Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are our "days off" to just enjoy being together and focus on the meaning of the season and being with family-- we minimize extra work. We've been prepping a variety of finger foods to have available for those two days for grazing, including a variety from fruits and vegetables, to crab puffs, wrapped hot dog bites, pumpkin pie, salad, biscuits, and the like. There will be plenty for any who are hungry any time for easy grazing, but nobody needs to miss out on family time by being in the kitchen (we do not have a lot of family coming into town, so there won't be a group to participate together in kitchen prep/clean-up). It works well for us :) My kids are not the type to pass up the fruits and veggies to get sick on candy; they will reach for the cucumbers and grapes just as readily as the chocolate, which helps it work, too.

I am so glad somebody else wondered about that too!! I have no answers, but I did also notice that in the movie and wondered about it.

Wow . . . It may be too early to start discussing any spoilers, but this is the first movie I have attended in ages where I did not hear a peep from the audience, and at the end of a Saturday afternoon matinee in a packed theater, the audience sat in complete silence to watch the credits roll. I do think someone in the producer end of things overrode Spielberg-- it looked to me like the ending had been shot, and then some Hollywood type said, "No no no, we need aplashier ending!" so a different ending was tacked on before the final speech. When you watch I think you'll know what I mean whether you agree with my assessment or not. My only regret is that I do think it will be a few years yet before my guys are going to be capable of sitting through and appreciating this movie-- maybe upper logic state/early rhetoric stage. I was pleased by spending my time watching this one-- I enjoyed Argo, too, but this one was even better, IMHO.

I think Audrey has the "unintended consequences" award locked up. I may have a SOLID bid in for the "What were you thinking, or did you even think, you numbskull???" Award. My brother and his family took a placement of two foster kids. I will avoid repeating their stories here for privacy reasons, but I will say that at 3 and 5, these two had already bounced through too many foster homes to count. When invited to come and meet them, all I knew about little girl 3YO was that she loved pink, Hello Kitty, was very 'girly' and I had about 5 minutes in a discount store to shop. Spotting "the perfect gift for a little girl" I snagged it and hit the checkouts then we headed for my brother's. It would be an understatement to say that the pink "Hello Kitty" child-sized rolling backpack for all her belongings did not go over very well with this child who was accustomed to being told to pack up and go live with a new family every couple of weeks. Full scale panic attack was more like it! I felt like the most insensitive bozo on Earth long after the screams had subsided, but I am sure she felt worse than I did. It is now years later and she has long forgiven Aunt Jen.

I am really glad your issue resolved, but I thought I'd add that I recently switched to ZEP carpet and upholstery cleaner, and it has worked some minor miracles here-- with both vomit and urine.

Forbidden Island is $15. Mexican Train is $17, and it may be easier to understand for the younger ones that Forbidden Island, though FI is cool, because it is cooperative rather than competitive-- in Forbidden Island, you all win together or all lose together. Pit is a blast for families, and educational as well. If you can manage $25, a Kiva Gift Card is an interesting idea, and the kids can all learn about the whole micro-loan process, developing countries, and invest and as the loan is repaid, reinvest over and over again, while learning a tremendous amount about economics.

It depends upon how crazy you go :). We got through a whole kit of about 25 samples on one streak plate with no problem. Then again, they shouldn't be very expensive-- if you are going to go on field trips and collect minerals to test all year and thus need a lot, you can a 10-pack for $12 on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Streak-Plates-10-Pack/dp/B007A4J7VM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355963175&sr=8-1&keywords=mineral+streak+plate That should last you quite a while. For more advice on mineral testing, The Happy Scientist (Robert Krampf) has a unit study on Rocks and Minerals that we went through.

