Try e-bay. We get our heart worm medicine from Austalia. Linda

Actually if you start T&T you start in book 1, regardless of what grade you are in. You can move through theas books faster if you are starting older, but if you start in 3rd grade you can only do one a year. The silver and gold at the end of each discovery are extra and not needed to finish a book. That said you can start the program after T&T, say at 12 (7th) and go right into the Trek book (7-8 grade), or start in Journey for high school and go straight into the Journey program. The awards are 2 books--Excellence award 4 books -- Timothy award 6 books -- Meritorious award 10 books -- Citation award (at high school, one main study and one elective is considered one book, even though they are actually 2 physical books) Linda mother of 2 Citation achievers, T&T director for 4 years, and wife to our church's commander

I was talking to my college-aged dd this weekend and thought I would share the tidbits of information she had to share with me about dorm life and homeschoolers. 1. HS do not understand that people need to experience the college life. Translation: Play music loudly, have boys in the room all night, and spend lots of time partying. 2. HS are too sheltered to understand that people did need to be able to do what makes them happy. Translation: Dorm roommates do not have to follow dorm rules or signed contracts. 3. HS are too naive to understand that if you pay for a room you can do anything you want in it. Question: What if I paid for it too and what you want is totally opposite what you want? (HS please see number 2--it will answeryour question.) 4. HS just don't understand that the dorm is not really for studying. Translation: see #1. Now I know what I must teach my junior to get her ready for college/dorm life. Why am I spending time on pre-calc, advanced biology, and American history? All I need to tell her is to do whatever anyone wants to make them happy and ignore all contracts. Linda

I'm explaining math to my 9yo when I hear it-- that ominous sound from my washing machine that I missed a bobby pin again! I walk into my laundry room to find the floor flooding as the washer is spinning. Never happened before, so maybe this is just a loose hose? No, after taking the pump off and then taking the pump apart, I discover .... the shaft bolt has broken in two. So now I have a sudsy load of laundry in my bathtub, two loads sorted on my bedroom floor, and my daughter coming home from college for the weekend with her dirty clothes to wash. I cannot leave to pick up the part because someone is coming to pick up an old table and 6 chairs that I am donating and need to get out of my living room and I will not leave my two younger girls to let strange men into the house. So I come hear to whine; otherwise I will just sit down and cry and get stressed and that is not good when you are trying to calmly explain math concepts. Thank you for being my shoulder to cry on. Now back to calmly explaining the next math lesson Linda UPDATE: My husband finally called and he is calling around town to see if we can even get the part locally (why didn't I think of that). Daughter home from college and resting -- her clothes can wait. Math calmly explained. AND thank you so much for taking time to read and understand.

I just talked to my 20yo dd on the phone. She is a junior college transfer so this is her first experience with dorm life. Her dorm is set up so that three "bedrooms" share a living area and bathroom. They had to come to an agreement on others in the room. They had to sign it and turn it in. The agreement was betwwen 7 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. for school days and weekends have no restrictions. Her roommate is now angry and wants her boyfriend and other friends (all boys) over any time she wants --that means all night! Which means my dd cannot take a shower or anything without the guy being there. For our family, guys even in the room would be a problem so the agreement was already a compromise. Doesn't this girl understand a signed agreement?!! And I just find out she is 27 years old and only a college sophmore because she likes to party so much (the roommates own words). Why would a 27 year old want to live in a dorm just to sleep with all her guy friends. Seems like an apartment would make that so much easier. I hate the college dorms of today. Linda

Well mine isn't a freshman but we did take her to college yesterday and drop her off for the first time. She is my second, but my oldest girl. She is also the one that I almost lost at birth and she was rushed to NICU so there is a different connection with her than with the others. She just turned 20 ten days ago and got her Associates degree this past spring, but now she has moved out and into a dorm. She also called this morning at 7:30 completely overwhelmed. Her two suitemates were partying until way late and she is not one to party. She needs her sleep and about midnight put earplugs in so she could get some. She had a headache and wasn't feeling so well because of the lack of sleep. Her older brother works about an hour away and was driving down this morning to spend the day with her. Hopefully once class starts on Monday things wil be different. She does have some adjusting to do. And so do I. And so does her youngest sister (age 9) who would not talk to anyone for 3 hours after we left her best friend at college. Linda

My kids do a lesson in about an hour. Sometimes 1-1/2 hours. They are in 6/5 and Advanced Math. We do have the old books however. I think it is just getting used to the new format and probably starting again after the summer break (if you take one). Linda

My kids get theirs when they get a driver's license. And they don't get a liscene until 17. And they get the cheapest plan and cheapest phone available at the time. And absolutely no texting because it costs extra money and because I'm tired of trying to hold a converstion with someone right beside me who is too distracted because they are texting the person across the room about something trivial. Linda

My youngest is the age of your son. She is alot like an only since she is 7 years younger than the next sibling. She cannot look around and she what needs to be done. She is required to do a job well and will lose privileges for not having a good attitude (not perfect, but not making me miserable either). She is required to clean up her items around the house and keep her room (closet and drawers) clean. She also sets and clears the table, dusts, changes her sheets, sweeps off the back porch, and helps me cook a few times a week. Those are just her regular chores. She also helps with whatever we are doing as much as I think she can. Then she leaves and usually entertains herself with a book. Hope this helps. Linda

