We have been looking at the Mounce books too. Unfortunately that fact the I am seriously considering them is all I can recommend. We've been using the elementary Greek books. DD should finish the third by fall. I didn't know Bluedorn had Greek. They look lovely but the Mounce books are a far more cost effective option. Plus he apparently is the expert since he is in charge of the ESV translation. I've been planning to post asking about these books. Maybe someone in the hive knows.....

Did you look at Target?

I live in the UK now and my front loading machine stank. There is no choice, it goes in my kitchen next to the sink. Dishwasher is on other side. Anyway hubby did some research we ran a couple of bleach loads and leave it completely open every night and the smell was gone in about a week. I also check for socks etc frequently. I use soap that looks kind of like a dishwasher tab. I think they have something similar in US now-- tide maybe. You just put it in with your clothes. It works great.

I love the fact that nice days get to be enjoyed! This is another great reason to home ed. The added bonus is we get to go places that are packed on weekends with no crowds. We just home ed year around and try to enjoy lovely weather whenever it happens!

As someone whose mom kept a few things, keep some! My kids love my old books and breyer horses. I wish I had more! I am keeping the wedgits, duplos, and legos. Breyer horse collection stays too. That being said I have donated tons so you can't keep everything.

Megan, have your son try the khanacademy. There are quite a few pres algebra topics. After he watches Dvd he can do exercises. It will tell him when he is proficient then he can go to the next topic. He can give algebra 1 a go with this too. We are in England too. A big convention with lots of choice would be lovely!

My DD is really looking forward to it. My DS is dreading it. We have a compromise we plan to dissect things for the most part that we can eat. I admit we live in the UK which mean that my butcher and fishmonger will help. But I do think you can find sources in the US with some effort. Anyway we plan to get a very fresh fish, dissect it, then clean and cook it. That way the fish will not have died in vain. The dissection will be harder though without the Colour coding. I have no idea how many we will do. I guess until they run out of ideas.

Thank you! The website also has some great experiments.

That is exactly what I was taking when the hives started!

I would get the test sooner rather then later. If the antibiotics are penicillin based she could end up with hives. Something about mono and penicillan creates an allergy. This personal experience so please someone correct me if I am wrong!

Coke helped me. So did salty foods -- I liked nuts. Try to get a can of ensure or boost down at some point during they day. Lots of nutrition for relatively little suffering. Another tip I learned thanks to being hospitalized was I could eat without pressure. My husband would beg me to eat, question me for what felt like hours about what I could eat, by the time I survived that I threw up. Anyway when relatively bland food simply arrived at exactly the same time each day I could usually eat it. Maybe someone, a relative, neighbor, even dh could help you try this for at least a meal a day. I can't guarantee it will work but it might be worth trying. Just so you know I wasn't in the hospital for nausea, but for an incompetent cervex with funneling. But after the meals became regular with no worries about having to eat nausea wise things were much better. I will be praying that you will feel better soon.

It sounds lovely. Only rarely have we needed to buy something to go with these activities. The people who publish the magazine really want to help children to love and appreciate the wonders of God's world. I want to make sure you know that I am the one who mentioned this magazine on the art thread. I do love it but I seem to be the only one here using it! I hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Aloe and vinegar both work. If it is really severe use those during the daytime plus put some zinc oxide cream (diaper rash cream with a decent zinc level works great) on it before bed. This can really help the discomfort and it should be significantly better the next day. Of course my family will tell you that I put zinc on everything skin related! But I do think it helps. Hope it feels better soon!

You can subscribe to an expanded Nature Friend with a study guide. We don't, do to the fact we are in the UK and my mom actually receives the magazine and mails the parts on that we want. I know we could get a foreign subscription but she loves being involved. She had a sample of the expanded one and loved it (I did see it eventually,nice) but I don't want her to have to mail that much. We used the first to CLP readers then grew tired of them. The beautiful photography and hands on activities are more fun. As an added idea back when we lived in the US we subscribed to Zoobooks too. We combined the magazines with some library books and did the GALLOPING. THE GLOBE unit study. Part of the suggested activites are animals from each region. Worked great. Lots of activites. I think we used our draw write now books with that too.

Ancestry.com is free at many libraries. As far as the best I have no idea. I did my research in the days where I sat with microfilm at a LDS family history center. It really wasn't that long ago. Anyway I plan to update at the library some day, make the kids help so they appreciate my hard work.

Choirs are extremely popular. Dd and I also belong to a patchwork group. Lots of activities available.

I usually put them in water in the microwave for 10 minutes first--I usually don't plan enough ahead of time. Then into the crock pot with a vegetarian bouillon cube and garlic. It is really good when you add a can of chopped tomatoes and sliced mushrooms. Serve on rice with salsa on side.

:iagree: We bought an industrial power converter for my kitchen appliences -- mainly so my kitchen aid mixer could go. I didn't want to live without it. My DH ordered from "the south", paid around £100 for it. We couldn't live without it. We moved 5years ago and it has worked out great. We are in the US for 2 more weeks. If you want the name of the converter company I can get it when we return. I buy a lot of my curriculum in the US with free shipping and carry it back. That is changing because there is more available in the UK all the time. Another piece of advice is for us it has been easier to meet people and make friends in a village. When we first moved we lived in a city and knew hardly anyone. The villages are easier especially if you use the local shops.

HG is great. Lucky you!

Try naproxen sodium-- I think Alieve is the brand name. I'm allergic to most pain medication. Back in high school before I knew I had endo. These were what I was given for menstrual pain. 2 still help. Wish I could do something more:grouphug:

Put together a plan that you think will work well for you and your kids. Keep an eye on this forum. Great links and ideas are constantly being posted. Most importantly remember there will be gaps. All education methods have them. Cover your curriculum choices well and enjoy it. Try not to worry that someone else is doing something else. If you really like that idea maybe that is what you should do next.

We tried quite a few different programs over the years. Draw write now was used the most. I bought the whole set and we used it for reference-- what can we draw to go with this. We also have a stack of ed emberly books. Our favorite is a subscription to Nature Friend magazine. Christian based. It has a wide range of activities inclunding science experiments. The most important thing is a drawing contest each month. My DD has entered faithfully each month since she was 5 and is a great artist. She gets published every few months which is the prize. There is a page with about 20 entries shown and their name with location. DS has been published a few times too. He likes that part. The contest gives step by step directions for the entry. A materials list-- most of the time colored pencils will work. She just finished a lovely black and white of an elephant. My husband will scan it and send it off with her details. Last month it was a cardinal.

The try engineering link is fabulous! It goes on for pages. My DS will love it. Thank you

My dad used a sheet I think. My mom and I were just remembering our maple syrup days, she made a comment about how important it is to boil it down completely. If it is too thin it apparently spoils. She would definately know. Have fun!

We are currently using it. We will not be able to finish it in one year but that is because of me. My DS(10 when we started this core) reads well, just prefers technical and Sci Fi, but he wasn't doing a great job on his readers due to lack of interest. This was reflected in his written assignments. My solution is to go slower and do it all as read alouds. Its a massive amount of reading most days so I can't always get it all done. My Dd is more than able to do it as SL assigns but likes to listen too. We just started core 200 for her. She still plans to do the other with us. Anyway the books are great. We've learned so much. I think it is possible to do the course in a year as long as the readers are readers. I will say we haven't done much of the Bible portion. It isn't a good fit with our family this year. But there is nothing wrong with the course. Probably the books will be read eventually, just not out loud by me! We've been using a Westminster study guide instead. Hope this is helpful.