I like the first one "beaded jersey dress". The halter dress was my least favorite (sorry). I little too much fluff in the front, but the back is pretty. The beaded jersey is simple yet elegant without trying too hard. Just my .02. Have fun:001_smile:

I'd go with the one from Diana Toy store too. So girly and cute.

When our youngest dd was around 3 she received a Baby Alive for Christmas. It wet on her and she thought it was real. She would never play with it again so we returned it. In fact, she would never play with any baby doll after that, only animals. I did not find out the reason until several years later why she never liked that doll.

Ours is in the Goodwill pile (they will finally part with it now that they are 8 and 9) and the ducks keep quacking every time someone even brushes against the box. I need to get to Goodwill soon!!

We wash our hands in the sink and use a papertowel or sleeve to open the door. We sanitize after leaving the bathroom too. In fact we sanitize after touching anything and sometimes even if we haven't touched anything but it just felt germy in a store or public place. Perhaps we are excessive but we rarely get sick. We also drink Airborne if we have been anywhere where someone seemed sick (especially the library).

Another vote for R&S. We snuggle on the couch with a white board but do most of it orally. Fast and effective and everyone likes it better than BJU.

Currently we are using Writing Tales for 3rd and 4th, but as soon as we finish I am going to Meaningful Composition 4.

I'd be happy to just get 50 so I can post to the for sale board:drool:

We like Keith Green-The Ministry Years 1977-79 (disc 1, never cared much for disc 2). Also instrumental movie soundtracks.

It just made me glad that I am not a teacher in the schools. Pretty funny IMHO.:lol:

"(As an aside, why do men think the cure to psychological scarring is.....Or is it just my dh?)" You are not alone:lol:

And all of these stories are exactly why we avoid crowds and public places as much as possible. Not to mention alot of sanitizer when we do venture out.

Alot of medications delay my cycle. I have had a few scares as a result.

I agree, take the placement test but even if she is ready for Beta I would pick up an Alpha test book just to make sure she understands everything. You can probably find a used one very cheap. This way you would not have to invest in the full set. This would give her some transition time to hs'ing and a quick review. The scope and sequence is a bit different. I would skip Primer. I think everything is covered again in Alpha from Primer. The content in the lower levels did not change with the revision so used copies may save some $$$. Alpha will not be out until next year anyway. The difference is in the binding and formatting of the pages. If you go to www.mathusee.com and click on "What's new?" . Look at 2009 blog entry for details.

Lori D thanks for the detailed list. Alot of what you listed are things we have had success with too so I will be looking into more of the items on your list.

The upside of this? When we were in high school we would come home and say "the band director was so upset, he started yelling at everyone, hit his music stand and paper clips flew everywhere, it was hilarious!" While my mom's friends had kids who came home and cried. My mom felt our family had better prepared us for the world. :lol:

Mine was not quite as positive... My mother had served orange juice with pulp with breakfast. my dad insisted that everyone should drink their orange juice first (proper etiquette or something:001_huh:). I tried to avoid it but he took the glass and the back of my head and tried to force it down. When all those pieces of pulp hit my mouth it would not go down so I spit it all over his pancakes. Last time he tried that. I still cringe at the sight of pulpy orange juice. (this is my only bad memory of my dad)

Oh, I love both of these games!!!!

It's one of our favorite Christmas list making catalogues:001_smile:

I would do both if you can. If not, go with Spanish for reasons already stated based on a practical decision. But if you are looking for fun, it sounds like you both really favor ASL.:001_smile:

I would keep zipping alot until you hit a block or frustration then you can take your time and not feel "behind".

With the extension pack for the history I think it is pretty good (I am referring to Bigger Hearts). It includes geography, mapping, Amer history, timelines and hands on projects. The Bible portion includes alot of character development which is alot of my focus. We read the Bible for family devotions so character is where I really want our focus to be. For LA and math for use our own things. But I use the spelling, dictation and the poetry. We are not poetry fans here so at least it gets included with HOD. As for the science, I like the notebooking and having 2 experiments per week but it does seem a little disjointed. I am thinking of adding something with more of a flow to it. The topics are good and we enjoy it. We are only beginning week 6 so we will see how it goes. I wish there were more of an explanation about the experiments too. When we did the one on germs with glitter on your hands I would have liked the "why" warm water and soap gets rid of germs included in the guide book. I think it is thorough, but depending on your interests you may want to add more in certain areas. It is designed so that there is enough time to explore other areas whether it is electives such as foreign language or just more science, history etc.

My 9 yo did the same thing. She uses a dry erase board alot and the feel of it gliding seems to not make her push too hard. She also uses a VERY small pencil (about 2-3 inches long). She also prefers ball point pens. I don't know if any of these things were the key but some options for you. It was only in the last year that she finally writes without fatigue.

My brother and sister both teach in PS and have seen decreases in the scores of the schools as a whole (one teaches 3rd grade and the other HS history/geography). Much of this is attributed to several factors-there is a huge increase in "administrative work" which is equal to busywork for the teachers instead of teaching time/lesson planning and creating burnout. My sister has 8 special needs children in her class of less than 30 3rd graders and my brother's classes have many ADD, etc issues too. It is terribly difficult to teach because the HS kids that don't care make it so the others cannot focus. His time has to be spent getting them to pass (if they fail it is HIS fault, not the student's), so time cannot be spent on the ones who do care. As for the 3rd graders, try to teach when you have 8 children bouncing on bouncy balls, falling out of chairs, getting out of their seats, etc, etc. I seriously doubt that it is the fault of Saxon that scores are falling but the blame must be put somewhere. Another problem comes from the "No child left behind" campaign that has mainstreamed these children into the regular classes. I am not trying to offend but it is very time consuming for teachers dealing with special needs while trying to teach a regular class and it is distracting to the class. The special needs children are dragging the others down, not elevating themselves (in terms of scores). As someone else mentioned if you are working with your dc you will know if they understand it and can teach any concept they do not understand. The failure in schools is the environment IMHO. If Saxon has been working for you then stick with it, scores are dropping in alot of areas in the schools regardless of curr.

We made the change for one of our dd and she loves it too. She did okay with MUS but did not enjoy it the way our other dd does (she is still doing MUS and enjoying it). All of the rave reviews convenienced me to try it with her and I am so glad we did.