I sure will say a prayer. I know a man who was diagnosed with prostate cancer 6 years ago now - and it also had not spread. After 6 weeks, he was back to work, never had to take chemo, and is in complete remission. I pray for the same outcome for your dad!

I was never mathy in school. I was english-y. LOL My dh is mathy. I decided to give Singapore a try and we absolutely LOVE it. Not only is my ds learning math...I AM TOO! :) Yes, I use the HIG, but in 3B I don't generally use all the suggestions she gives for practice. My oldest ds is definitely mathy and picks up on the concepts really fast.

I like the look of Harvey's and I definitely don't think it will challenge me. I am not afraid of the teacher intensive part (I have an English degree and grammar just never was a reall challenge), my worry is whether or not my son will do as well with it as he has the other grammar program he has been using.

I use Oil of Olay - Sensitive skin.

We really disliked Calvert math. It was way too expensive and was not nearly the quality program that Singapore is. Both of my sons are now doing Singapore and we LOVE it. I was nervous at first starting Singapore too. However, my kids took to it really fast - especially my oldest who had previously taken math in public school. The one con with Singapore that I can think of is that, really, the workbook and textbook are not enough. I always buy the supplements - Extra Practice, Intensive Practice, and Challenging Word Problems. I don't mind buying those and I really like having the optional stuff there incase we need it. If it is obvious my son "gets" something, we do little extra. If there is something he is struggling with, then we use all of the extra resources for further practice. My son is in 4th grade and he is finishing Singapore 3B right now. I took him back a level because they did not teach him everything in 3rd grade ps that Singapore teaches in 3A and 3B. :) I use the 3B Extra Practice book, the 3B Intensive Practice book, and I went a grade level down for the Challenging Word Problems (2) because he hadn't had much exposure to word problems and those can be a challenge for sure. We won't be switching from Singapore until we run out of books!

We use it with the daily lesson plan. The amount of time it takes really varies. Anything other than writing the rough and final drafts of the story take my son 20-30 minutes a day. Writing that draft takes considerable time (especially since we are now into the multiple page stories). He needs a lot of help with his writing, so he writes it by hand. Then, we go over it and I type his thoughts and we think of ways to change the sentences to make them sound a little better. Then we save it. After this, he goes back and does any edits to that typed final copy which takes much less time than re-writing it each time. He struggles to make the "use your imagination" changes, so just coming up with those takes him a really long time too.

dh's is DEFINITELY physical touch. Mine is not actually "words" of affirmation/...more it is the emotional side and all that appeals to it.

If this were my kids answering the poll, they would say "we buy 6 gallons of milk every two weeks and STILL run out before time to get more groceries." But, since this is me answering the post, I say milk=yuck.

My 9 year old writes a paper a week and that means several drafts through the week.

Hahahah! Oh my...I had to laugh out loud at that one. Not really AT your 13 year old, but just at the "State of Nirvana." Hehe...I can see the confusion. I spent much of my teenage years in a state of nirvana. LOL My 5 year old calls his fingers "thingers" because I was always telling him not to say "fuh" in words like bath and math. Now he has turned all "fuh" sounds into "th" sounds. :( Tell your 13 year old not to feel bad. My ex HUSBAND who was 25 at the time he said this told me that he was moving to the state of New England on his next move. I asked him "where in New England?" and he said "I don't know which city yet." OMG. It was at that moment I realized that "New England States" had been lost upon the poor soul and he honestly thought New England was a state. 25...TWENTY-FIVE. A college graduate with a Masters in Business admin.

I am not sure wimpy is the right way to describe it... but I still love: Celine Dion Bon Jovi Metallica (the old songs) Chicago Bob Segar

I agree. I consider my son to be reading at a 5th grade level. He is currently reading a book for 4th-6th grade levels and he is doing well...but he doesn't know every word when he comes to it and he doesn't always understand each word he reads...especially if it is a word that he didn't have in his vocabulary to begin with. I did an online reading test with him and he scored a 5th grade reading level. I took the test myself and scored a college and above reading level. I know exactly where the disconnect was and it was in the ability to read and understand each and every word in the literature he was reading as it was given in context to the sentence. You had to choose the meaning based on the word and how it was used in the sentence.

Thanks for the input. I do think I can handle the grammar...I just wonder if the "lofty" teaching style will work for my son. ??? He is doing really well with GWG 5 and I have made some posters to hang around the school room to remind him of the things he has learned thus far. This seems to be working really well for him. Sometimes you just need to see it all in one place. I just hate to give up GWG though because I really do LOVE it...

Dad or daddy. Their grandfather is Papa and my grandfather was Pappy.

I always hated dealing with teachers for that same reason. My older son is ADHD and was always a bit of a handful, but when I would observe him with other kids, he may have been the loudest, but he was certainly not the only one talking. He may have been running the fastest, but he was not the only one out of his seat. I always hated for the end of the day to come and constanty hear that "today was not a good day." At home, most days ARE good days. It makes me sick to even think back to those preschool/ps days. :(

No, there is no blood test. It is all mental because depression is all mental. I have suffered from depression for over 6 years now and trust me, there is no mistaking the feeling of emptyness, sadness when you have nothing to be sad about, and so on. I also notice it in my housework. When I am depressed, I have no energy. I let things go and even though it depresses me more to look at those things undone, it is also easier for me to just sink lower. It is a terrible pattern. Depression can be periodic, come after a tragic event, or be ongoing like mine. There is no need for a blood test (not that one is available). If you feel horrible sadness and no zest for life for more than a few weeks, no matter what the cause, then you are probably suffering from depression.

Wow! There are just no words for that. :(

Read all the books first. Then see the movie. I think the movie is worth seeing, but while you are reading the books, just enjoy the images in your mind. I made the mistake of reading the first two books and then seeing the movie. Rob Pattinson was not at all what I had pictured when I made my own Edward in my mind. Unfortunately, he was blurred with my own images through the last two books. But I do suggest you see the movie. I really liked it. And...yes, Rob is pretty hot...and the kiss scene. Yummy. I have already pre-ordered the DVD from Amazon. :)

My oldest son is 9.5 and doing mostly 4th grade level work (some 3rd, some 5th) and it takes him usually 3.5-4 hours to finish his day. It really depends on how much writing is involved. If he has to write a draft of something, it takes a bit longer. I can't imagine finishing with him in 2.5 hours though. I schedule certain subjects on certain days. For instance, we do Geography 2 times a week and History 3 times a week. We do Science 4 times a week, English (he has two programs) everyday, Bible everyday, handwriting everyday, GWG 3 days a week, vocabulary 1 day a week, Drawing/Art one day a week (one more day if you include co-op), and spelling 4 days a week. He usually works from 9:00 ish until 12:30-1 ish. He doesn't eat lunch until his work is finished. He works usually those 3.5-4 solid hours with few breaks other than bathroom.

I thought the first Harry Potter movie was pretty true to the book - so much better than the following movies, anyway. I agree with your dd. I saw the trailer (just finished the book) and honestly thought maybe I had mistakenly clicked the wrong link. I also would have never chosen the actor who plays Mo - totally not how I pictured him in my mind. I see him and instantly think "Dudley Do Right" and that is just oh so ...wrong.

We are actually living that way right now. :) It has gone really well. We have saved a lot of money and are trying to reduce our shopping trips to once a month other than for perishables. Our grocery budget for a family of 4 is only $400 a month.

I also cried as Harry - brave though just so precious inside and out - rubbed the stone before he went into the forest to face Voldemort, resulting in, what he had already decided, would be his death. As James, Lily, Lupin, and Sirius came to him one more and he asked, "Does it hurt?" I just cried - and as he asked them. "will you go with me?" This scared little boy resurfaced - so touched and torn by what he had experienced, and in what he thought would be his last moment, he asked them to basically hold his hand. It was so very touching. As Percy came through the door, as he kissed Ginny before they set off on the run, as Fred lay on the floor - oh my, how I had grown to love these characters. Even as Harry let Hedwig go, it broke my heart.

Does your ds11 like Inkheart? I am reading it right now (my son wants to see the movie and I told him he had to read the book first. Now I am reading it so I can see the movie with him. I don't like to watch movies based on books when I haven't read the book). Thus far, I am not enthused. I was just wondering if this is more appealing to a kid than it is to an adult?

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I ordered my converter box today from Amazon. I got the $40 off coupon from www.DTV2009.gov and got the box with free shipping for $9.99. We don't have cable and do not plan to get it again. All of our TVs are analog, so we needed the box on the one TV we do occasionally watch.