Does anyone know what the difference is between the Total e version 4 of Rosetta Stone and the homeschool version 3? I ordered the homeschool version but they sent me the Total e version 4. I can exchange it but I am wondering if the only difference is the part about being able to track the student. If that is the only thing then I don't need to exchange. I can't seem to figure this out from Rosetta Stone website. I don't want to be missing some of the language learning if they don't give you as many steps to complete the program in the total version 4. Thanks for any help you can give, Suzq

I Just have to say a great big Thank-you to Robin for taking the time to do the blog posts and the weekly post here at WTM. I rarely post ( I am as shy in the cyber world as I am in real life) but I have been reading more because of this challenge. I only made it to 46 books this year but hope to make 52 next year. Somehow time gets away from me. Also another great big Thank-you for all the people who share their book choices here and sometimes giving their synopsis and ratings. I have continually had to expand my list of want to read. Just wanted you to know how grateful the lurkers are to all you avid readers. I look forward to 2013. Thanks everyone.

We did AHL and WHL plus TTC and WttW. We were in a co-op that wanted to use TTC and WttW in the year that we would also be doing WHL. It worked fine for us. However, We did TTC during the summer before beginning WHL. Then we met every other week for WttW lessons. We did not do all the lessons that Jill Pike had planned. We skipped the "To Kill A Mockingbird" as some people had done that book already. We did use "Jane Eyre" and we also used "Animal Farm" in the second semester which is when WHL also uses it. Now I also was co-teaching the WttW class. It takes quite a huge time commitment to learn and then teach. I basically did everything the kids were required to do. I never had a literary analysis class before this. I enjoyed it immensely but I don't have little ones around anymore. I don't know what your situation is like but WttW is time consuming especially alongside of WHL. My son managed to get it done but I swapped a few of the WHL requirements for WttW. Also we did not do "Hamlet" at all. In the end I gave my son 1.5 credits for his work in WHL,TTC, and WttW. I think with the time he put in it probably was worth 2 credits though. As an aside, I loved WttW and told the kids to keep their workbook for College classes that ask for literary analysis. It will be a great help that I wish I would have had in college. Hope this helps, Suzq

What a fun thread. It's great to see all the ideas on here. You are all so crafty and talented. I hope to check back here and do some clicking to see some of your websites. My dh is a beekeeper and we have been working with beeswax -- trying different formulas for hand cream and lip balm. We sell it in really cute jars. I hope to purchase the lip balm tubes and try that too. And of course we sell honey -- yum, yum. We have made this into a small business LLC. My family goes around to schools,libraries, nursing homes doing bee talks and crafting rolled candles. For the talks we have a website http://www.thornapplewoodlands.com but we haven't added honey and beeswax products. Although if someone would want some I am sure we could box it up and ship it out. :)

Wow! We had to drive only 3 miles but there were about 150 to 200 kids taking the test. I live near Grand Rapids, MI.

HI, I have been searching the forums for some answers about what is next after Saxon Advanced Math? I know that Saxon has a Calculus course. My questions is -- if a student completes Advanced Math, would he then be ready to take a college Calculus Course instead of the Saxon Calculus? Or would he need to take a college pre-calculus course first? Or does it depend on the student? How would you know what would be the right thing to do? On the other hand, if a student completes the Saxon calculus text, would he be able to skip Calculus I in college? or what would be the first course he should take after Saxon Calculus? The reason I am asking is because in my search I saw answer for Teaching Textbooks in this regard from Jann in TX and it got me to wondering about Saxon? This is what she said about Teaching Textbooks: TT's Algebra 1 is not that off from 'standard'. Their Geometry covers all of the essentials--with lots of proofs and formula work (probably the TT course closest to standard in their series!). TT's Algebra 2 is the level most lacking when compared to 'standards'. You would need the majority of their Pre-Calc course to complete a full 'standard' Algebra 2 course... If you use TT and will be 'college prep' then I would continue through their Pre_Calc program (working Geometry in between A1 and A2). Follow the TT Pre-Calc with a one-semester Pre-Calculus course taken at a CC or university then student should be good to go into any Calc course with confidence! __________________ Thanks for any advice you can give,

