I'm looking for a cheap internet for my mother that she can browse the internet with. She has a laptop and would like some sort of internet access that will work wherever she takes the laptop. I know next to nothing about computers and internet, so I'm clueless. She doesn't have a phone service or cable. Any suggetions?

Well, I gave her the option of quitting this morning, and surprisingly, she now says she wants to do it. I can't figure this kid out! She still doesn't seem happy about competing in the bee, but she says she wants to stick with it. She says "I might as well". I have gone through all the possible scenarios with her, and even told her what to say to the winner and how to lose graciously, and I hope we survive this. Last year, she was actually thrilled with her second place ribbon at first. As the night wore on though, she really became bitter and felt it was unfair. All the kids at the bee studied the wrong list of words and the final rounds were all words the kids (or adults) had never heard of. Her group was only 1st-3rd graders and they asked Spell-It words and the poor 1st graders looked stunned. Part of what worries her this year is that she feels no matter how many words she learns, they may jump to a list that she hasn't studied. We are going to a little after-bee party following the bee and I hope that will at least give her something to look forward to win or lose.

In the fall, my daughter asked to participate in the local homeschool spelling bee. For the first 2 months, she was interested in practicing for the bee. Now, a week before the bee, she has no interest in doing the bee at all. I'm so tempted to just let her quit the bee. She's really anxious over it, and I'm afraid she's going to have a melt-down up there. She won second place last year and was markedly depressed for a while after it. She cryed for days at the mention of it and was so down on herself. In her mind, only first place is worth having and anything less is losing. Part of me, however, thinks that she should follow through with what she started. I've already paid and I feel like all her time studying is wasted if she doesn't go through with it. She could do really well at the bee if she avoids a mental breakdown first. It would show her that working hard does pay off. On the other hand, if she loses, does it just show that she learned a bunch of never heard of words for nothing? That is her opinion on the subject, at least. Her school friends have lots of trophies and awards from school and sports, and I think the trophy is the only reason she wanted to participate in this in the first place. When you homeschool you're never the best at anything or get much recognition for achievements. There are no grades to brag about to grandparents. Do I force her to go through with it knowing she will likely lose and be depressed after? Is that "character building"? Or do I let her quit and preserve her mental health?

Another question. Can you somehow store audiobooks that you want to come back to again and again? She will listen to many of her CD's many times over throughout the year and she's a little nutty about getting rid of things. She'll probably fear hurting the books feelings if deleted.

Thanks! Looks like my library has tons of titles for mp3 and is compatible with the Sansa Clip. Now, do I need 2,4, or 8GB? How much memory does a book take? She'll want Harry Potter on there and they are pretty lengthy.

My dd loves audiobooks and wants to get an mp3 player to listen to them. I know nothing about mp3 players and need advice about which one would be best for audiobooks. I've started to research a little, and have seen the Sansa Clip recommended several times because it has the ability to bookmark. My dd has never even held a cell phone or other electronic gadget and has no clue about technology (nor do I). We need simple, easy to use, and affordable. Also, if she gets a mp3 player, are there a lot of free audiobooks out there to listen to? I don't want to pay a monthly subscription fee. What are some good sites? Can a semi-computer illiterate like me figure it out? I need speakers of some sort for this thing, right? The idea of her with earbuds in her ear 5 hours/day bothers me. Thanks

We are in a similar situation with not being able to afford private speech therapy and having to rely on the school's speech therapy. Not sure which state you are in, but in VA, kids don't have to go to K until they are 6. So at age 5, I sent in an opt-out letter saying my son wasn't ready for K. We were able to get speech 3x/week for the year he was 5. This coming school year, as a homeschooled K, he only gets 1 day/week. I was reluctant to start reading with my son, but I found that many of the beginning exercises the therapist gave as homework were similar to the first lessons in Phonics Pathways - blending sounds like BA BO BI BE. I have SLOWLY been working him through PP and I really believe it's helped him as much as the therapy. Seeing the sounds really seems to help him to avoid dropping sounds or switching out other sounds in words. It sounds as if your son has many of the same trouble sounds, but I couldn't say how long therapy takes to correct these as we are still going through it. Sadly, his therapist says he has many, many, many more years of speech ahead. Also, do you have a Scottish Rite near you? We have a college near us that offers speech therapy, done by the speech therapy students, at a reduced rate that works with the Scottish Rite. Gwen

My ds6 is currently getting individual speech therapy 3x/week at the local school. I opted him out of kindergarten this year, so they are considering him a preschooler. Since he will be required to be in kindergarten next year, his speech therapist has told us that he will be taken off an IEP and put on an ISP instead. He will drop down to only 30 sessions/year at 30 minutes each. The therapist says that the ISP (individual service plan?) is what is used for private school and homeschool kids. Anyone have experience getting speech therapy through the school system with school aged kids? Our insurance has very little coverage of speech therapy. We are in VA if that helps. Thanks, Gwen

How do I pronouce this shrine?: Itsukushima Torii and these monoliths: Moai Monoliths (in Chile) Please write how it would be pronounced phonetically, like it would be in a simple kids book. Thanks

We are adopting 2 white cats with long bushy tails. They are brothers and we need to come up with good names. My daughter is begging to name them Fred and George, but I'm a bit hesitant. They will be destined to become trouble makers. Any other suggestions? Something that refers to their color would be cute, but I can't think beyond Snowball. Thanks!

No one out there memorizing wars?

