I actually did wonder about the redundancy of the 1/2 books. We started book 1 1/2 and I quickly realized it was not needed. He's almost done w/ book 2 so he probably would be ready for book 3. I should also have added that we do Phonic Pathways so he is getting a strong foundation in phonics.

This is the first time I have used ETC w/ any child. My K'er will be throught book 2 1/2 by the end of this school year. I'm debating whether I need to continue w/ ETC into next year. My plan for Language Arts for his upcoming 1st grade year is as follows: WWE 1 GWG 1 possibly w/ a little oral FLL SWR for spelling Would continuing w/ ETC be redundant? I basically used them this year for handwriting practice and he has breezed through them so far. I haven't seen the next level of ETC books so I'm wondering if they're worth the time or expense??

The Aquarium is a must. It's also well worth taking spending some time in nearby Carmel. The "17 Mile Drive" is some of the most gorgeous coastal scenery you'll every see. The town is very quaint and has great restaurants, tea shops, etc. Just spend some time walking around.

I also use Marilyn's recipe and the bread doesn't fall apart when sliced.

Didn't she post that she was giving up the boards for a little while for Lent (or am I thinking of someone else)??

:lurk5: That's funny! I just made homemade mac-n-cheese last night and my kids wouldn't touch it. They prefer the box also. Yuck!

I'd love to hear your recipe for hamburger buns!

My upcoming 3rd grader will be doing the following: MUS Delta WWE 3 SWR for spelling Growing W/ Grammar 3 Latina Christiana I SOTW 3 Explorer's Bible Study (OT) Science, Art & elective at coop.

I spent the $$ a few months ago and invested in the Bosch Universal Mixer. I make 4 loaves at a time. We don't go through bread that quickly (which is shocking w/ 3 boys) so I just wrap the loaves really well and throw them in the freezer. I use Marilyn's wheat bread recipe from urbanhomemaker.com and I really like it!

I found the Tales of Desperaux pretty dark. Desperaux basically sentenced to a violent death by his own family, physical abuse of the girl and the resulting disability. Ugh! I didn't see the movie but I wonder how they "fluffed" up this story.

We're using Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade. It's a family devotion based on the Shorter Catechism (Christian perspective.)

The cabbage stays together through all the cooking? Thanks for all the help. I knew the Hive wouldn't let me down.

This was a request from my mom but I've never made it before. I bought a pre-seasoned corned beef from Costco that I was going to put in the crock pot. It looks like it should be cooked for 8-12 hours but I'm not sure when to add the cabbage, potatoes and carrots. I don't want them to turn to mush so should I do it the last couple of hours??? It's times like this that I wish I would have paid more attention to my grandmother when she cooked :).

I wrap 6 large plum tomatoes in foil and roast them right on the stove burners. I then add the tomatoes (juice and all) in a blender w/ one bunch of cilantro, 1/2 seeded jalapeno & one bunch of green onions. I add a little salt, pepper and garlic. Pulse it up and you have great salsa! This is a big hit at our house. *You can add more or less jalapeno depending on how how you prefer it. For a little variety, I also slice up fresh avocado and put it in the salsa.

But why does it have to be so frustrating! :D Thanks for all your input. I'll keep plugging along...

My son is 8 and we began WWE a copule of months ago; we're currently on week 13. Before WWE, we followed the WTM model so he did narrations for history and some for literature. The problem is that his narrations are still rambling and overly wordy. I usually have to help him narrow in on a thought and end up writing most of the narration. It just doesn't seem to be getting any better. Am I expecting too much? I'd appreciate any thoughts or similar experiences!

Well, it's suppose to be about 75 degrees today and sunny. It's been so warm the past few days and I've actually broken out the shorts and flip flops again. We'd actually be in the pool if the water wasn't so stinking cold! :D

Konos has an entire set of time characters that you can use on your own timeline or they have a large wall chart you can also purchase.

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We have always used MUS and I have been very pleased with the results. My oldest is now 1/2 way thru multiplication but I want to supplement with a program that uses more "mental math"; something that will help him "see" it more in his head. Does that make sense? If so, does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!

Can you make your own whole wheat pastry flour? I would assume so but I'm not sure what's the difference from the hard flour. I have used the w.w. pastry flour but I purchased it from the store. I hope it can be made at home also. I'm pretty sure that I purchased white kernels because I was told that the red had a stronger flavor.

I use SWR just as a spelling program. I've tailored it over the past couple of years to "fit" for us. I started all my boys off when they were young learning all the sounds for the 1st 26 phonograms. Around 1st grade, we then jump into the spelling lists. With my oldest, I do one list per week. Our schedule is below: Mon: 1st 10 words on paper Tue: 1st 10 words in log along w/ one original sentence Wed: 2nd 10 on paper Thu: 2nd 10 in log along w/ 2nd original sentence Fri: Quiz on all 20 words I haven't tried AAS but did switch to Sequential Spelling for awhile but came back to SWR. I've been very pleased with the results but again, I've had to "tweak" it to fit our style. Hope that helps...

Overall, it went pretty well. My oldest claims to have forgotten all his math facts over the past 3 weeks but that is to be expected. It usually takes a few days to "get them back." :D