Jan Van Cleve books at the library. She has one for every major science field. Most of the experiments use real common household things, are very simple, but are not lame or dull. You will see results. I use her books with any science I do now. Another option, see if your library has the Magic School Bus chapter books. There is a web site with curriculum for the books that is free. http://yeeshallknow.com/science/

Thanks. I looked at Spelling Wisdom and like it for an addition to a spelling program, something that will teach why a word is spelled the way it is spelled.

My dd, almost 9, is an advanced reader and writer. Spelling, she can ace every test. However when she writes her spelling is atrocious. We have tried many different spelling curriculums, both word family based and phonics based, plus word list generated by her misspellings. The misspellings, when sounded out, will sound like the word so she is trying to apply phonics. Things we tried: Abeka Spelling BJU Spelling Natural Speller (Kathryn Stout) Ruth Beechick's way of doing spelling from You Can Teach Your Child Successfully Spelling Skills by Harcourt Family learning I am looking at All About Spelling but open to suggestions either for a curriculum or ideas on getting her to spell better. I do think some of the problem stems from writing fast, she wants to get the words down and is not thinking of spelling correctly. Any thought would be helpful.

My favorite for that age is Wordsmith Apprentice http://www.commonsensepress.com/wordsmith/wsapp.htm

I would look at some older issues and see what tools are commonly needed.

What about the military overseas...how will this effect them? Social Security checks...most of these recipients live check to check...and they should be getting paid today. If the post office is effected...what happens to all the bills you paid and are still in transit?

This year I am aiming for a small Christmas. Both of my children do not really need anything or have any explicit wants. As for ds, I have no idea and he has no idea so who knows what will be under the tree for him. For dd: Sewing basket with supplies and a gift card to JoAnns Paint by number kit Preemie clothes for her baby dolls (these will most probably come from the thrift store) Manicure kit, bath robe, hair towel Large blank book for doodling

We read good literature for school and listen to books above dd's reading level on audio so less then stellar literature choices at the library does not bother me.When we visit the library dd has to pick certain books first: a book of poetry a biography music CD a science topic book a folktale/fairy tale audio book (unless she is still listening to one) an art book or book about art and something to expand her horizons (craft, cooking, gardening, ...) After she picks these she can get what she wants pending they are approved (books that go against our moral or ethical ideas are nixed). I do not let her bring home super easy books though, however she can read those while we are in the library. Dd reads so much and gets the whole range of reading levels and genre that putting limits just do not seem logical. I know sometimes I want to read something without any meat so I pick up a trashy romance or something with no merit, between these I will read books that take more brain power to get through. I think I would not read these challenging books as often if they were all I read since they are taxing. breaking things up with brainless reading helps. Variety keeps reading interesting.

Thanks all for looking. It was a "interesting" event for a senior in high school. I have been thinking about that time of my life since I uncovered my senior yearbook and came across a few things from the people involved in the event.

I am pretty sure. I was a senior, it was right after ring day (lots of reasons I remember the events of the day). However it could have been early 1986. So either one of those years I am most definite about, but I am leaning more towards late 85.

Isn't there a group of people that studies and tries to solve cold cases? I talked with my mom today and asked her questions. Seems I was kept very much in the dark due to age. of course now my curiosity is extremely peaked. Here is the name of the victim and the place murdered....figured that is public record and I am not giving info I should not give. George Powell, died 1985, murdered due to gun shot to the head in the parking lot of La Cuisine restaurant on Harrison Ave, New Orleans, Louisiana

Tried that but the archives only go to 1989 online. It happened in New Orleans so it is a big enough newspaper but I am in Iowa and not sure I can get microfilm of a New Orleans Newspaper.

I have tried his name, the place he was murdered, the wife, the date, and combos of these. One interesting aspect was someone who might have been a suspect or had connections with the case was a former FBI person. I know of at least one case (during his FBI days) he was involved in and even that info is not showing up. I am beginning to feel like I imagined the whole thing.

