Hardly harsh. . .sounds like a no-brainer to me too. Except, I have the kids in the background saying they "love it there"; and suddenly it doesn't seem like such a no-brainer.

I need to make a decision. I realize that no one here can make it for me, but this decision is proving rather difficult, so I'm looking for some insight. The reason this decision is causing me so much consternation is simple due to the pros and cons list. The cons list is almost completely tangible; whereas the pros list is more "intangible". So, here's the thing: I need to determine if my family will rejoin our co-op next year. That seems like it should be such an EASY decision to make! Here's the cons. Our co-op name is "MAD". Which isn't nearly as bad as it sounds as it's an acronym for Music, Art, and Drama. Obviously, the name is not a con, but given that the leadership is more of an artistic mindset. . .Well, "leadership" is a very generous word. (To be fair to others, I have never encountered such a loosy-goosy artistic mindset in my life! I truly did not realize that such people could "function". I do know many artists. . .but these, these are what Hollywood strives for in characters.) So, leadership is an issue. We don't really gain anything "educationally" from this co-op. I teach art and piano at home. . .I don't cover choir or drama, so there is that. It takes an immense amount of time. It kills an entire weekday, in addition to time I need to put in for the classes I teach. I could request just to be a assistant next year, but that's not guaranteed. They added science this past year, which my children did, but they hated it, and it wasn't a curricula I would have chosen. Additionally, because I'm an "old-fogey" (AKA I have a grad), I also already have most of my curricula on hand, so taking on an extra un-needed class. . . I am an extreme introvert / shy person. Co-op days completely wipe me out. Here's the pros. We love the families! Even the "leaders" are lovely people. Even though I'm completely wiped out at the end of the day, I do look forward to spending time with everyone. As I mentioned previously, I'm an introvert, so us getting out around other people. . .doesn't really happen. My kids could use the outlet. There is additionally the issue that should my family join and not do science it means I can not be available for that time slot to either teach or assist, as I'll need to manage my own kids. (If I were a leader I would take issue with that.) You know, I was hoping by writing some of it out it would help me decide. . .

While my son would love Japanese, there are just too many Spanish speakers around here to ignore, so we are going for Spanish.

Has anyone used the My Access writing program? If so, what were your thoughts?

Asking for opinions between these two programs. For the record I want something that gives me more than "conversational" language. (i.e. I want them to be able to read / write in the language as well as speak it.) WAY back when Rosetta was conversational only; however, I've noticed in the upgrades that they now have written resources. I can't get the stinkin' demo to work for me write now, so I don't know what they entail. Tell Me More is getting high ratings, and I see the "writing and reading" bit, but it's all on the computer, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. So, what does the hive have for me?

No worries.

Err, no. Donna Young made most of her schedules (and has modified them greatly over time). However, for a number of the newer additions she is blessed with other contributors. I made most of my own schedules because, at the time, Donna Young's were more "list-like" and not so easy for me to read (I like tables and charts). As I said, she has changed her format greatly over time. Yet, I'm getting to be an "old-fogey" (been doin' this too long) as I don't have a lot of the 2nd edition books. Thankfully, I have a few people that are willing to bless others with their 2nd edition schedules through my blog, but there isn't any overlap. *************** I hadn't heard of a Rosetta Stone schedule. Do they have a sample up on their web site?

If your child were about to leave the nest, what life lessons would you like to emphasize to them? My oldest leaves for Army Basic Training in 13 days, and I'm starting to panic that I may not have put enough emphasis on certain life lessons ("the apology" pops in mind right now). Or worse, what if I forgot one?! So, what would be your "final lessons"?

If you are wanting to add a whole 'nuther subject . . . Huh, I can't believe I didn't put that on my blog! Okay, I have a "master sched" which has a multitude of subjects on it. The schedule is blank. I find it easiest to figure out what I want to schedule, and when, for the year in week one then copy and paste to subsequent weeks. (Hoping that makes sense.) Anyway, that is now up on my blog. Oh, and there is one thing, my Word program is highly moody. Sometimes it will allow a simple right click and paste, but sometimes it requires me to have 3 spaces between subjects if I want to insert something; otherwise, it will completely mess up the formatting. (Thank goodness for that little undo button!) Hope that helps.

