Disney is currently running a Free Dining promotion through most of 2011. This was a GREAT deal for us in December. We ate and ate without worrying about the cost and STILL had credits left over when we left. We stayed at one of the value resorts and as such, received the Quick Service Dining Plan. This entitled us to 2 counter service meals and 2 snacks each night of our stay. Since we frequently split the huge meals, we ate 3 meals a day plus a snack or two and had plenty of credits. Check the Disney website for the details. If you can get it FREE, it's a great deal. Pegasus

We have a long history of obtaining our dogs and cats from rescue situations (neglected strays from the streets, adopted from the pound, abandoned animals from the vet office, etc.) We usually have several pets and are currently down to four (2 cats and 2 dogs). One of our dogs is 17 and we know he doesn't have a lot of time left. Once he is gone, DH and I are both very interested in getting 2 purebred dachshund puppies. I have 2 unresolved issues with this: 1. While I feel guilty for wanting to BUY puppies from someone who intentionally brought them into the world, I also almost feel like I deserve to get what I want, after 20 years of caring for (and loving!) the rescues. Then I wonder if I am trying to justify supporting an industry that I don't really want to support. 2. If we do go this route, how do I research to find the most responsible breeder? I do NOT want to support a puppy mill or pet store. I'd go back to rescues before I'd do that. We've already talked to our vet but she only had a vague comment about a breeder that some of her clients purchase from. Any thoughts? Pegasus

Hmmm. . a mile you say? It's definitely more than a mile by the roads but probably close to that as the crow flies (or as the mouse ambles?!?) I'll find another location further away just in case. I LOVE your description of your cat's antics. So funny I had tears. Pegasus

Oh, we caught several mice alive earlier in the season. We take them to a park and release them in a scrubby wooded area that's adjacent. Also, I edited my original post to mention that we already have 2 cats...the wrong kind, obviously. :glare: Pegasus

I'll definitely try that. None of our earlier mice were interested in the usual peanut butter or cheese bait. We finally caught several in a row using Ramon Noodles, of all things!

Edited to add: Oh, and to answer the other question originally asked, we do not use the student workbook. I believe it is a method to map/learn the location of countries and we had just finished doing this on our own (simply filling in a blank map from memory every day and then researching the missing ones until it could all be done from memory). I DO have DD do the mapping on the schedule as a refresher.

I kept looking and finally found it. It is on the "Core Foundation" homeschool blog by our own Christine (from these boards). Here's the link: http://corefoundations.wordpress.com/scheds-english-and-history/ She also has other schedules on there, like for Lightning Lit. Pegasus

Well, we battled mice in the pantry once the weather turned cold. We use a humane live trap and caught about one a day for several days in a row. They were relocated. We then stopped catching them and after several days, thought we were done. We've started noticing signs again but this mouse (mice?!? :glare:) won't be caught. We've tried everything we can think of for bait but he won't enter the live trap. I won't use poison or glue traps. I don't WANT to use a kill trap but will as a last resort. Any other thoughts? No miss bait suggestions? Will a kill trap work where a live trap won't? Argh. My DDs will be so unhappy if we go that route. I appreciate any input. Pegasus Edited to add: I forgot to mention that I already have TWO cats. They are completely worthless, other than looking so cute that we cater to their every whim.

We tried to use the Trail Guides because I thought they looked great but we just kept getting bogged down again and again, and this was WITH the extra student books that they now sell that was supposed to make it so "open and go." Both DDs hated it. We finally scrapped it for straight mapping - one continent at a time- filling in as many countries as possible from memory and then doing the rest with a reference. The same continent was done day after day until the whole thing could be labeled from memory. Then we moved on. Now we are using Runkle with some supplemental materials and it is going very well (see other thread). Pegasus

