Here's a link to a discussion from last summer on the same topic. Several people posted pictures of what they use. I posted in that discussion as well and would be willing to share my materials. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/410469-anyone-willling-to-share-their-self-made-planners/

I greatly appreciate all the good food for thought I'm getting from your responses. One thing that's clear is that my son's carelessness is showing up in LOF just as it did with Saxon, it just looks a little different. I don't think the problem is with either program. We were hoping the interest factor of LOF would pull him in and help him slow down, but that hasn't happened yet. With Saxon, my last strategy was to sit with him and coach him on each problem so that he couldn't get away with rushing and not showing his work. (I find this harder to do with LOF.) I was willing to skip some problems if he showed me he could work carefully and correctly. That only seemed to increase his displeasure. However, I feel like I'm starting to make some headway in other subjects where the same behavior is showing up, so I obviously need to keep at it and be creative. What's frustrating is that he hates seeing bad scores on his work, yet he steadfastly refuses to change his behavior.

What is the value of LOF as a supplement if he's learning the material in another program? I'm not asking to be annoying, just trying to think it through.

My DS10 has hated Saxon, and last year in particular (Saxon 5/4) was a tremendous struggle with him. Primarily, the issue was getting him to slow down his pace to do careful work. I made him correct each error on his exercises and tried to convince him that sloppy work made math take longer because it meant that he would need to spend more time making corrections. This idea never gained traction with him. We switched to LOF Fractions this year to try something different. He loves that the lessons are very short, and some of the early material is review for him, but he needed all 5 chances to cross the first bridge and has scored badly on the first two attempts at the second bridge. It doesn't seem like he's retaining anything, and I'm instead teaching the material as we work through correcting his bridge mistakes. Has anyone had a similar experience? How long should I stick with LOF? Any recommendations on how to make LOF work better?

I glance through the "List of Materials" for anything that I need to keep around instead of throwing them away or recycling (like empty containers for volume lessons, etc.) or things I will need to buy at some point.

I'm considering Astronomy from the Potter's School for my dd14. Does anyone have comments from previous experience with this class? Or have you used another online astronomy course that you would recommend? Many Thanks, JR

It's very interesting reading the wide variety of responses. Our situation is the reverse position - my wife works full-time outside the home and I'm the teacher. One great benefit in our situation is that she gets one or two days off each week (her workdays are long), although these days tend to be busy with shopping errands, doctor visits, etc. We share cooking & cleaning with different emphases and my wife helps out occasionally with schooling. We're discussing having her be the writing coach this year. The idea of a contract between us doesn't really work - our contract would be under renegotiation constantly. The reality of our lives is that when evening rolls around we are both exhausted but there is still more work left to do than we have time for. We also want some time both individually and together to wind down. It's an important first step for us both to acknowledge all these truths. We both could easily use all the available time at the end of the day to wind down individually, but that would have bad results! It's also not sustainable for one or both of us to keep toiling all evening long. We really have to wrestle with what is most important and what is realistic for us. It's critical to keep the mindset that we're on the same team because when we're worn out it's easy to grumble at each other. We could not survive if we weren't honest and open and committed to making it work as best we can together.

We used http://www.typingweb.com this year. It's free and has some Teacher Tools to oversee your children's progress.

DD14 will be in class 11 hours per week this year (not including rehearsals) and tuition for the school year is $3350. This is for a school affiliated with a ballet company and includes all costume fees.

We use store-bought. Our favorite recipe is a decadent pizza (for us anyway!) where we put pesto on the dough and top with shrimp, capers or olives, and cheese.

Do pita fillings count? If so, then I'd say don't forget about hummus sandwiches! We make an ultra-simple hummus (we multiply several times) with chickpeas (15 oz), some garlic (1 clove), lemon juice (6T), and tahini (3T). Puree and put it in a pita or on bread and top with some combination of olives, cucumber, tomato, and feta cheese. Another favorite for us in a pita is Oriental Bean Pitas: 1 can Great Northern beans (15 oz) 1/2 C crushed pineapple, drained 1/3 C diced red bell pepper 1/3 C chopped snow peas 1/4 C chopped celery 1T soy sauce 1T toasted sesame seeds 1t sesame oil 1/8 ground ginger Mix, chill, and serve in pitas. Add tomato if desired.

Sounds like our wedding! We had a small carrot cake with several varieties of pie. It was fun, it was different, and I wish I could have sampled more of the pies!

This is great advice, even if he's a "normal" kid who is just quiet - the Floortime method is very good for interacting with any child. The basic concept is that you join him in his "world" by playing the way he likes to play and then gently draw him by small steps into your world. If he doesn't communicate with you, just keep playing. Always keep an engaging, positive attitude toward him. If you want to draw him into communication with you, insert yourself into his play world. For example, have a dinosaur you're both playing with jump onto your shoulder while you're sitting there with him. "Look, the dinosaur jumped onto my shoulder!" If he wants the dinosaur, he's going to look at you and reach for it to take it off your shoulder or make some sort of verbal or non-verbal request for you to give it to him. You just communicated! Maybe you can turn it into a simple game to keep the interaction going. I think the most important things for you as a friend are to play in his world and keep a positive disposition toward him.