but go to AnswersinGenesis.org and you'll find excellent resources. HTH!

The Lab Called: Your Brain is Ready.

My older dd was just-turned-8 and still sucking her thumb at bedtime, when she broke her wrist falling off a neighbor's swing. Because of the cast, she couldn't suck her thumb for 8 weeks. When she got the cast off, she had a splint, and she determined to wear the splint even longer than she needed to so she could break her thumb habit. If that hadn't happened, I'm not sure what we would have done. She is almost 14 now and says she still notices a difference in the shape and thumbnail on her left thumb. :)

Instead of whacking the egg against something (like the side of the bowl), you tap two eggs together, one gets a little dimple in it, you break that one open into the bowl, then use the unbroken egg to tap against the next one, and so on, and so on, and so on....

When my older daughter gets to that stage in history, I plan to use primary sources, especially books of letter and other writings by people from the time we're studying. This way she gets to read the actual words of people who lived through events, wrote about them, had opinions about them that were consistent with the time period rather than having the overlay of the ensuing years of bias. For instance, reading John Adams' letters to his wife, Abigail, gives you a great picture of the man he was, the women she was and the couple they were, and gives you firsthand reporting on the Continental Congress meetings and many other things. HTH!

I've never seen so much cuteness in my life!

You can see it at Timberdoodle.com or google it and find the author's website, which I can't remember right now. We haven't used it yet, but we do have it, and my dd completed Practical Graphic Design by the same author earlier this year. HTH!

I'm in ancient history right now, with a 9yo dd who is studying history "formally" for the first time. We're in Greece right now and we're loving all the resources for studying Homer at a younger level - the Children's Homer and the Rosemary Sutcliff/Alan Lee versions of The Iliad and the Odyssey are fabulous. D'Aulaire's Greek Myths is also excellent. For Roman history, definitely read Detectives in Togas. We are using some of the studies in the Veritas Press NT/Greece/Rome teacher's guide, but I'm not really using a spine for my younger dd. My older dd (13) is reading the Guerber Story of the Greeks as a spine, but I don't know that a 5th grader would enjoy this. I'm sure you'll get lots of great suggestions!

Go ahead and use them! General Science is DRY compared to the elementary science books. They're EXCELLENT! My older dd studied the elementary botany in 6th grade and it was perfect for her. I'm now using Astronomy and Zoology I with my younger dd and I'm learning so much myself. I also think you can do as much or as little hands-on work as you're comfortable with, so they're very flexible. HTH!

Botany was the first Apologia Elementary we used, and my 6th grade dd did it mostly on her own, with help from us for the experiements. She loved it so much that she is this year, in 8th grade, doing botany again with a college-level textbook; we started out this year with the only upper-level botany course for homeschoolers that we could find, but she got frustrated with it and said she had learned more with the Apologia! Any homeschooler who brings it up in conversation gets an earful from her about how much she learned and enjoyed it. When it was time to start my younger dd, I chose Zoology I because she was already interested in birds and flight, and we're doing Astronomy on the side (she's 9). She will do botany, too, but I'm going to wait until she's a bit older. Of the ones we've done, I think botany is the most advanced, maybe because most of the info was new to me so it seemed like it had the most to learn for the first time and retain. A friend who has an environmental ecology degree and specialized in botany looked at the Apologia course and said it contained some info she hadn't learned until college! We really do love the Apologia elementary science courses!

I used Write With the Best I with my older dd, and I will eventually use the 2nd one with her and both with my younger dd. I actually LIKE that the writing examples are "archaic," because I like older writing. I would rather she learn from classic examples than anything else. As I recall, there were also suggestions for other selections to use for each topic if you didn't care for the example given or wanted extra examples. I, too, am curious as to why this is never mentioned as a good resource. Maybe it is too unstructured for some who would rather have more structure? I can understand that, but I still think it's great as a component of language arts studies. HTH!

I've seen it several times and the intensity and poignancy of the story never lessens. I'd wait until at least older teenage, not necessarily because a younger teen couldn't watch it and handle it, but because the themes are so mature that I'd want anyone watching it to be able to grasp the depth. It has some very upsetting occurences, so I'd be careful especially if you have a teen who's very sensitive. That said, it's a brilliant and beautiful story that shows redemption in a visceral way, and I love it. As a side note, the soundtrack is also beautiful.

My dd, 13, wants to be a chef, and we're wondering if anyone here has been to cooking school or knows what the requirement would be for entrance. Of course, we know it depends on the school, but any words of advice would be welcome. Thank you! E in California

How about the Biology 101 DVDs? Check Timberdoodle.com for a review. Also, I've noticed that most biology texts include a section on botany; maybe you could do a bio/botany combination, by making the botany component more prominent? My dd is a botany lover and she is using a college botany textbook right now; she's on the section about general cell structure and scientific hierarchy, which will come in handy when she does biology! I plan to use the Bio 101 DVDs next year, but we haven't actually watched them yet. I also have a lab manual for the dissections that can be used with any program, as far as I know. This is how we're making it an upper-level science course. My dd does not plan to go into a scientific field but we all like dissections. :) HTH!

We have done K-3 books 1 and 2 and are now working through K-3 book 3. I plan to continue using AP through senior high. I find AP the perfect blend of art history, art appreciation, and hands-on art. The projects at this level are open-ended enough to allow creativity but not so open as to frustrate a child who doesn't do well with too much freedom. The art supplies aren't difficult to find, either. We have skipped over some of the projects, but we've done most and my daughter has loved them. It's also easy to supplement if you find an interest in any particular artist or style; it's easy to find library books to expand on interests. HTH!

Here's another vote for Art of Argument!