I've got a 3rd grader and we're watching some of Ken Burn's Civil War series. It's a stretch for him (attention span and topics). One rough photo in episode one was of limbs that had been amputated. The Civil War is tough. I don't know that there are going to be many appropriate movies. You could check Discovery Streaming if you have it.

Sorry, but I can't help it... it's McCaffrey. She's one of my all-time favorite authors. Reading my son Dragonsong right now. As for books, Catch-22 is probably a biggie for me.

I've heard good things about the Honda Fit for taller people. Head clearance in it is really high.

We tried to get our fridge repaired a few years ago. The repairman who came out said first that it was better to get a new one since our compressor was out. He also said that he's seeing appliances not last nearly as long. He sees them need repairs as early as 2 years old with an average of about 7 years (or less) when it used to be over 12 years before repairs were needed. We shop using Consumer Reports but even then know that there aren't any guarantees. It's discouraging. Also, do please look for electronics recycling in your area rather than just tossing the systems in the trash. Parts can be reused.

Ray posted a thread on the K8 board with a link to an article on math. I think it has some information that may be useful to consider too.

Enjoyed it.

For getting into colleges, take a look at what some schools you'd be considering for your kids require. I've checked out the admission requirements already for our local college. I don't know that I want our son to go here, but I'd sure view it as the minimum we should be aiming for. For "beyond" college, I'm thinking about the life skills I'll want our son to have when he's on his own. I'm thinking of being sure he has his own checking account at age 16 (or a bit earlier) and a credit card at the same time so he can get a feel for finances. We've got him cooking meals (under close supervision) already. I figure by high school we'll be having him do one week of grocery shopping and meals on his own for the family. We're already open about our finances in terms of what bills we pay and how we need to think about where we choose to spend our money. I agree with regentrude's post about the importance of a solid foundation with math, writing, and reading. It does take a lot of work (at least with my kid) but I see a ton of students at the cc who just don't have the solid arithmetic skills that my son already has. I want him to have a lot of options, so that does mean putting the time in. I tend to subscribe to the "overlearning" approach (there have been some threads about this that a search should find). As far as prep for you goes, I'd say work ahead with math so you know what you're doing in arithmetic and why. I would also think about what books you'll want your kids to read (what stories you want them familiar with). We're doing some of those as family read-alouds, but I'm needing to get a more thought-out reading list together. It's great that you're thinking about this early. It gives you time to get the panic out of the way. :D I think it's definitely something that can be done... but there also are sacrifices that have to be made. For instance, I don't clean house. ;)

I may even see this in the theaters (although I'll probably wait until DVD)... but it looks good!

re: pink I'd never made that connection to Victoria's Secret... but... I read Jenna Jamison's autobiography a couple of years ago (very sad about the porn industry) and the line "show me the pink" was in one of her early photo shoots. Urban Dictionary has the same meaning. Again... not something I'd have considered, Mrs. Mungo... but now I won't be able to think of anything else with VS. I don't think it's a far stretch either.

I've found the stories on this site to be amusing with customers (when they're not just tragic). Sometimes pretty funny - although be warned, there's sometimes language.

I'm envious. MCT's talks were REALLY good (although I missed the poetry one to hear SWB and give my husband an opportunity to hear MCT). Hope you guys have a great time!

No, the book you linked is different. I got an order form by emailing IMACS directly and bought the books through them. I had spent a couple years (seriously) looking for them in other forms, so I bought ALL the books!!!! :glare: No way will we get through them. I think I found one online that someone had scanned... think it's linked in this thread. (Wasn't finding it with google search.) Project MEGSSS (St Louis area) website is here. If you end up ordering the books from IMACS, I'd suggest Book 1 and 2 for logic (I didn't see logic again like this until undergrad math degree, but it sure made geometry easy!). Get what you want from Book 0, see what you think, and then buy other books later. I do feel that I had a really SOLID understanding of functions, graphs, transformations, slope of a line, multiplication by a scalar, and sets thanks to the series. I used it only in 7th and 8th grades, then we had a different teacher that didn't use the program anymore :( I've worked through Bk 0, Ch 1 & 2 and part of Ch 3 and part of Book 1 if you do get them and want to compare notes at any point. I am torn because these were excellent materials (and I spent so much on getting the books) but I also am very intrigued by AoPS - especially with more support for them.

