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Abeille

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Everything posted by Abeille

  1. Another happy customer chiming in to rave about Home Science Tools - they are wonderful! I think they do a better job of serving the homeschool market, while Carolina is more oriented towards institutional sales.
  2. I guess you've never met my friends and I. We can say that exact phrase in an affectionate way (usually while also laughing), as do my husband and I. I don't curse in public, but I don't think it's the end of the world when others do. I personally find self righteousness about swearing more irritating than actual cursing.
  3. I think any bright, motivated kid will do well with G3. I don't know if my son is gifted or not, but he's thrived at G3. My ds has only taken MCT language arts classes so far, but they've been wonderful. In fact (mama brag alert), he did so well in Magic Lens/WWW 1 that the teacher recommended he skip ahead to level 3 instead of taking 2. C loves G3 and he'll be continuing on to higher level classes once he's done with MCT. His G3 classes are the first thing we budget for each homeschool year. If you have any concerns, I suggest emailing Headmistress Guinevere. She's very helpful.
  4. I've been playing around with Amazon's Prime Music, and rediscovered a bunch of bands from my youth. Right now, I'm listening to The Jesus and Mary Chain. :D
  5. Our bloodhound matches all of your list, except perhaps the soft fur part. I'd say she is more sleek than actually furry, but she doesn't require grooming and rarely sheds. Since adding Molly to our family, I've met lots of other bloodhounds and all that I've met share her gentle temperament. I don't think we'll ever own a different breed of dog. The only downside is that she does drool at times (mostly after a drink). It isn't a deal breaker for us, but I know some find drooling dogs very annoying. That said, she's amazing with our children. Many dogs are wary of my Aspie son, but our bloodhound has always been patient with him even when he is oblivious to her cues and body language. I've been hugely impressed by this breed, and wouldn't hesitate to get another one. If I ever win a lottery, one thing I plan to do is to move somewhere with a very large fenced yard and to acquire more bloodhounds. My kids even have a slew of good hound names picked out already - Gracie, Floop, Bean, and Boudreaux. :D
  6. If there ever comes a time that I can't manage having a big dog, I want a pair of dachshunds. All the ones I've met have been remarkably sweet.
  7. Our Bocker has been a bed dog since we brought her home; she's well-mannered and always stays at the foot of the bed, In winter, she'll curl up between my feet which is very nice when it's cold. When we added the bloodhound, at first she slept in her crate beside the bed until she outgrew it. There isn't enough room for a large enough crate, so now she's on the bed too. DH and I (both large people), a 35 lb dog, and a 90 lb dog make for a rather crowded queen size bed. Thankfully, Molly usually retreats to the cooler floor during summer. DH often has to travel for work, and the dogs always take full advantage of his vacant spot in the bed. :)
  8. Reading To Kill a Mockingbird out loud together. I did this with my oldest as well (he's in ps, but we made it a summer project). The book has so much depth, and led to many wonderful discussions. We finished up by watching the film. Taking a day trip to NYC to see several of the Velasquez paintings described in I Juan de Pareja, after reading the book. For curriculum, MCT grammar and vocab is always a hit here. DS says Getting Started with Latin is another one of his favorites. It got him interested enough in pursuing Latin that he's asked to take an online class now that he's beyond my own familiarity with it.
  9. One of my kids goes to a "magnet" school. All it means in this case, apart from the word magnet in the school name, is that they are supposed to have a focus on "global exploration" and languages. In the lower grades, that translates to lots of group projects about different countries. The school used to offer more foreign languages than others in the area (e.g. Italian, French) but those teachers were laid off and now the only choice is Spanish. Every year, we get a letter from the school district explaining that the school has failed to meet adequate yearly progress and that we have the legal right to request that our child be moved to another higher-performing school. The catch? Our district has zero school that achieve AYP, so the district is unable to offer moves. If we had $20k per year, per child, our children could attend a local military academy that performs well (though 2 of my 3 would be miserable there). There aren't any other choices for us besides homeschooling. Thankfully, our family is able to subsist on one income so I can stay home. I put my own academic goals on hold to do so, because one ds needed me to and there aren't any alternatives here. I worry about my kids in ps, but they are both thriving and I do what I can with afterschooling and summer schooling.
