That was going to be mine! It's especially annoying when you by anyone over 35.

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone!

My sister requested that I buy my nephew books for his upcoming birthday. He's turning nine and a strong (not exceptional reader). Any suggestions? He's into 'spying' not sports. He also loves animals.

Head on over to the K-8 board and do a search for "Classical Conversations". There's been a lot of discussion over there, which should answer your questions. ;)

When I think about greenhouses, I think about this blog, which often features a GORGEOUS :drool: greenhouse. I think the blogger lives in Montana.

We have a Rinai (not sure about that spelling). Pros: 1. Our water heater is upstairs (a bad place to have a tank full of water). It helps my peace of mind knowing that I don't have to worry about a flood. 2. Our unit is 4 years old and we have not had to do any maintenance. 3. We don't run out of hot water. 4. The water gets very hot. Cons: 1. It takes a while for the water to heat up. 2. You have to let the water heat up EVERY TIME YOU TURN ON THE FAUCET, which is extremely frustrating when you're washing dishes. I tend to let the water run rather than turn it off on on, which wastes a lot of water. Ours was installed in a newly-constructed home, so I don't know what the savings are, but I'm convinced it's cheaper in the long run (although the unit itself is more expensive than a traditional heater). I would recommend looking into installing individual units in the kitchen and bathrooms, which would eliminate the 'cons' listed above.

I only have experience with Foundations. The tutor PRESENTS memory work each week, which covers 7 topics (history sentence, history timeline, math, science, Latin and English grammar). They don't TEACH any of these topics. They just get the memorization ball rolling. You work on memorizing this information at home and 'flesh it out' as you see fit. YOU as the mom and teacher teach all of these topics as part of your schooling at home. In addition to the memory work, there is a fine arts time in which drawing, art appreciation, music theory or orchestra/composers are taught. Each of these topics is covered during one of four quarters. There is a science experiment or project each week. The children do a presentation each week. Finally, there is a review time in which the previous weeks' memory work is reviewed, often in a game format. CC does not replace math or language arts, including phonics. It's supplemental material only. It isn't a replacement for science, history or Latin either. However, my children are young. So, I consider the CC science to be enough while it's in session (only 24 weeks). We do additional science in the weeks that we don't do CC. I'm going to wait on doing additional Latin until they're a little older. Some people coordinate the history and science at home with the CC memory work. Some (like me) don't. Hope that helps. There are similar threads on this forum if you care to look.

From watching video, you would play on the corner card as the last card played or on another corner if it is available.

My first grader does about an hour and a half of seat work in the morning. Additionally, he practices the violin from 15 minutes to half an hour daily. After lunch, I read aloud to him and he reads to me. That takes less than an hour. We do gymnastics once a week for an hour, baseball a couple of times a week and his outside half-hour violin lesson. I consider all of that school too.

Heidi has several lists.

I think keeping a daily gratitude journal is a school-ish thing to do that will reap great benefits in generating happines. There's a lot that has been said on the subject. This book and this book are all about it. Also, I recently saw a segment regarding gratitude journals on the Dr. Oz. The health guru Dr. Weil was touting gratitude journals as a key to good health. here.

Sacagawea: American Pathfinder (Childhood of Famous Americans)

I love their little prep bowls with lids. These replaced all my plastic food storage. I LOVE their batter bowls--large and smaller size. I use those brown scrapers that come with the stoneware EVERYDAY to clean pots and pans, scrape stove top, and scrape the counters. LOVE THOSE.

Hold on To Your Kids made me a better parent, which was the first step in being a better teacher to them. Teach Like Your Hairs on Fire offered good, practical advice from a professional who really pushes his kids. Marva Collins Way--she is a forerunner to Esquith. She inspires me to inundate my kids with more information so they can make more connections. She also inspired me to make sure my kids come to the school table/couch dressed nicely with clean faces and combed hair. Norms and Nobility helped me see what an education should be in its ideal form. More and more instead of reading for entertainment, I'm reading to prepare myself to educate my kids. I want more information in my brain! This is a good one to use as a guide for self-education.

Book One of the Draw Write Now series also has directions for drawing a boy.

7 YO: Strengths: Mental math, Suzuki violin, handwriting Weaknesses: Rarely picks up a book to read voluntarily. 5 YO: Strengths: She WANTS to learn; practices drawing everyday because she wants to be an artist Weaknesses: She has a 'woe-is-me' personality I'd like to incorporate more music and art appreciation into our week. Science is not happening. I want to get both kids more involved in household chores.

This is our third year. I have kids who are too young for Essentials, so we are in Foundations only. Some Pros: 1. That external factor helps motivate me and the kids to get the memory work done. I don't know if we would be so diligent without the outside accountability. 2. I believe that the brain-training aspect is hugely beneficial. The more they are memorizing, the easier it is for them to memorize. 3. There is a benefit to learning an isolated fact in CC, then having the light-bulb come on later when that information is applied in learning multiplication, history, grammar etc as part of our normal homeschool. When they make that connection, you can see it in their faces. 4. We all benefit from the esprit de corps that comes from working with a group of people with common goals who are facing common challenges. We all love our CC 'family'. 5. It is only a 24-week program, which leaves a lot of time for the rest of the year to do your own thing (such as memorizing poetry). Some Cons: 1. Taking a day away from our normal school sometimes feels like a huge disruption. 2. Some days, you have to take it on faith that the time spent will pay off in the long run and that you're not wasting your time and money. 3. Having a building full of mama bears and their kids is not always pleasant. 4. It is somewhat expensive. 5. It's hard to explain the concept to your own parents. :tongue_smilie:

How about a laugh? I hope I can make this work.... http://

I truly love Right Start. We follow the script and my son (7), who is not usually what I would consider 'accelerated', just gets it. He does a fabulous job with mental math. He's not always quick, but is very accurate with two-digit mental addition. He has intuitively cracked the code on multiplication, too, although that is not covered in B. We started RSB in August and finished it a few weeks ago. He loves math, and I attribute it to RS. I'm interested in him getting different perspectives, so we're now using Singapore 1a/1b IP. We do a unit in 1 or 2 days. The different format is making him sharper and reinforcing what he learned in RS. I think we'll follow up with a MEP/Singapore CWP combo this spring. However, it's definitely back to Right Start, with level C, this summer.

We're going to make chocolate covered strawberries to deliver to elderly friends. The only book I came up to read was Cupid and Psyche.

: :iagree:

Block City by Robert Louis Stevenson Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

For the Great Lakes: Superman My HErO. This helps learn the order of the lakes from west to east as well as their names.

For President's Day, I traditionally read the story about George Washington and the cherry tree from The Children's Book of Virtues. I know it's most likely a myth, but it is a story from our culture. I think it's one kids should know.

My daughter's (5) favorite super hero is Batgirl.