When you go to upload your receipt there will be a box where you can add notes. I typed something to the effect of "This is a receipt of curriculum we use for homeschooling." I also named the file I uploaded "homeschoolingproof.pdf". I'm not entirely sure they want to be the curriculum police, because really, if they cared *that* much, they wouldn't be letting just *any* homeschool family get an educational discount. They would easily argue that only households with at least one child of an age realistically able to use the software purchased will qualify for the discount, but they do not. My 7 year old is a pretty good photographer and he occasionally plays with Lightroom with me, but it's a stretch to argue he "needs" it. They could argue that giving me the discount for Photoshop was too much too ask at this point.

Hi, I haven't posted much, but I just went through this process this week, so I thought I'd chime in. I am in the middle of this process right now. I used my receipt from Learning A-Z.com. I just got my notice that my product shipped about an hour ago, though I have yet to get my activation code. I don't know if I'll have to wait until I get the product to finish that process or not, as I don't remember how I did it the first time I had an educational discount. I have had some trouble with the verification process this time, but I believe (at this point) the trouble is related to Adobe's website being a little finicky. I was so focused on wondering if I was going to get hassled for using my Learning A-Z.com receipt that I completely forgot to pay attention and order the Mac version of my software...soon I'll be able to tell everyone what it's like to return materials bought with the educational discount, too....:glare:

There is Voyagers in MA (Acton, maybe?) that I believe is quite organized. Some co-ops have classes that meet at various times during the week and you only attend the classes that interest your family. Face-NH comes to mind. They are in the southeastern part of NH. WHE is in Weare NH and runs regular co-op class days. There are others out there, including smaller co-ops scattered around. A good resource for finding out about smaller, informal groups is a place like the Relaxed Homeschoolers group as that group tends to act as a gathering spot for people to meet and form groups based on interest and need, be they for a few weeks or an entire year. They also put together individual activities which can be a good way to meet other families that you may find would be good people to form your own co-op with down the road. You can google any of the names I put above, though you may find direct links at this website here: http://nhhomeschooling.org/support-groups I get email from most of the sites, so I don't have most of the places bookmarked.

It was allowed when I first joined my Freecycle group several years ago but there were too many angry people posting about the messes left behind, so the rules were eventually changed to forbid such postings on our group. To get rid of a large quantity of stuff like that, I would do a regular post, list the approximate number of boxes, possible contents, and very clearly state it is ok to resell anything the picker-upper doesn't end up using or giving away. And then, of course, indicate that earliest pick up gets it. This gives you time to get the boxes to Goodwill if you have a flaker. If you are willing to do a "curb alert" type post, you can always do Craigslist. This time of year, though, I'd be hesitant about allowing groups of people onto the property to skulk about. I think it's a little safer to have the email address of one person at a time and work through a list of responders the way Freecycle works.

I have both. We don't have cable, and used a combination of Netflix and the internet to get our TV and movies instead. I only just heard of the free content available through Amazon Prime a couple months ago. We have an Amazon Prime membership, but we have the membership for the other benefits. I'd never consider the streaming service a good enough reason to justify the price of Prime alone. I prefer Netflix. There is more content and it is far easier to find the content available than Amazon. The interface on Amazon is simply miserable for me to use. Because we do not have any of the special devices that allow you to send the Amazon content to the TV, we can only view Amazon content on a the desktop or laptop computer. I truly hate watching movies this way. Netflix is viewable and works without trouble on all of our media devices in our household - two iPhones, two old iPhones that do not function as phones any longer, an iPad, the TV, and both computers. Naturally, where either source of media will play for you is dependent on how you are set up, but Netflix let us get onto many, many more devices without requiring the purchase of anything new. We can get the Amazon content onto our TV if we want to purchase one of several possible methods of doing so.

I'm not sure if you are aware of this since you seemed new to the iTouches, but apps can be shared amongst the devices. Don't let each kid buy a copy of something like Angry Birds or whatever. Buy one app, then download it onto each device that needs it. It's possible there's a limit (you have more devices than we do), but you don't need to buy the same thing for all 6 devices six times. Likewise, books and music can be shared amongst the devices in the household. Enjoy!

Congrats :) My husband and his best friend have the Workman (it's the one that looks like it is made out of Carhartt material and has extra loops in it for tools). They've had them for about 18 months and the kilts get a lot of use. I'm happy for you that you managed to take advantage of the 25% off sale! That's sweet! The boys get very few odd comments about them, but they do get a lot of compliments and questions. The summer we saw a regional group do MacBeth as part of their Shakespeare Under the Stars, the actor that played MacBeth made a point of getting a picture of with the guys in their UKs standing on either side of him after the performance. (Oh, and hello, as well, I introduced myself briefly the last time I posted, but I haven't been posting long...it's just hard not to perk up when the UKs come up in conversation....)

