I have used K12's LA for grades 1, 3, 4, and 5. I personally feel it is a very open-and-go type of program in the sense that it doesn't require preparation time. It is, however, separated into several different manuals and student workbooks. I have not used LLATL, but looked at it several times. The reason I continued with K12 was the LLATL seemed so light. I think it is a gentle program, which is great if that is what you are looking for. K12 is a far more rigorous, and time-consuming, program. LLATL has all the subject integrated, which is very convenient. So it really boils down to, what are you looking for? Do you want gentle or intense? Do you want Christian content (LLATL) or do you need secular materials (K12)? I think both programs are great at offering exactly what they set out to offer, and I'm not sure you could go wrong either way.

What I have done is Click "Thread Tools" then "Printable Version" and then I cut and paste into a word document. You could also just click "File" (on your toolbar) and "Save Page As" to save the printable page. I like the printable version because you can specify more posts per page.

Well alrighty. I think I finally figured it out. :)

We started birdwatching this year, and I wanted to start off with a book specifically for this area. I learned pretty quickly, however, that the area-specific book didn't have all the birds we were seeing. So I bought The Sibley Guide to Birds. It is a big book, but they are grouped by type, and I have found it extremely useful. I never grab the local book anymore. If, after looking at the book, I still can't figure it out, I do a Google Image search of the few that I narrowed it down to. Usually, once I see some online pictures, it becomes quite obvious which bird it is. I also really appreciate that this book will show the variations in males and females, juvenile and adult, the differences between similar species, as well as changes that occur during different seasons. Many other books may only show male and female, but not juvenile, or not what they look like during breeding season. These changes can make a HUGE difference in finding the right bird. Good luck with your birdwatching! We have immensely enjoyed learning about them this year, and watching them change through the seasons.

I still haven't figured out how to do this when the quotes are on different pages. When I click to the next page, I lose any quotes I had chosen from the page before. Any suggestions? Am I asking for too much? :tongue_smilie:

Here ya go! (I hope the link works.)

Yes you can. I purchased one of their state studies this year. I ordered it from the website. They list the CHOW separately for purchase here.

Because some people have been very vicious and rude in the comments they've left with negative rep. It's hard to miss it if you visit your user control panel. Some people feel like they can't post their opinions because they will get negative rep. Some people can't let it go as easily as you might be able to because they see the obvious hypocrisy displayed by some members here. Ultimately, should people really care? Possibly not. After all, ignorance is bliss. But sometimes it's hard to stay ignorant.

They use Dolciani's Mathematics: Structure and Method, Courses 1 and 2.

It took me about six weeks to stop having the pin prick feeling in my cheeks. Luckily I stopped all the weight gain pretty much as soon as I stopped taking them. I'm not sure about the other symptoms you list, because the Dr. started me on another type (not SSRI) immediately, and I had really bad reactions to that one. So I'm not sure if it was the detox or the new one. Did you wean off of them or stop cold turkey (which is what I did... not recommended)?

I think that it varies so considerably from state to state that it would really only be valuable info to you if it were specific to the VA of your choice. (one for which I have no info.) But in general, your children would be public school students, and you would have to adhere to their rules. If that is okay with you, it could be a good fit. If the thought of someone else questioning your schedule makes you bristle, it may not be so good. :001_smile: K12 is a great curriculum, but the VA's can be overwhelming for some people. Especially if you plan to enroll 3-4 children.

I'm glad your eldest is ahead of mine so that I can watch your processes and glean what I can before it's too late. I appreciate your openness in sharing these types of examples, because it helps to see the theory you discuss put into action. Thanks!

Do you not have a Sports Authority or some similar store that would be closer? That's where we have found goggles out of season. What a pain, though, huh?

Well, apparently it just lets you click and see who of your buddies are online at the time. It also lets you pm everyone at once if you want. (I think, I haven't actually clicked through to try it.) BUT! On the How To board, one of the admins suggested that there may be new functionalities coming soon for the Buddy List with a board update.

It seems to be the method of choice in our country. We fall behind so many other countries academically, so we figure if we start earlier and earlier, maybe we can catch up. Yet we fail to notice that many of the highest-scoring nations don't even start their kids in school until age 7. Kindergarten used to be a fun place where you got use to the concept of being around other kids, standing in lines, etc. Then kindergarten became the place to get ready for first grade. And most recently we have added mandatory Pre-K's that are prepping the kids for kindergarten. It's CRAZY!!!!!! Good gosh. Let little kids be kids and play and have fun.:rant: Unfortunately, curriculum companies have to reflect this change in society due to the state standards they are compelled to match.

No, but she respects and looks up to Butch. But the two are very, very different in style. At least in my eyes.

Pure speculation here, but maybe the saving grace for Math U See is that they don't put grade levels on their products and Teaching Textbooks does? If it's not clearly labeled a "2nd Grade Program" it is much harder to justify comparing it side-by-side with some other curriculum. (A really smart move on MUS's part?) Whereas TT does put grade levels (or stages such as Algebra 1) that some people find to be "off" when compared to other curricula. Just a guess, but I agree that it is a little paradoxical.

My daughter is very much like this. She is, no doubt, extremely smart, but processing auditory information takes time. She has to turn it into a visual before she can process it, and sometimes that takes a while, depending on what type of information. If I give her directions, I have to pause between each step to allow her to visualize herself doing it. If I am trying to get her to remember something in history or science, I have to mention the concept, not just the name or vocabulary word. And she is like this with everything, not just school. She has a very hard time remembering friends' names. Especially if she hasn't seen them in a while. I will have to say, "You know, the one who lives in the brown house with the cocker spaniel." Then she will instantly remember. But I have to attach a visual for her to quickly retrieve that information. We love the game Tri-Bond, where one player reads a list of three things that are somehow related, and you have to guess what that relation is. My poor daughter struggles terribly with it. BUT! Once in a while, it is a pictorial clue (three pictures that you have to see the relationship between) and she rocks the house on that one. We've barely had a chance to figure out what the three pictures are, and she has already figured out the relation! So possibly, the information is in your dd's head, but she needs a different prompt to help her retrieve it. :o

I was very well-read as a child, but this was the one and only book that I could not make it through. I still have my copy of it on my bookshelf, and I look at it once in a while, all tattered from several moves and yellowed by time. I want my next try at it to be with my daughter, but I'm trying to figure out when the right time would be. I'm thinking of waiting until 7th grade or so.

My daughter seems very slow and deliberate in many ways. I often contribute it to the fact that she is a visual-spatial learner through and through. In almost all forms of learning, she really has to take the time to put the words into picture format for her brain to properly comprehend it. I got frustrated at times because as we would be doing a science lesson, for example, I would have to stop after every sentence to allow her time to process those words. I kept thinking in the back of my mind, "How will she ever make it in college???" But I have been rereading some of John Taylor Gatto's books lately, and something he wrote set off a light bulb moment for me. He told the story of how he often assigns 20 pages from a book to be read, and then he asks the class questions afterwards. The students are able to recall main points from the story, but they can never recall little details. He proposes that the focus on "reading comprehension" and the types of questions used in standardized testing actually train kids to only look for the main points, and to mentally skim the rest. He suggests allowing kids the time to not only read, but to visualize what they are reading. Experience all the sensory elements that the author painstakingly includes. Reading quickly and being able to answer comprehension questions is not as meaningful as reading for the experience. I also realized just how much I do this in my own reading. I never pay attention to names, or the color of boots. I'm always too busy looking for the main idea. (I know skimming for main ideas is not bad, I'm just trying to present the other end of the spectrum.) So since that time, it has been much easier to slow down my pace, instead of wanting to hurry up and get through this lesson so I can mark it off the list and move on to the next one. I work a little harder myself at trying to really experience the things I am reading. But even still, my dd will remember tiny little details, down to the exact phrasing that the author used, while I can't even remember that it was in the book! She still has to take a few seconds to remember even this simplest math facts. I don't know why. It is what it is. But she is very good in math conceptually, it just takes her longer to work the problems. We don't drill the facts. Maybe we should? Maybe we could spend hours of her life that could otherwise be spent in far more enjoyable and enriching ways, and it would still take her longer than most. So I scale back some of my expectations, and I stand amazed at the times when she so far exceeds my expectations. And I tell myself that I'm meeting her where she is, and I can't do any better than that.

I know, right? (remember that thread?) I was starting to think maybe Elaine was the Official Thread Killer. :D

Yes, yes yes!!! I never understood how anyone could wax poetic about summer nights until I moved out west. But, oh how wonderful summer nights are here. And there wasn't a repellent in the world strong enough to keep 'em away in Florida, so even IF it cooled down enough at night and you didn't mind still sweating anyway due to humidity, you couldn't get out to enjoy it without getting abducted by ginormous mosquitoes. Go West!

Both of these theories deal with formation of life on this planet, am I right? (I Googled them but didn't get very good hits.) I tried to be very careful in all of my posts to avoid discussing evolution and to stick to the Big Bang theory, because my background is in physics, not biology. The only time I remotely debated any issue on evolution was trying to explain why I thought evolution required less faith than creation. That's more of a philosophical issue. I will openly admit to being woefully ignorant to the details of evolution or the theories of ID, and as I said, I tried to sit back and allow those far more knowledgeable to go at it. I think the thread that Eliana posted regarding whether ID theories were science was indeed very well thought out. She very eloquently summarized what the rest of us were trying to say. Scientific theories as defined in that post are what should be in science classes. Why would you assume I would want the history of science, or history in general, to not be taught? I'm not sure exactly what you're referring to here. But I would suppose that if both theories were (appropriately defined) scientific theories, then I would have no problem with that. If they were not, then they belong in a different class. I have never stated that any of these alternative ideas should be banned from classrooms - just certain classes, namely science. Well golly, I really hope nothing I posted implied I would want anything but that. :confused: This was a reply to what Soph had said regarding the possibility of proving that God does or does not exist, not the proof of evolution or creation. If this statement was directed at me, I'm afraid you're taking me out of context. And I was a Christian who found the Bible to be too much of an illogical jump for me. And I wanted to believe the Bible. Yes, of course we all start with our assumptions. And if indeed there are the illogical jumps that you refer to, (and I'm not saying there aren't... remember, woefully ignorant) then eventually scientists will have to fill those gaps, right? If I'm not mistaken, they're busy right now trying to do just that.

Yeah, he did. I skimmed over it a time or two, but have been meaning to go back and read it more thoroughly.

Well, we moved from Florida to Colorado, and I can't describe how much better I feel without all the humidity! It makes a HUGE difference. Neither my daughter nor I have nearly as many aches and pains as we had in FL. So I would suggest New Mexico. Someone else mentioned Colorado Springs, and while it is a beautiful place, the winters are very cold. I also lived near the Raleigh/Durham area for a while, and would choose Colorado (or anywhere out west) any day. NC still gets way hot and humid in the summer, and then their winters are humid, too, and the cold just pierces through to the bone. Ouch! New Mexico would offer the dry air without as cold winters, so that sounds like a great place for you!