fwiw, VA Homeschoolers sale is not large . . . i cant imagine going just for the shopping

I dont think they have had recordings available in the past. I know they will give you something with your schedule - i cant remember if it was on the name tag last year or just on one of the sheets in your packet? I have a terrible memory!

The speakers I've loved at my local convention (The VA Homeschoolers convention) have been Joy Hakim, Julie Bogart (bravewriter), Edward Zaccaro. I'm really looking forward to hearing SWB for the first time this weekend, and almost went to another state just to hear Michael Clay Thompson speak.

The VA Homeschoolers conference has always been smaller. I went to my first one 5 years ago - it was in the Science Museum of VA, in Richmond, and then it moved a bit north of town to the arts center. The price has actually gone up in recent years, I think - but its an all-volunteer organization. I think they pay a lobbyist (for things like the Tebow bill they've been working on), but I suspect the higher cost is to cover 2 big-name speakers this year.

I'm lucky to live 20 minutes from the VA Homeschoolers conference, which ONLY talks about academics and homeschooling. The organization was actually founded by a conservative christian, but made the group REALLY inclusive - they take no stance on religion or politics, aside from laws that directly affect homeschoolers - such as the "Tebow bill" they've been trying to pass, or curfew laws, etc . . . NOT things which vary according to your political values. I've also been tempted to go to the mini-con in PA, but decided it wasnt worth it to me. I'm really sad that I probably only have 1 more year of homeschooling left, and wont have an excuse to go to the VA Homeschoolers conference any more.

The sections in the Arrows can be done as copywork or dictation, sometimes I did first as copywork and then as dictations. Its not boring and meaningless because its an excerpt from the book you just read. My 10 (who is behind in LA areas) often cried at dictation in our spelling program, but not when it was from Harry Potter or Phantom Tollbooth. Tho I did sometime split the selection to two days. You could just look at the back titles and pick a book you know he'll love and TRY one for $10 and see. Not a huge risk. The arrows are really very short - 4 dication (or copywork) selections, short explanations of what to discuss about this section, and in the end, some larger discussion and assignment, but still really light. My understanding is that the . .wand? is that the younger one? includes basic phonics and might not be appropriate for a reader?

Really? I tried chocolate from TJs once. i dont remember what it was, but there was no dairy listed on the label. I ate 2 little squares and almost immediately had a headache. I tried again later that day, and the exact same thing happened. I ended up giving it to my daughter. I assume it was dairy, and I've been uninspired to try again since then.

Recently i've been noticing so many people talking about how hard and even traumatic school was for them, and while part of me worries, still, because I'm not forcing my kids in to that public school mold, more often I'm really grateful that my kids get to have so many years of HAPPY childhood, free from the various traumas they were suffering at school. Its sometimes hard to really remember that, yes, kids can grow to be successful adults without being churned through the factory-model education

Corn is one of the very hardest. I agree that plain, home-made food is the best way. lots of roasts and potatoes, sautes with rice. Often you cant just 'change' your normal meals to be safe, you have to completely change your eating habits. Its very frustrating - you will actually go through mourning for your lost foods. Plus many of us experience withdrawal symptoms esp over gluten and dairy. But the difference in health can be astonishing, and as you start trying to add foods back in, everything tastes better than it did before!

This was something that forms the basis of my homeschool, actually, that none of that is true. Maybe because I read some Holt books more than a decade before I started homeschooling? Or because I did math with high-schoolers when I was in middle school? Idk.

I shop at whole foods and i dont ever see bananas in a bag. I dont usually bag sweet peppers or squash or ginger or garlic either . .

I put neither, but maybe its a little of both, but below the radar? I'm a super-fast reader, so there's really not enough time to hear the words . . . if i try to hear the words it slows me down too much. I dont see images much but I think its kinda like . . once my daughter was asking me if I can picture a map in my head when I'm thinking about where I am and the best place to get where I'm going. Its more like I see a diagram with junctions and destination . . not an image, more of a schematic. So when I'm reading a fiction story, i dont see it like a movie or a a picture, but I sort of 'sense' the action, like sometimes in a dream when you know something happened but you didnt see it? idk. weird. I always got 99th on standardized tests, so no problem w comprehension.

