Thanks! Now I'm off to search for Gordon's and see if there is one within driving distance.

This stuff comes frozen in a pastry bag with a star tip. You just thaw it and squeeze it on. It is *so* good! It is thicker, creamier, and sweeter than the whipped cream in a can. I don't know if it is available in any store, since Rich's is a foodservice distributor. I actually don't care for the other versions of cafe mocha I have tried (at Starbucks and the Olive Garden), partly because they were too bitter and the coffee flavor was too strong, and mostly because they didn't have the same kind of whipped cream! Okay, so I said I was pathetic, right?

specifically their soybean-based, non-dairy whipped topping? I found out that it is the delicious topping on Tim Horton's cafe mocha, which I love. I also found out that TH's cafe mocha is just half hot chocolate, half coffee. So, if I can find the whipped topping (which is crucial for me), then I could make my own at home! How pathetic is this post?:) Anyway, if I can't find it in a retail store, would anyone know if individuals can order from food service providers and what a minimum order might be? Okay, now I feel really pathetic!:)

I'm not sure I understand the concern with worldly influences in the activities that you named. My 6yo dd has been doing gymnastics since she was 2.5yo, and I can't imagine how it could be a negative threat to your religious beliefs, unless you object to the uniforms? Having said that, I think I would be inclined to let her do gymnastics again for a year or two, and then switch to music lessons. The only potential problem I can forsee with allowing her to do gymnastics now is that she might be very good at it and enjoy it so much that she would want to continue with it when she is old enough to compete. This would require a larger time and financial commitment. But, I don't even know what Awama is, so I'm not sure I'm the best one to advise you.

You might want to purchase the Story of The World Activity Guide. It contains extra history reading suggestions and related Literature suggestions for each section of SOTW. Many of the books listed have been available at my public library or through Interlibrary loan. Good luck!

I take any opportunity I get to sleep in on weekends, holidays, etc. Dh has to leave for work at 6:00 am. I get up when his alarm goes off so that I can see him, get his clothes ready for him, set out his medicine, etc. Then, he calls me on his cell phone and we talk during his commute. I really wish that I could get more sleep, but it just isn't feasible right now. Sometimes I do get a lot done in the mornings before the kids get up, but sometimes I am so tired that I just sit and veg at the computer. :o

Do you underline portions which you especially like? Do you write comments or questions in the margins? Or do you write down these quotes and comments elsewhere, perhaps in a journal or notebook? Do you keep a list of words that you don't know and want to learn? Do you just react mentally, never writing anything? Since I have been purchasing books lately instead of only using the public library's resources, I have found myself wondering if I should write in the books. Part of me really wants to somehow mark sections that resonate with me. But the other part of me doesn't want to mar the clean white pages. I did used to underline and highlight my Bibles when I was a younger person who studied the Bible daily. There are sections which are heavily marked. So, if I was willing to write in the Bible, which I consider a sacred book, I guess I shouldn't be afraid to write in other books. But somehow I just can't bring myself to do it. So, I'm just curious how others feel about it.:)

:):) Thanks for all the answers. I'm sorry if I was too pushy with my second post! :oI felt kind of bad about it after I posted it. Thanks again!:cool:

I'm really serious. I really *wasn't* paying attention to the answers the bazillion times these questions were asked before, so somebody please take pity on me. I posted these questions early this morning and nobody has answered. We are thinking of installing hardwood floors and I need to know how to care for them. Do I need to purchase a cansiter vacuum, a swiffer mop, special hardwood floor cleaner? And I really wasn't joking about the front loading washer, either. I need to know which brands are good and which to avoid. And if you have any recommendations for setting up a hs room, I would love them. It is possible that we might be getting one this spring, which would be approximatley 14 ft. by 15 ft. I know I want a wall storage unit to put all of our curriculum and supplies, and I'd like to have a table, and some wall space for maps/timelines, etc. Any other suggestions? Thanks. I bet everyone thought I was just kidding with the old hardwood floors, front loading washer, hs room questions, right? That's why no one answered, right? Not because you don't like me, right?

We're in South Central Ohio, near Lancaster, about an hour southeast of Columbus. We have been here for 1.5 years. Before that we lived in Athens, where dh and I both grew up and graduated from Ohio University.

