Hi Dawn! Peyton, 10 yrs old, completed FLL 1-4 and then this year we moved to the Town Series. She took about a month to get through Grammar Town working about 20 minutes 4 day a week. She probably could have gone faster through the parts of speech section, but we did it all. The phrases are more complicated and she *mostly* got verbal phrases. After Grammar Town we started CEI, Paragraph Town, and Poetics. Paragraph Town reinforces the grammar and the phrases and clauses are reinforced there, so I think a rudimentary understanding is fine because you keep chipping away at it. Now about halfway through Paragraph Town she is getting pretty solid with the phrases. We spend about 20 minutes each on CE and PT, four days per week. We do Poetics Twice a week for 10 - 15 minutes, plus we read and a discuss a poem a day together. When there is not a 4-level analysis sentence to cover in Paragraph Town we do a Practice Town sentence. I also have her diagram her 4-level analysis sentences which is really pretty easy with her FLL background and the way the sentence is already broken down by the analysis. I also have Analytical Grammar and will do that with her before moving into the Voyage Level because I think that MCT misses the mark by leaving out diagramming. I hope this helps!

I think it's on the RFWP website. :001_smile:

:iagree: His poetics presentation was my favorite of the convention. If you can go listen to him at the SE Convention, I absolutely recommend it.

I just had a conversation with Martin Cothran about this last weekend at the conference in Memphis. His answer was Latin. His opinion is that this trains the mind perfectly to enter into Traditional logic in grade 7, 8, or even 9. I liked that answer so I'm going with it. ;) I believe he also said that MP will have a curriculum on informal logic coming out in the near future, to be used after Traditional Logic or Material Logic. I don't know any details beyond that, though.

Bud has his own business and works from home, so no commute, etc. I listed less than 8, so obviously we've got a pretty sweet set up. There was a time he left home on Monday and came home on Friday. It was awful. We knew at the time it was temporary, and temporary would be the only way I would do that again. For schooling or transitioning to a new job in a new location while waiting for the family to move. If that sort of arrangement was permanent, we would look at alternatives that included me working some so that he could have time with the kids. As the daughter and sister of military men, I know that there are situations where it's unavoidable and I appreciate what those families do. It makes me all the more adamant that DH have time with the kids as long as I am able to make that happen - simply because we are blessed to be able to do that. I don't want to take it for granted.

I was late to her 8:30 talk because I was one of 932 people riding the Marriott elevators from the 14th floor. (Sorry about that, Susan :blushing:.) But isn't it just a little mind-boggling that such an announcement would need to be made at all? If a kid is being noisy, Mom (or someone!) needs to get them out of the room. I agree with HSBurrow that the leaving in and of itself is a distraction, so Mom should really be pretty sure that little one is going to sleep through the lecture, or don't go in! There were a couple of really cute kids on the floor coloring during one of SWB's lectures Saturday. They were perfectly behaved and not a distraction at all - so I'm not against kids being there. Just kids who aren't quiet.

We got ours through Triangle Education Assessmets. They sent them directly to me (I have a college degree). Not sure if that has changed in the ast two years.

Susan, I was in Memphis, and I think the way you handled it at the start of one of your talks - the "ten second" speech - was good. I also think asking a TWTM boardies to introduce you and be the bad guy who taps shoulders would be great. I might just be willing to do that in Houston this summer if you need someone. (Anything to make you want to come back to Texas!) Email me if you want me. I find noisy babies and children to be quite disturbing after a few minutes. I went to a lot of effort and expense to go to Memphis in order to have a bit of a "retreat" and collect my thoughts on where we are going in our homeschool. Crying babies in the talks did not help to further that effort. Now there were some truly delightful and well-behaved children there and that was great. I do not bring my 3 year old to these events for this very reason. I don't want to disturb the other folks there. When I can't make arrangements for her, I don't go. It's that simple. I buy the CDs or download the MP3s instead. Amy

Hmmm. I wouldn't say "close" as in meaningful conversations and a tight family bond. But Bud is a very dutiful son. His mother only drives within a small distance from her home, so he makes sure she can get wherever she wants to go. He takes her out to lunch about once a week, and if he is driving in a direction he thinks she might like to go for shopping or something, he will offer to take her with him. He takes care of any little odds and ends she needs done around the house. She's a little bit "off" mentally and I don't really believe she is capable of a close relationship emotionally. But her relationship with Bud is by far the closest one she has.

Sorry I missed you! Her "distractable child" talk was really good. It was the one I thought I needed the least, but in the end I was really glad I went to it.

I checked and he was not recorded. They said he doesn't allow it. They are heavy on visual aids, and there are a ton of download son his website, but hearing him in person was wonderful!

Peter Enns, Andrew Kern, Martin Cothran and more. Got to meet some WTM boardies, too. It was great! SWB's talks were even more fantastic in person than downloaded, and I came away with a refreshed outlook and some new ideas. If you have the chance to hear MCT, PLEASE listen to his poetics talk. It was wonderful! So glad I drove the 7 hours to Memphis!

