Yup. I'm 34 and my middle name is Lynne. But I'd like to point out the importance of that silent e on the end! It gives it great distinction. (Not!)

And I always thought it sounded like a name for a really grouchy grumpy (notice the gr pattern here!) old woman, and I couldn't understand why my Mom would have chosen it for a sweet little girl. Sigh . . . Poor me. :nopity: :D But I am glad you like the name. My hubby and friends seem to like it (or at least the ones who don't have kept that to themselves!). Tell your sis that a Gretchen in Albuquerque says hi!

Wow, that's fantastic. I think it's really inches and clothing sizes that are the better measure anyway. If you fit into the clothes you want to, does the number on the scale really matter that much? I have this (bad) tendency to assume that what works well for me will work well for others. But you reminded me that even among those who advocate low-carb/high-fat, they say there does seem to be a percentage of the population for whom it just doesn't work. That's amazing -- I guess it does show this is a highly individualized thing. I've had the opposite experience! I tried eating 5-6 smaller meals per day for awhile, and I actually gained weight, felt horrible, bloated terribly, and had trouble sleeping. I now eat two big meals a day with one small meal or big snack between, and that works really well for me, even though it's contrary to much dietary advice. I guess it really does depend on the person. My body just couldn't seem to handle having to digest food that often. My abdomen was really bloated and heavy feeling and I had digestive difficulties (won't gross you out with the details!). Now, my breakfast is very high in fat and includes no carbs at all. But my dinner is "lighter" on the fats, and has most of my carb intake for the day. I've noticed that I sleep well if I have my carbs late in the day. But if I eat carbs for breakfast, I want nothing but more carbs all day long. It's amazing just how different people can be. I mean, we're all the same species, you would think we'd all eat the same foods in pretty much the same way!

I would love my name if it was Astrid too! That is a beautiful name! I hated mine (Gretchen) as a kid, but as an adult I have just accepted it. It's fun when I meet German people, because it seems to forge this instant connection! But I've always been fond of M names. My favorite name in the world is Micheala (or Mikayla), and I wanted to name my dd that, but hubby didn't care for it (and dd says she likes her name better, so I guess it's good we chose what we did). I also like Miranda. And Megan. Don't know why, but I just feel like my name should start with an M! I've always thought that if I had to go into the witness protection program I would ask them to change my name to Michaela. :lol: (Can you tell I've watched too many soap operas and evening dramas in my life?)

I know, most people find it shocking! But it's true. When you eat fat, your body releases a hormone called glucagon which burns fat (as opposed to when you eat carbs, and your body releases insulin, which stores fat). This is especially true of medium-chain triglycerides like those found in coconut oil -- your body burns them so easily that it actually revs up your metabolism and helps you burn fat better. Going low carb is great, but it has to be accompanied by an increase in fat intake in order to be healthy. You cannot live on protein alone, you must have either carbs or fat (seriously, you can do deadly harm to your liver if you try to survive on protein alone). Also, fat is what supplies a sense of satiety, so a diet adequate in fat actually decreases your appetite. And I have noticed for me personally, it eliminates my sugar cravings. This is why I highly highly recommend books like Life Without Bread by Lutz and Allan, and Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Fallon and Enig, over things like South Beach.

I have heard about several studies lately saying that exercise, while very important for health and longevity, actually does virtually nothing for weight loss. Diet, however, makes a huge difference. Especially a diet which trains your body, by creating a healthy hormonal balance, to burn fat rather than store it, or namely a low-carb, high-fat diet. I feel so much better when I eat low-carb, healthier in a thousand ways. And the weight drops off like a dream! Tell me if you want to know more -- I'd be happy to point you to some great resources.

RightStart is rather expensive, but it perfectly fits all the other criterion you mentioned. It's fantastic for teaching place value and mental math, the abacus is, IMHO, the best math manipulative invented, and there is plenty of drill and reinforcement in th form of practice sheets and card games. You can save some money by buying used (join the RightStart yahoo list and check out http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com) and/or by selling your materials when you're done with them. If you prefer to buy new, Rainbow Resource is slightly cheaper.

