My dc's loved the Charlie Bone serieshttp://www.scholastic.com/charliebone/books.htm as read alouds.

Rangoli might be fun for India. We recently went to a 2 hour class for kids given at our library. Used dotted paper to draw design, painted on glue, and colored sand. Worked well and was fun. Actually not that messy. Here is a website with ideashttp://www.activityvillage.co.uk/rangoli.

I just skimmed through this thread and have had many responses to different sections which have been covered by others. I feel very strongly that it is my responsibility to give my children the very best maths education that I and they are capable of. For my kids that means ploughing through some pretty advanced topics at home but that doesn't mean that I think everyone needs to. But I do want to point out that their high school math education has been far cheaper monetarily than earlier years simply because we use old used textbooks and free classes from MIT and Coursera as opposed to standard curriculum. This thread also made me think of my father who would be 95 now. His education was a bit sketchy overall but in math he was rock solid through geometry which he used in various trades throughout his life. One of his hobbies was investing in the stock market rather successfully. He was a rather gruff man and one of my favorite memories of him was when we spent a day comparing what I (finance and accounting major) had been taught in college about the stock market to his methods. It was fascinating, my dad had notebooks filled with how he had made his decisions. Pages filled with long calculations that matched my quick formulas every single time. We both knew he had been successful but we hadn't realised that he was actually already doing what he sent me to college to learn! Understanding the concepts is what is important!

Not opening for me either. I can't get into the boldoutlaw link either. Eta ... same error as Jane

I recently discovered that the MacGregor serieshttps://www.goodreads.com/series/51607-the-macgregorsby Nora Roberts has finally been released in kindle form. These are some of my favourites which I read many times several years ago. I no longer have my copies(big move) so being able to get them on overdrive will be great as soon as my library has all of them! They do have the first one Playing the Odds which I read last night. I loved it!

The link doesn't work, sorry I normally check my posts. The site is called boldoutlaw.com and appears to have tons of fascinating links to our area with pictures. I just found it yesterday when researching some new to our family walking paths and thought of you. Eta the link still won't work because I tried reposting it. If you can't find the website with boldoutlaw and robin hood let me know and I will ask my son to help. Lol

Not sure how far into Robin Hood you want to go with your kids but this is an interesting website for Robin Hood country. http://www.boldoutlaw.com/robbeg/robbeg3.html. We spent some time working on an archaeology project last summer at Clipstone and heard many Robin Hood theories from people there.

I just returned from a trip so my kids could see my mom. Good trip but tiring. I continued reading the Faith Hunter series on my kindle and finished my Josephine Tey mystery A Shilling for a Candle which I enjoyed. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16159908-a-shilling-for-candles I have several other Tey mysteries in hardcover that I requested from the library. Hoping to have an opportunity to read them.

:grouphug:

Eliana, What lovely news!!!

I have read several Carola Dunn mysteries. They are nice and light. Robin, Thanks for the Coffee House cozy recommendation. My overdrive library has them and I keep seeing them as a choice. I will get one to try soon! Stacia, Hope you start feeling better soon and that the rest of your family stays heathy especially your dd.

I started a new to me series this morning which my best friend highly recommends. It is first in The Price of Privilege Trilogy by Jessica Dotta titled Born of Persuasion. It is very intense and has me very tempted to read the end of the first one which I never do ( unless I am giving up on the book).http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/2013/08/an-interview-with-jessica-dotta-author.html Set in Victorian times it brings history alive but it is different then most. Not fluffy although the fluffy elements are there. Very atmospheric and gothic. Evil guardian and a big scary house with a poor orphan as the main character. The publisher is Tyndale so the adult content type references have thus far been mild. Religious content is there but different because the main character is the daughter of a famous atheist and very comfortable with her beliefs. Many twists keep this book fresh. I am looking forward to this series with a lot of enthusiasm! :)

It works for us quite well. I went from not being able to see well because my eyes were watering so badly with maximum doses of two different seasonal allergy med to an occasional dose of one. My honey is very local(maybe 3 miles from home) and my bee guy knows where his bees were for each jar I buy. I think I saw some slight improvement within a week or so. Enough to keep eating it. The big payoff seems to have come in future seasons. I get set honey not the thin, not sure if that makes a difference. We were purposely eating maybe two teaspoons ful a day on top of what naturally went on toast etc. Four years later I still make sure we get a couple jars from the blossoms that bother us the most but we just eat it on toast. Last allergy season was easy on alll of us.

