Hello. I haven't been here for a while, but once again, this is my go-to place when I am stumped. Here's my situation -- I am a (now) previous homeschool mama, who will be returning to the public school system as a teacher this coming fall (my last foray with this was in the late 1990's, before our own kiddos came along). I will be teaching 7th and 8th grade ELA (English Lang. Arts). Having homeschooled for many years, I am so aware of the excellence and ease of homeschool curric., such as IEW, Lightning Lit., etc. I am rolling around in my head if it would be possible to use homeschool curric. in the public school classroom, even if I purchased it at my own expense. Of course, I would absolutely NOT violate copyright laws....I realize that something like Lightning Lit. would not be feasible, because I would obviously not be able to buy all the student materials for 140 students (small, rural school....approx. 70 kids per grade level). The school itself is very open to teachers "doing their own thing" in the classroom, as long as we can "loosely" tie what we are doing to state standards; in other words, very relaxed atmosphere. I know the school well....I attended there K-12, graduated there, and then taught there for several years back in the late 90's. Just throwing this out there in case it may be possible to make this happen, and in case anyone is thinking of something that I am totally missing! Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Thank you. Still working through what to do, but these responses helped! (And, yes, we have Analytical Grammar and Vocab from Classical Roots in the wings and ready to go.)

Getting ready to jump into high school with our son, and looking for your personal experiences with either of these literature programs. He is a slower, more hesitant reader, but has good comprehension. Alas, he is not into "lengthy" book discussions -- he likes short, to the point, and get-r-done. And he is good at staying independent with his work. I am planning for this to be a foundational intro. to lit. course. I know that Lightning Lit. 8 is not high school level, but I have read in several of Lori D.'s posts about it being a good intro. to lit. course for 9th grade. Thanks in advance for anyone willing to share their experiences.

Loving -- Sharon Watson stuff (Jump In and The Power in Your Hands). Also Caesar's English. Hated -- Total Language Plus -- it has been officially put to rest.

Dictation Day by Day (vintage book...copyright 1909) is free online. Several levels. This link is for Fourth Year. https://archive.org/details/dictationdaybyd03wagegoog. You can also find the other levels by searching Google for the title. I think some levels can be found on books.google.com and various other archive sites. HTH, Julie

Here is the web page that explains how to access the discount. Scroll down to see the directions . http://tabletclass.com/homeschool/tabletclass-math-discount.aspx (I can't remember if it is OK to post a link...if it's not, someone let me know, and I will delete it speedy-quick!) By the way, sale ends 11/15. Hope this helps!

TabletClass math is on sale this week. $49.99 for a year of access. Pre-Alg., Alg.I, Geometry, and Alg. II. Just FYI.

TabletClass math is on sale this week. $49.99 for a year of access. Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II. Just FYI.

A few years ago, we started making our own Greek-style yogurt at home, and we greatly prefer the taste/texture of it over store-bought. Easy recipe -- takes a crock-pot, a candy thermometer, a straining cloth, one gallon of milk, a cup of Fage plain yogurt (for starter), and a 1/4 cup of dry milk. There are recipes all over the internet if you google "homemade crockpot greek yogurt." Makes a big batch for less pennies, and (as others have posted), we control the sweetener choice and amount. Our kiddos' sweetener of choice is mashed bananas and just a sprinkle of powdered sugar! :001_smile:

So sorry that your family is going through this. We can empathize, as our situation with DS12 is similar. I have thrown myself into prayer and study. Yes, Lou Priolo's The Heart of Anger is an excellent resource. Also, I highly recommend http://www.amazon.com/The-Christian-Parenting-Handbook-Heart-Based/dp/1400205190. Let me causiously and gently tell you that Dh and I have learned this -- As Christians, we have often strayed from God's instructions in raising our kiddos, and they have learned from our EXAMPLE. They have learned to do as we do. For example, we have yelled and been frustrated with misbehavior and gotten angry, so why are we surprised that they have learned to deal with frustrations in "their little world" in the same manner?? God's instructions are"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." and "Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged." We have begun to learn that our parenting "default" methods were provoking our children and introducing a spirit of anger (or,for lack of a better descriptor, an "atmosphere" of anger) into our home. We have learned that *we* must prayfully make changes in our parenting methods -- to sort of back up, start over, and do it God's way instead of our way. Sooo, yelling is out. We've had to just cold-turkey quit. Eradicating all yelling, sarcasm (of which my dh is KING, bless his heart :001_smile: ), and other un-Christlike methods of dealing with our children has been priority. Self-control. When we model it, they have an easier time learning it. And some other good advice from another Christian family who had dealt with the same stuff -- Have your behavior/consequences "list" ready. In other words, write down the behaviors that are unacceptable and the consequences for those behaviors. Then, just be the policeman. When a person is pulled over for violation, the policeman is not all an emotional wreck. He doesn't yell and carry-on and wail, "Why do you do this me???" He doesn't do this: :banghead: . He doesn't spend HOURS of the day lecturing the driver. He just WRITES THE TICKET. Calmly. And then he & the bummed-out driver go on with life. This past Mon. we had MAJOR attitude issues with DD14 and DS12. Soooo, they lost stay-up-later-than-the-little-ones privileges for one week. The attitude issues continued on Tues. Soooo, they lost all electronics for one week. The attitude and getting-along problem reared its ugly head on Thurs. when they were riding horses. Soooo, they lost all horse-riding privileges for one week. (Me (sweetly): "And we can make it two weeks if need be.") By yesterday, life was much more pleasant around here. (What really worked, was on Fri. we went to visit Grandparents who live an hour-and-a-half away...all the younger brothers and sisters got to watch movies on the laptops while we drove, but DD14 and DS12 just got to sit and engage in pleasant conversation with ME!! :001_smile: And I didn't budge on the no-electronics-for-a-week consequence, even when they begged and were AMAZINGLY reformed in their behavior!!) Hope these little blurbs of our life are a bit of a help. God's grace is miraculous, His strength makes it possible, His Word is our light, and prayer is our lifeline! Also, I know that you will receive much good advice and support here on this forum. I have! --Julie ETA: Just wanted to add that I have learned that "methods" and "techniques" may or may not fail, but God -- working in/through DH and me, and in the hearts of our children -- is the solid foundation on which we can build. HUGS in your journey through this.

But corporation *owners* are people. Individuals. Human beings...they *do* have morals.

Toddler twins here! Our olders are each assigned a 30-min. time slot on our morning schedule -- playtime with the twins. The olders love it because they can take a break from morning school work and build blocks or a fort with the twins (or do Play-doh, or paint, or play in the yard, or play "school" -- which is great time for bigger sibling to "play" teacher and teach shapes, colors, etc.) And, obviously, the twins love it because they get attention from the older siblings. I agree with previous posters who mentioned the bond HSing creates among our kiddos. Also, DH and I feel it is very important that all our kiddos learn the value of pitching-in to help our family run more smoothly. The olders also help the little ones with simple chores, such as emptying their bedroom trashcans and putting away their own clean clothes that Mama has already folded. Just some simple ideas to keep little hands busy, busy, busy! AND....after lunch, they nap. (Hallelujah!!)

Prayers for you and your family, Rosie. So sorry.

Depending on the style of music your DDs want to learn, the Murphy Henry (the Murphy Method) DVDs are really good. She teaches "by ear" or "by memorization." No tabs or reading music. This is OK with us, since our kids also take piano (from me), and they learn to read music through our piano lessons. On the Murphy Method DVDs, all selections are mainly old-time bluegrass style or hymns (we are a "bluegrassy" family, and we play instruments together...but other familes may have different musical tastes! :) ) Our DS uses the Flatpicking Lead Guitar DVD -- songs are Old Joe Clark, Sally Goodwin, Soldier's Joy, Arkansas Traveler. Our DD uses the Fiddle DVDs-- Bury Me Beneath The Willow, John Hardy, Salty Dog, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Lonesome Road Blues, Cripple Creek, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Sally Goodwin, Old Joe Clark, Boil Them Cabbage, Amazing Grace. HTH! --Julie

Immersion reader?...I'm clueless!

