Back when I taught high school English, our school had these EXCELLENT audio Shakespeare recordings - they had sound effects, different voices, etc. I do believe they were audio cassette, though, and I can't remember the publisher. Does anyone know of any good audio Shakespeare resources, not for the stories themselves in prose form, but for the actual text versions? I'm teaching a co-op class right now, and these would be helpful. Particularly King Lear and Merchant of Venice.

We have a toddler and are not wilderness homesteading, but (like another poster said earlier) are transforming a 1-acre lot into a mini-homestead. So far: - raising chickens for meat and eggs - a very large garden consisting of many smaller raised beds + 2 larger plots - learned to can (and to pressure can, which really ought to get its own bullet line, LOL ) - raising grapes (Concord), apples, raspberries, rhubarb, etc. - making our own maple syrup (DH made an evaporator out of an old oil tank - very exciting project) - greenhouse is up, but not walled in yet (working on improving foundation before putting in glass sides) - learning to fish (but we don't actually like to eat the fish we catch, so we are re-thinking this - maybe to stock the pond differently) - have 3 beehives and harvested our first honey last fall (my ALL TIME FAVORITE PROJECT!) - have rabbits for pets and also meat I can say that at least in our case, the toddler *definitely* complicates things; he is a joy, but he is also a handful. He loves the garden and loves to "help" with just about everything, but he has no fear, and that causes ME to fear. He also spent quite a bit of time in the children's hospital during his first year, but thankfully that has diminished greatly, and we only go twice a year now for 1-3 days. I grew up in the city (REALLY city), and I will say that my citified upbringing has been as much of a hurdle as the toddler - haha! We read a lot, do a lot of things wrong, and learn the hard way more than we'd like. But the mistakes are valuable "tuition" in all of our new projects. I'm in my 2nd childhood, learning everything all over again.

A handy way to tell if that word following the verb is a PREDICATE NOMINATIVE or a DIRECT OBJECT is to ask - "Does that word EQUAL the subject, or is it something else?" If it EQUALS the subject, use a subjective case pronoun: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they. If it does NOT EQUAL the subject, use an objective case pronoun: me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them.

Wow, congratulations! I just got my yellow!

Educationally: My parents valued curiosity and tried to take us on educational camping trips and to museums and such. Lots of books - like a previous poster said, no designer clothes or trips to amusement parks (we were poor), but they did make it a high priority to get us books and a good education. Life-wise: My parents apologized to us. When they screwed up, got mad, etc., they would come back to us and apologize (sincerely) and ask us to forgive them. That stood out as HUGE to me as a kid, and taught me quite a bit about the power of forgiveness and putting things into perspective (goals, friendships, etc.).

Didn't use it much in the earlier years, but I'm in 4B and using it a lot this year!

Plus, in all fairness, there's a difference between the news media "freaking out" and actual residents "freaking out."

Nobody told me, but I figured it out all by myself after losing it for 4 days after Sandy, 4 days the year before that (Halloween storm), 5 days the year before that - yep, I catch on quick-like! And something city people (like myself) don't realize until you live it is that private wells do not work without power; in other words, we will have no running water in our house for the duration of the power outage. We fill our bathtubs with water so we can flush (or we have to melt snow, which is messy). We use paper plates and cook on our wood stove. Also we live on a dead end, so we will be the last street plowed out, and if a tree falls on power lines, you have to add another 2 days. Our (prepared) city friends have small propane heaters in their apartments; others just get cold. It's definitely do-able, but takes some preparation. You shouldn't feel bad - you just didn't know! I learned the hard way 10 years ago when we lived in Maryland and had a 10-day outage (on well water, so - no water, no phone, no nothing, thankfully it was September and warm) . . . and I have been 100% prepared ever since that day. LOL

Where I live, we will most likely be out of power for 4-5-6? days, which is what makes it a "big deal." We are prepared and equipped and experienced with this, so it's not a HUGE deal to us (unless a tree falls on my kitchen, which is a concern), but the city-dwellers depend a lot more heavily on power, and often don't have an alternative heat source, so - cold is a factor for them, understandably. My zip code is predicted to get 24-30" tonight, all at once. I do think it's funny that they named the storm - so of course we are watching Finding Nemo right now. :)

Cooking? My girls have a photo album, and when they can make a recipe all by themselves, I take a photo of them for the left page and they copy out the recipe for the right page. There are 9 sets, and I told them that when they can make 9 recipes all by themselves, they have officially completed a cooking class. (Recipes for kids = lemonade out of lemon juice, eclair cake (no oven), etc.) :) They're 9 now, but started when they were 6 - I'd even count pb&j, as long as they do it, start to finish. It was (is) empowering for our girls, and the format works for me because I don't have something sitting out, but it's both an on-going as well as "just today" type project.

Let them have a project or craft or private skill that is self-taught . . . woodworking, sewing, cooking, something non-academic that they LOVE. Let them create / do / plan / build. And let them FAIL. Don't prevent their mistakes - let them learn some things the hard way. (Example: My 9 year old twins spent a good chunk of the summer building the "best ever awesome-est most wonderful-est SLED!" . . . out of 2x4's. The last 6 weeks or so have been EXTREMELY educational, as they realized - A. It won't move down the hill. B. The 2x4's are rough (friction) and the dang sled is HEAVY. C. Better idea to sled on plastic and use the 2x4's for a different project.) Their little spirits are not daunted - they are more determined than ever to build something cool. It's not a grade thing, it's a life thing.

