Plans are still pretty loose here, so reading for ideas. I really want to outsource writing & Spanish. She & I do not do well with writing. She approaches it very differently than I do and I can't break through. But I can't figure out what would suit her best. I'm really drawn to Brave Writer classes but I'm not sure she wouldn't do better with something more like a Writing With Skill. Math--We are going to finish her PreA book this year (I planned for 3-4 semesters), so now I need to figure out what algebra to start her on. She's enjoyed Lial PreA, so we will likely stick with that. Grammar--Planning to continue with Growing with Grammar. History--We do this together & we'll finish SOTW 4 + add'l American history next year. I need to find some resources to bulk this up a bit for her. Science--We also do this together. Physics comes back up next year, so we will do that for 3/4 of the year and then 1/4 on ?? Haven't decided what physics to use yet, though. Spelling/vocab--We will finish Apples & Pears this year. Spelling is her hardest subject, so we've gone slowly to give her a firm foundation. I *think* we'll switch to a vocab focus next year while using vocab words for some spelling practice, as well. But, again, no idea what vocab. We are moving to NC this summer, so available options for co-op type classes & enrichment will work into the plans...as soon as I figure out what some of those are!! (Anyone in the Fayetteville area? I'd love to chat if so!)

I didn't see this linked, so pardon if it was. But I found this episode by Planet Money quite interesting. Reading the early part of the thread about CEO pay reminded me of it as the episode is 'When CEO Pay Exploded'.

I, too, have seen far more about Flint than Palin in the news. But on FB (and links posted on FB), I've seen far more about Palin. I think there are a lot of reasons why the coverage varies but one thing that stands out to me is that the Palin stories are short, need no background & need no further reading. The Flint story is more complicated & needs more reading to really understand the full scope of it. And, so, for some people, its no surprise to me that they are giving more attention to the story that doesn't require more time invested beyond the headline. There's also the point that, in the people I'm seeing supporting Palin right now, they are disinclined to read up on the Flint story because "liberals are just trying to blame Republicans" or "it's clearly liberals fault b/c they've been in charge of Flint for so long" or some variation thereof. They "know" the whole story which is...this is all a political smear.

What about this approach would be more thorough than the one they go through now? I haven't read much about Ellis Island process, I admit, but I have read quite a bit about the refugee process currently and I'd be interested to know what made Ellis more stringent than it. :) There are more recent statistics that show this has changed.

Thank you!! I'll take a look this afternoon. Next year when we do the WWII big study, I'm going to do it before school starts so I don't end up facing the same feeling of nearly burning out & no umphf to do it come spring semester!! LOL

I was going to suggest Brains On. LOL My boys ADORE that show! I really wish I could find other sciencey podcasts geared for kids.

We're taking a break from SOTW 3 to do a month-long Civil War unit. Problem is that it's coming up in two weeks and I haven't started. And I'm really just wanting to buy one instead (feeling lazy!). I don't want a lapbook (two kids hate them & I'm terrible at follow-through) but I don't mind a set of lesson plans where I need to get books from the library. Bonus if it includes media/suggestions for media. I'm quite willing to pay for it, if it's well done. What I'm finding so far is not worth the money. I found this one that is 9 lessons long. If I don't find anything better, I'll use this and then add to it myself. So...any suggestions?

When we've moved out, we've always done it for the day after our last day because our experience has been that they cut it off that day, so electricity, etc. wouldn't be available that morning. I've heard it varies but the places we've lived (Texas, Georgia, Washington, Indiana & Illinois have all been that way).

We use it with my Ker. We don't do flash cards, don't always do the speed drill and I aim for 3 lessons a week. I stop after 10-15 minutes. Then we play a math fame of some sort (not every day). Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

Thanks, I will! I tried and couldn't figure out how to save them, so I thought maybe it wasn't actually possible to download them. Glad to know its just my technological incompetence! :lol: I'll send him a PM. :thumbup:

I was also coming to ask how long the recordings will be available. Also, is there a way to download/save them? I'm behind on watching them and I'm afraid I'm not going to get them in before they are no longer available. I have never been to a homeschool conference but I can't imagine how any of them would top the information & encouragement I've received via these. They have been so wonderful!!

:hurray: :hurray: :hurray: I didn't realize this until your comment. 45th year of it. What it must be like to be one of those in the beginning of this event and seeing what today brings. Happy tears, again.

