There are so many resources for teaching elementary school music that you would probably spend a lot of money going through all of them! Music in Motion has a nice catalog: www.musicmotion.com as does Lyons www.4lyons.com. Penders Music company does not have a great website, but their catalog is good www.penders.com. A general music book for elementary school is Music Today and Everyday (ISBN: 9780130425898) which is a reproducible book with lots of theory and history in it. Young Person's Guide to Music History by Carolyn Jones Campbell is a three book series (about $4.50 each book), which was meant for private lessons but can be used in a classroom setting. There are many great recorder books out there. Waldorf schools teach by rote at first and only teaching musical notation after a few years of playing. Oak Meadow has a Waldorf-inspired recorder series for grades 1-4 that pretty good and not too expensive. I also like the book Recorder Excellence as a introduction to recorder. Schools use It's Recorder Time and Yamaha Recorder Student, which are similar to each other. Once the grade is playing about 5-6 notes on the recorder well My First Patriotic Recorder Book and My First Classical Recorder Book by L.C. Harnsberger are great supplements. Alfred's series Meet the Great Composers is meant for the early elementary school grades. The Classroom Kit contains the book and CD combo and reproducible activity sheets. Accent on Composers is for older students--probably high school. For music reading, I really like Keyboard Capers (ISBN: 9780898260519, available from Rainbow Resource) as a good introduction to music theory, with plenty of games that you could make. Rainbow Resource also sells already made manipulatives for Keyboard Capers too. It is very similar to Music Mind Games by Michiko Yurko, who also has kits (very expensive!) that you can buy. Another program that introduces music reading (meant for the classroom, as opposed to private lessons) is Ready-to-Use Music Reading Activities Kit by Loretta Mitchell. While you will probably not be able to find Keyboard Capers in your local library, Music Mind Games and Ready-to-Use Music Reading Activities Kit you could probably get (maybe through interlibrary loan). Then, of course, there are the books. Carnival of the Animals: Classical Music for Kids (ISBN: 978-0805061802), Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf (ISBN: 978-0375824302--although my children and I prefer the illustrations of the book by Erna Voigt *ISBN: 087923331* better; however the Voigt book has no CD), The Nutcracker (ISBN: 0375844643), The Magic Flute (ISBN: 978-0811810036). The books by Anna Harwell Celenza are also very good.

I just took it out of the library. It is meant for older children--amazon.com says ages 9-12 (and I notice you are homeschooling a 7 year old.) I just bought from amazon.com (although I had seen it in a local Barnes & Noble, so you may want to check your local bookstore) My First Classical Music Book by Genevieve Helsby. It comes with a CD that has music relating to the text. It is meant for ages 4-8, which is more of what you need.

I took nursing in college (but I graduated with another major--never became a nurse). Besides looking at the variables that others have suggested in this forum, I would strongly advise asking around (of both current students and graduates) whether they liked the program. Did they feel that the nursing program was good? Were they prepared when they got a job? Were the teachers supportive? Some nursing programs are very much teach yourself the material (we won't answer any questions--just look it up) and throw you out there. Beware.

CO MOM has the right idea. I just read Light Up Your Child's Mind: Finding a Unique Pathway to Happiness and Success by Joseph S. Renzulli, Sally M. Reis, and Andrea Thompson, and it talks about how your children find their passions and how to support them in doing so. It's a great book. Not such a great book (and one that supports the idea that it's Ivy League or bust) is What High Schools Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You to Know): Create a Long-Term Plan for Your 7th to 10th Grader for Getting into the Top Colleges by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross. The advantage to this book is that it has good brainstorming ideas for teenagers to find their passions and become accomplished at fulfilling their goals. Just don't let it badger your child into thinking that if he/she has not gotten a Nobel Prize by eighteen, he/she is worthless.

Ester Maria-- I just want to point out to you that you are a fluent or near-fluent speaker of Hebrew, so you are approaching the study of Hebrew in one way. I too learned Hebrew as a child so the Hebrew writing is not an obstacle to me. However, KidsHappen's daughter is on the other hand a near beginner of Hebrew and will not be able to study Hebrew in the same way that you are teaching your own children. When you don't have a teacher readily available, Hebrew from Scratch will probably be too hard (and I checked the reviews on amazon.com to see what other people said about it, mind you). You yourself also pointed that out. Most Hebrew programs do expect at some point that you will be able to read the Hebrew writing--if KidsHappen's daughter does not have a teacher available to help her, which programs will allow her to learn this on her own? Most of the programs made by colleges (including Hebrew from Scratch) assume that there will be a teacher available. Colloquial Hebrew does not, which is why I particularly recommended it.