I know a specific thing happened at a specific time to a specific person, however I cannot find any info on it when trying to search the internet. Back in my high school days there was a murder of a man who's wife was a dear friend. I have been thinking about this case lately and since it happened when I was still a kid lots of info was kept from me. It is like this thing never happened. Nothing I have looked up has given me an ounce on info regarding this. Any ideas?

Not broke but not traveling the world. I do want to add my personal retirement will be no cooking. Maybe an occasional meal but it will be far and few between.

I don't think you are expecting too much from her. You said she was bright and would have been in honors so she should be capable of the work you are giving her. I see nothing wrong with giving an assignment and then expecting it to be carried out correctly (after making sure she knew what and how to do it). I make dd (8) redo things if she did them wrong or not what was expected. I expect my children to give me their best, and I know what that is based on past work. But then I am the type of mom who expects my children to give me their best in anything they do for me...chores, yard work, school. I teach them if it worth doing then it is worth doing the best they can. For your dd, I would maybe take a break from scheduled school work and go over things to know what she is capable of doing to sort of set a bar. If she can narrate but not be able to write her narration down then work toward that goal (maybe you write her oral narration and then she rewrite it).

Dd (8) works on her story writing every day. She has several notebooks, each dedicated to the type of stories in them: animal stories, mystery, scary, weird . She is also working on building a circus (large decorated box). We have been entertained each evening by the different shows she puts of with the circus people/animals she made. This week she finally started reading the Little House series. During our read aloud time (right now we are reading Johnny Tremain) she works on sewing quilt blocks. Her goal is to make a lap quilt completely by hand. Twice a week she goes over to the home of a little girl (4) and keeps her occupied while the mom cleans house or gets other things done. Sort of like a babysitting job but with the parent still home. We still have the normal school work:spelling, language, math, history, and science, but these are getting done by lunch. So from lunch to evening she works on her own things.

The Magic School Bus kits are great. REAL Science :Life science is another one. This has lots of hands on that are easy to do but not boring. My only complaint is the short info page is not enough but using this with library books makes it complete. Elemental Science. This one is easy to do. 15 mins each day, one experiment a week, notebooking too.

I feel it has enough. Ds is now doing vol. 3 and his grasp of history has never been better. Between the readings they give and the research he does for assignments it covers more then just a typical textbook, giving insight to all those missing pieces most textbooks leave out but are important to the fabric of history as well as key historical events/people. MOH has a listing of books to add if you want more. What I am finding is MOH is so different then other history courses (either textbook type or literature type) but also so interesting that it peaks my sons interest that while he is doing the assigned research he is likely to search out more links because his interest has been stimulated. We are using it for High School history and I feel it has been more then enough for a credit in history each year.

I cannot believe I forgot to mention the curriculum my son is using, Mystery of History. I have used this for both his History and Writing plus added in some Literature to go with the time period. This is a great option because they give three levels of work. My son loves this curriculum, saying it is the only History curriculum that has not put him to sleep. If you want to add some literary type writing, I would add a few progeny press books, maybe for a book from the time period studied. However, the writing they do in MOH can be more then enough if you choose those types of assignments from the choices they give.

Have you looked at ACE Paces? These are light but cover the needed topics. These are not a combo of history/lit though. But What about Lightning Lit and then the history Paces. Another option would be Beautiful Feet curriculum. The assignments could be as hard or as light as you the parent wants them to be or you can pick and choose from the weeks worth of work. Did you look at Sonlight? I would not purchase a whole package but pick and choose several books you think she can handle and the IG to give you writing work. Remember, any writing curriculum you get can be pared down. You will be the one reading her work and grading. You can set the bar how high or low you want the assignment to be.

Never mind...found the info.

Bought this last year when it was on sale. Use it for our nature collections. So far it has worked fine but it is flimsy and not worth the $74 they claim is the original price.