The standard response from Duggar fans is to just look how awesome their children are, so they are obviously doing it right! Haters gonna hate, basically.

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/05/11/a-former-off-grid-homeschooled-childs-thoughts-on-the-naugler-family/ This is a good article.

They had a manufactured home for a while, which they do not have anymore. I think this probably is that home as from the pictures you can clearly see it is a mobile home. What they currently live in is basically a lean to.

I want to say it's missing punctuation, but I can't pinpoint where it would be. Looking at it more closely, I don't think it is technically wrong, but just a really terrible sentence. There are a lot of those. It's poorly written, confusing and cumbersome. The Lakeville Parent Forum held a meeting Monday to discuss the possibility of a fall 2015 operating levy vote; during the meeting, parents spoke about the way things used to be in the district.

Oh man, this is taking me back...I was a copy editor for years and years...

I don't like that headline, but quotes as you are using are really not done in headlines. It would have to be an actual, direct quote, attributed to someone to use quotation marks. Also, the trickiest part of headline writing, is that it has to fit in the allotted space. The real challenge would be to get kids to come up with a better headline that was the exact same number of characters + spaces as the original, within 3 characters or so. Space. Inches motivate everything in newspaper writing. If they edit one sentence, it should be roughly the same length as the original, or else they need to edit another sentence to make up the difference. It is very easy to write well when you're not under newspaper constraints.

She said the honey would be in her checked bag, and there is no liquids rule for checked bags. And yes, the TSA website lists everything you could ever want to know about what you can bring.

I have heard this called "the zeal of the newly converted." Newly converted to anything really, and man, is it true! I have been like this about many things, but I always try to reign it in, because I know it's super annoying to everyone else.

We have one friend who did this. She went atheist evangelist, as I call it. It is really, really annoying and obnoxious when people constantly proselytize. But you can become someone who proselytizes for atheism and it is every single bit as annoying. I unfriend both kinds liberally.

The letter of the law on the TSA site is that you can have crochet hooks, and certain types of knitting needles. Scissors with blades under I think 2 inches (maybe 4?) are allowed, so bring some from a sewing kit or something. Honey is perfectly fine in checked bags and I second the ziplocks, but pressure isn't a problem because the cargo hold is pressurized. Lots of people get away with stuff, (after all, the TSA only caught 2 of 22 weapons in that test that was done) but that's what's on the TSA site. Anything that's not allowed, you have to throw away, so if you break the rules, don't make it something important to you! My friend gets peanut butter confiscated (from her carry on only) every time she flies. Play doh too. They are weird about those. It's at their discretion.

We do drive in camping in the state parks. Almost all sites have electric and water and we have always used an air mattress with a plug in pump. The one time we did it without electric, we borrowed a friend's battery operated pump. We lay an old comforter or quilt on the floor, then the air mattress. We have never had a problem. If you don't keep camping, you can use the mattress for guests?

Me! DD turns 6 in a few months! Singapore 2A, 2B...3A? (We start 2A next month, so we'll need something at the end of next year.) Evan Moore Daily Language review Bravewriter Spanish...not sure what yet We use a public school text for science, and then expand History we listen to Story of the World and then usually pick one or two ancient civilizations to do a long, involved unit on Lots of reading to mom. Maybe finishing up ETC 8 if we don't finish all the books this summer. She does gymnastics twice a week and swimming as well. We have a once a week co-op that hits a ton of science and history. We do all the special performances the major theater puts on for schools. This year we did math and phonics every day and fit in handwriting, science, history, and writing around the edges, which worked fine. But next year we have more subjects and it's more important to me to hit them all regularly. Thankfully our schedule opens up, but the amount of time she can sit still and focus is an issue. But I think I'm going to do what I saw someone mention on this site and maybe do two months of history and then two months of science and not try to do them both at the same time. Then everything else I should be able to manage on a regular schedule.

That is WILDLY inappropriate. Pretty much all of it. I am only barely hanging onto my faith (don't go to church and am on the edge of agnosticism) and my child would no longer be a part of that youth group, so you sound like a nice and reasonable mom indeed! And I am not what anyone in their right mind would call a helicopter mom or overprotective, usually I get the opposite. I haven't read all the responses, but saw someone mentioning this is how you "groom" kids and they are absolutely right. Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with this guy and he could totally be 100% on the up and up, but the actions are not OK.

