Isn't Calvert science simply a hard cover book, like they use in Public Schools..mostly reading, great pictures, and lame experiments? That what is was in 1st grade when we used Calvert for my son, it was the one with a tree frog on the cover. It was our first year with HSing, went with Calvert all the way...had no idea there was a whole HSing world out there. Honestly, five years later, now I know there are so many BETTER science programs than what Calvert offers. K

I am doing WW at home as well...lost about 20 lbs in six months...not alot, but on my way.....How do I join your group? thanks K

I did all K12 last year for 4th for my son as a independent user, not through a virtual academy. We still use the History and Science. History through 4th grade was co-written by SWB, and is very similiar to SOTW. Notebooking is done daily, along with map work. The lessons do come from the online system, and the parent is involved. As a matter of fact, I don't even have the TM (cost extra) as it is not needed. We LOVE the history. Starting in 5th grade, the main History spine is History of the U.S. by Joy Hakim, which is a highly praised series in the HSing world. Science was great as well. Every single lesson had a experiment. We do Science in the summer months when the rest of studies are light, so we were able to do most of the experiments. We did use the Litateture, Grammar, and Math last year as well but no longer. Grammar was dry, and not very good with explaning. My son does well with Grammar so it wasn't too much of an issue. I thought the lit program was okay, good books, but the questions were kind of overkill. We usually just skipped that part. Math was very basic and blah...you use a regular hardcover book just like regular schools use...although I heard K12 was coming out with their own math program soon. I hated the spelling...although it was 20 words every week, their explanations of the spelling rules were weak. My son did well with the words, but probably could not tell you one actual spelling rule. For all of these subjects, you do not need the online system...that is basically for record keeping. You basically use the TM and student book. Once I realized this, I cancelled my subscription to these classes, and just used the books to teach from. I kept History,so pay for one class, and then you can switch out classes at anytime, so we finish History and then switch to Science for no extra fees. I buy all of their TM's and Student guides off of Ebay...even can buy all of the extra books they try to sell you. Never pay full price for K12 stuff. K

Thanks for all of the great info and websites. I will be up late tonight looking at them all! I will probably be back with more questions. thanks again! K

Since the property we rent has been foreclosed on, and we will probably be kicked out in Feb, we are thinking we will take advantage of this open door and move out of FL as we have been wanting to do. We have Asheville in our sights. My DH is applying for a job with the city, but if that doesn't come through, we are hoping he can get something else in the area. My husband has a degree in Recreation Management, has spent several years in City government with Rec Department, also sold real estate, and then ran four ice cream stores with his parents. He currently works a "just to pay the bills" job with Citibank in Sales. Any companies/job leads that you think might fit his bill? Although I have been doing lots of research, I thought it might be good to get first-hand experience from the locals. Can you help with any of these questions: Homeschooling: From what I see, we have to register with the state and do testing every year. Are there other options, ie umbrella schools. How active is the Asheville area for HSing? I did find a HS Athletic League, although my children are not old enough for that yet. What about co-ops or social groups? I like active groups that meet on a regular, preferably weekly basis. What kinds of class/activities are offered in the area for HSers....PE classes, art, etc?? I see the City Rec has some homeschool activites, and the ski resorts have Homeschool Days (LOVE that!!). Are HSers allowed to participate in extracurricular activities with Public Schools (thinking High School sports here)? What area of town? I see there are different areas of town, and I guess alot will depend on DH's job, but what areas of town you would HIGHLY recommend, or HIGHLY discourage us from? We like the surburbia lifestyle in general for our children's sake, as they really enjoy being able to socialize and play outside with neighborhood children. We aren't the type to have lots of people over or have playdates, but love to meet at parks, etc. My DH and I, if it were just us, prefer more historic areas, with character. We want to live comfortably, but not fancy. We want to rent for preferably the first six months until we get our bearings and then REALLY want to get some land where we can start small-scale farming, and I am planning on pgymy goats. Do you know anything about the local youth sports? My DS10 is very involved in baseball, participating in advance and All-Star teams. We would want to play in a highly competetive league, and would be willing to drive a little to do that. What else do I need to know about life and HSing in Asheville? I would love any advice/websites/info that you can provide. thanks in advance K

