Not printable but you could always trace one then make copies.

I'm a swim instructor, water safety instructor, and have coached a swim team. It would be very unusual for a swim coach to be in the water ever. Lower level swim lessons (1-3) generally have the instructor in the water. Mid level lessons (3-5) may or may not have the instructor in the water and that may be for all, part, or none of the time. Higher level lessons (5+) more often than not do not have the instructor in the water. It has nothing at all to do with laziness.... it's next to impossible to point out subtle problems with a stroke while standing in the water. Not to mention someone who is teaching lessons for most of the day (what is often needed to be able to offer enough lessons for all the kids who want to take them) would be physically exhausted and shivering after a couple hours in the water. Instructors usually switch off higher level and lower level lessons so they won't have to be in the water for extended periods of time. No one would expect any employee of any company to spend eight hours a day in chlorinated water.

We don't even start until afternoon many days. Some days the older ones do school work at 10pm because that's when we have quiet time to sit and do it. Whatever works!

Just found these: http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/10228.htm You can replace each lens on it's own with their prescription ones. It would be $50 for a pair but that's probably less than what an eye doctor would make and they would last longer than a do it yourself pair.

I've swam competitively for years and coached a swim team. If the off the shelf prescription goggles are workable you can take two pairs apart and create two single pairs with the correct prescription for each eye (provided the left and right lenses are the same, not specific to the shape of the face on that side). Look for ones with silicone seals and avoid foam seals, if possible. Taken apart and put back together goggles might not be the prettiest thing out there but hopefully they'll work. Kids on swim teams wear beat up old drag suits and weird swim caps, they're likely to think the custom goggles are pretty cool.

One of the reasons we how homeschool was the scheduled bathroom time with punishments for using the bathroom at other times in their private school. On one occasion I went directly to the principle to say how terrible the policy was.

Definitely talk to the parent but present it as you being concerned about their safety and the time involved in cleaning up chalk messes and cleaning up the messes they encourage the little ones to get into. If you present it as a complaint about annoying kids the parent might take it as an insult and not do anything. If that doesn't work I would send a certified letter to the parent stating that the kids are not to be on your property unless invited and must leave if and when they are asked to, retain a copy. If that doesn't work I would be calling the police. It's flat out dangerous for them to be in your yard unsupervised. They're years beyond old enough to understand that what they're doing is not acceptable.

They 'earned' it in the form of trick or treating so it's theirs to eat, save, share, etc. as they wish. Some years they get bored going door to door and don't get as much. Other years they get more than they can eat in months and ask to donate the leftovers with our other food donations. I'm not comfortable taking away something they did the leg work to get. They go all out that night but are fairly responsible with it after that. One of the kids is prone to getting cavities but she knows how uncomfortable it is to have them fixed and limits her consumption of sticky candy to one night then gives it to the other kids or sets it aside to donate and just eats the chocolate and non sticky sugar candies.

We have a regular washer and dryer but if we didn't it would be a combination of wearing clothes for more than one day, using sheets/blankets/towels longer, handwashing delicate or single load stuff in the sink (like car seat covers), doing laundry at friend/relative's house, doing a full load in the bathtub, and occasionally washing a load in the pay per use machine. This is what we did when we lived in an apartment. Now, with seven people, it would be much more difficult but we could get it down to a load every other day (to hand or machine wash).

If you're planning on ordering all about spelling or all about reading.... I ordered both programs and wish I had known that the letter tiles and CD that come in the AAS starter kits are exactly the same as the ones that come in the AAR starter kit, there is no need for both. The CD is not needed, just helpful if you're not able to sort out the letter sounds on your own. I thought it was necessary and the only place to order the mac version is the company's website, which charges an arm and a leg for shipping. Lots of other sites offer free shipping but don't carry the mac cd. Just wanted to pass this info along! RR AAS site: http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=8&category=9200 AAS/AAR site: http://allaboutlearningpress.net

We recently got a set and I'm having the worst time figuring out what to do with them. We can't remember which color is for which number. The math u see blocks seem to make so much more sense. It's easy to glance at them and see how many are left over without having the memorize which color equals which number then be constantly converting colors to numbers. I like manipulatives for turning abstract concepts into tangible examples and with the cuisenaire rods 8 divided by 5 turns into a random colored piece of plastic with two other randomly colored pieces of plastic next to it with the student trying to figure out how many 'segments' are left over (or pick up and try to fit in other random plastic pieces then convert that color into it's corresponding number) - still kind of abstract. I've watched a bunch of you tube videos but they still don't make sense the way math u see blocks, unifix blocks, the abacus, etc. make sense. (don't mean to hijack the thread!)