I would start with time to just play "making tens." Spill out ten crayons or colored pencils or dice or whatever. How can we divide these up to make ten? (or different numbers less than 10). Hey . . . 1 and 9 group to 10. So do 2 and 8. We can also rearrange them into 3 and 7! Cool . . . If you are not using C-Rods yet (Cuisinare Rods) this is a great time to introduce them. Show her how to solve a few problems with them, then sit back and let her goof around with them, come back and pose a few problems. Put a few up on a white board and let her solve-- make it a puzzle game rather than a math assignment if that works. With enough repetition, some of these facts will sink in through sheer repetition. One of my son's favorite games when he knows we need to drill is the "penny game." I bout several sets of those half-size flash cards (I don't need to get upset if any are lost or misplaced). Write the number sentence on one side, the answer on the other-- traditional flash cards. Set them out in a grid on the floor, gather as many siblings or friends as can helpfully participate as well as yourself. Your child starts-- toss the penny. Whichever number sentence the penny lands on is the question she must answer. Correct answer-- she keeps that card. Wrong answer-- it flips back over and stays on the board. LET HER FLIP THE CARD. It reinforces better if she reveals the answer for herself. Once all players have collected their correct cards and the board is clear, everyone except those trying to learn the facts (often just the one kid) place their cards back into the grid. Repeat -- you may have to start excusing the experienced players one by one-- until your DC has captured all of the cards successfully. It's fun, low-pressure, and allows her to repeat questions until she gets them correct. She can also play it herself, no computer required.

Precisely this. Even when the student is placed at the proper level, containing aspects of grammar he does not yet know, it is possible to fill out the workbook without any understanding-- they are pretty formulaic, and the answers are so predictable the student can score 100% on both workbook pages and tests with zero understanding. This was the case with my son, even though he is a generally attentive student who enjoys being challenged. We also switched to MCT, and he can now take apart any sentence, understand why it works well, or how to improve up on it, name the parts of speech, parts of the sentence, point out poetic devices being used, explain how different types of phrases add or detract from the particular sentence in question, and is starting to employ what he has learned in his own writing-- at long last. As an added bonus, the coordination between the grammar, poetics, and vocabulary is fantastic. We'll be trying the literature component in the spring. DS11 has been using the Magic Lens level 1 (following the GWG experiment), and DS9 has been using Town level (following R&S 3) and both are doing very well with it. I'd put MCT in the "great buy" column. It is very teacher intensive, but I don't regret a moment of my time or money investment in this one.

I agree with the above-- why not keep the outline just for yourself instead of handing it to him, but pick and choose more about what gets done. Add in more books to read, and instead of writing summaries, discuss the people and places and connections with him, and make it conversational. I would ask for some papers if you are in logic stage, and I would still do a timeline-- DS11 hates the timeline, but I have him do it anyway; at this stage, we all have to learn to do some tasks that we find disagreeable, and it doesn't take that long. You could do a century book instead of a literal timeline-- maybe make a one-line note or journal entry for each person or major event that takes place in a particular page for that century as you encounter it, if that works better, but it accomplishes a similar goal. A century book could also double as a short form of notetaking. The nice thing about HO is that it is so very flexible. You can still get what you need to from the course without having to feel that you must follow everything exactly as written. Many of us also add in K12's Human Odyssey text as a different reading source; it is well-written and more engaging than vanLoon in some respects. Using a relief globe (where you can physically feel the mountains) can help with the geography aspect of it. Why some of these trade routes or isolation issues or war campaigns happened the way that they did is much more evident when the reality of the geography is taken into account, and seeing the desert and how high the mountains are in different areas can bring this issue into stark well, relief <grin>. That experience can also make the experience more interactive and lead to better retention, particularly if your son is more visual or kinesthetic learner, which may be the case if he is struggling to retain information by writing down the outlines and notes in the course.

This one is free if you have Amazon Prime: 400 Years of the Telescope (Neil deGrasse Tyson) http://www.amazon.com/400-Years-of-the-Telescope/dp/B004D8WOFO/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1355840355&sr=1-1&keywords=Tyson%2C+astronomy This one is not free: NOVA: Stars, Supernovas, the Big Bang, and More (old production-- 70's?) http://www.amazon.com/NOVA-Stars-Supernovas-Bang-More/dp/B000HEWH14/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1355840355&sr=1-2&keywords=Tyson%2C+astronomy Another Neil deGrasse Tyson, this one is from The Teaching Company, but I got the link from Amazon: My Favorite Universe http://www.amazon.com/My-Favorite-Universe-Teaching-Company/dp/1565856635/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1355840355&sr=1-3&keywords=Tyson%2C+astronomy TTC courses are often above the heads of a 4th grader, but taken in small doses, the video is often spectacular enough to hold their attention, and NdGT (Tyson) is a great speaker-- a lot of kids end up liking him.

