I was out at bible study the other night and dh was putting the kids to bed and had this exchange with my 5 yo: ds: Daddy? What are boy booKies for? dh: I don't know, ds. (ever the avoider of deep conversations) ds: Ok, I'll ask Mommy. She knows all about booKies. :lol: I guess that's sort of accurate in a way!:D

Here. :lol::lol::lol:

I'm glad I saw this, I thought it was coming out in theaters. Off to add it to the queue!

I downloaded the 3 writing ones and the lit analysis one, and also the "Joy of Classical Ed". So far that's the one I've listened to and I loved it! For some reason now that I've heard her voice it will make absorbing what I read in TWTM so much more meaningful. I'm embarrassed to say that I just bought the book last week and am just now getting into it.:blush: I started out as more of a CM homeschooler but I'm being converted to the neo-classical style and everything is suddenly resonating with me!! I'll be back to discuss the lectures more too.

Check the Lowe's website. They have TONS in all sizes. We just got a great one. I ordered it online to be delivered to the store and didn't pay shipping because it was site-to-store. It took about 7 days. But they also have lots of them in the store.

OP, I'm so glad you asked this. My dd is in CLE 3 about to start 4 and I really like it. But my son starting K in Fall won't be ready. If both CLE 1 and R&S 1 are best left for 1st grade, what to do for K? I've looked at Horizons...is that a good one? I'm just so lost. Too. many. choices!!!

We're there too, with the struggles. :bigear: I was assuming we needed to be through 5th before starting LoF. But we are behind a little and only in CLE 3 (almost done!) because I was filling in gaps from ps. Our plan is to do CLE 4 now thru summer and start CLE 5 in Fall at the beginning of 5th grade. Is LoF doable then or wait until the end of 5th grade to start it?

Mine is in a short sale situation. If we don't sell, they will foreclose. But I think we have an offer on the table today after a MAJOR price reduction. Problem is I doubt our mortage co wil accept it. I hope they counter back something reasonable so this couple doesn't bolt. Seems a lot of us are in a tough spot.

How can I move on and function with my day with all these tears! So beautiful. Words fail me. I hope your friend reads this.

:) Love it!

I think I might get this diagnosis and it's scaring me. I have had high bp ever since my son was born in 8/04. Today at the dentist (they take it there:confused::001_huh:) it was 140/90. I'm concerned and going to track it at home same time each day, hoping it was an anomaly. If not I will run, not walk, to my doc.:(

There are lots of us using the higher levels. Did you by chance do a search? It might be hard to search though as "CLE" will pull up tons! I'm using the 4th grade level right now. I think it's just right. Not too easy, but not too hard. It's a spiral program and that seems to be what my dd needs. I'd look at the scope and sequence to get an idea of what's covered. We are really liking it! You can do a diagnostic test also to find out what level is just right.

We went to Playa in Nov '08 with our kids and LOVED it!!! There is so much to do there. We loved the town of Playa, the ferry and day trip to Cozumel, a day trip to Tulum to see the ruins and have dinner on the beach was one of our favorite memories ever. It was probably our best vacation so far. Visit http://www.playa.info for a pretty nice forum where you can read through posts from people who are obsessed with the area. I also liked Trip Advisor for finding out good tips on where to stay. Most hotels in the area are all-inclusive, and there are tips online about finding the ones that will allow 5 in the room. I won't necessarily recommend the place we stayed because it was a time-share gift from my mom. But it was very nice and right in town, just not a nice beach and we did miss that. I'm assuming you have your passports? Better get on it if not. And air fare to Mexico is so cheap compared to a lot of vacation deals. Have fun...I'm jealous!!!:tongue_smilie:

Wow! This looks cool! I have often wished for a virtual or online envelope system since I can't seem to manage cash envelopes on my own. I just don't like managing all that cash in real life, and something like Quicken seemed too difficult to set up. I should have known there was something out there. Question: When I googled "mvelopes" there's a main site, so I had to google "crown mvelopes" to get to the Crown Ministries website and find mvelopes there. Is there an advantage to going through Crown? We did take the Crown Ministries course last year and it was quite eye opening biblically, but didn't teach us much new stuff from what we had learned in Financial Peace. I have to go to the dentist (see, there's an expense I should have been saving for!!!) so I'll take the tour when I get home. Thanks for sharing about it!!!

Guess mine's kinda obvious. I don't want to change it because I'm afraid people won't "know" me! I don't like it when people I know change theirs because I'm a visual person and remember pics/faces not names!

The lesson sample they have online seems long. Is it one lesson per day or are you supposed to break that down?