I want my dd to memorize a list of major wars, but the list I have from the Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World is way too long. I'm sure I could cut out a few wars, but I'm not sure which should go. Also, for those of you that have memorized this, did you have your kids learn the start and end date of each war? I want her to know the years, but is seems that with so many wars, it will be impossible. While I'm at it, does anyone happen to have a list of important discoveries? Thanks!

There is a cute set of books by Winky Cherry that I used with my daughter and really enjoyed. The first in the series is My First Sewing Book, where they learn to make simple shapes out of felt. It's written in rhyme and every little step is so well explained and shown, that no sewing experience at all is needed by either mom or kid. The other books go on to embroidery, quilting, and machine sewing. I first checked the book out from the library, but you can also get it as a kit with the fabric and thread included. Gwen

I don't have the slightest clue when it comes to latin. The 2 programs SWB suggests look to be too religious (don't want to memorize prayers). I need a program that is: -easy to teach and learn (I'm not clever enough to figure out something complicated) -inexpensive (nonconsumable would be even better!) -somewhat fun (my dd hates all things school related with a violent passion) The most important thing is that the program be easy enough for someone with NO knowledge of grammar or latin to figure out. I only know as much grammar as is presented in FLL1/2. I've searched past posts, but still have no clue what to pick. By the way, this is for an 8 year old 3rd grader. Thanks, Gwen

Great! I've switched to the white Kingfisher, but what about the science encyclopedias? Any opinions on those? Gwen

Which history encyclopedia do you like? -So far, I have the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia (2004) in the cart -Any other that may be better? -I already own the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History For Science, I can't decide between: -Usborne Internet Linked Science Encyclopedia -Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia If you have a preference, please let me know the year. It gets really confusing with all the different versions of the same book. Thanks, Gwen

Thank you all, I just made a mock-up of the pattern out of an old sheet in size 7/8 since it's the most convenient to cut, and it is huge! The front of the dress is so low, unmentionables show! I will have to use the 5/6 and add length where indicated on the pattern. And thanks for the pattern review link. I'm off to check it out. Gwen

I'm making a colonial dress from a McCall's pattern for my daughter and one of her girlfriends. I can't figure out what size to cut. The measurements are all over the place and none looks like a good fit. My 8 yo daughter is tall and pretty slim. Here are her measurements: Bust: 23" Waist: 21" Hip: 25" Back waist: 13" Height: 54" That puts her in a size 3/4 for bust and waist, 5/6 for hip, and her back waist length is beyond the largest size in the pattern (7/8). I'm afraid to make the 7/8 because the bodice might be huge, but any smaller size and the sleeves and dress length will be way too short. I don't want to mess this up by picking the wrong size. Things I have made in the past have also been too big, and I don't want to make the same mistake. To me, my daughter just looks like a regular slim child, but nothing (homemade or storebought) ever fits around the torso. Some things turn out so big that I could wear them! Please tell me which of these measurements is the most crucial to fit, and which ones I'll have to adjust from there. Gwen

We are only finishing up our second grade year, so I haven't gotten too far yet, but my dd is doing great following WTM pretty closely. She doesn't enjoy school, but then again she doesn't enjoy doing anything but playing. I must be one of the few following the recs for science. I love the WTM way! We just pick a spine (not necessarily the one recommeded), divide it up over the year, and pick books each week about the subject. I truly can't think of anything easier. Whenever a project is recommended in one of the library books, we try to do it. We use SOTW with lots of library books for history and it really seems to be working well. This past year, I can really see that she is learning so much and is now starting to connect things in her mind. She reads a ton and now understands many of the little references to history that are made in her books and feels proud of herself. The only 2 parts of homeschooling my dd likes are history and science, so I certainly won't be changing it. Gwenny

Dawn, My husband also bought an antenna and amplifier and first tried them inside the house for a dry run, just to see if he could get any channels. He didn't get much of anything inside the house, but got about 20 channels when it was in the attic. He's going to attempt the roof next. Gwen

We have a desk top, but don't see how to connect it. The TV and computer are on exact opposite sides of the house. We live on concrete slab, so no under the floor for us.

Just thought of another question. How do you know what's on TV without hitting the guide button on the cable remote or reading the titles on the bottom of the screen? Do I subscribe to TV guide or get the newspaper?

My dh has agreed to ditch the cable. Shocking news since he lives for all things football. We have an antenna and get about 20 channels with it. How might we be able to watch more on the TV. I don't really care about watching anything, but I'm afraid my hubby will plunge into a deep depression without it. Any way he can watch football games you might normally only see on cable? Here's what we have: flat screen TV playstation 3 high speed internet It seems we should be able to use these to watch something on the TV, but don't know how. Also, there is no way to hook our computer up to the TV easily. Will one of those Roku boxes be good for us? One more thing. Can our second TV be hooked up to the antenna in the attic as well? Gwenny

Sorry, that's not where I meant to post that! Was aiming at starting a new thread!

My dh has agreed to ditch the cable. Shocking news since he lives for all things football. We have an antenna and get about 20 channels with it. How might we be able to watch more on the TV. I don't really care about watching anything, but I'm afraid my hubby will plunge into a deep depression without it. Any way he can watch football games you might normally only see on cable? Here's what we have: flat screen TV playstation 3 high speed internet It seems we should be able to use these to watch something on the TV, but don't know how. Also, there is no way to hook our computer up to the TV easily. Will one of those Roku boxes be good for us? One more thing. Can our second TV be hooked up to the antenna in the attic as well? Gwenny