Thank you both! Heather

I have a rising 5th and 8th grader. I am looking into my options for combining them for biology science this year. They both really want to study the human body in-depth! My youngest has been doing Apologia elementary science books for the past few years and living books/interest-led topics before that. My older student has recently done Bob Jones Earth Science and before that Bob Jones Life Science. We don't want to start Physical Science until 9th grade. So.... What are my options for combining these two? I've just learned about Elemental Science. It looks good but my concern is the reading primary is from encyclopedia spines. Maybe that will be a fun change for them? But definitely different than they are used to with traditional textbooks. I'd love to hear about other curriculum you've used and would recommend for studying biology in the logic stage? Thanks so much!

Hi all, I have such a hard decision to make regarding my youngest son and I sure could use some advice. My youngest son, Joshua, turns 6 this summer. His birthday is July 20th which is 10 days short of the cut-off date for our local schools. My decision is not what program to place him in. I am already set on using Little Hearts for His Glory for him this upcoming school year. (We did MFW Kindergarten this previous year) My dilemma is whether to place him as a kindergartner or 1st grader for the upcoming year. If I was putting him in school I definitely would have given him that extra year and started K as a 6 year old. If I have him as a 1st grader next year he will always be the youngest and smallest in his class. This doesn't seem like a big deal since we are homeschooling but there are other factors for me to consider. For instance, sports teams, competitions, camps, etc. One of the biggest is his Sunday School class at church (which I taught this past year). He loves his little friends who all were in Kindergarten this year. He pretty much thought he was in Kindergarten this year and I am worried about how he will react if we "hold him back" for Sunday School and he totally has to switch to a new group of kids (although we love those kids, too). I figure if I continue to teach the upcoming Kindergarten class that would help him with the change of friends. Also, he already completed year one of Sparks in our Awana club so it would mean him repeating that year all over again. That's not a real biggie to me, though. When I look at Joshua as an individual I feel like I would be giving him a better set up for success by letting him start Kindergarten as a 6 year old. Also, it would mean having an extra year at home before college. I know that's a long way off, but it's something I have been thinking about. As our youngest son, we've also sort of babied him and he's not as mature as our other boys were at almost 6. That's hard to admit, but it's true. There are two things that are keeping me from having peace about giving him another year for kindergarten: 1. Holding him behind as his church friends move on to first grade. :001_huh: 2. My middle son's birthday is July 14th and we did send him to Kindergarten as a brand new five year old. We were not homeschooling yet, and though I wanted to hold him back we ended up sending him. He has done great academically, but I feel he still struggles at times emotionally. There's part of me that is conveying to Joshua we don't think as highly of him for giving him an extra year. I never want Joshua to think we ever thought less of him because we did Kindergarten a year later than Sam. Oh this is soooo hard. Okay, I layed out my heart to you all. I would really love to hear your advice. Thanks for sharing with me your ideas. Heather

Also in Missouri: National WWI Memorial in Kansas City Truman Library in Independence, Mo

This is a great resource: http://prekinders.com/pattern-blocks/ Heather

We went to Disney this past November. After weeks of trying to navigate the world of Disney, I found out about TourGuideMike's site. Our trip was wonderful, and I attribute it to the help I received from that site. It costs around $30 to join, but I think it was worth every penny! http://www.tourguidemike.com Heather

At our last pot-luck I brought 2 dozen chicken drumsticks. I removed the skin, seasoned them with some bbq rub, then baked them in the oven for about 1/2 hour. Then basted with bbq sauce for the last 5 minutes or so. They were gone before half the line went though!

To celebrate, how about making a contribution to the Human Fund? :lol: (If you're not a Seinfeld fan, that makes absolutely no sense I know.) Heather

1. The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg 2. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil by E.L. Konigsburg 3. Missing May by Cynthia Rylant (I'm on a Newberry kick! :willy_nilly:) Oh, how I love The Bluest Eye and Caged Bird. The writing is breath-taking. Heather

My Father's World and Heart of Dakota Heather

Another Missouri mom sliding in... I agree with the assessments above. Musical practice and instruction would both count the same in your log book. You would need to choose 1 hour of Reading or Bible for the CLE. I would chose Reading, since I don't count Bible as core. I know lots of people who do, I just feel better tracking it as non-core. Yes, free reading definitely counts as reading practice. Even though my son sometimes reads a couple hours a day, I usually only log an hour of free reading a day. Just a personal preference,I guess. In terms of the credit hour question, again there are different schools of thought amongst Missouri homeschoolers on that one. Personally I either log a lesson as a full hour or a half an hour. If it's less than 30 minutes, it goes is as a 1/2 hour. If it's more than 40 minutes I round it up to an hour. I don't feel good about a 10 minute grammar lesson counting as an hour lesson. Again, I know a lot of people who do log it as an hour. If ever I had to defend my log book against the county prosecutor I want to feel confident in the hours I've logged. Heather

Good to know my gut feeling on this one was right. I checked out the trailer and could tell I wouldn't like it. It looked like it had too much slap-stick humor and crude remarks in it for my liking. :glare: We are planning to see Where the Wild Things Are when it comes out. It looks promising... Heather

Do you all know if you can use your customer preferred card along side your teacher card? I've never tried to get the teacher discount, but I think I will do it for this. Will I be able to combine both discounts on a normal basis? Thanks, Heather

http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-peel-hard-boiled-eggs-in-seconds.html I haven't tried it, but it looks like it works! HTH, Heather

Hmmm, I have boys 4, 7 and 8 so I guess I'm qualified to answer. :001_smile: Here are what my boys mostly do with their time: Games (dominos, uno, hullabalo, marbles, Sorry, go fish, war, etc.) Dress-Up and pretend play Reading: me reading to them, reading alone, books/storytelling on cds Puzzles Creative Projects (have a large supply of shoeboxes, oatmeal canisters, paper towel tubes, construction paper, popsicle sticks, glue, tape, scissors, markers and crayons). Let their imaginations lead the way! Building Forts (blankets, pillows, chairs, folding tables, etc.) Writing: my older two enjoy writing stories from time to time. It's not something I've really pushed, it's just come from a steady diet of wonderful, rich literature. Drawing: I have one who really loves art, but they all enjoy drawing. I have several drawing books that they get out with colored pencils and crayong and draw away. Often I will play music or books on cd while they do this. I find they do it longer if there's something to listen to while they work. Outside play: nature object collections, scootering, bike riding, sidewalk chalk (mostly younger son) sandbox play, dirt play, mud play, wash the car, spray each other with water, etc. Generally get extremely dirty, but have a lot of fun doing it. If I think of more, I'll come back! Heather I wanted to add that the Defender of the Faith book looks like a wonderful resource for boys. Also, my boys work on their belt loops for Cub Scouts a lot during their free time. Your boys may not be quite old enough for that, though. Definitely when they get older they should have their own tool box and access to scrap lumber to build stuff!