My dd used it for the first time last year in 4th grade, and truly liked it, to the extent that she was often eager to get to grammar. Kids really seem to like this program for some reason. I find it thorough, with a nice clean layout. The consumable workbook is a plus for us, and yes, it is very independent. dd would only occasionally request help. I do plan to be on hand more this year for the diagramming sections, as that is what tripped her up most last year as more and more details were added. There were no real negatives for us. Some people wish it contained more writing (4th has a few paragraphs, a couple of letters and other things), but I like having the main writing component separate.

growing with grammar

:iagree: yep, what she said. I think that trying to have kids of disparate ages or abilities WORK together can do both of them a disservice. Mine are only two years apart, rising 3rd and 5th, and the oldest can do far more work, in more depth, than the youngest. It's not a whole lot more work for me as teacher, though, because most of the additional work the 5th grader will do on her own - - writing outlines and reports, extra reading, timeline, etc.

I know some people are comfortable ignoring this, but I never was. And I think any child old enough to use these phrases in context is old enough to learn NOT to use them. So I would not discipline a one-year-old who repeats the word idiot at random, but I would discipline a two-year-old who calls their sibling an idiot when annoyed. I"d start with consistently stopping her every single time she uses it, giving her a timeout or whatever method you use for other issues. Then I'd step it up a bit, giving her more of a 'fussing' when she does it. I'd have no problem saying, "We were going to go the park, but we can't go because you keep saying naughty words. You'll have to stay home from the park until you stop saying them." Repeat with ice cream, toy store, favorite tv show, etc. If the substitute phrases worked well for "shut up," use them here, too. "You can't call your brother names, but you can tell him that he's annoying you. You can't call him names, but you can say that he's making you mad. etc" I'd have pretty severe consquences for older kids who use this kind of language - - it's a big peeve of mine. Everyone should be treated with respect. Also, one instance from an older child will set the younger child way, way back.

Never try to get leaners to put an arm around you instead. That just tends to turn them into hangers instead, which is infinitely more uncomfortable. I just gently move them with no comment when I'm feeling patient, or snarl "Personal space, please! PER-SON-AL SPACE!" when I'm not.

I use Amazon as well. The buyer pays Amazon and Amazon pays you; my seller account is set up where they deposit my earnings directly into my checking account once a month. they do charge a fee (only when the book sells), but not having to deal with payment is usually worth it to me. I sell home school related stuff here, and everything else on amazon. abbeyj has a point about considering whether or not single selling is worth it, but it definitely CAN be worth your while. non-fiction sells better and at a higher price than fiction, so that's in your favor. if you use amazon, there are no worries about bad checks, etc. If I had to make a trip to my post office every time I sold a book, I probably wouldn't do it, but dh can weigh, package and buy postage at work.

worked for me!

I have written some, but not in the Austen fandom. I have a few plot bunnies I'm kicking around, though. It's quite fun; you should try it! The Austen fandom is very kind to new writers, and there tends to be lots of feedback.

Fangirl that I am, there are a few that I like. The Firthness site has a little bit of everything. It's divided into forums for discussing Jane Austen, her novels, the Regency era in general, and movies and sequels based on her novels. They have fan fic to read and a writer's corner you can go to for help if you write. As you can tell by the name, it originated after the Colin Firth movie: http://www.firthness.com/forums/ A Happier Alternative is set up much the same way: http://meryton.com/aha/index.php?act=idx As is Hyancith Gardens, but HG has more of an, ahem, adult slant: http://hyacinthgardens.com Click away! They're fun even if you don't waste entirely too much time reading fan fic. Not that I know anyone who does that.

Sure, I can email it to you as a Word document, does that work?

I don't even know how to do it, or the purpose of it?

from the Colin Firth P&P, right? I just had to ask if you hang out at any of the Jane Austen sites.

My kids have several (people just keep giving them to us!), and honestly, they've never used any of them very much. They aren't thorough enough to be that useful, imo. Funny dictionary story: the other day, dd7 asked dad what a certain word meant. He wasn't sure, and said, of course, "Let's look it up." Whereupon he walked toward the dictionary, and dd walked toward the computer!

To clarify, I only mentioned the chores to point out that I don't think the consequences are excessive at all. I don't think the amount of chores he does or doesn't do on a regular basis is relevant to what he was asked to do. And I don't doubt you when you say your kids are expected to do more than, be responsible for and "handle" much more than some other kids. I don't, however, think it's necessarily that relevant to the case in hand. I think we're not going to agree on what infantalizing kids means. I think it occurs not only when we do not expect the young members of our family to contribute to the household in a positive way (routine chores and responsibility), but when we do not give them the chance to prove themselves in more important tasks. This was a very simple, yet important task. It was better for him to fail at it, than to be deprived of the chance of succeeding. It was not better for his brother, who now has to repeat the process, but seeing pain that we caused is one way we learn to put the needs of others first.

Sure, I think most people include that type of thing on their weekly checklists. I don't use a separate sheet, though. Instead of writing 'study patterns' and referring them to another sheet, we just use keywords on the checklist itself: outline, mapwork, etc.

Reversing letters and numbers is very, very common at this age for both righties and lefties. You are years away from even having to think about addressing it. Not an issue, no worries!