  10. I don't think it's an either/or situation. I'm capable of caring about both homeschooling, and the public school system. And lots of families straddle both worlds - in my family, two children attend public school while one homeschools. Each situation is what is best for that particular child (which I remind myself of often, because it would be much simpler to do one or the other). I've always been puzzled by the argument that it's selfish for people to pull their children out of the public system to homeschool. Homeschool families still pay school taxes, still vote, and in many cases still have ties to the system. Most of us care very much about what is happening with education, for all children. I don't think it's fair to expect parents to keep their children in a system that isn't working for their children, in the vague hope of fixing it for all children. I know the option to choose something else isn't available to all families, but I think it should be - either by charter, or vouchers, or by a greater say in how their publicly funded schools are run. I realize how fortunate I was to have been able to pull my son out when he needed it. My son was deeply depressed and had chronic stomach aches while in school. Other students made him miserable, while staying just barely on the right side of the bullying rules (which at my kids' school are thorough and seemingly taken quite seriously); the school made great efforts to help my son, but they cannot force children to be kind or friendly. My son is now thriving again, and I don't worry anymore that I'll find him hanging in his closet. Was it selfish of us to keep him home? It doesn't feel that way to me. My only regret is that we made him suffer through to the end of the school year, while hoping the system could solve his issues.
  11. My understanding is that everyone affiliated with the NBA (including owners) is bound by by a set of standards for behavior as a condition of their participation, and that the NBA feels that Mr. Sterling has violated those standards. From what the NBA commissioner said in his statement, he is planning to ask the Board of Governors to exercise provisions written into the NBA constitution to force Mr. Sterling to sell the Clippers team (I think I read he needs a 3/4 majority to do so). I don't think due process applies to a private organization enforcing standards that Mr. Sterling agreed to when he bought an NBA team. They did wait a few days to be sure that the recording was genuine and that Mr. Sterling did say the things attributed to him. And his property won't "be stripped from him." He will indeed be forced to sell, if the commissioner can get the required support from the Board, but I haven't seen anything suggesting that he won't be receiving fair value for the team.
  12. The girlfriend is being sued for embezzlement because the wife is claiming the presents and money her husband gave to his mistress were bought out of community property and the wife wants those things back. The whole thing is repugnant, but it's not the kind of situation many of us likely think of when we hear embezzlement. And whatever her motives in disclosing the conversations are, Mr. Sterling said those things and clearly believes them. I guess it doesn't matter to me that he said those disgusting things in a private conversation or not (apart from the legal issues about it being recorded). If I were a Clippers fan or sponsor, I wouldn't want to put money in that man's pockets or to have my brand associated with him in any way. I do feel bad for his players being caught in the fallout, and for his wife for having what would normally be a private affair dragged through the media.
  13. My son (13) feels the same way. When I looked at WWW 1, I was worried his enthusiasm for roots/vocabulary would fizzle out. It hasn't. I think CE 1 and 2 gives a strong enough foundation to handle the jump in volume in WWW 1. To be fair, my son loves words. He does MCT in online classes from G3, and I think that also helps maintain his interest.
  14. You need some version of the base game to get started with Warcraft; just buying an expansion won't work. You can get started with a free trial edition, so new players can see if they like the game or not. That lets you go up to level 20, I think. For buying the game, Blizzard sells a digital copy for $20 that includes all but the most recent expansion as well as thirty days of free gameplay (https://us.battle.net/shop/en/product/world-of-warcraft ). That lets characters play up to level 85 - through the base game, and the first two expansions. If you're buying it from somewhere else, you're looking for an edition that includes WoW, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm. Most of the battle chests I found on Amazon didn't include all of those and it looked to be cheaper to buy the whole set on Blizzard's site. The most recent expansion, Mists of Pandaria, is around $20. Players also need to buy gametime after the 30 days that are included with the base game. If someone hasn't played WoW before, the base game should last them a while. I've probably made it sound complicated, but the startup cost is less than the price of a new console game. We're all WoW geeks in this house, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. :)
  15. I had mine out almost twenty years ago now, and have had zero issues living without one. Recovery was quick and I've never had digestive problems of any kind. Good luck for a speedy recovery!
