My ds was also a reluctant reader. One series that he loved not mentioned are the Geronimo Stilton books. They are about a mouse detective. They are fairly easy chapter books with lots of pictures. I think there are around 40 books in this series. All of the others that he likes have been mentioned here.

I have two latino grocery stores here that I have never shopped at because I don't speak Spanish.... I think I'll try those next time I need to shop!! Thanks for posting!!!:)

I would also say that the need for passwords/logins was to *see* who was sending her emails and so that *you* can read any from unfamiliar persons to determine if the "innocent" questions are really innocent. I would emphasize that you are NOT trying to snoop/invade privacy, but that (and reference anything mentioned in the police presentation that helps) you are an adult and can see where an innocent question might be leading. I mean, something like: Are you showing at the_____? How early should I be there if I also want to show? And tell her how these seemingly innocent questions (But Mom, they just need my help to know how early to be there?) Can lead to other questions (as trust is built) of how should I dress and/or fix my hair? (AND this would be where it can get scary, because most kids will say something like "I'll be wearing_____________"!!!) Can you tell I'm paranoid? I would rather my dc think I am nuts than have them harmed.

I'll check these out tomorrow!:)

I have a 5th & 8th grader and would like a good Genesis to Revelation Bible curriculum. I have looked at Harcourts Journey through the Old Testament and Journey through the New Testament and asked for thoughts on this on the high school board. Several folks looked but no one responded, so I thought I would ask for recommendations for a good Bible curriculum on this board. I have also looked at the Rod & Staff grades 5 - 8. I believe that the Harcourt is a high school level curriculum so that's why I asked on the high school board first. Any and all opinions would be welcomed! Thanks for your help!:)

it took me nearly 2 years to figure out what to do as I have a 4th grade ds with an August b-day & 7th grade student. My solution was to plan my high school years (4 year cycle of Ancients, Medieval, Renaissance & Modern) and then to back track. What we are doing is briefly covering each book (1 chapter per day) and doing 1 outline and a 1 page writing assignment each week (along with the map work) for all 4 books. This next year (8th for my oldest) will actually be Medieval, Renaissance & Modern spending about 60 days on each book. Like I said, it took me awhile to decide *how* I wanted to approach this. I determined that my main goal was to give my oldest a "taste" of each area in history before highschool. SWB has addressed this issue in this article: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/starting.php Hope this helps!

I use Homeschool Easy Records. I believe there is a free version, but I bought it for the ability to download other lesson plans. It does require you to create and input the lessons (unless you find one online you like!) so it can be time intensive at first. If you live in a state that requires you to keep attendance records and grades this is set up for that. It also have immunization schedules, yearly forms, etc...if you live where those are required. This is the link to the website: http://www.dataplus.biz/HER/ they have pdf documents that you can download at no charge that further explains the software. IMO the only way to improve this would be to "merge" it with Homeschool Tracker. It has completly changed the way we "do" school....It has made my life MUCH easier...and I only have 2 kids!!

Favorite person & why (person that you know) Favorite song Favorite style of music (or favorite intrument) What was the BEST part of the school year? :lurk5:I'll be watching to see what others have to say....I think we'll do survey too..... Thanks for a GREAT idea!:)

:iagree: SolaMichelle, you have said it WAY better than I could. CT...I have been moved to tears from this post. I have been asking God what to say to you. I am concerned that you and your dh (so new in your faith) must approach your pastor to correct problems with his leadership. Honey, this is SOOOOO wrong......it makes my heart break for your family. Please prayerfully consider another church. This pastor does not sound like a Biblical man....it sounds like one who has twisted scripture to fit HIS beliefs.

