Well that turned into an expensive investigation... (and it didn't have to because they have things starting at $2.50). I *love* these booklets, and bought a whole bunch of the downloadable ones. Ds started in on them last night and requested more to do this morning. So fun!

I would ask myself if you would make the same offer to this friend -- have her and her husband use your house for a few hours while you and your family are away. I'm not saying you need to reciprocate, just ask what your comfort level would be in that situation. If you think "of course that would be fine", then definitely take her up on the offer. It sounds like she is a close friend, so she would probably be happy to know that she could help you get a few hours of together time. Enjoy!

I love that it gets used because we aren't afraid of it breaking. It is sitting on my kitchen counter right now because last night we looked at onion cells while I was making dinner. It is not as quick to change magnification as other scopes. We tend to pick a magnification for the task and stick with it for awhile. But there are many times (like last night) where we just grabbed it and observed something where a regular scope would have sat in the cupboard. I have the 400x and use it occasionally. You need to add another light source for it to work well with the 400. We use a flashlight, but I am about to order a booklight that clips to the stage. We tend to keep it at 100x for most purposes. We have used the Brock in our yard, have brought it to the beach, and have left it out for days at a time without worrying that the toddler would destroy it. We also own a Celestron attachment that takes the place of the Brock eyepiece and hooks up to our computer to take digital pictures.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

"Remember that trip Mom booked over the internet where we stayed in an erotic love hotel in Japan?" They will be talking about this trip for years!

Home Art Studio

I feel obliged to point out that the Canadian "eh" is regional and is not used in all parts of Canada. I only ever hear it in parodies as it is not part of the dialect where I live. I would use "isn't it?" or "right?" I notice that many American tourists who visit here say "huh?" at the end of a question.

Eight

I was trying to make it less confusing by picking two sequential numbers for the friends and a separate number for the other boy.

You might be surprised. I think most people are very understanding that what you experienced was a severe trauma. If you were my casual acquaintance or neighbour I would make you a few meals in a heartbeat.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

From one of the parents, who had spoken to the teacher directly about the issue.

ScienceWiz kits are pretty good. How about an ant farm? I have heard good things about potato chip science, make your own chocolate kit, and others of the sort. We have never tried them though.

Background: Three neighbourhood boys attend the ps near us. Boys b1 and b2 are best friends. Boys b1 and b5 were briefly friends last year until b5 started to be quite mean (to everyone, not just b1). B5 now wants to be friends with b2, but b2 is scared of him and doesn't want to be friends. B5 pesters b1 and b2 every day at recess and lunch. Apparently b5 told the teacher that b1 is "hogging" b2. The teacher's solution: The teacher told the boys they need to divide their time so b5 has time with b2. Mondays and Wednesdays b1 and b2 can play together, and Tuesdays/Thursdays b2 and b5 are to play together. Apparently it doesn't matter that b2 doesn't want anything to do with b5 because he is intimidated by him. Does this seem crazy to you? When I heard about it the first thing I thought of was the recent conversation here about teaching our children they have to be nice (vs polite) to everyone even when we don't do that as adults. Do b2's feelings not matter in this? Is friendship something to be regulated by the school and scheduled on a calendar?

I didn't know you had a blog! There goes my afternoon... To the OP: I highly recommend Lynn's ebook Exploring Nature With Children. I have been using it for the last month and a half and have really enjoyed it. I would especially have loved to own it when we got started with nature journaling because it pulls all the resources together for you and makes it easy. To Lynn: When we did your earthworm study (4 weeks ago I think? maybe 5) we made the wormery. The dc have LOVED having "pets". They feed them every 5 days or so and are amazed that the worms eat all the food they are given. (Spinach and kale are favourites.) They started with very coarse soil and have made all of it smooth. They stirred the sand into the dirt and have made tunnels everywhere. It has been a highlight of our nature studies this year!

Ours are 5.5x8, which is perfect for us. We bring the journals with us on our nature walks, so anything bigger would be too heavy/bulky. We use the mixed media Strathmore Visual journals and the paper is really nice for watercolour pencils.

No frogs or eggs to report here (Canada) yet. We have also checked out a few local ponds on nature walks and have not seen any sign of frogs there either, so it may just not be time yet. If we find frog eggs somewhere wild should we put some in our pond, or is that a bad idea? In other years we have seen a single frog twice ever. I'm just hoping they can find the pond.

The Peggy Kaye book Games for Writing might be what you are looking for. It really helped ds not be intimidated by his pencil. He was reluctant to write a full sentence at one time, but with the games all of a sudden he was writing 4-5 sentences at a go.

For six weeks they could learn programming at code.org Also check out diy.org for fun projects kids can do to earn virtual badges. They don't have to sign up for the courses, they can just work on skills in which they are interested (for free).

I spend a ridiculous amount on Easter baskets because I feel we have to compensate for severe food allergies. Our baskets contain board games, books, puzzles, some hobby items, Lego, etc. But I'm most excited that this year the dc are getting chocolate bars. I found one that is safe for them to eat. It is the first chocolate bar ever for each of them.

I sent Caden a card. I hope he is discharged before they have time to print it. Many hugs to you and Caden. :grouphug: p.s. I hope your dd is recovering well.

The Classical Homeschooling list can still be accessed using the Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20150613065503/http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html You may wish to save the pages to your computer in case they can no longer be accessed in future.

Thinking of you and your family. :grouphug: I hope there has been improvement today.

I'm so sorry for your loss. :grouphug:

:grouphug: still thinking of your family today.