Impish beat me to it. I was going to say that "I" statements are perhaps more useful when there is no "right and wrong." For example, coming directly home after work is not necessarily morally right or morally wrong. Neither is leaving the toilet seat up (or down). I find that "I" statements are most useful in these situations, exactly for the reasons Impish gave. "You don't love me!" or more commonly, the silent treatment, is not as helpful as, "I really need your help in the late afternoons, and when you stop by to see your friends after work I feel like you don't consider your family to be a priority." Or whatever. Julie

We did levels B through E and my son has a really deep understanding of mathematical concepts. He went right into Singapore 5 with no problems at all. Two pieces of advice: don't skip the warm-ups (that's essential for review), and when they "suggest" games at the end of the lesson "if you have time," play them. All of them. Even if it stretches the curriculum into the summer a bit. The games are essential to the program, and they don't use that language much in Level B ("if you have time"), but by Level C they do and I wish they wouldn't! The factoring games suggested in Level E are really handy for both division and also for, well, factoring! Those of you with just the math games book who are doing multi-digit multiplication and division with your child (4th-6th grade depending on the program), I highly recommend finding those factoring games and playing them. Have fun! Julie

I would suggest climbing Giotto's campanile (bell tower) located near the duomo in Florence, rather than climbing Sta. Maria dei Fiori itself. That way, you have a great close-up view of Brunelleschi's dome (on the church) instead of being inside it. Does that make sense? I need more coffee. My 7-year-old son climbed the campanile with me and he had no problem. Beautiful view of all of Florence at the top. I would highly recommend Rick Steves' guidebooks. That's where I got the above tip and many others. There is a great little sandwich shop across from Orsanmichele (a lovely place that many tourists walk right by without noticing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orsanmichele ) called Due Fratelli. It is only a quarter of a block from Orsanmichele, on a side street. There is no place to sit, but they sell little sandwiches and single glasses of wine. This could be one way for the adults to enjoy a glass of wine at lunch on your way back to the hotel for a rest. It is a very local place if it is still there. The regulars keep their wine glasses on a shelf for when they come back later in the day. That is also a Rick Steves tip. My tour in Venice did not include L'Accademia, and I was dying to go there. So I used the Rick Steves tour of L'Accademia in his "Venice" guidebook and was pleased. I was an art history major, so I'm not saying the museum "tours" he includes are scholarly, but it is a heck of a lot more than you would get on your own. (And most children are unwilling to listen to the long-winded "tours" that are usually offered.) Another one of my favorite places in Florence that I was extremely surprised to find nearly empty is San Marco, a former monastery with beautiful paintings by Fra Angelicon in the monks' cells: http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Italian%20Images/Montages/Firenze/San%20Marco.htm If your children enjoy illuminated manuscripts, don't miss the Library at San Marco. It is not really near anything else, so you might just want to take a cab there. I walked, but it was a long way from the center. It is amazing how big those illuminated manuscripts were/are: they had to be big so that a big group of monks could all see the book at once. There are no clear pictures of these manuscripts that I could find on the internet, but here is a nice review of the museum: http://www.igougo.com/print.aspx?ReviewID=1175669 Have a wonderful time -- I love your upbeat attitude! Julie

:grouphug: Good luck, Scarlett. I really like option one, if you like the house. I'm assuming you do or you would have asked him to buy you out (or is that included in option two)? Anyway, a woman should have a "room of one's own" (Virginia Woolf), so I hope you end up with some real estate. Julie

I had a friend named September, and I think it is a very glamorous name. But that is probably because September was from Las Vegas and was, indeed, very glamorous. (This was back when almost nobody lived in Las Vegas except for casino owners and workers.) I also like October and November. I think November is a little more silky of a name. But remember when she asks what her name means, you will have to say "tenth month of the year." Or ninth month of the year if you choose the name November. Long story as to why they are named that; look up the wikipedia article for "December" to find out why. Will you have to change her name if she is premature or late? Julie

Not a bacon eater here, but I just wanted to say that you should never pour grease down the sink, even if you are using the garbage disposal. It will cool and solidify further down the "road," clogging the system. There was an article in our paper about this. Another thing that clogged up the city pipes was the "flushable wipes." The maintenance engineers can't STAND them, because they actually do not degrade and they DO clog the pipes -- maybe not YOUR pipes, but the city's. Not sure how a septic system would like them. Julie

I just wanted to point out that emotional abuse is against the law. So child abuse is already happening here. "Constantly blames, belittles, or berates the child" is one of the criteria of emotional abuse. I am so sad for this child. I know your heart is breaking too. Can you invite the child to play in your yard? Julie

