I ordered the CD because this Mac is funky and won't unZip (don't bother trying to tell me how - we've tried it all). Anyways I was concerned too and got an email that said that the way it works is that they wait until the close of the deal to submit all orders to the company from whom you are purchasing. Good info to know for future purchases. So in my case I still have another 10 days or so to wait. No biggie for the good deal I got tho!:D

EEK! Okay, it's not the bats that freak me out, it's the scratching in the walls. When I was a kid (middle school?) we went to the movies and saw Aliens. That movie freaked. me. out. Then we had mice in the walls of our house and would hear them scratching at night. I dreamed often that it was the Alien that would pop out at any minute.:eek::leaving:

We left our mega church after 8 years and no one knew we left. :confused: It was just so mega-huge that you'd never know if your friends were there but in different services than you. The first time we visited our new church, which isn't tiny really, but medium I'd guess, one of the first things that struck us was that all the elders especially knew we were visitors and made a point of introducing us. Then they recognized us on subsequent visits. It's a very nice feeling to think the leadership of the church, not just lay members, knows your name and cares when you are not there. I'm glad you had a great day!

:grouphug: I hope you will find some answers soon.

I just got done watching it tonight. We got it from Redbox. I'm still crying.:crying: I didn't think it was boring or had over done sentimentality. The part that got me the worst was seeing the pics of the real dog at the end. What a truly beautiful story that deserved being told. I'm a HUGE sap when it comes to animal movies and it was pretty much a guarantee that I'd cry. My 9.5yo dd loved it and was very moved, but my 5.5yo son could care less. :thumbup: Two thumbs up in my house!

We recently downsized and lost about 800 sq ft. I love it. We now have a quieter street almost like a cul-de-sac and are adjacent to the walking track and path to the park, and a creek runs behind this house. So my kids are outside 24/7 and yesterday for the first time EVER played with neighbor kids. It was so awesome it practically made me cry! My old house was nicer and lots more space. We could all really spread out. But it was on a pretty busy street, and no neighbor kids around (teens next door on one side, and older boys on the other, so none right for my kids). I've lost my formal dining room (this house has one but it's our library/school room). We also lost a bedroom and a gameroom and a formal sitting room. The kitchen and family room are also smaller. I'm hosting bible study tomorrow night for the first time and am already thinking how crowded it will be. I need to think of it as *cozy*. Overall the change has been a HUGE blessing for us. Rethinking our priorities to have less emphasis on stuff and things.:D

I would NOT judge the whole program based on one email from the director. She doesn't produce the materials. And odds are she doesn't even tutor. She just might have been having a bad day, in a hurry and didn't even mean to send out that draft. All of us make mistakes. Can you attend an open house to get a better feel for the parents and tutors there?

Hmmmmm...Now that I think about it, the OP did ask "who DOES NOT like CLE?". So those of us defending it should have probably kept our opinions to ourselves as there are plenty of *we love CLE math* threads already, huh?:tongue_smilie: OP, I hope you do find the answers you are looking for. I'd rather have teeth pulled than agonize over more math curriculum choices!;)

My experience with CLE has been very positive and I don't feel like I am writing off my dd as unmathy or incapable of learning mathematical reasoning at all. I pulled her from ps mid-3rd grade. She had been doing Everyday Math and drill, drill, drill. She hated math and felf very stupid. We went straight into Singapore as that's what I thought was the "best" math program, and she foundered miserably, and so did I. As a new homeschooler I didn't (still don't) have much confidence in teaching math and when she failed miserably with Singapore I freaked out. I turned to CLE as an option simply because of the spiral approach. DD has thrived. So much so that she tries now to beat her own time with speed drills, and gets very disappointed with anything less than a 95 on her quizzes and tests. Her confidence with math has blossomed and she no longer feels like a dummy in math. No more tears and groaning! Now I have purchased MM and I plan to add in MM 50/50 with CLE this fall. It's my hope that it's easier to teach and learn from (than Singapore was for this dd), and will give us that foundation in math reasoning and conceptualizing that I would have hoped for. My son will start math day 1 with Miquon and MM. Not because he's a boy or I have any assurance he will do well with these approaches, but I will not be "undoing" some damage to self confidence and poor learning style like I did with my dd. If Miquon and MM don't work well for him, I will do whatever I can to find what does. Bill, I am disappointed that you would come here and make people who have selected CLE as a good fit to be inferior because of their choice. My dd is retaining math concepts, is advancing nicely, and now has the confidence to attempt something like CWP and new ideas because of the help I got from CLE.

:lurk5: I'm gonna buy it this summer (so my 1 year subscription will last a whole school year) and I can't wait! I know we will use it mostly for Spanish class, but I am very excited about the science and history stuff on there as well. I will look forward to what everyone reports!

:lol::lol: Back to the ham... I thought about the leaving the house thing too. But I leave all the time with my hot water heater on, my furnace, various and sundry other appliances. And I have many, many times used my oven for hours at a time while I'm home, and it's always been fine. I know, I know, there's only one time for something to happen. I guess in some ways the crock pot seems safer, so I'd go that route if you're uncomfortable. Honestly I hadn't even talked it over with my husband, so I guess I should before I decide to leave the house with the oven on! We'll be gone about 3 hours. Have a happy and blessed Easter no matter what!