This is in the category of "There Are No Dumb Questions" -- What is immersion reading???

Hello all! DH and I are talking over the idea of purchasing (a/some) tablet(s) for next school year. We have 5 kiddos who are "actively schooling," (youngest is 1st grade-ish, and oldest is 9th grade). We would like to incorporate more e-book reading. I am also looking at using some vintage textbooks which can be downloaded and read on the tablet (...and then our kiddos can do the work on paper or whiteboards), such as Serl's Intermediate Language Lessons and Van Wagenen's Dictation Day By Day. Soooo, you tablet-aficionados, which tablet to purchase? ...For the lowest cost possible, of course! ;) ETA: Also, are there some tablets that can handle video better than others? ETA2: Also, we are not at all opposed to refurbished...any helpful links to see these??? Thanks in advance! --Julie

Thank you for the replies so far. Listening ears and wise advice are always source of comfort! :) Still mulling it over...

Hello to all, and thank you (in advance) to those who might respond to my question. :) This coming school year (we'll start in Aug. 2014) will be our first year of homeschooling the dreaded *high school* years. We'll be using Year 4 of Biblioplan for history (focusing on the second "half" of Am.Hist), using MOH4 as spine for olders. We also own Illuminations 4/5 (Am. History with Am. lit...including lit. guides). The Illuminations lit. guides provide excellent book selections, but the guides themselves are mainly just scheduled readings with discussion (mostly comprehension) questions, and one writing assignment per week based on that week's reading. My plan is to have my DD (grade 9) read the some of the Biblioplan scheduled lit. books (not much "output" in Biblioplan...I'm just using it as a skeleton framework to combine kiddos for history & corresponding lit. selections [plus, I really like their maps!!]) and also do most of the Illuminations lit. books (with the guides, which IMO are a bit on the weak side). Soooo....here's the big question. What to plan for the writing component of the English credit?? The Elegant Essay? (She's finishing up IEW SWI-B this month). Lost Tools of Writing? OR...I can just scrap all the above lit. plans and have her do Excellence in Literature: Intro. to Lit. -- Would that curric. alone provide the full English credit (1/2 lit. and 1/2 comp.) for her ninth grade year?? ...BUT I really don't want her to miss the excellent book selections that Biblioplan/Illuminations schedule for this year of history. Does ANY of this make sense to ANYONE??? My brain is rather foggy at this point!! :confused:

Thanks to all for breathing some "new life" into our meal plans! I'll throw mine into the hat: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/12/03/recipe-best-pulled-pork-crock-pot/ Crock-pot pulled pork. It was a hit. And easy, easy, easy!

Our 3-year-old twins do the same thing...so you're not alone! :) They must be growing, growing, growing so fast that we can't pump them full of food fast enough. I do what other posters have mentioned--an immediate banana (or other fruit) right away with juice/milk, and then follow up with the substantial stuff. Protein helps! (Also, dh and I are big fans of narrowing choices with our kiddos, as also previously mentioned.)

Yes, wood heat here. Also, DH installed timer (purchased from Lowe's) specifically made for hot water heaters. We set it to kick on about 30 min. before our rising time, and then to kick off about 30 min. after lights out. No sense heating that water all night long if no one is using it!

Probably not bad, just "aged." Fresh goat milk does tend to start good and go downhill from there. Kinda like buying a new car...the minute you drive it off the lot, it begins decreasing in value! Fresh, raw goat milk is best on day #1.

Other than what other posters have said (chill milk instantly, cleanliness, etc.) the #1 factor that alters the taste of goat milk: BUCKS!! Specifically, bucks with the milking does. Bucks give goat milk a bad rap. His stink will make its way into the milk, even when he is kept in a separate pasture/area. We know this from experience. No bucks allowed on our farm! (In the fall, we dry off our does and borrow a buck [from another family] for spring babies. :001_smile: ) Does themselves do not smell goaty.

What a great thread! Thank you to all.