On another thread, Mrs. Mungo linked to a free curriculum online called "Mr. Q Classical Science." Its biology component looks really wonderful. Take a peek: http://www.eequalsmcq.com/ClassicScienceLife.htm As to the complaint that a particular biology curriculum does not include anatomy and physiology, this would be true even in a college curriculum. They are usually not taught together, because biology is so broad (plants, animals, fungi) and is not only about human beings. So for example, one might learn about exoskeletons, habitats and food chains in a biology class, but not in a class about the human body (human anatomy and physiology). Julie

Her younger son does not have the sensory issues and is loving school ("we are keeping the little guy there all day.") It is the older one who has sensory integration challenges and so is completely spent/overwhelmed by the end of the day. Hope that helps your confusion. Julie

Are you newer to the area/unit than she is? She might already have some negative experience with the group, which of course may not be a valid opinion anymore since the group changes frequently. I am speaking from experience as a former military wife. One unit in particular was very catty, gossipy, just a mess. Individually, one-on-one, these people were actually quite nice to spend time with. But as a group it was quite dysfunctional. It was kind of refreshing, I think, that she actually said "no" instead of agreeing to receive the e-mail and then just ignoring it. I am impressed by her honesty. Remember to include the male spouses as well, especially if they are stay-at-home parents. Julie

10:11 p.m. And I just finished watching Disney's "Aladdin"......for the first time! Julie

Just wanted to mention that the Scripps Aquarium is now called Birch Aquarium. Be sure to look up directions online before you go. Gorgeous view of the ocean (the whole coastline, really) from the Birch Aquarium. Perhaps go there the same day you go to La Jolla Cove or La Jolla Shores? They are all in the same part of town, and Birch probably won't take a whole day. Julie

I'll take a stab at it. The word "cleaned" needs a helping verb. It wouldn't if you used a different form of "clean." "I need to clean that room; I need to change the diaper" are both correct. "To clean" is the infinitive form of the verb "clean," which is used because you already have the verb "need" (or "change" in the diaper sentence.) So the correct form is "That room needs to be cleaned." In that sentence, "to" is not a preposition, it is part of the infinitive form of the verb "to be." It is in the infinitive because you already have a conjugated verb in that sentence: needs. If it wasn't there, you could say, "I clean the room." But since "cleaned" is an adjective here (think "cleaned room"), your verbs in this sentence are: "needs to be." The second verb is in the infinitive because......uh, that's a rule? Think of other sentences with two verbs: I like to run. "To run" is the infinitive form of "run." I should drive the car. Aack!!! That one doesn't work in English. It works in Latin, though! Could somebody give a simpler explanation? I need more coffee. I'm also not entirely positive that the words "changed" (diaper) and "cleaned" (room) are adjectives, but I'm pretty sure. Julie

I can't remember what his "poor or beastly" behavior was, but one time I said, "That is not cool" to my son. He asked me to PLEASE not say that. He did not say that it was "pathetic and inadequate" though. He just thought it sounded stupid. Julie

I thank you. I do thank you. The first is the present tense, the second is the present emphatic. I only know that because of studying other languages. So it makes the prayer more emphatic. If that still doesn't make sense, try these two sentences: "I clean. I DO clean." The second way is way more defensive....like someone is looking at your living room and shaking his head sadly. :tongue_smilie: Julie

The strange thing is that I knew a man who worked for Boeing for 20 years. He called it "Boeings." What is up with that? I'll add a regional one to your list: Fred Meyer's. (Like Nordstrom, it is "Fred Meyer.") Perhaps they couldn't trust people to use apostrophes correctly, so they simplified the names? :lol: Julie

Classical Academic Press has revised the DVD for LFC A. I believe it was about a year ago? They added a "whiteboard" time with Dr. Perrin to more fully explain some of the grammar concepts. The other thing is that you just have to take some of it on faith at first. Your daughter may not have liked not knowing all the WHYS of it. For example, when do we use the genitive v. the ablative? Well, Primer A doesn't really go into all of that; you just memorize the cases. Later on you will learn that a noun in the genitive case means "of ________" (among other things; it is also possessive as in "the book of John", or 'John's book'). For example, if the word is "wood," and it is in the genitive, you might have "table wood," with table in the nominative (or accusative if it's functioning as a direct object) and wood in the genitive. That would mean "the wood table," as in "the table of wood." But if they taught all the meanings of all the cases in Primer A, it would be overwhelming, so they don't. I am just starting Latin Primer with my 5th grader, but he's already done the Latin for Children series so I can't really assess whether it would be good for your 6th grader. I do agree with the poster that you must learn along with your children, though. There is really no way around it. Would you try to teach them French without knowing any yourself? Hmmmm.....I guess some kids probably do languages independently, so don't answer that. :) Julie

