I've seen that one before but forgot about it! Jib Jab is always fun to watch around election time :lol:

We farkle too lol We picked that game up a few summers ago visiting grandmas. Its a fun game unless you're the one who never gets enough points to get on the table lol Its a lot like playing Dice. We tried to play Farkle with my brothers last summer and they weren't having it....they insisted we play Dice like its played in prison lol Maybe it was just the name, because the rules weren't all that different :tongue_smilie:

That's typically how I deal with it also. I just explain to her that when I see a lot of problems wrong, it tells me she hasn't grasped the concept and she needs more work. Now....if they are wrong because she was careless, well, she's the only one who can save herself from extra unnecessary work :tongue_smilie:(she's 10). For each particular assignment/test I circle the problem she got wrong and hand it back to her to redo it. If she got it right, I turn it into a happy face :) (I do this mainly to keep track of her grade on math knowledge vs. her grade on "effort" lol). If she got it wrong the second time, then I know that she really hasn't grasped the concept. Hopefully, the thought of extra work will help her self-correct the habit.

At 7 or 17....I would hope that my daughter would feel comfortable coming to me when she has exhausted her abilities to handle a problem and is feeling overwhelmed. I absolutely agree that helping out a 7 year old in such a situation is the best thing to do. IMO, thats just too young to have a "you're on your own kid, I'm here for moral support though" philosophy. The only thing I can suggest that I don't think has been said yet is that it might be an option to talk to the teacher about this first and she/he can deal with it as a classroom issue. Maybe it wouldn't feel like mom against mom? The other parents wouldn't even have to know that you initiated it. Good luck! I hope this can be resolved soon!

You can. It is suggested that you do the first lesson in Zoology 1 though for the lesson on classification. I could be way off, but I think there may be something you can download from the Apologia site for this. We're supplementing ECC with Zoology 1. I can't imagine not supplementing - my dd is in 5th grade and loves science. :001_smile: edited to clarify....actually, we aren't supplementing the ECC science, we've replaced it with Apologia. But I'm going to start working the ECC science (at least the reading) into our lessons.

Depending on how much oil there is, it may or may not do the trick. But cornstarch or oil from the fur shouldn't make the cat sick. Cornstarch is often suggested for the above (a typical ingredient in dry shampoos for pets). Its also recommended for long hair cats to help keep the fur from matting (by absorbing excess oil). Even if it doesn't get ALL the oil out, it might at least make a quicker job of giving a cat a shower :tongue_smilie:

You could try something dry to absorb the oil, like cornstarch. Just work it into the fur and use a cat brush to brush it out.

We can practically hold a whole conversation in quotes. Sometimes we quote something then look at each other trying to remember where it came from. Biggies though - definitely Napoleon Dynamite, Tommy Boy ("I think your brain has a thick candy shell" "Your...your brain has the shell on it" "Are you talking?")....there's just too many to list lol

There are support groups!! http://www.lost-forum.com/ http://www.lostforum.com/ I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I wasted at the first Lost forum after an episode aired :tongue_smilie:

Earth Balance here :) I bake with the stick form all the time and haven't noticed anything off.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! I think I will give this more time. More than anything my kids get from homeschooling, I want them to have a solid foundation in Christ and the passion to do His work. It sounds like this will be a great curriculum once we find our groove. I have both :D I went with the deluxe package. I didn't even think about how much leaving the science portion off might take away from rounding out a lesson. I will definitely try working in the reading for these books.

We are in week 4 of ECC and I am just not thrilled with it. My dd is in 5th grade and this is our first full year to homeschool (pulled her out last Feb). She could definitely use help in the area of geography (...a lot of help) and what has been scheduled so far just doesn't feel right. The Bible portion feels disjointed from the other material so far (although, I'm really enjoying Window on the World and Hero Tales). The geography moves a little slow it seems, even with the "advanced" suggestions. I don't use the science portion (we use Apologia). I really wanted to like this. What appealed to me so much was how much the reviews say after going through MFW, it really gives kids a solid Christian worldview. I want that! So, talk me into sticking with ECC. How does the program change as you move through the years? Does it get a little more exciting? Is the Bible better incorporated? I asked my dd about it. She said she'd prefer to go back to what we started for the end of last year - Around the World in 180 Days (she really liked the creative aspect, making our own maps and such). I am leaning towards trying SOTW/KHE for history as suggested in TWTM.

