I have been lurking all morning on this topic and there are way too many good ideas for me to quote, so I'll just say that I think that this could be a great idea. I have never gone to a convention, nor have I participated in any homeschool groups because I just haven't run into one yet that truly is inclusive. I am not religious, per se, yet I don't like the religion bashing that comes from some of the "inclusive" groups - so we have just stayed away altogether. We are also military, so the constant moving around sometimes makes things difficult. But I do think something like this website could be helpful in both respects, and I would love to help out in some way. I like the idea of the articles (seems like there would need to be a sort of editing panel who would need to at least filter through the submissions to make sure they truly are "inclusive" and also just to figure out what to post and where it fits on the site.) I for one would love to see articles from every type of homeschooler from unschoolers to strictly classical. I have done a little writing in this area. It is a little more difficult trying to include everyone's different homeschooling philosophy into an article like "How to Choose Curriculum - for Newbies", but it can be done. I like the idea about trying to link to local groups who want to align to our "inclusive" standards - I have heard about (but not been exposed to) some of the military homeschooling groups that are "inclusive" in the way we are talking about - they all go about it differently, but because they are homeschoolers and in this military thing together, they make it work. I would love to hear from groups like this - so that we can start these groups on every base/post. It is definitely needed! I also really like Sebastian's idea about brining in all types of home-learning aspects in a convention - including the virtual and correspondence schools, unschoolers, etc... because even on this board it seems like most of us are fairly eclectic in our practices. I would think that in the general homeschool public, people use a mix of many different things and most are open to new and exciting ideas. This is one I might make a trip for.

The app I use most is called "Out of Milk." It is a very simple grocerylist/pantry list/ to-do list app. You can make out your food lists by typing them in or swiping the bar code. Plus, you can enter the unit price, quantity, and any notes for each item. Once I had gone to the store a few times, most of my prices were already filled in - and I could have a good idea about how much my total would be before I even went. It is also nice to have the prices on record so that I can see when they fluctuate at the store... the price and qty are shown in small font right below the item description.

My daughter is 12 - she non-mathy and finished the first book in the first semester (before Christmas break). Honestly, I skimmed the book, but I cannot remember anything that would have made her squeamish (but we are a generally non-squeamish family with vast medical backgrounds in gross stuff :D So - maybe I don't know :confused:) She loved the Biology part. It goes through quite a bit of general knowledge stuff. What she had trouble with was the balancing chemical equations bit, but I think we all had trouble with that and we didn't hit it until high-school... I think that she caught most of the Biology having had the subject before. I figure that even if some of it goes over her head, at least she has heard it before and when it comes up again, she will be familiar with the topic. We are quickly going back over decimals, percents, and fractions again right now with Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra just to cement everything again (again - non-mathy), and then we will finish up the year + some of summer with the Economics book. I am excited about this one because I think it is such an important thing for the kids to learn. Some of topic seem quite high level, but the descriptions and the story help to bring it down to her level. Again, I think it is nice that the younger kids are at least hearing these terms and getting a bit of a grasp on a subject that is usually not taught until the end of high-school - so I am not super concerned that she grasp everything completely. The math is quite solid, and that is my main focus. (FYI - from what I can gather, it is more of a conservative economic view than the rather pro-Keynesian book I had in high-school. Maybe I am wrong on that, but I think that it is a fairly pro-free market, self-sufficiency kind of view point, if that makes any sense. Maybe some people might not be comfortable with this. I don't know.)

Taming of the Shrew :iagree: Loved it!

iTunes U has podcasts we use for French (but they have Gallic and Spanish as well) called COFFEE BREAK FRENCH or Coffee Break Spanish They are about 15 - 20 minute episodes with very beginning conversation. I really like them so far. Our kids want to listen to a new one each day. Just today, I walked into the living room and they were singing Jingle Bells in French and laughing hysterically. I do know of another podcast for Spanish, but I have heard that it can get a little raunchy (I guess they are focusing on adults completely). It's called something like Learn Spanish, Gringo... can't quite remember , so anyway, you might want to stay away from that one.

