Are you using the app or the browser on your iPad? Ds uses the app on his iPad from 2013 (the model prior to Air). He has had a few issues with the background not changing to white when the question pops up. He has discovered he can fix it when it happens (I'm not sure exactly what he does. Something about selecting a pencil and swiping up from the bottom.)

Perhaps this might help. Here is a section from Quark Botany about plant adaptations. I believe the quote is small enough to be ok within the fair use laws, but if someone thinks I should cut it down please let me know. I want to ensure there is context.

Thanks, that's the one instance I found too. It didn't seem like an intentional word choice to me to indicate the flowers were designed by someone, rather that the flower has that design. I thought maybe I had missed something big somewhere because I think it is wholly unfair to categorize the book as "not 100% secular-friendly" based on that. I have read the entire book and found no instance with any subtle (or not subtle) bias against evolution. My kitchen and deck are littered with seedlings, potted plants, plants in jars, seeds germinating in bags, etc. My ds is so excited about plants that we are planning a fairly major yard project so we can create a garden space for him. This is thanks to Quark and Tops Science. I hate to think we might have passed on this book based on the comments in this thread. It is one of the highlights of our year and we hope to have the same success with Quark Zoology this summer (although I have pointed out to ds that we are not getting a lot of pets to go along with it!)

Can you please provide a page number to this section or a quote so I can read the portion where it references things being designed?

Great news! I hope everything goes as planned.

LOL!!! I love watching your sons' videos! Thanks for sharing, and happy birthday to your son twoday!

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

You can also get Prime Climb in a bundle with Tiny Polka Dot together for $40 (a $10 savings). We LOVE Prime Climb and I backed Tiny Polka Dot a few weeks ago because I want this company to keep making games. (I am not affiliated in any way, just love their game).

Ds (8) has been learning typing for about 15 months. The first year we were very casual about it and he made slow progress. Then at some point this year he became very interested in it and started to practice every day for about 20 minutes. He now averages 18-20 wpm with 97%+ accuracy. Being motivated to want to type really made a big difference in the effort he put into it. He wasn't just putting in the time, he was actively trying hard. (not saying your dc aren't trying hard, it is just a change I noticed in ds that corresponded with increased success.)

Does the program show you the number of words per minute and an accuracy score?

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

There are so many stories of bravery and inspiration coming out of this tragedy, but this one really speaks to me about the heart of the community: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/close-brush-with-flames-staff-at-alberta-school-bring-students-through-wildfire/article29933292/ An elementary school needed to evacuate and the school buses couldn't get to the school due to all the traffic of people fleeing. The staff of the school used their own vehicles to get seventy students to safety (the others had been picked up by parents). None of the staff were able to go to their own homes to collect anything because they were helping the children. Their neighbourhood burned to the ground. I can't imagine how scared those children would haven been driving beside the walls of flame and not knowing where their parents were, and how frantic the parents would have been when they couldn't reach the school. They all made it out safely thanks to those staff members.

Sending good thoughts your way! :grouphug:

Congratulations!!!!! :party: :party: :party:

I found it was better for me to simply create a notebook page any time we needed one rather than go with a pre-made one that only partially fit what I wanted. I set up a few templates in Mac Pages (I'm sure you could do something similar on Windows) -- lined page with single photo in corner, lined page with photo and diagram, lined page with large drawing box, etc. I then bought a few borders which I can swap in depending on the theme. Ds loves picking a border and helping me use google images to select a relevant photo or diagram. Sometimes we grab an image from supercoloringpages.com to add a line drawing ds can colour. It isn't as quick as printing something ready-made, but it only takes a few minutes. In the amount of time I used to search for a suitable page elsewhere, I can now make a custom one that is exactly what we want.

Happy birthday Caden!! :hurray:

If it makes you feel better, my invention for that project in school was cookware that could be used in the microwave, on the stovetop and go in the freezer. Complete with rubber lids for freezer/fridge storage. My teacher gave me a mediocre grade because she said it would be impossible to have a material that could withstand stovetop heat and the freezer. I feel vindicated that I have a freezer stocked full of those containers today.

My "other" is the harmonica, which I am learning so I can teach my dad.

I hope everything works out well for you and that your house sells quickly. :grouphug:

age 3, and I'm worried it isn't a phase!

There is a bit of a furor in a part of Canada right now because the citizens have just found out that one of the parents whose kids attend the local elementary school is an infamous criminal. She was convicted of abducting, raping, and murdering two teenagers as well as her own sister. She entered a plea bargain to help convict her husband and received a reduced sentence of 12 years (video tapes surfaced later that proved her willing involvement but by then it was too late). In any event, she was released about ten years ago and has since changed her name and had three children. Do you think people in the community have a right to know someone with this type of criminal past is in their neighbourhood, or should the person have a chance at a new life once they serve their time? Would you feel comfortable knowing your children were friends with a convicted killer's children and perhaps had spent time at their house? Here is a link to the story: http://www.edmontonsun.com/2016/04/19/quebec-town-upset-to-learn-karla-homolka-living-among-them

I'm from Canada and it couldn't place me on the map, which I guess makes sense!

I backed it already :) We love Prime Climb, so I'm sure this will be great too. My little ds is 3 so this should be perfect!

Thanks for sharing your plant study Angela. I love the notebook pages your dc did! We do notebooking too and I love to see great examples like yours for inspiration.

The New Way Things Work (David Macaulay) has quite a bit of information about flight. We have the Usborne book 100 Paper Planes to Fold and Fly. It is not too difficult. There are only a few styles of plane to learn to fold, but lots of nice papers to make into your planes. Ds loved the book Galileo's Leaning Tower Experiment. It might go nicely with your egg drop experiments. I have The Flying Machine Book on my list to purchase for next year, as well as Flight by Von Hardesty. The picture book "Rosie Revere, Engineer" is adorable, contains a great message, has a female engineer main character, and is about a flying machine!