Well, we are kind of behind in writing. Although in the past, we have used Language curriculums that incorporated writing into it, we always skipped that part as my son hated it. Now, as a 5th grader, the only real writing he does is 2-3 sentences daily for history notebooking on that day's history lesson. He is also taking Marine Biology through co-op, with a outside teacher brought in, and she has assigned one page papers periodically. These have been real struggles for him, and we will normally work on it for a week or so. BUT all that being said, I have learned that sometimes if you wait to do certain things, then it is less of a struggle. I strongly feel that he will pick up and fly with writing right about this age with ease, versus struggling since 1st/2nd grade and hating it along the way. So my plan is after Christmas, ie 2nd semester, we will be starting a writing program that starts with the basics. K

Anyone here in Asheville? We are hoping to move there and would like to find out about HSing activities in the area. thanks K

Now, I am kind of on both sides....nothing can make me angrier than someone else trying to disipline/correct my children. Someone I don't know,and who doesn't know my children. I am usually right on my children, so most times, if they are doing something, and I am not correcting them, then I don't think they are doing anything wrong. There are so many points of view to any situation. A mother with only girls might think my boys are loud, or too wild, etc. Meanwhile I am fine with it if it is in appropriate situation. I could tell you a number of times where I had to chew out some adult who thought they had the right to approach my child and correct them. Because I WAS watching and knew exactly what was happening, I also saw the adult heading that way, followed after, and advised them that they were not to speak to my child, if they had an issue, they should be speaking to me, etc etc. But on the other hand, I do tend to correct children if there is no one else doing it. Like I said, I am "on" my children. But all too often, like at parks, etc, I see the parents off on a bench, on the phone, whatever, NOT watching what their children are doing. If it is detrimental to my own children, I would say something to that child. It doesn't have to be mean. Often a word or too from a adult, who is not their parent, and the child will straigthen right up. So I guess I am kind of two-faced about it :(( :))) K

My DS10 is in 5th grade. I don't give homework per se, but if he is dwaddling on something, I will ask him to put it aside and finish on his own time (ie after lunch, after chores, when it is supposed to be "free time"). This rarely happens, but the few times it has, kind of opened his eyes to the repercusssions of "dwaddling". By this I mean repeatedly doing things, anything, but the work he has been assigned to do. K

Thanks all! You have given me some great leads...now off to check them out! K

Can you tell me where to find Latin readers? I am looking for something akin to a reader we might label Level 1, with a few words, and colorful pictures, similiar to what a new reader (ie K or 1st grade) might read in English. It's actually for my 5th grader, but since this is our first year in Latin, I wanted something easy for him. I can always save the books for my younger children. Or do you have any better ideas? We are doing great in Latin, but I am looking to do something that brings it to life. We occasionally will use some words in everyday life, but other than that, it is simply a memory thing. I figured if he could start with these easy books, it would be a way to reinforce what he is learning, a way to actually use the Latin. thanks K

Honestly, I think she is being unrealistic. Even having a day care facility in a gym is a "optional" thing, although most do to get that segment of the population that need to use it. Pretty sure the hours are posted clearly in any paperwork when she signed up, most are. Yes, homeschooling is getting more and more mainstream, but to expect EVERY place you go to cater to your hours and demands as a homeschooling family, a bit unrealistic. At some point, you just have to accomodate the rest of the world's schedule if you expect the same in return. Sounds a wee bit selfish to me. K

Yep, Ebay, you will probably save 20-40 dollars....Homeschooclassifieds....the For Sale board here....TT has a Yahoo group that people will occasionally list For Sales there. If you can wait a few weeks, I would start watching these sites on a daily basis for a bargain. hth K

