Another "Suzuki" and music notation comment (not meant defensively, but to share information/experience that others might not realize is out there) -- My oldest began Suzuki cello at 5. He has always been much more of a visual learner (scary visual-spatial skills but sometimes I wondered if he had some sort of auditory glitch... something affecting auditory memory and auditory attention). Suzuki instruction was like therapy somehow and years of it really strengthened his auditory skills. He learned to sightread in book 2 (his second year of instruction) and it quickly became his preferred method of learning new music. However, he stayed with Suzuki for many more years (sightreading to learn pieces outside of the repertoire *and* listening to the Suzuki repertoire CDs). He played in orchestras and chamber music ensembles. He had flexible and creative Suzuki teachers (within strong Suzuki programs/Suzuki music schools). It was win-win. Dd began Suzuki viola at 3. She also learned to sightread in her second year. (Her Suzuki teacher used I Can Read Music.) Dd started in the student orchestra that year. She was 5. She's been in orchestras and ensembles ever since and is a good sight-reader, even considering her dyslexia, which makes sight-reading a challenge. She stayed with Suzuki for 6 years before transitioning to a traditional teacher. I credit her first Suzuki teacher for teaching her to be a strong sight-reader and her second Suzuki teacher for emphasizing sightreading in group classes each year (they played four-part viola ensembles *and* world music -- it was very cool!). Dd also played in a quartet at that Suzuki school beginning at age 8. She now attends an internationally renowned pre-college music program (with lots of sightreading). It was the Suzuki method and her wonderful Suzuki teachers who taught her what she needed to know to do well there. (PS With few exceptions, every strings student in this pre-college program started out with the Suzuki method.) I'm now on my fourth go-round with a child in a Suzuki program -- dd(6) is learning violin. Who knows how long/how far she'll go, but I know the Suzuki program (well, this one, anyway) is where she needs to start. She began her Twinkles in the spring and she's just now wading in the first pages of I Can Read Music. So far so good. : )

Dress shopping! Dd is not dancing to, but playing, tango music. She is looking for a dress (preferably longer-skirted but not long-sleeved) to wear that will "match" the music. She's not interested in skin-tight styles, but she wants to find a style as authentic as possible. Can any dancers or dress experts out there make a suggestion?

Okay... so don't stay in Hoboken and take the PATH from there...

I would recommend staying at a hotel in New Jersey and taking the PATH (the train) into the city each day. Avoid rush-hour and it's quick and easy. Much cheaper, generally, to stay in NJ.

Oh, and also -- buy Murderous Maths (just for fun). Ds loved them!

I have one (or possibly two...) for whom mathematical concepts just seemed natural, like what slackermom said above... We've always used Singapore Math (the intensive practice and challenging word problem books INSTEAD of the workbook to reduce unnecessary repetition -- I even pick through the challenging word problems books, too, never assigning the easy ones). When ds started high school he said the first 7 months of his geometry class were all review because *he'd learned it all already way back in Singapore Primary Math 6*. That blew my mind and I happily continued using Singapore Math with the younger kids. 10 year old really likes Beast Academy. If it was up to him, he'd do that instead of Singapore Primary Math (but we do both). Because we do both, we will often skip the "easy stuff"and a large portion of the repetition (in the textbook) in Singapore. I usually assign ALL of the Intensive Practice. Those problems make them think. For my dd, who doesn't ooze mathematical thinking, but who almost never makes a computational error, we used Singapore Math. If she saw a page of problems and groaned, I'd assign the hardest 2-4 and if she got them all correct, she could skip the easier ones.

Familiar with the melodies... that should be a good one. :)

The Suzuki books are heavy on the Baroque, so that could work out nicely.

Oh well, for goodness sake! That link didn't work either! Here we are: https://www.johnsonstring.com/cgi-bin/music/scripts/vvc-f.cgi?search=Viola-Sheet%20Music-Repertoire-mozart&desc1=VA&smstyle=ACSO&f=smstyle

Well, THAT link didn't work. Try this one: https://www.johnsonstring.com/cgi-bin/music/scripts/violin-viola-cello-music.cgi?itemno=VAHOLIBIGBOHL

