thanks!

Is the book a workbook or a teacher copy? I can't find it locally and I'm pricing out the program for my 3 daughters.... Do I order 3x of the book or just one and they do the work in their own notebooks? Thanks!

We really like Miquon as a break from the teaching-intensive RightStart. We usually do a level and then add in some Miquon for a break.

Thanks! Back to math... :)

Can anyone help us with a fraction problem? The instructions are to make the equation even and the problem is: 1/2 x _ = even (Miquon blue book, sheet B-16.... We're moving & I've already packed the lab sheet annotations) Is 1/2 even or odd? I can talk myself into both possibilities & a quick google search only muddied the waters. Thanks! Kelli

I think if you run the problem using the back side of the abacus, it might become clearer how the trading is done mentally. After however many hours using the abacus by this point in B, my kids' mental math is like an internal abacus. So if we're stuggli with coming to an answer, we'll often close our eyes and imagine what it would look like on the abacus.

Good to know, thank you both!

We followed year one as planned out by Ambleside Online. It was a lovely and fun year.... so we've stayed with it for year two! We loved the book selections and didn't skip any, including the supplemental readings.

Do I need the teacher's manual for Minimus Latin? I took Latin for years & years growing up so I don't need much hand holding but I want the instructions to make sense. Should I spend the $70 on it or can I get away without it? Thanks!

If you find room in your budget, I'd say go with AAR or AAS. We abandoned OPGTR and ETC and have never been happier. I found ETC worked really well at the lower levels but after a book or two my girls couldn't stand another page of it. I was the one who abandoned OPGTR as I found it boring :) Either way, I hope you and your little one have a relaxing summer & that you can come back around at it with fresh enthusiasm!

If I remember correctly from the "Your X Year Old" series, lying is a common thing at this developmental stage. I think their advice was to avoid situations where your child needs to lie. Of course if it is happening all the time, that would be different, but if it's just this one weekend, I'd probably ask if he'd like more sweets and then figure out how to make that happen within the context of our family values. His behavior seems more developmentally-driven than a sign of a character flaw.

we haven't used a monthly service, but every few months I order a bunch of activity books from Dover Publishers. They have mazes, stencils, paper dolls, sticker books, and coloring books that my kids love. I get sticker this for my youngest and more involved ones for my older two. I usually buy along a few themes and then break them out when I need to keep people busy. They're pretty inexpensive ($1.50-$4), so a $20 or $30 investment goes a long way.

I'm reading Edmund Sprunger' Helping Parents Practice, which is a Suzuki music book, but I've found it really inspiring from a homeschooling perspective. It's been interesting to read about how practice makes playing easier and then to extrapolate to other subjects.

In addition to dinosaurs and fossils, we read through lots of In The Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World and Kipling's Just So Stories. Both were a wonderful introduction to longer and more complex stories.

something a bit longer would be good... seema Mine all memorized The Owl and the Pussycat. It's longer, sweet, and funny when you act it out.

The Desert Museum is awesome. If you go early, you'll see the most animals. Sabino Canyon is a great hike (or ride up and walk down)... Go early before it gets too hot. If you have kids who might like dollhouses, the Miniature Time Machine Museum is fascinating (go in the afternoon when you're looking for AC). The deGrazia Studio is a quick and interesting visit. The airplane graveyard out at David Monthan (sp?) air force base is super cool. We also like the I'm sure locals have other good ideas!

We have been working through the Lamb versions as they come up through Ambleside. I've found that my girls most enjoy acting it out with figurines... We have about a million Papo figurines so we can rustle up a cast pretty easily but I imagine paper dolls or Lego people would work, too. I assign characters and my two older move them around and repeat stirring lines. The youngest moves the scenery. Enjoy!

Hi all, I'd like to download and print the first few levels of NCERT math books but am having a really hard time accessing them or getting them to print. So far I've tried the official NCERT site, prashanthellina, and Notemonk. Anyone know of another that works? Thanks! Kelli

My top three have already been mentioned, but my newest favorite is "The Abolition of Man."

You probably already have this covered but tons of read-alouds! Peter Pan, Wind in the Willows, Little House books, Pinnochio, Moomintroll books, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Wizard of Oz, etc. (depending on your tastes and sensibilities, of course).

Yes, thanks all! My amazon cart overfloweth!

I have 3 girls around the same ages and sizes. My go-to places for matching sets of dresses are: Hanna Andersson, Tea Collection, and Olive Juice Kids. Mini Boden has cute matching stuff but I never wind up ordering from them. We usually get the girls one or two new dresses and then head to the resale stores for the rest. Because we have very limited storage space, I only have 4 of each item for each girl (4 shorts, 4 tee shirts, etc.) so each one has to "work" with the others. I often find one thing for one girl and then comb through the resale stores for something that works with it and with the other girls' corresponding outfits. If you have enough time, I'm sure you could find three white dresses and then dress them up with new grosgrain ribbon sashes or matching pretty shoes. Happy dress shopping!

We're the Keasbey Street Schoolhouse... But we'll probably switch to something more mature for middle school & high school. We only use it for Rainbow Resource orders!

We follow a GFDF diet to alleviate gastrointestinal issues and every once in awhile we'll know that we've been exposed to gluten (usually when eating out). When that happens, we take glutenease and magnesium citrate. The first time we tried it, we were to excited about having no side effects from gluten that we commented to the pharmacist about how great it was. She reminded us that the enzymes help with the symptoms but that gluten can still be damaging the gut, so we just use them in emergencies. In my experience, eating a GFDF diet is easier than taking a supplement multiple times every day. Hope that helps! Kelli

Yes, rosemary is nearly impossible to kill. Or tomatoes & basil and let them go mid-summer.