I've been struggling with this same question over the last few weeks. I think some kids really need and benefit from phonics instruction. I was recently asking about fun phonics programs that I could try with her. But upon further reflection, I think my dd has had all that she can stand, and all that's going to be productive for her, so we're dropping it. I was an early and eager reader and a natural speller. So it's come as something of a surprise to me to find out my daughter does not have the same inclinations! She is a reluctant reader and a poor (though very phonetic) speller. I know most would say that sounds like exactly the kind of kid that needs phonics, but she hates it so intensely that I think it would be counterproductive to force it on her at this point. My plan is to continue having her read aloud to me every day, set aside some time every day for her to read silently to herself for enjoyment, and also to start doing the fluency reading exercise as described in WTM. Oh, and to continue with daily spelling practice! She definitely needs that. Well, I don't know if that helps you at all. I think it really depends a lot on the child. From what you've said, I suspect your boys would be fine without phonics (the point of phonics is to get them reading fluently, and they're doing that, right?). But I would consider a formal spelling program if they need it, or copywork and/or dictation if they can pick it up that way.

We started this at the beginning of the year in my co-op. What we do is a little bit different than the replies so far. Every family reads the chapter and does the map work and coloring pages on their own at home. We only get together to do the projects listed in the activity guide. Well, we don't do ALL of the projects. The moms take turns leading, and the leading mom picks a project each time. This works really well for me, because I like the one-on-one time for doing the reading, questions or narration, and map work. But I wouldn't be motivated to do those projects on my own so it's great to do them as a group.

You can get them a bit cheaper from Rainbow Resource. I have only the first 3 kits, and I'm happy with them. I'm not much of a do-it-yourself-er, so it's nice that everything is planned and ready to go. My daughter loves them, so for me, they were worth it. But if you're motivated and don't mind doing the planning and work yourself, you could easily put together comparable science experiments for less money. Also, if you order from Rainbow Resource, you're not "subscribing" -- you only order the kit(s) you want. So there's no commitment, you can just try one out and see what you think.

I want to thank EVERYONE for the replies in this thread. This has helped me so much. I feel we're really on track with Math and Science, but I've been stressing lately about my dd's reading and language arts skills. So last night I took a good look at where we're at, and what I want to accomplish with her in the next year. Your guidance helped tremendously. I feel so much more centered and focused -- and now I have a plan rather than just a nagging worry. It's wonderful!!!

In that case, you might want to look into Earth Scouts or Roots & Shoots. I'm not involved in either one (though I probably should be!), but from what I've heard it sounds like one of these organizations might suit your needs, or at least supply you with some inspiration and ideas.

Yeah, that makes sense. I didn't understand from your first post, Nina, that you were already using MUS. As much as I love RightStart, Elizabeth is right that it might not be worth switching for if your kids are doing well with MUS. You might just consider getting the card games pack from RS to supplement MUS. I think the card games are a fantastic way to reinforce skills, and my dd has so much fun with them.

It's possible that the rods are more dynamic and usable than I thought. The abacus is definitely great for helping kids see numbers and quantities without having to count, so that mental math is quick. Kids learn to see quantities in terms of tens and fives. It's hard to explain what I mean without being able to sit down with you face to face and show you on an abacus. But this might help a little -- click on the abacus on this page and you can do some math problems with an "online abacus" to see how it works: http://www.alabacus.com/pageView.cfm?pageID=321 I do think RightStart is great for mental math, but again I don't know how it compares to MUS. It also seems to have plenty of review and practice for my dd. At times, I have thought about adding in the Challenging Word Problems workbooks from Singapore. But then I change my mind because it seems we have plenty to do. We're in level C now and it definitely has more review and practice than A and B did (which seems entirely age-appropriate to me). There are practice sheets that my daughter does every day before we start the lesson, which allows her to put into practice some of the strategies that she has learned. I printed the sheets out and put them in clear plastic page protectors so that she can do them using a dry erase marker. Then she tries to do it faster the second time she does one. In this level, there have also been more review days built into the lessons. And as with the first two levels, every day there is a "warm up" which involves reviewing concepts already covered. I think it is a very complete program. Hope this helps a bit! Sorry I can't do a better job of explaining the abacus. Maybe someone else will be able to find the right words.

Yes, here's the link: http://www.lcbcbooks.com/ I can't link you directly to the sample pages, but click on readers on the left hand side, then The Elson Readers. Then click on whichever level you're interested in, then the Read Excerpt button near the top.

Whichever (or both) as age appropriate. That's the only thing that's coming to mind at the moment. We use McGuffey too, and really like it. But for us it's a supplement and we use Elson (complete with review questions and worksheets) as our "primary" program.