Yes! I have a list of supplemental book recommendations that I found online. I can't find it again now - it may very well have even been someone here on the Well Trained Mind boards. By the way, I also found a VERY useful schedule for this program online -on someone's homeschooling blog website. I really wish I kept better track of where I find these things. I altered the schedule to add in the supplements. DD is about 15 weeks into it and it's going very well. The extra resources include Material Word: a Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel, Hungry Planet: what the world eats by Peter Menzel, Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of his Time by Dava Sobel, The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World by Amir Aczel, The Map Makers by John Nobel Wilford, videos of Planet Earth, projects from National Geographic website. Pegasus

DD will be using for 9th next year: Lightning Literature - American Lit Early-Mid and then Mid-Late 19th Century Jensen's Format Writing Word-a-Day program online (she's already finished an SAT vocab book) Supplemental reading

I laughed when I saw the 3 programs in your title as I just got 2 of the 3. I just bought Jensen's, Wordsmith Craftsman, and EPS Writing Skills Level 3 to evaluate for using with DD. She's a reluctant writer who is finally improving after using an earlier EPS Writing Skills level followed by Jump In. All three of my recent purchases are marketed for high schoolers but the EPS book looks much more basic (lots of hand-holding and still using small incremental steps). I decided to have DD run through this one quickly and finish the book in one semester. Meanwhile, Craftsman sort of scared me off and made me decide to wait another year before tackling that. I'm not sure DD is ready for it. I haven't finished reviewing Jensen's yet but I think we'll use it next, after EPS. Maybe by then we'll be ready for Craftsman. :glare: Pegasus

I'm not positive yet. I have Lial's Algebra books as well and it's pretty simple to use the pre-test at the beginning to look for gaps/weaknesses so we may go that route. Pegasus

I don't know how to make tea taste like coffee but you could try hot lemonade and hot apple cider. Both are yummy and warm.

It certainly sounds like you're doing all the right things. The only two things that I can think of that you haven't mentioned yet are reading aloud to her and modeling reading yourself. If you do both to these, I'm at a loss! Pegasus

I just had to come back and add MESSAGE BOARDS. My pull to this board just can't be healthy. h:D

What is she doing with her time? If it's electronics, that's what you need to restrict. The lure of TV, video games, Facebook, text messaging, etc. is too strong for many people. Pegasus

"You mean, you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my sword, and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people? "

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." Sorry - I couldn't resist. Best movie ever. Pegasus

We just heat and serve. They are good even just by themselves. Pegasus

Here's why we like MUS here for our future potential scientists/engineers. I excelled in math and engineering courses even though I used a superficial "plug and chug" approach. With MUS, I feel like my DC are understanding math on a level that didn't at their age. They understand much more why math is done in a certain way and what the meaning is behind it. That said, I am verifying their learning with other resources. At younger ages, we use Singapore's Challenging Word Problems to force them to think through more complex problems from different angles. When my eldest was ready to start Algebra I, I used Lial's BCM to be sure she knew what she needed to know. I simply had her take the test at the beginning and she reviewed just a few topics where she was weak. She is now half-way through MUS Geometry and we plan to continue using MUS. I plan to use a second resource to confirm that her algebra skills are strong once she completes MUS Algebra II. Finally, I plan for her to take pre-calculus through dual enrollment once she is done with MUS pre-calc. I'm confident that she'll hit college calculus much more prepared than I was! Best of luck to your future mechanical engineer! Pegasus

We have Seafarers and also Cities and Knights. Honestly, we still usually just play the basic game so I'm not sure I'm going to be of much help to you. The expansion sets add another layer of rules and complexity to the game play. Are all the players up for that? I ask because my youngest gets frustrated when the rules and game play is more complex. Pegasus

This is brilliant. I never considered this spot for the extra set of sheets but it makes perfect sense!

The set you linked is very pretty but I would never have furniture with loose pillows. They would NEVER stay arranged in my house and it would drive me crazy. I like sectionals and many come with flip down tables (flip it down for drinks, etc. and flip it up when you need more sitting space. Pegasus

Taking out the trash. It's simple and quick and means that I no longer have to keep shoving down the contents to fit the next piece of trash into the can. Plus, having an empty trash can tends to spur me into picking up and decluttering (what ELSE could be thrown away?) Pegasus