The book Mary Poppin's was not a favourite read aloud here. I liked it and wanted to read the rest but no one wanted to listen. :lol: We love the movie. The disc world map Stacia linked was originally posted by Kim in Appalachia for dd when she wanted to start reading discworld. I just repost it occasionally because it is so fabulous. Dd's favourite is The character Death I think. She thinks I should start there or with Tiffany. She seems to agree with everyone here.

Dd will be so sad. Terry Pratchett was such a wonderful person by all accounts notjust as an author. I keep telling dd I will read one of his books. Picking where to start is daunting because I don't expect to want to read them all but who knows.....

:lol: Definitely a group read. I have 100 pages left and started it this morning!

I will be finishing this tonight! We are apparently having a group read. :lol: I have to say it is very good. I am glad Robin discovered more are planned but wish we didn't have to wait. If anyone is planning to read these this really is a series where starting at the beginning (Written in Red) is needed.

Laura, I just saw this and wanted to say thank you. Dd is preparing to start her SAT subject exams and trying to prioritize which to take on the first date.

I finished the latest in Julia Quinn's Smythe\Smith quartet a few minutes ago. The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy was a fun visit to Flufferton Abbey with on of my favorite fictional families front and center. I will be honest and say this wasn't as good as some of her books but I did read all of it this afternoon/evening so it really didn't matter. :lol: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22046656-the-secrets-of-sir-richard-kenworthy

It was never really a concious decision for us because at first we were just working to meet the interests of our daughter which were more intense than any of her same age friends. Then a childhood friend of mine came to see my new baby boy and brought her homeschooled kids with her. After a lovely afternoon where her kids very kindly entertained my 2 year old she made a comment that I was already homeschooling but didn't know it. :lol: After that she provided me with catalogues that made it so much easier to find the mathy puzzles and other educational toys dd required to be happy. She also dropped off a bunch of great stuff that she was done with which created a more formal environment. I just kept going and never really looked back.

I really enjoyed The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton and have been meaning to read something else by her. Maybe I will give The Forgotten Garden a try in a few weeks.

Totally agree with this! I hate the weird out of nowhere endings.

What got me curious is I saw it at Target yesterday. I think I checked it into the system my last volunteer day at my home library and nothing seemed special about it....pretty sure it went on the new shelf. ;) I just checked my UK libraries both have about 40 reservations on 6 copies which is about right for a new book.....regional libraries many branches. So obviously not a runaway hit. Patron reviews are good, couldn't put it down etc. Not sure if this will make you feel better but the library I use in the US rents their physical books for these extreme requests situations. It only buys a copy or two for each branch outright. The rental have a little sticky coloured dot on their spine. Were all the copies hardcover or was that kindle?

Apparently the book everyone is reading is The Girl on the Trainhttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/08/the-girl-on-the-train-paula-hawkins-review-novelby Paula Hawkins. It is supposed to be the new Gone Girl which I didn't like. :lol: Can't say the description completely entraces me but the waitlist on overdrive for my library had 988 ( yes, 988) people on it. I made myself 989 out of curiosity.......both about the book and how long before I get it. Has anybody here read it already? Was it good? Just curious about a book that gets that many holds. It doesn't sound that great to me. FYI That library routinely has low 100's for an obvious best seller like a new JD Robb. BTW, they have over 100 to loan. Never have I noticed such extreme numbers.

Congratulations!