I bought these for the kindle 6 months ago and have really liked them. It was worth it to me because I don't have the time to hunt down the free books and it's nice having them organized all in one place. We've since got an Ipad and YC linked me to the EPUB set as well.

My boys, aged 9 & 11, both loved the Gregor the Overlander series.

I have the latest Kindle and while I love it for books, it is not great for PDF's. Usually the text is to small to read and you have to split up the page into parts, then it is clunky to navigate. I would think an ipad would be much better for PDF's because of the touch screen...

We are also new to Homer so I am by no means an expert! But, for Week 5, "To the Sea" they are supposed to rewrite the narrative in their own words using the details from Theon's components. So no creative license. That doesnt come until week 8- "Tale of Peter Rabbit" when they start learning about fiction vs non-fiction. My ds was excited to be more creative and he changed Peter Rabbit to a wolf who was after sheep... As for Theon's- yes it is tedious and I made him do it because he needed to remember the details for later. We are currently in week 11 and instead of writing out all the scenes, he is just doing an outline and trying to pick out what is essential to the story- he likes that much better!

We started HS'ing this year and so my 5th grade ds has had most of his writing instruction in ps. He has been using CW Homer and Harvey's grammar and not so much grammar in ps. Here is one of his earlier rewrites: (Week 8) Parable of the Prodigal Son There was a man who had two sons. The younger son asked his father for his share of the money that he was going to inherit. The father divided his money between his two sons equally. After receiving the money the younger son set off to a far country. There he spent all his money living like royalty. When all his money was gone a huge hunger came to the land. He went to work for a citizen of the land because he was desparate for food. The citizen then sent him into the fields to feed his pigs. The son was so hungry that he would have gladly filled his belly with the food the pigs ate. When the son came to his senses he made plans to go back to his father because he realized that his father’s hired servants had more food then he did. He believed that he was no longer worthy to be his father’s son and maybe he could be hired as a servant. And no sooner than he had made the plans to leave, he was off. When he was still a far ways off, his father saw him and ran to kiss him out of the love that he had returned. Before the son could tell his father that he was no longer worthy to be his son, the father instructed his servants to get ready for a big party to celebrate the return of his son. The elder son, hearing the party, asked what was going on. The servant replied, “Your brother has returned and was thrown a party.†The father saw the elder son and invited him in. The elder son did not enter and asked, "Why would you not throw me a party, for I have worked for you all my life and never complained, but my brother has returned after wasting all his money and you throw him a party." The father replied, "My son was lost and is found, he was dead and now alive. Come and make merry for he has returned." He edited it, no re-writing, and he still missed quite a few commas! This thread will help me also, as I am not really sure where he is at... Katie

I am new to this site- more of a reader than a poster- since we just started homeschooling this year...but board games is something I know about... I would second the other recommendations of Carcassonne and Dominion. Both games have a ton of expansions if you really like them. I would also recommend: Card games: Frank's Zoo Bang! no Thanks Loot Board games: Settlers of Catan Stone Age Forbidden Island (Cooperative game) Castle Panic (Cooperative game) Tumblin dice Pitch Car My boys are 6,9 & 11 and they play and enjoy all the games above. I would also go to http://www.boardgamegeek.com and check out the kids gaming forums and also http://www.thedicetower.com for a ton of board game video reviews. You can also save alot buying online at sites like http://www.coolstuffinc.com and http://www.boardsandbits.com/ happy gaming!:lol: Katie

Check out- http://www.boardgamegeek.com/childrensgames The goto website for board games...