I'm 5'6" and 122 (size6) but I noticed that when I turned 40 the normal way I maintained my weight (calorie counting & running) didn't work anymore. I had to radically change my way of eating - low carbs, high protein, lots of water and keep running : ) and I noticed that if I put on a couple of lbs. its ALOT harder to get them off

Yes, but of course it's in pencil : )

Hi from San Clemente in South Orange Country : )

Hi from San Clemente, South Orange County : )

I've always thought of it as a year off between hs and college for either travel, work or another life enriching activity

Your welcome Sometimes we also have spelling B's where they stand on the other side of the room and each right answer from their list gets a step forward, the dd that gets to me first gets a prize

We did this at about 10 books at a time, then after they were all memorized I had them memorize which were law, which poetry, etc

My method is pretty simple, I choose a book, often a book that she is reading or we are using as a read-aloud and dictate 3-4 sentences. I try to pick an exciting part, this makes it more fun. I read the entire sentence, then I break it down for her to write. When I reread the sentence I pause for commas and have her tell me where the punctuation is and write it down. Whatever words she has misspelled I have her correct and write down on her spelling list. Every Friday I have her use those words to make a nonsense sentence (she loves that part and comes up with some pretty funny ones). If she gets it right three times, she takes it off her list, but I'll occasionally quiz her on it, just to make sure. Honestly this is the only method that has worked for her, she seems to see the relevance of it, it's not just meaningless lists of words, but actually in a book and she likes that. hth Chris

Haven't read the other posts, but is it possible that you have a abridged version. The reason I ask is that last summer my dds and I listened to LOTR (or what I thought was the unabridged LOTR) and it turned out to be a shorter version. From looking at the cd book I couldn't tell, except the entire book (all 3 parts ) was on 17 cd's

You bring up an interesting point. Those who like a program that is getting a negative post may not jump in and defend it, I probably wouldn't either, unless I'm in a particularly cantankerous mood ;) but that's my personality, nonconfrontational. That doesn't mean that those people aren't out there, they are just silent thanks for bringing this up

Hi Stephanie! Thanks so much for your encouragement. Funny, now going slow sounds good to me. I can see the proverbial handwriting on the wall, she isn't remembering anything.... We talked this morning, I think I'm going to go with TT 7 for the rest of this year, and then begin TT pre-algebra in the fall, that way I won't set her up for a fall again - bad mommy : ( I love what you said "He needed a bit of hand holding but not my hands, lol." EXACTLY! I'm an English Lit girl, not a math person The irony is that I was going to go with TT at the beginning of the year, but was scared away by the negative posts - shame on me for falling to peer pressure at my age : ) Dd is so bright and last year loved math, this year we both loathe it, I hope TT will help with that. Not that CD is a bad program for others, just not a good fit for this dd. What level are you selling? thanks again

Not a curriculum, but I've had great success with dictation for my 5th grader, we do this daily for 5-10 minutes and her spelling has really improved. If your interested, I can elaborate

You are so sweet to call her, thanks : ) I'm leaving reputation points for you girl! Chris

Hi Beth , I wanted to apologized for seeming wishy-washy, CD is a wonderful program and it seemed to be a perfect fit at first. This teaches me to wait a year or so before commenting on a program. But I'm glad it's working for you Chris

Could I ask if your df had her son on TT's grade level or above, IOW did he use Algebra in 8th or 9th? thanks so much

We tried it in 6th, it is a college text and just too much for dd, just not a good fit - worse than Chalkdust for her. She is visual, but more in the print-visual way. She is more involved in the process when in a book, than video. She took notes etc, but it just didn't stick I hope that clears up my convoluted post : )

Thanks Claire, I think the medium is bad for her, she is very much a visual learner (print) rather than auditory. Sigh I was dh could teach this, but we are both at a loss

My dd started her cycle when she was 12

Skip counting Sheep, my girls loved this one

We used Mindbenders and Perplexors in 4th/6th and now we are using Fallacy Detective 5th/7th. I dabble with some of the Dandylion products before that

No not Sawyer! That would be so sad, I vote for Ben

I love it almost always : )

Are you talking about the one in San Diego? I think older dc get more out of it of course, but we have been going every two or three years since my girls were little

Protein fills you up. If you don't like meat or eggs, how about fish, cottage cheese? I had to learn to like meat because those carbs are so bad for you.

LOL, love those veggies (well technically fruit)