Okay, I looked up the system you have and I don't see why it wouldn't just work like a PA. So you could get a wireless mic like this one or if you wanted to spend a little more (and maybe get a little more long term reliability) this one. With the Audio-Technica mic you would need a cord that goes 1/4" to 1/8" to go from the mic receiver into your system. So get an instrument cord then a little adapter Or you could get a really good quality wired mic (Sure SM58) for around a hundred bucks plus the cost of an XLR cable and adapter.

First, I must admit that I've never seen a dvd player with a mic input. To hook a mic into your dvd player you would have to then hook the dvd player into something with speakers (like the tv) to pump the sound out. Check these little systems out from Musician's Friend. I would guess that the Behringer system is a little better quality than the Nady but the link is broken for the Behringer. I have a job doing sound at a local theatre...let me know if you have any other questions.

I bought my HP F4235 about 6 months ago - I think it was around $50. The ink is cheap (around $14 for the the b/w, I think) and it says it prints 200 pages. It seems to do pretty close to 200 pages, especially if print "fast drafts". The cons of it are...it's loud, it's a little slow, you can only make 3 copies of something at a time, and most annoyingly - it shoots the pages all over the place after it prints them.

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads." Duet. 6:6-8 I totally get what your ds is saying and agree that it's not so much an intellectual issue. We have to be purposeful in passing on an authentic faith to our children. So, primarily he needs to SEE how his faith affects him. And...I want to say this as gently as possible - but it is possible that his faith doesn't affect him as much as it should. So many people in America today are what a previous poster called "Sunday Christians". Perhaps he senses this and knows it isn't quite right. There is a book sitting on my shelf waiting to be read called The Core Issues, Authentic Living that Impacts the World by Christine Caine. I'm thinking that if you were to dive into something like that, or some basic apoligetics (like Apologia's Who is God) it could help him to see how his faith should affect his life. I pray that you will have wisdom as you guide your son down the path that God has laid for him.

We have been having trouble with them this summer too! I know that they also like damp things (washcloths, sponges) and that so they could be coming from the bathroom or a pile of wet laundry - not just the kitchen. Everything I read said the only way to get rid of them is to be vigilant about food and wet stuff in every room of the house. Sounds like you already are, but that's what I read.

My original plan for this year was to use Sonlight 6 and go through SOTW 1 and 2. But my sister used it for her 6th grader last year and said it felt rushed...like nothing was really retained because they were pushing too quickly through the material. I had noticed the same feeling over the last 2 years doing the American History cores with my oldest. So I am considering using the SL readers and read alouds and spreading it over 2 years, doing SOTW1 this year and SOTW2 next year - adding readers and read alouds where needed. If you are just looking to give them an overview of world history it might be reasonable to do two books in one year. I'll be watching this thread with interest.:lurk5:

We were there at the end of May. We camped at Greenbelt National Park which was about a 5 min drive to the College Park Metro Station. I wholeheartedly agree with everyone else who said stay outside DC, close to a metro station. The beltway is INSANE before 9AM and from like 3-7PM. I just took a quick look and hotels I saw in College Park were around $90/night. Now, if you do stay outside the city you have to get Metro passes. Since we camped (for $16/night) and there are 5 of us, the Metro was our biggest expense on the trip. From a far away station like College Park you're looking at close to $5/person each way or you can buy week long passes ($47/person). So you have to weigh it out - you may decide it's worth it to stay in the city. But beware, some hotels charge you extra to park your car in DC. The only place we visited that gave us trouble about picnic lunches was the Holocaust Museum. They made me drink out of every single water bottle to prove it wasn't some explosive. So you could probably plan something like Smithsonian, lunch, capitol. So that you don't have food left when you get to the places that don't allow it.

You don't need to use their forms and I'm pretty sure that before high school you only have to track how many days, not how many hours. I know I don't generally mention any of that in my reports (days or hours).

We're giving her one more chance, since it really seems that her issue was the bone, and we have re-worked that. Why...do you want a Beagle?:p

Thanks for your input...that is kind of my concern. If we can't all be together, someone is going to be pretty unhappy (most likely the dog). And I appreciate hearing a been there done that story - it's helpful. Our dog is mostly happy to see the baby, where it sounds like your dog never had any interest in the babies. So, I'm hopeful that our issue is fixable.

