We pay $80/hour for an extremely experienced teacher in an urban area. It really depends a lot on your geographic location, I think. Julie

It's been a while now, but I believe we did Singapore 5A and 5B, and also LOF Fractions and Decimals after we completed Right Start Level E. But I may be a bit off with my sequencing here. Also, LOF now has a pre-algebra that is so much fun. The subject matter is biology and it teaches so much biology! Right Start also makes a Geometry -- or is that the one you are contemplating? It sounds like you have plenty to keep you busy...... Julie

I just wanted to second the idea of Great Sand Dunes National Park. There was NOBODY else there (middle of summer) and we had it all to ourselves. There is a longish hike through the dunes and to the ocean, which you will also have to yourselves. Nobody on the beach for miles and miles -- just amazing. And if, like me, you have a National Parks pass, it is free. (I think that is why nobody else was there; there is a hefty fee for day use and perhaps everyone else had Oregon State passes.) I've driven the entire Oregon Coast numerous times. Another place I recommend is Brookings, Oregon. There is a Best Western in Brookings which is memorable because of the view. Book it way ahead of time, though -- word of mouth is getting around. We also love the Overleaf Lodge in Yachats. We almost always see wildlife right out in front of the hotel, and I believe every room has an ocean view. I am having trouble remembering the other beach we stumbled across. (Edited: Glenedin Beach.) Oh and YES to OMSI. We have been members for years, even though we've never lived in Portland. Julie

Hi, My son is in private school in California right now (long story). Even though it's a private school, his math class uses a standard California textbook with a big "6" on it (sixth grade). He was not ahead AT ALL going into sixth grade, and had completed Right Start Levels B through E and also Singapore 3A through 5B. (He also did Life of Fred Decimals and Percents as well as Fractions, which was extremely helpful.) So I agree with the idea that perhaps Singapore is "ahead" of some states, but not California. Not to sound like an academic snob or something (okay I'm TOTALLY an academic snob), but I was really surprised by this. The way his private school deals with differing math abilities is that even though you are in sixth grade, you might be placed in seventh or eighth grade math. My son is more of a history and Latin buff, and he didn't even place into 6th grade "enriched." But he's doing fine and he loves his math class, so I think that's really important. I never want to hear, "I hate math" or "I'm not good at math" and I haven't heard any of that. Julie

This book is the first one that made my son cry. (He was about 6 or 7.) Thank you for helping me remember that. It is, ultimately, very Buddhist in nature (because the main character never realizes that he has already gone all the way around the pond and is seeing things again....). http://www.maryelisemonsell.com/toohy.html Julie

I would get the workbooks, even if you don't assign them every single lesson. The reason is that Latin Prep has a completely different learning style than a lot of other programs I've used: use the Latin over and over and over and over again and you just know it. No tricks, just practice and more practice. Without the workbooks, you would just have ... practice. As far as the audio, it depends on how much Latin you have studied previously. If the student is new to Latin, I would think it essential. It is the classical pronunciation, but you probably know that already. I seem to recall buying it as a download. The books are very inexpensive (especially the workbooks). I think we got free shipping from Galore Park itself, but I may be making that up. :001_smile: Don't forget the answer key! Julie

Yes, I have some recommendations. You can begin reading "The Issue at Hand" on line right now and it starts off with a great story that I often use to summarize Buddhism. Just google "The Issue at Hand." I can never remember the author. Another great one is "Buddhism Without Beliefs" by Stephen Batchelor. Also anything by Pema Chodron, a fabulous teacher. "The Places that Scare You" and also "Start Where you Are" are often recommended. And if you want a book for older kids, "A Pebble for My Pocket" (might be "your pocket" by Thich Nhat Hahn is wonderful. There isn't really anything great for little kids because Buddhism is more of a system than a religion so there's nothing really to teach little kids. Have fun! Julie

I don't have "time," but I would make time. My most recent reads are "Shadow Tag" by Louise Erdrich and "Home Safe" by Elizabeth Berg. Critics are a little hard on Berg (as are readers: look at the huge differences in reader reviews on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Home-Safe-Novel-Elizabeth-Berg/dp/1400065119), but I've loved her ever since "Pull of the Moon." Anyway, I suspect I would like your work for the same reasons and I would be happy to give a frank assessment. And no, I have no particular qualifications except that I buy fiction! :001_smile: I have a Kindle, if that helps. Well, it belongs to my son but he will share. Julie

You must go to Oprah's website (the TV show) and see the clip of his surprise visit yesterday! I'm not going to give away what happened....you just have to go see! To see the link, go down a bit to Ibby Girl's post. Thanks for that, Ibbygirl! Julie

Best. Thread. Title. Ever.

