I cut everyone's hair. I use clippers and scissors for Dh, just clippers for ds (he likes his short all over), and scissors for dd. Dd is getting to an age soon, though, when she'll want more of a style. I'll take her to the lady who does mine.

I used to jot these words down the side of a sheet of notebook paper, then ask dc to tell me one or two word answers to each question word. Then, I'd have them use those keywords to put together a short paragraph (trying to keep it to one sentence for each. Not all of the six word questions will have answers, especially "Why?" So, if you can't think of anything, just leave those ones blank.

These are the headings in my planner: Piano - 5x (15 min) Math - 5x (30-40 min) Grammar - 5x (30 - 60 min) Cursive - 4x (10 min) Memory - 5x (5 min) Spelling - 1 or 2x (15-20 min) Bible - 4x (10-15 min) Latin - 4x (20 min) History - 2 or 3x (unless we do Science) (1 1/2 hour) Science - 2x (unless we do History) (30-60 min) Reading - 5x (independent) Typing - 3x (10 min) PE - 2x (hmmm. I don't really know) Art/Music - 1x (1 hour - chorus) Life Skills - whenever something new comes up It looks like a lot, but some of it only takes a few minutes. Some of it we only do once in awhile. And, some of it is kind of fluffy. :)

My 11yodd is using Typing Instructor for Kids as well. She isn't very enthusiastic, but she's doing well. 8yods tried, but was just too frustrated. I'm gonna hold off on him. FYI, we tried SpongeBob Typing, The kids didn't like the graphic fingers on the keyboard because they're curved to the side. It's difficult to follow the curved fingers to see which letter/key they're pressing. They like TIK because the fingers on the graphic point straight up.

I think that knowing the difference between active and passive voice is very important. It can make the difference in strong and weak writing, in my experience. I never use what *I* learned as a determining factor in what my kids need to learn. My dd (also in R&S6) is learning things that I didn't learn until 10th grade. I plan on continuing R&S through 8th grade. She will be so ahead of where I was in high school. She'll just be able to write, and she'll know what she's doing! :o) (At least, that's my plan.) (grin) FWIW, WRT picking battles: my dd doesn't do every exercise in R&S6. She reads through them all, but only does the exercises for things she doesn't know (she's the one who decided what she needs to do). I don't even look at her work. Then, she does the chapter test at the end of each chapter. I grade those, and she corrects everything she missed. If she misses whole topics, she re-does the respective lessons, and I test her again (this has only happened once). Usually, she gets above 95% on her grammar tests, so I'm not concerned.

We hated Spelling Workout. Never seemed to learn to spell anything. I hated the way the words were grouped. No rhyme or reason, imo. We switched to Natural Speller. It has graded word lists, grouped by common spelling families (I'm sure there's a proper name for that, but I don't know what it is). Anyway, we do spelling together (6th grade dd and 4th grade ds). I alternate between the two dc, giving them words from their respective lists. They write them down. If they get it right, we just go on. If they get it wrong, I tell them how to spell it and they write it correctly two more times. I also circle the missed word in my book. For 6th grade dd, I also circle words she's never heard, and mark them as vocabulary words. We keep going until she has 12-15 words circled (this sometimes takes weeks because she's a very good speller). She copies her list, then she alphabetizes it (writing it again). I usually have her write different forms of some of the words, adding different prefixes and suffixes. Then, she looks up the vocabulary words, and writes the definition and an example sentence for each word. Then, I test her again. Usually, just working this much with the words is enough for her to learn them. It usually takes several weeks to come up with a list, but she has gone through about 100 words in the process. She is able to go very quickly through the word lists this way. (She's in 6th grade, but she's almost finished with the 8th grade list.) For 4th grade ds, I teach him as we go. After I circle missed words and have him write them correctly 3 times, I go on to the next word. But, with every few successful spellings, I give him one of his previously missed words. I keep giving him the missed words periodically until he consistantly spells them correctly a couple days in a row. Then, I erase the circle from the word (with much fanfare). His spelling has vastly improved using this method. He was terrible at the beginning of the year (after wasting too much time with SWO), and I started him with the first grade word list. He has gone through the 1st through the 3rd grade lists, and is almost caught up with where I think he needs to be (half way through the 4th grade list. Oh, I don't know if this matters, but I have them do spelling on table top white boards. That makes it easy for me to see what they write (since they're both a few feet away from me), and they enjoy it. It's like a game for them.

