I'm enjoying the Survival Podcast http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/ (aside from when his language ventures into the PG-13 range). It has a message board, but I don't go there very often. Homesteadingtoday.com has a nice forum, with a specific area for survivial and emergency preparedness.

Have you seen this $10 grocery list: http://www.budget101.com/_grocery_list.htm. It would give you some ideas to start with, including possible meals. Here is a similar list for $30: http://www.heart4home.net/30perweek.htm.

You might opt for "Getting Started with Latin." You can't beat the price, and the quality and extra features (mp3 downloads) are nice.

I think learning the prayers helps you get the full benefit of the curriculum, but it certainly isn't necessary. Due to religious conflicts, we have skipped the prayers.

I am also already set up with an account, but my shipping notice only included three of the five books I ordered. I'm assuming the other two were out of stock, although there was nothing that said such :rolleyes:

We have just finished up the 2nd grade. Here is what we covered in science and history: Astronomy: Universe and galaxies Planets Stars and constellations Sun Mercury Venus Earth Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto Asteroids/Meteor/Comets Space travel (Look for any of the planet books by Dana Rau. They were perfect for this age) Earth science: Earth layers Gravity/Magnetism Rocks and Minerals/Earth's Resources (2 weeks) Soil/erosion Earthquakes/Volcanoes Continents Water cycle Rivers Oceans Atmosphere/Pollution Weather (1 month) Seasons/Day and Night Climates/biomes ( Rainforest, Desert, Arctic, Tundra, Mountains, Grasslands) History (using Usborne Book of World History as a spine) 400 A.D. - 1600 A.D. Romans (1 month) Sassanians/Ireland/Christians-Muslims Vikings (2 weeks) Middle Ages in Europe(3 weeks) Byzantines, Crusaders, Turks Arabs/Africa Mongols/India Marco Polo Samurai/Africa Moundbuilders/Mississipians(or whomever your local native people are - 1 month) Incas Aztecs Russia/Italy Leonardo de Vinci (2 weeks) Renaissance (2 weeks) (We didn't spend the entire year on this cycle, but that at least gives you somewhere to start from. You could spend more time on the Romans, etc.)

Some churches believe baptism is to "join" the local church, while others believe it is so God can add you to His church. Our preacher would briefly talk to someone wishing to be baptized to make sure the person knew what he/she was doing, but that would be the only condition he would place on it.

We're actually super-strict about this. We don't allow any euphemisms for taking God's name in vain...period. We don't allow any fake substitutions for swear words (or the real thing ;) ). Like the OP's SIL, we do not allow the word "hate" to be used unless we are reading the Bible. Poop is allowed when referring to the real thing, but no other "potty humor" is allowed. This may be easier with daughters than sons, so I hear ;)

I'm in the same boat as Jumping in Puddles. We have been here 10 years. We don't do anything particularly "special" for it, and we have never had it pumped. We are a family of 4, two kids. We use as few chemicals as possible, I almost never use bleach, we use very little anti-bacterial soap and we try not to get thick tissue. I don't use tampons anymore (mooncup), but I flushed them (not the applicator) regularly when I was growing up on a farm with a septic tank. I once asked my parents how often I should have the tank pumped, and they said only when there's a problem.

Do you have any other children? That could affect when to start the four-year cycle so the kids will be on the same cycle together. If you do not have other children, there isn't any problem starting the grammar-stage work when she turns 5 if she is ready. My first DD did "kindergarten" when she was 4, so we jumped right into the cycle when she turned 5. However, I have a soon-to-be 4yo that I probably won't start on year 1 of the cycle until she is 6, so she will be on the same schedule as her sister (they are 3 years apart). If things get too much for your daughter, then you can always do two years of Year 1, etc.

We just try to take it one day at a time. If I wanted my 6yo to memorize a list of 10 things, we would start with the first one. The second day, I would see if she could remember the first one. If she could, we would add a second. Each day, we would add a new item, unless she could not recall all the previous ones. It may not be the fastest way, but it seems to work well. Another key is to review memorized material frequently, otherwise the material will be forgotten. I believe you have to do memory work daily to make any real progress at that age. My daughter tends to lose the newest material even over the weekends.

There is something I need to look up on the old boards. How did you access them?

I have taken a 5-day tapered dose of Methyprednisolone a couple of times. The first time, I had a brief hallucination the night I took the last dose. The second time, I had no symptoms at all.

Hmm...after reading through this thread, I discovered they like tea :scared: Yep, they hit my tea stash. I have a lot of cleaning to do tomorrow *sigh*

I've had moths flying out of my pantry for the last week or so. I have no idea what they could be in because I'm usually very careful about bagging up everything.

After so many glowing recommendations, I always pick up these books at curriculum fairs to flip through, only to put them back down again. They just look like a standard textbooks to me, nothing special aside from the Christian perspective. My children are in the grammar stage, and I just didn't feel these would appeal to them at all.

It does sound like thrush. If it is, take care to treat both your baby and yourself simultaneously, or you will keep reinfecting each other. Here are the two best links I have found on-line for treat thrush: http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVOctNov98p91.html'>http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVOctNov98p91.html'>http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVOctNov98p91.html'>http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVOctNov98p91.html http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVOctNov98p91.html

Thanks for that resource, Tara. Scholastic also has a book finder where you can choose separate "interest levels" and "reading levels." For example, you could pair a first grade interest level with a 5th grade reading level. You can also specify the genre of books. Sometimes, I use it to find out what level books are that I know are too easy, too hard or just right.

We call them molasses, even though they aren't exactly. We mix them with butter and eat them with biscuits. You can also use them to make cookies or any recipe calling for molasses.

Many times, my daughter will pick out easy books at the library to read. I just let her pick out one or two books, whatever she wants, as long as it doesn't have any objectionable content (I don't tolerate rudeness, which seems to be in everything, or things that go against our beliefs). I bring home chapter books for her and put them in the book basket. I don't demand she reads them. However, she loves to read everything. She'll excitedly pick them up and read most anything there, even non-fiction books for "school." I keep out a couple of the higher level books for read-alouds. If I put those in the baskets, she'll read them and then not want to read them with me! It is getting so difficult to find books that challenge her with appropriate content *sigh* I use the list mentioned in the post above (1000 good books) to try to pick out things. At her age, almost 7, I want to protect her innocence as long as possible. She also has lots of nightmares, like her mother, so I don't want to select books that fuel the problem. On a side note, I was also worried about reading Charlotte's Web with her. I wanted to take her to a play production put on by children about it, so we went ahead and read the book. Amazingly, it didn't seem to bother her at all. Right now, I'm avoiding Black Beauty because it seems a little too graphic :p.

Has anyone found a free copy of this book on the Internet? I found Intermediate Language Lessons on Google books, but not Primary Language Lessons.

I think your kids are at a perfect age. Have fun!

I've had nightmares regularly for as long as I can remember. I'm also a light sleeper who wakes up frequently during the night. I'm finding I can listen to podcasts on my iPod to help me fall back asleep. I fall asleep much quicker this way than watching TV or reading.

I have one, and so do both of my girls.