Be warned--my friend did this exact thing with her youngest daughter, only with pierced ears. The kid did it the first week. :bigear: <--now with earrings

I have a children's atlas, the DK book on children around the world, and a library card. Every week we'll learn about a country (or group of countries, like Scandinavia), read a folktale or two, maybe a recipe or whatever fun stuff. Then I think I'll make a little passport out of paper stock and we can put stamps in it or something. I haven't drawn up a schedule of countries yet, but I will soon. When I did the same thing with my older girl, we did world geography for 30 weeks and American history for 6, so she knew about George Washington, Lincoln, major things like that.

I think a lot of us hear the word "submission" and get an image that is not actually what people mean when they talk about it. Maybe it would help if we had a different word!

I think it would be OK for that purpose for someone in, maybe, junior high or more. I remember being quite shocked by it at 15 (though not harmed). But 4-6 grade?? No. And I'm surprised to see it listed as a resource anyway--I'm sure there isn't much around on the Congo, but still. I know what you mean about 20th-century history--SOTW 4 is pretty grim (and confusing). I'm having my little 1st grader do world geography instead of history along with her big sister this year...

I've been doing my annual summer job of making out a reading list from the SOTW activity book (among other resources) and today I came across a recommendation of "Tintin in the Congo." :ohmy: I didn't even know you could get it in America--I only ever saw it in Denmark--but what in goodness' name is it doing on a book list?? Is it maybe supposed to be an object lesson or something? All the description says is that "Tintin and Snowy head to the Belgian Congo. (4-6)" It did have the 'preview' warning attached. I should say so...

A plus for us classical folks--Anne studies Latin. :D

Anne takes several books to become a teacher and get married; she spends a lot of time in school and college. Anne of Avonlea has her studying and, I think, going to Queens. Your daughter would probably enjoy it.

I recently saw a clear mid-life crisis--an older guy driving a red Viper car. His license plate said VENIMUS and I spent several minutes trying to figure out what that meant--we come? we will come? here we come? and why it was there. Then I realized--Viper car, "venomous"--it wasn't Latin at all!

I mean kasha--I don't think I like Kashi. I cook it in milk and California it up with honey, walnuts and dried cranberries. I buy the Wolff's box from the Jewish section at the grocery store. I keep meaning to try out the side dishes too, but haven't got round to it yet.

Kasha is my favorite breakfast. I like kugel and latkes and lots of things, but I can't say I cook those things regularly.

The biggest thing is to take 30 seconds after every shower to squeegee the glass. That takes out about 99% of the work.

We quit watching Torchwood after a few episodes. My husband and I aren't old enough for that stuff. :glare: Torchwood was made for the later-evening slots and was never meant for kids. Sarah Jane Adventures, though, is a lot of fun and I bet your kids would enjoy it. I'm a big Doctor Who fan and we're re-watching the whole thing right now (starting with Christopher Eccleston, that is, not the whole dang show--I love Tom Baker episodes though and we watch those too).

Yeah, I love the campaign songs, but this Obama one is good too. Thanks!

My husband miraculously gets the opportunity to work in the UK for a couple of years. We move there temporarily. I homeschool the kids 3 days a week and we go out on trips the rest of the time, exploring and learning history etc. At the end, we come back to our beloved hometown, which I can't leave permanently.

Dangerdad is my husband.

No advice, but I like the way you are trying to deal with things. You're in a tough situation and I wish you the best. I like the homeschooling comparison, and I guess I would just try to be honest about why he can't be treated at home--without blaming the parents.

:iagree: This is pretty much how I feel. No, I don't believe in some cosmic force called luck, but I say it all the time because it's a general wish of good will.

I KNOW!! Several times this year I've checked out quite new books, only to find highlighted sections or penciled notes. I just recently got one on the history of codes, and all the puzzles have the answers written in!! :cursing:

It's nothing all that overt like that, just that the series assumes that the lessons are for girls and mothers to do, and that the girls will grow up to be homemakers. It's clear that the authors are coming from a very conservative Christian background, with the assumptions that women are to be in the home and not working outside it. I would not say that they assume a woman's homemaking role to be inferior or anything like that. (But I would bet that they subscribe to wifely submission etc. though there is nothing like that in the book.) I think it may partly grate on me more than it should, because I'm not coming from the same kind of background. So even though I'm all for having a parent at home raising the kids and so on, I'd still prefer something more unisex, meant to teach boys and girls similar skills. Which I have not found. And I do think this is a good series--just don't show it to a boy if you're giving him the lessons! I'd be very interested to see the boys' series and compare.

I've never seen the boy ones, so can't comment on those. I have the first one for girls. The lessons could mostly be used for boys, certainly--there are sections on cooking, sewing, cleaning, and organization. A boy might not care about learning to sew a buttonhole (box) stitch, but most things will apply to anyone. However, the book itself is quite sexist and I wouldn't recommend actually showing it to any boy you plan to teach it to. If you go to the Pearables website, there is a list of chapter headings for the girls' books, and I presume the boys' books as well. ETA that I have used the first book successfully and do plan to get the others, despite the awful illustrations and sexism. Because I'm no good at thinking this stuff up, and they are pretty decent lessons.

We haven't focused on it--yet--but we've talked about it. We have no problem with evolution, though. (We are also religious.) I'm hoping to be able to buy that timeline from Charlie's Playhouse this year... I can't remember learning much evolution as a kid in school, though it was there. I just had a rotten education. :001_smile: I do know quite a few people who only teach 'creation science.'

I have found Cooking with children to be an excellent book for teaching cooking. It's meant for 7 and up.

This. I have never signed up for the emails, because it would drive me mad. What I did was read the book (which is pretty much the basic website, only more readable to me) and use the principles behind it. I designed my own chore schedule. I really like the Zone idea, and now I use her Zone schedule, which you can get on her website (I just get the 'sneak peek for the week' from there instead of the emails). So what I would do is look over the website and see if you think it will fit you. The tone may drive you crazy (or not), but look at the principles and see what you think. There are quite a few usable ideas in there. For someone as messy as I am, it really helps to think of some of her adages--housework half-done still blesses your family, don't exhaust yourself, etc. You don't have to do it all today or have a perfect home, you just need to do a little bit every day.

I'm a 16-18. I hate shopping, because it makes me feel poor and fat at once. :). But I really have had good luck at Kohl's. (And my SIL is more plus-sized than I am.)

Hey, come on! ;) I know Chico doesn't have much, but it isn't a desert. I have had better luck at Kohl's than almost anywhere else, and when I made my Sacramento SIL drive all the way to her Kohl's, she found just what she needed. I've had some luck at Penney's, too.