We used the Cetaphil treatment (you can google it). However, I'm a firm believer that the most important thing you can do is comb it out, tiny section by tiny section, with a nit comb. Every single day for as long as it takes until you see NOTHING that could even resemble a nit. There are a lot of natural treatments but most of them just don't work. Cetaphil works, but you have to do it absolutely right, and you have to follow up because it kills the lice and not the eggs. So hunker down in front of some good movies and start combing. You can use conditioner to help the comb go through the hair smoothly, and really scrape that comb against the scalp, because they lay their eggs right at the base of the hair shaft and you have to get that comb under the eggs to pull them off. Be sure to keep the combed through hair parted and separate from the uncombed hair. I'm sorry you are dealing with this, it's a pain, but it's not the end of the world either!

We're meeting for lunch on Saturday after SWB's 11:30 talk. Ballroom A at 12:30. We'll figure out where to eat then. See y'all!

If you're going to Memphis, we are going to have a TWTM lunch Saturday after SWB's 11:30 talk. We'll meet at Ballroom A after the talk is over at 12:30 and grab lunch. I have very, very short hair and will be wearing black flip flops during the convention. I hope to see you there!

Okay, y'all, I'll see you in Ballroom A after SWB's talk on Saturday is over at 12:30. I have very, very short hair and I'll be wearing black flip flops. I don't know what else I'll be wearing because I haven't packed yet. I'll probably be at most of the SWB and MCT talks.

Yep. We take the whole summer off. Swimming, reading for fun, swimming, hanging out with friends,exploring at the creek, berry-picking, swimming. I do usually have a couple of requirements for the kids. Usually I require a little bit of math be done each week - not to move forward, necessarily, but to avoid moving backward. Math is sneaky that way. I know you probably won't count this, but during the school year or not, I do try to avoid a hard line between what is school and what isn't. So we may be putting the books away at 2:00 for the day, or on June 1 for the summer, but the learning still continues. That whole lifestyle of learning bit.

Analytical Grammar. The bonus for your situation is you do it only for the first part of the year for 3 years. So year one you work on it for 10 week, then just do a few practice sentences every couple of weeks. Year 2 you work for 7 weeks, then practice. Year 3 is another 10 weeks. The first year is almost all parsing and diagramming. The second covers phrases and clauses. The third is usage. It's thorough, well-done, and to the point.

We did this last year. Previously, when we only had one who was a baby, we had my sister and bil listed. Now we have three children who are older and have a life that they love. My sister is a grandmother helping her single son raise her grandchild. Things changed! We have lived in this neighborhood for 7 years and there are several families who are like family. We chose one of them because they love our children, we feel like they would raise the kids as much like us as anyone, the kids love them very much, and this would allow the kids to maintain the relationships and life they have here among our friends. This couple is responsible and we have utmost respect for how they are raising their own two daughters and the overall integrity with which they live their lives. They own their own businesses locally, so they are rooted here. They won't homeschool, but are heavily involved in the education of their daughters. We made Bud's brother the trustee for the kids, so there is another pair of eyes watching the money, but we've made it clear to him that these people are to be treated like the parents and he's only there to make sure they aren't buying themselves a ski chalet with the life insurance money. He doesn't get to decide if the summer camp they choose for the kids or private vs. public university is a good use of money. It was hard choosing someone who is not a relative, but in the end we have peace about it. Once we made the decision and asked the friends if they woudl do it, we told our kids and they were pleased with the decision, so that was a good confirmation to us. ETA: We've also written personal letters to people who we think might have a problem with the kids going out of the family so that they understand where we are coming from. We don't want any fighting and hope that this will provide some level of understanding to my siblings. (Bud's family will have no issues.)

1. Consistent 70+ degree weather! 2. Changing out the glass in the storm doors for screen. 3. Sitting on the front porch and visiting with neighbors. 4. Going to Memphis for the homeschool convention and hearing SWB, JW, MCT and others, and meeting some of you. 5. My birthday! 6. Bud's 50th birthday and accompanying BASH! I really love March!

Let's see: DS12 came home from school wanting to sign up for next year's elective designed for kids' who "possess a strong desire to go to college". Now, he's not actually the target audience of this class, but it's his first time to express that he really wants to got to college and would be willing to give up an elective to help make that happen. He's made excellent grades in all his classes this year, was nominated for GT by his preAP math teacher, is excelling on the bass in orchestra, and continues to do very well on his club soccer team. I know none of this is homeschool stuff, but it's been a big, good year for him after the stress of opting for PS after homeschooling his entire life. DD10 and I are having an amazing time enjoying our MCT materials together. She is reading voluntarily (a first). Her beautiful singing fills the house throughout the day. She is auditioning for Beauty and the Beast this afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed! DD3 has quite the sense of humor. She likes to pretend read her books to me and make silly mistakes and then laaaauuugh at how funny she is. Also, the girl can kick a soccer ball. I love March.

Quit saying bad things about hank the cowdog! ETA: I typed that out in all caps because I was yelling at y'all. The board changed it. I'm taking to my bed now.

Natalie Portman=stunning.

Matthew Mccounaghey's wife looks stunning. MarkyMark's wife had on a a very ugly dress.

Not really. Particularly when you consider the types of parents who homeschool. They are very involved. If you compared the homechool students to the students with very heavily involved parents, I don't think you'd see a difference. I say this because I know what my kids are capable of, and I will make sure they achieve it regardless of the educational setting. I've got one at home and one in PS for the first time this year, and I'm very, very involved with what he is learning. I'm guessing there are a lot of parents with kids in PS who feel the same way.