Its been several years but I've used Tiffany Town Car & Florida Towncar. I used to work with a travel agency and those are the ones we also used for our clients. I never had any problems (myself or with my clients' travels). I don't know if they still do but when I used them, they'd stop at the grocery, too, which was nice.

I was going to say what Susan said. A lot of the misspelled phrases I've read aren't ones you usually see in print but, in a conversational online tone, you might. Words like pique aren't ones you see often, so it doesn't surprise me when peak or peek is used instead.

The insistence that the girls were asleep and didn't know anything happened really makes me wonder how many other times he did it to a sleeping sister. I mean, if he got away with it a couple times (until he confessed), then surely he could have easily gotten away with it other times. Maybe he confessed only to a fraction of the times he actually had. I'm not making accusations...but the insistence that the girls had no idea & it was only a few seconds each time, if true, leaves me wondering if there weren't many other times. I'm more suspicious now than I was pre-interview.

I was going to suggest Wolf Park, too. It was a popular field trip for the school I worked at not far from Lafayette.

I really liked our library's program when I was young. There was always same variation of a game board. As you moved around the board, you'd get different kinds of books to read--a biography, a non-fiction, a book about a sport of your choice, a fiction book, a book from the new arrivals, book on tape, a new-to-you author, etc. To advance on the board, you'd have to answer a few questions about the book from last time (the librarians would just thumb through it when you brought it to the table). While the questions (as I recall) were easy, it did mean you couldn't just say you read it. The focus was on exposure. I fell in love with non-fiction & biographies because of those summers. I'm not sure we even had any prizes other than seeing your name move across the giant board they had on the ceiling beams. Our current program is just minutes/titles but I'm trying to merge it with what I grew up on. So each time we go, I tell the kids a different theme for a book they need to get.

I didn't realize the offer was good until tonight! I picked up the daily reading comprehension book but there were several items I wanted! Good selection this year.

I'm looking for 5th grade, too, with similar requirements. Nothing to add but following along for suggestions. Wordsmith Apprentice looks like it would actually get done here.

My DD10 started the year with LFC. We took a couple weeks to do each lesson but she was feeling really overwhelmed with it. We switched to GSWL in February and it has gone WONDERFULLY. She looks forward to doing Latin. My original plan was to do GSWL and then go back to LFC (starting over or just picking up where we left off). I'm considering Linney's Latin (recommended by GSWL). I like that he has lectures available for them. The length of the lessons look good. What have you found to be a good fit for kids who really liked GSWL?

I'm looking at writing for my rising-2nd grader. He really enjoys dictating stories for me to write. So far we've just done it whenever he has a story he wants to tell me. But I'm wondering if I should start harnessing that in a more formal way next year. His storytelling far exceeds his ability to write (both spelling & the actual writing of it) and I expect it'll take a couple more years before they even come close to lining up. So...thinking here. Do I try to find some kind of curriculum? Make it a point to try to have him dictate to me more regularly? I want to really encourage him with his stories and I don't want it to become a subject to dread. So I'm hesitant to do anything too formal, like restricting him to certain topics, etc. We are doing FLL2 & WWE1 next year, so I have that area covered. Any thoughts?

A comment I've seen on FB several times now is that the cops picking them up is proof that anyone could have kidnapped them. Sure, someone else COULD have...but no one else did, not this time and not any other time. And car accidents prove that you can be in an accident if you drive, so that logic would say no one should ever drive then. I can't live/parent that way. In my neighborhood, the bus stops at every single house that needs a pick-up, there is no central bus stop. I remember growing up that the bus stop was the next block up and was the single bus stop in about a 2-block radius. Now, at least in this neighborhood, kids can't even walk a couple houses down to have less stops. I don't get it. And its not like we are at all a busy neighborhood, just a pretty typical subdivision. I watch the bus go down the street behind us and he has to stop at six times in a 8-house distance. On the street in front of our house, its more like every 2-3 houses.

We started with Latin for Children and it reduced my daughter to tears. More than once. We switched to GSWL and she loves it now. The one-focus per lesson is really good for her. Some days all the translating bothers her, so we skip some of them occasionally.

We used Singapore for four years before switching. I rarely used the teacher's guide or textbook in Singapore but the cost was the primary motivator. I'd say we both slightly prefer SP over MM but she is likes MM, it suits her well. The amount of information on a page is sometimes a struggle for her but we've found some ways to work through that.

LOL No worries. I was mostly looking for the easy way out...cutting/pasting/trimming is too much work!! :coolgleamA: