[I am so tired of telemarketers wanting to be my best friend!]

Yep, that's the way to handle them.. my dad pretends he's an old woman and makes them spell everything they say, so he can "leave a good message". He'll spell things back to them wrong. Drives them completely insane and dad has a wonderful time.

 

That's funny too!! I want to try that one too.

[I am so tired of telemarketers wanting to be my best friend!]

Ask them on a date! My dh's grandfather does this. He is 91, and Grandma died 12 years ago. If they are female, he asks them out on a date and tells them he will come pick them up.:tongue_smilie: They get flustered and usually hang up on him. They don't usually call back either.:lol:

 

That's the best!!

 

We are on the do not call list but we still get calls from charities, political organizations and the like. I had one last week that was driving me crazy. They had been calling 4 times a day for a month! I finally answered. I kept telling her I won't give money over the phone, but I would consider it if they would let me mail it in. She kepts saying "But you can trust me I wouldn't risk my job to steal your cc information. The call is being recorded it's safe."

 

The next person who calls is getting asked out!

[I don't want to start a crazy political debate,]

My thoughts:

Interesting.

It won't pass.

Someone has to pay for it.

Huh I have 5 pets - that could be nice.

["Balloon Boy Brfg" Charges being filed, link to CNN broadcast calling it a hoax]

Good!

[Hey Andrew vs. Song School Greek]

I haven't tried the Greek, but with Latin hands down there is no question I would go with CAP. I am considering Greek programs right now, and I can't say I would do Hey Andrew at all. I do have one of their books - I was not impressed. But I haven't looked at SS Greek at all.

[Is there anything like Classical Conversations...]

What level are you looking at?

 

Foundations can be done at home but not Essentials and Challenge.

[Best advice for a mother....]

Great advice so far. Getting your hands on great books and reading everything you can will help.

 

I am one of those who was smart enough to get through school without learning! I am loving homeschooling - I feel so smart!

 

I am learning along with my kids, but I found that I needed more help as I couldn't learn fast enough.

 

So I:

I found some moms who had been there done that, and I gleaned from them.

 

We joined Classical Conversations which was helped me find those moms. It also gave me access to a lot of training that helped me. Every year CC does free practicum workshops where you study a subject (they are open to everyone.) I have done their Latin, Trig, English, Logic, Writing and Economics. That helped a lot!

My dc do Essentials (IEW, grammar and math drill) Having someone else teach the grammar and writing is wonderful. We are in year 3 of Essentials, and I have learned so much!!

 

(At a secondary level they offer teaching in Challenge one day a week. Which is a huge help with the secondary stage. I am looking forward to learning along with the dc when we get there.)

 

I have attending teacher training with Veritas Press (twice in person) - they have some great "In a Week" classes over the summer.

 

I outsourced some things. I needed someone to help teach me. I hired Latin teacher for dd, and I sat in. That was a huge blessing. I learned and she learned. And she wasn't held back by me. :tongue_smilie:My dd has surpassed me. I thought I would eventually take that back, but I don't want to slow her down.

 

We have done some online classes. We are now doing Latin online now with www.latinandclassics.com We did some classes with Veritas Scholars online last year.

 

We took a class with Andrew Pudewa when he was here. DD did it and I sat in.

 

I look for as many opportunities as I can to learn myself. Where I can't keep up, I look for way to help meet that need for my kids.

[LCC question]

Is there an LCC social group here?

[Trivium stages (may be silly question...)]

Those are grammar stage questions. Those are questions looking for knowledge. It may help to think of them as knowledge, wisdom and understanding instead. Those are knowledge based questions.

 

That is IMHO exactly what grammar stage kids ask. Not all grammar stage kids ask them, but they are very stage appropriate.

 

The grammar isn't a "perfect stage" - kids move in and out of it at their own pace. Sometimes going back and forth in and out of it as they grow. So you may see dialectic questions.

 

The 3 stages not only refer to the child growing up but the method we teach subjects in a trivium based classical model. You learn the grammar of math, English, Latin, music, history etc. before you learn the dialectic and rhetoric. Some kids will move quickly through the grammar of math and into the dialectic while other move quickly through English grammar.

 

I have a grammar stage kid - doing grammar stage math, dialectic stage English and rhetoric stage Latin. But she did the grammar stage before moving to dialectic and then rhetoric. And she is still very much grammar stage despite being dialectic in somethings and rhetorical in others.

 

I believe that you should learn a subject starting with the grammar no matter the age of the student. If you learn to play the piano at 35. You need to learn to read music and play the notes - the grammar of piano before moving on the dialectic and rhetoric.

[Classical Conversations For A VP Scholars Student?]

You are right!!

 

At the secondary level, NO! You don't want to do that. That's way too much work for a student. For grammar stage, you can do it. We have done both CC and VP Scholar in grammar stage. But for secondary with VP and Challenge - No way!

[WWYD? Combining DC into one room...]

We have a similar issue. The baby is a light sleeper and it hasn't worked out to have him share a room with anyone! My first baby that needed to is my only one who won't! SIGH!

 

So 3 are in one room together - it's just fine. They actually like. It is harder to keep clean, but it's temporary.

[Would you name your son.....]

I would, but I almost did!

 

I have an Ian, and I really really wanted to use Liam. I almost did it even though they are very close. I just love those names. We actually decided to use William with Liam for short, so he could change it if he wanted to later. William is also a family name, so it was the perfect compromise to me.

 

However at the last minute we changed that, and we used it as a middle name. Our reason for not doing it had nothing to do with the names but the circumstances around bringing baby home - long story but basically we choose to keep his birth name from bmom instead.

 

I was thinking just the other day about calling him Liam instead, but his name really fits hit.

 

So yes I would do it!

[King tut exhibit in San Francisco]

It depends - we loved it!! We took: my nephew (14), dd (9), dd (5) and ds (2) when it was in PA. We'd go again if we could.

[You know you live in a foreign country WHEN...]

That's great!! Americans need to chill a bit. Here parents have had child protective services called on them if their child is seen in their underwear in their yard!! What a great experience for your family.

[Reformed Curriculum Addicts, Unite!!]

LOL when I first saw the thread I thought it was for people addicted to reformed theology curriculum. i was thinking veritas, CLP and covenant home:)

 

I've looked at Texas Tech university's program and it looks really interesting. I'm not sure you really would be saving money, but at least you would have to plan. I don't know anyone who uses it.

 

That's exactly what I thought LOL!!

 

I'm sorry. We'll miss you. ;)

 

Honestly, I just couldn't stick with a one-size-fits-all program. It would take the fun out of homeschooling. I've got to have at least one hobby in life. :)

 

Wow! I just want to give you major kudos for having a sense of humor about it. I think I'd slip into a depression... no kidding.

 

Hope you'll find "The One" that fits you and yours!:)

 

Let us know what you decide, please.

 

:iagree: You have a great attitude!! I think I would cry. Do let us know what the final decision is.

[Food is boring when you have food issues]

You may also want to find some local hunters to mix up your diet--I can eat any wild game. Deer isn't that good, but it has some nutrients that you need if you can't eat beef. Buffalo steak is pretty good, and I like quail. You can get them at exoticmeats.com, but they are expensive.

 

 

Deer is fantastic when processed and prepared right. It's out meat staple! We don't eat anything else but chicken on occassion. Don't be afraid to try different meats.

[Has anyone successfully laminated ...]

Well I have a different lamintor (it's bigger and heavier) but I laminate longer things all the time.

 

You can get an 18" pounch (trim to bit width wise if needed.) If you opt to piece it together with 2 11" - just cut the sealed end and use a carrier. This should avoid any issues.

[Hmmm...so tell me what a "minute steak" is in your world...]

I grew up in CA and I never heard of these. (And I am not young!) Although my mom never bought prepackaged or convience foods, so maybe that is why.

[Who the heck is resurecting all of the old controversial threads?]

Well it looks like old thread don't die, but I am undecided on whether or not puppies to. I mean what proof is there? :tongue_smilie:

 

As for the old threads - there are lots of old thread that are totally irrelevant that could be deleted - I mean let them die in peace! Do they need a DNR? :D

[Who the heck is resurecting all of the old controversial threads?]

Do they (the mods) clean out old threads?

[I always see the same people posting to these threads....]

Well I have no tips - I am in the same boat as you... But I have discovered a few things from friends who post a lot on various forums.

 

They read faster than I do - sometimes not really reading but skimming.

They type faster that I do. They type more accurately than I do - correcting less (oh that's time consuming.)

 

They are more knowledgable than I on certain topics and research/read a lot more than I do. So they know where to site the sources and they think through things quicker than I. They already know what to say whereas I would have to think it through.

 

They are in a different season than I - when the kids are little ~ it's hard. I don't get on much and post because I simply don't have the time to.

 

And some do neglect things to spend time on the computer.

 

Having a lap top does help - I love my - it's a recent addition. But I find myself popping in the WTM for 5 minutes here or there are various times when I am waiting for something.

 

I think there are a variety of reasons/situations that contribute to it. As for me, I don't know that I will ever be able to post a lot.

 

Oh and there are my friends with blackberries who post/read all the time because they always have it with them.

 

And some get notifications and only read those threads - they spend less time just searching.

[Spanking Leads to Assault Charge....this is unbelievable.....]

I'd be the one charged if someone put a hand on one of my children. One armed or not, I'd thump the crap out of them until forcibly stopped.

 

Unless Wolf was with me. Then he'd be the one arrested. :D

 

:iagree:Well only it wouldn't be Wolf would be with me. :D

[Spanking Leads to Assault Charge....this is unbelievable.....]

That is unbelievable! But happened recently here too. Crazy world we live in!

[Instigating pandemonium at Panera this a.m.]

OH you must go back and wreck havoc in their lives!! They really need it!!

[How do you fasten maps to the wall?]

Hot glue works really well and don't leave marks on the wall.