If you scribble on a doc in Notability can you erase your scribble to use it again later, or would I need to stash a clean copy elsewhere first?

Now that is a very interesting idea . . .

For anywhere from where they start to comprehend it through whoever is interested (my DS9 and DS11 are currently watching it, though I can see watching it older, or a really fascinated/fixated kid enjoying it a little younger-- the parents to whom this applies will know who they are): Neil deGrasse Tyson's "Origins" DVD is a can't-miss. I am so glad we are watching this after having completed several months of astronomy (2 years ago) a year of chemistry, and our first half year of biology-- we are on the second half of the DVD, "Origins of Life." Young Earthers/No evolution types will probably not appreciate this video. It focuses on the science of the origins on the earth and biochemistry of the origins of life. It also has awesome stuff like caving into sulfur caves in Mexico to find "Snot-tites" and Mythbusters style shooting substances at super high velocity to see what happens. At the ages of my kids, we are breaking up the viewing into shorter chunks-- got the video on Netflix.

I nearly made a new persona to answer this, for privacy reasons, but I want to follow board rules. Please don't quote me in case I choose to delete it later. My family is very well acquainted with the Springfield (PA) mall person who caused mayhem (I am trying to make this less searchable). She came from a very loving, stable, caring home. She was had lots of access to mental health services, and accessed them *many* times. There were many warning signs, and they were not ignored, but the system in the 80's in PA was set up to specifically balance the rights of the person to not be hospitalized against their will versus the need for treatment*. Her problems were certainly not being ignored by her family or her doctors or the community. Despite multiple hospitalizations and as much care as a loving family could provide, at the time, yes, she was beyond help. Not everything can be fixed, as much as we would like it to be. Mental illness is an illness, and we all know of other illnesses we sometimes cannot fix, much as we want to and as unfair as it might seem. She came from a proactive, loving family, and no, it was not enough. This is why it makes me sad when people blame the Lanza family for what took place. You can do everything right, and things can still go wrong. We do not know the Lanzas, and I dislike seeing them judged. We are on the outside looking in through the rather imperfect lens of the ever-changing stories in the news media. Even if we see things we think are "wrong" with that family, remember, they could have done everything "right" (sort of-- does any of us really meet that standard???) and had zero guns in the house, and this could still have happened somehow. We just don't know. Because yes, there are some things we just can't fix. *NB This is not my opinion. This was the legal status in PA in the 80's.

I am about the same. Once in a while, I recall that these words are permanent, and that people read the posts in their own tone if voice rather than in mine. and I end up deleting. Also in real life, autocorrect on my iPad does not make so many strange edits.

I have no problem with letting my kids go up when we are alone, but the second another child appears, it is one way traffic only! Otherwise I agree with you completely-- it is a huge safety is AND a rudeness issue, no different from cutting in line. (What is up with parents who say nothing to their kids who just shove my kids to the side as they are climbing the ladder, or even at the top? Yes, my kids are slower than your hyper, out of control kids with apparently no manners. They get a turn anyway). Addressing it later at home does not work with kids that young-- kids are immediate creatures. Your child may be smart. You might have "an amazing conversation" about it later at home. But trust me. Unless it is connected directly to the behavior, they don't get it at that age. That's why they are still shoving my kids at the top of a slide.

We added some cappuccino mix to our chocolate drop cookies yesterday. They were quite popular.

Thanks!

I told my son I would appreciate him not googling more information about the shooting. When he asked why, I said there were two reasons. 1. The information and images, besides being highly disturbing, keeps changing as the picture of what really happened changes. That shifting information itself makes an already horrific situation even worse. (Particularly fr an 11YO struggling to make his world make sense again). 2. Perseverating on the topic will really drain you, mentally, emotionally, and physically. It will prevent you from doing basic daily things you need to do. And it won't make anything better for the victims. A focused time of meditation or prayer, fine. Obsessing for hours, not so fine (for 11YO boy. I think we parents have a tough time letting go. I am trying to take my own advice, but some grieving is necessary, and I need some facts-- see below). I did tell him I would prefer he come to s rather than the Internet for information on this one, so we could help filter fact from fancy until things settle more. I did tell him to talk to us if he found himself sad, upset, or thinking about this a lot, instead of about 11YO boy topics like video games and diagramming sentences and what awesomeness to get his amazing Mom for Chrstmas, because we could help him talk through it-- it is not a forbidden topic. Now I am off to try my own advice. Chamomile tea, a few moments with a book, and cry myself to sleep... Those poor, innocent kids, and I am sorry if I catch flak for this, yes, for the obviously pained and hurting soul who perpetrated this. I do not excuse his actions one bit, but I will never believe that an individual does this outside of a tremendous place of pain himself. No excuse, and no, i do not place him in the same victim category as those poor children; just a reality. The person who did ths was unlikely to have been a happy, adjusted, safe feeling individual. Good night.