I haven't actually used MUS so I can't give you a real comparison. It is one of the programs I was considering before I found RightStart. But the abacus sold me. I thought it seemed a much more useful teaching tool than the cuisenaire rods. With the rods, there is nothing to tell me that it's eight blocks, for example, stuck together unless I count them up, or unless I happen to know that the eight rod is brown (or whatever color it is!). But there's nothing meaningful linking the color with the number. With RightStart on the other hand, you see the number eight on the abacus as five of one color and three of another color. It's much easier to visualize five and three than eight in a row. At least, it is for me! My daughter has absolutely amazed me with her mastery of the math facts. It is not that she has memorized them well, it's because RightStart teaches strategies, and she understands the strategies. So even when she's confronted with a problem she has never done before, she knows how to tackle the problem in order to figure it out. She can do mental addition of two-digit numbers better than I can. We haven't done much multiplication yet, but with regards to what we have done, I was amazed how even when she encountered a problem for the first time, she knew how to quickly figure it out. I remember when I was in elementary school, we had speed drills on memorization of the multiplication facts, but I didn't understand the concept! So when my memory failed, as if often did, I was clueless. It was a nightmare -- I was reduced to tears on more than one occasion. No tears for my dd when it comes to math. Just smiles!

This is wonderful. Thank you all so much for the help. You've given me a lot to think about!

Yikes, that is bad. I would be upset if someone else promised MY materials to another family to begin with, but you seem much more gracious about that part of it than I fear I would have been. I have loaned things out without any trouble a few times. Twice I have had trouble. The thing is, in both cases, I KNEW before I loaned it that it would be a problem, and I told myself to just shut up and be nice and do it anyway. Next time, I'm going to listen to my instincts. In one case, I did get the book back, just took much longer than I specified. In the other case, I am still waiting -- it was supposed to be for a couple weeks and it has been almost a year!!!!! I'm pretty convinced she has lost them and just doesn't want to admit it to me. I'm really sorry you're dealing with this hassle. It is frustrating. I hope you get your materials back soon!

Here's how *I* would rank (but this is long-term -- we actually haven't even started Latin yet -- I'm thinking big picture here.) 1. Math and Latin 2. Language Arts (literature plus writing, spelling, grammar, etc as age appropriate) 3. History and Science 4. Art and Music Here's how my dd would rank: Math Science Spelling (this shocked me!) Art The rest, she said, doesn't matter so much. lol!

The thread about teacher notebooks got me thinking about goal setting. This is an area where I am sorely lacking. Would anyone care to share their goals with me so that I could get a feel for how you do this? How specific are you? Do you feel that having concrete written goals really helps you stay motivated? I mean, obviously I have some general goals in mind. I'm wondering if/how I would benefit from putting them into words. Thanks!

Wow, I feel like a bit of a slacker after reading this! My notebook is so simple. The first page is a full-year calendar, where I simply check off those days which we do school (I am required by the state to do this, and in case I should ever be asked to show it, I want to have something simple which fulfills but does not exceed the requirement of the law. I don't want to show them my more detailed calendar, discussed below.) The next sheet is a list of books for reading aloud for fun (no narrations or review questions, but good quality literature to enjoy.) Then after that I have multiple copies of a page I designed which has columns of the days of the week, and rows of the subjects we cover. I simply fill it in as we go with what we've actually accomplished. I don't plan it out in advance. But seeing the empty squares there motivates me to fill them, so it keeps me on track pretty well. That's it! I need to re-read this thread and see if I might benefit from adding some of the things you guys have.

My dd will be 9 in October, so this is a really fun thread for me -- it's nice to see what other kids her age are doing and get ideas and inspiration. Here's what we have planned so far, but it's definitely subject to change. Math: continue with RightStart, should be starting Level D this fall (if we stay on track with C this summer!) Spelling: continue with Sequential Spelling Reading: continue with Elson and McGuffey, and lots of read-alouds and reading for fun Writing: start Writing Tales Latin: start Lively Latin History: continue with SOTW Vol 1, which we are doing with our local co-op Science: I just ordered Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, which we intend to do on our own at home, as well as continuing with Young Scientist Club kits. But I am also in the process of trying to start a science group in our local co-op where we can get together once a month for a class, a field trip, or an activity/experiment.

SOTW is the only one of those that I've used, but we like it!

:iagree: Increasing domestic drilling is only delaying the inevitable. We need to focus on real, viable solutions like CLEAN renewable energy.