...my 9 ds can now....but ONLY because he weighs enough to ENGAGE the air bag in DH 2006 truck...it has a sensor for size & weight. I guess so as not to alarm anyone, I should tell you that ds is 5' 2" (and growing - he's grown 1/2" in the past 2 WEEKS:001_huh:) and he weighs 110. He'll be 10 in August. Since he turns the airbag on and meets the height/weight requirements for the new truck, he's allowed...but ONLY in the new truck;).

but they are not used very often. Each of the kids has a TV in their rooms and the dvd player & game system they share is in ds room. That's it. Most of their day is spent in the school room, family room, kitchen or outside. As with anything, only items we approve are available to them. Both computers and internet access are in the school room. Digital cable is in the family room only....and TV viewing is done as a family....but every now and then DH & I like to watch something that may not be appropriate for dc....that is when they may play a video game, read or watch a dvd in their room. Lights out & electronics off around 9:30pm.

so I will have the former county agents take a look this afternoon....unless someone else on the hive knows what this is. I really believe it is a type of bamboo. What type of "trunk" does it have?

http://bambootexas.com/Multiplex.htm http://bambootexas.com/Bambos.htm Going to the textbooks now....

http://bambootexas.com/Golden%20Goddess.htm Lift your stems and see how many branches there are from the ground. When you mentioned how it had shoots from the ground, my first thought was bamboo.

I have several text books and may be able to find your plant. Here is a general link: http://texnat.tamu.edu/plant.htm This is one for pest identification: http://vegipm.tamu.edu/imageindex.html This one may be a little complicated as it assumes that you know the genus & species: http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/301Manhart/index.htm

You need to know that for most of the first 4 or 5 episodes it deals with the crash site, there is a guy that gets sucked into the plane's engine, the crash site itself, bodies (though nothing too graphic as I believe the first season it was on a 7pm) ...it is mostly introducing the characters/island. I would preview the first couple of episodes alone if you can. You can always fast forward or stop if you think too much. We stopped watching when they kept pulling it & moving it around...I think that was season 3??? My youngest did not watch, but I think he was 5...

... if you vote or select "see results", you can see the previous polls and their results.

Take care of YOU first. When was the last time you had a general check-up? If it's been a while, make a doctor's appt and tell him/her what's been going on in your life. Ask that they do a complete blood count and check your thyroid. Sometimes (it happened with me) vitamin deficiencies can cause depression/anxiety like symptoms. Take care of YOU.:grouphug: Sit out in the sunshine and read a good book just for the pleasure of reading. As for school...we went through a really rough year last year. We did a LOT of reading and "hit the books" on the good days. If you mostly school year round, you will eventually catch-up. Another option might be the Alpha Omega LifePacs. We have used them and I know that a lot of others have used them sucessfully. I don't know how they compare to other workbook style curriculum but I do know that if your kids can read, they can work independantly a lot of the time. When we used them, my kids only needed/wanted my help with science experiments...but we only used them for history & science. I've also heard good things about their Switched on Schoolhouse DVD programs. You can always come back to a more classical method of homeschooling or use the lifepacs as a springboard. Just a thought. Take care of yourself FIRST.:grouphug:

We don't have a "no matter what" mentality here. My DH (June B-day) graduated hs at 17 and then went to college 2 months after 18th b-day. He says that he wished he'd have waited...his brother (July B-day) feels the same way. Since our DS has an August b-day, we are taking steps now to pace ourselves for a 18 yr old hs graduate and start college at 19. That said...DS WILL be taking dual credit classes beginning 10th/11th grade at the local community college. We can always reevaluate later...if we need to. Our DD has an October b-day and will start college at 18 and turn 19 just after. It's not set in stone...if something happens along the way, then we'll reevaluate the situation. But I do believe that in most cases, the added maturity (a year in our DS' case) is to the student's benefit.

We have the kind with the metal posts and perimeter and soft sides. It is 16' x 48". We LOVE it! I bought it 2 years ago at Sam's Club. They did send a letter about how the ladder was being recalled - apparently you could assemble the ladder backwards...we have never had any problems.

was A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry. I can't remember how many times I checked that book out of the library!! Here's a link http://www.loislowry.com/summer.html You made me remember this...I'm going to find this for my 13 DD! Thanks!

:iagree: You must read them all in order. You can move through the first 3 fairly fast. Books 4 & 5 took me a 5 days each to read them. Book 6 is fast and book 7 took me 3 days. Of course, I read all of them over Christmas break.:) If you SKIP books, then you WILL NOT understand books 6 & 7. I just read the other day that they will be making 2 movies out of book 7 because so much was left out of earlier movies they will have to add in details to the movies in order for it to make sense....NOTHING can be left out of book 7. Happy Reading!!!

