I've never done a co-op, but I've read on these boards how rare it is to find one with all the qualities you have listed for the Tuesday one: well-organized, excellent classes (not just stuff to keep the children busy), etc. The children will probably make friends with these children eventually, especially as you add more classes in the spring. So after your 10-week commitment to the Friday co-op ends, I would drop it and explain to your children that they can still play with friends on Saturdays, but that the Tues/Wed/Fri out of the house was just too much for your family. Just my 1.5 cents. Julie

Not answering your central question, but I just wanted to say that I did notice that WTM recommends Classical Writing - Aesop for a different grade than LLC does. While my son did start Aesop in third grade, I think that is pushing it for the vast majority of third graders. Again, it depends on age. I would say that a good time to begin CW - Aesop is if you have an "older" third grader or a fourth grader. If you do begin in third grade and your student finds it to be too much (or more often, if you find it to be too difficult to teach, LOL), just put it away for a while. There is no rush, because Homer isn't really suitable until 5th grade (IMO). So I think what LLC recommends is 3rd grade - Aesop A, 4th grade Aesop B, 5th grade Homer A, 6th grade Homer B. And I believe that WTM recommends that Aesop be started in 4th grade. Both are valid recommendations, since student ability is so varied at these grade levels. Hope that helps a little. Julie

We will do Right Start Geometry at some point this year. But Level E is geometry heavy, so while my son would have loved to go straight to RS Geometry, I was ready for something different. And there is no other Right Start book for pre-algebra; Dr. Cotter never wrote (or finished, not sure which) one. So the program definitely needs some fleshing out in terms of fraction work and decimal work. Singapore 5 turns out to be a perfect next step. And like the others have said, it relies on similar "mental math" techniques. My son is also loving Life of Fred - Fractions. So clearly there is no chance of him running out of math materials this year! Julie

Peela's post was interesting. I think we should say "politically left or right" rather than liberal. I am as liberal/progressive as they come, but I've never understood why pacifism is considered "liberal." Or cosleeping. Or cloth diapering. Or, for heaven's sake, trying to reduce carbon emissions. You know? I'm thinking too much tonight. Julie

My 5th grader is also doing Singapore 5A this year after finishing Right Start level E this spring/summer. It was a very successful transition for us, except we're not used to so much writing without talking! (Now I'm hoping this isn't the second time I've answered this thread....don't you hate it when you do that?) Julie

The Boy Who Spoke Dog, by Clay Morgan. Hmmm....don't see anything specifically about New Zealand, but I'm pretty sure that's where the boy's ship was from. Anyway, it is a fabulous book and your boy is a perfect age for it! Also, "The Champion," by Maurice Gee. The Whale Rider is about New Zealand and very authentic, but it doesn't really grab the reader. My son couldn't get into it. You might want to rent the movie, though! There is some drug use and "language" in the movie, but most of the bad language is so New Zealand-ish that there isn't much danger of your son picking it up. Julie

Well, maybe you're right (about the old men in their underwear), but if that's true I picture Rosie's underwear being hand-quilted out of some really beautiful, rare material.....:lol:

.....thinks that being grounded has something to do with proper electrical circuitry. (Or, since he's my son, being centered in your true nature.) Julie

I don't think the "Imagine" soups (in cartons) have dairy or wheat in them. I made a soup with cut up potatoes, Imagine soup (portobello mushroom and also the broccoli), and soy milk (you could use rice milk, it was also good before I added the soy milk). Oops, forgot to add that I sauteed onions and garlic in the pan before I added all the rest of it. But here's the important part if you have children. Blend it all up! The "wand" style blenders that go right in the pot are the easiest. There were no chunks at all and my picky son loved it. You could then pour it over ground beef, etc. and carry on with your usual dish. The Imagine soups are not as thick as the condensed soups, so you would want to cook it longer so that it can lose some of the moisture. Good luck -- my son had no idea that he was eating broccoli soup, LOL! Julie

I don't know, but I just wanted to say that we have friends that take books from our home without asking. The mom seems to be the last person in the world to find out that her kids are dishonest. Or else she's in denial, I really don't know. We won't let her kids inside our house anymore.....they can play outside, but no more inside play. I am happy to tell her why if she asks. I'm sorry this happened to you. ETA: At least the children steal books, LOL. Count our blessings, hmmm? Julie

