My ds and I are working through How To Read A Book right now. We are only on chapter 4 or 5, but it is interesting so far. I am also considering purchasing TWEM, but would like to look at it first. I am creating my list for our hs conference in April, so I will try to look at it then. Thanks, again!

She called me last night and told me the good news. I am so happy for her. She and her dh are still scared because of what happened before, but the ultrasounds and NT screening (I think that is what she called it) show that the baby is doing well and there are no complications. :) I am excited to be an aunt and can't wait to spoil the little darling. :D She is due the beginning of September so I have time to make a quilt and maybe some other little things for the baby. I just had to share.

Tina, I was hoping you would reply. :) I do have a ds who will be in 9th and he is ready for TL. My dd is fine math wise, but has only a basic grasp of grammar (I am a believer in formal grammar in the later years). We are going to start Latin this year and AG for grammar. I may hold off until 8th grade for her to start TL so she has a more firm grammar base, though maybe she can try it and we can all work through it together. I appreciate the advice as it gives me a new perspective. Thanks everyone for the replies!

Well, I don't normally post on this board and I don't know that I would call my dc gifted, but I had to share this when I saw this thread when looking at new posts. We were talking about writing programs and I mentioned IEW. My dd says, "How do you spell IEW?". We all busted up laughing and joked about things along the same line for a while. :)

With the age of your dc, I would keep it simple. You can purchase timeline books or fold-out style, but I would make one. You can either tape sheets of paper together or purchase paper on a roll. Draw a line down the center of the paper and then determine the spacing you want for the dates and add them in. Again, keeping it simple, I wouldn't get too detailed at this point; something like every 1000 years for BC (maybe going down to 500 years from about 1500 to year 1) and then every 250 years or so until about 1500 AD and every 100 years until now, this is off the top of my head and I don't visualize well so this may need to be adjusted. :o You can find clip-art free on-line to print and glue on to your timeline or you can have your dc color a small picture to represent a person or event and glue that on your timeline. Add people and events as you come across them in your studies. At this point try not to get caught up in the details. You can have your dc do a more detailed timeline when they are older. Now, it is just for the exposure and to help give them pegs to hang information on. Hope this helps a bit.

LaVyrle Spencer is wonderful! I am not big on romance novels, but hers are just what I need sometimes. They are stories that are deeper than just the romance. They are about life and they are touching. Yes, they are predictable because they have happy endings, but they are good reads. My favorite is Vows. Here is a link that lists all the titles. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/lavyrle-spencer/ HTH

I would suggest to start now, but do it slowly. Integrate some WTM/classical ideas into what you are already doing. That way when you make the switch it is not such a big change for your dc. You could start by adding in copywork and narrations, if you are not already doing these. Abeka is mainly textbooks, correct? If so, you could maybe slowly begin adding real books and back off from the textbooks. Use the textbooks for a quick intro to a topic and then read books from the library to flesh it out (thinking mainly history and science here). Start a simple timeline if you are not already doing so. Anyway, I would try and add a few things now to make the transition smoother later. JMHO

I know what you were talking about, it is just that I haven't looked at them in a while and couldn't quite remember all the stuff on them so I randomly tossed out what I could pull from the dusty corners of my memory. :o Yes, I do forget some of these things and I probably should look over these lists a little more. I sometimes don't think of having my dc do some of these tasks. Thank you for bringing this up and reminding me about them. My dc will be so happy. :D

This is what I am planning for my dd who will be 7th grade this coming year. I have been unsure what to do for her and so I pulled out my copy of WTM and have been inspired again. :) If you don't have your own copy, check your library, but I would definitely check out the recommendations for 7th grade.

They are part of the appendix in the IG's. I have not ever seen them available for purchase or download. I guess I never thought they were a big deal, mainly just everyday, common sense type stuff. Have you seen them? It is stuff like: tie shoes, hop on one foot, walk on a beam with eyes closed, set the table, etc. They give a target age for when a child should be able to do these things. I don't have them in front of me right now, but if you have other questions I can pull them out and look at them. I honestly have only glanced over them when I look through my IG and have not ever used them for anything. But if you have specific questions, I can try to answer them for you.

I think I might have some of these around because I like these types of puzzles. :) I'll have to look through my piles of magazines/catalogs/puzzle books. I forgot that I also have Art of Argument. So, maybe we will read Fallacy Detective & Thinking Toolbox, then do AofA over the next 2 years. I can throw in some of the puzzles for fun. Then we can start TL1 in 9th. Thanks!

I forgot that I also have Art of Argument. :) Maybe we will do Fallacy Detective & Thinking Toolbox, then Art of Argument over the next 2 years. Thanks!

I also have Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox by the Bluedorns. Should we read through these, too?

I also have Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox by the Bluedorns. Should we read through these, also?

Here is a link that may help. http://books.google.com/books?id=-dA7Dj-vwPIC&pg=RA1-PA410&lpg=RA1-PA410&dq=why+do+singular+verbs+end+in+s&source=web&ots=2HKUkew3vz&sig=Grv1mpTpzffwd5Fn3-YOl4DqCnc&hl=en#PRA1-PA410,M1 Scroll down to the section that is titled: Do Your Subjects Agree With Their Verbs: Do Your Predicates Match Their Subjects. This will explain and give some examples. HTH

Adding an "s" to a verb does not make it plural like it does for nouns. For most cases the verb will be the opposite ending of the noun. So if your noun ends in s, the verb will not because most plural verbs do not end in s. If your noun does not end in s, the verb will because most singular verbs end in s. HTH