Sorry, I had a kid get sick so wasn't on the computer much. My husband says he would prefer non-hot meals, he says he doesn't even want to do "hot" when it is hot outside. My family burns out on salad quickly. (Or maybe I do? Cutting, chopping, grating and shredding. . .) I have all boys and if I feed them a salad within an hour I'm hearing how they are just completely famished. (And I know they are as my stomach is generally rumbling by then too.) We don't eat small salads either. . . When I'm hot I don't want to be in the kitchen any more than I have to! (It was so poorly designed there is not even a window in there.) Anyway, I don't mind stove-top or crockpot meals. I don't mind grilled meals, except that it's been well over 100 degrees recently and no one wants to grill in that! Is that helpful?

okay. . . still desperate for more.

Could anyone pass their summer-time recipes this-a-way? We are reaching upper 90s / low 100s here, with no A/C. Please don't offer anything that involves an oven; I already feel like I'm baking. Oh, and while my family isn't terribly picky, I can't do peppers.

ditto

I admit to being close (which isn't good, as we started this year in a slump). I had a conversation with my son the other day that totally brought me out of it though, and I wanted to share in the hopes that it would inspire others.

Okay. I will check out those web sites given. Re: Bloom's Taxonomy. I have a lovely chart. (This is a close approximation to my chart -- which is on the other computer.) It tells me words I can use to ask questions at various (5) levels. I completely understand the words. I completely understand the levels. I am utterly miserable at APPLICATION. Part of this is due, I believe, to the fact that throughout my school career I never saw questions beyond level 2, so I have absolutely no experience to draw from. I don't understand if questions are "reverse engineered". (Which, I believe is true in the lower 2 levels. For example, I want to know when the War of 1812 ended, so I reverse engineer the question, so it reads "When did the War of 1812 end?") Is that possible / advisable at the higher levels? I don't understand when a particular word or phrase from this diagram lends itself to particular instances. (Obviously for compare & contrast you need at least two elements.) My hope was that if I gave a category, some could run with it and walk me through their mind in how they come up with a question. i.e. Topic: Civil War and I assume you studied military advancements / medical advances / something else (and maybe even that needs to be narrowed down some?), so you probaby covered *this* information. *this* information lends itself well to *these* types of questions for *these* reasons. . . I know I tend to ask too broad of questions (this one, in particular, qualifies). If I get "specific" I tend to ask "factoid" questions of my 12th grader. . .So, part of the problem is just being able to identify a happy medium. This is not an intuitive process for me. So, while I may have the tools, I don't have the know-how to use them. (And I allow myself to be too easily frustrated by others who it is intuitive for.)

Ummm, okay. This would be the answer that I have ALWAYS received in the past. I have a beautiful Blooms Taxonomy chart that I'm even thinking of hanging on my wall -- as that's about the only good I get from it. This is akin to handing someone the keys to a car and telling them to go ahead and drive it in NYC. . .and they've just see their first car! Sorry, I know that is a harsh response. . . It's a list of questions, or question words, but it gives you nothing in the way of how to put it into practice. (i.e. When is it best to use a compare and contrast question as opposed to a inference question?)

Could you please instruct me on how to ask a "fantastic" question? I have actually asked this particular question many times before, but have never gotten a satisfactory answer. Which just cements the idea in my head that I do not have a clue as to how to write a good question! Personal Background: college grad -- my writing assignments consisted of "how do you feel about. . ." and "factoid" questions. Except for that one essay on Candide by Voltaire. . . Just trying to clarify that I TRULY have NO experience with good questions myself -- aside from that ONE example. (History and Literature are my focus points here.) ******************** So, I think I have an idea how to go about this, that may work. Suppose I just finished a study on the Civil War. (Sadly we didn't, but I believe that many people are somewhat familiar with this topic.) You may "assume" anything. I am looking for logic and rhetoric stage type questions. *Show me* how you came to decide on your question(s). (i.e. do you do a "tree" from the main topic to the question, or. . .what?) To clarify: I don't want you to throw out good questions (thus making me feel like a complete failure), I want you to show/ diagram / instruct me so that I may copy your example and create my own fantastic questions.

