Are you wanting curriculum more for school setting, typical Sunday School curriculum, or personal bible study? We are using Positive Action for Christ here at home, and so far we really like it. You can download samples on their website. http://www.positiveaction.org We are using 6th grade, but there are several topical type studies of varying lengths in the upper grades. I'm the Sunday School Director at our church. The middle and high school classes use Sunday School curriculum from Standard Publishing. It seems to be a basic Christian doctrine. They like it because of the layout, it's relevant, has clips with it from tv and movies. They have an Encounter magazine weekly that is to go home with the student. One of our kids was published in it. Kay Arthur has a lot of kid's studies on how to study the Bible, also.

Handwriting is exactly where it started showing up with my own 5 year old 3 weeks ago. He is so quick to put himself down, saying that's "horrible". He also doesn't think he's "good" at art or drawing, so therefore, doesn't like it. He picked up a bunch of colored pencils and threw them across the table when I told him to draw an animal for our history project. That was totally unacceptable, and he did receive punishment for that. I started immediately using an attitude system with him, as well as I've lessened the amount of writing that was involved because there is quite a bit in the Horizons Phonics. I purchased student incentive charts at the Dollar Tree with small smiley face stickers. He gets a smiley face sticker for each subject he does with a good attitude. If he gets all smiley faces that day, he gets to do 30 minutes of Playstation that afternoon. Just find what motivates your child. I really had a serious talk with him about it's his attitude that matters most, and that he doesn't have everything right because no one does everything right. I pointed out that a computer printed the letters he sees and even Mommy can't write that well. It's made a huge difference. Our days are going very well! I realize now other signs have been there all along. He's very frustrated with people not doing things by the rules and quick to point it out. I will say he's very good in math, and I think that this may be part of the territory! I have a math degree as well, and have come a long way on mellowing out about things. I hope this helps!

It wouldn't hurt to ask your doctor about it. My own ds does react negatively to loud noises (um...except his own voice!). He doesn't like it when there's loud music at church, especially. I've never felt like his was that extreme, though. If his was, we'd be checking.

It is Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey. It is a dvd course that you can do as a group. We did it 4 or 5 years ago, so I'm not sure how much has changed. We got a workbook with blanks to fill in from the dvds, his envelope system, a cd with stuff for the computer (lots of printables), and the entire presentation on audio. Our dd listened to the audio when she rode with her dad to private school in 2nd grade. She became a dedicated saver after that and now has about $1200 to her name. It might be worth the cost just so your kids can listen, too. I wish I could say we've done everything he recommended, but we haven't. We still have a small debt on cc that we are working on paying off. That is currently our only debt besides house. We're trying to put money away for the next car. With only 1 income and rising costs, saving is hard. Where we fall short is managing the spending. I really do need to go back to the envelopes. I just feel like I'm so busy with homeschool, church, the house, paying the bills, that it's hard to try to keep track of the spending, too. We do still use a credit card because we want the Disney dollars. We do pay it off every month. As far as the car, I believe he would tell you to get it paid off as quickly as you can, then put that same money toward saving for your next car so you won't have a payment on it. Maintaining upkeep on a paid for car is almost always cheaper than car payments.

Okay, here goes. I don't normally get into these discussions. I wish we had the mentality in this country, that when we disagree strongly on issues we should find middle ground. To me, this was an issue that Obama could have come to the middle on, but wouldn't. He wouldn't on partial birth abortion, either. I think pro-choice people are scared if they give us an "inch", we'll take a "mile". But if they are so right and it's what the majority of this country wants, then why are they so scared it will happen? The pro-life issue is, for me, probably the main reason I will be voting for McCain. I don't agree with anybody on everything, not even my husband, so I won't agree totally with any candidate. I know there could be Supreme Court appointments coming, and that's why my vote will go for McCain. By the way, I'm pro-life all the way. I'm against the death penalty and not for war. With humans, war will always happen, but believe it shouldn't when it can be avoided. I do believe there is something different about taking the life of babies, though. It is a "less human" act to me. I watched this video with tears streaming down my face and literally prayed for God to have mercy on this country and this world. Even if you don't believe in God, how can you not believe this is just as bad as the holocaust? I believe this is where the theory of evolution has led us. When we have no special beginning and no special end, why does the life we live in between really matter? Sure, we can touch the lives of the people around us while we are here. We can make memories for those that will live after us. I love my life here and my family. I believe, though, that my knowing God created me with a special purpose and plan, and knowing I'll be with him for all eternity, makes this life SO MUCH MORE precious. Do I wish everyone believed like me? Of course, I wouldn't be a Christian and not want everyone to accept Christ. Am I going to "push" it on others? No, because Christ didn't push it on anybody. I believe in freedom of the individual. I do not want to offend anyone, so please just know this is how I feel.

