:lol:

:iagree: Our entire family loves his music! :)

:grouphug: to you for taking this on. I'm glad they have you in their lives.

:iagree: :thumbup1: Congratulations!

:lol: That was hilarious!

Thank you, both. This was very helpful! :)

Ds compared the 3rd and 4th Algebra I editions on-line and really wants to use the 4th edition. Could you elaborate on the increased amount of teacher prep? This makes me nervous! (FWIW, Ds is a strong math student and only rarely requires me to explain a concept further than the text.)

ErinE, Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am grateful for your detailed help. :) Heather

My 6th grader had to take notes from four reference sources, write an outline, and then write a paper. The assignment is from Rod & Staff grade 6 lesson 56, but rather have him write about "The Body of an Alligator" {grin}, I assigned "The Life of John Calvin" as we're currently studying the Reformation in history. Writing is the area that I feel least comfortable teaching. Please help! :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Calvin’s Life John Calvin was born in Noyon, France in the year 1509 A.D. His father was a very wealthy man. John had three or four brothers and sisters in his family. He was the second child. His father wanted him to become a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, so when John was twelve years old, he went to study classics at the University of Paris. Before long, his father had an argument with the bishop and he didn’t want John to become a priest any longer. His father then sent his son to Orleans to study law. Tragically, John’s father died in the year 1531 A.D, so John was able to do what he wanted. After his father’s death, John decided to go back to the University of Paris. While in Paris, he experienced what he called a “sudden conversionâ€. He was surprisingly converted to the Protestant faith in 1533 A.D! His father wanted him to study law, but God in his sovereignty had his own plan in mind. After he became a Protestant, he helped his friend, Nicholas Cop to write a speech against the Roman Catholic Church. King Francis I demanded that these two “heretics†be arrested. John had to leave Paris disguised as a farmer! John and Nicholas fled to Basel, Switzerland in 1534 A.D. While he was in Basel, he wrote a book called Institutes of the Christian Religion. This wasn’t his first book, however. When he was in Orleans for the second time, he wrote a commentary on a book by Seneca. He also helped a person translate the Bible in Basel. After spending a year in Basel, he wanted to move to Strassburg. But getting there was a little bit of a problem. There was a war going on between Francis I and Charles V, so John planned to stay just one night in Geneva. While he stayed in Geneva, another Reformer was there whose name was William Farel. William begged John to stay and help him bear-witness the people. John couldn’t bear to decline. So instead of staying just one night, he ended up staying over two years. The people who didn’t want John and William to stay were called Libertines. Eventually, the Libertines won the heart of the Geneva council and they booted John and William out of Geneva in 1538 A.D. William and John moved to back to Basel for a short period of time, and then moved to Strassburg. At Strassburg, John became a pastor to eager people willing to hear God’s Word. John felt comfortable there because most of the people spoke French, which was his native language. Before long John married a woman named Idelette. He needed a person to watch over him and to encourage him. John often stayed up through the night preparing sermons for the next week! In 1541 A.D. the Geneva Council wanted John Calvin to come back. When John got this letter, he sat down and thought about it. After a while, he decided to go. When he arrived at Geneva, he was welcomed with a thunderous applause. When he settled in, he preached over two hundred sermons a year! John also organized a Sunday school class for the young ones. He stayed until he died on May 27, 1564. ----------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for asking. I've been wondering the same thing. :) Oldest ds is STEM oriented. I'm really interested in Deb's dd's AP Bio in 9th, AP Chem in 10th, and AP Physics in 11th progression.

:iagree: We use FLL 1-4 and then jump into R&S 5. It works really well for us. :)

:iagree: My husband worked through an official apprenticeship (four years) to become a journeyman carpenter. We have had our own company now for six years. When the economy was great, it was great! The last two years have been on and off a struggle. This year, he was home from Jan 1st to two weeks ago. (And he's really good at what he does and has an excellent reputation in the area!) Almost everyone we know in the business is struggling except for the plumbers. You can always put off remodeling your kitchen, but you have to fix the toilet if it's broken! :lol: I would not recommend going into a commercial trade right now (like welding, for example.) Almost everyone we know in the commercial trades have been laid off for 3+ years. :sad: I do think the Marines would look beneficially upon any extra schooling your son decided to do. Our nephew has had a heck of a time joining the National Guard during the last six months. Basically, they don't want him because he has nothing other than a GED and scored only in the lower 50s on his ASVAB. He put all of his energy/hopes into joining and it's been a bitter disappointment for him.

Thank you very much for the link! I didn't see it until just now. DS still wants to go to USNA. He's going to be in 7th grade next year and I'm revisiting old threads and planning. :)

:iagree: It made me cringe, laugh, sympathize, and think. I can't imagine doing as much as she did with her children while working and living long distance from my spouse for a long period of time! Interestingly, my 9 yo and my 11 yo sons both read it on their own after flipping through it on our library return pile table at home. It was the stimulus for many great conversations. To this day any hard piece that comes up in piano lessons becomes their "Little White Donkey" for the week. ;-D

I'm on the north side of Milwaukee County. :-)

Ditto. Congrats to Ree! :-)

Ria!! Hi!! You probably don't remember me, but your posts on the old boards and early here have had a huge impact on our homeschooling philosophy. I'm so happy to hear an update from you!

Really???

We might just cancel our subscription. Lately, a lot of the movies we want are not available for instant streaming, so we have to wait for them on DVD anyway. Often we can get them for free through inter-library loan. We've rented at least 5 newer movies in the past few weeks from Amazon though instant video. We might just go that route.

Oorah! Congrats and thank you to your son. And, please, brag away. :)

This thread is making me think of that scene in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. :lol:

Shock and disbelief.

I grew up dispensational, too. The movie "A Thief in the Night" (and the three subsequent films) scared me for a long time. I still remember the song from the film, "there's no time to change your mind, the Son has come and you've been left behind...." Sigh. I thought The End Times Made Simple by Sam Waldron was pretty good.

I enjoyed The Nine Day Queen of England: Lady Jane Grey recently. It's definitely from a reformer view point as she was martyred under Queen Mary.

Congratulations! :party: