I want to take the cumulative list of DS's spelling words and generate sentences to use for dictation. Right now with only 30 words it'd be fairly easy, but I want to keep adding words and randomly cover them over the weeks, kwim?

LOL, well and my auto-correct kept wanting to change it to "manias" or "manics". Um, no really, that totally changes the subject here! :lol: Ok, so I think what I gotta do is clear off the school table, get out all the math stuff so I can see it all, and then find the appropriate containers. I've got the plastic shoeboxes, and zippy bags of all sizes, something's gotta work. Thanks all!!!

I have so many cool manips: linking cubes, Cuisenaire rods, pentominoes, peg boards, wooden 3D shapes, etc etc etc. Some are large and some are small. I have shelf space, or I could carve out drawer space. But... I want it to be "pretty". Ok, not gorgeous, but not a jumble of ziplock bags either, ykwim? I started with some decorative shoebox type things like you can get at Michael's for photo storage, but the take up lots of space, some things don't fill the boxes, others [like the pegboards] won't even fit in them. I have some clear plastic shoeboxes, but similar problems with those. Plastic hanging bags and a tension rod? Organizer drawers? Something else I'm not thinking of?

I can't speak for everyone, but I'm not cranky. :lol: I think it looks neat, I'm just really curious how it all fits together. I'd love if someone in the know posted a sample day. In the meantime, I enjoy the conjecture. :) I did wonder about the whole "pod" thing that was such a failure here in the states. But in so many cases that tried to take traditional educational style and squeeze it into the open pods which was just a disaster. I love all the Macs!

Fascinating! I don't see any/many adults in the pictures; I wonder what the role of adults is in this school.

I like the original, but yeah.... How about Taighan? It preserves the original gh combo, but gives the visual clue how to pronounce the first syllable. Never mind, see now that it's old [why do people DOOOO that?!]. What did you decide, OP?!

Really? Oh, that makes me so sad; I loved his character. Yeah, the actors didn't know until the were handed the script the morning of shooting either. They wanted to capture the real emotions of the loss. One of my family's favorite shows. Hubby somehow never watched it [or not much at least] and so doesn't share our passion for it. We're forever quoting episodes, etc. I don't know that I have a favorite character. So many to like. I didn't like Burns, or Margaret-who-loved-Burns, but I like strong-independent-Margaret. Charles had his pluses and minuses. Loved Klinger, hated when he stopped wearing dresses. Loved RADAR as I said. Both colonels. Ahh, so many memories. The finale still gives me the shudders. :(

NOAO Chem looks fascinating. I already have a couple of the trade books; wondering if the set would be worth it. What is ES chem? We're using RSO chemistry, and I don't know exactly why, but I don't care for it. I used the Life Science one 2 years ago and thought it was a lot of busy work. Plus we managed to kill too many critters. I'm not sure why I decided to give the RSO chem a try; maybe cuz it's cheap? Low-risk?

We had burritos and sweet potato crinkle-cut "fries". My younger son had an open-faced quesadilla instead. It's basketball class night tonight: elder son has b-ball from 5-6, then younger son from 6-6:45. Kinda puts a crimp in dinner. :/ We eat at 4, then I give younger a snack before his class, elder a snack after his class, then both get dessert when we get home. whew! OMG, I never thought of using pork rinds as a breading!!! Now I GOTTA find them. My grocery store does not carry them; maybe Target? Yum. Doesn't really fit in my "low-carb" aspirations though. I love rolls with all sorts of yummy sauces and crunchies!

With all three of my pregnancies I was nauseated/nauseas [i never get that right] the first day of my missed period. So I don't think it's too early. It could be a false negative; they're much more common than false positives.

Thanks everyone. The child in question is 4, and I still am not aware of what the plan is for her. But it's good to have a small window into what would be required if.....

Can anyone talk to me about this? Totally hypothetical at this point, I just want to prepare just in case. The other state is WV if it matters. TIA

Cool. Ordered "Teach Your Own", but "Growing Without Schooling" is almost $25 on Amazon, so I'll hold off on that! LOL I also found the essay you mentioned in your OP. Yay!

Wow, now I want to read John Holt [pretty sure I've read at least one thing by him]. Any recs where I should start? [And Beth, love your user pic!]

:bigear: Bumping in case anyone else has input. Thanks!

Thanks, you two! Jen, no not yet; it hasn't come yet. I'm on tenterhooks waiting. :lol: I love getting new stuff.

We started MCT island level last late-winter/early spring. We used a staggered schedule I'd seen linked here, where we started Grammar Island, then Building Language, then Practice Island. We're scheduled to start the poetics book soon. My son [8yo, "3rd" grade-ish] loves this program [except the practice island], and loves all the Roman history in Building Language. We are just a week or 2 away from finishing, and I'm debating whether we should go ahead and start the next level's vocabulary book [Caesar's English-1], or wait until we finish the whole "island" level. I've gone ahead and ordered them so I can start whenever I want. I'm curious what others did. Pros & cons? [We do have some vocabulary within our history and science studies.]

One week when my hubby was out of town, I got a sitter, went to Starbucks for a drink, and took it to the roof-top patio and enjoyed my coffee with a book I just pulled off the shelf. Ahhh, bliss!!

Hey, I know that library. ;) I'm there at least once a week. I was there the other week and heard some moms talking about starting SOTW! :lol: We own a Prius, though it isn't the car >I< drive. But when I did, I was always very careful about backing up or about approaching bikers/pedestrians to make sure they knew I was there. I wish ours had a back-up camera!

Nance, ***big hugs*** This time in pregnancy is SOOOO scary. I spotted with all 3 of my pregnancies, lost the second one, and was terrified throughout the entire first trimester of the 3rd one. I don't want to give you false hope. I think I missed a post about an US? [eta: went back and found the posts about the US, but no words of wisdome] But I did want to tell you that your numbers do NOT have to double every 72 hours, esp. not at 6 weeks. I did only a quick search, but here is one site with info and more links: http://www.squidoo.com/nondoublinghcg With my 3rd, when I started spotting, I got the beta draws, and when I heard the results of the second one, my heart fell because like yours it was not double. But I had an US a week or so later, and his heartbeat was there, measuring pretty much to dates, and he's now 3 and a handful of joy. Not doubling is not definitive. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: and prayers for strength as you pass through this valley.

There's an early Star Trek [like episode 2 or 3 of the original series] where Spock puts on blue jeans. Yum.

I subbed to the gluten-free version, and while it's nice, and I do use some of their menu ideas, I find there is still way too many grains for my comfort. I don't like using those "fake" foods: gluten-free pasta, etc. So I wish they had a grain-free version, myself. We're having [hopefully] the cumin lime chicken tonight and the stir-fry tomorrow. I look forward to them because they are new to us. :-)

Wait, am I reading the OP correctly? USPS received it on the 21st and here it is the 29th and you still haven't received it?? :/ According to my tracking info, DHL passed my Rainbow package on to USPS yesterday morning. It didn't show up yesterday with my mail delivery. Maybe today. Usually around 1.

Marinated/grilled flank steak is delicious. I also like to make Ropa Vieja. This is a weight watchers' version: http://www.pepperplate.com/recipes/view.aspx?id=1825157 [Let me know if you can't see that; it's on my pepperplate site.]

Wasn't the arugula salad great?! I had some for lunch, too [but now I'm out of cheese ;/ ]. However, I blackened the tilapia. LOL I'm such a rebel, I can't even follow directions in a recipe! Tonight we're having sloppy joes, which is not on the menu, cuz I needed something in the crockpot. Probably with leftover salad on the side. We'll do the chili lime chicken tomorrow [need to marinate that], and the stir-fry on Thursday. The sloppy joes smell delish and I'm going to eat mine on eggplant DH grilled up last night. Thick slices of grilled eggplant make great "Paleo bread". :)