Following. We use the Long Story Short in our circle time and it's great but maybe a little young for 11. I looked at the Dannah Gresh book and felt similarly to you.

I need to take a look at our daily schedules and readjust some things to find better balance. Some days are feeling looooong and others relatively short. Hopefully now that we're 4 months in I can shift things around in a way that makes the days more evenly weighted.

Okay, thanks. I honestly wasn't concerned about the quiz but when dd heard about it on today's show she asked me to print it for her. I thought it would be interesting to see what she's getting from the show but I don't have time to make sure I can find the answers.

Today on CNN Student News the host highlighted the fact that they have a weekly quiz available for students. I found and printed it for my daughter but I can't find answers anywhere....I don't always watch the show with her and don't know some of the answers off hand (i.e. the unemployment rate for Oct and Nov....). Are there answers somewhere on the website?

It's tricky because the 9 year old needs more sleep than the 11 year old. Always has, even as a baby. The older sister does not seem to be suffering lack of sleep, but little sister does. Maybe if I give them Fri and Sat nights as chatting nights and tell them I expect them to sleep on school nights. They have a swim meet tomorrow so will be up before 7am and a choir concert until 9pm tomorrow night. That's part of the reason I'm extra frustrated tonight. We had talked about the importance of a good night's sleep tonight. Due to tonight and tomorrow being late I'm going to ask that they actually lay in their beds and rest during Mon quiet time (they are usually free to engage in any quiet activity in their room (they are separate for quiet time) and never actually nap).

I often think that I want to just be relaxed and feel blessed that they have each other and are building such a strong bond. But.....they do sometimes seem exhausted. Particularly the 9 year old. She has trouble on a good day controlling her temper. I have on occasion put them to bed earlier the next night or had them start in separate beds for a few nights following. They really hate to be separated at bedtime. Audiobooks at night are a great idea. They used to do that and then I felt that my 11 year old was each to stay up a little later than her sister.

Not possible. The closest I can come to that is having one fall asleep in our room and moving her when we go to bed.

My two girls (9 and 11 years old) share a bedroom. My 9 year old goes to bed earlier but is always awake when her sister goes to bed. Tonight at 10pm they were still talking. And they will be up at 7am. They are just early risers. I dont think either of them should be up this late. I am SO tired of getting them in trouble after bedtime. Just not how i want our day to end. At times we separate them and at times we have them in separate rooms right from the start. It sucks. On the one hand I love their close relationship and the memories but I also think sleep is important. I can't be the only parent dealing with this? What would you do?

I didn't get a code! Still says $6.50.

Science in the Beginning is the first science to ever actually get done at our house.

We don't start CLE Reading until grade 4 and find it is challenging but not frustrating.....most days ;) I'm actually encouraged to hear that others find it bordering on advanced for grade level because I have been concerned that my kids have needed as much guidance with it as they have.

I quite like Benjamin Elliot.

Sounds like the perfect match :) So exciting!

Urine isn't the only thing to change colour after eating beets...... ;) I once thought I had blood in my stool and started to get worried when dh gently reminded me that we'd had beets the previous evening for dessert haha

I scrub them, cut off the roots, leave about an inch of shoots, and steam them. I don't typically peel them. When they are tender I quarter them, shake some balsamic over them and serve. Yum! Now I want some :)

I'm finding quite a lot of them (about 20 in my cart) but How to Train Your Dragon doesn't seem to be available in Canada :(

I've had my dd using cetaphil and she gets zits when she's using and not when she doesn't! So I'm on the hunt for a much more natural face cleanser.

Looks excellent. Is it meant to take only 12 weeks?

I worry about this with my 7 year old ds. I used to let him play Wii in the mornings for 30 min (I'm not a morning person so it gave me some space) but I became concerned that I was seeing a lot of inattention and temper tantrums. I reduced his Wii priviliges to Wed am and the weekend and it's better. But he still wants to play any chance he gets - at friends, etc.

Happy Canada Day! Awesome fireworks display here too (another in Ontario!)

I say move. We moved 3 years ago from our hobby farm due to job relocation and while we were very sad to leave the farm there have been countless days that I think of all the work I'm NOT doing and I'm glad. We're busier now with kids' extracurriculars and I can imagine it would have been stressful.

I suppose. We are a Christian family but I avoid any heavy religious content in science. So far the references to God have been very sparse and are extremely easy to skip.

Love, love, love Science in the Beginning. I have never found another curriculum I like.

I know. It seems to take forever! at regular speed.

I was excited to see EIW on the list as well, since I'm using Level 5 as a bridge between WWE and WWS. Hoever, SWB later clarified that the alternate programs are not as much "recommendations" as "possibilities" for people looking for an alternate pathway using WWE and WWS at different rates.