I have had the double doors, single door, door on the bottom and drawer on the bottom. I much prefer the drawer on the bottom with ice maker and the double doors. I like the double doors because I can put a gallon container in the door and not worry about the door sagging. Also, if someone wants to get past me while I have the door open, then can sneak past. With the large door, they would have to wait until I was done. The one downfall of the double doors is that they don't quite get closed a few times a day, but an alarm starts going off after 1 minute to alert us.

I am hoping the World Views of The Western World (Cornerstone Curriculum, David Quine) will come out with a better teacher's edition by the time my kids hit high school. I see on their site that they are in the process of making a new teacher's syllabus, so maybe it will be adequate next year! If not, I will consider WTM with lots of literature guide help from things like Progeny Press. But maybe by then a new curriculum will be out.

The books are longer (thicker).

:iagree:

I reached my limit of this about two months ago. :eek: Following some advice that I had heard, but never REALLY wanted to try, I started spending 1 hour first thing in the morning with the 2 and 4 year old doing puzzles, games and letters. The older two do their independent bookwork during that time and if they need help with anything, they just set it to the side until their one on one time with me. After that the little ones do MUCH better playing by themselves without constantly interrupting and fighting. I guess they get their fill of me. ;) After that if they become a problem I send my 8 year old to entertain them while I work one on one with my 6 year old. (She is right at grade level while her brother is really far ahead and she gets tired in the afternoon.) Then it is lunch time and we all have about an hour to be together. In the afternoon I send the 6 year old to entertain the little ones while I do one on one with the 8 year old. I have never wanted to do that, but I find that they are able to finish their one on one school much faster w/o the little ones constantly interrupting, so school gets done in the same amount of time, even though the older ones are getting about an hour play break in the middle of school each day.

We always read: The Life Of Our Lord by Dickens Twas the Night Before Christmas, various versions Nutcracker various versions Books by Jan Brett Books by James Herriot

JC Penny is the only place I can shop for my kids to get a variety of slim. This year though, Target had a bunch in the girls department, not sure about boys.

:iagree: The "rules" are not helpful rules at all. My son was also asking for a list of rules as to why one time "or" was spelled this way and the next time, that way. He has no visual memory, so he could not figure it out. We switched to AAS and he loves it and all the rules! IMO, AAS takes less time that Spelling Power. My son would spend 30 minutes whining while filling out the steps on the worksheet. After three months we never made it off the first page! With AAS we have spent 15 minutes, 3X's a week and have gotten through two books in 1 year.

I am surprised by the answers to just move on! I thought one of the main points of MUS was learning the subtraction after the addition because they are just inverse operations. That way they are really learning one set of math facts, then filling in the blanks for the second set. if you know 8+3=11, and that 3+?=11, then you know that 11-3=8. My kids have had to spend almost no time on subtraction and division because they understood that they were just doing missing numeral equations. Otherwise, they would be memorizing four separate sets of math facts. I would do a few oral and written problems a day until right before the subtraction facts are introduced, then I would focus on it until they get it.

I also LOVE science the WTM way. We are also using Ingredients of the Universe for 3rd grade combined with a couple experiment kits and library readings and it is far more interesting than I ever imagined Chemistry could be!

My son was still having trouble spelling three letter words, 1/2 way through the 2nd grade. I tried three spelling programs and all were met with tears and no improvement. My son is a rules boy and he kept asking for the spelling rules. I had nothing to give him! His spelling was holding his other studies back as he could not do any workbook work, diagraming sentences, etc. We tried All About Spelling and 1 year later, he is right at grade level now and loves spelling! AAS has dictation in every lesson and now he can do any workbook, and all of the R&S diagraming. I don't know if it would work for your son, but it did for us!

Check out this link from the old boards: http://wtmboards.com/HSboardMar292007/messages/43.html

We are having no financial troubles and my husband's business is doing great :001_smile: but in case of major inflation, I have stocked up quite a bit of food. 50lbs of beans, 40lbs of rice, lots of canned fruits, juices, oatmeal and soy milk. I fear the $20 loaf of bread. Other than that, I have cut my driving back as much as possible to keep gas prices falling I am trying to spend money normally to keep the economy going. :tongue_smilie: I also have various seeds and a sweet potato at all times in case a summer garden becomes necessary.