Mine needs 3 hours in a 350 oven. I'm thinking I will give it more like 5 on a much lower oven so that I can combine my sweet potatoes and green beans in there when I leave for church and everything will be hot and ready when we get home. A crock pot is a good idea tho! But since I have other sides that have to be hot as soon as we walk in the door, I'm gonna try it this way. Good luck with your ham!:D

Try this site. It has some good stuff. You can also use a translator (just google for one - but google translate doesn't do latin) and put in the phrase or words you want until you find something you like.

LOVE the name Henry! It was also on my short list but because my last name is so common, ordinary and boring, we opted for something more unusual sounding. GL! I think it's great and Henry Jameson sounds very Presidential too!:D

Wendi, CONGRATULATIONS! Your story is inspirational to me! I have what I consider A LOT of weight to lose. I've been on Medifast for a while and have lost my mo-jo for it. I've lost about 35 lbs, but still have a ways to go and got burned out and discouraged. I need to get back on the wagon and really work the program. I signed up through a center, so the cost was enormous, and I am now feeling like such a failure because I only have about 7 weeks left in my contract time and I should have lost SO MUCH more by now. But, the reality is that I can get back in there and lose what I can while I have them, and then still continue the program on my own. I have an appointment to weigh in tomorrow morning (:glare:It won't be good after about 5 weeks off) and I was just thinking this morning about skipping it. Your post was just in time today! I will keep my appointment. The piece of the puzzle that I have not yet mastered is exercise. I know I need it, I just don't wanna. I really have to tell myself that if I will just go for a walk EVERY DAY then gradually I will be able to build up more and more of a fitness level. My goal was to buy myself a bike when I had lost 50lbs, and I don't have that much farther to go to get there! Thanks again for sharing!! Good for you!!

Thanks Kim. I did know about them and looked into starting a chapter in my area. Unfortunately their requirements were pretty steep for starting a local chapter and I just can't commit to taking that on right now. But it does look like a great organization. It's been discussed here before and I think there are a few people involved with it on this board. :D

We use CLE and I'm about to start supplementing with Math Mammoth, which is similar to Singapore. It think they will be a good fit. We tried Singapore when I pulled her mid 3rd from ps and it was a dismal failure for both of us. I have the CWP books and might pull some problems from them but I don't want to overwhelm my non-mathy dd. I just hope to keep her from becoming a math hater/fearer like me. I think MM will be similar to Singapore but easier to teach and understand. I'm hoping to be able to keep the CLE/MM combo through 6th grade and then do the 3 LoF PreAlg books for 7th, and then on to Algebra for 8th.

I think ours is kinda lame and I will need to come up with something more official sounding. It's Penny Lane Academy. Penny is my dog's name. :001_rolleyes: But we're also HUGE Beatles fans, which is why she's named Penny. We only looked to the Beatles for that kind of inspiration.:tongue_smilie: Anyways, there it is. It's not "academic" enough for high school transcripts I don't think but the kids refuse to let me change it.

I was just thinking tonight that I need to figure out what to do for Lit Analysis for next year. Do you have a source for free study guides for various books you can point me to? This might be the best option since my budget is pretty much spent. I am wondering if getting Classics in the Classroom would be a good book for me to have (we're not doing MCT right now) to get me up to speed with Socratic dialog and then have the lists of books to choose from. Can you all recommend it for that? This coming year (5th gr) will be our first at attempting any kind of lit analysis and I have no idea where to turn or what to do. I can find lists of good books everywhere, I need help studying them!!

Happy birthday tomorrow!!!

This thread has been very reassuring for me, so thank you. I feel like I try, and that's all I can do right now. Heaping tons of guilt on myself because I gave my son a regular ol' WalMart purchased banana is just not something I can handle right now. I like that "good, better, best" comment. Right now I am doing pretty good with our food choices, but I can do better. Once I get a handle on the better, then I will strive for best.

Have a nice trip away, my friend! Try to :chillpill: and :grouphug: with family!:D

Gotcha, makes sense actually.:D

But Mariann, wasn't it weird that she didn't tell you she was traveling to Orlando? Do you guys not talk that often? I can see you not mentioning that your dh would be there if he travels a lot and she couldn't keep up with his schedule, but our moms don't typically jet off to Orlando without us knowing do they? Curious minds want to know...:D

In another thread someone posted a link to eatwild which is an online source to find local grassfed beef, pork, etc. And when I looked it seemed like I could use that to find options for milk, eggs, etc. I looked at Louisiana and it seemed like there were a few options you could start with. If it were me, and will be me soon, I would probably buy as much local and organic produce and meat/eggs/dairy, and then fill in what I can from the grocery store with the few items I can't get locally. It's doubtful you can do it 100% in your area, but would 75% be better than it is right now?:)