I don't know if this will work for this type of soup or seasoning but adding potatoes will dilute over-salted soup.

We love the Usborne books as well. In fact, this morning my 2 littles were fighting over the Great Puzzle Adventure- it has to be at least 14 years old and still a fav!:001_smile:

Use powdered milk for cooking instead of liqued. We have been making our own dried apples all fall (posting a tutorial on my blog about it either later today or tommorow) and a lot of what the others are doing. My biggest tip is grow your own. I brought in 4 parsley plants from the garden inside for the winter and while the taste is more bland it's still fresh. My dh is going to rig up an inside growing area this year so we can start our garden earlier- extending the harvest. We dried a ton of herbs, tomatoes and apples this year, along with canning, freezing, etc. I think I'm addicted to dried tomatos- they are amazing!! Raders- do you have a tortilla maker? Do you use lard. Please share more!

We did the one last year in a co-op setting and had a lot of fun with it. I was also teaching IEW at the same time so it was very easy to incorporate writing skills into the assignments. I've read here that several people think that are lit light so you might want to do a search and see what others are saying.

Thomas Sowell is a good place to start. TeenPact is another.

I don't have time to read everything right now but the longitudianl studies of Head Start are that there is no distinction over time between those who do it and those that don't. This is a real issue (my dh was asked to speak before our state leg on it last year). It's a bad deal imho. The Catholic church has said give us your kids before age 7 and we'll have em for life- guess the gov would like to try that too.

Kristi- you did a terrific job! It looks great- and I liked it before, too :001_smile:

dh- USAF -4 1/2 yrs. bil- Nat'l Guard - 4 yrs. Fil- army- Korean conflict bil- Vietnam 3 of my dh's uncles- Korean conflict cousin- Marines

How do you imbed text (I think that that is the right term). Like, go here. (and the "go here" is an actual link). How do I do it here. How do I do it on blogger. Is this what google docs is for?

Right there with ya. My 8 yo is constantly challenging things- and darn it if he isn't right half the time. The thing I'm having the biggest problem with is how reactive he is. He punched a kid in S.S. last week becaause the other kids was teasing him about only being in 2nd grade instead of 3rd (he is in 3rd- the other kids was just teasing him). He is a little hot head!

I do all of the haircutting around here and when I say it's time to cut, it gets done- my nickname is, after all, PaxRoMomma:001_smile:. My boys HATE getting hair cuts so I try to have a treat around on hair cutting days. My big criterion is not too shaggy and not in their eyes. In April we usually go for a buzz- it's our annual "tick season hair cut." All of that being said, we usually only cut hair 3-4 times a year.

Katherine:grouphug:, I'm not sure that I have much to offer in terms of specific curriculum- I didn't really get all of acronyms! But, I did want to add... having gifted children is a stretch for a lot of us! I see so many parents of gifted kids focus so much on their giftedness that their kids end up being narcissistic- a common problem for the gifted but exacerbated by all of the special treatment. The struggle is often between where they are intellectually vs. where they are emotionally. I'd focus on the emotional and make sure that they are getting plenty of physical and social (kwim?) as well. A great movie is "Searching for Bobbi Fisher" where the parents are trying to find a good balance for their gifted child. Your kids are so young still, there is no HUGE rush to keep up with the homeshcool Jones' or Wises' or Bauers' (and I think that both Jesse and Susan would agree with me on that) and fit everything in at once. I know that when I am learning stuff I need to focus on 1-2 things. If I have tons of stuff to focus on I get really stressed out- my kids are the same way. A lot of times I've had to put aside the great curriculum and plans and let my kids really dig in and learn well 2-3 things instead of 5-6. Holidays are great times to relax a little, enjoy each other, build memories, reconnect and refocus on what it is you are trying to accomplish with your homeschool. When my very bright 8year is chomping at the bite I hand him a biography which he has to present on. Books on tape are great "fillers" while I'm working on ETC with my 5 yo. And memory work is great for keeping their minds engaged and it can be a blast - something that you could do together that is skill building but community building as well. Above all, remember WHY you are homeschooling, what is your VISION, what is the End that you hope to acheive. You are the right momma for the task and you know what your dear ones need. Take a breath, get focused:001_smile:, relax!!

We are eating tortillini with pesto, fresh parm and dried tomatos. Tomatos and pesto curtesy of our garden. There is snow on the ground and yet with each bite I can taste summer. It's the little things:001_smile:!

I don't have any help but just wanted to jump in to say that after studying grammar for a year and a half I can now follow this conversation. I am so happy :001_smile:

Have used and loved IEW for about 9 years now. It is awesome!

Just wanted to reiterate the breathing part. I'd focus on math and phonics. Maybe just phonics. Read outloud and employ some books on tape. Memorize simple songs, poems and stories. Take some time to educate yourself about education and then start picking curriculum. Your educational philosophy will be an auto curriculum sorter. You don't need a fancy or complete curriculum. You could focus on field trips, hands on activities and some basics while you figure out what direction you are going. All the best!

popcorn:001_smile: - seriously, every Sunday eve. Chicken soup with homemade noodles or dumplings biscuits and gravy salad with toppings- dried fruit, nuts, seeds, cheese, meat, boiled eggs, etc. Pancakes

I have some old Greenleaf books and I'd love to trade them in for MP's- the illustrations are gorgeous!

AlphaPhonics Explode the Code Story of the World -books and tapes (not the activity guides) IEW Right Start Math Latina Christiana Famous Men series Apologia English for the Thoughtful Child Foundations Our Mother Tongue Genevieve Foster books Holling C. Holling books Laura Ingalls Wilder boks

Thanks for recommending this. A friend of mind did years ago and I'd forgetten about it. I'll have to look up "Open Theology"- I haven't heard of that before.

off the top of my head I'd check out Bounderies for Kids by Townsend. I'll ask my dh ( a psychologist) what he'd recomend when he comes in from shrink-wrapping the front porch.

Decide on philosophy- will you be enrichment or academic? Set prices, get teacheres, decide class room sizes, create or find medical waivers, codes of conduct and discipline, decide how big you will be, who is in charge of curriculum choices, will you assign/grade homework, etc etc. I've started a couple of groups and camps. Feel free to pm me if you have specific ?'s

I love this!

I liked them both- Hard Times is more autobiographical about their life, of which homeschooling played a part. HS for Excellence is more their homeschool philosophy and the materials that they used.

great answers- I love the distinction between LBC. :)