We have been using Prima Latina....it is recommended for 2nd-4th graders. I am using it for my 5th grader. He thinks it is very easy, which is EXACTLY what I want him to think about Latin. Then he will go in with a open mind instead automatically thinking it is too hard. Althought the author recommends that the student have good grasp on grammar, so far, we are on lesson 5, and the only grammar we have touched is verbs, oh and dipthongs. I see via the TM that we will cover nouns and more as we get into it, but it will still be very light on grammar. I wasn't looking for our first Latin experience to be heavy into Grammar, as we already do Grammar. I wanted a nice warm intro, and then we can move into the heavy stuff. We have learned usable vocabulary, though so it is not all fluff. There is not alot of writing. I have my son either write the vocab words one day or the prayer the other day. Then on day four, he does the workbook, which is two pages. We do Latin about 15-20 minutes a day. I would highly recommend it. K

Go to www.ratracerebellion.com this is a free website, with real job listings. They have a huge chart of alot of companies, how much they pay, what states they hire in...etc. I have worked at home for 1-800-Flowers and Working Solutions (taking calls for Travelocity)....both gave me extra income, not paying-bills income, but money to use for life after bills. 1-800-Flowers was easy, but the company suxs. Working Sol is a great company to work for, pay was decent, I messed that job up with attendance issues :(. hth K

I doubt that WTM would recommend any computer-based programs. The WTM is a classical based philosophy. They even state in their book that they do not recommend the new computer "school-oriented" programs, the flash, the cartoonish, type stuff. They recommend using things that are classic, meaning you could have used the same thing 100 years ago, or now. Just want I am thinking, of course, I do not for sure about what they will recommend. K

Why not continue with what you have, Astronomy but add more experiments to it? There are many websites out there with experiments related to astronomy, and books as well. You could easily add an experiment a day if you wanted that much by using additional resources. Just a thought :). K

Yes, I completely agree with you!! Why is it that big business's can just run themselves into the ground, and then we as taxpayers have to help them!??! BUT yet, where is this help for small business? Where is this help for the normal, middle-class American who goes to their job everyday, pays their bills the best they can, lives within their means, but yet still struggles with the rising cost of everyday life. If you are in this "middle-class", you do not qualify for help. Lower incomes get help and many of them abuse it (not all, but lots of medicaid fraud and food-stamp fraud, and the fact that many get this type of help for YEARS). Upper-class gets many breaks/tax credits/ etc. If you ask for help as a middle-class, you make to much. You are own your own. I also see WHY this help has to be given now to these companies, supposedly to help bolster the economy for us all, but in the end, it still hurts us all. I wonder if the CEO's of this huge companies will be selling their houses, or getting foreclosed on? I wonder if they drive fancy cars or 10 year old cars that barely fit the family (like I do). Probably not, they will continue to live their own lives as upper-class as always, while once again the middle class is stuck picking up the crap. Oh and one more thing....what about the people who were given those mortgages, when they probably should not have qualified, probably did not fully understand what they were getting themselves into, but the mortgage company KNEW what they were doing. These people are now out of the house, trying to live who knows where, with a huge "mark" on their credit which will hinder them in MANY ways in the future. Where was the government bail-out money for them????? If the Feds wanted to help the people, why not help these families out MONTHS ago, make a few mortgage payments for them to give them a chance to catch up, stop the foreclosure proceedings. This probably would have help many families, not all, but enough. AND the mortgage companies would have been getting paid too. But instead, these families are up the creek, and the mortgage companies are getting paid for being oh-so-slightly crooked. grrrr!