When your daughter did LFC, did she have the chant CD available to her? Did she use it every day? One more question (sorry): did she do LFC every day orally as well as written? I think it is important to do the chants every day to really cement this stuff. Also, did she watch the DVD's? Sorry to ask so many questions. I am not being confrontational, I just need a little more information about how she did the program. We played "go fish" with the vocabulary (and the declensions!) when we did Minimus and LFC A. I'll tell you a bit more about that later if you like. We did one week LFC A and one week Minimus. They don't really teach much of the same vocabulary, but it is a great way to stretch Minimus. Otherwise, there is no way Minimus would last even a semester, especially for a sixth grader. Hope that helps a little. Julie

I just wanted to point out two things. First, the second edition of LCC does have a chapter entitled "In Media Res: Adapting the Curriculum for Older Beginners and Adults." It addresses the issue of students who begin Latin in fourth or fifth (or sixth or seventh) grade. He suggests following the normal sequence (LC 1, LC 2, Henle unless perhaps he is in 8th grade and then he can begin with Henle. I personally like Latin for Children, particularly Primer A, but that's just me. Secondly, the composition curriculum recommended in LCC (Classical Writing) does have a grammar component, so you don't have to decide whether to chuck grammar forever and just do Latin. My son learned way more grammar in his Latin studies (LFC A through C), but I can't be sure he would learn what dependent and independent clauses are by studying Latin. Classical Writing uses Harvey's Grammar, but we used FLL 1 & 2 (that's all that had been written at that time), Growing with Grammar (3 and 5) and now I think I'll get Analytical Grammar to help us with Homer. May I just say that Homer has a steep learning curve for the instructor? I think I'm getting the hang of it. More importantly, I am motivated to keep at it. I have a lot of the same problems that I had with Aesop, namely that I do not have any interest in my son's writing imitating the models chosen for Homer. Yes, I know I can choose my own models, but I'm lazy. :) In Homer, though, the child practices concision (being concise) and then elaboration (more character development, more description, more quotes), so the original writing style of the model doesn't really matter. It is kind of a coincidence and kind of not that my son's schedule for 5th grade is almost exactly what is recommended for 5th grade in LCC: Singapore 5 for math, Homer for language arts, Elementary Greek (2) and Latin. I think we're doing Latin Primer -- it looks good. I also like Henle, so perhaps I'll "follow along" a bit in Henle to really compare the two. Either way, he'll get a comprehensive review of Latin and then some new material. I guess we're a combination of TWTM and LCC, because my son loves history. Julie

Mrs. Mungo said it first, but my definition of "twaddle" is a book with no character development whatsoever. Drives me crazy. Julie

LOL! I love it. :lol: ETA: nice handwriting!! Julie

Just wanted to add that LFC Primer A is written for third graders. Well, if one can say that there is an "average" third grader. I should say that it works really well for 8/9-year-olds. We really like this program, and I just wanted to add a few things. Don't skip the DVD's. It is a homeschooled situation in the DVD, and my son just loves watching these girls learn Latin with their "dad." (They do 'fess up at some point that only one of the girls is his daughter.) We are finishing up Primer "C" and their dog has puppies, so you get to meet the puppies. Every week when there is a new lesson to watch, my son hopes that we get to see the puppies and that the puppies will be allowed to come to lesson. Also, be sure you get the newest version. Primer "A" DVD has been revised to include more explanation. It's a separate time, without the students, where Dr. Perrin explains the grammar a bit more. And I believe they slow down the chants on the newer version. If you don't have a newer DVD and the book doesn't match the DVD, the book is usually right because they revised the book more times than they revised the DVD. Now wish us luck in our transition to Latin Primer! We plan to go through it pretty quickly since we've done LFC A, B and C. Now I'd better revise my signature..... Julie

Okay. I just think it is very strange for you to start a thread with Real Science 4 Kids in the title if you were all decided for science. What I was saying is that if a child needed instruction in the states of matter, then the first (Level 1) Chemistry would be appropriate. It is appropriate for beginning high schoolers or middle schoolers. Then if the child is taking advanced chemistry, Level 2 would be appropriate. I'm glad you have it all worked out, though. Julie

I don't know what you mean by "student pages." Do you mean the activity guide? Or the tests? I purchased the textbook, tests, and activity guide from Rainbow Resource. They offer free shipping if you buy over a certain amount ($150, I believe). Julie

Well, according to their "overview," Level II is to be done after Level I. In other words, you don't just start with Level 2 because you are older; they are sequential. So perhaps that information is not included in Level 2 because it is included in Level 1. Just a thought. Julie