If I lived in an area where I could have my son (in later years) take IMACS courses, I probably would try it. I was in a program in middle school called MEGSSS that used the EM books - authored by Exner, Kaufman, Martin, Rade, Sterling as the main original authors. Same group that did the CSMP series. We used only Book 0 (all parts), 1 (Logic!) and 2 (Logic!). I bought the books from IMACS. Unfortunately, you can't get any ancillaries, so that does make some of the problems more difficult and it makes testing difficult. I do intend to use Book 0 through 2 with my son when we've finished Singapore PM series (or start some in Bk 5 or 6). Some of what I learned in 7th and 8th grade, I didn't see again until an undergraduate math degree (fields, rings, basics of group theory). The logic book is good mathematical logic. Once you're beyond Book 2, you're in an undergrad math degree IMO. I haven't looked too far beyond, but these books are serious math. I am unsure whether I'll use the IMACS books for high school or not. AoPS is tempting to me as well. If you do a search for IMACS or Elements of Mathematics, I'd posted some information a few years ago about the books, including a table of contents of one, I think.

I thought it was Northwestern through NUMATS... not certain though :)

I don't know that it'll work quickly enough, but we restricted eating to ONLY in the kitchen/dining room due to my son's food allergies. You have to be really dedicated to snacking to sit at the table and snack. :glare:

:grouphug:

My son didn't retain a ton from Grammar Island. He definitely didn't have the pronouns (sigh). We're finishing up level 1 and he STILL can't recite subject and object pronouns well. Practice Island does a great job at reinforcing the concepts from GI. Sentence Island does too. So I'd move on, returning as you need to GI for reference (but it's in SI too). I think GI gives the foundation for discussion, PI and SI do a much better job of cementing.

:grouphug: I would. You may not be able to go into the ICU, but your presence (especially since it's requested) will be nice for her family. You also may be able to run errands for them (bring food or a drink or pick up something that's needed). :grouphug:

I've just kept things in my cart, saved for later. It makes finding stuff difficult. It does make seeing price fluctuations easier though. If you have a wish list, does it show price changes?

You can see what we're currently using in my signature. There are definitely days I'm envious of a boxed curriculum, but I can't imagine I'd find one that I'd be happy with. I do spend a lot of time doing prep and pulling together different resources. I am very happy that I have some completely "open and go" programs: All About Spelling, Artistic Pursuits, MCT somewhat, WWE, next year Latin for Children :) I think anything you do is hardest the first year. It gets easier as you learn more. I know the first year curriculum was really overwhelming for me since I was figuring out EVERYTHING! After that, I was able to see what was working (continue with handwriting, continue with Singapore math) and what wasn't (needed to switch spelling).

We've been using Story of US. I haven't seen anything in it that would have me say it was anything BUT secular. We've worked through Books 1-6. I have Story of Science and haven't read every book yet. I intend to use Story of Science along with the Oxford Press and K12 books for world history. I have the teacher guide but not the student guides for Story of Science. It appeared to me that the TG had enough information.

:grouphug:

Dell Logic Books are good. My son did the MindBenders (level A) and then we just moved into the Dell books. He only attempts the one star puzzles. Price is definitely right :) I used to be able to find the books at a drug store, but I haven't been able to find them lately.

:grouphug: We're dealing with a homeschool class with a mom who knows about our son's allergy and still sends in foods. Trying to write an email to the director of the program and deal with it. I'm still coming off of the frustration and anger. Allergies suck. :grouphug: Advice: Get the Epi 2-pack. One may not be enough. PRACTICE with the trainer. When I had to give my son the Epi, I didn't hit hard enough to trigger the pen. It was only through the practice I'd done that I knew there should have been a "click" that I didn't hear. The practice had me re-do the injection so my son actually got the medicine. Practice with the trainer on someone else. It's a different muscle motion to inject someone else rather than to inject yourself. Read labels; ask questions; don't trust ANYONE who doesn't really understand the allergy. (In my case, that meant my parents for a time. I think they get it now though.) Resources: Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network I've signed up to get alerts when there's a food recall or a notice of contaminants. I think it's through this site but I'm not sure. Reading books helps me understand the allergies better. Surprisingly, Food Allergies for Dummies has been the best one I've read (and I loathe the "For Dummies" titles). :grouphug: It will get easier in some ways with time. You'll get more comfortable with your restrictions. Watch that you don't get complacent. And then sometimes you get gobsmacked all over again. (Right now I'm really hating this other mom who's making my son unsafe.)

In the past, it's seemed to me that the politically liberal threads get deleted because some of the highly conservative/intolerant posters (ones I'm thrilled the ignore feature works on) post inflammatory remarks. It's responses to those comments that make the threads go downhill. I've seen conservative roll calls go on and a liberal roll call thread get deleted. I think the best thing in a thread is to put some of the baiting posters on ignore. I wish those posts would be deleted and not the thread - or that the thread would be locked rather than disappeared.