Welcome!

I just finished part two of 1Q84. Yeah!!! I was starting to think I was going to be on the last 100 pages of that book for the next month. It took me a couple of days to get through them. Too tired to go on to part three tonight. I am curious to see what will happen next. I was surprised by the ending of part two so excited about it again. I started "Sacred Sins" by Nora Roberts a few days ago so will read that. Really good. Not sure that I have ever read it.

When I saw the thread title I had planned to suggest the Blue Book of Grammar frequently used with IEW. Stewart English is another good option. Then I thought about my own experience in school. I never got the "why bother" with grammar lessons until I was taking French. Maybe a foreign language would help like latin.

I need to look at my kindle "dusty" books more often. I have been busy comparing my list to the libraries I have access to. One particular book has been particularly difficult so I was getting ready to buy it when I happened to scroll my kindle fire way back in history. To my amazement sitting there was Chasing Mona Lisa by Tricia Goyer -- the book that I could not find. At some point it must have been a free download. Lol Now it is at the front of the que!

:grouphug:

We like Raglan Road. Haven't been to the main part for over a year. Far better fish and chips then those nasty ones in Epcot. I also will admit that everyone normally gets that. Homesick. ;) So not much experience with the menu as a whole. The entertainment is fun too if you time things right.

We have used LOF from fractions(dd went back and did from fractions, her first LOF subject was geometry). We also do NEM,dd finished that sequence. Ds is finishing abeka algebra 1 now and has not finished the NEM sequence. Now that those details are done dd has gone through Calculus with LOF (we own but have not started statistics and linear). She seems to collect math texts but for Trig she is just LOF and her understanding is good -- tests well. For calculus she is extremely comfortable and confident but is the first to tell you she wants more practice. Fred just did not have enough examples for her to be ready for something like the AP. We were able to look at used calculus texts while in the states and she fell in love with Lial's Calculus with Applications. She is close to halfway through in three months and totally self taught. I don't think she has asked dh a single question and this is what he does for a living. LoF made her really secure in her ability. She also bought a Stewart Calc book for after, in case she wants more. In dds case she is mathy but not a fan of AoPS. We have some but neither child likes them. Fred they love. We are crossing our t's by using other books because math is most likely part of both dc's future careers. That being said I do think fred done in the proper order -- algebra 1 has algebra 2 topics in it and vice versa so need to look at the whole -- and done well. We do all the cities not just til pass. Fred can be enough. Someplace on this board a mathy mom did a great evaluation of Fred but I can't find it. She considered fred to be very complete. Just want to add dd has always kept a Dummies book by her side when doing fred for quick reference. Not sure if her need to look up would be everyones because math is an area where she wants to know more.

Going on my list.

I have never used the Modern World History core but we are using core 200. A couple of general SL tips for binder use because it is to cumbersome and heavy....... You can get a smaller (1 inch or so) binder and move a few weeks over. Arrange the schedule followed by all info pertaining to those books by week. When I use this method I update weekly by moving completed items back to the main book. Clutter control is important when using SL or I tend to get overwhelmed by too much paper. With Core 200 I have tried a different approach. I have a stack of those cheap colored cardboardish folders with the center things(can't think of the proper name) so paper can be hooked in. I have put the schedules in one. The lit guides in another etc. In 200 a couple of guides are really huge so they have their own notebook. Dd and I are both working or way through this somewhat individually but together. This method is allowing us to share easier. One more thing that I just thought of is that SL came out with student guides for the high school cores a couple of years ago. Our 200 has that. It would be fairly easy to create that by simply pulling the discussion questions out onto a separate piece of paper for each book. Dd has found she prefers to write her answers then talk. I hope you enjoy your SL core. We have always loved SL. The books can be wonderful. I would add in all the language arts components. They do fill the program out and things like the Wordly Wise do not take long to complete.

