If it is an afterschool program at a public school there should not be a problem. Call the school and check with the music instructor. Often they are from the outside and they can enroll who ever they desire. Good luck

Are you continuing with them or are you leaving the program?

Oooh that does not sound all that nice does it? So please do not flame me. I simply am trying to figure out approximately how much time folks spend helping their children when they use the virtuala online k12 program. It is free in California and I really am liking what I am reading...but I have had to go back to work and am working 4 five hour days and am wondering if I will have enough time to teach at home too? thanks!!

As a mom to two sets of 2, what saved me was babywize. Keeping the twins on a schedule---I know I know---flame me.... but with multiples, a schedule is helpful for parents and the babies. I got a lot of flack from moms that were horrifed I put my babies on schedules, but as I have always said, as a mom of multiples, we play by a different set of rules. Congratulations!!!!

I stumbled across these two online french courses that are 100% free offered by a cooperative of Carnagie Mellon University. http://oli.web.cmu.edu/openlearning/...courses/french I have been playing around with it and it is pretty cool. Would be good for 8th grade and up. Just wanted to share with my hive mind friends!!!

I stumbled across these two online french courses that are 100% free offered by a cooperative of Carnagie Mellon University. http://oli.web.cmu.edu/openlearning/forstudents/freecourses/french I have been playing around with it and it is pretty cool. Would be good for 8th grade and up. Just wanted to share with my hive mind friends!!!

I love the idea of home schooling and am a HUGE advocate for it. I strongly believe that our current public education system is broken. I believe that as parents we are best suited to teach our kids at home....however that being said....some of our kids are not best taught at home----uh like a couple of mine. My kids love going to school and being with large groups of kids. I have worked hard to get them into specialized programs at schools I can tollerate (they are at different schools) and supplement with what I feel is important and what the schools are lacking at home. I am in complete admiration of those parents who can teach all of their kids at home, but on a full time basis....I am not one of them

Okay, so please bare with me... I am crazy and I know it! I really want to teach my children a second language or at least give them a good foundation to build a second langauge on when they move towards the middle school years. Call me nuts, but I really want my children to learn Mandarin and will be sending them to Mandarin Language weekend school in about a year. Now that being said, I nor does DH speak mandarin. There are plenty of opportunites in our community of speak it but uhhhhh not at home. (I only know a handful of words and phrases) I feel really strong about this language and so does DH. I also want them to speak Spanish becuase living here in California, it is all around us. So spanish and mandarin are the languages I want my children to learn.... So fast forward to the present...I studied french for four years and am marginal at it at best. I am thinking that I should start to teach my kids basic french since it is something I can speak with them. My hestitation is that it is a langauge with very little opportunity to use in daily living. If you were me would you just teach what you know or try and teach a language you do not know. Seems like a silly thing to ask becuase when I type it....it seems clear....go for what you know....but well what would you do? See I told you I was crazy! Also any second language programs out there you can recommend?

I am curious how much others spend each month on food for their family. How many are in your family and what do you spend per average on food? What do you do to cut corners? Any great ideas you want to share on saving money on your monthy food budget? As always insight and wisdom is GREATLY welcome.

My son is an auditory learner and is good at taking information in that he hears first then sees. I would love to know if anyone knows of online sites or videos that can explain to him how to diagram, structure and organize a sentence. We have covered in books but he really needs to hear it from someone other than moi... thanks!!

I have a question for those of you that have had children that participate or participated in Awanas. I discovered the program and thought it would be a nice way to learn more about the bible and such. We are Christian, but are not evangelical (not that that is a bad or negative thing) in nature and are somewhat private when it comes to religion.... which is probably what attracted me to Awanas...was becuase it would allow my kids to learn more than what we share at home and what they learned during their two years at a religous school. When I looked at the outline today I saw that there tests and awards based on required on memorization ( I knew this but seeing it in writing ...)and while I like the idea of it, I am worried that it might be more than my kids want to take on...and that it may deter them from wanting to learn more about the bible and participate in the program. I know I know I am rambling....Its hot and I'm tired...and trying to figure out if my kids will like it and all that is involved or hate it becuase of the weekly work that is required in addition to all of their "daily work" I think my younger two will like it but the soon to be 10 year olds are iffy... The only religous activity the kids have done (aside from season church---we are still looking for the right place) was summer vacation bible school and they LOVED it.---all of them. Oh I sound like a whiney mom this afternoon.... I would LOVE to hear any thoughts pros or cons or those that poke holes in my lack of logic or whiney non committal to a church issues. I am aware that comittment starts with Moi....:001_huh:

I am looking for DVD's that I can play in the car that will reinforce Latin... I see they are linked to the text but can one use them without or with other programs?

