:iagree:

I'd love to hear all of your rave reviews...or not so raving reviews. I'm probably going to order this for my older 4 yr. old in the next few days. I think she's very ready for it and it looks really fun.

My dd is a 4th grader, but perhaps more at a 3rd grade level for writing. We're also doing WWE, level 3. The dictation is still a struggle for her, but her summarization skills have definitely gotten better. We're about 1/3 thru level 3. For history, she has to write a brief summary (for now just 2-3 sentences) of what she has learned each day. I hope to work up to 1-2 paragraphs by the end of the school year, but it's definitely a struggle for her still. We also have one new Greek vocab word each week and at the beginning of the week she has to copy the word, definition and several variations on that word and their definitions. On Wednesday she has to write sentences for 3-4 of those words that she copied down. That's all the writing she is doing for now, assigned. She writes emails and letters to friends and families at least 5-7 times a week and will often create little stories and books on her own too.

We're reading The Tanglewoods Secret by Patricia St. John.

We do eat cold cereal 1-2 times a week, but mainly because I'm very sick with morning sickness right now. We usually eat eggs, oatmeal or sausage and toast, and some fruit. On weekends, I might make pancakes and bacon.

I have not read all the replies, but we are just starting week 2 here of CTG. It does suggest having older children study other cultures creation myths as well as reading The Epic of Gilgamesh. I think if you add in all of the additional studies suggested, there would be plenty of material, even if you do skip all of the biblical feasts material.

No strict schedule here, it doesn't suit my personality. And my oldest DD goes nuts if we do have a schedule and we veer at all. She's a very by the book type and can't handle getting off schedule. So it seems better to me to not have it written down because we will get off schedule. I don't have any set days for chores or town days or anything. This may change as my kids get older. But currently, we have a rough school schedule that I do try to stick to, certain subjects in certain orders, with some subjects alternating days. That I stick to, but again, it's not written down because it makes us all nuts if it is. And we have meals and snacks at fairly set times. Bedtime is pretty set in stone too. After that, anything goes.

We moved from an 1100 sq. ft. house with 7 people and it felt too small to me, but manageable. We're not in a 1400 sq. ft. house and it's still smaller than I prefer, but definitely more comfortable than our previous. I'd really like something at least 2000 sq. ft. next time. I would have to agree that it depends on the number of people and the layout, but anything below 1000 sq. ft for an average 4 person family would be small IMO.

I voted that of course I'd be pleased with whatever path they choose. But I do think it would be wonderful if they followed in my footsteps. Motherhood is one of the highest callings a person can have and such a blessed life!

I started my 1st grader at the beginning near the end of 1st grade last year. She had done a whole 1st grade grammar curriculum and was a bit advanced grade-wise and and older 1st grader, but the way FLL is presented is different than most grammar programs. The good thing about beginning with a 7 yr. old is that you really can speed through 2-3 lessons a day in just 5-10 min. and they still retain it quite well. We are almost ready to begin the 2nd grade portion after just about 3 months working through it.

I did think the workbook was probably a different variety than the actual curriculum, but I had no idea it was from a different publisher. There are so many similarities, it almost makes me angry that a company would copy such a good curriculum and market it as their own! I thought Singapore had put it out as an "after-school" sort of workbook. Thank you for letting me know.

Do you have to print this one off, or can you buy workbooks? I prefer workbooks.

I like MFW and feel that it fits that criteria, but I know that's not a popular choice here. Actually, we LOVE MFW, tons of activities, still a lot of read-aloud time, but much less than Sonlight, it's just a really good fit for us.

I have a 7 yr. old, rising 2nd grader who has been a bit difficult with math. She's perhaps a bit advanced, so a challenging 2nd grade math curriculum will be just fine, placement wise. We started with MUS, primer and Alpha. She finished (by my standards) Alpha by February last school year and was SO bored with it. I advanced her through much of it, and realized that she was easily adding 3-4 digit numbers with carrying so we moved on. The other huge problem was that she was not really thinking through the problems and caught onto the patterns of the worksheets quickly, if that makes sense, since they are so repetitive. Obviously, she understood how to do the work, but she cheated around it as much as possible. So I decided to try her with Rightstart, thought it would challenge her more, went with level C. It does challenge her, but not too much, it's just about right. We're about 1/4 through. But she fights me SO much on it. She hates to listen to me or work with me. She'd rather a workbook to doodle in and work at her own pace in. It's becoming very problematic for our relationship, and I really don't see the point in continuing. I've even considered putting her in school, I'm just so over the battles. But I'm not sure it needs to come to that. I'm thinking a challenging workbook, one that makes her think, but written more to the child, so there's less direct involvement from me, is probably what she needs. I am considering Singapore, as I bought a Singapore workbook from Barnes and Noble a few months ago to ease the fights between us and to give her something to continue working on while I made up my mind on what to do. Or Christian Light Education, as I know many people like that one, and it's challenging, and written to the child. Thoughts?

Canned coconut milk is much thicker/creamier. I tried it with boxed coconut milk once and did not get good results. I believe the boxed variety is mainly for drinking. Most recipes calling for coconut milk are referring to canned coconut milk. Additionally, the Thai brand is thicker than others I've seen and seems to work better for us. And I get best results if I refrigerated it for a good 8-12 hours ahead of making the recipe.