Thanks so much. I would definitely want to do straight. I'm wondering if we could put a bookcase on on end facing out, then child, cabinet, child, cabinet. I'm not sure our space is big enough, though. I'm going to get to measuring!

We've finished 3 weeks here. The first week was really good, the second was a little tricky. My sister, who's been disabled for about 4 years after a surgery, got very sick with swelling and cellulitis in her legs. My mom couldn't go take care of her because of my grandmother, so me and the kids packed up our schoolwork and went. She actually got worse and we spent 2 whole days at doctors' offices and the ER. They admitted her but we stayed the rest of the week in case she got out and needed help. She didn't get out until Saturday. We did manage to get most of our school work done, but this past Monday was spent catching up. The rest of the week went fine. Now my parents want to take dd on a vacation to NC to see The Lost Colony. They pick her up Monday and will be gone all week. It will be nice to do school with just my ds, but we're doing some MOH activities and project with our best friend homeschool family, so we'll have to double up next week so we don't get behind them.

I love accordian folders. I found some on clearance early this year. They've really helped me organize some frustrating areas of my life when it comes to "paper monsters". Uses so far: Monthly Fun To Do This is to keep things by month so I won't forget to do them. I kept finding Christmas or Thanksgiving stickers or holiday craft idea that I forgot. If something is too big to fit, I just put in a sheet of paper telling what it is and where it is. I don't always have time to do everything, but it will still be there next year. Receipts and Bills I throw all our receipts and keep at home part of bills in each month. At the end of the year, just put them all in a big envelope for that year, or buy a new folder and keep them in that one. Recipes I had tons of recipes pulled from magazines or written down. I put labels of my own over the 12 months for lots of different categories. I guess I'm too lazy to type them all on the computer or something. Craft/Game/Projects I subscribe to Family Fun and love to pull out my favorite things to try and do. I always had a big pile of magazine pages to go through to find something. I put labels for boy crafts, girl crafts, inside games, outdoor games, big projects, household management, travel, etc. and filed everything away. If anyone would share how they use them, I'd love to hear!

My ds loves workbook type learning especially math, but has not been crazy about his handwriting this year or anything that involves him drawing. He got mad when he was supposed to draw something and threw pencils across the table at his sister. Well...that's definitely unacceptable. He did receive punishment for that, then after he was calmed down, I got him back and walked him through it. I started using student incentive charts (I got packs of 36 at the Dollar Tree) with small smiley face stickers. If he completes each subject with a good attitude, he gets the stickers. If he gets all smiley faces for the day, he gets to play Playstation. He really enjoys it, so I figured it would motivate him, and it has. I really tried to stress to him that it's the attitude that matters. He gets frustrated when he doesn't do something right the first time. I'm also using the charts for them eating 5 fruits/veggies every day. If they fill the whole week's chart, we get to go out on Friday night for a special dessert like Dairy Queen.

My mind has been buzzing all day with how we could take out our kitchen island and replace it with one similar to this. I've been drawing diagrams and measuring our cabinets, even placing textbooks inside them. I wouldn't be able to have the chalkboards, but I would love to have the kids sitting there with cabinets of their own. We only have 2 kids so I'm thinking this is doable. Would you care to share the dimensions of the cabinets (width and depth) and how much space you put between the cabinets for the chairs? Thanks so much!