I think this was an unfair place to put your 13/14/15 year old in. These were/are special circumstances that warranted *adult* supervision. I disagree. This was a very simple, short task and the importance of it was carefully explained. To say that a 13 year old is incapable of handling it boggles my mind. I think that Americans have a strong tendency to infantalize young people. I would have no qualms about giving the exact same task to either my 9 year old or my 7 year old. I think the consequences are both logical and quite mild. The extra chores are hardly onerous - - my 7 yr old does more than this level of 'punishment' chores on a daily basis. He was distracted by video games, so those are removed for a bit, and he is causing extra work and worry, so he does more chores to make up for that. Makes sense to me.

"Hey, I know! Let's combine breathtaking cruelty with the unlmited potential for dangerous backlash! The best part? We have NO IDEA if it will be effective in any manner." Someone not only suggested this, but actually got dozens of teachers, counselors, police officers, students and parents to go along with it? (I'm assuming the parents of the 'dead' children were informed. Dear God, I hope so.) What's in the water up there? This wasn't a case of a single person making a bad decision, or telling an on-the-spot lie. This was a carefully planned hoax by people in authority, over those in a dependent position. I wonder if this school has a zero tolerance policy for lying and cheating? I wonder if the folks who think this isn't an awful thing to do would think the same if it were done to adults instead of teenagers?

*pokes the mean girl* That IS early. I guess the little darling is . . . precocious.

I think we went from a daily list to weekly in the 3rd grade (for my oldest; the youngest switched at the same time). Assignments are broken up in daily increments. I only give my kids the option of working ahead - - that is, they can complete extra assignments on Wednesday and Thursday in order to have an easier day on Friday, but they can't purposely skip assignments with the plan of doubling up later in the week. At our house, finishing assignments earlier in the week doesn't mean you skip them on Friday; it just means you get to pick a free choice activity in that subject. I'm quite lenient with what's acceptable: computer activities are probably their favorite pick in any subject, in math they might play around with manipulatives, in English they might write a fun bit about something we've read, or do a craft related to it. They're very happy with that deal.

thanks; this looks like a good possibility!

I'm looking for a good music history book to use in conjunction with SOTW and Art in Story. It needs to be chronological, and a story approach (like SOTW and AiS) would be excellent. Any suggestions?

The language arts is kind of all over the place; I'd look at consolidating some items and using the books one or two at a time, not all at once (in other words, I wouldn't be using Wordsmith and How to Report on Books at the same time, especially if LLATL includes writing as well). Does the LLATL spelling approach not work for your dd? that would let you eliminate SS2. SOTW 1 is a bit light for a 5th grader - - I'm using it as well, but supplementing with Famous Men of Rome/Greece, and the history sections from Latina Christians 1 & 2. You can supplement with lots of additional reading from the AG, just make sure that some of the books are challenging. I'll echo the suggestion that this would be a great year to start Latin, if you have any interest. Latina Christiana 1 should be quite manageable, if not easy, for her, especially if you use the dvds. What about art? You might consider Art in Story - - it takes a chronological approach to art history, so it's a great match to SOTW. Thirty bucks on Amazon. We'll use it this coming fall for the first time. My kids are entering 3rd and 5th, but still think the "Katie" art picture books are great fun (Katie Meets the Mona Lisa, etc). We keep various 'how to draw' books on hand to be done informally, and a ready supply of craft items. I'd want some exposure to music/music history. This can be as simple as exposing her to a variety of music, and including some composer biographies in her supplemental reading. PE - - I find this is a bad age for getting a bit lazy, as non-sporty kids like mine aren't 'playing' as much as younger kids. so I'm trying to build that into our schedule: regular walks together, fitness dvds, and we hope to get wii fitness soon. looks good; I must get back to planning myself!

If the guy stuff is an 'expectation' rather than a rule, the first thing I would do (if I really liked the group otherwise) is have dh stop going, and see what happens. There are surely other ways your dh can be useful to the group - - heh, I'd pay money not to have to go to those things! then I'd look at ways to make my contribution easier to manage. you say the expectation is that all members make all events happen. can you help adjust that expectation? I personally would prefer to do more work on fewer events, rather than constantly be planning something. Perhaps some members of your group feel this way? Would that help you? I used to coordinate volunteers and plan events for a living, and I can tell you that 'everybody doing a bit of everthing, all the time' is the most inefficient thing you can do. Ideally, one person is in charge of each event. Not everyone in the group needs to be in charge of an event (not everyone is cut out for it), but everyone needs to decide what events they'll help with, - - the group needs to decide what's reasonable, what the major events are, the minor ones, etc. So for your bigger events, you'd have a chair of the event, and one or more committees taking care of various details. Minor events might be "Becky's in charge, and Ann is helping her." If you're not comfortable diving into a big discussion of how the group is structured, just dip your toes in to start. "I won't be able to help much for the July events, so I thought I'd do a bit more in June, like yada yada yada." Others may quickly follow your lead. Or not; either way, the response will help you make a decision. If adjustments weren't possible, I'd look at alternatives. I do think your older kids are getting to the age where some outside activities can be important, and it sounds like they do truly enjoy it. but it doesn't have to be THIS group. is there another group you can join? if you don't know, start looking while trying new things with the current group. can you start a new group? or more informally, can you plan some get togethers & events with other families? what other activities are available that might fill this need for your kids? scouts? book club? summer camp?

well, I'd certainly go look at it first! sounds like some very strong advantages, with the biggest disadvantage being that it's farther from your parents. how often do you see your parents now? every day or two, or more like once a week? are they able to drive out to you as well as you driving to visit them? can the kids stay with them sometimes, for a few days at a time? even if the move cuts into grandparent time, I'd have to say that dad time and dad happiness is far more important. I'd lean very strongly toward any move that significantly cuts commuting time.