Classical Writing does teach outlining and editing, and they definitely re-write. I don't know what pre-writing is, and I don't know if they teach brainstorming like I was taught in public school or not. At the Aesop level, my child is doing key word outlines. In Homer, he will do typical hierarchical outlines. I haven't seen the other levels yet, but I'm confident that this method WORKS.

You put the dough between layers of waxed or parchment paper, or even a cut open zippy bag. Virtually no clean-up :)

I use and love everyday minerals. I've gotten darker since moving to Mexico, so I needed a new sample kit...just ordered less than a month ago and paid less than $4. The kit itself is free, you are paying for shipping. As someone else said, you choose 3 foundations, 1 cheek color, and 1 concealer. You can order as many of these as you want, but there's a 1-per-order limit. When I bought my full-sized stuff, I also got a sample kit for my cousin. I'm pretty sure they didn't charge me anything for that one at all, since it was packed with my order.

I planned to make picadillo and rice, but now I'm thinking just how many years it has been since I've had a sloppy joe. My 6yo has never had one, and I don't think hubby has, either. I've never made them, though...

Ice cream?

:iagree: What she said. If you have the student guide, use it...but don't let it use you. I break each week into 3 weeks, though I think most people break it into 2 like the previous poster. We do the A&I the first week, as scheduled in the workbook, then we do the WP over the next 2 weeks. My son is only 6, so the rough draft and final copies are done over 3 or so days each, depending on length. We do CW 4 days a week, so 12 days total: It looks like this: Day 1 - A&I - introduce the model Day 2 - A&I - word analysis Day 3 - A&I - sentences Day 4 - A&I - copywork or dictation Day 5 - WP - Analyze & outline Day 6 - WP - First draft, day 1 Day 7 - WP - First draft, day 2 Day 8 - WP - First draft, day 3 Day 9 - WP - Edit Day 10 - WP - Final draft, day 1 Day 11 - WP - Final draft, day 2 Day 12 - WP - Final draft, day 3 It really is flexible. Don't be afraid to make it work for you!

It sounds like it might be. The ones I ate were definitely flat, and they didn't taste like naan (though I love that too!). They kept them in the freezer and threw them in the oven to heat them. I remember the label being in Arabic on both the cream cheese and the flatbread. My friend's dad was Turkish and spoke Arabic, but never learned to read or write it, so I never learned what they were called. And I remember sour cherry juice, and string cheese that was similar to our Oaxaca cheese but had a sweeter flavor...I'm hungry now. I generally cook without measurements unless I'm baking, so I think I'll give it a try...is the dough sticky, or just soft? Have you ever made them with white flour? Whole-wheat flour is somewhat difficult to find in my area. It sounds exactly like making corn tortillas, just with wheat flour instead of corn flour :)

I disagree. Before I had a tortilla press, I used the bottom of a frying pan or a cutting board to press mine out. There are lots of things you can use to press them, including your hands (The original press! My mother-in-law is super fast at making corn tortillas and sopes by hand.) 1. I don't find the dough to be at all stiff. I have tendinitis in my wrists and these don't make make them hurt at all. For comparison, I love to make bread, but don't, for this very reason. 2. I agree that they are best with lard, though the ones made with oil don't taste bad at all. :iagree: I make sopes regularly. They are a hit. Every time I go visit my mom she begs me to cook for her ;) I do have 1 tip for corn tortillas/sopes...make sure you add a little salt to the maseca, or they will be bland.

Is this soft like naan or crunchy like roti? Care to share your recipe? I ADORE a certain middle-eastern flatbread that a friend's parents always bought when I was a teen...we ate it with soft cheese spread on top. I'd love to be able to make it!

YES. Homemade tortillas (both flour and corn) are fabulous. You don't need anything special, but a tortilla press is handy so you don't have to bother with the rolling pin. Also, it's pretty fast to cook them if you have a griddle rather than using a frying pan. You can freeze them, but I doubt you'll have leftovers...we eat fresh ones plain around here.