1. How do you clean/care for hardwood floors? We are considering putting hardwood floors in our living room, dining room, and kitchen. I thought I heard someone mention before that a canister vaccum was a necessity with hw floors? Is this true? What do you use to clean them? I know this has been asked a bazillion times, but I never needed to know before. Sorry. 2. Which front-loading washing machine would I want to purchase and why? I really probably won't be buying one until my current washer gives out. It's only 6.5yo, so it will probably last a while longer. But, I couldn't resist asking because it is just such the classic general board question, along with how to care for hardwood floors, right? Anyway, we will be adding an upstairs laundry room (currently w&d are in the basement) when we build on to our house this spring. And dh has mentioned getting a front-loader, so I thought I should find out which brands to look for, in case the washer goes out. 3. If I get to have a homeschool room when we build our addition, what things are must-haves? I think I might actually get to have a hs room! Currently we hs at our dining room table, and store everything in a built-in cabinet in our dining room. We have a very small house and it would be soooooooooo nice to have a space devoted to hsing and storing hsing paraphanelia. It looks as if we might get a room right off the kitchen/dining room area. It would be about 14' by 15', with built-in storage along one wall, a walk-in closet separating it form the laundry room, and a few windows along the other walls. I know I want to keep some wall space free for maps, timelines, and artwork. I also want to have a table for seatwork and artwork, and some kind of cozy seating for read-alouds. Am I forgetting anything? I so hope this happens! Thanks for humoring me.

I agree with the advice to check out Sonlight's descriptions of math programs. That is exactly how I chose dd's math curriculum. Have you looked into Miquon at all? It is great for helping children learn how to think about math and discover math principles without being just explicitly told the rule and expected to apply it through drill. It relies heavily on the use of cuissenaire rods. My dd loves the Miquon workbooks. We use them to supplement Singapore.

I would like to start next year correlating art studies to time period which we are studying in history. Does anyone know of a book or guide that does this?

Thanks for the answers. Yes, I did look at the Explore Tapestry page and the Go To Egypt sample. We are use SOTW with AG right now, so I think we'll just stick with it. Thanks.

We are pretty informal with preschool learning activities here. I read a lot of books with ds. We read many science books because that is his main interest. He especially likes books about volcanoes, animals, and rocks and minerals. We also read many story books. We have a few collections (The HarperCollins Treasury of Picture Book Classics, and I think the other one is maybe the Random House 20th Century Picture Book Anthology or something like that.) We have quite a few individual story books, some Bible story books, and a lot of science non-fiction books. We also go to the library weekly to check out books. He loves to draw and paint, cut with scissors, use tape and glue, etc. We try to make art supplies accessible. We have a few Kumon workbooks. We listen to classical music, and he joins in learning some of the themes with his older sister who is using Themes To Remember, Vol. 1. He seems to like the Classical Kids cd's, especially Beethoven Lives Upstairs. We are trying to introduce letters, slowly. So far he has learned to recognize and write all of the letters in his first name and a few more. Now we are working on writing his name in the correct order. We are using the Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K book. He also enjoys writing with dry-erase markers on a white board. We have the Singapore EarlyBird Math 1A & B workbooks, but we only do them when he is in the mood to do so. He really likes them. I was having trouble getting him to remember numbers and be able to recognize them. So, I decided to start with 1, 2, 3. I wrote them on pieces of cardstock paper and set them in a line on the floor. We jumped on them and said the number. If were were going forward, we would say, "One, two, three, Go!" and then run down the hallway. If we were going backwards, we would say, "Three, two, one, blast off!" and I would toss him up in the air a little like a rocket taking off. I try to check out one or two counting books every time we go to the library. He takes a gymnastics class weekly. Other than that, he just plays a lot. With playdough, cars and trucks, zoobs, Lincoln logs, Tinker Toys, blocks, animals, his rock collection, etc. I will admit, too, that he does get to play some Leapster games and he loves to watch tv. He mostly watches Noggin or National Geographic/Discovery channel science documentaries. I hope that helps.

I feel rather dumb having to keep asking, but I just don't get it. Is it a history curriculum? Is it a bunch of books and lesson plans you get? Is it a guide for learning history with book suggestions? Is there a way to purchase all of the books you would need from the publisher, or would it cost a fortune to do that? Thanks for any answers.

