Yes, I would!

What age child did you read it with/give it to? It says "pre-teen"... is it good for a 10 1/2 year old who knows the basic mechanics of sex already? (And yes I do know that it touches on some issues that some very conservative or religious parents would consider too controversial, I'm not so much worried about that in particular, just about whether it's age appropriate in general, as far as the amount of information they give on each topic and so on). Thanks. :)

LOL you're welcome! In my case I just didn't have a spare "table" hanging around, or a place to put one, but we did happen to have this empty tank... and yeah I like that it's all contained, too- even has a screen lid and everything. It doesn't get messy, it's easy to pull something out and examine it with a magnifying glass or some such and put it back, fun to decorate the back and sides, if family or friends with toddlers come over, it's not so tempting for them to just start grabbing and moving and crumbling things, etc. :)

Another snip from CPS safety dot com: Won't my child be uncomfortable? Where do his legs go? Many parents have the misconception that children are uncomfortable or at risk for leg injury by having their legs up on the vehicle seat or bent when kept rear-facing. These concepts are completely incorrect. First, children are more flexible than adults so what we perceive as uncomfortable is not for children. Think about how your child sits in everyday play. Do they sit with their legs straight out in front of them? When they sit on the couch, do they purposely sit so their legs dangle out over the edge? No. In real, everyday life, toddlers and preschoolers CHOSE to sit with their legs folded up - that IS comfort to them. Second, there is not a single documented case of children's legs, hips, etc. breaking or being injured in a crash due to longer rear-facing. There are plenty of cases of head and neck injury in forward-facing children that could have been prevented if the child had remained rear-facing. However, even if a leg or hip were broken or injured, it can be fixed. A damaged spinal cord (from forward-facing too soon) cannot be repaired and subjects the child to lifelong disability or death. --- My son was rearfacing until he was definitely of an age to verbalize to me if his legs were uncomfortable- but he never did. He was fine. :)

Definitely NOT Great States!! We got that game and found typos and incorrect information in it, things that didn't make sense, etc! I had bought it used/but like new on Amazon and couldn't return it because it wasn't the seller's fault the game was awful, so we threw it away. ETA: And if you click on the lower star reviews there on Amazon, you'll see other people saying the same thing. I just looked at one of the one star reviews and it said: "My 8 year old daughter LOVES this game!! However... we have come across numerous cards with incorrect answers on them. (Example: What are the two states that start with the letter O? Answer: Oregon and Ohio. Last time I checked Oklahoma was still in the United States.) I am very reluctant to keep playing this with her as I'm wondering how many other answers are wrong that we don't know about. My daughter decided to write the company an e-mail and nicely tell them about the issue and received no response. I am very unimpressed with this company and will not be purchasing products from them going forward"

I don't know, but the post I quoted just below this from training5 may have something to do with it! There is a decent amount of review with TT- every lesson they introduce something new, and the lecture and some of the practice problems and a few of the lesson problems will cover it, the rest of the lesson problems will be things already introduced in previous lessons- so there's always review, and there's always building on each lesson with new material, introduced in such a way that they just get it. And then get to continue to practice it on an ongoing basis. But not with a ridiculous number of problems (I think Saxon had like 100 problems when I was looking at it, my jaw dropped! TT is more like 22 problems a lesson, plus 5 practice problems). I think it's perfect the way TT does it. :) That's great that you're back to Oak Meadow!! I have to say, if I go by this year's standardized test results, Alexa didn't do as well on science and social studies (still somewhat above average, though), and I think it was just because some of the questions they asked weren't yet covered by where we are/what we are currently studying in OM. But she did PHENOMENAL in the language arts portion of things! OM has a decent amount of literature and writing in the later elementary school age, as you know, and it seems to be doing its job very well! I know part of it is just a natural bent for language arts but I just mean she's not at all falling behind by any means after a couple of years of using OM, she's doing fantastic with it. Even though it starts out so much "slower paced" and gentle in its earliest years, it really does "catch up" more to grade level- all without ever having to be boring and textbookish at any level- so don't be afraid to trust OM, either. :) Yes!!! I am so not mathy, and I am not at ALL a good math teacher. I get confused and frustrated when trying to figure out typical textbook (as in A textbook, not "TT" lol) math, and I KNOW that it shows when I try to teach it. I barely get it, therefore I can't help her get it, and we both end up miserable. This is just the perfect solution. The "teacher" on TT is endlessly patient and encouraging, explains very well whatever it is he's teaching, and can show AND tell step by step how to do a problem in a way that just clicks so much better than trying to decipher a few lines of mathematical text in a real textbook. I can monitor to make sure things are continuing to go well, but can take mainly a hands off approach to "teaching" math since the program does its job so well on its own lol. WAY less stress for me (and by default for her), frees me up to do other things... so, yeah, it was a godsend for us, too! :)