3rd grader four tt3 chapters and a quiz two new stars in memoria press astronomy fll3 week 11 wwe lessons 31 and 32 (there might be more) start aas a chapter in etc location of continents for social studies a lesson in her book on reading maps a lesson in her book on manners a lesson on vases and pottery then making bubble pots a lesson on lungs for health five religion lessons 1st grader start aas start aar (have a feeling we will initially move fast through it) fll1 week 11 wwe1 lessons 30-34 one new star in astronomy deserts in social studies a lesson on manners a lesson in maps workbook same art lesson/project a chapter in etc starting rightstart math b, switching from mm

Books and paper was very expensive back then. There was no internet or calculators. In a small town like where she lived would generally not have had a library. A school teacher would have had to handle 40+ students in one room at one time. What do you have the students do while you're working with other kids? Things like memorize the declaration of independence would be one thing they could do. They couldn't take the single copy for all the students home so if they wanted to "refer" to it later they had to memorize it. They were also academically competitive. Like in modern day spelling bees it's a fun skill to have but it's not all that useful to be able to spell obscure words. It is impressive but not all that useful to today's students. The time spent on all that memorization and mental math could be spent reading and learning more advanced skills.

Hits: memoria press astronomy tt3 misses: mm spelling workout

Thanks, our tiles seem like basic laminated paper. Maybe lightweight card stock. They're not so think that they don't stay straight when you hold the edge but they could be easily folded up. They were printed off so all the ones on the edge had to be trimmed to get the incorrect colors off, I think having had strips on the side cut off may be making them less sturdy than they otherwise would be.

Or just cut squares from sheets of craft foam and glue the paper to the front.

This is the kind of thing I thought to either glue them to or write the letters on: http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Square-Color-Tiles/dp/B000F8T9B8

Our package with AAS and AAR came today. I spent four hours setting it up and it looks great except for the letter tiles. Being called tiles I assumed they would be plastic tiles but they're laminated paper. I'm concerned they won't hold up well. The younger kids tend to pull things down to play with and I have a feeling the paper tiles will end up ruined. Has anyone done anything to make them more durable? Maybe glue them to the front of a plastic tile or write the letters on a more durable material? My other question is about the starter packs. I bought one for the reading program and one for the spelling program. It looks like the cds and letter tiles are the same. Is that right?

I agree with all of this. I get to enjoy the benefits of public school on a daily basis when I go to the grocery store without being harassed by a group of pre teen hooligans. It also leads to lower prison populations and lower taxes to support them. People who are educated are less likely to get involved with crime. Some parents don't care and those children shouldn't be left without an education simply because they had the bad luck of being born to parents who don't care if they become educated. Public schools aren't perfect, not by a longshot, but they're necessary in society today.

I don't really buy off ebay but with amazon separate free shipping orders purchased within hours of each other are often combined. I don't see a problem with it and have never asked for a discount.

There's a nice one on gregor mendel.

We're using rod and staff second grade social studies for our first and third graders. It goes from continent to continent with extra time spent on Canada since the book was published there. It's been interesting to learn about non USA north america. It's a work text, I want to say the cover says our father's world. For $5.70 per workbook it's great.

What about letting the kids sculpt their own?

When we've moved while homeschooling we slow down but not stop working. I find that stopping everything is a source of stress then I find myself playing catchup while trying to unpack, settle into a new location, and meet people. I've done a backpack (a milk crate, dishpan, or whatever would work) with school books. I plan everything out in advance like a checklist. When there's some time glance at the list, grab the materials/books, and get it done. I do, however, all but stop subjects like social studies. There's a lot of geography, map skills, history, etc. to be learned on a road trip.

I stand by what I said. I think just taking a cell phone away from an adult as a punishment is ridiculous. She is an adult. She can get her own cell phone if the one she has is taken away. As an adult myself that's what I would do. It seems to me that simply taking the phone away would backfire and make the problem worse. Once she has her own phone she will have no reason whatsoever for going along with requests from her parents. If this was a younger child then sure, taking the phone away would work but that's not the case here. Controlling the behavior of an adult is difficult, reasoning with her seems like the only option and even that only goes so far. I'm saying this as someone who was that age a decade ago. When my parents tried to control my behavior with silly (for an adult) rules I ended up moving out. (the big rules I felt shouldn't apply to adults were limits on the excessive amount of tv I watched and being given a curfew). Sometimes adults need to be left to make their own mistakes. She just might surprise her parents by becoming much more responsible when that responsibility is put on her rather than her parents continuing to make these decisions for her.