Presumably she'll be playing alone... for self enjoyment... so I think she'd prefer playing the melody instead of a "part." If it's been a while since she's played, she should start with easier, "fun" stuff. If she'd like Christmas music (only a portion of it is religious, most of it is secular, I think, like Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree), this book was a big hit with my kids. Huge variety. Lots of "pop" Christmas and some jazzy stuff, too. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-songs-for-viola-hal-leonard-corp/1027864898ean=9781423413745&st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Core+Shopping+Books_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP648&k_clickid=3x648 There's also this Baroque Christmas book (Twelve English Carols): https://www.johnsonstring.com/cgi-bin/music/scripts/violin-viola-cello-music.cgi?itemno=TVAHOLIBAEOQDLE. It's arranged for two violas, which means they give you the melody AND the harmony, so she could first play the melody and then, later, the harmony. Another easy start might be some popular music or movie music. My kids have enjoyed these: Star Wars https://www.johnsonstring.com/cgi-bin/music/scripts/violin-viola-cello-music.cgi?itemno=VAWILLSTARWBCALF Harry Potter https://www.johnsonstring.com/cgi-bin/music/scripts/violin-viola-cello-music.cgi?itemno=VAWILLHARRYCBCALF a selection of melodies from famous movies: https://www.johnsonstring.com/cgi-bin/music/scripts/violin-viola-cello-music.cgi?itemno=VAVARITOPHITBCALF Here's a Baroque anthology: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/40-greatest-baroque-hits-volume-1-sheet-music/20262259?kw=&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CLXJw_H9nc8CFVRbhgodI5QIlA&d=sem_sidecar&d=sem_sidecar&popup=false&popup=false&utm_source=google&mkwid=s|pcrid|86117963782&ac=1&country_code=USA&sc_intid=20262259&scid=scplp16936838 Famous composers of Baroque viola music (and transcriptions for viola) include: Bach, Telemann, Vivalidi, Marcello, and Handel. I would also look for Lully, Boccherini, Purcell, Corelli, Pachelbel (Cannon!), and Rameau. Mozart is not considered Baroque, but he is, of course, awesome. Most of the Mozart stuff played by violists is ensemble (chamber) music. There are some transcribed violin concertos, and one clarinet (I think), but if your dd hasn't played in a while, it might be biting off more than she can chew to jump in at that level, especially if she's never had private lessons. Here's a link to some of those ideas, though: https://www.johnsonstring.com/cgi-bin/music/scripts/vvc-f.cgi?search=Viola-Sheet%20Music-Repertoire-Mozart&desc1=VA&smstyle=ACSO&f=smstyle Hope you find what you're looking for!

I agree with Storygirl. My daughter with dyslexia was reading above grade level by 2-3rd grade. All About Spelling was what we used when she was at that reading level. (No more "reading" instruction, but phonics is included in the spelling instruction.) It made a huge difference in her spelling and her ability to sound out unfamiliar multi-syllabic words.

No one is currently in milk, but we have milked in the past. We have used Purina Noble Goat Dairy Parlor 16 and DuMor's pelleted Goat Feed. We also use Manna-Pro mineral (sprinkled on the feed). In the past we have used a mineral/salt block picked up from the local feed store.

Some immigrants in the US (from other cultures) have the strongly held belief that fertilized eggs are healthier (some call them "live" eggs). Of course they are not nutritionally different. However, marketing... supply and demand and all that...

"Beige and shriveled" sounds like the chalaza, which is present in every bird egg. It keeps the yolk suspended within the egg white. Totally edible.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/01/facts-and-myths-about-fertile-eggs.html Take a look at these photos. Pictures show that it takes 2 or 3 days at a "sitting" temperature before the very beginnings of an embryo can appear... 1. In order to see the beginnings of an embryo, a hen would have to sit on the egg for several days straight. In practice, people would not miss that happening and would not sell eggs that had been sat upon in that way. Also, in practice, very few "laying" hens actually do this. Most hens used for efficiency in laying have had that broodiness (interest in sitting on the eggs) bred out of them. Heritage breeds and bantams will get broody from time to time, but most egg production places do not use these breeds because they lay less frequently. It costs just as much to raise/feed a chicken that lays 2 eggs a week as it does to raise/feed a chicken that lays 5 or 6 days a week. 2. Farms that sell eggs collect eggs every day (often several times a day) from nest boxes. They would not "miss" a hen sitting on eggs for several days straight. We can immediately tell which hens are broody/are sitting and we will take eggs away from her several times a day so embryos will not develop. (Broody hens stop laying, so we want to interrupt that and get her laying again ASAP. The eggs we are taking from her are the eggs laid by the other chickens. She keeps moving around the nest boxes looking for eggs to sit on.) 3. The eggs you get from the (American) grocery stores come from places where the roosters have no access to the laying hens. The eggs are infertile. Also, in practice, a farm that does not collect its eggs every day often ends up with no eggs. It doesn't take much for an egg to crack upon being laid or it gets bumped around... a curious chicken will peck at it, taste the egg, share it with others... and the farmer will soon find all of the chickens eating all of their eggs right after they are laid. The farmer would get no eggs from these hens for the foreseeable future, a business-breaking proposition.

Whenever we have found a "hidden nest" left by our free-ranging chickens (in the woods surrounding our yard), no one has been sitting on it for long enough to develop anything. We don't eat eggs if we don't know how old they are, either, though.

