Hi People: If you're a curriculum junkie, you must leave the page! No more curriculum buying for you! You have enough. Five different curricula for one grade for next year is plenty. Really. You'll be fine. Just step away....;) Otherwise... Today begins Oak Meadows annual sale. It's 20% off including their art supply kits and stuff. Go to www.oakmeadow.com if interested. :)

Thanks! Great suggestions. I remember reading "Phantom Tollbooth" as summer reading before sixth grade. :)

Oops...double post :)

On your list... Ft. Myers is a nice relatively small airport... cheap homes around... and FL is super homeschool friendly. You can either have a portfolio evaluation, take a standard test, or enroll in an "umbrella" school, which usually just requires you to report attendance. Homeschoolers are also eligible for dual-enrollment in community college classes. However, coming from Atlanta, know that it's a much smaller area, fewer resources, etc. Know that Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale/Miami, Tampa, etc. are all pretty easy to get to... up to 3 hours or so away. I loved living in Nashville...but costs have gone up there. Still, really beautiful area, fun fun city. No idea how homeschool friendly TN is, though.

My Mom's is...but the one we have now in the house we're renting is not. I assumed all were, so this was quite a surprise. :)

Thanks! No, I figured Jot it Down was too young, but I have a first grader it might be perfect for. :)

Seeing what riding their scooters does to my kids' shoes, I'd insist on it. :)

I would use it...but I'd also probably check around to see if there have been any major discoveries, etc. (Y'know...kind of how like Pluto got demoted a few years back from planet status :) (Although it will always be a planet to me.)) Honestly, if it were me, I'd consider it a total score! and would be quite happy with the find. :)

So, a few people recommended Brave Writer's program to me on a different thread I started...and one kind soul even mentioned that it's currently on HSBC (yippee skippy!) In looking at the back issues of Arrow, there are so many great books to choose from. Do you have favorites that you've done and loved? https://www.homescho...e=Home-Page&c=1 My target audience will be two boys--3rd and 4th grade. Thanks! :) Oh...if you have any experience with their new Jot It Down program for 5-8 year olds... please chime in as well. :)

Thanks everybody! You gave me a lot of good ideas to check out. :)

Looking for a writing program that I could use with my 3rd and 4th grade boys next year. I think DS1 is a little bit ahead of his brother in crafting his sentences and stuff, but not by much. Ideally secular and not overly expensive or time consuming. (Granted, I know those are relative terms.) Please give me an idea as to how you use the program... so do you do it intensively for a month or two at the beginning of the school year...or is it more like 3-4x/week, etc.

I think it has a pretty loyal following, but the cost is limiting. Even though I started with A, it seems like I still need to spend over $100 every single year. Yet, for $100 or maybe even less during one of the sales, I could have bought 1st-6th grade of Math Mammoth during one of the sales. I've also heard people complain about the teacher intensiveness as well as the time. I've done level A and B with my kids... but then I started to look for something else. I guess I just couldn't see myself teaching three Right Start lessons/day. With fewer kids, I probably would have gone up until Level E...but Level G has no appeal to me. Part of me wonders if I should go back, but honestly... not sure I could do it with three kids. Plus, each year I'd be spending $400 or so just for math. That's a lot. (Granted, I'd be able to reuse...but still.)

You can always read the Qur'an in English. My favorite translations are the ones by Muhammad Asad and the Oxford version. There are orgs that will send you a free Qur'an, but they tend to send the Yusuf Ali version which I don't like as much. Of course, you can find it online and read for free. :) (Free is always good IMHO.) BUT...it is a religious text, so it's not like it's always easy reading. It's divided into 30 parts...and honestly like the Bible, some parts are easier to read than others IMHO. It really helps to know what was going on when the various things were revealed so that you know the context. Reza Aslan did a great book on kind of the history of Islam/Muhammad (peace be upon him) called "No god but God." It's probably one of the best English-language books I've read on Islam. If you want a quick, easy fun-to-read book, then "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam" by Yahya (John) Emerick is great. You can flip through it, read a bit, and then go on. All of the above should be available in most libraries too. Reza's book goes a little into some of the splinters and stuff, but I can't remember how much (if at all) he gets into the more extreme groups of late. He does talk about the Wahabis and stuff. If you want to understand a bit more about the Muslim Brotherhood (who haven't been linked to terrorism, but in their past, were responsible for some and both they and Hamas came from the same origins), I actually thought that Leila Ahmed's book A Quiet Revolution: The Veil's Resurgence was really interesting. Today (I think) I head a program on the BBC's World Have Your Say talking about extremism in general, which might be interesting to some. For a different (and not often seen) perspective on Islam, I also was channel surfing today and came across a program about saving the oceans on the island of Pemba in the Indian Ocean. Surprisingly, the biggest supporter was the mosque, whose Imam preached about how conservationism and preserving the environment was straight from the Qur'an.

There are actually adolescent medicine specialists...which you could always seek out. My pediatrician will see them through high school graduation... so that's what will do hopefully.

