I don't know that my dad had much of an opinion on it. I think I was in second grade. My mom worked in a dental lab at the time and brought home some topical anesthetic, rubbed it on my ears, got an ice cube and a big old diaper pin and pierced them herself. :ohmy: (Yeah, literally a diaper pin from my baby days.) That set the precedent, I guess, because I did my five additional piercings on my own with regular earrings... twice through the cartilage. I did, however, allow a professional to pierce my navel. :001_rolleyes:

:party: :party::party::party: Oh how exciting!!!! Good for him! {{Hugs for you!}} I have no advice regarding the prepaid tuition situation, but what an incredible opportunity!

Please take him seriously if he says he feels depressed. Sure, it could just be dramatics, or from some pharmaceutical commercial on tv, but is that a chance worth taking? Let a professional decide. Maybe he just needs to find a good therapist to talk him through these things, but it sounds like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Some of our little ones feel things so intensely, so deeply, that it can simply be overwhelming for them.

That's pretty funny because my dd11 just recently fell in love with Michael Jackson and has been making a Toontown music video for Beat It. She just has a few final touches left on it before she uploads it to youtube. So I showed her this version, and she hated it. :) I'll have to post a link to her video once it's uploaded. She thinks it's much better. :D

Well, I found the TWSS helpful. I had already seen Andrew speak at a conference, so I had a very general idea of how the program operated. I felt it was very homeschooler-friendly. The TWSS also comes with a few lessons on dvd's for the student. I'm not sure how I would have done with SWI alone. Probably having heard him speak I would have been fine. Had I not, it would have been more difficult. But in the end, here's how I looked at it: The DVD's are very expensive, even when purchased used. What this means to me is that it is a great investment that I know I will get my money back on once I am finished with it. I searched used boards for a couple of weeks, holding off until I found a GREAT deal. Once I was finished with them, I ended up selling them without losing ANY money. I didn't necessarily feel the need to hold on to them as a reference, so that helped. The exact same thing happened when I then bought SWI. I found them at a reasonable price, used them, and then resold them at the same price. So all it cost was the shipping. IEW was probably the LEAST expensive program, in the end, of any that I have used. And my daughter loved it. As far as A or B, I went with SWI-B, but in a way wished I had gone with A, mainly because dd loved how dynamic Andrew was on the TWSS lessons that were geared toward the younger group. He seemed a little more subdued in the SWI-B dvd's. The sample paragraphs are simpler on A than B. They don't require quite as much narrowing down to come up with your key word outline. My daughter got a little stressed sometimes with the longer sentences trying to narrow it down to only 3 key words. The simpler sentences with SWI-A made that easier. So sometimes I used the downloadable content from the website for A and used it with the lessons on B. So, yes, I would give the TWSS a shot, and if you find it utterly useless, sell it and get your money back. Most likely you won't completely regret having watched them. As far as A or B, you know your son best, but A might be the basic, simple presentation that he needs to move past his reluctance. Good luck!

We noticed that ours had hit Saturday, a bit earlier than expected.

Yes, Sue is correct. You would only need to purchase the online content for future students.

Indeed! I was scrolling down, looking through and enjoying it. Thinking I must certainly be near the end, I glanced down and saw I was on page 9 of 41!! Wowsers!!! That's some newsletter!

Oh, and yes, it would be Consumer Direct.

Yes, the website can be confusing, although they are in the process of updating it to make it a little more homeschooler friendly. And yes, K12 is not an inexpensive curriculum. You would need to purchase the material packages for each course (science and history) and you would also need to purchase the online content, either on a month-to-month basis, or as a yearly subscription. Obviously the yearly subscription is at a slightly reduced fee, but the month-to-month could be a great way to start and make sure it is a program you will stick with. So, for Science 4, the materials kit would cost $65. The teacher and student pages are available as part of the online content, so you don't need to purchase these, but you would have to print the pages on your own. I have a nifty laser printer, so I choose this option. The upgrade materials kit is $27, but most of those items are pretty easy to come by on your own for less. For History 4, the standard materials kit is $60. Again, the student and teacher pages can also be purchased or viewed / printed as pdf's with the online content. The month-to-month rate for the online content is $29 per month per course. So for the two courses it would cost $58 per month. If you used it for a 10-month school year that would be $580. The one-year contract subscription would be $38 per month for both courses, or $456 per year (12 months). This year I used K12 for all courses except math. It actually is a much better deal the more classes you purchase. I have been considering not using as many K12 subjects next year, but when I get around to figuring up what the costs would be to use other curricula, it's coming up to almost as much as K12. Oh, and I will probably be selling my standard kits soon, as we are almost done with them this year. You can sometimes find pretty good deals on used kits. There is a used K12 yahoo group that has been pretty active lately. Well, let me know if you have any more questions.

I think that would work out very well for you and your girls. My 5th grade dd did K12's 4th grade history and science this year, and they were in no way too simple for her. She is a slow but strong reader, and she finds K12's lessons to be interesting and engaging. An additional "plus" to this plan is that since you are going from no curriculum to a more structured curriculum, the 4th grade history is only scheduled for 3 times per week, whereas the 5th and 6th are scheduled 5 times per week. Likewise 4th grade science (I'm pretty sure) is two days per week vs. 3 for 6th grade. So combining them with the 4th grade curriculum would be a great way to work into a formal curriculum with the least stress to all involved.

Ours hit our checking account today! W00t!

The player on my blog is from projectplaylist.com, and when you are creating your list for a blog, you have the option for the music to start when the page loads or only if "Play" is pressed. I use the second option. I don't particularly mind when a blog has music playing. The mute button is close enough if needed.

That's precisely why I dropped La Clase Divertida.

Stop saying that!!! Because if you are too old, I probably am too, but I will get one some day. And I think you should get one anyways!! So there!! Now do as you're told and stop being so rebellious and just go get the dadgum nose ring! (And then post pics so I can live vicariously through you! :tongue_smilie: )

Getting tattoos is a family affair here. My step-daughter and step-son both had tattoos before I ever did. Then once when my sd was visiting (she lives in another state) we all went to the tattoo place where I had originally wanted to get one done many many years before. She, my husband, and I all got tattoos. (Not matching ones, though.) A couple of years later she visited again with her fiance and we all went and she got another one, he got his first, and I was going to get some added to mine, but I just wasn't jiving with what the artist was drawing up, so I passed. Now I have to wait for them to visit again so I get mine finished. I also want to get tattoos on my ears like earrings, although it would be largely pointless since I always wear my hair long and down. But I would know they were there. That's really what matters.

I expected to have to take my belly ring out while I was pregnant, but I ended up making it through all nine months with it in. I did get a little stretch mark at it, but otherwise everything went back to the way it should be. :D And for the OP, I have 6 earrings in my left ear (4 reg, 1 cartilage, 1 in the cartilage flap right in front of the ear canal - I have no idea what that's called) and only one regular in my right ear. I was going to get a nose one years ago, but then it started becoming too popular so I decided to wait. I may still get one, now that the fad has passed.

Sure. Her blog is Musings of a Prairie Girl. You'll need to scroll down to her April 7th post "Classical Education" to catch it from the beginning, then scroll up for the remainder that are mixed in with other posts.

I came across a blog earlier today that had a series of posts discussing the different definitions of classical education, and then the blogger's definition. Here are bits a pieces from one of her posts that I found interesting:

Well, you have to purchase the whole "Language Arts" package, which includes vocabulary (they use Vocab from Classical Roots), grammar (BK English Language Handbook), and composition. But I consider it worth it even if I only used the literature program. You have to purchase the online content, either on a month-to-month basis or a one or two year subscription. The materials are a separate fee, and you can sometimes find them used. In addition to the assigned literature, you also select three novels from a list of several. What is really cool is that you have access to the lit guides for ALL the novels, so if your child is a quick reader, you can always do more novels. Also, if you have the year subscription, you have access to all of it over the summer, so you could do additional novels during that time. Here is the page describing the 7th grade Intermediate English B Program. Here is a link to the pricing information. At the top they list the month-to-month and yearly subscription pricing. Then you can scroll down to "K-8 Materials by Course" to find the materials price for each course. And here is a pdf of the actual materials for each course. I can also send you the log in information for a demo account that would allow you to see all the online content for all courses. Just let me know if you are interested, or if you have any other questions.

No suggestions, just commiseration. I have DSL and it is flaky like yours. The thing that bothers me the most about it, though, is that when I lived 40 miles north of here, I had the same DSL with the same company, and NEVER had problems! I am in a remote area with no cable options, so I am stuck like you. I do, however, believe it is indeed an issue with the DSL company. They do all the same tests and have even sent out a technician to run tests, but it always shows that their part is fine. Once they did admit that they had been having problems with some equipment. I have investigated satellite internet, but the speeds just aren't there yet, and I can't determine exactly what they mean by "downloads" when they talk about how much you are allowed to download each month. My husband works from home almost entirely on the internet, so we can't be limited in that regard. So anyway, I think it is their equipment, and I think that those of us who are in areas that have no other options are the last ones to get the problems fixed, because they know they've "got us". It is frustrating to say the least. I did read on one forum that when you call in, refuse all the little tests they want to do and tell them you are on a congested server and to please connect you with a technician who can switch you to a different server. We have done that once and it seemed to help. Good luck. :o

Sorry, I just realized this was on the High School board. Oops. (I use the "New Posts" view and miss that detail sometimes.) I have no idea how K12's high school programs are.

There was a thread about this last month that had some good responses. Here's a link. :)

Very incredibly cool! She did a great job! Thanks for sharing this!

K12's Literature offers what you are looking for. For Example, 7th grade: Here is an example of the assessment for the Julius Caesar unit. And here is their sample completed essays. They cover classics, novels, biographies, and poetry.