  16. Thank you for posting this - I made it today, and it's really good!
  17. That's how it is for me too. Just wanted to let you know that you're not the only one. (emoticons are always grayed out for me, so just imagine a hug icon here :) )
  18. One of my sons asked if we could go to the Met to see the Velasquez paintings he's just finished learning about, and since DH has vacation next week we've decided to take a train in for the day. We won't have too long at the museum, as we need to be home by late afternoon (other kids can't take the day off of school). If you only had 3-4 hours at the Met, what would be your must-see galleries or individual works? It would be great if we could see some other pieces from the history period we're studying (Early Modern this year), but I'm open to any suggestions as this is more of a fun trip than a school trip. I'm looking through the museum's website, but it's pretty overwhelming. This will be the first time we've visited the museum, and my son's first time in NYC. The trip is also his main birthday gift, so I'd like to make it special for him. Hoping someone at the Hive is an expert on the Met, and can give me some good ideas!
  19. About slobbery dogs: maybe because for some owners the dogs' winning personalities outweigh the minor inconvenience of some drool? Our bloodhound is the best tempered dog I've ever met - wonderful with my kids, protective without going overboard, and she brings a lot of joy to our lives. We used to have a basset hound, and he was wonderful too. Those are both hunting breeds that are quite happy to live as family dogs. Not sure which breeds you consider to exist only for the purpose of companionship - I doubt many Yorkie owners chose them to hunt rats, but that's what the breed was developed for.
  20. Oh wow, I had completely forgotten about those. Want! I haven't been home in 13 years, and now I am seriously homesick.
  21. Ours just died after two years of quite heavy use, and we chose to replace it with another Keurig. We don't use the plastic cups either, but a mix of the refillable ones and another brand that's both more eco-friendly and cheaper. I also use a Bodum sometimes. I don't have anything against regular coffee makers, but I found I would make a pot and end up throwing out at least half of it (I hate reheated coffee). It's been a useful appliance around here.
  22. An iPad Mini($299) would be a very expensive ebook reader. The OP specifically said she only wanted it for reading ebooks, not for all the other things a Mini can do. I agree that the Paperwhite ($119) isn't as responsive as a tablet (or even an iPod), but if all you need it for is reading I don't think the increased responsiveness is worth the much bigger price tag. I've used the Kindle app on both IOS and Android devices, plus the Kindle Fire, and still prefer my Paperwhite for reading. For me, the reduced eyestrain from an eink device wins out because I read a ton. Just my opinion.
  23. I feel the same way about locked into a single format/vendor as nmoira, and I'm also a big fan of Calibre. I haven't had a chance to try a Kobo, but am really impressed with my Kindle Paperwhite. I used to use my ipod or a tablet to read ebooks, and really didn't see the need for a dedicated reader. My husband bought me the Paperwhite as a gift, and I haven't read a book on my other devices since. It's really that good, imho. And using Calibre, I can still use all the other ebooks I've acquired from various sources before I got the Kindle. Best of both worlds!
  24. I wish I had an answer for you, but I have the same problem here. I have my oldest ds prepare anything he knows how to do (pasta, baked potatoes, etc.) so I don't have to be around it as much. Those things are usually only a problem for the first week, as I'm acclimatizing to eating low-carb again. What does me in is the breadmaker. We use ours regularly, and the smell of fresh-baked bread is a very difficult thing for me to resist. Hopefully someone else will have some good suggestions for you, but I wanted to let you know that you're not the only person struggling with this issue.
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