My kids and I loved the movie. It is one of the very few movies that is not a disappointment after reading the book.

Microwave at 30% power for longer. If I do 1/2 cup of oatmeal with 1 cup water I microwave at 30% for 5 min. Works like a charm.

Doralynn Minda

My son just went in because he couldn't hear out of one ear--it was an ear infection. I didn't realize infections could cause hearing loss either. A couple days later he was hearing great.

Here is my question, and it could be really dumb, but it is something I don't understand. Those who vaccinate have protected their children against the diseases we are talking about, right? So why does anyone say that if you don't vaccinate you are putting other people's children at risk? You are only putting at risk those who have chosen NOT to vaccinate, not those who have vaccinated. But it is the pro-vaxxers that are up in arms about their children being at risk. Am I missing something?

A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears, Jules Feiffer.

What about baking 4 or 5 'cookies' in an 8" round pan and then stacking them with marshmallow in between each layer?

It's ok for them to memorize definitions without fully understanding them :) Grammar stage is for memorization, logic stage for understanding how all the parts of speech work together. When my daughter was in 8th grade I was memorizing these kinds of definitions with youngers and she chimed in, "someday you will really understand what that means!"

Wondering what my 'gravatar' looks like.

IRON!! I was exhausted with #3 and just thought it was just because of the pregnancy. My iron was super low, supplements made a huge difference

I LOVE my air. I have an external dvd/cd-rom drive I can plug in when I need it--doesn't happen very often.

Fleabusters. Saved my life. The fleas aren't immediately gone, because new fleas hatch. But every flea that hatches dies.

Let them play. I would just avoid screens.

I can't compare the two, but I recently got an Air (June) and I LOVE it! I purchased an external disc drive with it -- you just plug it in and go :) I plug it in at night and it is rare that I ever have to plug it in during the day.

Most Latin classes will use American order. My husband teaches in high school and he made the switch to UK. The biggest reason is that he uses Hans Oerberg's Lingua Latina and Oerberg lists everything in UK order. The biggest advantage I see to UK order in terms of memorizing is that dative and ablative (which are always the same in the first and second declensions and in the third declension plural) are together, and the nominative and accusative are together, so the nominative/accusative are the same in the neuter rule is easy to see. That being said, whatever order you use, if you know it well you will be able to function just fine in a classroom that uses another order.

Great feedback, thanks! I also loved the idea of mixing art appreciation with art projects--glad to hear it works well :)

Has anyone used this curriculum? I am looking for something super easy--open and go, and it sounds like this would fit the bill. Any feedback would be appreciated!!

I am so sorry. This is unimaginable.

Here's a blog post my husband wrote about why to study Latin http://llpsi.blogspot.com/2012/10/german-mother-latin-father.html

It sounds like she might be a visual learner (she does better when reading and working on paper) rather than an auditory one. I am not one who thinks this means she shouldn't ever be asked to learn or absorb information auditorially, that can be crippling, but it might help keep you from getting frustrated if you understand her learning style.

The CAT starts in Kindergarten and tests in reading, language mechanics and math. We have always done this starting in Kindergarten (this test is read to the kindergartener) and found it a great encouragement and a rite of passage from one grade to another. There is a test prep booklet you can get to give them an idea of the format of the test and prepare them for what it will be like. The tests are $25 from Seton testing, we take it at home, send it off, they grade it and send you an official document with your child's scores.

I second this--this stuff is awesome!

My daughter has used Life of Fred as a stand alone curriculum since decimals. She took a practice SAT as a freshman and scored better than average on the math (i don't remember the exact number). The pre-algebra books in particular do a really good job of teaching them how to set up problems, IMHO.

Thanks! I agree with the problem of distinguishing the singular from the plural with an apostrophe alone.

I learned princess', but Sequentian Spelling says princess's. My 1975 college handbook says either, just be consistent. Have things changed since then? Thanks!