The Portland Museum of Art is lovely. If you have young children visit The Maine Children's Museum and Theater and Mackworth Island (fairy houses). https://www.fairyhouses.com/news/mackworth-island-permanent-fairy-houses-village/

dp

Lost Tools of Writing has amazing invention stage instruction which I think makes it very different from many writing programs. It is not easy to teach. You have to listen/watch all the CDs/DVDs in order to use it to its full potential. (In fact if you have access to it, you might want to use just the invention stage resources, they are so different. The other two stages are covered well in many writing programs.) Or you can sign them up for the online LTOW class and reduce your workload tenfold. That being said I haven't used either of the other two you mentioned (though Writing with a Thesis is on my bookshelf).

I think these report covers make the printouts feel more like a book. I am not sure what their capacity is, though I would guess an inch of paper would be around maximum. You'd have to be sure that they were printed or photocopied with plenty of blank space in the gutter so the text isn't lost in the crease. http://www.staples.com/Oxford-PressGuard-Report-Cover-with-Fastener-8-1-2-x-11-Dark-Blue/product_899676?externalize=certona

Why did I read this thread? I was reminded of that horrible show with the pig that I didn't even get through, but was completely sickened and traumatized and horrified that ANYONE would ever put such a repugnant thing out as "entertainment". I don't care if it was supposed to be some Twilight Zone like "warning" about the power of terrorists and "public opinion" in the internet age. The writer's cruelty to his main character was sickening.

Wait! What? There are Sesame Street episodes labelled not for children? I was born the year they started airing. I am sure I saw them all and I turned out okay!

If they never get back to their former size they can be cleaned and sent to people in need instead of thrown out: Crocs Cares: Send Crocs to Soles4Souls, 315 Airport Road, Roanoke, AL 36274.

I am also in favor of hardbacks when available at a reasonable price. Also of lushly illustrated editions. However, money is always an object... so borrow from the library first and then purchase. If you frequent library book sales or used book stores, keep a list of books, authors, and illustrators to help you navigate those efficiently. Begin with finding copies of the books you and your husband loved in childhood, those you wish to share with your children. Then use your public library to reread the children's classics and determine which ones speak to you and find lovely editions of those to buy. Look to lists here on this forum and other homeschooling or junior great books lists, there is a current one on unknown classics, and also in places like the Chinaberry Catalog. These lists will have been compiled by people with a similar interest in education to yours. Explore the Caldecott and Newberry award winners through your public library and purchase the ones that fit with your vision. You might like the Read Aloud Revival podcasts. It is a Christian/Catholic? leaning website filled to the brim with discussion about how to make just these kinds of choices. Scroll down and start with podcast number one. It should keep you busy for hours, no need to subscribe to her membership section. She has a book list as well, but I don't think it is as good as many others. http://amongstlovelythings.com/read-aloud-revival-the-podcast/ Julie Bogart of Brave Writer chooses really good books for her arrow and boomerang curricula. You could cobble together some possibilities there as well.

I think there is something to be said for an adult starting (or restarting) her relationship with poetry from the beginning. That is, with children's poetry first. You may find as you provide poems for your child, one or two will stick with you. Then you will be eager to find more of similar style or caliber. Your appreciation may "grow up" faster than your children's as you already have the background knowledge and maturity to leap forward if you establish a strong base. It may also help to know, that biologists of the last two centuries (1800s and 1900s) often chose to introduce each chapter of their books with a snippet of poetry about the creatures they discussed within! In the 1700s, some scientists even wrote up the results of their investigations in verse!And that there is science poetry: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/07/10/30-days-quantum-poetry-xyz/ “The ideal scientist thinks like a poet and works like a bookkeeper,†the influential biologist E.O. Wilson said in his spectacular recent conversation with the former Poet Laureate Robert Hass, exploring the shared creative wellspring of poetry and science. I've always used this poem when discussing metamorphosis and the dragonfly nymph emerging from the water where it has lived an aquatic life, shedding its exoskeleton, pumping up its wings with hemolymph, his new exoskeleton hardening, and then, finally, being structurally sound for flight and becoming a creature of the air. Of course, Tennyson gets across this biological process in a much more lovely way: The Dragon Fly by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Today I saw the dragon-fly Come from the wells where he did lie. An inner impulse rent the veil Of his old husk: from head to tail Came out clear plates of sapphire mail. He dried his wings: like gauze they grew; Thro’ crofts and pastures wet with dew A living flash of light he flew.