At that age I was raiding my dad's bookshelf - so mostly "guy" books, but I loved them... I read and re-read everything Tom Clancy and John LeCarre (cold war British spy novels). Ender's Game is actually something I read in a college class and it was great! At that age, I was also into the whole Animal Farm, Brave New World, Farenheit 451, We, Anthem, etc. thing ...

I know you didn't mention it, but my 6th grade girl absolutely loved TAMING OF THE SHREW. We watched the movie version first (Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor) and then she went and read the original version on her own...which led to reading Midsummer Night's Dream on her own. I am with OHElizabeth, my DD loved the movie version so much, she was hooked on Shakespeare from then on!

What a great project! Is he looking for plot ideas or does he have an overall idea already (I mean, besides the chess theme). My kids are doing Script Frenzy this year and are currently working through the workbooks right now. It is definitely helping them to solidify their ideas! I just told them about your project and we can't wait to read the script and see how it comes out!! Good luck! \Edited: oh, duh, I just saw what kind of ideas he is looking for - missed that somehow... ok, we'll see if we can get some ideas going :)

For IPad, We love Stack the States as well. (it looks like they just put out a new one - Stack the Countries).. Also, Young Music Genius (covers classical composers and instruments) Isaac Newton's Gravity HD (really fun logic puzzle game) Brain Pop Khan Academy (videos lessons on tonz of different subjects) NASA ArtHD (Great Artists gallery and Quiz - you can look at artist's work according to Period, Movement, or Artist) SAT Vocab (vocabulary words with pictures) Planets Read Me Stories (for the little ones... they get a new book to read every day) Rocket Math (all my kids love this one. You have to build a rocket to play the math games, but in order to build your rocket, you must earn money by completing math facts) Alphabet Tracing (the little ones can trace their letters or numbers, plus you can create worksheets if you have a printer connection) Words with Friends (my favorite... play Scrabble with friends - we play with Grandma and same age cousins who live in another state) Can you tell we have been on a lot of road trips lately? :D

This is true. Plus, the Arab League asked for help as well. However, Admiral Mullen said on Meet the Press yesterday that getting rid of Qaddafi is not the goal of the UN's actions. But the President said that he must go. It is only to keep the people safe (an honorable goal, but how does that work without getting rid of this guy?) Qaddafi doesn't strike me as the type of guy that will lose this, stay, and then start behaving... This is why I don't like these things. Why do we send our Navy/troops somewhere without some kind of clear goal? :confused:

Just saw this come up when I was browsing the internet news.. sounds like good news! Hoping that this all goes off without a hitch. DEVELOPING: TRIPOLI, Libya -- The four New York Times reporters held captive in Libya were freed early Monday, following intervention by Turkish negotiators, and are heading to the Libyan border to be handed over to US officials, the Turkish ambassador to the US said on his Twitter feed. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/21/ambassador-new-york-times-reporters-freed-libya/#ixzz1HEffiYYw I don't know why I find it so funny that the ambassador is Tweeting this stuff, but I guess that is where we are now with technology.

Just curious how much $/assets countries like Gabon and Columbia are going to contribute, but it is nice to see France stepping up... This just worries me however you look at it... I still have friends doing 12 month deployments to Bosnia... and how many years ago did the UN go in there for peace-keeping? We are getting stretched thin while contemplating a drawdown in number of troops - it is just getting a bit uncomfortable to me. Most of our guys (and girls) are exhausted from this OPtempo. Hopefully we can get him out quickly and move on, but it never seems to work out that way.... :glare:

Sorry to sort of hijack! But can you tell what one of my obsessions is??:lol:

I was just talking to my MIL who works in a salon about dying colors. The stylists said that in order for it to be bright, you must first strip the hair of color completely. If you don't you will get muddled colors, (esp. the blues). Plus, they said with some colors, you may have to do it 2 or 3 times to get it bright enough. Plus, I have light colored hair, and one stylist I went to refused to do blue, because she said that over time it will bleed a little onto the other hairs, and I will end up with some greenish muddy hair, so she gave me a semi-permanent red and I loved it. So, for me, I am chicken to do the colors on my own, AND if you want a stylist, I would definitely go to a stylist that is obviously in to doing wild color and outrageous hair, not someone who is used to doing only regular hair. (i went to a girl that does all of the surfers and punk kids in town, and she did a great job). Other than that, I have worked with synthetic hair quite a bit and love the not-permanent aspect of it. You may get sick of a bubblegum pink strip faster than you think;).