We have used Singapore exclusively. My son is in 4A, and my daughter is in 6A. We have used some of their extra practice materials for certain topics, but for the most part, the PM text and workbook have been sufficient. We do fact drill on the side. Come to think of it, my dd had a hard time with subtraction-to-100 back in second grade. We took some time off Singapore and did Harcourt for awhile, but we've stuck with Singapore ever since. She's excited about math these days, and I can see a bit of myself in her (I love the thrill of figuring out difficult problems). :o)

We tried a device for tongue thrust. It didn't work for us, but that was because I was terrible about sitting with dd to do her practicing. She was supposed to practice for an hour a day (in six 10-minute sessions). She was supposed to sit, looking in a mirror, and practice swallowing with her tongue touching the little tab thingie at the top of the device. We didn't do it. It didn't work. (I'm not at all surprised) It might have worked if we had actually used it correctly, but I just didn't have the time to sit with her, and she didn't do it correctly on her own (she was 7 at the time). She's 11 1/2 now. She still swallows incorrectly. She can't swallow pills. Her mouth hangs open slightly all the time. Her chin is developing that long, drawn out look. Her upper jaw is narrow because she doesn't hold her tongue up there like she's supposed to. It makes me sad that I didn't make it more of a priority when she was young, but it just wasn't realistic for me. Maybe you'll have a better chance. Maybe your device is different. This is just my experience -- not very helpful, I suppose. :o)

I "third" this advice. Yes, do everything "Cadam" said.

We don't treat the throat. We treat the post-nasal drip. Take a decongestant, and an antihistamine if you're not driving. Once the drip is gone, the sore throat will go away. I say "we" loosely. Dh doesn't treat the throat at all -- just the drip. I treat the drip, but take some Tylenol for the pain while I'm waiting for the decongestant to work.

My needs in a kitchen faucet: *Must have a single handle (messing around with two knobs while holding dishes to wash/rinse is a major peeve of mine) *I like a sprayer, but I don't like the pull out kind. The pull-outs I've had experience with always seemed to have problems (leaked, sprayed the water out at an angle which hit a bowl and swooshed me in the stomach -- not fun) *I like a high arc faucet that gives plenty of room for large pots underneath *I love my Delta Waterfall. You can see it here: http://www.deltafaucet.com/wps/portal/deltacom/Kitchen?PC_7_19_9RO_group=TallHighArc&PC_7_19_9RO_collection=Waterfall&PC_7_19_9RO_pid=174-WF&PC_7_19_9RO_spf_strutsAction=!2fviewProductDetail.do&PC_7_19_9RO_area=Kitchen&PC_7_19_9RO_task=DfcProductDetail&PC_7_19_9RO_function=SingleHandle#7_19_9RO My needs in a sink: *Easy cleaning -- Mine is Corian, integrated with the coutertop so I can easily just "swoosh" all water and crumbs into the sink. I hate sinks with a lip that sits on top of the countertop. They are a pain to clean. *One large, deep bowl (for those large pots and other large items) *One small, shallow bowl (for the garbage disposal, and to fill with soapy water -- I don't like to waste water, so I hardly ever fill the large bowl.)

Dd and I looked it up on Wikipedia the other day, but that's about it.

Same here. Chores are expected. Allowance is tied to attitude, not chores. Some opportunity available to earn extra money for special jobs, but not often.

Dh is a pilot and spills gas on himself on a regular basis. Yes, you do need to let the clothes air dry, but you don't really need the sun. You just need to hang the clothes in a well-ventilated area. Once the gas evaporates, you won't be able to smell it anymore. Then, you can wash them.

I can't tell you a thing about A Beka 6th nd 7th grade English, but could you point me in the direction of SWB's suggestion to switch to A Beka? I've never heard that. My dd is just finishing R&S6, and I was planning on doing R&S7 next year.