Thank you Lori D! That list is great. Also just went through those old threads and I found some fabulous stuff. Lots of bookmarking this morning!:)

Just wanted to say our worst tenants ever were friends of friends. Absolute nightmare. We sold all of our rental property because of these people. I want to add they said they had no problems with the amount we were asking (but their checks bounced so....) and appeared to meet our criteria. They knew where we lived, pounded on the door at all hours because they kept locking themselves out. Dh worked late so they were my problem.

:grouphug: Personally I suspect she just wants to spend the whole day with her friends and is doing her best to force you to let her. It sounds like you do quite a bit. Do not feel guilty! Sorry no wise advice!

At that age I read to them huge numbers of library books. I visited all the garage sales near my home. Between retiring elementary teachers and the fact that people (non home ed) sell off educational toys cheap I accumulated a great collection of manipulatives and board games. I also bought every vaguely interesting puzzle I could find. Both kids loved jigsaw puzzles. Dd could do a hundred piece one during ds naptime. The only formal books we did was Building Thinking Skills. It used linking cubes and a couple others, maybe pattern blocks throughout the book. We had some Pathway reading materials which she loved. She also had a set of math counters and books called Funtastic Frogs. These were really great. The biggest thing is to have fun. Lots of library books and a good supply of colored paper and markers can create great learning activities at that age.

You can always read the next 4 books! Ds is working his way through them -- #2 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe received high ratings from him(and was finished in 3 days). He has slowed his pace now.........I can only assume they aren't as good.

:grouphug: I hope that next week is more peaceful!

I vote for Brothers and Bones. It looks rather Da Vinci Code like to me. I am on Book 2 chapter 3 in 1Q84. It definately is not my normal choice but I think I am enjoying it. I definately am becoming very interested in what is going to happen next in the plot. I am not so sure about the mystical portions. I hope to understand these elements better at the end.

We used Ludere Latin I. dd enjoyed it--loves book work. Ds did not -- no surprise. I thought it was repetitive. Same things every week. One of those things that I wasn't sure I got my money's worth out of but as a mom who doesn't know latin didn't hurt to have it. No one was sad when we skipped it for CL II.

They all have the same basic format which we love. Much of Prima is repeated in Latina Chistina I so could be skipped technically. The prayers learned in Prima are more spread out over LC I and II as I remember. Dd loved learning all the prayers in latin. She already knew them for for LC I and II so not as interested in that part in the later volumes. Your new pictures are great!

I think the the Sassafras Science book sounds great. I did science without a formal curriculum back whan my kids were that age. I used a bit of everything. I was a curriculum junkie and did not have to haul my belongings around in my luggage. I need to dig deep into my memory to come up with our best stuff.;) These are what I can think of right now. We did great units using Holling Holling(not a typo) books -- Pagoo and Minn of the Mississippi as springboards. They are beautifully illustrated with extras. Pagoo is a horseshoe crab and his whole life is described and illustrated in great detail along with a story that puts it in context. Minn is a turtle....who, big surprise, lives in the Mississippi. We did most of the classifications of what lives in the sea with those as our springboard. I think with youtube and internet resources you could fill in where and when needed. We used ghe library because we had a great one then. We have been doing biology this year and use youtube for extras constantly. I am trying to think about your luggage but we used Draw Write Now extensively at that age. They fit in with science, history, geography. We illustrated all the time. We made notebooks of animals we had learned about.

I found some great textbooks on the shelf at our library. We have been able to try them then order the same edition used. Great savings.;)

Just wanted to say you can skip the fancy curriculum for quite awhile if you use the internet and the library. The beauty of home ed is that when that doesn't seem to work any longer you can buy something more formal. You don't have to do that for September. November or March(or whenever) will be just fine starting points too.

One tip I have learned is to use more then one kind of cheese in your white sauce. I aim for 3 kinds if I have them. Can just cube and melt in the sauce. A creamy cheese like velveeta is nice for one. Cheddar is somewhat required. Them colby, montery jack, etc for the rest.

:grouphug: I am sorry.

Thank you! Just put it on my kindle. :) Also welcome to the board.

This is not what you are looking for but I can't resist adding that the first couple of Harry Potter books have been translated into latin. Apparently quite fun...dd and her friend really like them.