Why do I open these threads, already my Amazon cart is up to $24 in used books! I don't know how many of these will be considered "unknown" on this forum! Picture Books: Andrew Henry's Meadow: exquisitely detailed pen and inks of Andrew Henry's elaborate and fanciful contraptions. Honors kids' unique talents and interests https://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Henrys-Meadow-Doris-Burn/dp/0970739923/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465954542&sr=1-2&keywords=Andrew+Henry%27s+Meadow Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm by the Provensens. Charming depiction of the individual personalities of the animals https://www.amazon.com/Animal-Friends-Maple-Hill-Farm/dp/0689844999/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465954588&sr=1-1&keywords=our+animal+friends+at+maple+hill+farm Children's Novels: This one IS unknown because not only is it out of print but used copies are very expensive! (There is a used audiobook of it out there somewhere by Chinaberry). Maybe you can get the print version or audiobook through interlibrary loan. Two kids miniaturize and live with ants. The City Under the Back Steps by Evelyn Sibley Lampman https://www.amazon.com/City-Under-Back-Steps/dp/9999238963 The Cinder Pond by Carroll Watson Rankin: Wonderfully written for older kids (father does die in the book) https://www.amazon.com/Cinder-Pond-Carroll-Watson-Rankin/dp/1530262461/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465954342&sr=1-1&keywords=Cinder+Pond Journey to the River Sea by Ibbotson: Nonstop South American adventure with strong heroine. A page turner. https://www.amazon.com/Journey-River-Sea-Eva-Ibbotson/dp/0142501840/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465954699&sr=1-1&keywords=journey+to+the+river+sea Thimble Summer: Lovely vignettes. https://www.amazon.com/Thimble-Summer-Elizabeth-Enright/dp/031238002X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465954776&sr=1-1&keywords=thimble+summer The Fur Person by May Sarton: Life from the point of view of a cat. For slightly older readers. https://www.amazon.com/Fur-Person-Gift-May-Sarton/dp/039334990X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465954843&sr=1-1&keywords=the+fur+person Blue Willow by Doris Gates: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Willow-Doris-Gates/dp/0140309241/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1465954892&sr=1-1 Cinnabar: The One O'Clock Fox by Marguerite Henry: Often overlooked because of her horse books. Good for younger readers. https://www.amazon.com/Cinnabar-One-OClock-Marguerite-Henry/dp/1481404008/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465954983&sr=1-1&keywords=cinnabar+the+one+o%27clock+fox Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson. Good for younger readers. https://www.amazon.com/Rabbit-Hill-Puffin-Modern-Classics/dp/0142407968/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465955072&sr=1-1&keywords=rabbit+hill The Book of Dragons by Edith Nesbit. Only available as far as I can see as one of those print on demand scanned books. https://www.amazon.com/Book-Dragons-Eight-Stories-Chiildren/dp/1482775964/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465955105&sr=1-4&keywords=the+book+of+dragons+by+edith+nesbit The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek by Evelyn Sibley Lapman. For younger readers https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1930900376/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687582&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=9999238963&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=Q3D231VKWJY9SJ5KCG14

This isn't exactly a book of logical fallacies, but it might be an interesting supplement to the broader topic. The Ten Things All Future Mathematicians and Scientists Must Know (But Are Rarely Taught) by Edward Zaccaro https://www.amazon.com/Things-Future-Mathematicians-Scientists-Rarely/dp/0967991544/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465756486&sr=1-6&keywords=Zaccaro

The Complete Writer leaves it up to you to choose the reading passages that's what makes the workbooks so very much easier for the mom or dad. However, if your child's tastes don't run along the lines of the selections in the workbook then it is a good choice to choose ones suited to him/her. But it sounds like your kids loved it, don't mess with a good thing!

Consumer Reports: Top flusher: American Standard Champion 4 around 300.00. Buy it now. Life is too short to be dealing with medieval sanitary conditions in your home.

It would be less disingenuous if in literary analysis we just respectfully said (except in the cases when the author made it clear elsewhere) that we don't know exactly what the author had in mind here, but when we read her/his book, we are reminded of this or that or the other thing. Keep it clear that literary analysis is more about the reader's thinking process than the author's.

I think Adams was specifying in his "new" introduction, not that he wasn't influenced by anyone, but that Watership Down wasn't a thinly veiled political statement or assessment of religion. Scholars and readers have read in their own interpretations that it is about Nazism, Rome, democracy religion, etc. Adams states: "Watership Down is an adventure story, no more than that: rather a swashbuckling crude one to boot. There are virtuous rabbits and bad rabbits: if that's allegory, Bonanza is an allegory." Quote obviously didn't work right: Here is the quote I am responding to: Regarding Watership Down, hasn't Adams said he was influenced by Campbell? (The Hero with a Thousand Faces) I think Campbell may even be quoted in it. To me it clearly reads like an epic. I think Star Wars also follows Campbell (might be wrong on this one, it could be someone who did something similar analysis of myths...) hence the very, very similar structure with other stories.

Mergath, "Talk back to the 'chunks'" Seriously? The kids aren't rolling in the aisles when they read this? Making smart aleck comments in their margins? I am beginning to believe that only writers should teach literature. I can't help but think that any children's book author worth her or his salt would snatch his book right out of a close reading teacher's hands and smack them on the head with it. Then hand it back to the kids and say, "Please, throw those sticky notes and highlighters in the trash, then open the book and enjoy the story I wrote for you." Oh goodness gracious! It says not to read more than three paragraphs at a time!