I would be in line at the bookstore to get my copy of this title! Love it. I am excited to say that I finished my 18th book this morning. It was called God Grew Tired of Us. It is written by one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Incredible what he went through and how he persevered. He has come full circle and has set up a medical clinic in Sudan. My husband's uncle, who is a doctor, went there to do surgeries. I plan to have my teens read this book so they can hear about what other people were having to endure while my teens were alive and in this life of ease. Maybe it can ward of some complaints. :001_smile:

Thank-you Barbara for your list. Those ideas will help. He actually did fill in all the bubbles. He just went with all B's. I think he got one or two more correct by doing that and not leaving them blank. I am hoping that doing more practice questions and tests will help. This was his first practice and we did it cold with no prep.

Hi, I had my son take an ACT practice test yesterday and on 3 of the 4 tests he ran out of time. So of the questions he got wrong, most were in the last 10 of each of those tests. What is the best way to prep to increase his ability to finish the test. If he goes too fast he won't be careful on the front end I fear. Will practicing answering ACT type questions improve his ability to get them done faster? After going over all that he got wrong , there were only three or four that he would have missed even if he had the time to do them. (At least that is what he thinks.) This would improve his score greatly. Do you have any advice for us?

I am not sure if this will help you, can you find the "settings?" On mine there is something that also says "manage applications." I would try clicking there to see if the kindle app shows there. If not, then I would try getting the kindle app again. Another thing I thought of -- press and hold in the middle of the home page and a list will come up that says "Add to Home screen." Then click on Launcher actions -- click on open/close app drawer and an icon with 4 squares will show on your home screen. Click on that icon to see all the apps on your nook.

I finished The Preacher's Bride this week after the recommendation from Robin. I enjoyed it. I am in the midst of Left to Tell about the Rwandan Genocide. I am also reading Pride and Prejudice which I have never read. I did see the movie though. I have 14 books finished but a couple of them were very short and really don't count but it feels pretty good since I only read 29 books last year. I see someone here already has read 28 books. Wow! Impressive.

We skipped ECC and started with CTG. We did the whole cycle then and finished with ECC. We did it that way because my oldest was 6th at the time and I wanted him to get moving in the cycle. We also had read many of the ECC books previous to CTG through other curriculums. My youngest was in 3rd for CTG and so he did ECC last. It wasn't as "fun" for him being the only one doing it and not wanting to do any crafts. It did help with the geography skills though. We were fortunate to have a couple other families using ECC at the same time so we were able to have the country feasts with them. That really improved our experience for ECC. I just wanted to share that everyone doesn't always start with ECC.:001_smile:

We have honeybees too. We use a product called Sting eeze. However it only works if you use it in the first several minutes after the sting. I would go with the Benadryl idea. Close to the eye can even make the eye swell shut. My husband has had so many stings that he no longer swells. He even uses stings to help pains in his joints. I hope you feel better soon. Just wanted to say hello to a fellow beekeeping family. Check out our website http://www.thornapplewoodlands.com

I haven't read this entire thread but I have been thinking about some of the changes being made and saying to myself -- Isn't that how the guides were to begin with? So yes it does seem like they are turning back the clock. My oldest guide is from 2000 and I will compare when I get a complete handle on all the changes.

Well I was going to say we are in MI but then gardening momma said I was raised in OH and now live in MI but I haven't heard it used very much, Only at church from the ministerial staff. Maybe I will have to listen better. I wonder if this was German and then hei might be pronounced "hi."