Thanks for pointing that out. (I actually just had someone else just write to inform me of that.) I will try to work on editing that today.

:001_huh: Well, I'd be lying if I said your review made me all warm and fuzzy inside. . . I agree wholeheartedly with the title idea. I can never think of those. I suspect it's a major reason that most chapters are numbered rather than titled too. The hook. . . I'm not 100% sure what you mean by that, but for myself, the greatest "hook" one could offer is "leading on". (curiousity and all that. . .) Seems to be a frequent comment. . . If you had been in that audience would you have not had to avoid looking at him? Maybe this is a personality quirk of mine. The reason for the word "girl" was actually thought out! (I mean, I wasn't just looking for a synonym.) Like someone calling a grown male, "boy" shows lack of respect, I was trying to create the same thing with a female. It doesn't *feel* right, but that's what I was going for. (Note the lady is only referred to as a girl when she's in a flustered flurry.) The cringing ocurred before the original post was ever typed. :tongue_smilie: I truly wanted honest opinions; it's a "growth exercise". The original post did not have the final "this is a fictional story" comment at the end. I had two friends call and gripe at me for not telling me that I was going to a seminar.:)

I wrote an "article" (that's very loosely stated). I'm curious if I could get some thoughts / opinions / honesty on what others think of it. Would it be something you would like to see more of? In general no-one really goes to my blog to read it; instead choosing to go there for schedules. (Which is fine. It's just that, since so few read it, I don't know what people feel about certain things.)

I do not believe I'm seeing signs of dyslexia, based on my current knowledge. However, I'll give the site a look-see.

*growl* What haven't I used!???? Let's see, the 1st month of Phonics Pathways (they were 4 & 3then). That didn't work -- they were too young, so we chilled. Ages 6 & 5 We tried FLL, Teach your child to read in 100 EZ lessons, Explode the code. (The last two I had leftover from my 15 yo's early years -- I never liked either book with him, and certainly didn't like them for the younger two either, so finally got smart and chucked them!) Ages 7 & 6 A full year of Phonics Pathways. (I can say beyond shadow of a doubt they have no retention of that whatsoever. And we only ever take 2 weeks off at a time.) This year we are working on Pathway Readers. This year I'm starting to see that they are "getting it". I strongly believe it's more of an age / maturity thing than any curricula. The boys are just starting to combine sounds and work on 3 letter words in Pathway readers. (We have not officially started on a single book yet -- that starts in 3 weeks.) I have at least 3 sets of extra "phonics readers" and they are just now "within reach" of my guys' learning. 'Course, DH is already sick of those books.

I just finished a blog post regarding this issue. I need help! FYI, my 8 yo has some diagnosed issues (verbal apraxia); my 7 yo does not have anything diagnosed, but he tends to have similar problems. (However, honestly, I think it's more due to him mimicing his older brother rather than him having honest issues.)

Now, THAT is an intriguing statement.

I am looking to get my eldest a pay-as-you-go cell phone. Supposedly, hubby and I have such a thing. (We just don't use cell phones much.) I say supposedly for the following reasons: In Europe we had pay-as-you-go cell phones, and you bought a card of time (which didn't expire) and input that into your phone, and when you were 5 minutes from using that entire time your phone would tell you so and you would go buy another card. Here was have a pay-as-you-go cell phone through, the company, "Virgin", and we pay $15 every 90 days. Our minutes don't roll over, and we certainly don't use them all. I want the European version! I want to change DH and my phone to that "plan". Please, does anyone know of an honest "pay-as-you-go" cell phone company here in the states? I know many companies advertise it, but they seem to have plans that you buy into just like Virgin. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong area on their websites?