This is my favorite ice cream recipe! http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/05/chocolate-coconut-milk-ice-cream-2.html We do all kinds of mix-in's. Shredded coconut, chopped berries, melted nut butter (only slightly or it will mess up the consistency of your ice cream), cinnamon if you do coconut and some almonds for a german chocolate, or whatever else you can think of. I also frequently do the frozen banana faux ice cream in the food processor. I usually add a little almond milk and cocoa powder. Or we also like it with some almond milk and frozen strawberries mixed in for a banana-strawberry ice cream. And lastly, for sorbet, we do 1 lb. frozen strawberries (or other berries/frozen fruit), 1/2 cup water, 1/4 sugar, dash of lemon or lime juice and blend in a high powered blender. These are my frequently used recipes.

Another vote for 10 cup. That's what I have and rarely cook more than 2 cups (dry) rice. I could make double that if I wanted some to freeze for another meal and it would still fit. I couldn't actually cook 10 cups of rice (5 dry) in my 10 cup rice cooker, but I can do 7-8 pretty easily and that's a LOT of rice. My family of 7 eats 2-2.5 c. (dry) rice for a meal.

Oh, and the start-up on our new mac desktop is maybe 30 seconds total, probably less. It's super fast. And that's all the way to having the internet up. But like a PP said, there's no reason to shut it down really. And even when my husband changes systems to windows back to the mac system, there's a restart involved, but it takes no more than 20-30 sec.

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them. Yes, they run differently, but I liked both. Less viruses and problems with the mac. 2. What do you love about your mac? It lasted me for 5 years, versus my friend who went through 3 cheaper pc laptops in the same amount of time 3. What do you dislike about your mac? There was a bit of a learning curve, as I was used to the pc. And there are some games that don't run on a mac, my husband figured out how to install windows on our mac, so we can run either system and he can still play his games. 4. Do you find it easy to use? I do now. 5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software? Almost everything I have wanted has been available for mac. My husband likes games that are not always available, but he has solved that problem, as I said.

More smoothies? Add in some healthy fats like 1 T. of coconut oil or avocado to make it creamy. Healthy whole grain crackers and nut butters for protein. Apples sliced with nut butter. Just eat more small and healthy snacks instead of full meals. Perhaps that would help? I don't know, I know it's much more difficult when eating issues are involved, mentally.

Gladys Alyward...we started it in March or April. Then we had the never ending move, we were without our stuff for 6 weeks. I think I did keep the book out, but we just couldn't get to it in the chaos. And now...I just don't have the drive to pick it back up. It was a great book though! I will warn that with a curriculum that schedules it for me, it's still the first thing to get dropped if we are too busy. So, even though I stay current with everything else in our curriculum, I'm notorious about getting behind on the read alouds.

Thanks, that helps! Merry, when I mentioned library books not being at grade level, I meant that they are likely to pick books that are too difficult and thus, discouraging. My 2nd grader moreso.

It just really depends on what your making. Sometimes it comes out to about the same. Rarely, does it cost more. I usually make things that save me big by doing myself. For example, -knit playdresses for my girls, cost $5-10 for me to make, $25 from Hanna Andersson or Gymboree -AIO cloth diapers, cost $5-7 for me to make, $25 to buy new -training pants, cost $3-5 for me to make, $15-20 new -Waldorf dolls, customized, $40-50 made by me, $150 bought new I do make things that don't pay as well, sometimes just because I want to make it, or I already have the material for it, or I want it more customized than I can buy in the store. And after many years of sewing, I have also bought some nicer machines that may mean I haven't saved as much as I'd like to think in the end. However, it's fun for me and is my way of relaxing, so I suppose that doesn't matter so much. :001_smile:

I have not done any required reading in previous years as my girls have been struggling readers and have taken a long time to really get to the point that they could handle a required reading list. They will be 2nd and 4th grade, both at least a year behind in reading level. We don't use a reading program, but we do use MFW which has a recommended reading list at the back for each grade level. I was trying to decide if I should schedule them so that they for sure get done. Or if I should just require them to read a certain amount each week, they could pick from their list. So, for example, my 2nd grader would be reading picture books still, so 2 books each week seems reasonable. My 4th grader is reading easy chapter books like Boxcar Children, so 1 a month with a certain amount of reading each day/week would be reasonable. How do you all handle required reading? I've been letting them pick from the library, but I don't always like their choices, nor are they always grade level appropriate and then they don't get read. I don't mind still letting them pick 1 or 2 books not on the list, but I think I'd like to make a require list that needs checked off completely by the end of the year.

I think it really depends on the child. My 1st dropped her naps at 18 months and slept well at night for 12-13 hours. My 2nd dropped naps at around 27 months, also sleeping for 12-13 hours a night once naps were dropped. My 3rd had much higher sleep needs from the start and always took more and longer naps than my other two had. It was clear to me that she would probably nap longer. She ended up dropping daily naps at 3.5, but at 4.5 still takes a nap 2-3 times a week and sleeps in a few times a week as needed. Otherwise, she gets about 11 hours of sleep each night. My 4th is 2.5 year old now and is still napping, but recently has cut down on naptime from being 2-3 hours down to 1-1.5 hours. He still goes to sleep easily around 8:30, but wakes at 6-6:30, so no more than 10 hours of sleep each night. He's been fighting me on naps a bit lately and we've let him slide a few times when he was fighting very bad, but he melts down by 3 or 4 p.m. He still definitely needs them.