I think it is bad grammar. I think they are saying that they are not accepting applications for students who would be freshman and be in the (graduating) Class of 2014 -- meaning they would be starting college in fall 2010. But upon first reading I thought they meant that people are pre-applying for college and they are not accepting applications for those who would be freshman in 2014.

I totally agree, but have taught these to my kids anyway. Except the feet in a mile -- we haven't gotten to that one yet. Here is a fun way to help kids learn about volume measures -- Gallon Guy and Gallon Girl. It was fun to do, and the kids still harken back to it (when prompted) to help them remember volume measures.

Answers below in blue:

beautiful! Well done!

Hi everyone.... I'm looking to put together a minimum of 10 homeschoolers/ teachers who are interested in attending a SWR basic level training class in the late summer (August). A trainer from Maryland is willing to drive up here to teach the 2-day class (cost: $135). They have *never* taught a class in VT, NH, or ME...and it has been a long time since a MA class has been held. If you are interested in this opportunity you can PM me, and I'll add your email to the list of those who want more information as it becomes available. *And* if you know other homeschoolers (or teachers) who want the training, please let me know how to contact them, and I'll gladly pass on information. As far as location (if that is a deciding factor for you....) I'm hoping that there can be enough interest (as in 20ish paying attendees) that we can turn it into a southern NH/ Seacoast NH location (church, private school, etc). ...And if you are in MA and have connections to some homeschool support groups there, please email me so I can inquire about interest down there. Blessings,

A friend of mine recommended Safe Eyes. Focus on the Family has a discount code for it, making it around $35/ year for up to three computers. I'll be adding it to our computers soon. Click on this link to take you to FoF's website information.

Congratulations! You are braver than I -- after three boys, I'm wiped out. We're done. The shop is closed. The next baby I hold who is related to me will be a grand-neice/ nephew or grandchild! God Bless,

I have found the customer service excellent for all my technical/ purchasing questions.They've gone above and beyond to meet my needs and circumstances. I've found the TO forums -- and yahoo! groups and here -- to be the best places to get questions answered about how to use TOG.

I'm so, so sorry. I cannot imagine the grief you are feeling. I pray God will hold you close right now.

I have it too. I could get all psycho-babble on *my* reasons for it, but really it comes down to the fact that I like to explore new places. We've lived in our current house the longest of any -- 3 1/2 years. DH has now worked at his current job for FIVE whole years -- his longest employer ever. It's not that I don't like where I live -- but there are so many great places in this country that I'd like to explore. He won't have it, however. So...I paint.....rearrange the furniture......dream about new furniture.......redesign my kitchen (but cannot afford to do any of the things I plan).

YMMV, but I opted for individual desks for now. I go them through Freecycle (a yahoo! group where people give away stuff -- they are all over the country) and one through a private school (I also called our public school, but they never called back). My whiteboard (which I love) is the HOme Depot tile board. It costs about $12, is 4 feet x 8 feet long (certainly you can cut to size), and cleans up well. I *heart* it. have fun!

OK, well I'll bump this up, again, because I'd like the answer too. My son really likes GWG (we've doen 4 and 5), and while I do not DISlike it, I am wondering if it is enough. I've also thought about switching over to R & S.

:lurk5:

We did not finish LL1 -- got to Ch. 10 or so. We went ahead and switched to LC1 -- started at the beginning. He is enjoying the video teaching, I'm enjoying less guilt at *not* being more hands on w/ Latin. Do what is good for you *both!*

OhElizabeth -- Not an OT, but a speech therapist.....There is value in a thorough evaluation IMHO.....but a good OT (like a good speech therapist) will be able to design a home program for you and provide parent education so that you can get the biggest bang for your buck. Unless the OT is going to live with you and do therapy with your dd daily, there is an amount of parent follow-through via a home program that is essential for nearly any therapeutic activity to override learned (bad) patterns or habits. Two half-hr. (or two hr.) sessions a week just isn't going to work. Well, I take that back, it may work. eventually. but it'll work better if you are active in your dd program from day one (I'm saying that knowing you would be). If you approach your OT with honesty about what you can and cannot afford, a good OT will work with you. I've done it with former parents of my speech patients before (a long, long time ago!) and have seen amazing --and fast! -- results. Sometimes, professional pride gets in the way and we therapist think we're the only ones who can do "it" right.... Oops, sorry, I just realized I was starting to climb on my soap box. I'm stepping down and moving away from it now....

We do our geography map with a small LG/UG history group at the end of the week. However, we usually consult a map (historical atlas) during the week to visualize what we're reading about. I found an historical atlas at Goodwill a few months ago and cannot imagine how we lived without it....it is really interesting.

