Ridiculous from what I see. PE is to teach your children how to do these things. You don't just throw kids in a baseball game and expect them to know how. You don't just say, drop and give me 20 and expect them to do it right. Do they teach in school anymore or is it all done after hours by the parent? Sorry, but it's just crazy to me.

Yes, I agree w/the other posters, if you have a programmable one, you may need to reprogram it...you usually set in portions of the day or the batteries if you have them are low. Or......just pretend it's summer!!!!:lol:

Wow, Ferdie many ideas! And Tap, Tap, Tap...great idea for the more pricey type things! Thank you!

I have the "Choreorganizer" from CB.com and I'm looking for ideas for rewards for kids doing chores. My dd is 8. What they get is a "buck" for doing chores and other duties, but I need ideas for rewards that doesn't always involve buying a toy. I have "picking out dinner" and tv time earning, because that's an issue with us, but I'm looking for other ideas. We live in the boonies, so going someplace isn't always optimal. Can you give me some ideas? Thanks.

I just purchased grade 2 Abeka History and I hated it. I went to the materials display and liked the Reader, but after getting it in the mail, it was like, "what do I do with it?" So I purchased the TE from Second Harvest Used Curriculum. It's very, very light; in everything. In teacher's information, projects any useful information. The reader had good things, learning states, like 5 every lesson, patriotic songs, holidays, and if you look at the table of contents, you'll see cowboys, indians, there's basically just a paragraph on these. If that's all you want, it's good that way. I hear that level 3 is much more substantial. I'm speaking strictly of Abeka level 2. But I was so disappointed I ended up ordering BJU Heritage 2 and it doesn't hold a candle to the same level. It's very full and has a lot of good teacher ideas and things to do. The price comparison and coverage of information between the two is exactly that difference. In level two I really got what I paid for in BJU. I also liked how BJU TM was laid out. I'll sell Abeka History 2. We'll be starting Heritage Studies 2 tomorrow.

This concerns me in this day and age. Seems to be the norm, to "give in". I say find out the reasons and make a good solid judgement and don't do it just to give in.

I am posting this on a few forums because I'm so dumbfounded by this! Thankfully, I don't live in a state that needs to record our time or days or anything else. I downloaded our school's schedule for the entire year. My dd found a really nice girl to play with that is ps-ed and I want to be somewhat off on the same days so they can play together. But here's a kicker: They have "early out" every Wednesday all year long. They just had fall break; last week was completely off and this week they went only two full days after being out all last week. Who knows; teachers conventions? Our school system says kids need 180 days of school, but yet if I count these early out days as half days, and all their days off, it totals 149.25 days, The school system counts them all as full days. They don't have off Thurs and Friday for Thanksgiving anymore they have off Wed, Thurs & Fri. Not to mention all the other days off. I am amazed! So heads up for those who have to record your days. Download your area's public school schedule and see how many full days they REALLY school, then count them accordingly. I now know why they have 7 pgs of homework per day here in our area. It's because they're out more than they're in. This brings up a slew of issues w/me from teachers pay to the quantity of homework to the kids that know nothing after high school graduation. What a disaster. Maybe no kid would be left behind if they were actually supposed to attend class! Wowser!

Not me. I saw this show, started watching it and just added it to more toxic tv. I don't care that they renewed their vows. I think it's tacky.

Yep.:iagree: I went the total literature-based route. My dd doesn't love to read. She likes it, but doesn't love it. I wanted her to love it. I started pre-K with Sonlight. I loved it. My dd hated it, she likes projects. So then I went WP (reading w/projects) and my dd loved the projects, but hated the reading. Then I went with something else that was somewhat literature based, using all living books. I always wondered why someone would go the textbook-ish route when there's so much cool stuff out there. Well, I've finally figured out that BJU is pretty good and so is a few Abeka things :thumbup:and now I mix and match. I have accountability through the textbook curriculum but I can add in a living book or good literature if I want. What works for the parent doesn't always work for the kids. But now we may have found a happy medium and I'm no longer a snob.:cheers2:

My first thought at your title line was Yay!!!! And lo and behold,yours was too. Congratulations. LOL!!!!!!

I have used a couple programs and I have a love/hate relationship with them. Everything is laid out which is excellent. The books are great and the projects are full. The programs tend to be for a bit older students than what they say they're for. For instance, 2nd graders could easily do AW. You'll have to not be bothered by doing one of these unit studies with the typos and there are some projects and reading that don't match up. For example in Animal Worlds, you may be studying one area, then finding you are doing a craft or read for a completely different animal and location that in my opinion could have been inserted in the proper unit. That was rather strange. For us organizational gurus, this drives us batty. Many people that bothers them not in the least. Customer service is a hit or miss. Some have excellent service, some are waiting months for their items. IMP, if you're interested, I'd order the TM and WP exclusives and find the books on your own. That way you won't have any backorders and book changes and you could order as you go, or use the library if you wish to keep the cost down. Ordering your own in full may or may not be cost prohibitive, but it would reduce the frustration of not receiving your order in full and in a timely matter. The company is big on backorders and lack of responses at times and this can go on for a while. Which for the price of the program is not acceptable in my opinion. I think the programs are great and they have a great product. They just need to work on their typos, cs and book availability.

Nope you're not the only one...It does nothing for me either.

LOL!!!!!:lol:

We went to a newly opened sporting goods store yesterday. I stood there and watched a 10-12 yr old boy rip (yes, rip) open a soccer ball box, throw the box on the shelf, then proceed to kick this ball around the store. The parents were somewhere else? I told this kid that he couldn't do this unless he paid for it and he totally ignored me. I tell my dh this and he agreed how insanely disprespectful this was and the other day at Target, he watched two boys of around the same age, tear open the packaging on two swords then proceed to play with them. None of these kids bought these things. I am so pissed off and dumbfounded by this behavior. I can't imagine at all this type of behavior! What would you have done? Find the parents or find management or both or what? What the heck is going on with the lack of parental supervision and just plain old respect for personal property? I blew it on telling anybody anything, I was so dumbfounded by this!

I think it rather goes both ways here. She did sound like was being gracious, however it ended up to be rude when she did comparisons. On another note, maybe it's time to take note. While I take into consideration the age of children interrupting, it's the mother's reaction that I usually am at my wit's end with, at least in my circle. I know two people and these two people never make good on teaching their child to not interrupt. I mean, they say, "don't interrupt....." like 10 times, but then they answer their children anyway, instead of making it a teaching moment. All bark and no bite. The parent says no, then they interrupt anyway and mom still talks and answers the kids. The other person I know, just lets her son do it. Neither one of these people I can talk on the phone with or have a conversation with in person. I'm not able to get out more than a half a sentence and after awhile, I would just as soon be gone. It's very frustrating. So it's not the children as much as it is how you are handling your kids' interruptions. Personally, if the other parent was actually showing that she's the boss and making good on the teaching, then I don't have a problem with it. But I very rarely see that in these two women I know. And then they never do come back to the child to see what they want either, which is extremely important. I'm not saying it's you. Just a heads up. I think there may be something to both your stories. This is just something we instilled from day one and my dd still needs work, but you can see the results. (Not to compare. ;))

I understand about not moving the tv. We moved ours so my dd could not get up and watch it from the hall without us knowing it. The problem is that you are competely for a focal point in the room with the tv across from the fireplace. Is it the fireplace or is it the tv. Angled furniture tends to only work in large rooms or rooms without a lot of furniture in them, hence the feeling of it all being in the middle, then you have bizarre corners. It would be easier if we saw the rest of the room. What is behind the couch across from the window? Looks like a table maybe??

I don't see why not. AAS color coded theirs for certain blends and vowels, but I don't see that as an issue. We have big chunky magnetic letters from Lakeshore Learning and I prefer those. The only thing you won't have is the syllable tags, but you could make those yourself, or just say what they are.

That would certainly depend upon where you live. In CA it's poor; in AK it's wealthy.

My dd was 8 in June and she is 2nd grade. She'll either be really old or really young for the level and I'd rather have her be older and wiser. I used to do a level change in January, but really know that she's a full 2nd grader beginning this year in Aug/Sept. My neighborhood is big on homeschool and every one of them that homeschool has an 8 yr old in 2nd and 9 yr old in 3rd... Seems if they're public schooled, they're in 3rd when their 8. Maybe they just want them out of the house asap. LOL!

Thanks for the help!!!

I love Saxon! I looked at both for quite a while. It depends on how good you are at teaching math. Horizons will say something like, "explain ____ to your child." So, if you are not comfortable doing that, then Saxon is better for you because of the scripting. I'm one to feel comfortable knowing that I'm explaining the right things the right way on the kids' level. But I'm also not math savvy. I loved what Horizon's covered, but the TM was too vague for me which is why I went with Saxon. This is also the reason people hate Saxon is because of the scripting and contant review. Personally, I like the review and know that I can skip it if we don't need it. And because of the repetition that way, I know just what and where to skip. But I like having it when we need it. So basically, there's a big TM difference. I wouldn't switch if what you're using is working. Math is a funny thing. They'll love it or hate it and unless their asking for something else, I'd stick with what works.

Sorry, no answer, but would like to know about his too!

What are the main differences between these programs? I know they're levels apart, right but what are the differences in what they offer subject wise projects quality of TM's appropriateness of the content for the age level its intended for cohesiveness in daily activities service or anything else you can think of Thanks.