How about "wrap your head around" or "wrap your mind around" -- I don't care for this statement at all. I heard my minister say it this am in his sermon. Also "hey" or "hey, Hey" as in "Hey good morning!" I heard two ministers and one other person greet the audience today with this phrase. I think they are trying to talk like the culture of today.

I have the Nook color but am using the CM7 program on the SD card which makes it like a tablet. I have the Kindle app and you can order your books alphabetically by author or title or by the most recently used. You cannot organize your books by genre like you can with the regular Kindle. At least I have not figured out how to do that. Yes you are correct, the Fire and the Nook Tablet are backlit and not e-ink. Someday maybe they will come out with one that you can switch back and forth. :001_smile:

I didn't post the last couple of weeks but I finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,in the middle of The Shallows and Ahab's Wife. Both of these last two were from your suggestions on these threads. Thanks. I am a bit slow so I am not sure I will finish the challenge with Moby Dick. I may have to put that one on the list for a summer read. I still love reading about what you all are reading too. Fun!

I copied and saved that list of classics so here they are: Here's some other freebies that popped up since last friday. I was hoping 20 classic freebies would come up in today's free fridays, but no, so I'll post them. Other genres are below classics. (All the books were free at the time of this post, but please verify the price before clicking "Buy") 20 free Barnes & Noble classics: Adventures of Tom Sawyer Don Quixote Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson Gulliver's Travels House of Mirth Jane Eyre Jude the Obscure Odyssey Paradise Lost Picture of Dorian Gray Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Dubliners Scarlet Letter Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume I Tale of Two Cities Art of War Awakening and Selected Short Fiction Good Soldier Three Musketeers Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Wuthering Heights Urban fantasy: American Quest by Sienna Skyy Suspence: Chosen by Paula Bradley Horror: The Lake by Tananarive Due Mystery: The Witch of Agnesi by Robert Spiller Christian: Medical Error by Richard Md Mabry Gone to Green by Judy Christie A Time to Love by Barbara Cameron The Invitation by Eugene H. Peterson

O.T. I see I just made my 50th post! Woo hoo! I think that makes it so I can sell here now. :001_smile:

I am still behind but it is encouraging reading all your choices. I finished My Antonia and I thought it was ok but some parts seemed to go on and on. Plus I didn't like the ending. Oh well. I quickly read Organized Simplicity so now I am on my 4th book. I liked OS and hope to do some of that cleaning and organizing this summer but not now. I like to procrastinate.:lol: I have finally received Ahab's Wife from the library and it looks a little daunting. I also have Snow Flower and the Secret Fan so I will read one of those for my 4th book. If I choose AW I have a feeling that I will get even more behind but at least I am continuing to read and that is the point, right?

I have the Nook app and the kindle app on my Nook color turned Android and I have noticed that in the Nook app you can only use the dictionary functions when you are on-line but in Kindle you can use it even when you are offline(that is after you have downloaded the free dictionary for Kindle.) I am not sure if there is a way to make the Nook app dictionary to work offline but if there is, I am not aware of it. The animated page turns on the Nook app are kind of fun but not necessary. Those are really the biggest two differences that I see.

I am finishing My Antonia(my week two book) -- I am a bit behind already for finishing a book a week but I am going to keep plugging away at it. I have Ahab's wife waiting for me at the library and I want to begin that. I got the Organized Simplicity free download and hope to read that as well. I am very impressed with all the reading that you all do. How do you get so many books finished in one week? I think i must be a slower reader. :001_smile:

Ah ha -- thank- you Kiana!!! Now I do see it. OK I am going to write this all out and see how well I explain it to my son. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you.

Thank you Regentrude -- I do think I am beginning to understand. I have been writing it all out on paper to work it out. I am still not completely sure but I think if I keep looking at it, I will see what you are saying. I appreciate you taking the time to help us. I do think if we were face to face I would see it in a split second. We are saying the same thing in different ways I think. I told my son what we were doing and he only said to me there is another problem like it today. We will see if we figure that one out. :D Thanks again,