I am sad for the Colts too. I went to college with Peyton Manning. I actually had a class with him once...before he became all big and famous. I actually had several classes with football players and one with a football player's wife - drama (haha) and a child development class. Oh how I miss grand old UT. :)

No...but my husband is an Excel genius and he works it out to where it is like buying software. He even has it linked to where if I pre-spend from his next check, it links directly to the budget and subtracts it directly from that particular area where the $$ was spent. I will rent him to you for a nominal fee. ;) LOL

You know...the blue Bible Story books that you often see in Dr. offices and the like? I love these and my yongest ds LOVES Bible stories. The more on his level they are, the more he loves them. My dh has read to him two beginner Bible books already (several hundred page ones) and he is still craving more. I was thinking the next step up may be the Bible Story series, but I wanted to get some thoughts here first. Does anyone own these? Are they worth the money I will have to spend on them? Should I look for a used set rather than buying new??? Thanks!

HAHAHA!!! I should sign mine mom of two boys...and ONLY boys.

There could be a lot going on there. He is only 6. Maybe, to him, that little basket of clothes is not as important as it is to you all...or as playing is to him. What did he do instead of putting away the clothes? My 5 year old will dissolve into tears if he has to clean a huge mess that he has made all by himself. I think it is overwhelming for him, so we tend to stand in there with him and say, "okay...put all of your cars back in the bucket," "okay, now put the covers back on your bed," etc. Of course, we are still working toward independance there. I am not sure - are there other issues with your son? ADHD maybe or a processing disorder. Not knowing or being around your son, it is hard to say whether he is acting out or something is wrong.

Well, she is 17 - not 18 and therefore, not legally an adult. What does dh say about this? My husband would have a fit! If the law doesn't back you with her being 17, then I am not sure there is much you can do. She has to sew her own seeds and it sounds like she is about to learn the hard way what life is really like. :(

:iagree: Absolutely, times a million. Even my HUSBAND cried when my 9 year old read it to him. That has to be the sweetest book EVER. Also, A Tree Named Steve by Alan Zweibel

Wow. My best advice is just to take it one day at a time and know that in the beginning, no, it is not going to be perfect. Not everything you picked will be the perfect fit. You will tweek and change, adapt and scrap. That is all part of it. But you will find your groove and so will she...just don't try to overwhelm yourself with teaching everything at once and perfectly. Remember, they learn over time and after almost 2 years with my youngest ds and 6 mos with my oldest, I am completely seeing that I am NOT a homeschooling failure. They are learning, they are doing great!

Oh Ewwwww! (Domestic discipline) Sounds a lot like S&M to me...maybe without the whips and s*x. Other than weird words for common things, not a lot. LOL Of course, the curriculum advice and reviews are completely wonderful! I learned about CW here, Pentime was a big hit thanks to this board, and we are now using writing tales mostly because of the reviews here (and the friend I have who was already using it for her dd and liked it).

Haha! I feel the same way. Unfortunately, we are just going to do it. Wake up, get started, and work till we finish. I am sure it will be a struggle and not the easiest/best day ever, but oh well. We have playdate on Tues and Co-op on Thurs and the kids are looking forward to getting back to those...motivation! LOL

Does the person have positive feedback as a seller? If so, maybe she is just out of town with all the holidays and will get back to you sometime in the coming week? I would give it just a bit longer. If there was a problem with the package and she was out of town, it could be sitting on her doorstep as a return to sender waiting on her to get it and contact you. I say that if you don't hear from her in the coming week...or your package doesn't show, then ask for a refund.

I also started in the middle. I am doing ancients with both boys - a 1st grader and 5th grader for next year. For Science, my 4th grader started physics this year, so he is on track for the repeat. My younger will start a 3 year rotation with NOEO starting in 2nd grade. :) I guess my answer is that we are just doing what we are doing and if we repeat, great. If not, then we still got a good foundation.

I understand what you are saying. Everyone has a different reason for homeschooling...and for many people, the state of the public schools IS that reason. I think we should accept it as personal choice and maybe even personal experience and realized maybe not everyone feels that way. You are right...we should be able to vent a bit about ps on an hs board...IMO. But my opinion of ps is also very low...

My oldest ds attended ps in a SMALL town for almost 3 years. While he was there, he was told in graphic detail by a little boy with a "bad home life" how his dad beat his mom until she was bleeding and the police came and took his dad away. He had a bully that told him he would bring a gun to school and kill my son (principal thought this was rubbish as he was only 8 years old, so she IGNORED it. This was the year we pulled him out, BTW). When I substituted at the elem school (same one my son attended), the principal's son had a habit of kissing the girls on the playground...with his tongue...and he was in 1st grade at the time. Other incidents include a fist fight that later involved the use of chairs between two 5th graders, a girl being molested on the school bus by her classmate - this little girl is still in ps too BTW. It is a sad, sad, sad, world out there. :(

Blah! LOL No, I am no ready at all. I mean, I am prepared and all of my schedules are made, curriculum laid out, etc. but I just wish we had about 5 more weeks to do absoluely NOTHING. :) These three weeks went by much, much too fast.

