ipod (latin vocab, audiobooks) planner

I really wouldn't think twice about that situation. Many people home school their kids even in good school districts, while others would never consider it. Home schooling is a great choice for my family right now, but public school is a better choice for other people, while still others are best served by private school or boarding school. I don't think it's that odd that a public school teacher would home school their kids - - it does NOT necessarily indicate that they don't consider their school 'good enough' for their kids. I think it just means home schooling is the best choice for THEIR kids, so they home school them. Public school is the best choice for OTHER kids, and they happen to have a job that helps those kids. Think of it in terms of a teacher at a math/science magnet school - - if their artistically inclined child goes elsewhere, it's not a reflection on their parent's school. Being a doctor doesn't mean your kids belong in a hospital, and being a teacher doesn't mean your kids belong in school. Your job choice is separate from the personal decisions you make for your own family.

thank you!

(Accuate Communication, Sound Reasoning, Critical Reading) Is the Elements of Clear Thinking series secular? Is there anywhere I can see sample pages? If anyone has used the program, I'd love some feedback.

I have it but haven't used it yet. Like Pam said, it's a good bit of book work and writing if you use the workbooks. But I do like having everything broken down and laid out for me; I certainly don't have the knowledge to do it myself. I will use it as a jumping off point and reference. As a matter of fact, I only ordered the teacher's manual's; I didn't even get the student workbooks. The TM has background info and vocabulary for each lesson, and there are a few maps throughout the book. A copy of the student workbook pages, with answers, is included. There's an Activities section for each lesson, but it seems to mostly be very simple things like drawing pictures. There's a review lesson after every five lessons. We will read the selection and use the questions for discussion, and do a few projects from other books I own.

Is The Art of Argument secular?

I just want to clarify that good brushing and a good diet may be all you need if you start off with 'good' teeth, but many dental issues are genetic and all the flossing in the world is not enough. A person can be born with weak enamel, deep grooves in the teeth, etc. Dental problems can lead to, or complicate, other health issues, so flouride can be a sensible choice for some people. I do agree that it's not needed in every case. And soda? yes, sooooo bad for your teeth!

would Magnetix work? (magnetic construction set that has various shaped magnets, like small balls, rods, etc) I was in Toys R Us yesterday, and they had a bunch of sets on clearance. Target online has the 155 piece tin for $20 right now; I don't remember if the TRU prices were better than that.

My kids are going into 3rd and 5th and I've used it for several years. I find it well worth the money - - and all updates are free, so it's a one time investment. The lesson plan feature in Plus is what makes it worth the upgrade to me. You can input lesson plans/assignments with as much or little detail as you wish, and you don't need to assign a date to them until you are ready. I like being able to quickly figure out when we will finish a book if we do it every day, twice a week, etc (you can enter your holidays and the program takes them into account). And it's very helpful to me to be able to plan each subject separately, and then combine them - - I can easily make adjustments if I see that certain weeks will be overwhelming (if, for instance, there are big projects planned in multiple subjects). That's harder to do on paper, imo. I don't go into great detail on the directions, it's easier to do that verbally as needed), and I find it's actually quicker than paper because it's so much easier to make the inevitable changes. There's a copy feature, so you're not actually typing in every chapter/lesson title. I don't use the attendance or other tracking features.

The Plus version can do that easily; the Basic (free) version cannot, as it does not have the Lesson Planner feature.

Like NicksMama said, the pics are on your computer, other than the ones you publish to web albums. Most free storage is limited to a gig or so, but you can get gig thumb drives for ten bucks these days. Have dh or your mom store them at work (or anywhere not in your house). You can get a few of those and rotate them every month or so (so you always have one at home to do backups, and another offsite).

Get a Wii and the Wii Fit! Great for non-sporty families. Has exercises in yoga (flexibility), strength training, aerobics and balance. Tracks each person's progress. There are many books and PE lessons out there, but non-sporty, non-athletic parents have to be highly motivated to implement them. I am not, :tongue_smilie: edited to add that I don't think you're worrying too much. it's crucial for kids to get enough exercise, and at this age a half-hour of hard exercise per day is really a minimum.

thank you!!

do you know what the big differences are between the home and school editions? do you get iseek and lexipedia with the home editions?

It seems like the teacher could have simply fetched the mom from the office and saved a world of trouble.