I didn't know any Latin either. We started with Minimus Latin in first grade, then did Latin for Children in second (I would say wait until third grade though). We still use Latin for Children chants and songs ("ablative preposition song, anyone?) to remember tricky things. If you get through primers A, B and C, you will know a surprising amount of Latin. Choose this program if you'll have younger students along for the ride. And be sure you have a new version: they have a new DVD with more explicit grammar instruction. The DVDs really make the program fun, and it's something to look forward to every Monday. I also liked Latin Prep, which has a completely different method. Instead of a lot of chanting and memorization, the learning is cemented by simply using what you've learned so much that you can't possibly forget it. It is really amusing and written directly to the student. I live it when the author says things like, "Remember when I told you that you MUST memorize such and such? Well, you're about to find out why." Good luck and have fun! Julie

Just wanted to add that my VERY visual learner did great with Right Start. I used to ask him, "How did you do that?". And he would say, "I saw the abacus in my head.". : )

This thread is making me feel very old, because nobody has suggested any Elvis Presley or Buddy Holly. "Blue Moon," "Sea of Love," "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You." The Beatles have some nice slow ones: "Yesterday" (that should make the parents tear up something awful!)..... and yeah, I'm not thinking of their other ones. ETA: How could I forget "In My Life." ("In my life, I love you more.") Julie

The year my son was born, an album called "The McGarrigle Hour" came out. Anna and Kate McGarrigle, Rufus Wainwright, Loudon Wainwright III. I believe they are all family. Any way, they sing an old standard called "What'll I Do?" which is supposedly about foretelling the end of a romance. But as I was dancing with my baby around the living room late at night, or rocking him in the chair, this song became all about how I would feel when he was all grown up and kissing HIS wife/sweetie instead of me. Sniff. http://hypem.com/#!/item/z0yp/Kate+Anna+McGarrigle+-+What+ll+I+Do+feat+Rufus+Wainwright+ And since this is a homeschooling board, another track on the same album is called "NaCl" (sodium chloride) and is a fun one ("Sodium cried, 'What a gas! Be my bride!") http://hypem.com/#!/search/NaCl/1/ Julie

Please tell her that the quilt and the girl holding it are both just lovely. Julie

Hi, Not being snarky. Really, really, not. I truly do not know what "conservative" means. Is this just the opposite of liberal? Because one can be politically liberal and religiously conservative, or vice versa. Buddhism rests on the premise of our inherent goodness. Talk about "good news!" It's almost as exciting as tea and cookies after meetings, no? But I didn't answer the poll because even though I don't know what conservative means, I'm pretty darn sure I'm not that. Unless it means someone that conserves our natural resources! Heh. Julie

I agree with Spycar that you may be more liberal than you know. A lot of it is semantics: you are sure of God and his/her love and power and what all (because you have first-hand experience with it), and you call this (what the Buddhists call "the emptiness that creates and sustains us all" Jesus Christ because of your background. If you were raised Muslim, you would be equally sweet and equally devout and you would simply use different words for it. But before I tell you why you might be Buddhist (see below if you get impatient :glare:), I must confess that it would not solve ANY of your issues. I have a thorough understanding of Buddhism and practice regularly, but have no sangha (group, community). None. Zip. Except that my teacher has a retreat center in Arkansas. AR, not AK. I am so bleepin' jealous of Christians -- especially when we were homeschooling ONE child. My other friends actually moved to Arkansas with their 12-year-old to work full-time at the retreat center and he homeschools now. But I digress. Buddhists disagree as much as Muslims and Christians about which texts should be included, but here's why it doesn't really matter. The historical Buddha (there have been others, "Buddha" just means "awakened one") always said, "Don't take my word for it. See for yourself." Practice the way he suggests and you will have no other choice but to be compassionate, loving, generous. Because you will KNOW through practice (which becomes experience, kind of like practicing the piano and then performing) rather than BELIEVING that we are all the same. We all want the same things (love and health are biggies), we all want to avoid the same things (sickness and death are biggies), and we all seek happiness in things/people that cannot ultimately give it to us because we will lose fame, lose our possessions, lose our health, our loved ones will leave us or will die. The upside is that with practice, your happiness does not depend on circumstances, or fame, or success, or other people's opinion. It depends on recognizing that you and everyone else are inherently good and we just need to remember (or reveal) that by peeling back all the layers of hurt or logic or all the other things accumulated in the last 30 or 40 years. But what amazes me is that practice really works to make this all real. I don't go to many teachings -- a lot of my knowledge of them comes from Pema Chodron's books and also the Dalai Lama's books. ("How to Practice" by the Dalai Lama is actually really helpful.) And so the other day when an extremely smelly, drunk homeless guy fell to the ground a block away from me, that was me falling. That was me being grateful for being helped up, and that was me saying, "I am a real mess." That was every person, and every person needs help. Whereas the friend I was with said, "Oh, he's here every week. Let the police deal with him." She truly didn't see things the way I do. And not because I'm a better person. She is actually a really, really "good" person. But I've had practice recognizing his pure, beautiful, spectacular nature and I honestly couldn't see his fly gaping open or the poop on his pants. Well, obviously I could see it, but my heart couldn't. And all of the good Buddhist teachers I have learned from quote copiously from the Bible. Jesus Christ was one of the most skillful awakened ones who ever came this way, and his heart was bigger than this world. My teachers would say that he could take any "body" that would be most helpful to other beings -- even Japan, or the ocean. But now I'm gettin' freaky on you. The most interesting thing a teacher said about Christ is that he needed to die to purify the karma of the Jewish people. If you have read the OT (and I know you have!), they had built up a truckload of nasty karma. So when Peter told Jesus to get the hell out of Dodge or he would be killed (sorry for the paraphrase) and Jesus said, "No, I have to do this" (but not in English :D), he was saying that if he wasn't killed, the karma of the Jewish people would not be purified and they would suffer the consequences for many, many generations. This is NOT traditional Buddhist teaching, I just found it interesting. Thanks for humoring me, Aubrey. I am so totally procrastinating on my taxes. Perhaps you can pray together as a family and join a non-spiritual group for social purposes. That is completely hypocritical of me to say, though, because I really want to find a Buddhist group for my family. Thich Nhat Hahn (sp?) has a monastery near here* (Deer Park Monastery), but no lay practice group associated with it. They have "Day of Mindfulness" every once in a while and Thich Nhat Hahn comes once a year or so, but that's not a weekly group, you know? He's the one that wrote that fabulous book for kids called "A Pebble for Your Pocket." It's great for anyone, not just kids. Julie *Southern California (during the school year -- we get to go back to AK soon!)

SOTW - 5 years Right Start Math - 4 1/2 years (all levels except Geometry) Singapore Math (concurrent with Right Start) Elemental Science Minimus Latin Latin for Children Latin Prep (1 and part of 2) Elementary Greek Nobody has mentioned Classical Writing? What happened, guys? We got lost somewhere in the middle of Homer, ourselves. Julie

On NPR today, I heard that swearing is from a different part of the brain, a more primitive part. It is more like a dog barking than speech. I can't remember the context of this story, but it wasn't "The King's Speech." BTW, I'm going to take my 11-year-old to see it. He'll be 12 by the time we get around to it (so it might be DVD at that point). There are also some references to sexuality between Wallis Simpson and Edward, but it would probably go over the heads of the younger ones. It is kind of like the purported phone calls between Charles and Camilla while he was still married to Diana, but not as.....graphic. They use euphemisms....and the only reason that adults would understand what is referenced is because you know (from history and from the movie) how completely loony they were for each other. Julie

Perhaps you have already answered this, but why now in 4th grade? My son is in sixth grade at a good school, and they are just now doing this in 6th grade. I highly recommend Life of Fred "Fractions and Decimals" in general, which my son completed in 5th grade, but the task you are describing is not simple and is not likely to be retained if it's not presented in a logical sequence in your curriculum. But, of course, YMMV. Julie

It doesn't say where you live, but at the Costco north of me (outside of the urban center), the cashiers are always very pleasant and even the people who check your receipt to make sure you didn't steal anything always ask me about my day. So YMMV (your manager may vary). Heh. I've even noticed a difference between the folks who give out samples: at some Costcos, they just wordlessly give you the sample (and tell you which aisle you can buy it at), whereas at others they are very friendly and chatty. Julie

Hello, Besides a therapy light (which needs to be used before the sun comes up in order to be effective), please be sure he is getting the NEW recommended dose of Vitamin D. At least 400 IU's. I actually let my son take the adult ones (1,000 IU). It takes an enormous amount of Vitamin D for it to be "too much." Vitamin D has helped me and my son enormously. I have suffered from SAD for many years, and he is starting to show signs at 11-1/2 years old. Best Wishes, Julie

Make sure the suits dry. I had one suit disintegrate within an extremely short time because it stayed wet (checked luggage). Make sure you dry the suit, that will help a bit. Good luck! Julie

Broccoli and brown rice is about all my picky eater will choose. Well, he would not turn down doughnuts, but you know what I mean. julie

Well, I guess I would say focus on your breath. Seriously. Take three minutes and just increase the length of your inhale (slightly) and then match it to the exhale. Focal point will be your belly. Women tend to ignore their belly, but it is your center. I just moved into a house and there is no electricity until Tuesday. So you're doing fine! (Mine was the landlord's fault. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) Julie