I need a simple, cheap grammar workbook that covers parts of speech-only. This is my ds 7th graders first year hs'ing and there are holes in this area for him. He's a smart, avid reader who has excellent spelling, penmanship and vocabulary. I've tried just going back a couple of years in a few different programs, but it's tedious for him. He picks up things quickly, and just needs parts of speech covered. So i'm hoping to find a painless way (inexpensive would be a perk, too) to cover this so we can move on to higher vocab, writing and literature studies. Ideas?

I'm ditching Saxon for my 1st and remediating my 4th grader who did Saxon 3 last year at school, but will return to it when they are older. My oldest is doing Alg. 1/2 w/ DIVE and doesn't *love* it, but it's getting done and he understands it. I just do not like it for elementary at all.

My dh and I are discussing putting a timeline border around the school area, and I wanted to get some feedback from some people who do this. I know there are timelines that go with certain curricula: MOH has one that you make, Konos has one that you can buy, i'm sure others have one. But we were thinking just a generic one where anytime the kids read a book about someone, they can make up their own figure/card and put it on there. Has anyone made their own wall timeline, and do you have tips to share? I know it would be easy to slap some dates and dividers on the wall, but this would be a "public" area, visitors would see it, and I'd like it to be eye-appealing. :) Or, do you have recommendations for a reasonable priced one to purchase that is attractive?

No.

:bigear: We were just offered a free piano. Problem is, we live in a very small house. I am also debating this...

Light colored sugar and cream cotton yarn, darker will bleed. Pick a fairly airy pattern, or they will be heavy when wet. They are durable, pretty because they're home-made (imho) and are excellent at scrubbing things off-within reason (except pots and pans with heavy stuck on stuff). I love them! Regardless of homeade or store-bought, I use a new one every day, used one goes in the wash.

Yeah, stop and breathe! :) I'm a recent newbie hs'er, and here's what I would do in your shoes. 1. Don't buy a thing right now. Go to the library, get Cathy Duffy's book (or a similar one) called 100 Top curriculum choices. It will show you what type of homeschooler you are, and which curriculums will be a good fit for you. Doesn't necessarily work for everyone (what does) but it sure opened my eyes. Look up different methods and get books on them. This will really help you in the long run, I disregarded this step and regretted it. 2. Find a support system, other homeschoolers in the area, coops, church groups and upcoming conferences in your area. 3. Read, have fun with your son, get to know him and build your relationship. If you go all "militant teacher" on him at the start, you'll BOTH be miserable. Go to the library, museum, parks. Do hands on stuff. Retrain both of you that learning is not all sitting at a desk being fed facts. Enjoy being his Mom. 4. Did I mention, relax and breathe? :D

I like some of MercyMe's stuff, like Blink of an Eye. Also Third Day. Check out some tunes on youtube to get a feel for different artists. And i'm not sure which CC is the "rowdiest", but their Christmas CD is fabulous. I listen to that all year. :)

Sweet! My library has the Make a Mix in the system, so I requested it. It got a lot of good reviews on Amazon, i'm looking forward to trying this out, thanks! :)

:iagree: But, we never use the tiles, my dd won't. She uses the dry erase lapboard, or spells orally. Once we hit AAS 2, we kicked back to only 2-3 days a week as well. She's in 1st, so i'm not in a hurry with it. We should still finish it by summer. I would not recommend making this program independent.

God is perfect, holy, love. He cannot sin. We do live in a fallen world, and while God cannot sin, he can and does use our trials for sanctification. He never promised us a pain-free life. He did, however, promise to be with us every step of the way, and see us to a glorious conclusion. (Jeremiah 29)

I haven't read all the replies, but I would ask about their "socialization" policies as well. For example: What their policy on bullying is: we had major issues here What kind of power their school counselor has: we had issues with the counselor asking very personal questions of our 3-4th grader, like is he worried about divorce? These were not because of an issue with my ds, but rather random questions they pull kids in and ask. How long are they allowed for lunch? My kids were scheduled for 20 minutes, but because of the lunch lady's "rules" only got around 10-tops. How well are the playgrounds supervised?

Coming back to jump on the magnesium and vitamin D supplement bandwagon, particularly if symptoms are worse in winter. NaturalCalm plus calcium works wonders for my muscle pain. NOW brand Vitamin D 2,000mg a day works wonders for my mood.

