Thank you! I bookmarked it and your blog too! Great stuff!:)

Both dc's chicken pox started with smallish itchy bumps (allergic to mosquitoes so they end up with huge bumps for that). About 48 hours later they had the textbook chicken pox blister all over. Even the new bumps came with the blister so at this point she probably has something else.

I would not have wanted you with your children to visit the hospital. That being said you by yourself could be the answer to prayers. You are an experienced mom who may know how to breastfeed. That sounds silly but I was so excited when someone came who had actually had a child in the past decade and could offer a bit of practical advice. As someone who did the infertility/miracle baby scenario it was a bit of a shock when actually faced with a real baby. It had never occurred to me that things would not be textbook. :lol:

I finished #80 "Six Years" by Harlan Coben. It was a great suspense novel. I could not put it down. I finished it in less then a day. This story was this author at his best. It starts with the main character accidentally reading the obituary for the husband of the woman he has always loved......the twists and turns the author takes from there were not at all predictable and made for a wonderful read!

Core B was a long time ago for us. I know we actually read both of those books--we did not always do the mission focused books because while inspirational they just were not a great personal fit. The Miller's book did not fit the rest of the curriculum at all as I remember but ds thought it was exciting so we enjoyed it. The A to Z book we used as a geography starter(where in the world...) so not so much as SL wanted. Probably would not buy it individually. I just pulled my current catalog. I have to agree not a great deal of literature / history coordination. I remember more. I do think the books are good but not well coordinated. You could do better on your own using WTM and VP as your guide. The LA for SL is never enough imo. I have always supplemented. I honestly did not mean to sound so negative. We loved that core! It was absolutely perfect for my son (We used VP at the same time for dd who needed more). SL is easy to use. Loved the schedule.

My dd enjoyed LOF calculus. While I have posted before that it does lack practice problems and is not enough by itself to take an AP exam(for example). It is probably a good option for your dd especially with the Saxon text to use for a better explanation if needed. Dd used Calc for Dummies frequently while going through fred to clarify many explanations--she did the course independantly. LoF made DD, who loves math, really confident that she understands basic Calc concepts. As a springboard it has been great.

We use Ligioner too. You can also buy the entire course with a dvd or one timr download. They have frequent sales if you look at their bookstore--$5 Friday's. The Crucial Questions series is availiable for FREE on the kindle right now. A series of 15 books that are roughly 80 pages long. Normally R.C. Sproul sells them for $4 each.

I print a lot too. Laser printer to holepunch and into a binder. I stay about one week out. I also prefer to buy hard copy curriculum which grants copyright permission to my family. Laser copy machine too. This allows great flexibility in how we do subjects. I can speed up or slow down and add more practice at will. It also allows me to completely change course mid year without great expense and disruption. I have stacks of partially completed workbooks from our early years. I can't stand to get rid of them because they are special but bulky. When I print I have binders filled with completed work which I prefer. I just fell in love with the Stanford reading history coursework about two weeks ago. I have heavily integrated into the remainder of Modern History. No real expense except my cheap copies with the added bonus that if it isn't working I can change. Obviously I do my descriptions after.;)

I didn't know she had died. She was such a lovely person. I will definately read her book.

I finished "The Secret Keeper" late last night. I loved it.:) Absolutely fabulous. I suspect I have you to thank for the recommendation.

I would send a card with a note that you have made a donation to whatever charity in his honor. Maybe print some info to include in card.

Just finished "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn while it was certainly anything but predicable I can't honestly say I enjoyed it. Generally I love psycholigcal suspense type books but after boring me for the first 50%(It was an ebook so I kept checking) it did get interesting but not in a good way. For lack of a better description it was disturbing without being fascinating and so popular I expected fascinating. If it hadn't been for the fact that I waited through an eighty some person hold list for this book I would have stopped at 20%. Which would have been fine. Well at least it definately is not easy to guess the ending of this one.

Welcome!

We have been able to google and find all of the images online for that course. My dc's prefer drawing and labeling that way. We do have a microscope but spent no where near the amount recommended. Dh did the research and we are happy with it -- bought off ebay for roughly $100. Slides etc were extra. Used more for independent interests then the course. We frequently bring stuff home to look at from walks etc. Definately something I am glad they have but apologia biology can be done without. Imo. :)

So glad to read the good news! I will pray for a continued recovery.

Hi! I think I am one of the people you are looking for. There are quite a few of us here. Welcome!

Praying

We use magic jack and have had no problems. The connection is generally very good quality. The only problems we have had are in hotel rooms with poor quality wifi. Yes we take it with us. :lol:

Stacia - I will attempt to find an adult (Burton and Swinburne) Steampunk novel and try it. :lol:

It depends on the age and quite honestly the speed and work level your child is capable of. LCII is very much an extension of the first year. The same type of worksheets and quiz sheets just harder. First Form has more (I think there are 4 wksheet pages per week as opposed to 2, my memory could be off) and is probably the better program imo. We used LC until henle because I already had it and our timing for first form would always be a bit off. Lots of waiting for them to publish the next level. That being said I do not think ds would have been a good fit for FF. He thought LC was too much writing but he did learn well. FF may very well been that little bit too much which leads to his work not getting done.

I have never minded supportive people quizzing my dc. Dad, granpa etc. Are just fine. I don't mind the what are you learning math type questions. Or the what is your favorite subject. The thing I hate is the lets stump the home ed child because they are somehow deserving of being made to feel inferior -- even if said child is doing something far beyond what the local schools are teaching. Quiz til a weakness can be found. Makes me furious.

I finished James Patterson's Alex Cross, Run last night. Nothing special simply the next one. The good news is I can return it so yhe next person on the huge wait list can read it. :) I do enjoy YA fiction. I have been thinking about some of the comments here and wondering why.... when I only started reading it recently. Part of that I am sure is because of the age of my dc's. It is fun to join in with thier interests when possible. But also there is so much more of it I think. Many clever supernatural and time travel books seem to be YA. Both genres I have always enjoyed but from a more serial romance novel perspective are now frequently described as YA. The genre names are just a bit more trendy like steam punk etc. I have learned many new ways of describing books since joining this group. I had never even heard of a cozy mystery although they are my favorites. :lol: I suspect the title YA has really evolved in the past decade and am becoming really curious about how it is bestowed. Stacia raised some excellent points earlier. Is is just a publisher's marketing decision or do they have actual standards? Probably enough of my musings for now....

I love that people post news events here. I spend very little time anywhere else online and do not watch tv during the day. I love the fact that by taking a quick look at the hive throughout the day I know about major events. Also I no longer watch US news actively(live in UK) so would not see many things if the hive did not provide them. This is more of a community of people who have at least one thing in common :) then a group dedicated to home ed.

I finished #75 A Red Herring with Mustard by Alan Bradley. It was another Flavia book and it was lovely. They are great reads but I really do not understand why they are considered adult books. On to the next in the series as soon as I have time. Also finished #76 In Rides Trouble (Black Knights) by Julie Ann Walker. Fun read with more in the series. Hopefully I will eventually find them at a library because while I enjoy them not enough to buy the last half of a series. Just started The Charm School by Nelson DeMille. I read it when it first came out in 1988 and loved it. Currently reading it to see if it could add atmosphere to our modern history cold war studies. A bit chunky at almost 700 pages so I don't want to assign "atmosphere" unless dd and maybe ds will love it.

We have just started using IEW literature guides so I haven't been at it long enough to dislike anything.;) So far happy with it. Good list for American lit imo. Their units are independent of each other so he could just do what he could complete or most interested it. Honors part lists alternates which could probably be completely substituted if he dislikes one. Samples online along with book lists.