My kids loved them! I would read them if you are concerned about content being unacceptable...they're a pretty short read for grown-ups. I didn't have any problems with the content, but what is acceptable for our home and kids, may not be acceptable for your home and kids. Enjoy!:)

I looked at the Homeschool Tracker and while I really prefer their calendar feature over all the others that I have looked at, I like the daily lesson plans in Homeschool Easy Records better and truthfully, use the daily lesson plans more than I would the calendar. I think that both have a free version and/or a trial version if you want to try them here are their links: Homeschool Tracker: http://www.homeschooltracker.com/ Homeschool Easy Records (HER): http://www.dataplus.biz/HER/ What I do is print 2 copies of each child's lesson plans for one week. One copy goes in their respective "lesson" folders and one copy goes in Mom's Lesson Planner. I record their grades (if one is given) on my copy. This allows them to see what they need to do for the week and work at their own pace. This year, my oldest (13) will be helping me to create her lesson plans. My goal is to have her creating her own lesson plans (with my supervision) by 10th grade (2 years from now). As a previous poster said, this has made a tremendous difference in how we school. It has really made my life easier. For instance, yesterday, I made a list of the courses that I needed to create lesson plans for. I then went into the Lesson Plan Manager of HER and clicked on the "import/export lesson plans" and download complete lesson plans for Latin, Logic, Algebra I, and English 5 in about 20 minutes (I first looked them over to be sure they were detailed enough for me and to verify that the same edition as our books were used). When I have created the ones that I need to create, then I will export them for others to use. I can't remember if Homeschool Tracker also has this feature...it's been over a year since I was looking for a software to use. I tried using Excel and handwriting lesson plans and that did not work well for us. Hope this information helps you!!

Sounds kind of cool! Don't know what it is. The only kid/farm/scary movie I can think of is Children of the Corn and I don't think that's what this is...

Those recipes look easy! Making my shopping list now! Thanks again!!

But the description for the ones from Williams Sonoma is what caught my attention: "The hypoallergenic cloths are made from a polyester-nylon blend that can be used wet or dry to trap and hold dust, dirt, pollen – even bacteria – without the use of soap or chemicals. Each is a different color (purple, yellow, green and pink) labeled for a specific use (glass, wood, stainless steel and all-purpose)." Here's the link to the page: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/5118195/index.cfm?cm_src=rel I guess what I really want to know is this: Do they REALLY work WITHOUT any cleaning chemicals?:001_huh: I learned a long time ago, that cheapest is not always cheaper. When I worked for our church we used the absolute cheapest paper towels. We went through 6 rolls every Sunday (we had 3 nursery rooms). I finally convinced the Board of Trustees to let me buy a more expensive paper towel with more square feet per roll for 1 month. We SAVED half the cost of what we had been spending on the cheap paper towels because we only used about 1/3 of a roll per nursery....1 roll of "expensive" @ $2.50 = 6 rolls of "cheap" @ $0.75 each ($4.50). That said, if the WS cloths don't work well without cleaning products, and I'm going to use cleansers anyway, Wal-Mart or generic washable microfiber clothes will be just fine with me:). Thanks for your help ladies!!:)

Do you use a spray bottle? How long does your furniture cleaner last? Does it need to be refrigerated? Does it work well on antiques? Thanks for the recipe!

I am trying to save money and be greener. I would like to stop using paper towels for cleaning windows, counter-tops, and other hard surfaces. I just received a Williams Sonoma catalog and was looking at their micro-fiber cleaning mitts & cleaning cloths.....has anyone tried these? I know there are others out there, but these are the only ones that I have seen that are for specific surfaces AND they say machine washable. I recycle old towels & t-shirts for dusting but have not had them perform well on my windows and, with liquid cleaners, they leave too much lint. I would also like to use greener cleaners. This is what I currently use to clean with: Windex - Windows & counter-tops Bleach & water (1 part bleach to 10 parts water) - counter-tops & toilets Pledge - furniture Comet - scouring tubs, sinks, & toilet bowl Does anyone have a favorite cleaner recipe they would like to share? Any other good ideas? Someone posted about making laundry detergent but I can't find that thread to see if they went back and posted their recipe. Any ideas/recipes would be appreciated!! Thanks!