A number of posts recently have caused me to contemplate our course of study. I pulled out my copy of WTM and have been reading over it and trying to plan a structure for our next year of studies. I am trying to determine Logic studies for a 7th grader. A few considerations: I am trying to use what we have because I have a budget and I don't want to spend needlessly. With this in mind, I have Traditional Logic and so I am planning on following WTM and waiting until 9th grade to start that. In the meantime I have 2 years to prepare my dd for TL. For those planning to use TL, WTM suggests Mind Benders and Red Herrings books for 5th and Critical Thinking Books 1 & 2 for 6th. For 7th & 8th a critical thinking resource in the students area of interest. I was thinking it might be best to follow the 5th & 6th grade recommendations as we have only done these things sporadically. Ok, here is what I have: Mind Benders A1 (most has been completed already, there are 4 activities left in this book), Think A Minutes A1, A2, B1 & B2, Analogy Roundup from Dandylion Publications, Quotation Quizzlers from Dandylion Publicatioins, Critical Thinking Activities grades 7-12 by Dale Seymour & Ed Beardslee (purchased from Sonlight) and Daily Spark Critical Thinking book. Would these resources be suitable to use as substitution for the WTM recs as a prep for TL 1 & 2 in high school? Or should I be looking at making some other purchases? Thanks. (I cross-posted this to the K-8 board)

A number of posts recently have caused me to contemplate our course of study. I pulled out my copy of WTM and have been reading over it and trying to plan a structure for our next year of studies. I am trying to determine Logic studies for a 7th grader. A few considerations: I am trying to use what we have because I have a budget and I don't want to spend needlessly. With this in mind, I have Traditional Logic and so I am planning on following WTM and waiting until 9th grade to start that. In the meantime I have 2 years to prepare my dd for TL. For those planning to use TL, WTM suggests Mind Benders and Red Herrings books for 5th and Critical Thinking Books 1 & 2 for 6th. For 7th & 8th a critical thinking resource in the students area of interest. I was thinking it might be best to follow the 5th & 6th grade recommendations as we have only done these things sporadically. Ok, here is what I have: Mind Benders A1 (most has been completed already, there are 4 activities left in this book), Think A Minutes A1, A2, B1 & B2, Analogy Roundup from Dandylion Publications, Quotation Quizzlers from Dandylion Publicatioins, Critical Thinking Activities grades 7-12 by Dale Seymour & Ed Beardslee (purchased from Sonlight) and Daily Spark Critical Thinking book. Would these resources be suitable to use as a substitution for the WTM recs as a prep for TL 1 & 2 in high school? Or should I be looking at making some other purchases? Thanks. (I am going to cross-post this to the hs board)

I have read all the posts and it has been an interesting thread. I wanted to point out that if you have a copy of TWTM handy, you may want to read pages xxiii-xxiv titled Pratical Considerations: Using The Well-Trained Mind Without Losing Your Own. The authors talk about the freedom we have as hs'ers and that they don't expect people to follow WTM to the letter. It was written as a guide, a way for us to see how it *could* be done, not how it *has* to be done. They state that us, as the readers, should do what works for our situations; including substituting books and using parts of the WTM vs. the whole. They do state to consider working in a direction that is systematic and rigorous, but, to some extent, I think we will all define those terms a bit differently depending on our situation. I had a realization today that I have at times in the past taken the path of least resistence when it comes to hs (some of it had to do with life circumstances at the time and some was just my failings). I think a solid, rigorous education is a good and worthy goal, but following WTM sample schedules to the letter isn't the only way to get there. JMHO

I love Donald Duck! It is that simple. :D

In the past 16 years (possibly longer, but I can't really remember any farther back) I have worn make-up 3 times; my wedding, my sister's wedding and a friend's wedding. My skin is very sensitive and it just feels better without make-up. It would probably *look* better with, but I can't be bothered with it (I have hair issues, too, but that is another story :D). I voted for only special occasions.

The freedom to explore. I love that we are not tied to a specific time frame of when things have to be done. If we go off on a tangent, it is wonderful and we can come back to where we left off without a problem. I really had to think hard on this recently as my dh & I were considering a virtual high school for our ds this coming year. Our decision to continue hs'ing on our own came down to the flexibility and freedom we have. This is why I love hs'ing. As far as subjects, I really don't have one that I love more than the others. I really like history, but I also like math, science, literature, hmmm; see I just can't decide. :D If you ask my ds his favorite, he would say math (this surprises me) and my dd would say history. Since I don't have a *favorite* subject, I think our enthusiasm comes from just being able to do what we do. We started out hs'ing with the idea that we would take it year by year. This is our 9th year and we are still enjoying the journey.:)

I have some Instead and had trouble with it. Is there a learning curve to using them? I have tried them a couple times and just can't seem to get them in right (they leak, too). I was thinking of trying the Moon Cup because the material is different (someone mentioned it is softer), so I was hoping it would form to my shape better and maybe not leak. Maybe this is wishful thinking? I'll try my Instead again and see what happens. Thanks.

I use a natural sea sponge with cloth pad (thin liner type) for back-up, if needed, pretty much all the time (with the following exception). If I am going to be away from home for an extended period of time, I use organic cotton tampons and pads. I love the sea sponge/cloth pad combo. I tried the Keeper years ago and I always leaked so I gave it to a friend. I would like to try the Moon Cup or Diva and see how they work I just haven't taken the time to order one yet.

After a bit the 3 by 5 index card box was not big enough to hold all the cards. I found a box that holds 4 by 6 index/recipe cards lying around so I put the cards in that instead. I have the tiles in baggies and tuck them into the box with the cards (the tokens, too). All I have to do is pull out the box and everything is there. I am going to have to find a different box/container when we start level 3 because all the cards will not fit into our current box, but I will deal with that then. :)