My son was being picked on by an older boy during the drop off time at AWANA last year. I decided that it was not so bad that I should bring it up to leadership, after all, they are volunteers and are already doing SSOO much. At the end of the year, my son said he would not go back to AWANA if he had to go into the upper class, with the older kids because they were mean. I had never thought about the teasing, causing my son problems in his spiritual walk!! I SSOOO wished that I had let the leaders know. After the summer he was still adamant that he did not want to go back, so we went to another church doing a program like AWANA, Truth 4 Kids. The third week my son started having problems with a boy and I told leadership immediately. They were very receptive and not only stopped the problem but my son and the other boy are friends now! I think the other boy's behavior: wrestling my son to the ground, sitting in his lap and telling my son to clean up after him were poor attempts to make friends. So my honest advice is that I would let your son know that if another violent incident happens like that again, he will not be able to go back for a period of time for fear of hurting other children's walk with God. Now, if he really doesn't want to be there, that won't "work" as he will be mean, to get out of going. I think your idea of having him sit with you is great, butiIf it was me, I would take a break from my position and do nothing but watch over him and let him know when his behavior is starting to get inappropriate. Sometimes kids are clueless as how to handle a situation and it turns bad because they just don't know how to react. Maybe the root is that he is trying to make friends with a boy, the boy seemed unfriendly and he was trying to get his attention. He can be taught other ways of making friends with coaching. Don't give up, just keep trying to get through to your son. Don't forget prayer for him also!! :D

other than the ones listed above, I have heard: cinnamon oil on the lower back sucking your thumb (really! it is an accupressure point!) stripping membranes

All of mine but one could swallow large EFA pills by the age of 3. I started with small pills in a spoon of applesauce and worked my way up to large ones with juice. If the choice is to drink EFA oil from a spoon or in a pill form, they would rather have the pills! ;)

I have a friend that uses Singapore too and while it is true that her son has covered things that mine hasn't, the reverse is true too! My son has covered things hers hasn't. We did a test prep book for the math and my son had quite a few problems transferring his knowledge to unfamiliar problems, so we did the Focus On Math series for word problems, measurement and geometry. We haven't tested yet, but I am sure that he will do fine now that he has seen problems presented in a different way.

I bought the Primer and the video said, "Don't worry about them getting it all because we cover everything again in Alpha." So I sent it right back! I would rather move through Alpha slowly and get it done the first time. For PK or K I use Making Math Meaningful K with the manipulatives. The majority of the program is hands on and very active. There is a large emphasis on defining words, like what EQUAL actually means. I don't care for their 1st grade book, so then we switch to MUS Alpha.

I like Spectrum phonics because it has quite a bit of spelling, full color and the series goes up to 6th grade including word study amoung other things. You would probably want to start with book 2 though. We also love AAS (All About Spelling)!!

I guess it seems so easy, that I dismissed it, but you are right! I think all the narrations and dictations we have done over the years, has made this step too easy! :001_smile: I just need help teaching him how to put together paragraphs because I can't explain it well. Hopefully they will cover that in the R&S 4. Thanks for the replies everyone!

I bought a Dell for $1000 from Costco because it has a 90 day no questions asked return policy. Unfortunately, it crashed 10 times the first day, but I accepted that as "normal." When I went to install Rosetta Stone it corrupted the operating system and after an hour on the phone, I was told to wipe the computer clean and reinstall everything. Turns out Vista is not compatible with the old version of Rosetta Stone, so I took it back to Costco and bought a Mac. (I have spent $400 on RS programs, and it would cost me $800 to replace them with the new version.) From what I found out Vista is not compatible with many printers and software, so watch out. I have not had a crash on the Mac yet.

My first was 9 lbs at 37 weeks. The doctors estimated that he would have been 14 lbs if I was allowed to go to 40 weeks!! :w00t: They checked and rechecked me for diabetes while prego and after he was born. He was also checked and rechecked for diabetes after he was born. He was HUGE for the first 2 years of his life, now he is entirely normal. (Seriously wore, size 1 year at 3 months, size 4T at 1 year.) The next was 6lbs 11 oz at 37 weeks, (she is still really small, 5th percentile) the next 8lbs 11 oz at 42 weeks and the last was 9lbs at 40 weeks.

I recently read an article that kids are graduating from high school w/o being able to write with a pencil! Even high schools are going electronic now. I have/had terrible handwriting and bought myself the book "Write Now The Complete Program for Better Handwriting" by Getty and Dubay. It is $14. http://rainbowresource.com/product/Write+Now%21/007744/1225641022-583149 My husband found something I wrote after 1 month of using it and did not even recognize my handwriting! I plan on using it as a refresher book for my kids in junior high.

SWB said you don't need another writing program if you are using Rod and Staff Grammar because it includes enough writing. We are 1/2 way through book 3 and I have noticed very little. What grade does the writing instruction start and what types of assignments are there in the first ones? Thanks!

I can't imagine not using them!!! Actually, I don't use the list in the book. After I teach the lesson, I do a few practice words, a few phrases and sentences and then end the lesson. The next day, I review the key cards, then grab the 10 new green cards from yesterday, about 10 mastered green cards, mix them together and have him spell them. That way the words are not in order, "face, race, space. . ." They are mixed together with other words and they get a continual review. If they get any wrong, I leave them in the review section and keep doing it everyday until they get it right. HTH!