We are using Home Science Adventures this year. It is a kit. Comes with all the materials for the experiments, lesson plans and worksheets. What I love about it is that the experiments work!! The kids (8 and 6) have loved doing the experiments. We liked it so much we blew through both kits this year!! The only thing you will need to do is get some books to read for each each topic. It is pretty much open and go. Perfect for the ages of your kids.

Thanks for the info. I guess I knew in the back of my mind that math is just one of those subjects that needs a good bit of guidance, teach the concept - let the student practice. RS has really been a great program, so why mess with something that is working. RS E, here we come!

Hi! I am looking for some advice on Singapore math. I have been using Rightstart. We are currently finishing up level D. I love the program, but it is so teacher intensive. I have been thinking of changing to Singapore math. My questions are: How much teacher instruction is there? Can it be done fairly independently? Explain the U.S Editions vs. Standard Editions. Any information is welcome! Thanks!

My advice is to not be stuck in the idea of using Lowe's for everything. We looked at Lowe's for cabinets and worked out a plan with them and got an estimate. We then decided to check with a custom cabinet maker - he was half the price and I got solid wood cabinets that actually fit the length of my walls (rather than trying to work with the prefab standard measurement cabinets). He even copied a style that I liked from one of the brochures I picked up from Lowe's. Now, this is second hand, but my sister-in-law's mom used Home Depot for her kitchen remodel and had an awful time. Cabinets came in damaged and then they had to wait for replacements. The job took forever with lots of problems. I also second the drawers for the base cabinets. I was not too keen on the idea, but now I love them. The pull out garbage next to sink is great too. One other thing that I love is my big single basin skirt style sink. Can fit big pots, pans, and cutting boards in easily. No center divider to mess with. Also, an under mount sink is great. Makes wiping counters down so much easier, no lip to try and drag stuff up and over.

I get private health insurance in Georgia. Every year when it is up for renewal I look at other options. It is very frustrating and sometimes hard to compare plans, but here are some things to consider. - We have looked into HSA's, I have found the plans to be more expensive than a plain PPO. Look carefully to see if the tax benefits would offset the higher premium and the costs to maintain the HSA account. - Don't forget that the first year all pre-existing conditions are exempt from coverage. So, if you have been to the doctor in the last 3 years and a problem was documented it will exempt. - That $20,000 deductible is yearly. So if you have on ongoing or chronic condition that spans across a benefit period, the contributions to that deductible get reset. Not many people can pay a $20,000 deductible without it causing a major financial strain. - One alternative is to do a one deductible plan. You chose your deductible and pay all medical expenses until that deductible is met, then insurance kicks in and covers at 100% for the rest.(Assurant has several good plans of these, even one's with a competitive HSA option). - Remember that your quoted premium is an introductory premium. It will go up next year (and probably a lot). Many insurance companies offer an attractive "introductory" premium to reel you in. - You might want to add up what total out of pocket costs a plan would cost you if you actually had to use it. What I mean is add up the total annual premium plus the deductible and any copays if you were to be sick enough to have to use it. Look at those totals and see which one you can live with. Good luck.

Another vote for Home Science Adventures. We ordered the space, magnetism, and birds kit. Finished space and magnetism, too early to start birds, so I just ordered the microscope, bugs, and light. These are great!! I have done SL science K and 1. Overall, I thought the experiments were lacking the WOW! factor for a kindergartener and 1st grader. Good luck on your decision.

I would change doctors; but first, get copies of your records.

So glad that I could help. I, too, need to start on my shopping. I hope your girls enjoy it.

A few years ago I got my girls Only Hearts Club dolls and this is the dollhouse I got for them: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2384872 I liked the idea of a house, multiple rooms, for imaginative play versus one room. It is more expensive, but has been worth it.

Check with your insurance company again. Generally premiums will not go up unless the claim is above a certain amount, find out what that amount is. If his claim would be below it let the insurance company pay. If it is above it try to offer him $500 cash with his signature assuring that he will make no new claims for this incident. Now, you may want to get the insurance company involved either way since you suspect he may be trying to take you for a ride. With the insurance involved you will never have to deal with him again and the insurance company will haggle with him and you can be assured all he will get are expenses paid, no pocket money. Good luck.

When I saw this recipe the other day when it was first posted I copied the recipe to make today. I must say it is delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing.