Consider Colloquial Hebrew by Zippi Lyttleton. You can get CDs or cassettes to go with it. It is meant for self-teaching, but I can't tell you that it is easy (I learned to read Hebrew in school as a young child, but I'm not sure that this program will teach you enough to read on your own). Hebrew from Scratch is not meant for self-teaching! There is also a Pimsleur Hebrew (and now a Little Pim Hebrew for little kids), but both programs are all aural; she will not learn how to read Hebrew using either of them. With Hebrew, learning to read can be a real stumbling block. If your daughter can read (even without understanding what she is reading), she is way ahead of the game. This PDF file would probably be interesting for your daughter, since she college-aged: http://www.nmelrc.org/documents/Handbooks/HebrewHandbook.pdf

:iagree: See http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0305/teachyourselfalanguage.shtml Many people have found French in Action very hard. This article explains why. It is probably a great resource after your son has a great background in French, but not as a beginning course. But like others in this forum have written, you can probably find the books online secondhand (maybe even the videos/DVDs) and you can now watch the videos online for free. I would go with the textbook and workbooks--when you are teaching yourself, the more you have in front of you in writing, the better. Also, I believe that the textbook has the transcripts of the videos. Thefinancial outlay by buying the books secondhand should not be too high.

If your child has a passport, that's best (my children have all traveled outside of the USA before they were 16). Some states do issue IDs for children who don't have licences, so that may be an option. You may also want to check to see if the airline will make you pay an unaccompanied minor fee, even if your son is over 12. Some airlines do.

Did you consider Discoveries in Music put out by the Calvert School? It is admittedly expensive, but there are 32 lessons (a full years worth) for grades K-3 and all the supplies are included for one student. I didn't buy a kit for my son (who was the second student using the course)--I just went ahead and got a separate flutophone, triangle and lap harp for him to use (you can find those instruments at www.lyons.com or at www.rainbowresource.com) . However, if you wanted to have your second child do all the worksheets, then you would need to buy a second student kit. My children just watched the videos, but if they are doing all of the activities suggested, it is a really full music curriculum. Rainbow Resource has Discoveries in Music available in VHS format on sale. Most public or private schools start their students on recorder as a first instrument. If you want to go that route, Oak Meadow has a very good 3-4 year recorder program meant for homeschooling parents to teach to their children (you do not have to order the rest of the Oak Meadow curriculum in order to use the recorder program). A very colorful recorder program is Progressive Recorder Method for Young Beginners. The first volume comes with a CD and a DVD (the second volume only includes a CD). If you complete either program, you child should be able to play any song on the treble cleff with little trouble.

I can't speak for your particular problem, but I have noticed that my dishwasher (which shares a wall with the outside of our house; our house was built in 1970 and is not well insulated) does not work well in the winter. I assume that the cold wall makes the water too cold to work well. Dishwashers need the water temperature to be at least 140 degrees farenheit (maybe even more) to work well. So is your hot water heater hot enough?

I first read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry as a school-assigned book in seventh grade. There is no sexuality in it; however, the first sequel does have a girl who hangs around white boys who does become pregnant from one of them.

There are some good ballet videos/DVDs out there. Maybe your library has a copy of them? You could try: Bella Dancerella: Let's Dance! is a good introductory ballet class. (They now have Swan Lake Bella Dancerella Home Ballet Studio, but I have not seen it). Learn Nutcracker Ballet Dances with Me was a good for a child who has already taken some ballet or done one of the other ballet videos first. Rosemary Boross has many videos/DVDs available. Some, like A Fantasy Garden Ballet Class, are not for beginners and have very little, if any, dialogue about what you are supposed to do. The book Ballet Beginnings for Children: Pre-School Movement Fundamentals for Ages 3 and 4 (Bk. 1) explains the steps for A Fantasy Garden Ballet Class. I believe her other DVDs like Baby Ballet and I'm a Ballerina Now are meant for beginners. She also has DVDs for other genres of dance like Land of Sweet Taps, Tot Tap, and Junior Jazz. I have not checked out Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake, but it probably is a good follow up for one of the other videos.

