I second Miss Moe. My best friend gives a nice selection of books for the new baby (especially if they have most all the basics already). Usually she puts it in a nice basket or container that will work for the gender and whatever decor they are using for the room. You could also give the older child an age-appropriate book or two, as well. She said no one else usually ever brings anything like it, and it gets the baby started with a nice collection of books.

You can make sauce and freeze it. Then you are one step ahead of the dinner game--tomato sauce at the ready for spaghetti, lasagna, manicotti, etc., etc. I planted a ton of tomatoes this year as well for that very purpose. I load up on spaghetti sauce, salsa, and red enchilada sauce. You can dry the tomatoes in your oven as well for recipes using dried tomatoes. A tomato salad is great, too: Sliced tomatoes, sliced fresh mozerella, some fresh basil, and a little balsamic vinegar. HTH!

Great! Thanks for your help.

This year I plan on using GWG 1 for my son. I have never used any of the GWG series. How much time should I schedule for his lessons? TIA!

See if your library has Frozen Assets by Deborah Taylor-Hough. It will give you some great ideas on how to get started with freezer meals. Lots of recipes and just some good advice on practical ways to get started.

They just moved their site. Here is the new link: http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/curriculum.html

I, too, have only had a great experience with McRuffy math. Used K for my ds and 3rd grade for dd this past year. Kids absolutely loved the programs. Brian is great! I e-mailed him a couple of times about questions I had and he was quick to reply. He is hoping to have 4th grade LA and math ready for this fall. He said I could e-mail him later on in the summer, and he would give me an update as to when he thought they'd be ready.

Thank you! I even called the CLE customer service and they couldn't answer for sure whether or not manipulatives were used!

Thanks! I couldn't find anything specific on that anywhere!

I just recently saw that you can print your own. Several sites have free printable handwriting paper. Here's one: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC060901001033.aspx You may be able to just purchase a ream somewhere, but mostly I have just seen templates for printing your own. Not sure if that helps or not...

Does CLE math for 4th grade use manipulatives? I am trying to decide between CLE and Horizons, and I see that Horizons uses manipulatives still at this level. I could not find anything showing there were any manipulatives needed for CLE 400. TIA!

I don't have an infrared grill, but my mother bought one when they first started coming out. Don't know where she bought it or exactly what brand, but this one didn't work well at all. It could be that it was not a very reliable brand or she got a lemon (not sure), but it didn't work very well. I don't know of anyone else that has tried one.

Thanks for the link! I'd never heard of it before.

They are called rash guards and now that they are more popular you can find them at Target and Old Navy. Both stores are comparable in price, although sometimes you can get them from Old Navy online in discontinued colors/styles pretty cheap--got some last year for $5 each.

I used to just work up our wish list and then buy it in one fell swoop, but this year dh wants me to break that down into 3 increments and space out the buying over the summer.

That is a great idea! I use the wish list feature...don't know why I didn't think of that sooner.

This isn't a book per se, and I don't what grade you are specifically gearing towards, but I used this history program I found online at http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/curriculum.html which is outlined. There is a ton of information and so I had to cull what I could use from the suggested schedule. I don't know if this is even close to what you were looking for, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

We loved the HH series as well. I have started collecting the books, but I am still missing a few. Glad to know the books are great, too (usually the movies are never as good as the books, but this series was pretty good!).

I have a system, but only I know what it is :001_smile:! Mostly arranged by subject, but then I have groupings of classics together, reference together, and all current in-use books in one specific area.

Thanks for the good ideas.

Good to know...:001_smile:

Reverse osmosis is what I've heard is best. At our home, anything has to be better than the tap. We are constantly receiving notices from our water company that their water didn't meet standards when tested, but they are doing blah, blah, blah to fix it. And even on 2 occasions we found out after the fact that we were under boil order! When I called to complain that we hadn't been notified they said that they didn't have any way of contacting all their customers personally and that is why they just post it on the 5 o'clock news. We don't watch the 5 o'clock news!! My MIL who lives an hour away saw it on the news and mentioned it 2 days after the fact to us. So for us, anything is better than the tap water here.

I rarely buy anything for my dh as most of it ends up going right back. He is extremely particular about his clothing. Unless I know exactly what to buy, I usually don't dare (it just means a trip back to the store for a return).

We have enjoyed using AP. I have an 8yo and a 5yo and they both enjoy the art study as well as the art projects. We are still in the K-3 books, but I have the 4-6 book 1 and it appears there is more actual art instruction (as far as drawing is concerned) in those books. The K-3 books deal with what an artist sees and different types of ancient art. Anyhow, we've loved using it. It is one of my kids favorite subjects. The biggest problem I have had is what to do with some of the larger art, especially clay and paper maiche projects. I can't save it all.

I have one and I love it. My dh bought it for me and I got 100 free classics from the Sony eBook store with it. Plus, I use a lot of public domain books, and occasionally a purchased download. Dh said he bought it because he was tired of lugging a huge bag of books to the beach each year! :001_smile: I have had no issues with reading it. The pages "turn" a tad bit slow, but we are talking 2 second delay here--not 1 min or anything. Anyhow, it is great for trips for the avid reader who would have to either lug a ton of books on vacation or buy books. As far as price for the purchased books, they vary. The newest bestsellers are priced only a little less than buying the hardback at the store. But the older books or things that were not on the best seller list are more economical.