Thanks for bringing something in for the girls! My dd is a little "obsessed" right now. She has been reading the Star Wars Apprentice and Jedi Quest series this summer. She loves the movies, dresses like a jedi around the house, and has written out her own jedi training schedules. We have 4 light sabers here at our house that get plenty of use throughout the day. I found the original trilogy on video cassette for $3 (local thrift store). I will say that reading the books has been good for her. She is realizing how anger and rebellion can lead you down a path of destruction. She's actually changed her attitude quite a bit toward some things since reading them. As far as the movie, we're going to read reviews of it on Screen It and Focus on the Family before we go see it. We always do that, especially with the age difference of the kids. I'm sure we will see it soon. May the force be with you!

WWWWOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!!!!! I am amazed! Where in your house is it? I was thinking the basement, but not sure. What's on the side you are in while taking the picture? I hope I'm not being too nosy, just curious about the whole layout.

For MOH: Dd is reading the Bible The Golden Goblet Mara, Daughter of the Nile Hittite Warrior God King The Trojan War or Iliad and Odyssey for Boys and Girls?? D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths Archimedes and the Door to Science Aesop's Fables Detectives in Togas and Mystery of the Roman Ransom I Marched with Hannibal The Bronze Bow Other Reading: I'm hoping to start some kind of reading club in my homeschool group this year. I'd like to do books made into movies, get together discuss the book, watch the movie, then discuss the differences. I'll have to see how much participation there will be. The City of Ember (entire series, we've finished the first 2) Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix (a favorite author) Still looking for additional reading for this year. I hope I'll find some good ideas here.

We do the same. I tried to turn half of our bonus room into a school room last year; however, it didn't go well. It is our playroom for the kids, which wasn't a problem. It can get really hot up there, and the only way to keep it a good temperature is to keep the door from the stairs closed. Our youngest was not content to stay up there long enough each morning for our dd to get all her work done. I didn't want him downstairs doing who knows what while we're up there with the door closed. I haven't even tried this year. Maybe in a year or two when he has more work and is older, I can try again. If anyone has ideas on how to keep it cool with the door open, I'm all ears!:bigear: It's above our garage, and at the top of the only stairs we have. It doesn't have it's own air, because it's the only room upstairs.

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I had blood work done this week and my Hdl "good" cholesterol is 39. The nurse said that was low and the doctor suggested exercising 30 minutes several days a week. I know I need to do that anyway, but is there anything else I should do? Are there foods I should avoid, or foods I should eat to help raise it? My sister said it's hard to raise. How important is this number and how low is it? My total cholesterol was 147, triglycerides 102, A1C 5.2 which they checked because of diabetes in my family. They said everything else was great.

I can't imagine this happening in my life, but will be praying for you. I know we don't always understand the things that come our way in life, but know that God is ultimately the one taking care of your children. He knows what is best for them now and in the future. I will be praying that if your dh made this decision without consulting the Lord, that He would quickly reveal to him that it wasn't right and correct it. If this is part of the Lord's plan for you and your children now, then hold on and rejoice! There could be blessings in store that you can't even imagine right now. He is the spiritual head of your family, and bitterness toward him will only make your own life and your homelife miserable. My dh tried very desperately last spring to leave the public school he teaches in and for us to move closer to a sick family member. He couldn't find a job elsewhere so we're still here. Last week I had to pack up my kids and our school work to go take care of this family member. We were gone the whole week my dh had his first classes. I was asking God why didn't he move us there because it would be so much easier. I'm not sure of all the reasons; however, my dh was asked this past Sunday to teach a class this fall in a Bible college nearby. Maybe that's why we're still here. Maybe it's a new direction for him, which, honestly, would be a huge blessing to him. Keep going to the Lord for help! He's right there waiting to comfort you!