I am hoping that you have a beautiful mammogram. That's what the radiologist is going to say, "Just beautiful." Julie

I assume that your dd is gifted, since you don't include an age for her. Are you going to purchase the whole program from Michael Clay Thompson, or just the grammar? We purchased the whole "Level 2 Homeschool Package," the complete rather than the basic. If money is tight, the basic would suffice because the teacher's books have everything that the student books do, plus the answers. It would be easy to obscure the answers, though, and just use the teacher manual for both student and teacher. The curriculum lends itself to snuggling up together. Level 2 includes Grammar Town, Paragraph Town, Caesar's English 1, Building Poems, Practice Town and is for grades 4 or 5. Level 1 includes Grammar Island, Building Language, Music of the Hemispheres, Sentence Island and Practice Island. Level 1 is for grades 3 or 4. You can mix and match books from the different "levels," of course, but be careful when you are looking at the sample pages. The books are not nearly as simple as they seem to be. I suspect your daughter could do the "Town" level just fine (Level 2). The poetry book is probably the most sophisticated of the lot, including a lot of poetry vocabulary. Caesar's English has a lot of Latin roots work in it, and even includes some Greek. Practice Town provides excellent (surprise!) practice parsing sentences, finding dependent and independent clauses, and such. I am most impressed that the sentences in Practice Town are interesting, and not farfetched. This program is proving difficult to schedule, but it is a lot of fun so it's not a "groaner," if you get my drift. Julie

Perhaps she just wasn't ready for Right Start. Did she get to the abacus at all? She sounds like a visual learner. I would beg, borrow, steal (or buy) Right Start Level B and go for it. It teaches math without counting. The beginning is tedious, but essential. The part I'm talking about is learning to "see" three without counting it or four without counting, then see larger numbers as, for example, five and two. So, no need to count. Good luck. My son started Right Start "B" when he was six (with no prior math program), and it was challenging but he liked it. I hope you find something that you can stick with, because that's the most important thing....consistency. Julie

I live in fleece pants. Um, can't remember where I got them though. I'll edit when I remember. I am allergic to wool, so I'm very happy I wasn't born in the 1800's. I love fleece. I throw on a heavy fleece sweater when I am cold inside the house. Julie

So where are y'all going on January 10? Don't come here (Alaska), the weather has been snotty. I mean, really, really snotty. But I know you're not coming here on January 10 because our season ends next week (mostly). My husband works on the cruise ships, and they are pretty good about wiping down all the hard surfaces when an outbreak happens. But what I disagree with is that they don't tell the passengers. A cruise ship employee in my yoga class (every week) told me that 20 crew members were quarantined with the flu (probably H1N1 but no way to test) on her ship and the passengers had no idea. H1N1 has been worse in Alaska than the rest of the country. I personally believe it is because people can't drive here in their own cars (well, they can but they usually don't). Cruise ships and airplanes are really germy. I mean, they clean really well between trips (and flights), but when a sick person is on your cruise/flight, all bets are off. The most important thing is to never touch a door handle with your hand. Wear long sleeves so that you can pull your sleeve over your hand to open the door. Especially on an airplane! Ew. So what I would suggest is that you hope that you have already had the flu by the time you go on the cruise. That would really give you peace of mind. Remember that this virus survives just fine on hard surfaces --- that's the difference between it and other types. Julie

It depends on how old your "free" frontloader is. They have improved greatly over the past few years. I love our LG frontloader. Julie

Well, I don't know your kids, but my son did RS4K Chemistry Pre-Level I in first grade and he enjoyed it. Your (future) third grader could do Level I. They line up perfectly, so you could do chemistry together if you like. Just an idea. As long as you don't really expect them to remember much from first grade, because they don't. Remember much. Julie

I've been on this forum since it started, but I'm just a Scout Bee (I think) because I don't tend to comment very much. If I wait long enough, someone usually expresses my opinion better than I could, LOL. Julie

Audrey, I just wanted to commend you for not speaking your mind. Some things are more important than getting things off your chest. And BTW, that is what is so valuable about silent retreats -- watching where that really strong energy goes. (The strong energy of "I want to say this" or "I think what she is doing is a huge mistake" or the energy you feel rising in your chest when you see your nephew eating nothing but Cheetos all day.) It is fascinating to be on a silent retreat, see or hear or taste something so beautiful it makes me gasp, and watch that "need to tell someone" rise, swirl around in my chest, and gradually subside. It is strengthening somehow, in the long run. Helps me with my siblings, too. ;) Julie