...except for rats/mice - I don't handle those well either!! I once killed a roach -- by dropping an ottoman on it -- and it left a gooey white mess on the carpet that I couldn't bring myself to touch!!! I did eventually, but I didn't let my dc - who were 1 and 4 at the time - back into that room until I steam cleaned the carpet!!! Good thing to know: Cheap sticky hairspray works if you're out of Raid! It glues their wings together so they can't fly at you!!:lol: Of course, then you must remove the hairspray from whatever you sprayed it at! In TX, how clean you keep your house doesn't really matter to roaches! We keep a clean house, spray inside and outside and STILL see them!!! I have noticed -- having lived in TX all my life -- that WEATHER seems to make the little buggers come inside:eek: if it's TOO WET - they come in; if it's TOO DRY - they come in; They also like certain plants -- palms & bamboo mostly; and they really love MULCH!! I HATE ROACHES!!!!!!!!!

it's time for a new recipe! I am going to try the one that caitlinsmom posted the link for. That one calls for 1 1/2 Tablespoons of yeast and mine calls for 2 teaspoons of yeast...maybe that's part of the problem?? I also have an Amish cookbook that has a homemade bread recipe, but it calls for all purpose flour. If I add 1 Tablespoon of gluten per 1 cup of whole wheat flour, can I sub half of the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour? Thanks for your help!!

My yeast is a new jar - kept in fridge - and I use a thermometer to make sure the water temp is 120 - 130 degrees as recommended on the jar. The vital wheat gluten is also new and in the fridge. I let both come to room temp before using. The yeast gets all bubbly in the warm water and then I add it to the rest of the mix. I am using hard red berries - ordered from Montana Wheat. I let it rise until double, punch it down, knead, form loaf, put in pan and let rise again 30 - 45 minutes and bake for 1 hour at 350. The recipe I use was given to me by a local lady who has had no problems with it. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if they like really dense bread...they're out of town, so I can't ask her!!

Being familiar with the rigorous requirements to get credit for any scouting badge/pin/belt loop etc... I would definitely COUNT it!!

I have been attempting to make healthier sandwich bread. I have been using 2 cups fresh ground whole wheat flour (I grind from wheat berries) and 2 cups all purpose flour...along with other ingredients in recipe (honey, yeast, salt, oil, water)and I have been adding wheat gluten. My bread is TOO dense for sandwich bread. What am I doing wrong???? Please help me!!

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree: My mother-in-law sent me one last week...."I'm so sorry to send this to you...I'm just doing as instructed...." It was one of those "don't forget to tell the people you love them you love" WITH "DO NOT DELETE" send this on or someone you love will DIE!!!! :banghead: At the time my aunt (my side of the family) was in the hospital DYING!!!!!!!! I --very politely--called my mil and told her that no "email was going to determine whether my aunt lived or died -- that only GOD would and to PLEASE NOT SEND ME ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN!":banghead: My mil has a MASTER'S degree!! She is very intelligent!!!! But she insists on sending chain letters through email! I have also sent her the links to urban legends and snopes so that she can research false information --BEFORE-- she sends it out! She does not! To her way of thinking, if it's in an email it must be true!?!?!? Sorry for going on....I guess I needed to vent more than I thought!:001_huh:

in EACH tablet it has acetaminophen 325 mg (pain reliever/fever reducer) and phenyltoloxamine citrate 30 mg (adjuvant). Don't really know HOW it works....just that it DOES!! It puts me to sleep also! I have found that when I have pulled a muscle in my back and take 2 at bedtime, I sleep better and the muscles in my back relax much better than if I take ibuprofen. Aleve makes me jittery. I have taken it before during the day for a severely pulled muscle and as long as I eat something small (piece of cheese or peanut butter on a graham cracker) then it doesn't make me sleepy.

We like Percogesic for back pain. I get it at CVS.

But it is something in our house that is non-negotiable. I haven't considered spreading R&S grammar 8 over 2 years. We also just finished grade 7 and will be using the grade 8 next year and using the Writing Strands for a more focused writing program. I like the writing assignments in R&S but feel that the Writing Strands is more detailed in their instructions and I like how they spread the assignment over a couple of days -- there if you need it -- you can always combine the 3 or 4 days to 1 or 2 if you want. The more I think about it, the more I like the Michelle's suggestion of spreading it out some. Maybe spread 8, 9 & 10 over grades 8 - 12 and include 2 (or more) research papers along with different writing styles (persuasive, agruementative, instructional, etc) and the great books. We do the class practices orally and I have my dc do some of the written exercises and worksheets. I have found with my ds (R&S 5 next year) that he answers perfectly on the oral drill and get about half wrong when given the written exercises to do, so I have started having him do all the written exercises....I think it is lack of focus on his task:glare: as he knows that when he is finished, he gets to go outside for 20 minutes!!! Hope this helps you!

