And imagine how a newbie feels. ;) No matter how many insightful posts I've made only one person has noticed me to give me rep? How long does it take before you get noticed around here? And the funny thing is tI'm doing my best to spread it around. I have run out of rep twice already in the few days I've been here. Still trying to remember who I wanted to give some to when I'm allowed to give more out. LOL

Agreeing with PPs on Amelia Bedelia, Frog and Toad, Henry and Mudge, etc. My ds also loves the Frances books - Bread and Jam for Frances, A Birthday for Frances, etc. Some other favorites are Caps for Sale, Curious George, Madeline, Nate the Great books, Billy and Blaze books, Where the Wild Things Are, Harry the Dirty Dog, Make Way for Ducklings.

I am exactly 1/2 Scottish, 1/4 Irish, 3/16 English and 1/16 French.

We had similar issues here with my 6 yo. I agree with PP that punishment does not help. What has made a difference with us - samw a PPs as well are exercise and dietary changes. We found out that along with artificial colors/sweeteners/HFCS, the biggest trigger was wheat. Once we eliminated wheat the difference was astounding. That combined with lots of positive comments, encouragement when he handled himself well and flexibility to shift gears when necessary has transformed our home. I also recommend Dealing with Disappointment by Elizabeth Crary. It has great ideas for helping you as well well as your dc handle the situation when things aren't going as you would like them to.

A shorter cycle does usually mean earlier ovulation. A women with helathy fertility will have a luteal phase that is consistent. Luteal phase is the time between ovulation and next menstruation. A "normal" luteal phase can be anywhere from 10-16 days. For most women it is 13-14 days, so if the woman ovulates on the 14th day of her cycle she will have a 28-day cycle. Now if a woman's cycle is 23-24 days, most likely she ovulated on day 10, rather than day 14. But it is possible that the woman in question typically has a shorter luteal phase of 10 days and ovulated on day 13-14. Unless you carefully chart basal body temperature or monitor cervical mucous, it is very hard to know which way your body works, which is why most OB's/midwives stick with the first day of your last menstrual period. Even if there is variation with someone who has a typically short cycle it should only be by a few days (week max). The next time you see your OB, I would bring it up right wasy that the dates from each ultra sound were not consistent and ask where he/she is getting the dates. You deserve a full explanation and should not settle for less.

I use those accordion files as well. I get the ones with 12 pockets - one for each month, and I keep reipts, bills, etc, in the appropriate pocket for 1-2 years. I have a file with last year and current year, so right now I have one with all of 2007 in it and one that I am creating for 2008. At the end of 2008 I will go through 2007, making sure there is nothing I need, then I will shred everything and use that file for 2009. I can't think of what it was off the top of my head, but I have found that I needed to go back on occasion, and since it's only one file, I don't mind keeping it for a year. I do pay much more on line though, so there is less paperwork than there used to be.

If the answers to these questions were simple we would have just one political party. LOL. There are many issues going on right now, but from the sounds of your post it seems you are particularly interested in the mortgage problem. Correct me if I'm wrong. My expanation is an oversimplification, but basically more liberal leaning democrats want to provide assistance for all those who purchased mortgages which started out sub-prime them suddenly ballooned well above prime. Sadly, many mortgage companies/brokers were anxious to sell these and did not explain fully the balloon affect, so people were duped into getting larger mortgages than they could truly afford. Now on the other hand, you have the conservatives who want to let our economy balance itself out, who think that the people who got these mortgages should have known better. But in the short term this balancing won't be resolved anytime soon, as the numbers of foreclosures have skyrocketted, which is hurting the economy as a whole -- if people don't have enough money to pay the mortgage then they don't have extra money to spend to stimulate the economy. Ultimately it boils down to whether you are comfortable waiting until the economy balances itself, which could take years and cost many people their houses, or if you want to help people out in the short term, which would hopefully get the economy stimulated again. Like I warned, this is an extrememly rough oversimplification because there are so many other elements involved like how the government budgets spending - financing war vs evergy and infrastructure to create jobs here, free-trade vs fair trade, system of taxation, etc. So many factors effect our economy and no two people completely agree on the best approach. I try not to think about it too much, especially since we bought a house during the boom and chose a nice safe fixed-rate mortgage on a house that is substantial (but not fancy by any means) when those who chose bigger nicer houses that they couldn't really afford are going to get bailed out. I really try not to think about that. LOL I hope that helped. If you want to discuss more I would be happy to share my 2 cents, for whatever it's worth.;)

Sinclair Ferguson has a series: Jesus Teaches Us How to...Pray, Be Wise, Be Happy and Be Good. The website for the publisher is www.christianfocus.com I haven't used these but I have used his Big Book of Questions and Answers and read lots of his *grown-up* books.