When DD (October b-day) was 4 and entering pre-school as a matter of course they "tested" all the children in the class to see where they were academically. This was only to determine if ALL kids new colors, shapes, letters, numbers, etc...and was used to determine what to focus on for that particular class. DD teacher asked me to stay after...DD made a perfect score on the pre-k test so they gave her the K test (as their policy - sometimes they had an entire pre-k class academically ready for K and that is where they started them while keeping to a pre-k classroom)...anyway, she made a 97 on the K test (skipped #13 in counting to 100)....so they gave her the 1st grade EXIT test....she made an 81.5....because she looked at the teacher and said "I just counted to 100 twice, I don't want to do it again" (minus 9 points) and "I just told you the alphabet twice, I don't want to do it again" (minus another 9 points) and we had just moved and she had not been taught her mailing address (minus .5 pt) ....these were required on the 1st grade EXIT test. Anyway, her score alone, meant that she was ready for 2nd grade...at 4 years old. So we approached the principal & superintendant about starting K instead of pre-k....... We were told that in Texas, children were not required to attend any school until 6 years of age and that after her 6th birthday they would CONSIDER moving her up 2 grades. That is not what we wanted --and that is when we started researching home schooling -- all we wanted was for her to be in K. With DS (August B-day), he is very bright, all pre-k teachers told us NOT to keep him back, he would be bored. So he started K 2 weeks after his 5th b-day. This was fine as he is VERY tall for his age (most folks think he is 12 & he is still only 9!) Anyway, we have NEVER had any problems academically -- except that BOTH DC have been bored in class. When we decided 2 years ago to jump off the fence and home school, I kept them to their public school grade...and advanced academically where needed. This next year I will have a DD 8th grade & DS 5th grade, but NEXT year I will have a DD 9th grade & DS 5th grade.............. The reason for this -- DD will start over in 9th grade with the Ancients & I want DS to be "with" her in history & science...working on his "grade" level. He will continue to move up in English & Math - I'm not holding him back for other subjects. He has read/is reading just about everything on my reading lists for next year...but he doesn't truly understand what he is reading....I believe this is due to maturity. "Repeating" 5th for history & science will give him 2 complete cycles and doing this will also allow him to "graduate" at 18 and he will turn 19 2 weeks before going off to college. I will continue to allow him to "move up" for Sunday school, Scouts, etc...but he has close friends both older & younger than he is, so I don't anticipate any real problems later. It's a hard decision to make....you can't really know what is going to happen 2 years down the road. Hope this helps:)

with my 9 ds and we do NOT have a Dive Cd....did not order and we are having no problems completing the lessons. While I can't answer that specific question, I can tell you how we do Saxon 5/4.... We read the lesson together...do the mental math...I give a couple of examples not in the book (same style problem just different numbers)...and he does the rest on his own. We spend about 20 minutes working together and he usually take 20 - 30 minutes to work throught the practice problems and the mixed problems. You may want to try doing part of the lesson on one day and finishing the lesson on the next day. This may help to build your dd's confidence in her ability to work on her own. I know of several moms who have "split" the lessons for a while before moving to one lesson per day.

When you do your math facts, do you eliminate 2x2=4 because it's easy or do you continue to practice the easy problems so that your child becomes familiar with them and knows them by heart and is then able to take what they have learned and apply it to more difficult problems? You wouldn't give a child 24,356 x 14,358 without giving them the knowledge of 2x2=4. Reading "fluff" that a kid ENJOYS is like doing easy math facts...the "fluff" builds his/her fluency and increases the "words read per minute". As you increase the difficulty of the "fluff", their knowledge grows and the ability to read classic literature will also grow. Reading literature is like doing the practice problems/mixed problems of the math lessons...it will always be required even though you made a "100" on the math facts. We only allow "fluff" that we approve of into our home. That said, my dc are allowed to choose whatever "fluff" they want for their free reading...and while some of it is slightly below grade level, most of it is above grade level. They are required to read the books on the WTM list....that is school work and non-negotiable, but free-reading may be anything. I want my children to learn that there are many wonderful stories - some real and some made up - between the covers of a book. If they don't know there are really cool things in books, then they won't want to read them.