Interesting that you mentioned this, Tex-Mex. Our state legislator is set to vote on a bill that will require a unique identifier for all public school kids and (get this) preschooler who are attending a preK where state funds are being received and students at community colleges (the state university already does this -- not sure about if private universities in our state are mandated to have the identifiers). They want to "track their successes" through the system. It is all part of Follow the Child program (different states use different terms, but it is all the same thing) where they follow students from (eventually) birth on up. Of course, as a homeschooler, my kid is not part of the system...yet. When/if he enrolls in comm. college classes, he'll get an identifier. "They" say that there will be no way to know which number goes with which student (to protect privacy), that all the information will be confidential and that only one or two people at the Dept. of Ed. will be able to ever connect names to numbers.... yea. right.

Yes, I think Mrs. Mungo has hit the nail on the head. Dept. of Education bureaucrats who are anti-homeschooling (I live in a state with a couple of these) may choose to use these schooling options against true blue homeschoolers -- especially in states with unclear definitions of what type of educational options are considered "public school" to satify complusory education. Sorry if I sound paranoid, but we've had a very contentious year fighting the dept. of education in my state, who were trying to slip in changes to our homeschooling law via updating the rules and regulations of our law; many of these these changes had been voted down by our state legislature by a huge majority. This group of people were bypassing the legislature to get done what they wanted. Fortunately, it didn't work. yet.

My ds finished LOF fractions as a review along with Key to Fractions. He was having some trouble so we stopped our progression in SM to focus on Fractions for a month or two. Just last week we've gotten back on track and began SM 5A and LOF decimals and percents. I've decided to only use the textbook of SM and assign the problems in there for written work. And, he's doing 1 chapter of LOF per day. I'm not trying to align the two -- I figure that the difference sequence of concept introduction will end up being a nice "spiral" review of what we've learned in the other book (SM for LOF and LOF for SM). HTH!

Not that I know everything about the vocal cords (I was a speech-language pathologist before kids), but I've not heard that. The first thing that came to mind in your OP was that the vocal cords were not approximating -- or coming together -- because of nodules or other growth (i.e. Daisy's papillomas), paralysis or bowing because of a change in the tone of the vocal cords. It is always hard to tell what someone means when you are hearing something second -- or third -- hand. HTH

:lurk5:

You've gotten posts from many on usefull resources to help you help your child -- I've not reviewed them, so I cannot comment. But, I am a (former) speech therapist -- I stopped practicing to homeschool my family. If your child has not had an evaluation, I suggest that, just to verify that there are no other issues going on (physical issues, apraxia, etc). Most insurances will cover an evaulation, even though they will not cover therapy; you just need a referral from you pediatrician. There are 0-3 programs and then preschool programs through the public schools in every state. University and college speech-language/ audiology clinics are also an option, as many charge on a sliding scale for services (often time there is a wait, however). Most mid to large hospitals have outpatient speech language pathologists who will do an evaulation as well. As in any field, there are competent therapists and not-so-competent ones. A good therapist has been around the block and knows that parental involvement is a make-it-or-break-it indicator of their client's success in therapy. We only see the child 2 times a week (usually), and cannot "make" a child's speech patterns change without parent support, carryover and involvement. A good therapist will work without your insurance and budgetary constraints to design a program to help you help your child. http://www.asha.org is a place to start if you're needing to locate a professional.

We used online for K -- I didn't like it, and ds didn't either despite his initial excitement about being able to use the computer for school. My biggest complaint was the keyboarding component. One component of accuracy included speed, so if your child isn't comfortable with keyboarding, the graphs of their scores and progress will look worse than perhaps their actually reading. We've returned to workbook use for 1st grade.

Jennifer, I live in NH -- we have spent the past two years defending our current homeschool law against changes in the legislature as well as in the rules and regulations writing process. There is a contingent of legislators that think "most of you do a fine job homeschooling your children...but we're concerned about those that fall through the cracks...." It has been beyond frustrating, but we did manage to thward their attempts this year (praise God!). HSLDA's reading of our law is pretty accurate at their website. We have multiple ways to "prove" progress each year and there are many private schools under which you can umbrella to keep your children out of the system if you choose. PM me if you want more information. Welcome to New England. It is a fantastic place to live with LOTS of opportunities.

I've used GWG for 4th and 5th grade (current year). My son has done well -- I'm impressed with what he's learned about diagramming sentences. He did well last year when we did standardized testing in the language usage subtest, but not as high as his other scores. I don't know that I can "blame" GWG for that, though. I'd really like to use something different for 6th grade, just to shake it up a bit, but ds really wants to stay w/ GWG for 6th. Pros: Written to student Variety in the assignments Review is included in each lesson Cons: Always wondering about retention.....but I don't look at that as a fault of GWG