My 11 yo dd isn't the most motivated either. Here's the usual requirements. These change if we have a field trip day. Bible: 5 days (not always the curriculum, sometimes just reading for ancient history) Math: 5 days English: 5 days Science: 3 days History: 4 days Handwriting: 3 days Reading: she spends hours EVERY day doing this! Vocab: (starting after Christmas break) will do it 3-4 days per week. We aren't starting the vocabulary program until after Christmas because she had a lot of outside obligations this fall. She began sewing, is taking piano, and has the lead role in a production at our church. I also wanted ds reading more before we started it together.

I can definitely understand where you are coming from; however, as a graduate of a Christian College, I don't feel that most of my classes "indoctrinated" me. I was a math and business major. There were religious classes and services. You definitely felt that you had a common bond with the other students. Most subjects, even on a religious campus, are still secular in nature. There were non-Christians from the community who attend because it was a very good school. Our pre-med program had one of the highest acceptance rates to medical school among private colleges. We also had one of the best music departments as well. I did not receive any federal money to go to college. My father was denied the chance to attend college, and he would not allow me to apply for aid. I did receive academic scholarships, but he paid for all the rest. If I had received it, I would have felt that finally my Dad got a little something back for all the years of paying in taxes. We get so few choices on how our tax dollars are spent. This has seemed one area where we at least get some choice with it. The benefit of many in our society receiving a higher education must surely far outweigh the "harm" that might come from some attending religious institutions. Besides, I'm sure there are many forms of "indoctrination" that take place at secular universities. Are secular university professors going to have to keep their religious or non-religious beliefs out of their conversations and teaching? You really can't separate a person from what they believe. It always finds a way out of the heart.

My ds is 5 and weighs 45 pounds and is 45 inches tall. He won't be 6 until May. I hate to say this, but he hasn't had a well check up in 2 years, so I'm not sure where he falls on charts. He's continuing to get taller and need new clothes, so I think he's fine. He's a picky eater, and constantly moving. He has always worn the clothes size of his age. My 11 yo dd was always in the 90th-95th percentile. She'll be 12 in March and she's all ready 5'3'' and wears a size 8 and 8.5 shoe. Unless she isn't continuing to grow, I wouldn't worry. If you go a long time without having to get larger sizes, then I would wonder.

We really enjoy these, and none of them take very long, especially the Fiesta Soup. I keep the stuff for that around for anytime I need something really quick. White Chicken Chili 1 med. Onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/3 c. fresh cilantro, chopped 2 tsp. canola oil 2 cans great northern beans (15 oz.) 1 c. chicken, cooked and diced Salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste Chicken broth (add for consistency you want) Saute the first 4 ingredients for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer 30 minutes. Fiesta Soup 1 can black beans (15 oz.) 1 can whole kernel corn (11 oz.) 1 can Rotel Original (10 oz.) Fresh Cilantro, to taste Ground Cumin, to taste Stir together and simmer over med-low heat for 15 minutes. Heidleburg Soup 1 16 oz. pkg. frozen mixed vegetables (you could choose whatever veggies your family will eat) 3 large potatoes, peeled and diced 1 large onion, chopped Water to more than cover the above 3 combined in large pot 2 chicken bouillon cubes 2 cans cream of celery soup 8 oz. velveeta, cut into small cubes Pepper to taste Boil the first three ingredients until potatoes are tender. Make sure you have water left in pot. Add the bouillon and soup. Heat on medium until bouillon cubes have melted. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add cheese slowly, allowing the pieces to melt before adding more. Stir continually until all cheese is melted, being careful to not scorch.

I don't think they are deadly, but will cause you a lot of pain. I asked the guy who came to do our termite contract inspection, and he's the one who told me. We've had a problem with them outside our house. In May we found one in the grill and 3 just under our vinyl. Thankfully, I've seen them hanging out just enough to see them. We've also had them in our sprinkler system valve turn-on/off. We don't leave shoes anywhere outside, and we keep the inside ones on shoe racks off the floor anyway. Our termite guy said people should always check shoes and clothes that have been hanging up and not worn for a longer period of time.

I often find online study guides by just searching the book title with the word study guide. My dd has read several books this year for which I've found several things online. I've found discussion questions, vocabulary lists, printables, and even tests. Walden Media has made a lot of books into movies and have study/classroom guides for most of them. I also have her do several book reports a year. I have a book, "Good Apple and Reading Fun" for grades 3-7. It has a list of 100 ways to do a book report. Each time I let her choose 5 different types that appeal to her, then I tell her which of the 5 to actually complete. Another thing it suggests is making your own games for reading. I'm thinking about having my dd make a board game for her next book. She would have to include trivia questions in the game in some format. I hope this helps!