Easy switch. Google Docs will also work, but office is available for Mac, and you can run any PC only things in BootCamp if you need to, but pretty much anything on the Internet will run on a Mac. Also, if you mention homeschooling, you get an educator discount. One gripe: no delete key, only backspace. I get truly annoyed by that at least once per day. Oh, and Olly Homeschool Planner for Mac rocks!

If enough states adopt them, then kids who move are less likely o experience large gaps, because the sequences should be roughly the same no matter where you live, though implementation is still eft up to the teacher to decide (or district). Like prior iterations of school standards, they use a jittery history sequence that jumps about churningly in time and space-- bit of this, little o' that each year. There is a standard getting much press right now encouraging schools to include primary sources across the curriculum, which is being incorrectly spun as replacing literature in English classes with tech manuals, though this is not what the standard remotely says. Literature courses are still supposed to teach the full body of classics and poetry under the common core. I'm not a fan-- I think it has good theory but poor implementation in most respects (the non-fiction reading requirement a happy exception). As homeschoolers, we will make zero changes to our current plans. Our current plans are solid enough to take on any test without worrying about it or prepping particularly, other than maybe making sure when the time comes that the kids knw the Basic format of the SAT questions. Changing what we do to react to someone else's standards would not improve education, so we will ignore.

Wow, thanks for all the links! We, in fact, use K12's History Odyssey as an adjunct to Level 2 History Odyssey for logic stage kiddo.

In 2nd grade, I started with a timer. That had a down-side, in that some days he decided that he could just stare at his paper and do nothing for xx minutes and call it a day. (He can be kind of . . . stubborn). Now we do a lesson per day. I watch for signs-- some days a guy is just tired enough to make forging ahead useless. Some day I just intuit that he didn't finish grasping it and we repeat it or do more work on it in some fashion before moving on. (I love LoF: Honey, where it flat out tells him after one chapter, "You have to EARN the right to move on here, by showing that you have mastered your times tables. Here are a few strategies to help you learn them. Now go, and don't come back until you have earned the right to move on." (I paraphrased somewhat, but that is the essence of it). It was nice to see someone else telling him what I tell him, in very direct language!

We jump around, because we do History Odyssey, and we move at double speed, but we also add in extra things (such as the Hands of a Child early America note pack and do plenty of reading, not so many projects). We started in August, and will finish just before Christmas, working at it every other week. He gets a lot of extra repetition, because he enjoys listening to the audio in the car as well. We'll cover modern history from Jan--July. (Sorry, just realized you asked about 2, and I am talking about 3...but we did 1&2 on the same schedule last year, though we did more projects). This will allow us to start logic stage ancients at ~10 years old. One nice thing about SOTW is the ease of pacing it however you need to in order to fit your situation. My son has had great retention at this pace because he was older when we started, and we include so much literature, fun stuff like Horrible Histories, movies like 1776 that make the characters memorable, act things out, etc. we have memorized a few things to help put world events in order and relate them to one another... English Kings, Roman, Greek, and Norse gods, geography, and the like, without going nuts with memory work. However, I can see, with the wealth of literature and fun books available, not to mention field trips, how you could head the other direction and stretch SOTW out through ten years old even if you started in first or kindergarten, quite easily. I care more about my kids enjoying history and seeing why we care (and finding history in their books and movies, "in disguise" and feeling happy about being in on the joke) than I do about them being walking historians at this age. With one in logic stage (moving more slowly) and one finishing grammar stage, we are now at the point where they read to seek answers to good questions... Why did this king do this, why did the colonists act like that? Logic stage is, for us, a great time to slow down and dive on into individual questions! Sorry for rambling... I really digressed!