Any other bread-bakers for large families care to weigh in?

arrrg! You guys aren't helping!! ;)

Ok, so I'm finally biting the bullet and getting a Kitchen Aid. I guess I'm a "normal" baker--I don't make huge batches of things, but I do like to bake bread, cookies, etc., double sometimes triple recipe. I have 6 kids. Some friends say stay with the 5 qt (my kitchen is fairly small), some say go with the 7 qt. (money is an issue, but I'll shell out for the 7 qt if need be). Thoughts?

Ok, in all honestly, I haven't been terribly present to my kids this past year, spending too much time on the computer answering emails (I help run our local co-op and have a small part-time online job, but still....), especially during the crucial morning hours of 10-noon, when we get most of our school work done. Have any of you come up with a great way to keep yourself present in your homeschool?

Looking for academic articles on the social and/or academic benefits of homeschooling. Thanks!

I really, really tried to ignore this thread b/c I knew some of the responses would be nasty. I failed. SproutMama, "it's not working out"? Have you never felt the things the OP is now writing (and probably in a state of heightened stress)? You don't know her, and presumably none of us here do. Let's try to give advice without coming to definitive conclusions about whether her home situation is "working out" or not. That's her job, not yours. OP, I was in tears today for this very situation with my 9 year old, who steals special treats she knows are for special occasions (she has plenty of unfettered access to healthy snacks and even some not-so-healthy). 5 hours later, I'm feeling better and have new resolve to make this a teachable moment. No advice here, and no judgment either. Praying that you find peace today.

no one? :(

Do you all use regular weight paper? 22 lb? This is for WWE 1 and 3...and SOTW coloring pages/activities. Thanks!

It seems like this topic could be better served if we distinguished between the THREE types of Greek being learned out there: 1. ancient (classical) Greek 2. "Koine" Greek. Similar to ancient Greek, with a lot of differences in vocabulary. This the Greek of the New Testament, sometimes called "Biblical Greek." 3. Modern Greek (commonly taught in Greek Orthodox churches today) which is very different from ancient Greek and Koine. Modern Greek (while so much fun! I am a student myself) will not allow you to read the classics or much of the New Testament. If this is your goal, better to follow ancient Greek or Koine programs. I would guess that many of us here (in the context of Classical education) would want our children to learn ancient Greek--the Greek of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle, although there seem to be more Koine programs out there due to Christian character of much of classical education these days. Some programs in ANCIENT Greek are: 1. Galore Park's An Introduction to Classical Greek 2. Athenaze 3. Memoria Press' Elementary Greek 4. Classical Academic Press' Greek for Children Hey Andrew seems to teach Biblical Greek, but at that early level, it probably wouldn't hurt (though I'm not sure) to switch from Biblical to ancient Greek, although you wouldn't want to do it much later (to avoid confusion in your student).

This. Please remember this. Every week. K is just reading and math, maybe a little handwriting. That's all. I wish I could have told myself this when I first began to homeschool with a newborn. It took many, many tears (and 2 more newborns) for me to realize this. You have many more years ahead for science and history. Take it easy when you have a baby in the house. That's an order! :)

Well put, justasque. I am hoping you are right about the OP and her daughters. I do hope it's Christ they are seeking. No one could fault them for that. I can't help but feel a little sad that they are considering leaving a Church where I know Him to be. I mean this in all sincerity and pray for all who are searching.

Because finding a "welcoming" church that welcomes sins and makes us all comfortable with how we want to live our lives is not "believing" in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ does not want us to be sinners; He came to show us the Way, which means repenting of our sins. Recognizing our sins and repenting of them is always uncomfortable. Trust me, I had some 15 years of pretty horrible sins to confess when I came back to the Church. Some have dubbed the idea that we must change our lives, sometimes radically so, "unwelcoming" when in reality, it's called conversion.

The only thing I see in these posts is "How can I find a church to serve me and my desires?" What good is finding a church that's more "welcoming" instead one that's true? We should all be asking, which church is Christ's? Which church will make me more Christ-like? Not, at which church will I (and all my sins) be most comfortable?

We're happy with Latin for Children so far. Not too puzzle-y, and the grammar and vocab instruction is more rigorous than GSWL, so even though we're starting from the beginning, it's not been boring or too much review. Plus we just started Headventureland online, and my ds likes the break from textbook work now and then (to keep up morale). My only dislike is that ds hasn't been translating every day like he did in GSWL...but then, GSWL is really a unique program. Agreed, there needs to be volume 2!

I started with Singapore, got tired of juggling books so switched to MM. But then missed the instruction and shorter lessons of Singapore and ended up going back! Bottom line: they are both great programs, but I feel that Singapore is "fuller" in that it has ready-made drills at the back of the HIG, and there are great supplements to try (we do challenging word problems and extra practice book when we hit a wall with a new concept). Cons: much more expensive, and the juggling of books is a downer when you have a newborn to take care of. If only someone would make a Singapore worktext!

You moms amaze me. With a newborn in the house all I can do is find the remote and turn on PBS (and there's nothing wrong with that, thank you very much!) :laugh:

I have a son (10) who is very much interested in diseases. Since we don't like to spend hours on the internet, is there an encyclopedia/text anyone has to recommend? He could easily handle a high school-level textbook.

Song School Latin would be a mistake. Lots of copywork (handwriting practice), and the illustrations are babyish..even my 3rd grader found it boring. I highly, highly, recommend Getting Started with Latin. It's fabulous.

:svengo:

Never tutored before, and while I don't have an education degree (not sure if this will hurt me or not), I do have several advanced degrees and have taught 3 of my own how to read. I was thinking of offering reading help/tutoring for grades K-2 using the OPGTR, a white board, and some Montessori manipulatives, and of course phonics readers. I'm pretty confident about my method, but not so sure about logistics. How long do you think I should make each session? I was thinking 20 min considering the age? Is that not long enough? How many times a week? Should I just let parents decide? Finally, how much would you charge for a 20 min/30 min session? Where would you advertise? Any other considerations I'm not thinking of? One thing I'm a little worried about is not being able to diagnose certain problems like dislexia, etc. I've only taught kids with standard development. Should my lack of experience with these kinds of issues be a deterrent to my offering reading help? Or am I overthinking this?

Not me. See sleep post in this forum :(

One of those days where I'm just about to give up hope of ever being well-rested again. Toddler has been waking up pretty much every night for the past 9-10 months and staying up for 3-4 hours, usually from 1 until 4 or 5:00 a.m. He's always been in a crib, has always gone to sleep in a darkened room with noise maker just fine, but wakes up and stays up almost every night. Nap is once a day, from 1-2 hours (depending on how miserable the night before was). Stopping breastfeeding worked really well for about 3 weeks, then back to his old tricks. Not looking for sleep advice per se, just give me some hope. I feel like my homeschool has fallen apart because of this, not to mention my workout routine and my general happiness. This is my 5th child and I'm just as lost with him as I was with my first. Desperate for some sympathy.

I love it when I read things like this. It's the same with great writers: they just read lots of great literature.

My middle school student just finished the Hakim series. He loved it! He read this instead of doing science for the first 2 quarters of the year (he's now doing Apologia's anatomy).

I had a similar experience at a local private school open house. Talking to the 5th grade teacher there, my resolve to homeschool for middle school was absolutely solidified. From over-reliance on technology to burdensome parental involvement, I've never been more sure in our decision to homeschool!! And the Latin...it would be hard for us to give that up, too :)