My son turned 5 at the end of Septemeber. He is doing really well in school...though getting him to actually sit down and conscent to starting his lessons is a whole 'nother story. We are about mid-way through Singapore Earlybird book B (standards ed) where he has learned number bonds with addition and subtraction. He knows numbers through 100. For LA, we are doing LLATL Blue - he is almost finished with Part II and we are almost halfway through the book. He is reading early readers and doing well. We are also working on ETC book 2 and will have that finished in the next few weeks and will move on to book 3. We do Come Read with Me once a week for fun and ETC online twice a week to shake things up a bit. :) We are doing Singapore EB Science - learning about animals, plants, our bodies, and so on. We do calendar daily as well as handwriting.

My kids are younger, but my sons know that if it comes inside this house, it belongs to the family...not one or the other of them. My computer, for instance, is used by everyone at some time or another, and so on. I tell my older that, if he doesn't want to share his "stuff" then he needs to leave it with his dad. My little one is told the same...only he gives it to us and it is stored until older brother goes to see his dad. This way, there is no arguing and 99.9% of the time, the kids would rather bring their things home and share than have them stored/at dad's and see them only 3 times a year!

My son has already hit my marks for K: Be able to sound out CVC and CVCC words and read some sightwords Be able to spell CVC words correctly Be able to listen to and retell facts from a story Identify all letters and their sounds Be able to sequence letters Be able to write all letters, upper and lower case. Be able to write full name correctly Know name, address, and phone number Count to 100 without visuals Basic addition, subtraction, and understand "number bonds" (Singapore) Know number words one through ten Know how to tell time, measure with a ruler in whole inches, and understand opposites Basic foundation in science - know what it is, know what Sceintists study, basics from Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. Basic social studies - jobs/what people do/why it is important, presidents (major), holidays, etc. Know seasons of the year and which months make up which seasons Days of the week, months of the year Today, yesterday, and tomorrow Weather I still consider my son a Kindergartener even though he has met all of my criteria for a successful year. Now, we are just moving above and beyond. :)

Oh yeah, I love activia....it really does work for some.

I wouldn't jump immediately to colon cancer (okay, well, I am a hypochondriac, so I probably would, but not because it made any logical sense). Have you ever had this problem before? If not, then chances are, it really IS due to some rich seasonal eating. I would start on a daily fiber supplement. You can do a colon cleanse as well - that should clear out what is already in there. If this does not resolve or if it resolves and then quickly comes back, then don't hesitate to see a doctor. There are LOTS of things it could be other than colon cancer. I don't know your age, but it is rare in young women and often starts with a pre-cancerous polyp that, if removed quickly enough, will never turn to cancer.

I do have a BA, so qualification is not an issue...just where to get the tests for free. inashoe - thank you for your story about your son. That has been my biggest concern because we are not studying exactly what the ps kids are. Glad to hear your ds aced them with no problems! That gives me hope that mine will do okay too. :)

I just scan the topics and if they apply to me, I read them...if they don't, I pass. With one child entering Logic stage soon and one still early into grammar, I really appreciate them being as they are.

Is it in fun? I have been known to do a few possibly offensive things in the name of good fun. I would share my yearly joke here, but I wonder if most would even find it humorous. :001_huh: Okay...what the hay...:tongue_smilie: My best friend (since we were about 11) is Christian and so am I. Her husband is Jewish. He is not REALLY Jewish in beliefs, but he was raised Jewish. In belief, he is more agnostic. Well, one day, her daughter came home from school and told my bf's husband he was going to Hell because he didn't believe in Jesus. Both my best friend and I believe that your salvation is between you and God...so she told her daughter not to ever say that again. Her husband asked if her daughter was becoming a "Jesus Freak." :eek: My friend got very angry and they argued about the term, as well as her dh's beliefs - which resolved in "agree to disagree" for them. However, now, once a year, I send my best friend a Christmas card....with a large picture of Jesus on the front...signed from "one Jesus freak to another.":lol: I am sure many, many, many people would find that horrible of me...but he laughs and so do we. She always hangs it on her fridge for the remainder of the year too.:D

Dh and I were discussing this today and I was just curious and need some good links and advice on standardized testing. My ds is not required to take them for our state because we are registered through an umbrella school. However, I want him to take some kind of test at the end of the year so that I can assess his progress and really get a feel for where we are when he is NOT drilled for 3 months prior to the test (like they do in ps to make sure the funds keep coming in :( Sad but true). What would be the best way to do this? I don't mind to administer the test myself. I think we can do just fine, but I am also not opposed to someone else administering it...as long as it is not the school system. Where can I find good standardized tests? Also, being a homeschool family, we are not exactly studying per the California standards for 4th grade. I mean, most kids in this area do not learn History until much later grades. We are also focusing on Physics right now while other kids in 4th grade are learning across the sciences. What do I do about this???

Only when I am taking Lexapro. As a matter of fact, they are so bad, I have often told my DH that I could write a best selling horror movie based on them. :( Luckily, this is only something that happens with my meds. I had a friend in highschool that had them all the time though and he wasn't on meds. It really plagued him.