I need a suggestion, please?!?! I am trying to put together my own lapbook for studying Spanish. I've found lots of printables on www.ziggityzoom.com and www.HomeEducationResources.com. One thing I found on ziggity was a set of matching cards for numbers in Spanish. They are about 1 inch square and there are 3 per number. One has the number, one has the word in English, and the other is the word in Spanish. Does anyone have an idea how I could put these in a mini-book? There are numbers 1 through 10, so 30 little cards. I'm still new to this whole thing. I can't think what would be the best format. Thanks for any help! Amy

I have done it in the past, but am out of the habit. I want to get back to it soon. Here's a website with a lot of recipes. http://www.30daygourmet.com/ Seeing this post on here has me thinking about seriously starting again. I have a freezer space issue. We only have the top of our refrigerator. Right now I have corn from my Dad and blueberries we picked this summer that are taking up quite a bit of room. Good luck!

You can get as little or as much as you need at PetSmart. Do you have those in your area? It's not very expensive.

I'm not sure about the 5 year law, but a lot of times they are actually receiving money for their children is my understanding. I used to work in higher risk lending before having my children. I actually took a credit application one time on a lady with $3k a month income, ALL from the government. I think she had 6 children, but it may have been more. It was all I could do to not scream at my desk!! I think that seeing those who don't need help getting it, and those who need help not getting it has convinced me that the government should do as little as possible in running anything. I don't trust it to do anything very well anymore. I think the true problem lies in the heart of people. If a person is honest, hard working, and has integrity, they won't ask for help unless they really need it. We can't mandate people to become ethical. That has to come from within. All I can do is pray for people, help when I can, and try to live my life as honest and hard working as I can. I have wondered if people stopped giving and helping those in need as much when the government started doing more for the poor. Did we take the attitude of "the government is all ready taking my tax dollars to help the poor, so I don't have to anymore"? I haven't researched the start of welfare very much, but did neighbors and churches help people more before it began? I can't speak for all churches, but ours does a lot to help. We have a food bank that anyone can come to, there are no requirements to be met. We sponsor a school here that has 97% of the kids at or below the poverty level. We buy school supplies. We're donating coats to all the kids. We do shoe box Christmas gifts to the entire student body. We send out construction teams to places after hurricanes and storms. We help many in financial need. If we all, churches and non-church goers, did things like this, maybe the government wouldn't have to do as much. My mind is filled with thoughts on all this today.

I think you are the perfect example of people that should get help from the government. My sister has been trying to get disability for 3.5 years and still hasn't been able to do so. She was assistant vp of a mortgage company and sold PartyLite practically full time when she had nerve damage happen in a surgery. She would be at work tomorrow if she could. She's 47 and almost an invalid at times. I guess they won't give it to her because it was a "desk job", but how do they expect her to make decisions with hundreds of thousands of dollars with days of not sleeping from the pain? How do they expect her to drive to any job under circumstances like that? Sorry for the rant!

I totally agree with you! I think it's been proven that government handouts are not a hand-up. There are generations of families on welfare. We live in a county that has the most government assisted housing in our state. We also have the highest teen pregnancy rate, and one of the highest drop out rates in the state as well. My dh teaches at the high school here. He teaches all regular classes (no AP or Honors). Most are on free or reduced lunches. So many of his students do seem to have an attitude that the world "owes" them something, along with poor work ethics. What was amazing to us after he went there was that so many on the free and reduced lunches had such nice Ipods, phones, shoes, and clothes. He didn't even have a phone himself until I got him a pre-paid phone last Christmas. I think if you deal with all sides of poverty, you begin to see that there are many reasons for it to exist. Some are just people who have fallen on hard times. Some are poor because of their own choices and laziness. I believe we should help those in need, but not those just looking for a hand-out.

I got this book through our library. Pyramids! 50 Hands-on Activities to Experience Ancient Egypt. It has lots of great ideas. We did an Ancient Egypt Day with friends. We made Egyptian jewelry, did Hieroglyphics, made Senet board games and played the game, and had a feast (grapes, figs, apples, honey flat bread, falafel (found a mix at Kroger), date candy, pomegranate and grape juice. We also had an artifact scavenger hunt. We put copies of pictures of artifacts and descriptions of them in lunch bags, then hid them in the yard. The kids had to find them and match them up as we read about each one. It was a lot of fun!