This is very tempting. Like you, I wasn't able to find many reviews at all. I know my dd would love the process of writing on the computer, and we'd probably get a lot more done than if I had to grade each report. Did you see that there is a product overview video? It relates to the school edition, but I'm sure the student page/process is very similar.

I think many kids at that age would be reluctant to be completely alone on a separate floor of the house. It just depends on their personality. Heck, my 7 yr old is sometimes hesitates to walk "all the way" down the hallway to her room if everyone else is in the front room. "All the way" is about ten feet, lol. Some kids are more vulnerable in this aspect than others. I remember my nephew for YEARS would not use the bathroom without pulling the shower curtain open (and this had to be done before he closed the door, no matter whose house he was at). So unless the fears start escalating in severity or spread to other areas, I wouldn't worry about it. I would be very zealous about what he watches on tv and what he reads (that same dd of mine was frightened by the Bailey School Kids books - - Werewolves Don't Hula Dance and the like). I would also try eliminating all screen time at least two hours before his bedtime. It makes some kids jittery, even if it's not scary movies.

It's better than nothing, but it won't enable emergency services to locate your family quickly. It also doesn't name anyone as an emergency contact or next-of-kin, so if your dh is not home at the time, it may be difficult for anyone else to get medical information (if you aren't awake to give permission). Why not just put the emergency info on a similar size piece of cardstock or index card? It should list another person in addition to your dh. Also, if you carry a cell phone, you can designate emergency contacts on it by putting the word ICE in front of the name (In Case of Emergency). My dh is ICE husband on my cell (I put husband instead of his name, so they know to call that one first), and a few additional people like my mom and sister. ICE should be used in addition to emergency ID, not instead of it.

If you go to the Growing with Grammar website, you can see the table of contents for Grade 4 and know if you are missing anything. She'd probably be fine with Grade 5 if she knows the very basics, like parts of speech. Depending on how strong her reading level is, you may need to work with her as opposed to having her do most of it independently.

I make 'chunky' chicken salad, like this recipe, with a creamy salad dressing. Usually poppy seed, but honey mustard or vidalia onion works as well. the only chicken salad I make with mayo is the kind you use the food processor for.

I'm going to use Art in Story: Teaching Art History to Elementary Children, which was recommended on this board. It's available at Amazon. It's divided into chapters that make it easy to correspond with history studies; some chronological, some by location. It appears very thorough - it starts with art in the ancient world, and ends with computer art! Some of the chronological chapters: Art in the Ancient World, Ancient Greek Art, Ancient Roman Art, Middle Ages, Renaissance, 20th & 21st centuries. Location chapters: China, Africa, Mexico, Americas. Other chapters: Five European Masters (specific artists), Impressionism and Post Impressionism, Computer Art. Each chapter has these lesson components: story, viewing the art, journal writing, art/drama activity. There are curriculum connections (connect the lesson to social studies, science, music or literature) and a resource list (adult and children books, a/v materials, web sites). It looks EXTREMELY thorough, lol. We haven't used it yet, but it looks easy enough to cherry pick the activities you wish to do. I'd say the story component is worth it even if you do none of the extra activities. It's $31.50 at Amazon, free shipping. I plan to make notes in my SOTW AG on when to refer to it.

We will be cycling through them again, with of course additional reading.

This type of carelessness is pretty common in the tween years. You might try giving her some motivation to pay attention - - even when home schoolers get grades, they aren't 'public' and it's a bit easier for hs kids to blow off careless mistakes. I generally do some variation of the following with my rising 5th grader: 94% or above on daily work, and I'll show you where your errors were; do that 4 days in a row and you can do math on the computer the 5th day (the carrot). Below 94% and you have to rework the missed problems. Below 90% or so, extra practice is needed! (the stick) It does wonders for her concentration :)

I'll play devil's advocate: I think a student in 8th grade should be using both strategies, not one or the other. Biographies are extremely valuable, and this is a worthwhile approach with a much younger child, but I'd say that an older student needs more of the bigger picture. At a bare minimum, I"d have her read the SOTW chapter (or similar) and do the mapwork. That can easily be accomplished in an hour or so per week, leaving quite a bit of time for reading biographies (and doing a certain amount of follow-up reports).

If you're big into the mental math, there is a lot of it in the HIG that isn't in the text/workbooks. I've had to look up solutions to word problems occasionally (level 5), so it's helpful for that. I like having the background info, although I find their explanations are rather wordy and often present the concept in a more complicated manner than needed.