It makes total sense - I put a plug in for the fuller featured point and shoots because they are getting pretty sweet and I didn't know what your long range plans were. Any SLR, digital or film, will allow you to change lenses. (The Sony Alpha is a DSLR - it has gotten a lot of reviews and discussion time in some of the photo mags in the last several months if your library carries them.) Some of the most recent models of DSLRs I've seen will actually walk you through taking a picture, I think, if you choose to have the feature on. The DSLR will have several modes, similar to a regular camera, on that top ring that let you choose how much control you will have over making the decisions regarding the settings for that shot. You can go from completely automatic to fully manual, or in between by doing something like controlling for one element such as aperture while the camera selects the shutter speed. Just about every DSLR will have available additional guides or expanded manuals that can be very helpful in learning how to use your camera. The manual that comes with the camera will explain how to do something, but not WHY. I used the David Busch guide for my camera and it was money well invested. It's normal book size and has color photographs demonstrating the points covered. If you are a visual learner there are also DVDs put out for each camera model, too.

Hi, I've been reading the forums for a long time, but I thought I had some definite experience to offer and it was time to come out of lurk :) Are you sure you want a DSLR, or would a smaller "point and shoot" camera with many of the same controls of a DSLR work for you? Many of the smaller cameras let you set aperture and shutter speed and ISO - some of the models I've played with show you the immediate result of your choice on the LCD as you make your changes. The advantages here would be a cheaper price, smaller body, and no additional lenses to buy. You would have far greater control over your image than you are getting with a camera phone. A few of the other photographers I know have these types of cameras for when their full kit is impractical. The disadvantage is that you will be more limited in something like aperture (the model I tried ran from about 3.6 to 8). If you are sure it is a DSLR set up you want, then Nikon and Canon are the two most commonly used brands and the most popular as a result. People get very wrapped up in the Nikon vs Canon debate. I think the advantage of choosing one of these two brands is that there are a lot of choices when it comes to lenses and equipment and you will have more luck finding good deals on new and used equipment such as lenses as a result. Both brands have done an excellent job of creating entry level DSLRs. I have Canon Rebel XSI and I adore it and it has been a fabulous body to learn on, but I'm sure I'd be just as in love with the Nikon equivalent. If I were starting out from scratch, I would take a serious look at the Sony Alphas as well, though, because the images I'm seeing out of them are unbelievable, and this friend had no experience prior to owning her Alpha. I think the other brands out there may make a good camera, but I really don't see a lot of them in the wild. I would be wary of going with one of the other brands of cameras just to get into a camera body simply because I think it could be hard to get the equipment you want later on. There are plenty of reviews out there if you want to try them, though. Most entry level DSLR cameras are on cropped frame sensors. The full frame sensor cameras tend to be much more expensive and a bit larger in the body. I think it is very important to get out there and handle all kinds of SLR bodies as much as you can to get a feel for how they sit in your hands. A friend of mine went with her Nikon simply because the Canon Rebels were too small for her hands, and for me I find the larger cameras difficult to hold and operate. Something that is not comfortable will affect your shots and you are not going to want to be stuck with a body you don't like because of that. Another option you can try is renting a camera kit from a place like glassandgear.com. I've used them before to rent lenses I'm considering purchasing and they are very easy to work with and work very hard to match their gear to your needs. Many entry level cameras come with a kit lens. The kit lens is usually very good at being a general lens to help you discover what you want in your next lenses while you learn your camera. If you have to make a choice of a lens right away, I personally would buy one of the 50mm lenses known as the "Nifty Fifty" or "Fantastic Plastic". You'll find it for less that $130 and it will be fast, sharp, and let you learn a lot about your camera while getting some pretty great photos. (It's a prime, so you won't have a zoom, but this is why you'll learn a lot while you have it. I have some professional grade lenses now, but if I ever have a house fire, I'm replacing the $130 lens first....) If you go with a DSLR, don't buy a bag right away. You won't know what you'll need in a bag until you've had it awhile. The camera will be ok in a towel or strip of bubble wrap until you discover most photographers' second hobby: searching endlessly for the perfect gear bag.:tongue_smilie: I hope this helped some. There are a lot of reviews of gear out there, but I'd go get my hands on some of it before I did too much reading - it's nice to know you've handled the glass or body being discussed in a review.