Mine do but I can take zero credit. Scramble the States and a US map placemat (they like to quiz each other while I cook) taught them all that they know.

I use MM. The two are very similiar in how they teach things, so I think it's a perfect supplement.

Biographies? My ds 10 really likes learning about men (yeah, he's still at the age where reading about girls is "icky" :glare:) that were scientists, war heroes, presidents etc. Right now he's reading a biography on Ben Franklin. He'll read one on George Washington next. Last year, he read on Michelangelo, Leonardo, Shakespeare.

Here's MINE Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Thanks!

A post about funny things your kids say. Those are always my favorites. ;)

I have two lefty boys.... In the words of my wise Dh: "Just let him do what he needs to so that you can read it. Quite frankly, neat penmenship isn't high on any man's list." It just about killed me, but I finally listened to him and now my oldest ds writes pretty neatly. He doesn't hold his pencil the way I want him to or slant his paper correctly, and his cursive doesn't slant. BUT, it is much neater that my Dh's (and most of the other mens' writing that I read). We can always hope that they become doctors and then sloppy handwriting is almost a requirement. ;)

:lol::lol::lol: Sorry. This is totally NOT funny. But I'm laughing b/c my 10 yr. old ds did practically the same thing today.

WWS was released, but I thought ALL wasn't going to be printed. They had a large sample available, but that was it.

Oooh! Good idea! We've tried this the last couple of mornings and it worked GREAT! They love it, and I loved having everything ready for snacktime and lunch. Thanks for the great idea!

:iagree: My kids said the book-Mary Poppins was a lot meaner than the movie-Mary Poppins. I thought so too.

I've tried this before but my kids hate sandwiches that have been sitting in the fridge all morning. :glare: They say it is just one more reason they're glad we homeschool. :lol: BUT, I am going to try getting all the little fruit/veggie extras made up ahead of time. Anything to save a few minutes is a good thing!!

No words of wisdom....Just wanted to say HAVE FUN!! The Little House books are some of my sons' favorites. I've always wanted to try Prairie Primer

We're reading this for AO as well. We really like it.:001_smile: We're also reading the 100 Cupboards and Pilgrim's Progress.

Here's mine

"I" don't think you need it. :001_smile: I was just trying to see what wasn't there in case you were wanting it. Mine didn't do anything except singing w/ me and a cd at that age.

Spelling? Or Music? I think it looks good to me, though.

Well, I figure why not have the best of both worlds? (I was one of the kids that LOVED school, LOVED back-to-school time and Loved buying all the "school" stuff.) I like to buy "school" things like backpacks, lunch bags and school supplies and the kids like them too. They use the backpacks/lunch bags when they go to Grandma's and if we're in co-op at the time. But I always have them go outside with their backpacks and new clothes (clothes are always cheap at back to school sales) and take pics. But then they get to come back inside and spend the day with ME. :D If you don't want to buy anything like that when you're homeschooling, you don't have to. But if you LIKE to, then do it! I don't spend a lot either...I mean, they don't need the expensive, nice backpacks b/c they aren't carrying heavy books in them. We went to walmart and the back packs were $8 and $10. We also decorate with streamers etc. for the first week, make cookies, etc. And you can do any of the fun stuff from ps, for the most part. We have a "spirit week", where each day we dress in a special way (Crazy Hair, PJ day, etc.) We even have "class parties". :001_smile:

Usually we start 100% first day. This year we are starting on a Weds. b/c we decided to actually follow our ps's schedule. Those first 3 days we will do math, grammar and reading. But I also bought a ton of fun educational things at the Children's museum gift shop while we were on vacation this summer. So I wrapped it up in a big box and the kids get to open it the first day of school and those first 3 days we'll use what's in the box. I put in everything from science stuff (make your own rootbeer and bubble gum kits, etc.) to art things, and even threw in some candy. ;) The kids are really excited to open it and I think they'll love what I bought. :hurray: Then the next Monday we'll start in full swing. I had also told them if they each read a certain book from the time the summer reading program ended and school started, then we'd go and get DQ on the first day. I'm really excited to start this week!

Our dog is like that. He'd run and burn energy in our yard when we let him out, but in the house he was wonderful. He's also HUGE so its a good thing he's calm. He's 11 yrs old now and has always been like this. He also hardly ever barks. The only times he barks is if another dog walks in our yard, or if a stranger comes up to our gate/house. Love that dog!

This is very true for the Primer. I don't think the others are like this, though, thankfully. We've used up through the 4th reader (Wiley edition). We use them a couple of times per week here. I've never used a teacher guide (didn't know there was one, actually!) but never felt like we needed it (well, I could have for the primer.) I don't use them as literature, we read whole books for that, but I like that I can keep up on how they are reading orally once most of their reading becomes independent/silent. It also helps me know they are reading on grade level.

Wow! That is beautiful! I have the Milo Winter one and I like it. I got it at Barnes and Nobles for $4.99 (I think) for the hardback. They have that sale a lot.

My ds had recurrent canker sores. Our dentist said it is usually from vitamin deficiency and told us to give him one kiddy vitamin a day. No more canker sores. Oddly, none of the rest of us get them and we all eat the same foods....

I agree, the whole thing is beyond tacky. But... I thought I would add that it is possible your sister did not mean for you to be excluded. At my "friends" wedding shower that my maid of honor had, she ended up not contacting several friends that should have been invited. I knew nothing of it until months later. The reason was that they were high school friends and she didn't have their new phone numbers or addresses (and apparently didn't think about calling any of our other friends to find out.) It ended up really awkward because half of our group of high school friends were invited and half were left out. Nobody said anything (my other friends thought I didn't want them there, and since it was "my" wedding, they didn't say anything.) I didn't say anything to the friends not coming b/c my wedding happened right as everyone was finishing college, so everyone was scattered across the country and studying for exams etc. I didn't want to pressure them to come. Crazy situation.

We have very old cabinets and I put it down because it's much easier to clean, and the old wood didn't look very nice.