It does have a suggested schedule of going through them in 3 years in high school. You do Vol 1-3 in 9th and 10th grade calling it World History and Geography. Then Vol 4-5 (which aren't out yet) in 11th calling it US and Modern History. That would make it more challenging, but you still need to research to cover material in more depth. Each individual lesson has assignments, mostly research, for high school students. I'm not sure whether to go on past this year because we'd only be through 3 volumes by 9th grade. I don't want to mess up her subjects then because I know we'll want to do dual enrollment. What if I did Vol 4 & 5 calling it US history and that's what she would need to do for the dual class? I'll probably try to have her cover early AD history, then go back to BJU for World History in 7th and American in 8th. The bad thing is that puts me back to separate history for the kids.

We are using it with both children this year. Dd is starting 6th, but is higher level than that. On achievement tests this year she had a 12.3 grade equivalent overall. She has seemed to enjoy it so far. I chose it because of the fact it would give me activities for both ages of children. I am having her do the activities and memory cards, take all the quizzes, the map work, and additional reading. I am using the Bible, historical fiction (relying on threads from here and the Sonlight Core 6 lists), and BJU 6th grade text which is ancient civilizations. My best friend is doing it with her kids, so we'll be getting together for activities. We've all ready been to an iron works plant. I'm not sure if I would use it in high school unless you were going to do all the research activities for each lesson. I haven't really cared for the way it's written. It's like she's talking to you some of the time with her own feelings about the subject. My main objective was to bring them together for...something! The age difference was really making it feel like it's 2 schools and I wanted more togetherness. I'm not sure what I'll do next year. This is going to be 5 volumes, so I wouldn't be done by high school. I could do 2 & 3 with her next year and 4 & 5 the next, but it would be rushing it for him. Good luck deciding!

I looked at the link and have a question. When you are doing say "Latin with L" from the example, what are the other's doing? Do they do their independent work then? Am I understanding that the 4 letters are 4 different kids, and that's the order she teaches them in? I only have 2 and so far so good; however, we haven't started all of our subjects yet. My parents have been planning on taking my dd on a vacation later this month, so we're not starting science until September because her first unit has a lot of plant experiments. I'm also adding in another at the same time. I know 2 more subjects will make our day longer.

We are liking Positive Action for Christ. I was thinking the same as the other, that you could pick the grade level in between. I really like the topics of study in the 6th grade book, Winning the Race. I don't know the reading level of your 9 year old; however, if you do it all together, I think that would help. I believe you can look at samples and table of contents online at their website http://www.positiveaction.org It starts off with a study of the importance of God's Word and good character, moves on to inner strength (God's purpose for you, filled with the Spirit, joy), then striving for the prize (being in God's will, honoring parents, character, your heart, and standing up for what's right), hindrances to the race (greed, your enemy, temptation, overcoming worldliness), then they have a study of Christ and Revelation. Each week has 4 pages of text, reading scripture, and answering questions; recommend scriptures to memorize; character trait activities; and a quiz.

Praying!!!

I actually have never had one yet, and was a year overdue for a pap smear. We have no family here, and when I was to go last summer, my husband had 2 surgeries and spent 3 months on crutches. I put it off and never got around to rescheduling. I had ear pain and a sore throat, so I went to our walk-in family practice tonight after my husband got in from school. I asked and they could do the pap there. They are going to schedule me for a mammogram at the hospital here. They also did a complete blood work up. I was glad to get it all taken care of for just 1 co-pay! I don't have an ear infection, but they think it's allergy related. I'm going to try Zyrtec otc.

This is so WEIRD! Just this evening when I went out, I started thinking about us having theme days. Thanks for the good ideas! My dh teaches school, so we planned some special days for the summer while we were all out together, but they weren't always stay around the house days. They involved more going out than I want to do during the school year.

What about Mad Libs? Those are great for parts of speech. You could take some sentences out of something and break them down, showing her each part and the "role" it plays. I use BJU English. In the back is a section on diagramming that actually covers quite a bit about the parts of speech as well as parts of sentences. I'd be glad to scan the pages and email you if you'd like. There are 4 pages. I'm getting ready to get off here and go to bed soon, so I'll check in the morning if you want me to do that for you. Don't be angry. Just be glad you found out now so you can really work on it this school year. Let me know!