Right. Much clearer :) :iagree: I don't think they should be labeled as any other religion. "Nominal" or "cultural" Christian works just fine for me!

Don't give up! I just felt the need to clarify what Baha'is *do* believe, because many people don't know. I know exactly how you feel about things coming out wrong...I've had my message up since this morning, trying to figure out how to phrase it. I'm not a very articulate person AT. ALL. (And I'm not saying that applies to you, just commiserating about the difficulties of internet communication!)

I don't know what UU's believe, but I am a Baha'i. The Baha'i Faith is not a "hodge-podge" religion. Are you referring to the fact that Baha'is believe in progressive revelation? So do Jews, Christians, and Muslims...they just don't believe it progresses as far. Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, The Bab, and Baha'u'llah...one after the other, each updating God's message for a new age. I don't think the belief that there is more than one way to reach God is the same thing as saying that "we are all Baha'is" or "we are all Hindus," or "we are all" whatever else. Side note: Baha'is don't believe in heaven and hell like Christians do...we believe that heaven and hell are spiritual states. Heaven is closeness to God, while hell is separation from God.

That's awesome! How are homeschooling laws there? (We have yet to decide where we'll be living when we move back to the US...I may have to add NM to our list of possibilities ;) )

I'm not sure what you mean by this...could you clarify?

Which state is this?

Nope. Where I live, most public schools are 1/2 day, all the way through high school. My nephew goes to a public high school here, and looking at what they are doing in school, I'd say that they are more advanced than any of the 5 high schools I went to in the US. Time does not necessarily equate to quality.

About the spelling rules...I think they could have been done better, too. I don't bother to give my son the rule, it just confuses him. I simply tell him "The sound of today's words is __," and that seems to work better for us. I really am debating dropping SP now, especially since we do spelling analysis in CW!

Thanks for pointing this out! Can you tell me where in SP you found that info? I didn't think the levels correlated to grade, but it's been a WHILE since I read anything other than the word lists. Dropping it and doing a placement test again in a year sounds like a good idea; I'll def. consider that!

I have doubts about Spelling Power, myself...ds-just-turned-6 is half-way through level D and only very rarely misses a word, but when he does, he completely loses it. I've explained to him that we are looking for words that he *doesn't* know how to spell so that he can learn to spell them, but it doesn't help. He's a perfectionist. What to do:confused:

I think your expectations are fine, if not a little low...I have similar expectations for my just-turned-6-year-old. There is no doing anything else until what I've asked of him is done, unless he has a legitimate reason (like needing to use the bathroom).

I've been thinking I'm going to do what someone else here is doing and outline a history encyclopedia. And I'm thinking I'll go through TWTM myself and read anything I missed out on in my own education, but try to do it in the way that WEM recommends. I'm sure it will take a few years to get through them all, but I think it will be worth it. I'm planning to start in the next couple of months :) Wanna join me?

I've read 20 or 21...my maybe was by Gabriel Garcia Marquez...I've read 1 or 2 of his books, but I can't remember which they were. Several of those are on my reading list, and, I'm only 26...so I'm doing pretty well ;) On the original list, I've read 31 :)

I had Homeschool Tracker +, until I switched to a Linux computer that won't run it, so I'm back to paper and pencil...and I think I really do prefer it this way! I plan out everything for a year, and then in my son's planner I write down a few days to a week at a time so that pacing doesn't get messed up :) Before I used HST+, I used index cards. I liked that, but it was too bulky.

This is so true. I think this is the reason my kitchen is STILL clean, going on 48 hours later :) I wish, but no. I *do* keep dreaming about a lovely baby girl named Sophie, though... This is a good idea. I've tried it in the past, but it never lasts. Here's hoping that this time I stay on the wagon ;) As an aside, my husband was quite impressed when he came home from school last night...he even tried to get me a 12pack of coke when he went to the store as a thank-you, but they were out. (He hates my coke-drinking habit!) The fact that he noticed makes me want to keep it up :)