Thanks to everyone who has weighed in on this issue. Here is where we are for now: The dog does have her own little alcove with her crate and dish. She does occasionally go to her crate during the day, but she reaaallllly prefers to be where the people are. The rawhide has been moved to the crate. The dog keeps taking it back out to her pillow. I keep putting it back. She is a little confused and even seems sad about it right now, but I'm hoping that in a day or two she will catch on and just go in there to chew on it. Right now she gives up after 3 or 4 tries and comes out without the bone. Then sneaks it out again later:tongue_smilie: I am encouraging the baby and the dog to leave each other alone and had already begun training the baby to stay out of the dog's spaces. I am going to take the time to carefully read everything that was linked in this thread and maybe check out some resources from the library as well. Yesterday morning (just like last time) the dog immediately sought to show us how much she likes the baby - as if to say "I know you don't like what I did, and I'm sorry." So for now she stays and we try to find a way to make it work. If we have another incident we may have to rehome the dog. Hopefully we don't have another incident.

I'm sure she would enjoy more frequent walks, and I'm not saying it's right...but there are easily 10 dogs on our block and ours is the only one that even gets walked regularly. She does go out back to go potty and sometimes hangs out, but she usually chooses to come right back in.

I'm still reading and weighing, and wanted to do some more clarifying. Hornblower asked about how rich the dog's life is - She is walked on a leash at least once, sometimes twice She isn't involved in tracking but in the nice weather she makes frequent trips to camp with us where she has the run of a hundred acres of woods and she is one happy dog there! She doesn't spend a lot of time with other dogs b/c for the first two years I wasn't sure I trusted her - didn't know how she would act. And on the occasions when she did meet another dog, it didn't go well. However, she has recently proved herself to be quite polite and social, so that may change. I know there was more on the list that we don't do, but can't remember it all now. I am NOT unwilling to train the dog. I have worked hard to get her truly housebroken, sitting, staying, and coming to the point that she will come back to me when she is running free outside. At this point, I'm not sure what to do or if it's doable - that is why I asked here. And now I am seriously considering how to make it work for us. Do I like the dog? Not particularly. But some days I don't like my husband either. Doesn't mean I would have him put down. If I were to get rid of the dog I would work hard to get her in an older kids home (and fully disclose the issues we've had) where I know she could transition and be happy. As to why separating dog and baby is tough - the baby is asleep or contained when I am awake for maybe 4 hours total during the day. Beagles are VERY social, mine in particular is pretty sure that she is an overgrown lap dog. They are not good dogs for people who work all day b/c they go crazy being locked up all day. So being home with us and being locked up a lot would probably cause more bad behavior. At least, that is what I think knowing my dog as I do.

:lol::lol::lol: Is that all you've got hornblower? And, yes...of course he is super cute!

Right, I didn't mean to say "some people are choosing the dog over the baby." What I meant was more along the lines of the dog people are saying "watch the baby, watch the dog, give it a chance." My concern in such close quarters, with a dog that doesn't like to be outside or locked away from the family is - can I keep a handle on things? I think for my dog, it would be cruel to lock her up when the baby is free. And while it is possible that she will never look crossly at the baby again, it is also possible that it will go the other way. What would it take for you to say "This situation is too risky?" Maybe that is what I want to know...

Thanks for putting it that way - thus far the answers seem divided into two categories - dog people saying give the dog a chance and non-dog people saying protect the baby. I was going to ask when do the dog people feel a line has been crossed...

She does have a crate, and throwing the bone in there during the day is an option. I can't even get my dog to lay down...she knows the command, she's just not interested. And I don't leave the dog around the baby unsupervised...it just that we have 350 square feet of shared living space (kitchen, dining room and living room) so we are all in each others space all the time. The baby can quickly end up next to the dog...and being within arm's length might not be good enough. A few people have suggested a trainer. That's not an option b/c of money. So how do I establish the baby's order in the pack?