I've got a review of it here that would probably answer any questions you have.... let me know if you have any other questions after you check it out. :) http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/174422.html

:iagree: My son is 5.5 years old and still in his Britax Boulevard 5 pt harness car seat. And I left him rear facing for quite some time. In fact, when he was 18 months old, that was when we bought the Britax Boulevard from a Babies R Us and we had taken it out to the car to make sure it would fit next to the booster seat my daughter was using at the time prior to purchasing it. The saleslady accompanied us out and was watching as my husband started trying to install the carseat- rearfacing. The lady started INSISTING that it had to go forward facing, that one year/20 lbs they go forward facing, that they should only rearface if their legs don't touch the back seat, that they could break their legs/hips in an accident... she was spewing so much misinformation that I started FUMING. I corrected everything she said, went inside and got a manager and got THEIR supervisor's mailing information, wrote a letter to everyone I could think of stating the facts and how I felt about what this lady was saying and how she was potentially putting babies in danger and so on and so forth lol... ...I ended up getting a letter back apologizing, saying they would be retraining their sales associates on this matter, AND they gave me a $50.00 gift card. Sweet, huh? :D

From CPS Safety dot com: What if I am hit from behind? Won't my child be safer facing forward? Frontal and side impacts are the most common type of crashes. They account for 96% of all crashes. They are also the most deadly type of crashes (especially side impacts) and rear-facing children have MUCH more protection in both types of crashes than forward-facing. In the 4% of rear impact crashes that a rear-facing child would be in, they have at least the same amount of protection that a FF child would have in a frontal impact, with the added benefit of less crash energy being transferred to them, and the fact that the rear impact is usually not as severe. The forces in a rear impact crash are much different from the forces in a frontal impact crash. In a frontal impact, the forces are much greater because the vehicles are usually traveling in opposite directions. Experts suggest that a frontal crash is the same as hitting a concrete barrier � the vehicle and all occupants come to a dead stop within less than 1 second. When you are struck in a rear impact, the vehicles involved are traveling in the same direction, and the vehicle that is hit in the back has room to move forward. The crash force on the occupants is much less than in a frontal impact. The movement of the impacted vehicle, in addition to the crush zone, absorbs a lot of the crash energy, so it is not transferred to the child. Additionally, the majority of rear impacts are at low speeds. In short, if your child is rear-facing, he has optimal protection in the types of crashes you are most likely to be in. If he is forward-facing, he may have optimal protection in a rear-end crash, but statistically, that is the least likely to happen and he is 60% more likely to be injured or killed in the types of crashes (frontal, side impact) you are most likely to be in. You can learn more about the physics of rear-facing at http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html

:iagree: My homeschool group is more along the lines of the latter. We do field trips, educational tours, occasional one time "fun" classes (not formal subjects), craft days, picnics and seasonal parties, park days, game days, and so on. I've been with them for over two years now and there's never been an issue (except the time when we set up a "paranormal" thing at the library and one ex-member decided to email all the other members and tell them she didn't think it was a good idea and that it had to do with Satan and stuff... whoooo... but other than that, religion is not a focus of the group at all, and I like it that way just fine. Religion is more of a private thing IMHO and doesn't need to be the focus of a social group, which is more along the lines of what we are. Fortunately it's worked out just fine even though I'm a secular Jew and the other two organizers are both Christian (one mennonite). :) We have all managed to accept each other, to not push our beliefs on one another, and to still get along just fine despite that. I wish more people could do that!

Oh, that's cute! I just sent it to my husband! As for my daughter, I printed the "chore camp brochure" from Family Fun's website but haven't given it to her yet, we'll do it when hubby gets home from work.