He can't be slower than mine. But mine is slow for a different reason. He takes mental breaks between each math problem, and taps his pencil against something in an interesting pattern. Heck, he takes mental breaks between each part of the math problem. Math takes a full hour at our house, but it isn't because I'm piling the work on! I'm hoping he'll get faster. I might try the "finish it in 50 minutes or do it after dinner" method. Julie

We're planning on doing the Evan-Moor unit studies recommended in the Latin-Centered Curriculum. You can look at almost every page of them on the Evan Moor website. I purchased the "North America" one and the "South America" one because we are mostly studying Native Americans this year (both North and South American natives). Here's the page, just because they have LOTS of geography things for sale, not just the one I'm mentioning: http://www.evan-moor.com/Series.aspx?CurriculumID=7&WT.svl=1&P=2&SeriesID=54 We also have other mapping practice books leftover from prior years (check out Rainbow Resource catalog for black outline maps) that we will use to see if we really know our stuff. 5th grade standards include knowing the original 13 colonies and be able to map them, so we will review that from time to time. I see you are doing Story of the World. Depending on which volume you are using, the mapping activities in the AG are quite sufficient for geography. We add globe work to it, because flat maps are so.....deceiving. I see that two of your children are 11 and 13, so you could add the Knowledge Quest mapping activities to the SOTW work. They don't line up exactly with SOTW, but they use the same maps with fewer things already labeled. Even my 10-year-old is confused by how easy the mapping activities are in SOTW Volume 4 ("mom? are you sure that's all I'm supposed to do?"), so look at the Knowledge Quest stuff for whichever time period you are using. They can be downloaded instantly and are quite reasonable. Very suitable for your 11-yo and 13yo. Here's the link, and notice that there are lesson plans included; it's not just maps. http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/Blackline-Maps-Ebook-Set.html Hope that helps a little. Julie

Her "A+ Science Fair Projects" and "A+ Projects in Chemistry" are for middle school and high school. Amazon says reading level for ages 9-12 but they are incorrect. You can look at the table of contents for the first one I mentioned on Amazon; it is quite sophisticated. As for the "________ for Every Kid" titles, I would say 5th grade, or reluctant 6th graders. Don't let the "young" drawings throw you --- the information in the books is quite meaty and they are NOT just activity books. Each chapter has a lot of information and other activities, many of them requiring math. I especially like the title, "Human Body for Every Kid." Or was it "Biology for Every Kid?" I think it was the former, because I remember stringing empty spools of thread together (vertebrae) with something in between (representing the intervertebral discs) to learn about the human spinal column. Julie

Well, The Well-Trained Mind points out that the rule you referenced only replies to outlining (preparing) your own writing. If you are outlining someone else's writing, it is okay to do it the way your daughter did. Alternatively, she can write: C. Creation 1. Universe 2. Animals 3. Humans I know this is terrible, but I have to rush off. Perhaps someone else can fix my feeble attempt. Julie

My son referred to eyebrows as "streamers." I was so sad when he learned the real (and much more mundane) word for them. He also used to run out of the bathroom after a bath, stark naked, and say (very sincerely), "Look how clean I am!" He felt so clean that he was sure we could see it. Aw, I miss my baby. Julie

I don't think breasts are inherently sexual. Well, maybe a little bit in that men who choose mates that are wide-hipped and with breasts well-shaped for breastfeeding have successful offspring, and so these traits are perpetuated in future generations. But it would be interesting to know whether men who were "attachment parented" and breastfed are titillated by breasts (when not attached to someone they are kissing, that is). Lips and earlobes are more sexual than breasts, because they become engorged and red when we are aroused. That's the reason for lipstick. Shall we begin marketing earlobe reddener? From Consumer Health Digest (online): Carolyn Latteier, the author of Breasts, The Women's Perspective on an American Obsession, said in a TV program "All about breasts, "In many cultures, breasts aren't sexual at all. I interviewed a young anthropologist working with women in Mali, in a country in Africa where women go around with bare breasts. They're always feeding their babies. And when she told them that in our culture men are fascinated with breasts there was an instant of shock. The women burst out laughing. They laughed so hard, they fell on the floor. They said, "You mean, men act like babies?"