I either use the Nestle toll house recipe, but with the Costco chocolate chips... or I use the Quaker Oatmeal Cookie recipe, omit the cinnamon, and add in chocolate chips. In any recipe, I double the vanilla. I also make everything one bowl. I cream the butter and sugars..add in the egg...vanilla...then the baking soda/baking powder...mix well...and then the flours/oats/chocolate chips. IMHO, the more brown sugar, the chewier they will be...so rather than doing 50/50 brown/white..increase the brown to 2/3 cup, and white sugar to 1/3 cup. (For 1 cup of sweetener total.)

Good friend had it. He had to have surgery at least twice, because it can grow back. (He was a very active outdoor adult...mid 30s...lived on the beach.) I'm not sure if it matters if it is first dx as a kid vs. an adult, though. I'm sure your ophthalmologist will recommend some good sun glasses as well as other preventative things.

I'm too old right now, but I think if I had a sister or close friend who needed a surrogate, and I was younger, I would definitely consider it. I had easy pregnancies and enjoyed being pregnant. I'm adopted, and I know what a blessing my parents view both me and my brother. Perhaps if surrogates or IVF had been available back then, they would have chosen that path.

I'm not sure what we'll be doing for DD. So far, this is the tentative plan as of today: Oak Meadow 1 (includes recorder for music) Right Start B w/some MM thrown in (DD loves to do problems, worksheets, etc.) Handwriting w/o Tears 1st Grade Reading whatever she likes (right now, she's into Junie B. Jones and is just getting interested in Magic Treehouse) Egyptian Arabic (Michel Thomas)...it's a conversational audio Arabic course Possibly Mr. Q's Life Science with her older brothers Possibly Meet the Masters with her older brothers Tae Kwon Do or Fencing

LOL :) Yes, I know... I'm planning for next year. Those all sound good. I've been involved on and off with the Threshold Society for years, who follow the Mevlevi order. Your post reminded me that I should ask there for ideas! Thanks. I have Coleman Barks' Illuminated Prayer book, which I really love. I'll have to look for the Rumi one.

So, I'd really like to put together something for my kids to study Rumi next year, as well as memorize a few of his shorter works. So far, I have Demi's book on him. I also bought her and Alexis Lombard's "Conference of the Birds" as Attar was one of Rumi's supposed influences. I have the Rumi Daybook for actual selections. Am possibly considering combining it with history of the Persian empire, but not sure yet. I do have some Persian cookbooks, and figure we might try and celebrate some various Persian festivals like Nowruz. Any other ideas? I saw this, but as there are no reviews, no idea if it's worth buying. I know he died in Turkey, so perhaps I can integrate some stuff about Turkey as well. No idea. I will be learning with my kids.

I have Oak Meadow 3rd grade which I found used and am thinking of using it next year for DS2. I'll also have a 4th grader and a 1st grader--and am thinking of trying to find those guides used as well. I could just make up my own 4th grade and 1st grade Waldorf inspired lessons. I'm not a major fan of OM math, so we'd probably use another math curriculum--either Right Start, MM, or something else. We'd do a few unit studies that could be done as a group as well (based on kids interest). Have you ever done multiple grades with a Waldorf-inspired curriculum? Wondering realistically if it's possible, or if it will just drive me absolutely batty. In theory, I like the thought of sticking to Waldorf for the younger grades as I feel the childhood is a unique, magical time--and that heavy academics can wait.

Amazon vine has some of them. They have one episode of Alam Simsim (Egypt) and one from Palestine I think. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XI841S/ref=atv_dp_season?ie=UTF8&redirect=true You can find them on youtube...and on eBay too.

Neat thread. We live in FL, and I've been thinking of doing this for years. Was actually going to try and plan it as a surprise for DH and DD1, who is 9. I'm not sure I want to pay the rates for the rest of us to go, as our youngest is only 2. So, I'm thinking it might be a good bonding experience for my husband and eldest.

:grouphug: I agree a lot with what Tiramisu wrote. There is a stereotypical surgeon personality, and it sounds like this guy might have it in spades. Still, it his reputation as a surgeon is stellar, than he's probably the guy you want. Nurses usually know who is good, who is bad. You might think to ask one of the nurses "if you needed the procedure my Dad needed, who would you want to do your surgery?" See what they say. You do have to be the guardian for yourself/loved ones with regards to hand washing and everything else. If he gives you a look, just say, "I'm sure doctor if it was your loved one, you'd be just as vigilant." Lots of prayers for you and your Dad. Don't be so sure about your Dad not being able to attend DD's wedding. Sometimes having an event like that to look forward, can be a powerful motivating force in healing. :)

Thanks everybody. Your replies and support are very much appreciated. I do hope should you encounter any visibly Muslim folks in your travels over the next few weeks, you'll give them an extra smile. So far things have been O.K. except for one friend from h.s. on facebook. She keeps posting these inflammatory things related to the bombing, Muslims, etc. Just posted something about how Michelle Obama visited the Saudi student who was implicated early but not Jeff Bauman. Sigh. Hoping that things go better this time and that the guy recovers enough to give some answers. Thanks again. :grouphug: