I know you don't want to use your oven but I got some really cheap trays at the dollar store, you can fit 4 in at a time. I also use wax paper and it seems to get done a bit faster. Plus you have nice rectangles to roll up nice.

I've been happy with Sequential Spelling.

We are using Voyages in English for writing and grammar for grade 3, I also purchased Exercises in English (Catholic publisher but secular) as a supplemental workbook but that alone would be a good basic grammar. As nice as this has been for us for 3 years I am switching (I know fickle :)) to Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts Curriculum

:iagree: It has saved me hours upon hours of work.

Oh boy, this is the crux of my dilemma. Your words made me tear up. What you say is true. Shouldn’t we be the better people in this? FIL is in his 70's, MIL late 60's but in poor health, of the three sons, only my Dh is left (middle son passed in his 20's; horrific accident). Dh is a very compassionate man, though he puts us first always, I have faith in him to do what is right without jeopardizing us in anyway. I am the one at odds with myself. We have impressed upon dd that racism is wrong but that the racist is also a person with all the faults and fragilities that come with humanity. She understands this from a distance. I just don’t want her to be the victim of it, again. Meaning, if we had to temporarily go there and settle things, we could be there to support Dh but stay behind the scenes with no FIL contact. MIL would not be a problem; she is a different person when alone. I just don't know.

The last phone conversation with MIL, Dh asked this. She said that he isn't forgetting things, in fact he keeps remembering a lot of really old things that made him mad in the past and starts ranting about them all over again. He does have a heart condition and sees a Dr. regularly but I doubt Alzheimer's has been brought up.

I can see you really can empathize. I always said I would never put a parent or any elder relative in a nursing home or show disrespect. I had always maintained this was one of the banes of American culture, but now....I'm just not so sure. I guess this is a lesson on never say never.

Last week I got my dd's first standardized test back in the mail, her CAT's. I opened it and started crying, she had gotten a perfect score. I told her, then she started to cry. I asked her why she was crying and she said "because I have the best teacher in the world." Okay, just typing this out I'm loosing it again. My God, I love her!

I just read the "beware of troll" post and finally got my answer to what a troll is. Let me just say that I do have close friends who would support me in what ever I choose to do or don't do. But sometimes it's really nice to be able to put it out there in words to the universe and get responses from people that aren't right on top of the situation or can see though the stuff without bias. If I let her, my best friend would be the first in line throwing punches at my FIL. But really what would that solve? I very much appreciate the different points of view on this board. It has even softened me a bit on some stereotyping I was harboring. There are some very wise people here. I'm grateful you guys are out there sending forth your armies of homeschooled kids to make wise the world.

You are right of course, it was a poor excuse. Sometimes it easier to make excuses than to wrap my brain around the whys. My dh and my late bil were perfect examples how you can rise out of a situation of ignorance and hatred and become loving, caring, productive members of our society. I'd like to think that MIL had something to do with that. My dh doesn't really go for the honor your parents train of thought. That is all me. He feels respect is earned not a right just because you share blood. I'm also coming from the fact that I lost my father a few years ago and know it would just be sad for him not to have any closure with his father. Ugh! Why do people have to be so ugly?

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement. My gut tells me the same thing about keeping a distance. We try to never say negative things about them in front of dd, sometimes that can be really hard. In FIL’s defense (yes, he is 73) or excuse he was raised in Oklahoma during a bad time and only received a 4th grade education before he was put behind a plow on the farm. MIL has stood by him but I’ve always noticed a bit of a flicker as if she wanted to contradict him, but never could quite do it. Mind you as far as I know FIL has never been physically abusive which is to his credit, as I understand it his father was. Oh, and this gets my goat a bit, they don’t attend any particular church they watch a minister on TV and send what little money they don’t have there. Unfortunately there is no one even remotely local that he hasn’t cussed out or ran off. He has had his kind and tender moments but for the most part he has been a big poop since I’ve known him. Age has only ripened him past the point of rotten. This has been pretty hard on Dh but fortunately for us dd and I always come first. I do want to encourage Dh to try and convey to MIL that if she does need help to please feel that we have not shunned her. I feel she really needs to know that she has an option.