I'm not sure if you are aware, but the College Board website has an AP section. You can set up a "teacher profile" and access all of the AP study guides...I have downloaded and saved them all! They also have a textbook review and recommended textbooks for the different AP courses. I looked at the colleges that we are considering for our dc and what AP Courses/grades transfer and I also looked at the textbook that those colleges use for Biology. That is the text we will use for AP Biology. I know this doesn't exactly answer your question -- since we have not used Apologia -- but I thought I would post anyway since we have decided not to use Apologia for the very reason that *we* feel that it will not be the best text to prepare our dc for the AP exams. I'll be watching to see if anyone has had good results on the AP exams using Apologia...the folks I know that have used Apologia did not take any AP exams. Hope this helps and doesn't confuse!

Only the seeds (in a pod) are poisonous. I would just caution kids not to put the pods in their mouth. I would love to have wisteria outside my window!!!

Three years ago, when my ds was in public school -- 1st grade -- the 17 yr old brother of a classmate committed suicide. My child heard this at school -- I don't know if it was from another child or a teacher -- when I picked him up the principal (and other staff) were quietly (very quietly) telling the parents of the classmate so that mom & dad knew what had happened and were prepared for any questions that came up. We told the truth -- that sometimes people can see no way out of whatever their problem is (school, work, sadness, etc) and that instead of talking about it with a grown-up (ds was 7 & the brother was 17) they make a bad choice to end their life. We talked about how his classmate must be sooooo sad and that the parents, grandparents, the whole family and all friends were also sad. The main reason that I responded with this story is to illustrate that while you might say "he had a bad accident" at some point -- now, next week, next year, ten years -- your child/children will hear that it was a suicide. I would be concerned that my child would focus on the lie and not that I lied to protect them from something I didn't feel they could understand. :grouphug: hugs & prayers for your family.

:iagree: I have no idea what exactly I spent on books for this next school year. When we started to homeschool, I had "extra" money in the budget as we had just sold our house so I purchased all 4 years of SOTW, all the recommended "How Things Work" books for science, all the Spelling Workouts, Vocabulary from Classical Roots and Rosetta Stone Spanish, the 2-year course. Math, Grammar, & Latin are year to year and Great Books are as needed --if the local library doesn't have. I am however looking ahead to highschool and will be saving to purchase textbooks recommended by the College Board for AP classes but those textbooks WILL be purchased regardless of price. We consider that a necessity.

I've never had a Mike's. I don't care too much for fruity, flavored drinks. The exception would be a margarita -- not strawberry! I do like sweet red wines...mostly from local wineries here in Texas. Budweiser Select is one of my favorite beers. I also like Killean's Irish Red and Shiner Bock.

:iagree: Well said!

:iagree: This how we do things at our house. If all school work & house work are complete then they may watch TV, play computer games, play nintendo, whatever -- as long as it's age appropriate -- until dinner. The only exception to chores would be folding clothes. My dd likes to watch something while she folds. We usually watch something as a family after dinner if we are not outside. I have found with my dc, by telling them they can't watch TV, they just want to more. By saying "sure you can watch TV (games, whatever)" they usually go play OUTSIDE!!! Reverse psychology -- gets them everytime!:lol:

In a nut shell...we teach Latin because it is the root of most languages. I have a dd who wants to be a veterinarian and I believe that learning Latin now will help her in college as the scientific names for all animals & plants are in Latin. I also believe that it will make learning Spanish easier. Higher test scores are just the "cherry on top" of the sundae for us!!

We have had it 2 years with no problems. It can print photos...although we do so only rarely...but they look professional. It scans, prints, & copies. It also has all these little cool slots for cards, etc...that we have NEVER used!! So I can't tell you how those work. It has 6 ink cartridges and we really do not replace them that often...and I make a TON of copies. I think we use about 4 black cartridges a school year. Hope that helps!