Find good practitioners of: 1. Myofascial Release Therapy. 2. Craniosacral therapy. I would also look toward natural anti-anxiety therapies. I tend to associate fibro with anxiety, ptsd and the like. If you will, a physical manifestation of emotional trauma/unrest. I know that sounds hokey, but that's where my journey has taken me.

Dave Ramsey.

Oo0oo...you wouldn't be willing to share the recipe by chance? My son would be over the moon. :D Thanks for the suggestions!

I am saving up for a Bosch mixer, and until then using my Kitchenaid for bread. I also have three pans that were passed down to me from family that i'm using, but they are getting old and needing replacement. Does anyone have a particular pan that they love? Does it matter what kind of pan I get (glass vs. metal, etc)? Suggestions with links are nice. :)

Learning Language Arts through Literature

I was searching for Konos information, and found a post that you made a while back. It's this (emphasis mine): I just wanted to tell you that as a new homeschooler who's been pretty much struggling to figure out all that is out there, how to do it, how my kids learn...you get the picture, and not screw them up...I came across this post by you. That. That's what I want. I want to have my kids home, learn with them, have fun with them. I want to watch the wonder over things, and I want to enjoy them while they are still young. I'm not so consumed with rigor so much as I want them to simply love to learn. Not that i'll let academics slide, of course, but I want to enhance them with joy. Just wanted to say thanks for the words. Hope calling you out about it didn't freak you out. :)

I don't want to minimize the issues you are facing, but wanted to throw this out there because medical reasons are being discussed. I know one man who went through extreme emotional issues (anger in particular) until they were resolved by his diagnosis of diabetes. I knew that diabetes can have big physical symptoms, but didn't realize the magnitude of emotional issues it can provoke until I saw this man change by leveling out his sugars. I was amazed.

I really have been trying to make Saxon work with different ways. It's just that now even seeing that binder come out, she's mad. I recently switched my ds to CLE Math 4, and I like it. It's a bunch of pages, but it's quick and painless. I will look at the MEP, and I've also considered just throwing out the books (figuratively) and "playing" math with her. Another switch I am considering is moving to KONOS or TOG with all the kids, so that she gets more variety satisfied there, and will sit through a quick math lesson. That would not be implemented for a while, but I wanted to throw that out there for critique, considering our personalities. My oldests is a "competent carl", my youngest is a "wiggly willy/social sue", my middle is all over the board, he's just so easy-going, and my highest categories as a a parent are unit studies and unschooling, with Charlotte Mason close behind. This is *such* a learning year for us, and I realize i'm all over the place with my thoughts, so please bear with me. That book has really helped me realize some things about our personalities and which direction we need to move with our homeschool. Now I just gotta figure out how to do it. Having dd's math figured out will be a great first step.

She did Saxon K at school last year. This year we started with R&S and switched back to Saxon 1. We're halfway through, and she is .done. She does not like having two sides to the worksheets, but likes the math fact sheets fine. She will do the meeting book, but does not care for it. She is sick of the same thing every day. All I need do now is say "math" and she starts fighting me. I finally started reading Cathy Duffy's book, and I'm thinking she's a Wiggly kid, mixed with some Social Sue. If it's any indication, we do AAS as well, but she will never use the tiles. It's either her lap dry erase board, or she will recite the spellings out loud while upside down in her chair or playing with something in her hands. She sits for CLE bible and reading just fine. :confused: So...i'm up reading again. I've tried to make Saxon work, i've switched it up, only required one side and her practice sheet, skipped meeting book every other day, tried it at different times of the day, tried having her do it orally. It isn't helping. Duffy recommends MUS, but I do NOT want to dump a ton of money again to start over. I know I may have to if it's the right fit, but I want to make sure as much as I can before I buy again. Advice??? :confused:

Do tell. :D

millersoap.com is awesome. :)

I am wanting to plant a garden this spring, with useful plants/veggies. I am planning on some of the typical fare, but also want to plant such things as calendula and lavendar to make homeade salves. I have been wanting to do this for years and never get on the ball with it until July. :001_huh: SO....now that it's on my mind once again, and there's still snow on the ground so I have time to plan, does anyone have any good resource recommendations, books, websites for complete novices? I do NOT have a green thumb, this is a stretch for me. But I have a little 10x10 area right outside my kitchen that would be perfect, and would like to utilize it. And I think this would be a great thing to do with the kiddos, to plant seeds in the house and then transfer, all the planning, etc.