Yvette, I'm thinking some about some heavy things today but when I saw your post I just had to smile... You asked "Do you get better gas mileage if you don't have much junk in your trunk." I've worked with some troubled teens that would interpret that as "you could walk a bit faster if your bottom wasn't so big...." :001_smile:

There may be content offensive to Christians but it is not my intent to offend. This isn’t about what he, she, it believes, it’s about what you do with it. And to preface it all, we are a spiritual family but not a religious one, just not Christian. I have a strange relationship with my in-laws of 18 years. Dh wasn’t close to them for many years after he left home as a young adult. When we first got together I told him I just wasn’t raised that way, you must make contact. So he did, and things were “all rightâ€. We lived across the state and visited only occasionally. When our dd came along she was the first and only grandchild on both sides, still is. I really wanted her to know all of her real grandparents since she was fortunate enough to have them. But the closer we got to my husband’s parents the more strained things became, until I had enough. I have not spoken to them in 3 years. Dh will call on birthdays and allow dd to talk; we send Christmas cards and pictures. Dd tries to write a letter every few months. The dividing factor has been race and religion. Dh left because he just didn’t see the light in fundamental Christianity and because his father was an extreme bigot. They were aware that I was Asian but somehow in the beginning that was “okay†for them. I put aside a lot of my fundamental morals by still encouraging Dh’s relationship with them. When Dd was four we entertained the idea of moving closer because of a job opportunity and rented a place nearby them for 5 months too long. Then it started, I was berated for not teaching my daughter “young earth†and filling her head with stupid lies such as the moon landing, dinosaurs, and math. Yes, math, because she won’t need it behind a stove. When dd questioned some of FIL’s bible stories, he would get angry at her and tell her not to question him with “those evil Asian eyesâ€. But the deal breaker for me was when Dh’s brother married a black woman and then shortly after was diagnosed with lung cancer, FIL AND MIL refused to acknowledge him and told my daughter that he was no longer their son and cancer is what her uncle deserved for marrying out of his race. My brother in law died six months later, his parents did not even attend the funeral. I was mortified. MIL just informed Dh that FIL is becoming more and more deranged and he lashes out verbally in anger to everyone including her (Not physical). We are concerned about MIL not being able to handle the farm and him. She has not asked for help but Dh is now the only one that could. I am on the fence, my mother’s culture believes like Christian doctrine to honor your mother and father. However I do not want to subject my daughter to his, now worse, tirades. I feel like my core value system is being torn. Do I relent? Dd is incredibly sensitive and fully remembers how her grandfather used to treat her face to face. What would you do?

Those are great! Thanks for sharing. We have always been prepared; it comes natural to us now with our food rotation. While risking being stereotyped as a paranoid survivalist; life happens, the good, the bad, and the ugly flu. It only takes 2 days (in the US) of our trucking industry being down for our stores to be empty.

I voted 'other' because I do feel the same as I did in the spring but regardless of media hype it is something to take very seriously.

This is why I use software (HST plus) and can change plans regularly....because life happens.

Way cool Astrid, I've never heard about it. Heading there now... Don't you just love how our ears just perk when we read/hear "knitting". :tongue_smilie:

What is a bit? I felt this way the first year I knitted, now I'm wishing I can remember some of that for some bulky, rustic, natural projects. Are you an English or Continental knitter? I would try wrapping or unwrapping your yarn around different fingers. I know I adjust my tension depending on the type of yarn I'm using as well; more for 2 ply sport weight and less for say a fat 1 ply worsted wool. Have you tried doing just as you are doing with different yarns on different size needles to get the result you like, of course that's not great if you are following a pattern. Most often I'll adjust a pattern depending on how my swatch turns out for a particular yarn I'm using. Most of all just have fun.

I store mine first by composition, then weight, then color with the largest amounts on top. I have a about a 20 gallon plastic bin full of yarn; 90% is wool. Within the bin I have a small open top box with non-natural fibers that I let dd use for crafts. A few times a year dd will help me go through my whole bin, re-wind things, and reorganize and we'll put project ideas in plastic bags within the bin for the future. Fun, Fun, Fun!

I'm a rabid Singapore user but we rarely used manipulatives. The principles behind bonds is what clearly tipped the scales for me using Singapore in the first place. I majored in math and like you came up with that on my own. Now, my dd's mental math far surpasses mine at her age. It's quite a delight to see.

Sorry to jump in here having a "3rd" grader and all but I like to plan way ahead......:blush: Have you looked in to Michal Clay Thompson's series for secondary school. He has some very interesting things to say about Grammar or lack of in schools for the last 2 decades. His video's are quite interesting.

Yes, they will receive instruction on "how to" add vertically with the carry rules. However, with mastery of the bonds, the child should be able to add 2,3, or even 4 places mentally. IMHO, bond concept is paramount at this stage.

:tongue_smilie:

I said other because HO was not an option. STOW is only one of the spines of HO, the main one is Osborne Encyclopedia of World History (Grammar) and the Kingfisher (Logic).

I would have whined earlier but at 105, 3 substations in Monroe and Snohomish went out and we were without power for several hours. Dd and I sat in the bathtub with our shorts on spraying each other with the coldest water possible. Power's on now but it's now 92 in the house. :svengo: