Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. They sound great, especially the rectangle one. I'll try that. Colleen

Some programs teach 2 x 7 as 2 taken 7 times. Others teach it as 2 groups of 7. Does it matter which way we do it, especially if we have used different math curricula? Ds 9 used RS up to C and learned it the first way. Now we are using BJU 3 and it explains it the second way. Sometimes when I am marking his work, he has reversed the two numbers (ie. written 2 x 7 = 14 instead of 7 x 2 = 14 according to answer key). Does it matter? Thanks. Colleen

I started watching it around 10:30 p.m. and stayed up till about 3 a.m. watching the whole thing.

I saw on the website that it's for ages 10-13 (grades 5-8). That's quite a range. My ds hasn't done much formal science but he does love science and hands-on activities. The topics in Science 5 sound interesting. I think I wouldnt' get around to doing some of them if they weren't scheduled in for me. Colleen

they shipped out on Thursday, and it arrived on Tuesday. This was with regular shipping.

Hi Heather, Could your forward them to me? I've been trying to look at them on the website, but keep having a problem. Thanks so much! Colleen

I knew that Aslan is supposed to be Jesus. I think what I'm really asking is whether he shows up as Jesus in the last book in Lucy's world (which I don't remember that happening), or whether he appears as someone else but is supposed to represent Jesus like Aslan represents Jesus, or whether he shows up at all in Lucy's world. I just don't remember. I'll get to in in time, but I"m just too impatient, LOL. Colleen

Okay, I read the series in high school, and now I just re-read Prince Caspian again so that I could remember it before we go to see the movie. I didn't re-read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe before watching that movie. Anyways, I have started re-reading the rest of the books now and just finished Voyage of the Dawn Treader (reading in published order). I'd really like to know who Aslan is in our world. I can't remember and I don't want to wait until I get to the last book to find out, LOL. Colleen

I think I will have to get the Activities book because that was hard to understand, LOL. Would I also need the worksheets to go with the activities book? Colleen

We are up to the chapter on division in BJU Math 3 (chapter 10). My ds only finished up to C in RS, so I don't remember doing much division there except really basic stuff. I don't know if RS teaches division in a special way like they do subtraction, so should I just teach it the regular way, or should I get the Activities for the Alabacus so that I can teach everything the RS way? I really liked RS, but ds started hating it during C and really didn't want to do D. I think we only did the first few lessons of D before swithing to BJU, so I'd still like to teach the RS way, but I don't know how since I only have the TMs up to level C. Thanks. Colleen

Where do you find all these great things? I"m so impressed. My kids love hands-on stuff like that. Colleen

Hugs for Kathy and her daughter. Colleen

your piano teacher's inflexibility. Considering you have 3 of your boys with her, she's not being accommodating at all. I think it's a good idea to commit with her for now, and try to find someone else in the meantime for next year. If she'd be willing to drop you guys so easily, then you shouldn't feel bad for dropping her if you find another teacher. I also think it's better to find a teacher who will teach for more than just 6 months of the year. How much do your boys retain with not having lessons from May to Oct? Most teachers here just take July and August off. Colleen

I think we will be going back to using mainly butter but in moderation. Colleen

I would like to know if butter or non-hydrogenated margarine is more healthy. I remember learning in school that they have the same amount of calories, so I mainly want to know which is healthier overall. We used to eat only butter, then got margarine, then switched to non-hydrogenated margarine. We still use butter once in a while, but if butter really is better for you, then, I'd like to start just buying butter again. Thanks! Colleen

My oldest ds (almost 12) went to a Christian school this year for grade 6. He is very social and adjusted very well. The teacher said it's as if ds has been to school all his life. He's made a lot of friends, and he talks about them frequently. In spite of that, he has not developed any close friendships. None of his friends have invited my ds over to their houses (and he hasn't invited any over to our house either). It's just like what you said, Colleen, about your ds not necessarily developing close friendships if he went to school. My ds is enjoying school a lot and likes having so many friends, but none of them are close. I'm guessing that most of those boys grew up together since they've been attending that school since K or earlier grades, so maybe they don't feel the need to have more close friends. Plus, I haven't made any effort to get to know the other moms, so that is probably another reason why my ds hasn't made any close friends either. But since we didn't send him there to have a social life, we have decided to homeschool him again for grade 7 (for various reasons). We may put him back in school again later on, but you're right in that there are no easy answers. Colleen I know my husband thinks this would be the case if my son went to school, and truth be told, I think so, too. Not that he would necessarily develop close friendships, but I suspect he would enjoy and benefit from the increased opportunity for interaction. But like you said, I'm not going to send a child to school based solely on the social aspect. It'll definitely be one of many considerations if the time comes to weigh pros and cons of public high school. Oh, why aren't there just easy answers?!:001_huh:[/color][/font]

math-Chalkdust prealgebra writing-Classical Writing Aesop and Homer for Older Beginners CW Poetry for Beginners A science-Rainbow Science or PH Science Explorer Bible-Explorers Bible study History-probably SOTW 2 with Kingfisher logic-Fallacy Detective or Thinking Toolbox Latin- Latin Prep 1 Greek-Elementary Greek 1 Mandarin-outside classes once a week music-piano lesson, maybe continue violin lesssons P.E.-swimming lessons Art- projects from Usborne books

I emailed PHP about this a few months ago, and they said that they are not doing the looseleaf version anymore because most people don't like books without spines. Too bad because I also prefer the looseleaf version for the AGs. Colleen

Is PH SE not as hands-on as RS? Is that the main reason you are going with RS then? There's a convention in June in WA, and RS will be there, so I plan on going with ds so he (and I) and take a look at it in person. He's seen samples of SE online and likes that so far. colleen

How many lessons and days a week would your ds have to do with RS to get it done in one year? I think that's something I could try with my ds too. When you say do Life Science and then Physical Science, do you mean using all the life science books in one year (Bacteria and Plants, Animals, Cells and Heredity, Human Biology), and then the next year using all the physical science books (Motion, forces and energy, Electricity and Magnetism, and Sound and Light)? Colleen

I am in the same boat with ds 12. He will be in grade 7 next year and I can't decide between Science Explorer and Rainbow Science. If you've decided, what helped you to decide? Any others feel free to chime in. Thanks! Colleen

He just turned 6 in Dec. We live in Canada, and the cut-off for starting K is that the dc has to turn 5 by Dec. 31, so he was right at the end of the cut-off. He went up to list E last year in K, and this year, I've started over again. I know I am going really slowly though. He doesn't enjoy it that much, and I haven't been very consistent. He still can't really read yet except for his spelling words, and sometimes he does figure out what a new word is (that's not on his spelling list). Thanks, Elizabeth for the tips on learning to read with SWR. I also do believe that SWR is an excellent program for learning how to read which is why I went with it for my 3rd ds. I'm looking forward to trying out your suggestions. I really like the booklet idea! Colleen

Thanks, everyone for the suggestion to move on. I know that I have been going too slow with my ds. This is my first time using SWR to teach reading, and it's so much different from the other programs I've used before. Colleen

My 6yos in grade 1 is on list E. I just gave him a quiz, this is the second quiz he's had for list E, and he got about 8 of them wrong, but he can read them all when we are doing the reading (although it can be slow). I'm wondering if we can go on to list F or do I have to make sure he can spell them all correctly. I'm thinking that if we have to wait, then it might be for quite a while as he is having a hard time remembering all the spelling rules (silent final e, double "l", etc.) Thanks. Colleen

I used the student books for Book 1, but my dc enjoy it a lot better by doing it orally, so I just got the teacher's book for Book 2. I also like the insights and would read them to my dc sometimes. Colleen