I have been reading my BFIB (I like that, too!) on and off, but a week ago I took it with me while my son had hockey practice. I had 90 minutes of uninterrupted time at 6:30 AM at an ice hockey rink. I think I am beginning to understand it. I finally started back up at week 4 this week. Perhaps we will finish it by the end of the school year. :001_smile: It sure is a change from Aesop. Jennie

My twin girls are built completely opposite. One is bigger and a little more rounded. She also grew into a woman's size 7 1/2 shoe this year at age 8 3/4. Fortunately for us she has chosen to play ice hockey, and it is a perfect sport for her. That probably doesn't help much, but I do tell all my children that we are all made different for a purpose. Jennie

I would just ask, "Why do you feel the need to quiz the children?", and let them work their way out of that. Jennie

I don't serve appetizers beyond drinks. I prefer to have people plenty hungry for the main show. As for dessert, we do pies. I make 2 apple, and two pumpkin, one pecan, and my SIL is making a chocolate cream pie. I don't know her recipe, but it is very rich. I was thinking of making a Shoo Fly pie, but that might be too many. :001_smile: Jennie

I am NOT a computer expert. I don't back up my whole system. This is why I married a computer geek. However, I do have my HST program set to remind me to back it up every 5 days. Jennie

Over the past 9 years, we have used at various times for various students six different math programs. The best I have found for the learners in my house is Christian Light Education Math. Jennie

Right now, I get: Mother Earth News Hobby Farms Above Rubies Dd gets: Horse Illustrated Horse and Rider Jennie

My dd is 12 1/2 and has not asked about make-up yet. We have not set any hard and fast age rules on make-up. I guess I will cross that bridge when I am asked. Also, I will find out what her daddy thinks. Jennie

:grouphug: I am sorry! It is worth a cry.

I was a flute player in high school and college plus a music major. I learned to count 16th notes as 1 e and a, 2 e and a, 3 e and a, etc. I cannot remember how I learned to count dotted quarters. Jennie

I am going back in my memory a bit here. I do not remember my children having trouble with the curves on the slates, but honestly I don't think I used the slates a whole lot. I used the grey block paper that was in the users manual. I am not sure if the grey block page is in the newer editions of the HWT manual. We used this grey block page for reinforcement, and the book for instruction. The books and the manuals have changed some over the years, so I am not sure what order they present the letters now. As I recall it did take my children a while to learn to form their capital letters above the line. I am not sure it does make sense to omit the top line as HWOT does, but we just worked with it. After a bit of practice all four of my children were fine with it. Jennie

I make my dad and apple pie and my mom cookies. There really isn't anything they need, so this is what we do. I could get them a gift certificate to a restaurant I suppose. Jennie

I was making PJs for my daughter, and she wanted to help make the shorts. So, I let her. I sat with her, and she used the machine for the first time. She is also in 4-H, so she will be getting more machine sewing practice in the near future. Right now it is just hand sewing. I have had other children make a pillow case for their bed. Pillows are very easy to do. Best wishes, Jennie

I learned to sew, I mean really sew, when I was 35. I took the obligatory home ec class in 8th grade that taught me to sew, but I never really had an interest. Then I gave birth to 3 girls who needed modest clothing options. That is what prompted me to learn. What I discovered was I was blessed with an ability in this area. Two of my three girls can sew. One of them is in 4-H, and she sews more than the others. Mostly I sew pajamas because those are not so cheap in the stores. If I get flannel on sale, JoAnn's has great Black Friday deals, I can make pajamas for less than I can buy them. Plus the children can pick their fabric which is a lot of fun for the girls. I think the other poters have given great reasons why sewing has fallen off the radar screen a bit. Jennie

Hi Holly, I have used HST since 2002. I downloaded the free version at first and then bought the plus version a couple of years later. I think it is important to know why you want to use it. I wanted to print assignment sheets for my children every week. That was my main motivation for using it, and I didn't want to write each one their own sheet by hand. I figured there had to be a better way. What I discovered is that any record keeping program is only as good as the person keeping the records. I had to get in the habit of using it each day. It took me a couple of years to train myself to check off each day's finished assignments. Otherwise I had a huge mess on my hands. There are parts of HST that I don't know how to use or care to use. I make it work for me. I love the lesson plan feature (only in the Plus version). I can enter information in over the summer and use it all year long. Not only that I can reuse it for another child in the future. If you want to use it, I would suggest just starting. Learn how to make an assignment. That is how I started. Then go from there. Jennie

Kathi, You can order it directly from them. CLE is a Mennonite run publisher, and they are not to the point of sending out files of information. If I remember correctly the test is $2 and the answer key is $2. You can order them from their website. This link should take you to the page to order. If not, type diagnostic in the site search. Best wishes, Jennie http://www.clp.org/cgi-bin/shop.cgi?C=page&F=search&id=xxxxx&title=Search+Results&zfield=all&start=1&set=20&zkeyword=diagnostic

In an ideal world I would say when a child incorporates cursive into regular school work. I was not diligent with my older children and they still print most of the time. One of my fourth graders is using cursive so much that she is becoming comfortable using it in her regular school work. When she is annoyed or has had enough she will go back to cursive. I think for me the jury is still out on the best way to handle penmanship. Jennie

I grew up before anyone had ever really considered homeschooling as an option. My dh is 9 years older than I am. So, no, neither of us was homeschooled. Jennie

I have used Handwriting Without Tears for all my children. Jennie

I started round 2 this year. I tried having the three girls in MOH and my son in TRISMS. It just didn't work out. So, we are back to SOTW. My older two (9th and 7th grade) are doing outlining (7th grader uses KHE and 9th grader uses Stream of Civilization) and will be adding in the timeline as soon as I can get my act together. I read the chapter to all the kids and then we break out to do the maps. The littles do the coloring pages and the older ones outline. I think ultimately I would like to do History Odyssey, but I don't have the money for it now. Jennie

Hi Robin, I lived in Oswego for 4 years when I was in college. Great town! Jennie

Hi! I am in the Buffalo area. There are lots of homeschoolers here. Jennie

One of my children used Spelling Workout for part of one year. I just don't care for this kind of program, and the majority of my children don't do well with a more traditional program. There are a few suggestions in TWTM that I don't use/like. Don't feel bad for picking what works best for you and your family. Jennie

I use Spectrum Shortening. I buy it this time of year when it is on sale locally. I buy one a week until it goes off sale. Then I have enough for the whole year. Jennie

Kathi, I gave my twins and older daughter the diagnostic tests as CLE moves at a different pace than what we had been using previously. Two of my girls places below the grade level they were in at the time. You may want to get a diagnostic test for your 3rd grader especially. I know that CLE has high ship rates and that the Anabaptist store has great ship rates. I have ordered from both. My opinion is that CLE is faster even though you pay more. Anabaptist is slow because they have to send your order to CLE for processing. Even if you pay for "rush" or whatever they call it, it can still take 2 weeks to get the material. Just something I have experienced. As for the components, I have used grade 2, 3 and 5. For grade 2 and 3 you need to order the lightunits, the teachers manual and the flashcards. You do not need the answer key in the lower grades because the answers are right in the manual. The flashcards are intregral to the program, and I did buy these. I have not used grade 1, so I could not tell you what to get that is extra. I can tell you that if you are teaching grade 1 and 2 they do recommend 2 sets of flashcards because you have to order them differently for each grade. The CLE yahoo group allows postings for WTB and FS as long as it is CLE/R&S or Pathways materials, so you might find somethings there. I know that I have a TM for second grade that I will no longer need. We have pretty much stopped using our flashcards as well. I hope that helps. Feel free to send me a PM if you need anything else. Jennie