It does look like your oldest is 2 y.o. or not quite? I will say we picked the most rigorous math we could find, and my DD is just finishing the first grade level. And she can add and subtract with regrouping within 100, but she can not count by 2s, and certainly can not count backwards by 2s, 5s or 10s without a 100s chart in front of her. I do think the list is a bit of a mish mash, with a lot of stuff kids should know by the time they are two or three and a some stuff that seems more appropriate for 2nd or 3rd grade. We do TONS of science and science reading and atoms and molecules and elements have not entered the picture yet. I have found my state's list of standards for each grade to be very helpful. They list everything they expect a child coming into and leaving kindergarten to know and be able to do. I consider it the minimum baseline. Usually actually I look a year ahead and hope to hit those standards if possible.

Lord Grantham dies of a heart attack, and that burn victim soldier from a million years ago comes back, proves his identity, and takes the estate, leaving them all penniless. J/k, but it bothers me they never did ANYTHING with that plotline.

Also, am I the only person who saw the thread title and thought, "Aha! Kindred spirits!!"? :lol: But it was not to be...

I very rarely buy used anything if it costs more than half what it would new. People are right. Retailers offer sales with free shipping. For brand new stuff. I am not going to pay only $5 less than that for used things. I'll buy new. My local homeschool store sells their used curriculum for about 50% of retail. They buy those back from parents at 25% of retail. And I get to see what condition it's in and don't have to pay shipping and worry it won't actually make it to me, etc. I mean, you're saying you'd rather give away your stuff for free (to a thrift store, where it will delightedly be picked up by someone like me for $1-2) than offer it at what the market considers a reasonable price. And the number one rule of bargain shopping is always ask if they will take less. Not everyone does it, but it is common. If you don't want offers, write that your price is firm and you don't want offers. Most people respect that. :)

Hi, My DD has about a month left in Singapore 1B. She has expressed a desire to move straight into 2A as opposed to taking the summer easy with math games and review. However, I'd like to take a month to review the concepts we've done this year and really cement some of the things she seems to forget from lesson to lesson (addition/subtraction with regrouping seems to be the main culprit. We have to review with manipulatives every time it comes up, but then she gets it. Until next time...) I realize I can make up problems or print off free worksheets, but open and go gets done here. Plus she does the majority of her math work in the car. Is there anything that lines up with Singapore that would work for this? I have even thought about re-buying the workbook and picking pages here and there to do again, but I think she would balk at that.

That sounds great! I'll have to look at it.

Yeah, my DD would WANT to learn to read and write it, no question. At this point, her desire to learn these things has not caught up to her ability to be still and focus on school. We're slowly upping the portion of our day spent doing schoolwork, and I suspect by the time she's 7 we'll be able to add a full blown Spanish program. I just want to get it started. And she was the toddler who would sit still and read books to herself for hours, but sitting still and doing schoolwork wears her out fast. I'm glad we homeschool so she can mature into it at a gentler pace.

It sounds like it would be a good decision for your family. I can hear it in your "voice," once you decide to do this it will be as if a huge weight lifts off you.

Me too!!

For me, my DD is maxed out by learning to read and write in English. If I asked her to do it in another language too, she'd be miserable. I am sure that will be resolved in a year or two.

Thanks for the responses! Would Song School Spanish still be worth it if the CD was a wash? She doesn't remember songs until she has heard them 10,000 times (she still can't sing her ABCs, though she is reading.) And even once she does memorize a song, she can't apply what it says toward any practical use.

I'd love to get DD started in Spanish, but I'm not looking for a serious, teacher-driven curriculum. I'd love something that was video or computer/website driven. I'd really just like her to have fun learning conversational stuff right now, the words for objects, etc, and if it goes well we can get down to nuts and bolts down the line. Any ideas? She's the least auditory 5 year old you've ever met, though paired with a visual it's fine. She likes bright and colorful, fun and downright ridiculous/silly stuff in her currics. Oh, and DH and I do NOT speak Spanish, but we have that half Spanish everyone in Houston seems to have where you can understand most of it but speak very little. My pronunciation is awesome, even though I usually don't know what I'm saying. lol