There was a thread here not too long ago about it. (Anyone have the link to that thread?) A FB group that was freely and illegally sharing files- pdfs of curriculum that you would normally pay for. (I'm not saying that is all they did, they may have also been legitimately sharing things as well, I have not seen the group myself.) Anyway, did any of you see this? Confessions of a Homeschooler had her FB account removed because she spoke out against the copyright violations. The group reported her account as abusive. Her original post about the copyright violations: http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2013/06/thank-you-to-my-honest-and-loyal-readers.html Post about her fb account removal: http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2013/07/calling-all-homeschoolers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ConfessionsOfAHomeschooler+%28Confessions+of+a+Homeschooler%29 I don't think posting a fb status will help her in anyway, she is trying to contact fb about it. I just think it is too bad that this group has done that to her. Assuming all the facts are correct of course.

Mommy fail for RS A here too. I just don't like RS A and don't pull it out. My oldest started in B so I hadn't used A before. I'm very tempted to order the new edition of A to see if it would work better for us. It has shorter lessons which I think would really help me teach it rather than stop part way through a lesson. But at this point my 5yo (6 this month!) is really old enough for B. So I've kind of abandoned A at this point and I'm waiting for the new B to come out in a few months. In the meantime, I had Miquon sitting around that I'd purchased for my oldest and never really used. So I pulled it out and it is working well for us. Just saw your note that you don't want more manipulatives, so maybe it wouldn't work for you. I like MM as a supplement for RS, but probably not until 1st grade.

You mean just visit their site? I'm in Firefox and it seems to be working just fine.

Ours was a Christmas surprise for the kids too, one more present under the tree...who could that be for? It was a set of board books for the baby. You could do something like that without it being Christmas, just come home from somewhere and wow, there's a present on the kitchen table! Who is that for?

I found one in my Core K from 2010, now Core A. It's nothing fancy...could easily be made in Excel. It says 'Additional Schedule Page' across the top. It has a blank column down the side where I'm assuming you would list subjects, then columns for Day 1-5, the columns alternate shaded/not shaded like on the rest of the IG. At the bottom there is an open section titled 'Other Notes'. There are no header rows. Does that help? I looked through my 2010 P4/5 and I don't see the blank schedule there, but I also don't see an appendix. So I think you are probably right, it isn't included until Core A.

I have buyers remorse over WWE 3 in pdf format! Especially because they move the reading portions to the student pages in this level so I am having to navigate back and forth in the file. I'm seriously considering buying the hard copy, or maybe it would be cheaper to just print it all out. I don't mind ebooks for all those Scholastic dollar deals, or MM (but it is a supplement for us so I am just printing here and there). I bought the pdf version of the AAS homophone book and DS uses notability to do it on the ipad, that works well for us. Do you print from ibooks? Because it drives me bonkers...printing just a few pages from a 200+ page ebook. Why can't they have a 'print current page' option???? Maybe I should try printing from another app. I am regularly printing WWE, SOTW activity pages, and a few other things. I'd love to hear more about how you plan...the binder sounds effective!

Mavalus Tape! http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=1&category=6599 I've used Command strips as mentioned above but occasionally had problems with removal, and if I want to move something around I end up needing new strips. Love the mavalus tape better, holds better than sticky tac and inexpensive.

If this works best then why are you stressing over a few pieces of paper? That's what, 100 pieces of paper over the course of a year? You could print duplex so you are using the back of each page, or if you are willing to have smaller print you could print two to a page, so front and back would be four checklists on one page. You could try having them check it on their ipods, but yes it would be quite small and might be distracting, at least at first. What ages? I'm sure someone else will chime in about the evils of wasting paper and the greatness of some program, but in the meantime don't stress! It's taken four years to get to what works, don't be in a rush to break it! ;)

For some reason I can't link right now, but I also love Picture Book Activities by Trish Kuffner. In fact, in some ways I love it better than BFIAR. :leaving: I think it is more hands-on than BFIAR and because there is a larger variey of books it is easier to implement. I know that BFIAR says 2-4 but I think 3-4 is more realistic, and adding in more for a 4yo.

I just wanted to say that I happily used SL for my first year. I lasted all of ten weeks before I realised that a box curriculum is a no-go for me. I didn't want someone else's schedule, and I wanted more customisation. But I'm so glad I went that route! It gave me the confidence to know I can do it. And it wasn't really a waste of money other than the IG- we still read all the books. So if you need a box curriculum to get your feet wet, don't be afraid to try it! It might work perfectly for you. I still drool over them...

:bigear: Subscribing for when there are updates!

Right- don't leave words out of sentences. Instead, Australians abbreviate everything. I think it comes out about the same. :D :smilielol5:

That reminds me, you have a short amount of time after entering the country to open a bank account using just a passport as id. Seems like it was really short- a week? After that they require more forms of id. Luckily opening a bank account was something we did right away or we would have been out of luck as it took awhile to obtain all the forms of id we would need. Maybe that varies by bank. But as mentioned, surely whoever at uni is guiding her through the process will help her sort it all, and all the rules might be different for students anyway.

Thank goodness she's not in Melbourne! I'm in Victoria also and consider our winters mild compared to the places I've lived in the US, but sounds like your friend would freeze! Accent, yes. I am amazed how quickly people pick up on my accent, often just one sentence!

Make sure she knows that a rubber is an eraser, so that she is not mortified the first time someone asks her for one! :D And...you don't root for a team, you barrack for one. Don't use the word as a synonym for digging, either. Talking about a part of a plant? Fine. Otherwise erase it from your vocabulary. Just some friendly advice from someone who used it at Bible study of all places. ;) It's a not nice word for teA (putting it mildly). Something a uni student would probably need to know! If she likes Mexican food tell her to have her fill before she leaves!

How often do you update that backup copy in the safe deposit box? I've thought about this, or keeping a backup at a friend's house, but I think I'd never get around to updating it... I do backup to an external hard drive, but that won't help in a fire or theft, etc. I'm thinking smugmug might be my best bet.

I didn't know there was a musical instruments toob! How cute! Love toobs.

Bumping for you. I just got my project passport in the mail yesterday! So I can't really give a review yet.

:bigear:

Is this recent? I was part of a group that did this a few years ago but RE would not let the group renew at the low prices. New groups were refused and some quite annoyed with the service they received. RE is not known for good customer service (so it is nice to hear a good story like the one up thread!). I think even HSBC was told a lower price initially but then RE wouldn't go through with it for that price once they learned the potential volume.

I think the HSBC price is $56 or so. I keep waiting to see if I'll get a better offer from them, but so far none of their emails has beat the HSBC price. If you search these forums or google for reading eggs codes you can find some to extend your trial, I got about three months free on top of the trial period. Start with the codes that have the longest time period, they only allow a couple of codes before it locks. But, that offer is a good one so I'd probably take that and then look for more codes once the year has expired.

I'm looking forward to using the 2nd edition...I like the look of the new layout and love the shorter lessons. One of the things that has driven me crazy in using Level A is the length of the lessons. Often we'd stop midway through a lesson because the attention span was just gone. I would much rather be able to complete a whole lesson at once than break it up over two or more days. I also would love the reminders to play games, and hope there will be review built into the 2nd ed like what is in the current Level C- review lessons every so often which aren't in A or B. That said, my oldest started in Level B so I've only tried Level A once and just couldn't do it, I didn't like teaching it. I've actually switched my DS5 over to Miquon while we wait for 2nd edition Level B to come out. I might go ahead and order the new 2nd ed Level A and just accelerate him through it. I plan to start my youngest in 2nd Ed Level A when she is ready. I see that Rainbow Resource has the new edition now, which will save me some international shipping costs over ordering it through RS so I might go ahead and get it now. My oldest is doing fine in the first edition, but I do wish some things had been introduced earlier and it sounds like that might change with aligning the new editions to CC. I also don't get the use of the drawing board in Level A. Why? It takes a bit of coordination to use which might be more difficult for a 4-5yo. But I guess I can't comment without having seen how they are using them in the lessons. RS used to have a list/chart of exactly what was required vs what was recommended for each level, haven't seen that in awhile. Wonder what it would look like for the new editions.

Since starting this thread I've realised my main concern is not knowing what books I have. I've realised the kids mostly put things back in at least the general area but there is always that random book I can't find, that I think we own but can't remember for sure. And we've ended up with extra copies of some. So, I download the Book Crawler app to help me keep track of what we own. I love that I can use multiple tags for each book. I'm going to set the kids loose on scanning all the books this weekend and hopefully make sure all is organised. If that doesn't help, I will revisit the labeling idea.

That would belong on the chat board! :D

Story of the Orchestra is a good introduction. http://www.amazon.com/Story-Orchestra-Listen-Instruments-Composers/dp/1579121489/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372201997&sr=8-1&keywords=Story+of+the+orchestra