If I hadn't asked my husband out years ago, we wouldn't be together! He was way too shy lol I say invite him over for dinner! :D

I may have to hold off on it then, my ds isn't really doing much reading at all. I mean, he can read the first couple of BOB books - "Mat sat. Sam sat." - but that's about it. The review also said something about playing with basic math facts, which he doesn't really have any experience with either. I think it may be frustrating at this point. I did play on babbel with him for a bit and its crazy how well he pronounces the words. I feel I should do something with him. Maybe I will get it and if its a bit much, just set it aside for a while.

Thanks! That sounds neat. Does it require much reading? I'll have to look at the review on RR.

He's driving me (and everyone else) absolutely bonkers "speaking Spanish". The constant gibberish is just too much :willy_nilly: He is doing great with Headsprout, and sites like Starfall. Is there anything like that for foreign language geared towards littles? I think babbel.com would be good if I sat right there with him, but I was hoping for a little independent play lol It doesn't even have to be Spanish...any language would work I think. Latin would be great! I do have Muzzy (Spanish), but I never found that to be all that great of a program :glare: Thanks for any suggestions!

You're right, I just looked at ours (although, its colby) and it lists "artificial color" on the label - technically not one of the dyes (they have to be listed specifically), but artificial none the less. I have just trained myself to spot the "dyes" that I never noticed that. I'll definitely be watching if consuming it affects my ds...sheesh. I'd still check the white cheeses though. Its surprising where artificial color shows up (red dye in white cake frosting or mix, blue dye in marshmallows...). Or like someone mentioned, just send cheese separate and they can decide if they use it. They may have cheese on hand that already meets their requirements. :)

We avoid dyes as well. Everything you mentioned sounds fine (homemade from scratch usually is). The only thing that would make me pause is the cheese - possibly the chips. If you have the packaging, just look on the ingredient list - it will be listed like "red 40" or "yellow 6" sometimes "red lake 40". To be honest though, I don't think I have ever seen dye in cheese or chips. Or cornbread mixes for that matter. It sounds yummy! Will you stop by my house too? :tongue_smilie:

Same here. I've always put them down on their sides or backs (usually side, but they'd always end up on their back) and they don't have anywhere near flat heads. We swaddled with these blankets ALL the time though, for a long time too (my last two NEEDED it).

If you are looking for a sports type bra, look on eBay for YES bras. That's all I use now (I have been nursing for about 4.5 yrs with a 7 month break for pregnancy lol). They hold up great! They are holding up much better than my Bravados ever did. Plus I think they are only about $15 each.....can't beat that! edited for a linky http://stores.ebay.com/breastfeedingisbestforall

I want to make a set of coptic bound books with blank pages for my daughter's timeline (an example). My issue is that I have never used the TWTM curriculum, let alone a timeline (sad huh?). So, since this is in book form, is there a certain page size that would be best? Does it matter much? I wanted to make it short and really long, but finding the right paper size is going to be tricky. I figure 4 books would be ideal, one for each year. And I would like to add enough space/paper in order for it to work for 2 cycles of history (she's in 5th). Am I totally on the wrong track? lol I have only read through the history section of the logic stage and I just got so excited that I would have a reason to practice more coptic binding :tongue_smilie: I tried to figure this out with my husband, but since neither of us have experience with how TWTM is set up, I figured I'd better get suggestions from the pros :D

We posted at the same time :D Great book with lots of info.

I tried my hand at raised bed gardening this summer (lets not talk about my experience though :tongue_smilie: ). Look at squarefootgardening.com - that book has tons of information that will really help you get started. It even has suggestions on how big to make the beds (and how many based on family size) depending on what your goals are (feed your family for the season, canning, etc). Starting out, definitely start small ;) I'd say one, maybe 2 4x8 beds would be plenty to start (and I say 4x8 only because standard lumber sizes available - nothing wrong with 4x10 - just stick with 4' wide). Just put your hubby to work while you figure out what to plant :D If you aren't sure of what to fill the beds with, the book I suggested above calls for 1/3 coarse vermiculite, 1/3 peat, and 1/3 compost (from a min. of 5 sources....you want a good mixture of top quality stuff). That book also has guidelines on how to space all the plants. Hope that helps! Good luck with your garden! I'd love to have FL right now to keep gardening :)

That's a pretty neat tool. I use an add-on for Firefox - Fast Dial. I'm completely lost without it :D

I have never ordered from Nasco Science, and only once with Home Science Tools (good experience)....but, these are just a couple I knew off hand that carried it. http://www.enasco.com/science/Birds/Owls/ http://www.hometrainingtools.com/catalog/life-science-biology/animals/cat_owl-pellets.html