I assume that your son is a teenager, if he is expressing a desire to be a rabbi. First of all, you may want him to be mentored by the rabbi of your congregation. Have him go to Bible classes in the synagogue (even if the classes are attended mostly by retirees or older women). If your rabbi is really impressed by your son, he/she may be willing to teach him privately Bible. The first step, though, for either Modern or Biblical Hebrew is to make sure that your son can read Hebrew! I cannot give suggestions since I am a day school graduate and started reading Hebrew in first grade. But if he cannot read Hebrew or reads it poorly, that is the very best place to start! For modern Hebrew, your synagogue (or others in your community) may offer classes too. Also check the Jewish community center in your area if there is one. If you live in a city with a large Jewish population, you should have no problems finding classes! Check out from the National Middle East Languages Resource Center: www.nmelrc.org/documents/Handbooks/HebrewHandbook.pdf. This file is meant for college students, but it list many textbooks and other resources for the beginning Hebrew student (mostly Modern Hebrew, but there is a little bit on learning Biblical Hebrew too). Your son sounds so mature, he probably can handle using some of these resources as a self-study. I really liked Colloquial Hebrew: The Complete Course for Beginners by Tamar Wang, which is a great modern Hebrew resource. It is meant as a self-study book with CD/cassette tape combination for adults. The other way that I have improved my modern Hebrew proficiency is by reading Hebrew children's books and watching Hebrew videos. These explore Hebrew at a very basic level with real colloquial Hebrew involved. Amazon.com has many Hebrew children's books like Dora the Explorer, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and many others. On video, Barney is available on amazon.com in Hebrew. It takes many years and a lot of effort to become fluent in Hebrew or even very proficient. So I really strongly suggest that you son work on it, starting as soon as possible. I went through 12 years of Hebrew Day School education, studyed in Israel for a school year after graduating high school, have taken Hebrew classes and studyed on my own ever since, and while my Hebrew is very good for a person who has never lived in Israel, it is not fluent. I can read most of the the Bible in Hebrew without translation and understand it most of the the time, but not all the time. You should be very proud of your son. He sounds so mature. I wish you both good luck on your journey!

I really like Cooking the Israeli Way by Josephine Bacon, which is a kids book (translation: it's really easy to follow). Your library may have a copy available. Most Jewish cookbooks do not focus on Israeli food (because Israeli food is very different than Jewish food from the diaspora. Afterall, the food that was available in Israel was not what most Jews in the diaspora had available!).

I second Kindermusik. Their curriculum "Kindermusik for the Young Child" is a two year program, and introduces music reading in a slow way, using the Kodaly method. It also includes some music appreciation. Some people prefer Musikgarten (which was started by the same person as Kindermusik) because it is more keyboard oriented, so that's another option.

There's always Plaza Sesamo (that's Sesame Street). It is not the American Sesame Street dubbed! It is a Mexican version, with Mexican priorities focused on (like hygeine, for example). Most of the other television shows (even the ones for kids) from Latin America on let's say Univision are very, very scary (no hiding real life here). If there are a lot of Spanish speaking people in your area, your library may have Plaza Sesamo on video or DVD. As far as network (non-cable) television is concerned, the biggest are Univision (who I think also owns Telefuturo) and Telemundo. But you can only get those stations as a non-cable channel if there are a lot of Hispanics in your area. And even then, not every Spanish speaking station will broadcast Plaza Sesamo.

I have not used any of these resources, but I do have a 5 year old son who's interested in learning the violin so I have researched violin self-instruction. Most people would tell you that you can learn really bad habits by not learning violin from an instructor, though: http://www.videoviolinlessons.com/ has DVDs of violin lessons, starting at the beginning level. Progressive Violin Method for Young Beginners by Peter Gelling comes with a book and CD but does not have a DVD (unlike others in the series) so cannot really be used for self-instruction. http://www.gdaemusic.com/ is an alternative to the Suzuki method for young children, where they learn to both read music and play violin at the same time. It is not meant for self-instruction, though. Colourstrings is a method used in Europe for teaching the violin, based on the Kodaly method. Some instructors here in the US use it too. Again, not for self instruction.