Doesn't quite have the cool factor as the Ipod, but not as pricey either. We have the Sansa Clip and love it. Comes in several colors and mb. Both my dds (8 & 6) and my husband have one. It is easy to load music on to it and audiobooks. If you are going to do books get one with a lot of memory. Here is a link to amazon with reviews: http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-Clip-Player-Silver/dp/B00126V8WU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1225043162&sr=8-1

Don't forget the "lost" days before holidays and the last week of school when no academics are being done. And, how about those testing days?

I had a front load washer a few years ago and my towels smelled funky (musty) straight out from the washer. I found the problem to be mildew growing under the gasket on the opening for the door. If you pull yours back you might see that you have that problem. When I called the company I was told this was a common problem with front load washers and that I had to clean my washer every so often and keep the door open (impossible to do since my washer was in a closet). Fortunately for me, I found the problem before my year warrenty was up (bought at Sears) and was able to return it for a full refund. Now I have a much less expensive top loader I don't have to wash!!

I, also, was under the impression that the rep system was for buying/selling. It would be nice if it was used only for the purpose of buying/selling and not all the other silly stuff it gets used for.

What a shame that someone has to be so negative. There is nothing wrong with developing a product and selling it. As potential customers, we have the option to not purchase a product. But, to chastise someone for selling a product, that's amazing. More power to you for spending the time to create something worthwhile to sell. It sounds to me that the price is more than fair for the time it took to plan out the schedule and materials.

I am going to be the dissenting vote here. I had a front load washer (a Kenmore) a few years ago and I did not like it. The main reason was that mold grew under the door gasket and it really smelled bad. To eliminate the problem I was told to leave the door open (not possible since it is located in a closet) and would have to clean the gasket out (like I really want to wash my washing machine). I think some brands are better than others on this mold issue. I would really check this out before purchasing one. It also seemed to take longer to do laundry, the wash cycles were longer than the washer I had before. Instead of taking about 1 1/2 hours to do a load of laundry it took well over 2 hours and the clothes seemed to be more wrinkled (this may be more of a dryer problem, than washer). I really wanted to like a front load, it just didn't work for me. I am much happier with my top load washer.

Try this link: http://www.readingacrossamerica.com/books.htm

Hi again Marsha, I don't have the IG in front of me, but if I remember correctly the Working on My Own Pages repeated the activities listed for older students and then had maybe one or two additional assignments that were not on the parent IG page. The readings do go from book to book, but as discussed in other posts you can alter the schedule to concentrate on one book at a time if that works better for you.

Hi Marsha, Our last day of Animal Worlds is tomorrow. I found the schedule very easy to use. I used a 2006 version of the IG. It is laid out in a grid format. It is designed to follow the grids by day vertically with you doing assigned pages and activities from several books. Some chose to follow by topic (book) horizontally. What I mean by this is, instead of reading from one book 5 times that week, you would do all the reading from that book on one day all the reading from another book the next day, and so on. There are also many crafts and hands on assignments to do, which does look overwhelming, but you are to pick only the ones you care to do. It was not designed for you to do every hands on activity. If you have ever used Sonlight, it is similar in style to their schedule. I hope this helps and if you have anymore questions, just ask.

I have the LG french door style fridge and I love the french door style. The freezer is a drawer on the bottom. The top part is the fridge and is very roomy. I chose not to get a water/ice dispenser since it took up the storage space on a door. I have an ice maker in the freezer. I will say that I do miss the crushed ice feature that came with the ice dispenser on the door. I had a side by side before and hated it. Had to have that style due to location, needed small doors in order to allow door to open. Side by sides are very hard to store anything in. Large frozen items (like pizzas) have to be placed on their sides to be stored in the freezer. It was always a struggle to make enough room when I had parties. I would have to put drinks in a cooler and food in the fridge. Trays and platters would not fit well since the fridge portion is not very wide. If you are looking for something with plenty of storage I would suggest staying away from a side by side. The only thing bugs me about my LG french door is that when I open the freezer and pull out the top tray a few ice cubes almost always get swept out of the ice cube tray and onto the floor. It is a minor annoyance. It may be worth it to look at other models to see if they do this and if you go with a dispenser in the door you might not have this problem.

I used to be never. Now that I am older and my skin is getting so ruddy I feel the need to blend a little. A friend mentioned a mineral powder and I really like it. So when I remember I will brush that on with a little mascara. Now I have my 50 posts and can sell items again.!! Yea!!

Very nice. I am not going to post since you would just see the dark rainy street.

I have Netflix and love it. I chose it because of the cheapest $4.99 price plan.

My dear dd's love playing in mud. I get agitated because it seems to always happen when they are wearing new clothes and we are about to leave to go somewhere, Maybe I should plan mud time.