It's the name of our sailboat.

We are starting Dance Mat Typing this year with my DS5.

Yes, there are narrations. From ELTL1: Narrations occur every two weeks throughout both levels. Once the child is comfortable with narrating, you can include narration exercises from history and science reading as well. Each level includes ninety of Aesop’s fables that could also be used for additional narration practice if desired. Level 1 begins with picture narrations. After the instructor reads the fable, the child is asked to draw a picture of the story and then tell his instructor about the picture. During the second half of the year, he will begin standard narrations. The standard narrations at the end of Level 1 and throughout Level 2 start with the shortest Aesop’s fables and gradually increase in length. The procedure for doing the narrations is quite simple: After the instructor reads the fable, the child tells the story back to his instructor in his own words while the instructor writes the story down for the child. Remember that the child is learning a brand new skill and may not understand exactly what is expected of him. Prompting him with questions helps. Ask questions such as, “What happened first?†and, “Then what happened?†Help him get the details of the story in the proper order. Since the instructor is doing the writing for the child, the child has no need to worry about spelling or punctuation. At this stage, I correct nothing more than grammatical errors and, occasionally, a detail from the story. In Level 2, part of the narration will be printed or written for the child to use as copywork for that day. Approached this way, narrations follow a logical progression. Narrations first start with something the child is probably already doing: drawing pictures and explaining them. Next the child begins telling the story without the picture, though he may certainly draw a picture to illustrate his narration. Then, he begins copying his own words. Finally, he will begin writing the story down himself without orally narrating it first. This final stage is not covered in this book.

We chose ELTL for my DS5. I like reading entire lit selections. I like the picture study. The copywork and narrations are gentle.

Exactly. I seem to stress the word differently depending on the sentence, but I am not sure how to give you examples of when I use which.

I've not heard of it, but in OC, there is also Sky Mountain Charter (in SD, it is Mountain Peak), which purportedly give a ton of money as well. They might be another to check out. We use Dehesa Charter in SD (they are also in OC). They offer less in Educational Funds, but have cool classes for my little extrovert. If you don't want the classes, then I would grab the most $$$.

I would not be homeschooling were it not for TWTM, SWB, and the generosity and wisdom of the folks here. Thank you!

We did HWT K last year and just do copywork from ELTL1 now. We plan to do LOE Cursive next year. HWT cursive is not attractive IMO.

We went in the opposite direction. What is it about Singapore that you don't like or feel that MM will do better? I liked MM, but it was a little too incremental for my son, with too many problems, and not as cutesy as Singapore. If you're looking for more scaffolding, I think MM is a good choice.

I went with Christianbook. They purport to ship tomorrow from Oregon. UPS ground should get it here next week. Thanks everyone!

Great. Thanks. I meant that Amazon didn't have them Prime. :)

I need to get Singapore 2A WB and IP asap. It will take our charter school 4-6 weeks to order the materials and I don't want to get behind. Is it faster to order from Singapore directly, via Rainbow, or Christianbook? Amazon doesn't seem to have them. Thanks for any shipping experiences.

We spent the past year living on the Pacific coast of Mexico (Bucerias, about 30 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta). My youngest was born there. The security issues we had were less than what we deal with in San Diego. which is to say, very little. Definitely don't let fear keep you from visiting a wonderful country and getting to know a welcoming and interesting people.

To tide us over, perhaps you could pin all of your writing posts into one post a la Ruth and science. Pretty please. <Bats eyelashes> :)

You *only* have 4 kids? You feel exhausted while pregnant? Geez, hang out with me for a bit (another panic attack this morning) and you'll feel like mother of the year. My advice is to be gentle with yourself and let go of all those perfectionist expectations. We're all just muddling through life -- parents most especially.

I have PCOS, conceived twice with only metformin, but my progesterone was low both times. I supplemented vaginally for the first trimester and went on to have healthy pregnancies. In my anecdotal experience, it can only help.

There are some goodies on sale. What are your favorites? Celebrating one-year of amazing deals! We're bringing back the 100 top-selling books, at their deal price. So, if you missed out the first time around, here's your chance to take advantage of some of the best deals of the year. Sale ends August 28 @ 11:59 PM ET. http://www.audible.com/mt/Daily_Deal_Anniversary_Sale/?source_code=AUDOREM0724149ADI

My sister in Sonoma was shaken out of bed. Thankfully, the house is ok. My aunt in Livermore slept through it.

This might be helpful for you: http://airskull.com/story-of-the-world-volume-2-the-middle-ages-book-list/

I started a thread to address this on the accelerated learner board. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/524359-treasured-conversations-for-the-accelerated-child/

I would add ELTL to the list. The elegance of its simplicity has really grown on me.