I need a saddle recommendation for an older foundation type QH, 15.2 hands. He has the shorter back (which I love, being an Arabian lover), but is very wide at the withers. He does not have as large of a back end as most QH’s, but baby, does have back. :lol: We have had him since last fall and rode him bareback as the 15†older TexTan roping saddle (semi bars) was making him sore. His previous owner told me that he needed full quarter horse bars. So, my issue is, my DD is slightly larger framed, but still has 10 year old legs, she looks like she is doing the splits on a whale. Moreover, what the heck is up with those western stirrup straps or wind flapper thingies? I cannot adjust them for the life of me. They are way too wide to go through the stirrup in order to get them raised enough to be safe. The little bugger got spooked in the middle of the night a few months ago, jumped a 4 and ½ foot fence (HE’S 18), ran eight miles, and tore a rear frog. He’s okay now, but was out of commission for a while. There is over a foot of snow on the ground so she probably will not be ridding for a bit. I wanted to get a jump on the spring rush and all things horse goes sky high. I’ll admit I have zero experience with western ridding, always English and few decades ago at that. So, I appreciate any advice or recommendations, a few hundred is okay, but really, she’s growing, he’s getting older… :001_unsure: Oh, and he is strictly for trail riding. No fancy stuff for this ol’man, he had his day in the arena.

Oh shoot, maybe it was the ACT's.... Oh my goodness. I really am old. Now, where did I put my kid?? :lol:

My bad, I had to take the SAT's and PSAT's (mid west). For the PSAT's our school required an additional essay. My boarding school was affiliated/joined with a private college, maybe it was their requirement. ??? But, um, it was a million years ago. :D

No, it wasn't my reason, but I could see value in it for that reason, but maybe not. Is there a name for the style you're talking about? It would be interesting to study. What a fun and interesting job.

Whoa! That blows me away! I couldn't even imagine. My DD (6th grade) reads about 40 -50 a year. Outlining at least 5 of them (non-fiction), 3-4 page book reports on 20ish of them and a written summary of all of them. Then again, I read at least a hundred a year so reading is emphasized.

My parents have a place in the Keys, Marathon. They rent it out weekly when they aren't there, expensive though. But others are not. Marathon is great. You don't have the college crowds like Key West and you're out of the Largo scene too. Pacific and Atlantic beaches less than a mile apart, great seafood, close to lots of touristy stuff if you so choose.

Why not do something edible? A male and female hardy kiwi plant will work in your zone. The flowers are quite attractive.

You have a point. I, too, teach Latin, but not because it's dead. I teach it because it is an exact language, it is rooted in most modern western languages, it's used in science and law, and mainly to be able to read primary sources. I don't think cursive is exact, with the many styles, opposite really. But, I can see the value of knowing cursive if only to read historic primary documents written as such. I just wonder if we (the US as a whole) don't teach it for several generations, will it no longer be standard?

Thank you! You've saved me a step. I was contemplating moving our HS stuff into our spare bedroom, but then the guests would have to sleep on the dining room table, which might cause some issues. I wonder if my mother will mind if we eat in her bed? :lol: But seriously, congratulations on your foster approval. :)

Good point...well, maybe physicians, but really is that handwriting? :001_smile:

Do you think that when the Baby Boomers are gone there won't be anymore advocates of cursive, aside from some of us? If a few generations aren't being taught then they can't read it either. Who will we write to?

I agree with this also. I have her doing online typing drills to solidify touch typing. If she's going to do it; do it right.

I agree, and that's mainly why I taught it. But, my DD makes a good point that when I'm no longer peering over her shoulder :D she'll either print or type. Maybe I'll follow her to college. :lol:

Do you have any worries that you D's wont be able to read it?

:grouphug:

Good to know. I remember doing a prep class in boarding school and the nun beat it in to us that we had to. :glare: Of course, that was million years ago. :tongue_smilie:

I read this old article and made mention of it to DD. She feels she will be using a laptop for college (like she does now). Her argument it is in the academia and in the professional world, there is no need.

