Oh yeah, and I really like the "What Your Preschooler Needs to Know," particularly for their science and history sections. The science section is very short, but basically every few paragraphs makes a great longer unit, supplemented with various library books and experiments and movies that we get at the library or watch on Discovery Streaming.

Mine is in my sig, but for independent work she loves handwriting, so I can usually keep her busy by printing out some handwriting sheets. I got a lot of really great math and craft books at that Scholastic $1 sale.

Me too. We didn't have cable for several years, and I didn't miss it at all. We have it again, because we changed ISPs and it was a better deal to get it during the introductory year than not to get it... and what a waste. I never watch it. So many ads. Never anything to watch. It's such a waste. I love having the streaming, and I have no problem paying for the service. I'd much rather pay than have to watch a ton of obnoxious ads.

I think the question is why Netflix added an entirely new service without raising their prices previously. I don't know if they wanted to work out any issues, or if they weren't sure it would take, or if they were figuring out the legal issues. But everyone being so upset that Netflix offered up a completely new service for no additional charge for their customers, for such a long time (it's been at least a year) and is now actually treating it as a separate service, reeks of entitlement. I assume Netflix is kicking themselves for not charging people out of the gate, just because of the public relations fiasco of everyone complaining that they weren't willing to double their service without raising costs. I, personally, appreciate that they let us use both services for so long.

Where do you need to fly to? If there are, it would be a tiny airport with only a handful of commercial flights. For example, the Nantucket airport is so small I would be surprised if they do... but Cape Air pretty much only flies direct to Hyannis and Boston. Is taking Amtrak an option?

Oh good: as soon as I got back downstairs I wanted to make sure :) I don't know if you saw this thread about the Scholastic teacher $1 e-book sale, but they have some really great math books, and you can get 10 for free if you use the code that's mentioned in there. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=309896 Good luck! FWIW, it is worth to print the Reception level out in color.

I'm on the iPad so I can't copy and paste easily, but it's called the Maths Enhancement Programme, so if you Google that, you should be able to find it. We are doing it, and it's fantastic. School begins at 4 there, so the reception year is really for 4 year olds, but it's worth doing. It's a very gentle and fun introduction to all sorts of math concepts and vocabulary. It goes rather quickly, especially one on one (the script has lots of repetitive questions, where the teacher is obviously supposed to call on as many students as possible to make sure they all get it) but DD loves it. We are about halfway done now, and will move into the year 1 lessons then.

I totally agree. If you want free streaming, watch Hulu where they have obnoxious and non targeted ads every 10 minutes (meaning not child friendly during a cartoon I put on for the kids). Netflix offered free streaming to their customers for ages, which was awesome. But it costs them money, so why shouldn't they make the customers pay for the services they're receiving?

They did that to us, and then they choked us, so we changed to Verizon.

If any atheists actually do believe that, and I assume they do because every movement has extremists, that would be a fringe view held by a few extremists. Akin to the "childfree" posters you see on internet comment boards who think that children should never be allowed to leave the house, but you wouldn't say "people who don't have kids think that kids should never be seen in public." Anyone in the US arguing against the right to wear a yarmukle or display Christmas lights or wearing signboards about End Times should pick up a copy of the Constitution sometime. Some people, yes, are opposed to public funds favoring one specific religion, or public funds being used to endorse one particular religion over others. I don't think that you have to be a radical atheist to believe that, though. It's also fairly clearly spelled out in the Constitution.

Really? I checked out the Amazon offerings a while ago, and they were just awful. Of course, it was when they just announced their service, so it was brand new. We had never ordered a Netflix DVD, so it didn't make a difference to us to choose. I think it's a great deal, personally. As someone else said, a far better deal than cable.

"What the...!" is what shows and movies for children and teens use when they want to toe the line. It's meant as a *wink wink* to the audience, because it's a way of swearing without actually using the swear word. In movies for little kids, it supposedly appeals to older kids who get the joke while knowing that it's going over the head of younger viewers. In shows and movies for tweens and teens, it's plain old supposed to be "edgy"... a way of swearing without actually swearing. That sort of edginess is pretty appealing to kids... I remember how cool I thought I was as a kid when I said the old clapping game about Miss Susie ("who sat upon a piece of glass and it went right up her /ask me no more questions..." etc). I agree that it's rather ridiculous that the teacher actually said the word while asking that it not be said. She shouldn't have done that. Saying "the f word" should have been enough. But I agree that it was well within her right to ask that the phrase not be said. The DD should know. It doesn't even make sense that it would stand for "what in the world": then it would be "what in the..." If the missing word wasn't implied to be "bad," it would be spoken.

She said on her blog that she has been hospitalized for mental illness in the past, and suffers from debilitating anxiety. The post in question talks about severe anxiety. It is not a stretch, nor is it libelous, to say her anxious overreaction is probably related to the anxiety that she openly talks about. I think the fact that this is probably her mental illness speaking makes me pity her, instead of just being appalled by her bigotry.

Their web site is driving me CRAZY! It keeps going up and down and all around... it's down again right now. I just want to order this stuff and go to bed! Maybe I'll set my alarm for 3am and order stuff then, LOL...

That's part of their giant international conspiracy, isn't it. :glare:

I'm always so inspired by the dedication that forum members here show when it comes to educating and inspiring others. (wipes tear away)

She wants to deny same sex couples the right to LEAVE THE HOUSE.

I've been trying to get on this morning, but now their site is completely down :(

I'm always astounded when adults haven't heard of very famous and well read children's books... she was a little girl when the show was on TV and the books wildly popular, and she has 7 kids now (4 of whom are girls and most or all of whom are school age, according to her blog), and she's never heard of the Little House books? To me, that alone says something about her education level and her life experiences. She is obviously very, very sheltered. As to the blog post itself, it reads like a parody to me. I know that it's not, but I wouldn't be surprised if I saw it on The Onion. That level of nastiness just makes me so sad for the world. I'm very proud to live in the first state to legalize gay marriage. We also have one of the lowest unemployment rates, one of the lowest poverty rates, and are one of the most educated states.

We eat at a real table. Sometimes as a "special treat" (aka Mommy has a headache) the kids will eat lunch or a snack at the little play table in front of the TV. But that is rare.

That is very interesting... thanks for that info.

I live very near Plimouth Plantation. It's very nicely done, and there is lots to see. It's definitely only a day trip, though: I don't think I'd plan a whole vacation around it. It is, however, only a bit more than an hour from Boston, so if you're planning a Boston trip it's a nice day trip out of the city.

I was looking at reviews of them the other day, and the 4kids one seems to be Christian and the Odyssey one is, I think, secular. Does that make a difference to you?

I think I belong in this thread :) We are thinking about moving back to DH's home country next year, and there DD would be one year behind in school. I don't want to add her being academically behind to the trauma of an international move, so my plan is to afterschool her this year in all the regular kindergarten subjects. She goes to a really lovely little Montessori preschool in the mornings, and so my plan is to do "activities" in the afternoon while her brother and sister nap. She always gets so bored during that period. We've been doing our activities for about 3 weeks now, and so far so good. Tomorrow is her first day of school, so we'll see how it goes! We've been whipping through stuff, but I assume we'll really slow down once school starts.

I certainly don't think that everyone should. And I also don't believe that everyone can.