Can you unpack that for me? What do you mean by people issue? I am really seeking to do best thing as a responsible dog owner and responsible parent...and of course getting rid of the baby isn't an option:tongue_smilie:

Well, you're right...I don't really like the dog. I did at first (despite her behavior issues) but I got sick of her before she got sick of pooping in my house. My other issue here is that no one else really likes her either. While my oldest is getting to be pretty responsible with her, he would much rather play with the baby than the dog. I often say "Put your brother down and go play with dog." And someone asked specifically where the dog nipped...it was at the air I think, not the baby - just really near the baby. I was not aware that beagles are food aggressive. We did discuss only letting her have bones outside, but she really doesn't like to be outside. Toys are not an issue, she wouldn't play with a toy if her life depended on it. I agree that the dog wouldn't seek out the baby, but the baby moves fast and that is my concern. Not that I'm going to leave the two of them in a room and walk away but that the baby could get in the dogs space pretty quickly. Hmm, lots to think about...Thanks for the input so far!

I mostly lurk around here, but I need some objective input on this.:bigear: First, a little history. We got our beagle 3 years ago, when she was 3 years old and had already been through 2 other owners. We were told they were getting rid of her because they had to move, but she had such a bad reaction to flea bites that she had no hair on her hind quarters. She was uninterested in being house broken and ran away from home like it was her job (we found these last two out on our own:angry Her redeeming feature was how good she was with the kids. She didn't mind my toddlers at all - even if they got in her face while she was eating. Over the years we have slowly conquered the behavior issues, but I kind of resent the dog because she wasn't what I bargained for. When ds9mo started crawling a month or two ago, the dog was growling and showing her teeth every time the baby came near. We were tempted to drop the dog off at the shelter the next morning. But we yelled at her, locked her up for the night and watched. She never did it again. In fact, she became very friendly with the baby. Last night I gave the dog a rawhide bone. When the baby got near her she growled. When I stood up and took the bone away she was fine (just like she always was). Then I stood over the baby while he came near and she was fine. I sat back down (2 feet away) and she nipped at the baby. The only thing holding back from getting rid of the dog now is ds11. The dog is his responsibility and he has been doing a great job taking care of her. He will be really upset if we get rid of her, but we will all be really upset if the baby gets hurt. So, what should we do? Do we give the dog ANOTHER chance? My fear is that she will be great when we're watching, but that we can't trust her when we're not. And there is no way we can be watching every second.

Eight year olds can do all sorts of things, many of which the pp listed. At three, they can help put away silverware (while you watch - and no sharp knives), learn to make their beds, put away shoes, learn where their laundry goes (clean and dirty), hold the dust pan while you sweep. There are not a lot of things that they will be able to do well, but that's not really the point at three. You want them to get into the habit of contributing and when they are that young it's pretty easy to do that. My kids love chores until they hit 5 or 6. So the silverware might not be neatly stacked, their drawer might need to be tidied after they put their pants away, and their bed might be full of bumps, but they are learning. And a little extra effort to build the chore habit now can go a long way in a few years!

My boys loved listening to Narnia from a young age. Dolphin Adventure and Dolphin Treasure by Wayne Grover were a hit with them too.

Yup, all the neighborhood kids around here want to do is play our video games (or get on my computer). And we let our kids have 3 hours of screen time on the weekends. So I say "No, we don't turn that on during the week." However, there is a lot of "poverty" in my neighborhood - most kids don't have a video game system, especially not a current one. So, while they are irritated that I will not let them on my Mac, my Wii, my XBox360 or my son's DS, they do usually find other things to do. I'm sure they would be here a heck of a lot more if they were able to game all day. I'm not sure what I would do if it caused the other boys to stop coming over. But most likely I wouldn't change anything. The fact that those boys are unable to enjoy life "unplugged" is one of the big reasons we limit screen time (even though now we don't really have to - my kids would rather read or be outside most of the time.)

I don't send a cover letter. When (or maybe if) you get a response to your letter of intent it should tell you who to send it to. It is usually an administrative director or something like that. I do, however, write "homeschool quarter report enclosed" or "home instruction plan enclosed" on the envelope. I figure that once it's opened it's more likely to get misplaced so I want to land in the right hands right away. But, that's just me.

I think you're looking fine:thumbup1: As for dates, I usually count out 10 week periods for my "end of marking period" and then add a week or two to that to give myself time to get the reports out. Legally, you are just required to have four dates that are logically spaced out... so you can't do all 4 quarter reports in June. At least in my district, they didn't notice a missing report until it was 9 weeks late last year (OOOPS!), and then they were very nice about it. And I don't generally give out grades yet (ds going into 6th) sometimes I will mention his test score average in math. But my quarter reports generally say things like "We studied fractions, decimals and long division." And "Jacob continues to struggle with spelling but is moving closer to grade level."