I didn't see the point in Deconstructing Penguins either, other than maybe a leg up on some standardized tests (the MAP comes to mind as it is heavy in literary terms). SWB seems to be the leading voice arguing that we should not destroy the (elementary, middle, and high school) child's love of reading to get a jump on college level literary analysis. Public school seems to be going the opposite way with close reading and extensive book packets (my daughter's 5th grade class had thirty page book packets on 150 page books!) analyzing every aspect of the book to death until only the most resilient student could come up for air afterward still loving the book. My son's high school is down to assigning three books per YEAR because they couldn't possibly go "in depth" with any more?!??!?!? I also appreciate MCT's method of encouraging his high school students (at the private school where he taught) to read an additional book every week or two and have a quick three to five minute discussion with him for credit. There really is something to be said for being "well read" and that won't happen if you read twelve books your entire high school career. I thoroughly enjoyed Richard Adams introduction in the 2005 Scribner edition of Watership Down in which the author stated clearly that no matter what the literary critics imagined, Watership Down was a book about bunnies written for his children to entertain them on a long car ride and not an allegory or a parable. I am totally in the camp that reading more books is more illuminating (one can make their own comparisons throughout a broad range of literature) than reading just a few novels for which you have the "time" . Nothing wrong with learning the literary analysis terms and applying them now and again or doing one close reading, but dissecting every book is a recipe to make reading into drudgery, especially at the younger ages.

We live in a "lower" cost of living area in rural Maine. You can get a modest three bedroom house in town on a small lot in the $200,000s. Car insurance is 1/3 of what we were paying in suburban New York. Trash pickup in NY was $36 a month or $1 per bag at the dump. Here a $20/year dump pass is the norm. You can still get a haircut for $20 ($60 last one I got in suburban NY). Gas is lower than NY. Things like drivers ed: $575 here vs. $1000 for my friends in suburban Boston. Our property taxes are a third of what they were in suburban NY. However, we do have excise tax on the car here, which was not a thing in NY. I don't think we have as low cost of living as our relatives in the midwest or south, but we are pretty happy with the savings over suburban NY or suburban Boston.

You can get a dual fuel range. Propane or natural gas top and electric oven. Many people prefer cooking on a flame, but baking in an electric oven. Kenmore has several dual fuel models. My electric induction flat top range never got hot enough to use with our water bath canner, plus it was not as easy to clean as advertised.

Look at MECA (Maine College of Art). They take the students through the process of making their own textiles and then design clothes from the textiles they made. Also FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) in NY is supposed to be amazing for fashion design. Rhode Island School of Design has an apparel design major. Each school has its own portfolio requirements which are posted on their website. It appears that most art and design colleges require about 1/3 of the portfolio to be drawings from life (landscape, still life, self portrait, etc.). I think the idea is that they need to see how the student sees and interprets the world. The rest of the portfolio can usually be things that reflect their particular interests. I think many students change their majors after a year or two so they need to see a well rounded portfolio before they begin. No reason one or two of those life drawings can't be of clothing, period costumes, or close ups of textiles.

Here are a couple of references on making a price book. http://organizedhome.com/kitchen-tips/make-price-book-save-money http://lifehacker.com/how-to-save-the-most-money-on-your-grocery-budget-with-1518202640 http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2014/06/grocery-budget-basics-creating-a-price-book/

Amy Dacyzyn's Pantry Principle. Stock up on the items you use regularly at the lowest possible prices by buying in bulk, finding the cheapest supplier, using a price book, or growing and preserving it yourself. It really helps if you are in an area that has enough supermarkets that they compete with excellent sales. We have two supermarkets. Sales are pathetic. When I lived in an area that had five, the sales were amazing. Gardening or making arrangements at the farm market to get fresh food to preserve is also a real help. http://grannysvitalvittles.com/the-pantry-principle-how-to-save-gobs-of-time-cooking-for-your-family-part-1/ http://grannysvitalvittles.com/the-pantry-principle-what-youll-need-to-get-started-part-2/ http://grannysvitalvittles.com/the-pantry-principle-what-youll-need-as-raw-ingredients-for-real-food-recipes-part-3/ http://grannysvitalvittles.com/the-pantry-principle-how-to-get-the-ball-rolling-within-your-budget-part-4/ http://grannysvitalvittles.com/the-pantry-principle-how-to-maintain-your-pantry-part-5/

This just brings up the most lovely image. What a sweet thing for your mom to do.

My husband's Clarks disintegrated while we were walking around the zoo. Very annoying.

Susan Wise Bauer's latest edition of WTM should be coming out in late summer or fall of this year. It is really a very flexible curriculum even though it doesn't look like it at first. You can see what works with your child as she grows and then tweak the rest to fit. What I particularly love about WTM is the 4 year history cycle and The Story of the World. Not WTM, but since you are raring to get started, at your child's age the readâ€aloud should be a high priority. The Read Aloud Revival Podcasts. Scroll down to the bottom and start at #1. http://amongstlovelythings.com/read-aloud-revival-the-podcast/ The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease http://www.amazon.com/Read-Aloud-Handbook-Seventh-Jim-Trelease/dp/014312160X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463758204&sr=8-1&keywords=the+read+aloud+handbook