I was looking for one i could make with what we have on hand . . . ended up finding a peanut butter cream pie w meringue . . . failed to do it tonight so i need to do it first thing tomorrow so it can cool

haha we're very low key here. the only 'outsourcing' for my senior was some MOOCs and a few extra-curriculars. He does most stuff independently. He was in special ed in middle school before I started homeschooling him, and he has a lot of anxiety, so low-key with steady progress was all I was aiming for. He'll be starting at community college in the fall.

obviously not a thorough program, but I started my 10 yo on stack the states - he's actually learning them lol

to hold him off a little, i'd suggest Zaccaro books (even tho they are all word problems) and the dragonbox apps

I'm always impressed with people who have fibro or similar things and do so much more than I do! I am easily overwhelmed and have accepted there are severe limits to what I can accomplish. Its hard and frustrating! Good reasons to vent, for sure. Hope everything falls in to place for you all

There is an historian working with them who wrote a book about the vikings, but they definitely take some dramatic liberties. The character, Ragnar, was a legend but most historians seem to believe he was an amalgamation of several real people. In the legends, he had three wives . . . so far, he's had two in the series. And twice, a second man has been invited to join a couple in bed, etc. Every battle scene (and there are many), peoples faces end up spattered with blood. I found out about it 3 days before season 1 expired from free Hulu, so I watched the entire thing in three days! Now I wait anxiously for the next episode! Its beautifully filmed, a majority of it outside. I've been watching the 'making of' clips - these actors had to learn to sail these ships for real for the scenes. I dont usually like gratuitous violence, but when its done by shirtless, tatood men wearing leather and wielding axes . . . .mmm.

I'm pretty sure its still on free hulu, its just an 8 day delay now, instead of a 1 day delay. There are other 'free tv' sites, but i dont trust them unless i know who's paying for them

Well, modern warfare is a lot more deadly than ancient warfare, idk. My kids dont much like history. I did a quick run through world history when my youngest was in 2nd, but only through the renaissance, and then used History of US for the next 2.5 years. My 9/10 yo actually handled the violence of the wars (which we covered, obviously, in more depth in US history) than his teenage brother, who is very sensitive. Because we went through world history so quickly, we really didnt get in to any real detail about violent deaths.

I have to say this - problems with bowels and being very small are both STRONG symptoms of gluten intolerance or celiac. Even if all the tests come up negative, i would strongly recommend trying a month off gluten and see if it helps. My middle child was always constipated and late to train - in preschool he would throw his underwear away if he had an accident, because the teachers were very unsympathetic. MOM helped sometimes . .. I didnt discover his gluten issues until middle school, when he was having diarrhea twice every morning before the bus came. It stopped in 2 days of quitting gluten.

actually, hulu plus would also mean we could watch Cosmos on the TV, right? idk if hubby'll go for it, though. But on free, i think i have to wait another week.

actually, i think i'm wrong. i think they changed it so we have to wait 8 days to watch an episode. I"m pretty patient, I'll manage.

For those who asked, this is a complete re-make of the old show, with Neil deGrasse Tyson hosting. it IS already available on free hulu I kept my boys up to watch it (we dont have anything to record it) and while they liked it, it was really too late for us. I am considering watching it with them over the summer, even if I have to buy it. Its lovely - a bit heavy on effects and drama and light on science, but its the BIG picture (at least the first episode) and its aiming to educate the masses. I thought there were like 8 episodes total? or 12 or something? eta: there are 13 episodes

I never pushed my daughter but at 21 she hated me, everything I ever did or said, and moved away and isnt talking to me. actually she moved away at 18 and again at 20. I have spent a lot of time going over what I did and what I should have done. I think in the end, we all do the best we can and some people have hard struggles and have to find their own paths. I am not convinced this should be used as a cautionary tale - not unless the mother was pushing the girl and the girl DIDNT want it.