I still can't quite understand what TOG is. I visited their website and looked around a bit, but it is still kind of nebulous and vague to me. Also, if you buy the complete TOG Year 1, do you get just their written curr. or a lot of separate books to read? And what is the difference between redesign and classic? Thanks.

this year she prefers picture books. So, I try to find some more challenging ones for her. Latley she has enjoyed some Jan Brett books. She has really been on a Laura Ingalls Wilder jag since she discovered some picture book versions of some of the Little House stories. We found one of the Little House chapter books at the library this week, and I think she might try it this week.

I am Mama, Mommy, Meme (pronounced meemee). Dh is Daddy or Didi (pronounced deedee).

Debra, your last thoughts really hit the mark for me. I think earlier this year I was treating everything as equally important, and now I am evaluating and prioritizing. Thanks for sharing.

I have discovered some new ones over the past few days from reading through some threads. For instance, I didn't know about Teacher-Created Resources or Evan Moore.

I am feeling some angst about trying to plan next year for dd, who will be 7 and doing 2nd grade, although she is working ahead of grade level in several subjects. I read TWTM when my daughter was four. I loved it from the first reading, and felt that I had finally found what I was looking for in terms of a long-term plan for hsing. I was excited, to put it mildly. We have tweaked the recommendations to fit dd's accelerated abilities and our lifestyle, but we have pretty much followed the heart of TWTM for K5 and first grade. One of the things I was most excited about was the history cycle. My history education was quite erratic, piecemeal, and shallow. I wanted to give dd a firm foundation from the start, so that she would grow up with a clear understanding of the major events in history, from ancient to modern times. So, we began SOTW, vol. 1 this year. I also have loved FLL, which we started in K5 and will finish this year. I do have a strong background in grammar. In fact, I really enjoy grammar. It isn't dd's favorite sujbect, by far, but she does understand it readily and memorizes it easily. And I love the idea of using a notebook of narrations/pictures for science. Earlier this year, however, I felt as if we were being stretched too thin in too many different directions and that it was impossible to keep up with a schedule that would allow us to finish SOTW, vol. 1 in just one year. I also felt that asking dd to narrate her history lesson everyday was asking too much of her, especially when she hated to do it. The process which we used to get through a chapter of SOTW and get the narration done for each section just seemed so taxing and reminded me of work required of much older students, not a 6yo. We were doing well on the basics (handwriting, spelling, FLL, math, reading), but I was having a hard time fitting in everything else(science, history, art, music, geography, Spanish). Then, I finally decided to buy a copy of The Latin-Centered Curriculum. I am really drawn now to a more classical (as opposed to neo-classical) model. I want to start Latin with dd next year, and I love the idea of Classical Studies, Christian Studies, English Studies, and Modern Studies. I like the focus on depth instead of breadth, of doing a few important things really well. Dh and I discussed it at length. We both agreed that we would like to streamline our curriculum for next year to follow this sort of approach. The problem is that I still love TWTM approach, too. I still want to do SOTW and the four year history cycle. So, I thought maybe we could just make SOTW a read-aloud. But then I remember all of the great mapwork, coloring pages, and activity ideas in the AG, and I don't necessarily want to give that up. And then I think about what an important skill narration is, and I wonder if it will be much more challenging for dd if I wait until later to try to teach this. And to complicate matters even further, dd is the rare type who *loves* worksheet/test-type things. I have been using the SOTW tests as review sheets for us at the end of a chapter, and it is probably her favorite part! We just don't seem to have time to keep up a good pace with it. So, I'm thinking maybe we could work through SOTW and just take it a little bit more slowly than others? And do modern studies, as well? Also, I have read that if we are studying Latin, we won't need a separate grammar program. But I really like FLL, and I wanted to continue with FLL3. And then I read that SWB's writing program will be published this spring/summer. I *know* that I am going to want to buy it. And ds4 is a scientist. I mean science is his main interest. So, I know that we will continue to buy science curriculum. I would like the idea of making it more informal and a family pursuit, but we still have to have some sort of narration/notebooking to put in dd's portfolio for evaluation. We already do art and music in a pretty informal way, squeezed in here and there. We have been using Artistic Pursuits and Themes To Remember. We also do things as a family, such as attending a Mozart Festival symphony orchestra performance, going to an art museum, etc. Wow, this post is *really* long. If you have gotten this far, do you have any suggestion for how I can mesh the two approaches? Thanks.

Well, I don't know about the op, but I feel so much better after reading this. I laughed inside when I read, "My idea of fun is, 'Let's read another book.'" That is me exactly!

Where are you moving? I hope Ohio!

What is IEW?