My 6th dd doesn't have quite as quick recall as I'd like yet, either; however she is better. The freerice.com website now has multiplication tables on it. I did let her use tables during daily work last year, but not on quizzes and tests. The more she sees and uses them, the more likely she will be to retain them. I think it would be better for her to constantly be seeing the correct thing, than remembering them wrong in her head. My daily grades are based on completing the assignment. If she misses too many in an assignment, I may have her go back and do some more. The only time she gets points off is on a quiz or test. Long division has been my dd's nemesis. She is better at it than she used to be. Perhaps you could take a break from the TT, just to review basic facts and skills. Why don't you drill her over all the tables (not in order) and make a list of what she doesn't say right away? Then you'd know exactly which ones she needs to work on.

His writing is not so great. He has been doing "school" since he was 2. That's when I started homeschooling my dd, and he quickly wanted to join in. For 2 and 3, we learned the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes. He loves workbooks and devoured the same/different, pattern type books. I saw last year that writing was more of a struggle for him than it was my dd. I didn't push the issue since he was 4. He did learn quite a bit last year, though. When we started this year, I started full force with writing. He started "hating" his school work. This is my child who said to me at the end of last year's Christmas Break (after I told him we were starting back the next day), "Please, let's never stop again!!!!". I have modified what we are doing and it has helped tremendously. He writes some every day, but I let him answer quite a bit orally. I just don't think he has the fine motor skills yet, but a friend who teaches Kindergarten said many boys develop that later than girls. I'll be working on the Spanish over the next few weeks, so I could pm you what I find, or post it on here. Thanks!

Here is a site with many different templates for mini-books. http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks.htm There are also free lapbook and unit studies. You can join this site for free and have access to templates and lapbook ideas. http://www.lapbooklessons.com/ I just started lapbooking and really enjoy it. I'm looking forward to looking at what others post.

Thanks for sharing. I signed up right away. I hope it's not too late since some have all ready received their materials. I love Pizza Hut. Their Margherita (unsure of spelling!) Pizza is the BEST in the whole world!

We have never stocked up on things before, but this week we did. We bought some canned foods, toilet paper, water, juice boxes, otc medicines, contact solution, and "female" items. I was afraid that an economic fiasco could cause at least a temporary problem. I also bought the kids fall clothes and shoes. We needed to do that soon anyway, but we thought waiting until later might mean higher prices. My dd's growing so fast right now, I won't buy her's in advance. My ds has consistently worn the size that matched his age his whole life. I feel like I can buy ahead for him. I've tried to buy things on clearance for the next year or two, when I can afford them. We're probably going to stock up on more food and multi-vitamins. I was able to buy maybe a week's worth. I bought canned chicken and tuna, peanut butter, chili and spaghetti o's type stuff, whole wheat crackers, vegetables, and fruit. It wouldn't be the healthiest eating, but I figure if I really need the stuff, that will be the least of my worries!

I've been using lists I found of the 1200 most commonly used words and the most commonly misspelled words. Here's the links: http://www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/RMC/literacy/files/1200_words_numerical.pdf http://www.literacyrules.com/pdf/misspelledwords.pdf I quiz my dd over 50 or so at a time and have her practice the words she misses. Here's a free website for practicing and quizzing. http://www.spellingcity.com/ My ds in Kindergarten, so we're not doing spelling officially yet, except to ask him how would he spell words to review the phonics sounds.

My 5 yo ds is interested in piano. My dd takes lessons from a friend of ours, and I asked her to pick up some beginning books for me to do some with him (I did take a few years and played flute). He really wants to do them, but my question is should he because he's having a lot of trouble holding his fingers the right way. Will it "mess him up" for good if he doesn't have the right hand position yet? His fine motor skills are not the best yet. My dd's teacher is not certified, and is a college student with many, many years experience, but I haven't asked since she isn't certified. Thanks for any advice!

:iagree: Our homeschool group is all ready planning on this for this year. We have a Mom's meeting in October where people will be bringing stuff to loan, trade, or give away. My kids are 6 years apart, so I have some stuff sitting around that I can't use yet with my younger one.

Sorry about the throat...but it does sound like you had a good time. We leave Friday!!!!!!! We are so excited! My dh is the big planner for the trip, so I'll be passing along the food info to him. We're driving down that evening. Anything important we should know?

Bump.

We use Science also from SOS. It has been great to have a subject I don't have to plan or teach. I do get involved with experiments (because I want to do so), but the rest dd is able to do very well without my help. We will probably continue through middle school as well. I don't want to make definite decisions about high school until we get closer to time. I use the topics my dd is doing to study science with my ds. By doing this, he can get involved some with her experiments.

Does anyone know of a lapbook for teaching Spanish to early elementary children? I would especially love a "free" one. If not, does anyone know of good free printables to teach Spanish numbers, colors, days of the week, etc. Then I could put them together and make my own. Thanks for looking!