*subbing along, in a similar spot*

Speaking as a former high school classroom teacher (and of course from my own limited experience), many trained and certified teachers truly believe that there is no way possible that a home-schooled kid can get an education as good as or even better than a p.s. education. I personally had repeatedly negative examples of home schoolers coming into my classroom and vowed I would NEVER do that to my own children. I was completely shocked when I met an entire co-op full of competent, graceful, engaged, well-educated, broadly-experienced teenagers who had been . . . home schooled. So yes, the "my diploma is better than yours" line is condescending, but . . . that may be all they know, kwim?

I missed the other thread . . . do you mean like Rack-O / Uno / war for math? Or more language arts games? (We play "memory" with music symbols and Latin words over here and consider them educational.) Define "academic." :)

I thought I posted this the other day, but I don't see it now - THANK YOU to all of you who shared thoughts here. I really appreciate the feedback. Also discovered that I have BJU pre-algebra and algebra hiding down on my basement shelves - haven't done any BJU to this point, but it looks like a solid program? A friend also suggested to me Math Counts, to "spice up" the middle school years without taxing them out on math. Now I need to go look up the sequence options for high school so I can figure out where I want them to be at the end of 8th grade (I know I can't plan that entirely, but just for general "target" goals.) Really appreciate the thoughts here - thank you again!

Oooh, watching this too! (We also have 9yo twins, but they're girls.)

That is appalling.

I'm on the early end of researching this, but I need a plan for after Singapore 6A/6B. 2 students, strong in math, but not startlingly gifted or anything; I grew up with a shaky math program and want them to have better than I did. They're doing fine in Singapore, but I want them rock-solid prepared for the high school maths (which I honestly don't plan to teach them - I think I could guide through Algebra I and II and Geometry, but that maxes out my skill set). I searched for other threads on this but have a hard time navigating the boards sometimes - I want to use the upcoming middle years wisely, not just tread mathematical waters waiting for 9th grade. Thoughts?

2 rising 5th graders at our house, and after reading this thread, I feel delinquent! Haven't so much as put pencil to paper for plans. Hmm - 1. math - Singapore 5A / 5B (and I want to add something to it, but don't know what yet - AoPS? Life of Fred? something else?) 2. grammar - probably more R&S 3. writing - WWE 4 (wait, is there such a thing?! is it time to panic yet?!) 4. science - 5. history - 6. music - 7. p.e. - karate + playing outside + farm chores 8. Latin - LCII (I think) Will definitely be back to this. If you're in the sharing mood . . . what is AoPS like? Someone told me it was a prep book for MathCounts? I'm also needing a long-term plan for math; that is on my list of things to sort through and figure out. I have 2 girls, doing 4B right now, and it's not overly challenging to them (but I'm reluctant to push them faster because they do need to review the concepts).

We do, but if we're semi-sick, we'll power through with the promise of a "well day" (in other words, a day off to do something fun when we're all well).

Our public library hosted a science center that did an owl pellet dissection - we went, kids were 6 and 8, and we spent an hour looking at the "stuff" in the pellet and identifying it (they had a really neat chart).

If she really, really pushes it, maybe you could (A) thank her for the compliment, (B) point her in the right direction and give a gentle shove, and © tell her you might* be available in 9 years? :)

I also enjoyed The Happiness Project, and she has also written one about being happy at home - I forget the exact title, but I enjoyed that one even more, as I do spend the majority of my waking hours in my home, and I am sensitive to my environment. Her sense of balance was really encouraging, and her take on the paradoxes of our lives was a refreshing view that helped me think about my happiness and my home and how those two intersect, especially for home schooling moms. (She's not at all a home schooling mom, but I thought a lot of her ideas, especially in the 2nd book, were well-suited to home schooling.)

Creation tells me God is real. A honey bee's precision, the chaotic blooms of wildflowers in spring, my own mind's ability to even ask this question - the design itself points to a designer. As to how I can continue to believe when I have "troubled deaf heaven with my bootless cries" - that is faith, faith that God is who He says He is. I stop my own small child from grabbing a hot oven, no matter how desperately he wishes for it; and at his young age, he has not yet learned that I can be trusted to act in his best interests. The analogy expands, for me, through faith - God encompasses dimensions I can't even process, let alone contain; his power is vast, and his love is certain. He has our best interests at heart, even when our suffering seems to overwhelm us. He did not make this suffering - He is not the source of brokenness and hurt.

I made these apple dip jar treats for the kids' teachers at church, and they were very well received: http://www.eventtrender.com/blog/2011/11/a-is-for-apple.html My first grader saw some (clearance!) camo yarn and BEGGED me for a scarf, so I crocheted one for him; he loves it, and it makes me so happy to see him wearing it around the house. (To the poster who made the washer necklaces, I made those for all the teens in our youth group at church last year, and I see the girls still wearing them. :) The boys' ones were keychains.)