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!

My dd did Alpha Omega's Switched on Schoolhouse Science last year. She's never been a science lover, but she really enjoyed it last year. We are doing it again this year, and so far she likes it the same. It is a variety of topics, which I prefer for elementary. It is on the computer, but there is text to read, short videos to watch, and review games. You take the quizzes and tests on the computer. There are several experiments. The first unit this year has had 4. The best thing is that if there's something you can't get for the experiment, you can watch video about it. We haven't purchased a really good microscope yet, but we still got to view paramecium moving around last year.

Dice games and card games are always fun, and you probably all ready have them at home. If you google math dice games and card games, you should find plenty. The possibilities for games are numerous. A personal favorite is "Pig". You role 2 dice and add. On your turn you can roll as many times as you want and get to keep adding to your score. The hitch is, if you roll a "1", your score for that round is 0. If you roll both "1's", you lose all your points for the game. The first person to 100 is the winner. I also got a book from the library called "Mega Fun Card Game Math". There were lots of reproducible game boards with directions. War is always great, and you can turn it into different situations. Take 2 cards each and add, subtract, or multiply them. The larger sum, difference, or product wins. Take 2 cards each and see who can make the larger fraction. Have fun with it!

I'm praying for the safety of your child and all the students, and for this person to get the help he or she needs. I pray the Lord will intervene in a miraculous way.

Thanks so much! I am glad to hear that. We didn't want gas to keep us from enjoying our trip. My in-laws have given every grandchild a trip to Disney. By the time we had ours, they felt they couldn't do it anymore because of my father-in-law's back, so they give us the money to take them. It's my ds's turn.

We are doing MOH Vol. 1 and so is a family that are good friends of ours. We are getting together a couple of times a month for field trips, movies, and projects. We've been to an iron works plant, watched Joseph King of Dreams and Prince of Egypt. This coming Monday is our big Ancient Egypt Day. We'll do projects together and have an Egyptian Feast. We plan on doing several things together this year. I also go to this website to look for special days or weeks we might celebrate. It may be as simple as having a special food for the day. I love candy corn and can't wait for October 30th! http://www.brownielocks.com/month2.html

Are there gas problems in Florida? We go to Orlando one week from today. We are south of Atlanta, and there are many stations without gas. We can't afford to fly down. We are hoping it will all be better by next week. Thanks!

I found this online that seems to be just a teaching textbook, but I didn't see actual problems to do. http://www.jamesbrennan.org/algebra/ Here's a site with free worksheets over lots of concepts: http://www.kutasoftware.com/free.html I'm not familiar with your textbook. I do have a math degree and have limited actual teaching experience with different textbooks (Glencoe (which is a school publisher), Saxon, and A Beka). My own dd is not there yet. I really liked the Glencoe material I used at a school; however, unless you can find it used, it is very expensive. I'm currently using Bob Jones, and like it. It is a traditional approach to math, but it seems to be working for her. She scored very high on her standardized tests this past year. Good luck! Keep searching, there should be lots out there to help you.

I never use my crock pot. I find cookbooks, but the meals rarely seem to interest me. I need to use it more because it would make my life easier. My ds is a very picky eater and my the rest of us have varying dislikes as well (some green peppers, some mushrooms, etc.). Do you know of a site with "kid-friendly" crockpot meals?

Can we do menu Monday again? I really liked the ideas! We have a very busy week with something out every night, so I'm trying to come up with quick, cheap meals. Here's mine: Monday: Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Bread Tuesday: quesadillas with all the fixings Wednesday: Veggie Burgers, fruit salad, baked beans, chips Thursday: Heidleburg Soup (a cheese-vegetable soup), cornbread muffins Friday: ??? Don't know yet, hoping for ideas from all of you!

We are using Horizons Phonics this year. With every letter or blend, there are pictures surrounding it or on the first page. We take turns making up stories using every word that is shown. We have had so much fun, because they turn out to be very silly stories. My 11yo dd has even wanted to do it with us.

I think you handled it as well as you could. Obviously, that isn't the only way, but it is the best way. Did your dd even catch what she said? Has she asked you about it? Sometimes things I think will be a big deal, really weren't because my kids didn't even pay attention. We decided to have "the talk" with our dd last winter, before she turned 11. We wanted her to hear it from us, not other kids. She had studied reproduction some in her science last year, and we watched "The Nativity" movie, so I felt they were both good lead ins. She knows now that some people choose not to wait until they are married, and that's how we have teens pregnant, and why a friend her hers doesn't have a father around at all. She took it better than I thought she would, although, she doesn't want to have children now. I know she'll get over that, though. We have the county with the highest teen pregnancy rate in our state, so I knew she would eventually be asking, so we addressed it. I'm glad I did, because she would be asking now with Palin's dd pregnant, since she is very interested in politics.