My older son had no interest in learning to read at all - although he loved for me to read lots and lots of books to him. We started K using VP Phonics Museum and it really made reading fun. It kind of snuck up on him before he realized it. LOL. It's been a year and a half and he is reading Level 2 books no problem (and dare I say actually enjoying it?).

You already have a lot of great suggestions, and I do a lot of the things mentioned. We make jokes of things and we play boardgames and do puzzles and take walks outside and look for eathworms and slugs, etc. But the one thing that no one mentioned (at least not that I saw) that my boys really appreciate is when i sit down and pull out the photo albums. I do this with them one at a time and look at the pictures of just them. And I tell them stories about silly things that they did when they were little. They LOVE it. I think it reminds them just how special they are to me.

Sounds like what we had here. no fever and at times he would be fine, then hours later sick again. It started on a Wednesday and he was all better by Sunday morning. I hope she's feeling better soon. :grouphug:

Another Presby here - PCA to be specific

Another mom of a hole-in-the-left-knee only child. Part of it has to do with which leg they prefer, but part of it is just basic anatomy. None of our bodies are completely semetrical. I'm sure you all have noticed one foot larger than the other, etc. So it makes sense that one leg is slightly onger than the other, so that knee takes a little more weight when kneeling, even on both.

http://tax.cchgroup.com/legislation/2008-stimulus-package.pdf Look on page 3 for explanation of the minimum $3,000. It includes Social Security and other types of incomes. HTH

I can relate completely. I was a 34DD before pregnancies and up to a 34H while nursing. While the Bravado bras were comfy at night, they didn't give me enough support in the day. Fancee Free ones were not comfortable at all; I do not recommend them. My favorites are the Goddess Bras. They have enough support but are still soft and the hook isn't a bra hook, it's a plastic clasp that I could close with one hand. I ordered mine from ladygrace.com

Thank you all so much for providing me with such a wealth of resources. I followed every link and printed sample pages and TOC from every site, then sat down on the living room floor with my printouts, SOTW AG, and some "grown-up" history resources spread out all around me. I managed to roughly split up each time frame with SOTW chapter number and which sections of scripture relate to that time period. I figure that I will follow SOTW during our history time (3x week for 1 hour) and then discuss the biblical narratives of the same time frame as the SOTW topic in our Bible time (30 min each day). Paula's Archives did have a chart that gave Vos's chapters coincinding with SOTW, so while I haven't looked at that extensively, I'm sure I will use that too. I think that will be sufficient since the boys will be 2nd and K. When we cycle through the next time around at 6th and 4th I may choose to add MFW or MOH or SoC. Just one side question if anyone is still following this thread: How have you handled the 42-week aspect? Are there some weeks that seem to be shorter that could be combined (maybe the ones with the biblical narratives since I will be covering that in Bible time? I also thought that maybe I could hold off on China and India (6 lessons worth) and do them over the summer as a *bonus* unit. Any ideas are welcome. Thanks again!

Three more replies while I was typing away LOL. So more votes for MOH and MFW. And a new study Bible suggestion. And my husband wonders why I am banging my head. LOL. Thanks.

The problem with finding the right homeschool curriculum certainly isn't about lack of options. LOL. It seems Biblioplan is the concensus in this thread. I checked it out and it looks very thorough with the biblical material. But from the TOC it doesn't seem to be as comprehensive with other civilizations as SOTW. (I was looking at Ancient History since that's what we're doing next year.) Does it use every chapter of SOTW, or just bits and peices? It didn't mention the SOTW Activity Book either, so I wasn't sure if any of still used the Activity Book along with it. Also in the updates section it says that there is a brand new (March 2008) History version which includes references for MOH. I couldn't find any more information than that and am hoping that didn't mean MOH was replacing SOTW. If anyone knows anything about the new version, that would be great. Sue G - I looked at MOH before and IIRC it breaks up the time periods a little differently than SOTW. *scratching head* I had heard of MFW but hadn't looked into it, so I found their website too. Like Biblioplan it seems to really focus on scripture first and then draw form history of civilizations as they relate to the Bible narratives. I do like the biblical feast emphasis - I just may have to order the book recommended for that. I did notice however that it doesn't appear to draw on SOTW at all. It does use Victors and Streams, though. Maybe I'm just missing it. *shrug* ELaurie - yeah, duh, you think I would have mentioned actual Bibles - LOL. We have The Child's Story Bible and The Jesus Storybook Bible as well as the Student ESV, so we are covered that way. I guess I have more reading and praying to do. If anyone has any other suggestions, this is still wide open, so lay 'em on me. Thanks! :001_smile:

Same here -lol. I bought it and read the first chapter and was totally overwhelmed. I keep planning to get to it. I think I will check out that website! :)

I am going to begin using SOTW next year. Our local library has the Activity Book 1, so I was looking through it. It looks like fun and I'm excited. Although the guide does recommend the Bible and other appropriate biblical books as related to the topic, as a whole it doesn't integrate as much of the Bible as some of the other programs I have considered. For those who have decided to supplement with more focus on scripture, are there any resources you have used that you would recommend to use alongside SOTW? Some I have considered are Victor's Journey Through the Bible, Streams of Civ, History Through the Ages, and Greenleaf guides. I would love some input on these or any others that you have found helpful. TIA! :001_smile:

That's funny you mention your handwriting - mine is a combo too. VP got him started with a manuscript style that is very close to cursive (I personally dislike it, but I think it will make the transition easier LOL). I'm glad you mentioned the A Reason for Handwriting series. I had never heard of it. Does it go alongside ZB? I was just going to have him practice with the First Catechism and scripture that I had pulled out on my own.

Wow, lots of good responses so far. Thanks everyone! :001_smile: ELaurie - I had checked out the sample pages. They were enough to get me excited, but not enough to show which level workbook. I will definitely look ahead to FLL 2 to check out the dictation, or I may do as suggested in WTM and just read some from E.B. White or C.S. Lewis. OhElizabeth - I guess I wasn't completely clear. Sorry. *blush* We aren't using Phonetic Zoo for spelling. The words I listed are from the VP 1st Grade Phonics Museum Workbook. Those will be on his last test this year. I completely agree with you that there isn't usually a reason to switch if something is working, but 1. VP doesn't have its own program for 2nd grade on, rather VP recommends starting IEW and Phonetic Zoo, so we're not really switching mid-stream; and 2. My reason for switching from VP is not about its programs per se. I am extremely picky about the publishers I choose and for my own personal convictions (which I am sure would be silly to most people, but are important to me), VP is no longer an option for my family. Sue G - That's a good idea to get the WWE w/o the work book first and then see which ones to order. Although I guess if I order one below his level it will be ready for my other son. LOL. As for SWO, it probably would't hurt to start with B, as a little review isn't a bad thing. I was planning to begin cursive with him at the same time, so C might be hard for him. And speaking of cursive, I forgot to ask if anyone has a preference between HWOT and Zaner-Bloser? Thanks again! :001_smile:

Newbie here with my first post. I have 2 sons, preK and 1st. I started out using VP thinking I would just pick one company and not have to think about it (LOL). It was ok for K, but when prepping for 1st, I decided I didn't like Shurley (nor could I fathom paying that much each year for grammar). I had a friend who had bought FLL but decided to use something else, and I had heard good things about WTM, so I bought it from her and have been using it alongside VP's Phonics Museum and VP First Favorites Comprehension Guide. Well to make a long story short I have recently decided I no longer want to use VP, so I'm trying to switch completely over to WTM. Now I need to figure out what to get for my son for 2nd grade. Obviously WWE covers the first 4 years and will fit nicely with my continuation of FLL, but I'm not sure which Workbook to start with. VP's program has a lot of copywork, but no dictation so far. My son has no problem copying complex sentences (last one he did from Frog and Toad was 19 words long); and he answers simple comprehension questions in full sentences. Would Woorkbook 1 be too easy even though he hasn't done dictation? Would Workbook 2 be too advanced, or okay if maybe I start doing some dictation for the next 3 mos? Spelling is the other part of my dilemma. If I start using Spelling Workout Series I don't know which one to use. VP's program has spelling tests every 7 lessons or so. The last spelling test he will have this year includes: prophet, telephone, elephant, started, traded. Does that seem like he will be ready for SWB? Or would another level be better? I hope I never decide to switch again ;) this is too much work figuring out the transition. TIA