My daughter enjoys reading aloud to me the first set of Bob books. (She is just beginning to learn digraphs (sh, th, ch) from OPG.) I don't think I'll buy more readers at this point, because she's starting to read random things around the house. I like Games for Learning by Peggy Kaye. She has some fun activities to reinforce early reading and comprehension. She assumes a sight-reading approach, but that doesn't stop us from enjoying the games. I got the book initially from our library, and enjoyed it so much, I bought it.

Thanks! We love Peanuts. :001_smile:

I have no great advice, but just wanted to bump this for other people's input and say I hope he feels better soon. That is miserable.

We love Miquon. My d5 says math is her favorite "learning time" activity, my husband is encouraged about homeschooling by watching her work, and I find it easy to use. I never would have heard of Miquon without this forum. Thanks.

This thread is helpful for me to read. Thank you for starting it. I hope you find the balance you need soon! :grouphug:

I'm so sorry for your loss.

What a neat kid you have.:001_smile:

Oh. You are so right. Good grief. :o It is still a beautiful name. (Going to start re-reading my classics, obviously...)

Thanks, I'll look into that. Do you think you can take it while nursing?

I saw an idea in a magazine: bring breakfast pastry for them to enjoy the next morning! I want somebody to bring me cinnamon rolls. :001_smile: You could make scones (they are easy, if you like to cook) and freeze them on parchment paper before baking, bag or box them, and then give instructions to bake them frozen. They turn out great.

Persephone is a beautiful name. What a strong, creative person she was in the Odyssey! I don't know what to say about your mom's feelings. I'm sorry this is so stressful. I always like to run our name choices (and the likely nicknames) through a google search, and by a sharp 6th grader, just in case. :tongue_smilie:

I feel a little silly asking this, but you folks are a large pool of (mostly) women who might have the input I need, so here goes! When my second child was about 9 months old, I began having PMS-like emotional swings (you know, "He left his socks on the floor, so obviously he DOESN'T love me at ALL! Waah!") which lasted for 3 months until I returned to a normal cycle. I was (and am) heavily breastfeeding. It took me six weeks to realize that I was hormonal. Calling it hormones helped me relax and push past the horrible feelings, but during those three months, I really, really didn't ever want to have another kid. I felt crazy. I did a lot of crying. I wanted to give away all the baby gear. My poor husband.... I feel much better now. Is this anybody else's experience? Is there a way to smooth this out if we decide to have a third child?

Mix 1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce, 1 package onion soup mix, and 1 c. catalina dressing. Marinate 4-8 chicken breasts, cut in half the flat way to make two servings, in that for at least 2 hours or overnight (or in the freezer!). Pour all into 9x13 pan, distributing the chicken, and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. I adapted this one from a cookbook.... can't remember which...

If you want to hear SWB talk about what classical education means to her you might like her lecture here. She talks about the concept of the trivium. These are sessions from a conference for classical school educators; scroll down to her name near the bottom of the list. http://www.societyforclassicallearning.org/index.php/resources/media/20-2012-conference-recordings

I really like the image of the fountain for steps 4-6. I don't know how to quote yet, but that is cool. :)

I have had this happen. When I get a new student whose parent proudly announces, "He's on level 4!", I try to smooth it over, something like, "Oh, okay! Then this (level 2 or 3) book will be easy for you. Let's cruise through this book as fast as you can, and get you back up to speed." I think a new teacher often sees holes in a student's knowledge for a few reasons. First, each teacher has her own strengths, and teaches to them; the old teacher may really have missed something. Second, students lose knowledge during the transfer time, sort of like a summer vacation brain-dump. Third, some of student's knowledge is situational - they are used to being in a certain context, and when put on the spot in front of the new teacher, they can't remember. If you think this new teacher is a good one, just hang on! I think you will all be up to speed very quickly and you'll see fruit from the review.

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/preparing-for-college/what-not-to-look-for-in-an-academic-department/

Go sixth-graders! And, I want a dog. I have a cat. A hostile, fur-exuding gray cat who loves my black couch.

That's a great resource! Thanks for posting it.

Crock pot yogurt! It works! What a deal you got.

Parenting = Planned Obsolescence. :tongue_smilie: Followed by friendship, I hope.

If my daughter got her Grandpa to take her to the bookstore, she'd come back with a LOT of books! He's a sucker for bookstores. And grandkids. :001_smile:

I don't EVER click on the ads. Several friends have had unauthorized and unwelcome postings on their facebook pages because they clicked on the wrong thing and got hacked. I have no idea if it was an ad they clicked. I'm too scared. :glare:

This is temporary! Hang tough! My kids are now almost 5 (changes outfits with each whim, puts each in laundry...I'm working on that) and 10 mo (not so gross anymore). My husband wears a uniform, and works out every morning, so that's a lot of sweat. My strategy right now is to do a load a day. There's a round basket in each bedroom and a stinky one in the laundry room, and I have an extra round basket for the load in progress. I pull whatever load seems to dominate in my room, add the items from the kids' rooms that can go along, and just do it. I do sheets and towels on Mondays. I need to fold right from the dryer. I hate folding. Right now I'm online instead of folding. :tongue_smilie: Oh, I have rectangular baskets for the CLEAN laundry. So I don't use the dirty basket to hold the clean stuff.

Elijah had doubt. John the Baptist had doubt. Paul Bunyan's Pilgrim got trapped in Doubting Castle (just learned that, thank you, TWEM!). I was raised in an evangelical Christian family, and experienced significant doubt as I became an emotional adult. FWIW, I am still a Christian in part because of several times God has unmistakably corrected my heart. My dad uses the phrase, "Thank you for touching our hearts." Never mind that - I know He's real - He's smacked me upside the head! :D But for sin, not for doubting. There's a neat website by a ministry called Credo House in Oklahoma City. It's aimed at doubt, and helping people "believe more today than yesterday". I haven't looked over ALL their stuff, but I listened to a neat podcast of last week's sermon and it was on John the Baptist's doubt. I hope this link works. http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2012/08/john-the-baptist-doubt-and-my-three-days-as-an-atheist/