Is cursive handwriting going by the wayside? Do you think in few years the SAT’s will no longer require it for their essay portions anymore? Are we hanging on to an archaic ‘art form’ when we could be more legible and more productive with print and type? This is my Sunday afternoon debate with DD (age 10 grade 6). She can do it, she can read it, but doesn’t prefer it AT ALL.

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree: I would have put more, but apparently there is a 9 image limit.

I only have the one DD and she is in 5th. We are doing both at the same time. HO during the day and US in the evenings with Dad. We love History Odyssey. We’ve used it since the beginning from Ancients level 1 and are quite familiar with the format. We tend to get carried away and do most everything suggested, hence taking a bit more time. I’m not too familiar with SL, but I have heard good things about it. HO is fairly intense, way more so than what the kiddies would experience in PS, I think, but still very feasible to jump in at this stage. We use the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia and the Story of Mankind as spines. She reads and outlines each passage, does map work, time line labeling (we have a wall one), she does projects with History Pockets and completes summary essay questions. We also watch documentaries as they become available at the library and we’ll cook traditional ancient recipes (a carryover from the grammar stage). All in all it is a wonderful program. I couldn’t recommend it more. While HO is laid out similar with the TWTM’s model for history, my self-devised US history won’t be as stringent, therefore I’m allowing two years to get through it. I decided to do it this way because we intend to homeschool through high school and I felt it important to do this introduction to US History in this stage before we did a more rigorous US Government and State History course for high school transcript purposes. Sorry to ramble. I’m not even sure if I answered your question. ;)

It was! VIE user from 1-3. Call me slow, but after pulling my hair out for three years we switched. It is very 'schooly', you need the teacher's manual from 3 on and it is very pricey. The student book alone is very confusing. One half is grammar and the other is writing workshops and you bounce back and forth. Despite all the tears and aggravations, I did feel DD got a good start on grammar. One thing I can recommend is the Exercises in English workbook from the same publisher, it's basically the grammar portion without all the frills (and cheap). It gives quick lessons and work pages to hone the point. We switched to KISS and WWE. English is my second learned language so I'm learning again, too. I love KISS and WWE.

Seton is a Catholic Homeschool Supplier. I just checked out their book catalog. I haven't used them, but I have a cousin who does.

We’re attempting both starting in two weeks. We do a four year chronological history rotation. We are currently doing H.O. level 2 (about to start the Middle Ages) and it’s pretty heavy duty. We have three ninety minute class times. She outlines, summarizes and does quite a bit of primary reading on which she must report. There is also the time line and geography to keep up with. I’d say there are an additional four hours of independent reading per week on world history alone. For U.S. history we are going to be using The History of US, ten vol. boxed set. I also have on order several of the Childhood of Famous Americans books. We plan on taking two evenings a week as a family and reading a chapter and watching a correlating documentary. Even though it’s geared rather young, I’ve ordered the whole Liberty Kids DVD set for the American Revolution. My other sources for DVD’s are our public library and possibly Netfilx. One weekend a month we will sit down and do one of the 6 grade history pockets for the time period. I’ll expect her to take notes of important dates, peoples, events, laws etc. to add to a separate wall time line on the U.S. Because we are in the logic stage, I feel it’s okay to take our time with this, even if it takes two years. I will do a more formal U.S. history/Government course in high school. Our primary focus is world history, but hopefully this will fill in a few gaps. We’ll see how it goes. :tongue_smilie:

Isn't that your opinion? Was I not stating my own? I was not bashing you for your practices. Look, I'm not going to argue with you here, and yes, it is a personal preference, which I believe I stated many times. I was not WARNING the OP, merry providing a different view point. Why so defensive? I believe my words were "check into it". Good of you to watch dog for her. Really, the USDA? The same USDA that has been failing our communities by skimping on accountability, inspection enforcement, and allowing for our food supply to contain an outrageous percentage of genetically manipulated organisms (GMO's) and seed? Yeah, so trustworthy. I'm out. I was trying to be friendly, but you turned this petty. :glare:

Psychological profiling? But, then again most have medical degrees. Records, filing processing There is a call for internet research in most fields now days. Electronic engineering, device development? Accounting, a lot of white collar crime out there. ?? Just thoughts ;)