I have not read all your replies, so please forgive me if I'm repeating something. My ds (4 next week) also needs speech help, and we have chosen to pursue it through the school district. My POV is that the earlier we can get help, the less help he may need later. He had about 3 months of home speech therapy before he turned 3, then they transition to a preschool program. So last year he attended preschool three days a week, where a speech therapist worked with him once a week. It was free for us because he "qualified" with his speech delay. We will continue to send him to preschool next year. Do I know for sure if the speech therapy is helping him? No. He is making improvements, but it may be part of his normal development. But hey--it's free preschool, and he enjoys it. That's good enough for now. However, I did ask--and it was confirmed--that starting in K, he would have to be enrolled in school to receive speech help. I don't know what we'll do at that point; it will probably depend on the kind of progress he makes over the next year. It may be possible to do some kind of dual-enrollment (home and PS) in order for him to receive speech therapy, but I don't know if I'm up for that. I will burn that bridge when I get there!

I have taught 4 children to read with 100 EZ. I agree with the previous poster; by about lesson 60, they were ready to read other books. It's a great day when they realize, "Hey! I know what words in OTHER books say, too!" My children have been between 4.5 and 5.5 when I used 100 EZ--it depended greatly on their readiness and motivation. Some times we tried it for a while, and then put it aside if it was too frustrating. Once they "got" it, though, they often wanted to double up on lessons--near the end of the book, there are a lot of two-part stories--and they never wanted to wait an extra day to find out how the story ended! HTH Korrie

Here is another site for bulk food storage items: http://honeyvillegrain.com and this is the LDS church's website, which also includes a food storage calculator: http://www.providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,1706-1,00.html If you look at the right side of the page, there will be a link to an order form for home storage supplies. You do not have to be LDS to order food storage items, or to use the dry pack cannery facilities.

Ours is just over $900/month for a 3000 sq. ft. house. We have been in it for 6 years. When we bought it, we had a "piggyback" mortgage...one for 80%, and one for 15%. We were able to pay off the smaller mortgage last year, which dropped our payments from $1100 to $900.

It is excellent, and my personal opinion is that it is Orson Scott Card's best book. I've read it several times...might be time to read it again!

I will add another vote for the White Mountain ice cream freezer, and I believe most on-line reviews give this one the best rating. I grew up on hand-cranked ice cream...and my parents are die-hard hand-crankers. Mostly that was because electric freezers had wimpy motors, and quit before the ice cream was hard enough. However, my parents now own a 6 qt. electric White Mountain, and it meets even their exacting standards! Several of us kids also have electric White Mountains, and we love ours! But just remember, *no* ice cream freezer can make up for skimping on ingredients! Use lots of eggs and lots of cream! Making homemade ice cream is always a special occasion!

...anyone? ...anyone?

Next year I will have a 7th grader and a 5th grader doing Early Modern history. I am SO excited to work through the formal reading list--but I am at a loss as to how to plan for the books. Do you have any hints/clues as to how much time I should allow for books to be read? Or any clues as to when, in the progression of history, the formal-reading-list books should be placed? Thanks! Korrie

I have ordered an Apologia elementary kit before, and it was great! I hatehatehate having to search around (or worse, BUY) items to do projects. It was wonderful to have everything already assembled and ready to go. I think their prices were reasonable, too. I think it's a great business, and I wouldn't hesitate to order any lab kit from them again.

My 12yo dd is "catching up" in Logic (so to speak). She has been doing MindBenders puzzles, and she will probably have worked through all the "B" level books by the end of the summer. I have planned to start working through Critical Thinking next year (grade 7). How do you do this with your child? Read it together, or read it apart, then discuss? Any other options? In addition, my 10 yo ds will be in 5th grade next year. He has worked all the MindBenders along with his sister. Is he too young for Critical Thinking? Have any of you combined children like this? Thanks for any help! Korrie

You could try this: get the test booklet for grade 5, and have your child take the tests before she studies the material (or you could have her work through the chapter reviews). If she passes, skip that chapter, and take the next chapter's test. Even if she doesn't "pass" the test, you may find that she passes certain parts of the chapter, and you can skim over those. My dd did R&S 5 in what would have been our 4th grade, then went to public school for 5th and part of 6th. I brought her home in March, and we basically had to start at the beginning of R&S 6--she hadn't progressed in public school. R&S is VERY thorough!!

If you are using an older version of Saxon, the recommendation is to skip 8/7 and do Algebra 1/2. The current version recommendation is to do 8/7 and skip 1/2, moving straight to Algebra 1 in the 8th grade. In either case, doing both 8/7 and Algebra 1/2 is only recommended if your child needs the extra practice. If it were me (and it almost was, except I decided not to do Saxon after all), I would go the cheaper route and use an older version of Algebra 1/2 rather than paying the higher price for the latest version of 8/7. Good luck!

I grew up with the name "Pudding Delight" for that one.

I have used R&S grammar levels 3-6 for two children. I don't find it difficult to teach--in fact, I would say that for levels 3-5 my children have been able to do quite a bit of it on their own. I really never used the teacher's manual until this year--some of level 6 is tricky for me! That being said, I *wish* I had paid more attention to the teacher's manuals before. They have some great explanations and exercises in them. Even if your son is shaky in grammar, I wouldn't go all the way back to level 3. Since you already have level 4, you could try him on that and see how he does. If you compare the books side by side (at least the levels I have), they basically have the same material covered in the same chapters from year to year--the depth of coverage just changes. As for how difficult the later levels are--I have done some "hanging out" on the high school board, and there are some people there who suggest dropping the formal study of grammar after 8th grade. At this point, I am thinking of doing the same thing. R&S is a *very* thorough program, and I think the foundation we will get by 8th grade will be plenty. We will spend the high school years focusing more on writing. Of course, that is all subject to change in the future!

I looked through the experiments this morning, and I have not noticed any requirements for hard-to-find things. I think the most unusual was for glucose tablets from the pharmacy. Other than that, you may have to provide things like vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice, soap, or liquid stain remover. One "pet peeve" about the manual is that it doesn't give a clear list of required ingredients at the beginning of each experiment--you have to read through it. It does include things like pipets, test tubes, safety goggles and even a little burner.