The best one that I have found is Heart of Dakota. I didn't think the bible elements were tacked on at all, just really woven throughout the study to show God's providential hand in history, science, etc. That's the best one that I've found that's a COMPLETE curriculum. I did Bigger Hearts last year (Am History for 4th grade with a biographical bent) and am doing Preparing Hearts this year (overview of world history). I am dropping HOD for next year because we've decided to join a local Classical Conversations campus and I just can't do HoD (it's just too full and rich on it's own) and I'm going to miss it SO much. There are lots of samples online, and a nice forum for answers to questions you might have on how to combine kids, etc. Good luck!:D

My dd and I love pretty much anything on FoodTV. Good Eats has the science thrown in which is very cool. She also likes most of those celebrity chef shows like Rachel Ray, Ina Garten, Giada, Paula Deen, etc. And I like Bobby Flay (he has a couple but I like Throwdown where he competes with normal people) and I have a crush on Tyler Florence. Emeril gets on my nerves, but that's just me. One that your son might really like is "The Next Food Network Star". It takes normal people and puts them through challenges each week to come up with someone in the end that gets a show on FoodTV. You might be able to find that on Netflix. On the Travel Channel we love Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods and also enjoy Man vs Food. All of these are squeaky clean. And I think FoodTV does a great job of balancing female vs male chefs so you never get the idea that being a chef is a girly thing!

I also had a nice experience as a new parent with the Ezzos. All of the things the op posted are positives for us too. My caveat is that I took the "Growing Kids..." classes (baby, toddler, older kid) as classes with a group. In this way we watched videos of the Ezzos teaching and could discuss it as a group and with a teacher that had implemented these ideas. (When you hear them speak it seems there is no way you could misinterpret his intentions in scheduling!) I am a fairly intelligent person and it would have NEVER occurred to me that the Ezzo methods would have lead to any problems. I think it's because in our classes we had so much support and help in understanding "moderation" and the clues from our babies that might be present if there was a problem. I honestly don't know how I would have survived those first few years without these skills. I was SO uprepared for parenting and had no family close by. Just close friends from church (lots of them) who had great experiences with the Ezzos who could come along side me and help me. I stayed out of the other thread, but it does give me pause that if the Ezzos are as dispised as the Pearls but yet I had a perfectly positive experience, maybe the Pearls are somewhat misunderstood too. As with any advice, someone somewhere is going to pervert and distort it for their own means. Just like people do with the Bible.

I think the fact still remains that even though he had the wrong friend of his daughter, he still acted in an inappropriate way. I am shocked that the parents had no alarms going off in their heads! You know that feeling when you *almost* have a car accident? Personally, I'm glad there are moms like you and I would have been so grateful you acted as quickly as you did! :grouphug:

Chloe, this is an intriguing idea for us. My dd is in CLE after public school, and it's working well. I'm about to start my Ker next fall and couldn't decide what to do with him. I will look at this option! Thanks!

For my dd for 5th next year we will use: Math and Reading/Literature: Christian Light Educ Math level 500 and Reading 5 & 6 Spelling: Megawords Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing Language Arts: we're doing Classical Conversations next year and will do Essentials of English Language through that program Science: Ecology, Astronomy and Physical Science through various sources and living books History/Geography/Timeline: Pre-Reformation through Modern using Mystery of History, Child's History of the World, Famous Men of ... and various living books, notebooking pages, lapbooks, research projects Art: studying Impressionists and possibly using Atelier Music: composer study and music theory using a Recorder and Classics for Kids Latin: Latin for Children A Bible: we will work on memorizing Ephesians 6 throughout the year and also memorizing our catechism from our church Spanish: still looking for the right resource to continue our Spanish study

Julie, I'm a larger size than you, by a lot, and I wear yoga pants from Old Navy. Yes, they "cling" but they are long enough - usually a big problem for me - and they are the MOST comfortable things I own. You'd do fine in an XL or maybe even a L. They don't stretch out and get that baggy butt and knees that sweats do. They are my new fav thing, so much so that I now own 6 pair! NO EXCUSES that I have nothing to wear. They might be hot as summer approaches, but I'll tackle that later! I also had to find shoes that help with over-pronation, which is the term when you walk on the outside of your foot that tends toward ankle twisting. I also have plantar fasciitis. I wear running shoes because they tend to have more heel support, and are lighter than walkers. I got some insoles that help with PF, and I wear a larger size than my normal shoe to accomodate the insole, and socks. Plus a larger size, or wider width, or even a men's will have a larger toe box that will help with your ankle issues. So yes, I wear a special outfit. I guess I just feel like I'm gearing up to do it. It makes me feel like I can and should push more, like I'm really exercising, if I wear the correct clothes. But I'm not really a big sweater - no matter how hard I push (and this is something I want to work on), so I often can wait to shower for a while. So I can come home from a walk, get breakfast and get some school stuff started before I take a break and take a shower. HTH! You can do it!!!:D

:iagree:Very well said Donna!!!

Thanks for posting this! It was a great article and I really enjoyed the videos of great teachers in action.