I had a baby tooth that never fell out, and the adult tooth was laying on it's side up inside my gums. As a adult, age 28, I had to have that baby tooth removed (didn't HAVE to, but choose to), and then had to have a chain, yes a CHAIN, attached to the adult tooth, that was after they cut the gum to expose part of the tooth. I was fitted with braces (for other issues too) and then they would tighten the chain to slowly pull that tooth down. So if having the baby teeth removed at a younger age will allow the adult teeth to come down naturally, I would totally recommend it! K

Ya know, Starbucks is VERY liberal with their return policy. If you try a drink that you don't like, you just have to tell them and they have always been more than happy to give me something else. I didn't know this until one of their managers suggested a new drink to me, I was nervouse about spending the $$ if I didn't like it, and he told me I could get something else if I didn't like it. Since then, at a few different Starbucks, we have drink issues, and never had any problem getting something else. ESPECIALLY when it is a a new item on the menu and the first you have had it. Don't be shy about asking :)!

We also do not have a "set schedule" as far as time goes. I do have a lesson plan for the day, that I do on the Hometracker Software. It lists what subjects we will do, what pages, etc. My son has some things he does on his own, either when he wakes up before everyone, or during times I am working with my 5 year old. On his own things: Cursive practice Wordly Wise Vocab Required Reading (usually a book that correlates to what we are doing in History) Daily Reading (just for fun reading) Math (Teaching Textbooks) Marine Biology (Apologia Swimming with Creatures), although I work a little with him on this depending on the assignment. Things we do together: Prima Latina K12.com History US. Geography Growing with Grammar. If we crack the books and get going on a good day, we are done in three hours, although he might still have reading to do later in the day. As someone else said, if there is something that is taking him to long to do (usually a picture or written narration for history), that is going to be his "homework' that must be done before he has free time, and we move on. Both my son and I are "schedule-oriented" so although there does not have to be set pattern, we have kind of fallen into a pattern of what subjects we do first, etc. hth K

We are loving it too! I am using for my DS 5th grader. We are taking it slow, doing one lesson a week, 4 days a week,about 15 minutes a day. He is really taking to it, and it is laid out so easy. I have the TM, Student Book and CD...no need for the DVD's here. We do enjoy listening to the CD, use it everyday to ensure proper pronuncation. K

I don't officially give him a scheduled break. I have found that it is hard to pull him back into the "get to work" mindset when I have done that. He would be so jazzed and hype coming back that he wouldn't be able to settle down. Now I do give five minute (or so) breaks here and there as I try to do schoolwork with DS5. DS5 is not on a schedule and only comes to do schoolwork when he feels ready, so when he finally says he is, then I have to jump on it. That is when DS10 might get a break, or go do some reading. We usually start around 9-930 and try to be done by lunch 12:30ish, although that isn't always happening with this 5th grade load. K

That is exactly what we did one year. I had a very dependent 3 year old and a newborn, so that year for 3rd grade, my son used SOS for history and science. After the first couple of weeks, where we had to go through with him and show how to use it, how to highlight important info, how to slow down and read to understand because there is a quiz at the end, he pretty much did it on his own. These were the times when I just needed him to be busy. Although for us, we considered it busy work for him, to him it was presented as "school work" that needed to be completed at a level just as any other work. He did get something out if it, as he did often say things in conversation that I would ask where he learned that and it was from SOS. And he never complained about doing it, so that was key during that year when we got alot of complaining from him. That being said, I certainly would not use SOS as our main core, as I did feel it was very light. The history was NOT history in the WTM way of thinking, but more like geography. The science was okay, but not too hands-on, although some experiments were offered. I have heard similiar reviews regarding the other subjects, not enough depth or review. But to answer your question, yep, used SOS as a educational type of "busy work" during a year when I was struggling to keep my head above water :). K

I always stay clear of any products that contain petreolum. I used Burt's Bees diaper cream with great success, available at most CVS/Walgreens. I have also used Mustela cream. I would try to let my son air out for a little while. Maybe wait 10-15 minutes before putting a diaper on. I have heard, but never seen, that some diaper rashes that just WON'T go away and get more red and more red, were yeast infections. Also heard could be a reaction to the diapers. hth K