for 2 weeks this summer. Even then I plan to ask for 2 pages of math per day(review, not new materials because I don't want to teach ;)), duolingo, and a continuation of daily reading. This frankly can all be done in under 45 min a day and hopefully before I wake up. He then has the rest of the day to play swim visit etc. I don't want to lose the momentum we've gained in French and math this year, and 45 min a day which would otherwise be spent on the iPad just ensure we are at least in a holding pattern.

Do you plant in rotation; every so many days? I planted lettuce greens last year but did it all wrong and let it go to seed.

I hate that I post as much as I do on facebook (and it's not that much, truly), but I feel like I am giving access to my life to people that could care less, and who never repay the favor ;) (smart of them, but I feel exposed and have no one to blame but my lack of discipline). But I have family overseas and updating each in turn about the fabulous details of our day to day would be onerous. I experimented with a blog and found it a pain to upload pictures, etc. I have one post from 2 years ago. I have a good amount of travel coming up, and would love to "pilot" a travel journal. My question is this: Can I write a post, post pictures, etc via my iphone? I am usually too tired by the end of the day to sit down and write about all the great things that have me exhausted ;) Thoughts?

Thanks for clarifying; I have the later.

Is permethrin very bad for you? I'm thinking of spraying shoes but leaving them outside. I'm kind of crazy about this stuff (I don't own a microwave or any plastic food storage) but we literally live in THE highest Lyme concentration area in the country. No ticks off my kids this year from our yard/ woods, though I did pull one off my baby's ear in a concrete playground in NYC the other day. The irony. Where do you place the tick tubes? Thanks for all the tips in this thread! ETA: I knew the dryer trick but we don't have one. Just a washer.

We used it as a Singapore supplement, did not like it, but I can't exactly pinpoint why. Not sure the cartoon style was that appealing here, and further we found the problems quite uneven. A very easy problem would be followed by a very difficult one. Maybe that was intentional. Anyway, we dropped it as a supplement and have been using a number of Singapore-like materials, as supplements. I wish I had a more coherent answer.

I bought a copy used and it looks really good. For those that have used it, what age would you say this is for?I am thinking of intergrating it with the BFSU2 curriculum this fall (5th grade)

Do you have a sandbox that gets a lot of play? Share, please! Many thanks!!

I was on my own too this week, except 1. I did not sleep well, and 2. Substitute Call the Midwife marathon :)

There are studies to this effect, I believe.

We took DS on an international flight at 3 months old and DD at a tiny bit older. And every year since, pretty much. I also travel with them by myself without DH. Layovers are the pits.

I think it's *all* homeschooling and having a compliant, easy going kid. He took the OLSAT at age 4 and bombed it, but he is also on track to finish prealgebra (whatever that is) by mid 5th grade, etc. I personally believe the vast percentage of this gifted thing is parent involvement and acceleration, whether at home or at school. File that under "unpopular opinions".

Wind in the Willows. We stopped.

Is there a central place where I can find these? I am inept, but "BBC Science" yields Dr Who...

Yes.