You definitely only need one textbook. I would get a lab workbook for the 3rd and 1st graders. You can make your own, simplified version for your little guy. Have fun! We just finished doing PL1 and L1 with my 4th and 6th graders. PL1 was too easy for my 4th grader, but we still enjoyed doing it alongside L1.

I use Natural Speller with my 6th grader and my 4th grader. This is our 3rd year, I think. I just "pretest" like crazy. I go through the graded word lists (yes, they're grouped by common sound), and they write the words on a lap size white board (this lets me see both of their work, since I alternate between them) For my 4th grader, if he misses a word, I tell him how to spell it correctly, and have him write it two more times. I also circle the word on my list. I go back to that word a couple of times the same day, and then I re-visit the word the next session. I keep throwing it in there until I'm sure he remembers how to spell it. He's a pretty good natural speller, so there are usually only a few words (out of about 20) that he misses in a day. We just plug along through the lists, re-doing the missed words as necessary until we can eliminate them, adding new missed words, and glossing over the ones he already knows how to spell. For my 6th grade dd, I do it a little differently. I give her the list words, and she spells them. I also ask her to define them if I suspect she doesn't know. I circle mispelled words, and vocabulary words. When she has 12 - 15 words on her list, I have her write them all down (from the book). Then, she alphabetizes them. She looks up the definition and gives an example sentence for each vocab word. She adds prefixes and suffixes to any words that will take them. Then, we retest. Usually, just working with the words so much will cement the spelling and meanings into her mind. She's a good speller, also, so it sometimes takes weeks just to come up with a spelling/vocabulary list.

We started SWO-A halfway through PP (about beginning of 1st grade), but didn't get very far into it with either of my two children. SWO just didn't teach anything. It did, however, give them an appreciation that there was really only one correct way to spell each word. That was valuable to me, as both my kids thought "their way" was good enough. :o) We started FLL half way through first grade, and finished it at the end of second grade.

I click the quick reply button on the person I want to answer.

I have tried to find my 11yodd dresses for winter, but had almost no luck. I just couldn't find anything that didn't have spaghetti straps and wasn't made from clingy chiffon fabric. Yuk, and Brrrr! All I was able to find was a red velvet dress from Lands End. Then, I sat down and made a dress for her. I think it's the first dress I've ever made for her, poor thing. She feels very special in her sparkly velvet, long sleeve top (with a tied shrug), and her silk-like polyester twirly skirt. And, Mom's pleased. :o) The pattern was McCall's, #5038. I lengthened the sleeves, and changed the skirt slightly to suit my dd, but it was super easy. You can see it here: http://www.mccallpattern.com/item/M5038.htm?search=5038&page=1

Just FYI: If the year is divisible by 4, then it is a leap year.

Highlights also produces two fun geography products. One is called "Which Way, USA" and the other is "Top Secret Adventures". We subscribed to "Top Secret Adventures: for about a year. Each month, your secret-agent-kid gets a kit with a mystery to solve. In order to solve the mystery, they need to learn about the chosen country. There are puzzles and games and a very informative booklet that gives lots of interesting information about the country-of-the-month. "Which Way, USA" is similar, but has an investigative reporter theme. It's full of games and puzzles (based in the states, of course). These aren't really *like* Highlights, but they're produced by Highlights, and they're fun.

Highlights makes books called Puzzlemania, that contains only the mazes and puzzles from Highlights. They also have one called Hidden Pictures, and one called Mathmania. Also, she can check out Highlightskids.com for more stories and other fun activities. I just got this information from my 11dd. Hope it helps. I don't know of an older version of Highlights (or anything like it).

I'll never forget the last episode of Newhart (the second show). At the end, he woke up next to Suzanne Pleshette, as if the entire New England thing was just a really long, really bad dream! I was so surprised to see her there, and I think I snorted milk through my nose or something. That was hilarious. I'll miss her. She was so classy, she made ME feel classy (just because my name is Suzanne, too!). :o)

I didn't feel "advanced" enough yet. :o} This helps a lot.