Yes it can look that way...but in actuality...if you live center of it you'betcha...but if you live on the edge (as I do---er meaning I live downtown which is the edge) you can find acerage in less than five miles from the state capitol over in Yolo County (west sac) where you can get a 60s ranch style home that might need some updating for less than 300K. Clarksburg is on the river about 9 miles form down town and you'll be in the sticks. Head south from the capitol and just south of elk grove you'll hit the farm land that will make you think you are in Kansas or Iowa. This central Valley is FARM Land haven....in fact the big T is surrounded by farm land except on the east as you head up to the mountains/gold country to Tahoe. Also the closer you live to downtown Sac (the capital) the more expensive it is...if you are willing to live outside of downtown you can get land and a house for less than 350K nowdays...which by CA standards is cheap--not a huge house becuase homes out here are not large but decent sized. Good luck with your search....

I second or third the free dance mat typing program offered by the BBC. You can look it on by a search for bbc dancemat typing. It is funny I have played aorund with it myself

Nope don't know...but an interesting idea nonetheless. Now that being said, I am know for making my yahoos eat/prepare foods from the time period/culture/country we are learning about....as in when learning about Rome eat like a Roman? But...don't think you are talking about moi....

How 'bout the Big Tomato? I wrote a long and lengthy deatiled post about the virtues of living in the big tomato (Sacramento CA) but it timed out and would not post. So here is a very short version of what I wrote.... Lots of jobs, good access to healthcare, homeschool friendly, low cost of living for west coast standards and above average good weather... No humidity or bugs... I am not a native of the area but have lived here becuase it offers a very affordable life style and San Francisco, the Ocean, Napa, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite are all an hour or less away... I am an San Francisco native that has lived in Los Angeles, San Fran, Portland and Seattle and Flat Sac is hands down cheaper and can hold its own.

While, I would like to say I always prefer my own homemade stuff there are time when....I just DO NOT HAVE THEM TIME... so I cheat and use items like cream of chicken soup to combine with other items to make my white/green chili enchilladas... There are some things that work with premade soups...and others I would never dream of using them.... It all depends... I am not a purist...despite how I would love to be...

Blend chickpeas with some olive oil and some garlic and you have a lovely tampade to spread on toasted bread or crackers... or roll it up in a tortilla.. samba

I Went to nursing school in my 20s and can tell you the program I was in LOVED mature students. They got all of the attention accolades and other such things. I secretely wished I was older when I was enrolled. As for only working ten year after? Heck, when I worked as a nurse there were many a 70 year old nurses...obviously not doing heavy patient care, but there are plenty of sit down nursing jobs out there for older mature nurses.... GO FOR IT!

Nope clear in that area....I had her checked after three episodes last month with our peds... That was my first thought... Next?

Please note that there are some federal and state funding sources that are calculated for your community by the data collected. Hospitals...libraries....schools...fire and police departments ( and yes even if we do not use the local schools--having better schools helps our communities...)

Okay I need some wisdom here.... My soon to be six year old daughter has started having daily peeing in her pants or whatever she is wearing. this is a new thing. She has never had a probelm in the past.... there have been no changes in diet, stress or health. I suspect she is just too busy playing to take the time to pee. She comes home changes clothes and hides the pee stuff---YUCK! I have not done much about it except tell her it is not appropriate and to use the toilet. Obviously this passive approach on my behalf is not working. I am ready for consequences. I have taken away her favorite pair of shoes and jeans until she can go one week with out pee mishaps. That and I need to sterilize the shoes they are vile from all of the urine.... Any thoughts? Wisdom? Proactive encouragement to stop the insanity?

I thought my hive mind friends would enjoy this.... What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895... Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out.. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895? This is the 8th grade final exam from 1895 Kansas. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society Library Salina Kansas 8th Grade Final Exam-1895 Grammar (Time, one hour) 1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters. 2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications. 3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph 4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,''play,' and 'run.' 5. Define case; illustrate each case. 6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation. 7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar. Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes) 1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic. 2.. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold? 3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare? 4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000.. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals? 5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton. 6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent. 7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre? 8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent. 9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods? 10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt U..S. History (Time, 45 minutes) 1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided 2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus 3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War. 4. Show the territorial growth of the United States 5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas 6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion. 7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe? 8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865. Orthography (Time, one hour) [Do we even know what this is??] 1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication 2. What are elementary sounds? How classified? 3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals 4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?) 5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule. 6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each. 7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.. 8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last. 9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.. 10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication. Geography (Time, one hour) 1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend? 2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ? 3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean? 4. Describe the mountains of North America 5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco 6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.. 8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude? 9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers. 10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth. Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete. Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!

I hear ya sister...TWTM did it for me too. I wish I could dedicate more time to following the path it lead.... keep us posted!

We are big kumon fans. While it is not for everyone...it has changed my son who was in the "math is not my thing camp" to "math is my best subject" I have all of my kids in the program and all of them love math at school since the Kumon exercises has made it so easy for them to understand. They take great pride in being the top math kids in their classes. I love that when my girls to math games and challenges at school none of the boys want to go against them. They both comment how the boys are frightened of them in math...a great position to be in as a young girl. We supplement school with 10 - 20 minutes everyday 360 days a year with Kumon Math. It takes a HUGE committment but it WORKS and I never thought my kids would look forward to learning the next level but they are...