Yes, my two that completed the book have worked every problem of every lesson and don all the tests. No wait--we did not do the ones calling for a graphing calculator, but only because I do not own one. My third child is on lesson 73 and she too has done every problem in every lesson so far. I don't know whether it is necessary for the SAT, but it was necessary for my oldest who majored in engineering. Linda

My husband threw a surprise party for my 40th birthday. I felt so loved and cherished; it was wonderful! Then a few months later I got another surprise -- I was pregnant. Every other pregnancy was so hard to achieve and we were trying, so this one was so unexpected. But it was a wonderful birthday present.

I would just find a box for the other stuff and put it in my car. Next time I was out I would take it to Goodwill or some such place and donate it.

The best way I have taught my disorganized kids to organize themselves is to step out of the picture and let them fail. My oldest got B's in two classes, not because he could not do the work, but because he knew better than the professor what he/she wanted and would not do the assignment the way it was said to be done. Example: For his English class he would not use MLA format, so his excellent A paper was a C just for formatting! The next paper was a B because he could not believe anyone would want the margins that way. He learned to do it the prof's way, not his way and ended up with an overall 3.9 GPA by the time he graduated. Take a hands off approach and just be there to offer guidance when asked. You will be. Linda

Yes he tried and no it was not successful.

We used Saxon. He was halfway trough Calculus when he took the SAT--score 780 on math, 1450 overall. This was just before the new tests came out. My daughter did not do as well, but she is VERY test phobic. But she will be a college junior this year and has a 4.0 GPA so she is doing fine with the math. Linda

:sad:No, they need to learn to organize their work and their is not enough room to do this in the book. The first few lessons there is enough, but by the end of the book it would definitely need to be on paper. I also needed to use the book for 3 more. Even my last did hers on paper. Linda (who just realized her last child has already used Saxon 5/4 for the last time:sad:)

Barb F. PA in AZ This is actually my second child, but oldest daughter. Two Christmases ago she got her original Littlest Pet Shops out of the attic and gave them to my surprise third daughter (11 years younger) for her present. They spent days playing together with them. They were 17 and 6 at the time. It was so sweet. And yes I do remember and miss all those. The clothes and toys just don't seem to be as sweet and innocent as they did then. I see you also have girls 15 and 8 also. My other two are just turned 16 and 9. But my boy is on his way to 24. Linda

Happy birthday to my oldest daughter who was born 20 years ago today and then rushed from my arms to NICU. Today is such a bitter sweet day. She is grown, she is beautiful and she moves to campus in less than 2 weeks. I want to attach pictures. I cannot get them to upload!:confused: Linda

Thabk you so much! It looks great. Linda

Your 7yo is your oldest. My little one was/is reading and comprehending way beyond her years, BUT she is by far my youngest. Her siblings are 14, 11, and 7 years older. Her life experiences are just different. I nursed her as I was discussing ancient history, trig, and Odyssey with my oldest. No, I don't think she retained anything from those conversations, but the language that followed around her was just different than it was when my olders were little. She was able, at barely 4, to dicuss during a 30 minute car ride with just the two of us, the differences between the book and movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I still don't know how to teach this child. Your son is doing fine. He is a normal 7yo, not behind at all. Every child develops differently and the comprhension comes so much from life experiences. That will be differnent for your oldest than when you get to this point with your youngest. I hope this all makes sense. I'm still trying to get to my morning coffee. Linda

Has anyone done this? The wallpaper in my kids bath is down--after 17 years of hot showers for 4 children in an unventillated bathroom the paper practically came down by itself. I had a few areas that also took some of the walboard off, but I have fixed those. The problem is that I cannot wallpaper! What do I need to do to prep the walls to just paint them. I would prefer not to texture them. Any suggestions?

Algebra 2, Pre-Calc, Calc, Statistics Linda

Congratulations! Linda

I have used this sequence -- twice and had problems both times. The oldest hit Algebra 2 in 8th and had problems there, so we slowed down and took 2 years for that. The next had problems with Algebra 1 in 7th and took 2 years for that, but could do Algebra 2 in one year. My middle child hit Algebra 1 in 8th and did fine with doing it in a year. Both my older two did Advanced Math in 10th and Calculus split between 11th and 12th. These were all Saxon books. My third is taking 2 years to do Advanced Math only because we have gone to a very relaxed math schedule due to her choir/vocal schedule. (She is in 3 choirs and private voice). Basically you just do what is best for the child, slowing down when needed. Linda

We have a fairly simple rule here. It must pass the Daddy inspection. This starts fairly young around here. The girls model for dad and if he thinks what they are wearing is too suggestive then it goes back to the store. They love to model the clothes. And he explains why it is a problem if it is. My girls are 20, 16, and 9. The 20 year old still values dad's opinion and likes to model, but she really can make her own decision. The 9yo likes to imitate sisters. This is just for the 16yo and after several years of doing this and seeing sisters do this, the girls make very good choices. Linda