Here are some books that deal with the Israel/Palestian conflict and/or cultures: Sitti and the Cats: A Tale of Friendship by Sally Bahous Allen Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye (This is a fictional account of Ms. Nye's sojourn in Palestine in the 1960s.) The Space Between Our Footsteps: Poems and Paintings from the Middle East by Naomi Shihab Nye We Just Want to Live Here: A Palestinian Teenager, an Israli Teenager -- an Unlikely Friendship by Amal Rifa'i, Odelia Ainbinder, and Sylke Tempel Jerusalem Mosaic: Young Voices from the Holy City by I.e. Mozeson and Lois Stavsky (While this is dated, it is still a good account what different groups living in Jerusalem have to say about the issues surrounding Israelis and Palestinians). Understanding September 11th: Answering Questions about the Attacks on America by Mitch Frank (While this one has some factual errors, it is still a very good account of what lead up to the attacks of September 11). Understanding the Holy Land: Answering questions about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Mitch Frank Celebrating Ramadan by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta by James Rumford

:iagree:Many Jewish people are ambivilant about Hanukkah, because while Christmas is one of the major Christian holiday, Hanukkah is actually a minor Jewish holiday. It only takes such importance here in the United States because Christmas is so prevelant in this culture. In Eastern Europe (where my ancestors were from), Hanukkah did not take such in important role in Jewish life as it does for most Jews here in the USA. Other Jewish holidays, like Passover for instance, took the major role. That said, I do love Hanukkah. Here are the books that I read to my children every year: Hanukkah: A Counting Book In English - Hebrew - Yiddish by Emily Sper. Hanukkah Moon by Deborah Da Costa and Gosia Mosz talks about Hanukkah in the Sephardic (Jews whose ancestors were from Spain) tradition. Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah by Susan L. Roth is a transcription (with a score) of a traditional Hanukkah song (this one is with the English verses. Originally, this song was in Yiddish). My First Chanuka Reader by Rabbi Moshe Weissman has the complete story of Hanukkah. It will take a week or two to read the whole thing. I also order every year Chanukah candle making kits which includes: at least 44 pre-cut 1.5" x 4" sheets of assorted colored beeswax 44 100% cotton wicks, each 4.5" L easy to follow instructions We have also bought and made Decorate a Dreydel kit (great for decorating your house--I hang ours on our ceiling fans), Design a Dreydel kit (a wooden dreydel that you paint and can later play with), and Dreydel Making Kit (a polymer clay dreydel kit); all of these kits are made by Rite Lite. There are also Chanukah Cookie Cutters available from Shulsinger Judaica. These crafts are available from www.judaism.com. In addition, I try to make as many latkes as I can! It's very time consuming, but it feels traditional and satisfying.

When I did home day care, I did circle time. First of all, we prayed--all of us (both the children and me) were Jewish, so we did simple morning prayers together and sang most of them. If you are religious, then the prayers from your traditions (especially if they have a tune) are a great start. Then we did finger plays and nursery rhymes--I got most of them from Baby Games: The Joyful Guide to Child's Play from Birth to Three Years by Elaine Martin. I also did a few Yiddish nursery rhymes that my father did with me when I was growing up. Another good resource (because it actually illustrates for you how to do the hand motions) is The Eentsy, Weentsy Spider: Fingerplays and Action Rhymes by Joanna Cole, Stephanie Calmenson, and Alan Tiegreen. There is also a CD/tape called Circle Time: Songs & Rhymes for the Very Young by Lisa Monet. We exercised next using a book called Toddlerobics by Zita Newcome.

Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra was originally just a record. Anita Ganeri wrote a companion book to go along with the original recording. So the recording and the book may not jive. I know that you can pick up secondhand the recording of the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra for a song--no pun intended :lol:! (I did in a secondhand book shop).

If you are moving to the east coast of the United States, a great field guide for children is Seashells in My Pocket: AMC's Family Guide to Exploring the Coast from Maine to Florida by Judith Hansen.

For math, you may want to use the following (they may be out of print; your library may have them): Hershey's Kisses Addition Book by Jerry Pallotta and Rob Bolster Hershey's Kisses Subtraction Book by Jerry Pallotta and Rob Bolster Hershey's Milk Chocolate Weights and Measures by Jerry Pallotta and Rob Bolster (this uses both American and metric measurements) Hershey's Milk Chocolate Multiplication Book by Jerry Pallotta

I forgot to mention Young Person's Guide to Music History by Carolyn Jones Campbell. It comes in 3 volumes and is priced at $4.50. It is probably best used with piano lessons, but it can be used without lessons.

First of all, I would second using Calvert School's Discoveries in Music. Even if you do not do all the suggested activities, your child will learn about the various types of musical instruments and famous composers (including some modern composers). If you do the suggested activities, your child will learn some musical notation and how to play the flutophone (which is similar to a recorder). Rainbow Resources has Discoveries in Music on sale in the VHS version. Rainbow Resources also has Keyboard Capers, which is a book of activities to teach music theory. You would need a piano or keyboard to do the activities. You can also buy an optional kit with the manipulative already made to use with Keyboard Capers.