My daughter requires a decent amount of handholding with SCFES (she's also 10). We've been sort of doing it here and there, but it's been low on my priority list and gets cast aside if we are running short on time or just don't feel like doing it (lol- it's an add on to my main curriculum, not part of it). With that said, if I found myself describing it as "sheer torture for both of us" I would absolutely drop it in a heartbeat. There are way too many options out there for all different subjects that are actually enjoyable to have to sit there struggling our way through something that made us miserable. No way, life's too short for that IMHO! :) I say drop it now.

With my husband, I'd have much more luck informing him in advance rather than springing it on him last minute. "Do you think next week you could help ds with his science project? I thought maybe I could take dd shopping for her birthday and you could help ds with that while we're gone- he'll enjoy the time with you and I figured you'd be well suited for helping with that project."

Well, Alexa would recommend Little Passports haha. What about signing up for a special class, activity, or lesson that they are interested in? Or tickets to a fun event- a play, a musical, a concert, etc? A new magazine subscription? Money to start their own bank account if they don't already have one?

You do NOT have to feel obligated to go!! She does NOT have to feel obligated to stay!! But she needs to be understanding of other peoples' financial situations, etc. It's perfectly fine to say to her something like: Unfortunately, we will not be able to attend if you have your wedding in Jamaica. We just can't afford the cost, the vacation time, the pet arrangements and so on. I wish we could! We do understand, though, if you two choose to go ahead and have a private ceremony there. We'd be with you in spirit. :) Or some such- letting her know you can't make it, but that you won't have hard feelings if they choose to go on without you.

This year we used the CAT/5 from Thurber's Educational Assessments. Last year we used the CAT/E from Seton.

My daughter is 10. This spring/summer is when we have told her she will start being allowed to go off of our block to ride bikes "around the block" with her friends or to go to a local playground, etc. Therefore, we will give her a cell phone. Not a fancy cell phone with a gazillion features- likely just a cell phone where she can call certain pre-programmed numbers. If she's going to be out of my sight on her own, I want her to be able to contact me at any time, and, likewise, I want to be able to contact her at any time.

Put me on the jealous side of the group. It's snowing again here today. :P

I live in Pennsylvania which is pretty regulated. I have never purchased any software. There are certain "required subjects" here so I put aside "samples" periodically of work we do in that subject (photocopies). At the end of the year when I submit my portfolio, it will have 3-5 samples from each subject in it, from beginning, mid and end year. For subjects that I might not have some sort of paper or worksheet on (say gym, or music), I might include a flyer, a photograph, and/or sum it up in a brief 'summary' stating the types of things we did for each required subject. We have to submit a log of reading materials, and I maintain that on a wordpad document on my computer. It only has to be listed by title, so whenever we read a book together or she reads one on her own or I use one for resource/reference materials, etc, I go add it to the list, save it, and print it out at the end of the year. We have to do standardized testing in certain grades, so we do that, and those results also have to be submitted. We have to show some sort of "attendance calendar" (how dumb is that for homeschoolers haha) and I use a statement about how we feel life and learning are inextricable and have therefore more than met the requirement and blah blah blah and they have accepted that so far. We have to hire an evaluator at the end of each school year and s/he will give a form letter stating that an appropriate education has been received, and that, too, must be included with the portfolio that must then be submitted to the district. That's about the extent of it (other than the affidavit and objectives that have to be filed at the beginning of each school year).

That show was so cute, and I totally kept wiping my eyes, too! :D

I like posts like this. They make public school semm even less relivant which, in turn, makes me feel even better/confident about my decision to homeschool! :D

Me, too! Planning for them, anticipating them, enjoying them- I just hate unpacking when I get back home haha.

Not too uncommon by me, either. Someone might have a sign on the door saying "Please come in and remove shoes" if they're hosting a playdate or some such. I don't ask guests to take their shoes off, but I've never been even remotely bothered or offended by being asked to do so at someone else's house. Some people prefer it, some don't. It's no biggie either way. I can't imagine having strong feelings about it one way or another lol.

Oak Meadow does ancients in 6th grade. :)

Glad you all found this post helpful. I hope others, do, too. I hate to see people being deterred from a program that would really suit their family because they got scared off by negative hype about it not being good enough. It's good enough for us! Thanks for sharing your experience, too! :) Maybe a few others will chime in yet. As for me, I'll be trolling the WTB and FS boards soon looking for TT6 which we will definitely be moving on to -worry free!- in the fall. :)