Thank you, BlsdMama, for saying this. I've peeked in on this thread several times and I have been stunned at the responses. We also raise/hatch chickens and have had experiences like yours. (How on earth could these eggs have been kept warm enough for long enough for a chick to begin developing??? At an egg farm???) What people are seeing is likely the chalaza of a fresh egg. Here's a link for those interested: http://imaginationstationtoledo.org/content/2011/04/the-anatomy-of-a-chicken-egg/ Or, google "chalaza egg" and look at the images. Knowledge is power!

Following lines of text and losing her place within a line were two of the red flags for us. Her eyes wouldn't see all the letters in a word, either, so one word would look like another to her and she'd misread it. Most noticeable to her pediatrician was her ability to read words like "molasses" but needing to sound out "log" or "cat" every time they came up in a paragraph (she had been sounding out words, at that point, for three years). Dd (6 at the time) often auto-filled words in text ("horse" for "pony" and "the" for "a" etc.) because she was compensating. The first clue for me happened when she was 3. She'd happily create words with magnetic fridge tiles, sounding out all kinds of things and spelling them phonetically. She could even write her letters at that point and LOVED writing whole sentences (sounding out each word and writing it, phonetically, quite clearly). BUT she couldn't read back what she had written the next day. I remember thinking it was weird and seemed so backwards. When I asked around, no one I knew had ever seen any child to do anything similar. Truth be told, we're rather outside of the box in many ways around here, though. lol

We are living with dyslexia here (dd14). She's GT, which masked the LD pretty well. Dyslexia has impacted her reading, writing, spelling, and sightreading (dd is a musician). She made a huge leap the year she turned 7, after we started using All About Spelling. Heads up: there are different types of dyslexia (dh's family has the dyseidetic type), so it's possible that what worked best for "our" type wouldn't work as well for another type. When dd was 6 and I brought one of the books she was reading to her pediatrician. I shared my concern and the doctor asked dd to read aloud. After about a paragraph, the pediatrician referred to a developmental ophthalmologist to rule out tracking and convergence issues. Ophthalmologist ruled those out (L-O-N-G appointment) and referred to a neuropsych. If you suspect dyslexia, go with your gut and check it out. I talked to friends and family members about my concerns. So many of them told me it was nothing! They said she was just neurotypical and the disconnect was *me* b/c I was used to GT ds. They said she was active, she simply wasn't a bookworm, and it was normal. They were wrong. (And IQ tests showed that she's just as gifted as her older brother.) I'm very glad I followed my gut and chased this down. (It was hard to do that while everyone was telling me I was imagining things.) Bring some books to her next check up. Tell the pediatrician about your concerns. Good luck!

Still trying to establish a rhythm... We started last week with one new subject each day. By the end of this week we should have all subjects going strong. And hopefully I will retain my sanity! Dd14 has become very responsible and independent with her schoolwork and her practice hours. I really like that because it frees me up to spend nearly all of my time with dd6 and ds10... trying to get them on task! lol The favorite thing to do here is to hide somewhere with a book when you think mother is about to call your name... I swear I spend half the day searching the house for children and the other half doing laundry, dishes, and cooking. I miss summer already! **Most loved activities are CNN Student News, history, and our daily bike ride. Oldest also enjoys her French and the younger two love their math.

Oldest did Calc I as a high school junior. This year, as a senior, he could have taken a university stat course OR a university Calc course. Both guidance counselor and engineering mentor said the stat course is strong b/c it's a college-level course, but said, hands-down he should take Calculus because he's going into STEM at university next year. (I think that means Calculus is seen as the stronger STEM course.)

We usually either make ours of piece them together. This year dd6 wants to be a mermaid... I don't know how to do a convincing mermaid costume for 50 degree weather! Help?

I love the post-it idea... and taking pictures of things... to evaluate later. I'm not planning to pad a transcript or force every little thing into a transcript listing... but thanks for the reminder, because one can easily get carried away and I wouldn't want to head in that direction. Enjoying reading what your kids have done and how you've kept track/categorized! :001_smile:

Oh... cooking! Thanks for sharing! I hadn't thought to include that. Dd spends a lot of time baking. She has watched many online tutorials and television shows on the subject and collects cookbooks... I will have to look for those Great Courses lectures. I think she'd like that! A classic kitchen science book? That sounds interesting... I'm not concerned about transcript padding. Dd will have a strong enough transcript. I am interested in keeping track, though, in order to honestly give credit where credit is due... (She spends a lot of her time following her interests and I want to make sure that I, and others in her life, appreciate that the time spent is valuable.) Plus it can't hurt to have these records "just in case" we want to put them into a college application transcript. (As of right now she is certain she's conservatory-bound to a school/schools where the admission is by audition only.) I'm also really interested in hearing about the various ways this has worked for people.