Oh, sorry, it is a bit tough to find! And, yes, it is a wacky site.. Obviously most of the stuff is a bit off the wall, but the tutorials are good. :) On the home page, just scroll down and on the left column there is a link to TUTORIALS. You will be looking for anything having to do with LINKIES OR SHRINKIES... Here is a link to the LINKIES page. You will probably want to look at the video, INSTALLING LINKIES WITH I-TIP PRE-BONDED HAIR. These are the kind of small extensions that you can do yourself with supplies from a Sally's. There is no glue involved and you can take them out when you want to. Another note... this site has hair in colors that you can actually blow dry and style with heat like as in a curling iron or a flat iron. That makes a huge difference if you are going to have them in for a while! It is called Shapeshifter, and I don't think Sally's carries this kind. If you use this type of hair, you will have to do a slightly different technique... Linkies with synthetic hair... Sorry so long! But thought I'd put it here instead of a pm incase anyone else is interested! Good luck!!!

If you are a little bit daring (and isn't this what it is all about?), check out this site: Doctored Locks They have instructional videos on how to do your own extensions. It is super easy, especially if you are only doing a few. Plus, buying the hair and the supplies and doing it yourself is really cheap compared to going to the salon and you can do whatever length/color you want. You can also get many of these supplies at Sally's. Also, remember that the clip-ons taper at the end, so even if they are not the length of your hair, they look good and blend in if your hair is layered. Anyway, good luck with your hair obsession! I have been having one of those for years!!! :D

Hmmm.... That's a little disappointing. DD loved the neighbor girl in the book, and has already said that she is going to boycott the movie if she isn't in it. Guess we'll just see it when it comes out on DVD. It is too bad, too, because we love Sutcliff's books so much, and I was hoping that she would have a good run at some movies. :glare:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034389/ It is based on one of our favorite Rosemary Sutcliff books, The Eagle of the Ninth. I know it has been out for a while, but has anyone seen this movie yet? DD has been dying to see it, but I'd kind of like a review from someone before we spend the $$$.

:bigear: Just bumping to see if anyone is doing Script Frenzy this year? It starts up April 1st. DD is writing a movie script, and DS is writing a comic book. They are going through the workbooks now - Really good info on script structure and writing plays, movies, comic books, and tv show scripts. The kids are loving it! Here is the link: http://ywp.scriptfrenzy.org/

Well, there is one I have been eyeing for a while on the Mac App store, and they finally came out with it for IPad. It is called PLANBOOK. You can see examples at the website: http://www.hellmansoft.com/ipad/index.html or in the App Store I have not purchased it, but it looks great. Anyone use it and want to tell us if it is any good?????

DANGER... :lol: I totally responded before I read all of the posts! I am glad we are not the only ones!

We have a Max, Maximus to be exact, and I still love it. :D My mother HATES the name and always jokes to her friends that we should have named the next boy Sparticus...hmmmm... might do it just to spite her:tongue_smilie: My favorites that we haven't used are: Girls: Rowen Viviane Layla Boys: Psymon (pronounced like Simon) And for a middle name, "Danger" - yes, DH would totally be on board, but I am too chicken. Oh, and of course, SPARTICUS:glare:

Both DD 12 and DS 9 participated in NaNoWriMo last November and absolutely loved it. So, now they both want to do Script Frenzy in April. Anyone else have kids that have done it before or are planning on doing it this year? Any tips or advice on how to get them started? I was thinking of having them go through the "boot camp" or do the workbooks. If our kids all want to "friend" each other as fellow homeschoolers, shall we just PM each other with their user names?

"Let them eat cake" - Hilarious. That is exactly what I thought when I read that. These people are so out of touch with reality. Why on earth are food prices not factored into inflation?

Oh, I completely agree with you. Personally, I have had allergy issues in some areas and not others, as well. I totally see what you are saying. It was just that we all thought this way about the illnesses until all of the moms started talking about it, and we realized that our mostly healthy kids all had similar reactions while living there. When we moved out in town, my kids were no longer sick...