Look at Virgin Mobile. You buy the phone outright (lots of different phone options, including iphone), then pay a monthly pay for service. In the long run, you save a ton of money.

I really did not like The Princess and the Goblin.

:iagree: I am of the "less is more" camp as far as having children. We meant to have two, but unexpectedly had a third, and that is plenty. As a planet, we cannot sustain current population growth, and this is a huge concern for me. I don't want my kids' future to be the "hot, flat, and crowded" world that it is on the path to becoming. Also, I feel the more children there are, the less time, energy, and resources I personally have for the others. I heard this quote once, and it rings true for me: "I love being a mother too much to ruin it by having too many children." Not judging anyone else's choices--this is just how I see it.

We completed MBTP 6-8 last year and are continuing with 7-9 this coming year. I have loved this curriculum. My daughter has stayed very engaged and learned a ton. The standards go along with public-school standards, which is great if you are fine with those, but I can see how someone who is homeschooling to give their child a classical education would not choose this program. I love the project-based and literature-based approach to learning, and my dd has thrived with it. Some assignments have topics that I find slightly boring, but turn out to be really worthwhile. For example, one day when doing 6-8 Culture, she was asked to make a poster of the U.S. and glue different objects representing natural resources on different areas--for example, a kernel of popcorn to represent corn in the midwest, cotton ball to represent cotton in the south, etc. I thought it might be a waste of time because natural resources just aren't that thrilling, but we did it and she enjoyed it and still mentions natural resources in different areas of the country. This will be a good foundation when we get to history and she has to understand how natural resources play into events in history, kwim? By the way, 7-9 there is a unit on ancient Rome and Greece. I plan to spend some extra time on that, and may bring in SOTW 1 as a read aloud this year, because the ancients are interesting and fun. Anyway, good luck with your decision and let me know if you have any more specific questions I can help with!

We use and love MBTP! :001_smile:

Thanks very much for your thoughts, everyone. It's helpful to look at this from different perspectives.

The lunch IS early (11:00, I think). I wanted her to stay for that for the social part. I do think she might have trouble switching gears when she gets home. Thanks so much for sharing your experience.

Yes, it is a very regular schedule. For school programs, field trips, etc., I think they would let us decide what we wanted to do. She would probably go to the field trips. If there was a class party in the afternoon or something, I think she could stay for it. I get what you are saying though--there will probably be some confusion in the scheduling sometimes.

I get what you are saying, but I don't think this will be the case in my situation. She will be there for lunch and recess. The subjects she would be missing are reading and math intervention (apparently everyone in the school does intervention in the afternoon) and just 35 minutes of the special (music, art, or whatever it is that day). If she really missed not going to art or music, I could lengthen the day. I really don't like the thought of her being in math and reading intervention in the afternoon after an hour block of math and reading in the morning. Seems crazy. Also she really doesn't want to go to school, so I doubt a shorter day would upset her. Thanks!

Hi, I just posted on the afterschooling board about a choice I need to make and would love more opinions. I was considering ps for my 2nd grader next year so that I could have a little time away and she could make some friends locally and have a teacher other than me, but I was reluctant to sign on for a full day. I thought to ask the principal if she could go half a day (through lunch and recess), and then come home, and he agreed! I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this kind of arrangement, and whether it was successful. My plan is to do all the academics she would miss at school in the afternoons and also attend some afternoon homeschool gatherings/classes. So, what do you think? Best of both worlds, or worst of both worlds? :) Basically, it's either this or full-on homeschooling, as I don't want to send her to school for a full day. TIA!

It's great to hear that this once worked for you. Thanks!

Thanks!

I agree. If she really liked school, I could let her stay for that one block of art/PE (the special class switches every day, I think), and pick her up after that, but it is only 35 minutes. The school is definitely not rich in the arts or extras.

I don't think there is a connection between art/music, etc. and the rest of the curriculum. They just have "extra" reading and math after the one specials class, and the school wouldn't expect me to do what they are doing. The schedule is really for struggling students (it's a very disadvantaged school), and dd does not need this extra time in reading and math. It is too bad that she wouldn't get to do the specials in the afternoon, though that is only 35 minutes of the whole afternoon. I definitely feel lucky to have this option. Not all states/districts allow this!

Hi afterschoolers, I'm wondering if I could get some insight on a chance I have to send my rising second grader to a half day of school. The principal of our local elementary approved my request for her to go from 8:30-12pm. She would have reading, math, lunch, recess, and writing there, and I would then pick her up. Unfortunately, extras like PE, art, and music would be later in the afternoon. So my question is, would this be the best or worst of both worlds? I think the advantages are that she would get some benefits of public school, including a teacher other than me and friends to see every day and I would have some time for younger children in the morning. In the afternoons we would see other homeschoolers or do science/social studies (of which there is almost none at the public school). The disadvantages, as I see them, are having to get up early, pack lunch/snack, etc., then pick her up after only a few hours, and she may balk at coming home to do more work with me. We would miss out on homeschooling activities that took place early in the day. Maybe we would feel like we had one foot in each world, but belonging to neither? Or be all the stress of public school without the convenience? Anyone btdt or have any insight for me? I would like to make this decision soon to prepare my daughter. She doesn't particularly want to go to school, but isn't completely against it either. Thanks in advance!

I really don't get this market. We want to sell our very nice little house that we bought for close to 200k in 2005, but have been told it would sell for no more than 150k. We owe more than that, so with that on top of realtor costs, we haven't even tried to sell. I know a lot of potential sellers are getting these low appraisals and are just waiting it out. Seems like everything is at a standstill.

Have you heard the stories of some of the families on this thread? The current system is not working for so many. There is a plan in place now that has been a long time in the works and can't possibly be any worse than the mess we have now. We can't keep going on as we are, so I say let's give this a chance. What else can we do? I think if anything, it won't go far enough, but hopefully it will help give families some relief and peace of mind.

That is terrible! Do you know how things will change for your family under the new health care laws? I assume you will have to pay much less and have a reasonable deductible?

I am American and my child has an expensive chronic illness. We have insurance, but if she was ever without coverage in early adulthood, she would be locked out of insurance (priced out) because of her pre-existing condition. She would have to choose between bankruptcy or death. It's just wrong. I am so grateful for the recent Supreme Court ruling for the new healthcare mandate. This way she can be covered by our insurance until age 26 if necessary and then can't be denied coverage even if she goes through a period of time in which she is not insured, which is so common for people in their twenties. I really can't get why people are against ALL Americans getting access to healthcare. Sorry, but to me it seems like you are on the side of evil.

IMO, the best spelling is Annabel, which I don't see listed.

Moving Beyond the Page has LA/literature units that can be used separately from the rest of the curriculum. Charlotte's Web is one of them, in the age 7-9 level. I will be using them with my 2nd grader next year! They include discussion questions, writing activities, and other fun stuff. http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/curriculum/age7to9.aspx

Yeah, there's something in the article implying that because the husband is doing so much heavy brain work in his profession, the wife must take care of all the mundane details for him. I'm actually the absent-minded one in the marriage, and the one whose job requires mental effort. I'm also the one who remembers the day camp starts and when the dr's appointment is and all that stuff--I'll just leave the lunch on the counter or get lost on the way there. Anyway, my point being there is something that doesn't sit well with me in the article--like it's chuckling over how incompetent in daily tasks our very intelligent husbands are, and how we wives must smooth it all over for them because that's our little role in life.

With my second grader, I will be using: MBTP 7-9 (LA, lit, social studies, science) Math Mammoth 2 Explode the Code 5

I used Moving Beyond the Page with my first grader this year and it was awesome! There are four concepts--Community, Measurement, Culture, and Matter and Movement. You can buy one or all four. It's completely secular.

I bet she would love FIAR!