This thread is working on me... Maybe after I go through the Rod & Staff and the AG I have waiting in the wings. Same with CW. Laura

My goal is 9-4 for my 4th and 6th T-F (Mondays we do a coop 9-1). For my dd6 its 10-12. She's free to sit in on our afternoon subjects, history, art, etc, but doesn't have to. Laura

Nitaschool, Yikes that is pricey. Thanks so much for posting that. I feel better (I think). Laura

It's Classical Conversations for us. I pay more than $1400 for 3 kids. Have to do 'chores' and don't even get to leave them alone. Yet, I pay b/c my kids love it so much and learn so much. Laura

Just off the top of your head...how expensive is it???? For one year? See I don't want to even go to their site. Maybe I could pull off a Mrs. Hughes using Rod and Staff--literally. Laura

We've only used R&S 5 this year. My kids love it b/c most of it is oral. They do diagram on the whiteboard, so that helps and they seem to be retaining it. They recognize comma splice, etc in their own writing now. Laura

Ok, I'm holding out so far too. I'm waiting for the disillusionment to set in, but it doesn't seem to be happening. I've jumped on so many book-shelf clogging curricula from this board... What I really want to know is what Ms. Peggy Hughes used--I bet it was cheap. Laura

AS a person who does not want to pay for government health insurance, cash for clunkers, or corporate bailouts, I am not free to leave because no other country would accept me as an immigrant. As a former immigration attorney, I can tell you we have some of the the most (if not the most) generous of immigration laws. If a woman from Mexico crosses the border and gives birth in Texas, not only does that child automatically become a citizen (with the attendant aid to children benefits), but s/he can sponsor her mother when she is of age. We are the number one destination country in the world for immigrants. I believe it's because of our economic freedoms and opportunities. And we do allow for dual citizenship w/numerous countries. And even w/the selective service registration our freedoms from military service are greater than many other western countries. I'm not sure if it's still true in Europe/Cn/Aus, but our freedom to pursue a higher education has traditionally been much greater as well.

Are the knees a concern because of lunges?

Well you've converted me. Our rule was 88% and you only had to do half the problems (after practice) the next lesson. It's going to be tougher to convince the kiddos.

For my current 6th grader: Religion: MP Christian Studies 1, Catechism at home and Church LA: CW Aesop B, R&S 5, LCC Reading, SWO and Wordly Wise Literature: Trying to follow LCC, but also want a more literary analysis approach. Math: Saxon 7/6 (almost done) LoF Decimals, Challenge Math History: Guerber, SOTW, Kingfisher and tons on his own. Science: RS4K soon. Now just reading science-related books. This week it is on Science in Ancient Greece. Latin: just finished LCII, now either FF or Henlel Greek: Just starting Elem. Greek 1 Logic: Mind Benders, Analogies Geog: He's geography fiend and does this on his own. Art: ??? He does some at CC and we've done a bit of an artist study, but this is lacking. Some skills study: Outlining, note taking, etc. We do CC once/week. Extras: football, wrestling, fencing, baseball.

Honestly, I really don't know or care to know. At least not yet. We spend about $1400 just on CC. I know as a I get smarter it will go down. As for library fines, my sister just informed me that she has never, ever paid a library fine in her entire life. I told her our library is building a wing and naming it after our library fines. Just $12 yesterday for overdue videos from Christmas.

I'm planning on starting Aw180 days next week and then doing Mapping the World when we finish that. Laura

I haven't seen it before (I'm a Luddite), but it looks interesting. Thanks for sharing, Laura

My ds has always had problems w/transitions and not doing some activity that he doesn't feel like at that moment. In part he's a homebody and would rather just stay home. For example he loves football, but getting him out the door to go is often a struggle even though he's happy that he went. Unless he knows it's going to be the best time ever (a bounce house, etc), I never know how difficult it will be to get him going. At this age he is respectful, etc, but wasn't when he was little. He threw little temper tantrums whenever we had to go somewhere and then throw them again when we had to leave that same place that he didn't want to go. Not much advice here, but I do give plenty of advance warning if possible and let him know that some things are not optional. I also remind that there are lots of times when I don't want to do something for him, but I do it b/c that's what being in a family/having responsibilities/etc means. HTH, Laura

These are really interesting... I didn't realize I had become so stable compared to my earlier decades when I moved and changed jobs w/way too much frequency. So, in the past ten years I, moved to my first home and am still in it had 2 more children to add to my first 3 miscarriages lost my father tried to work part time as an attorney in the best job ever, but couldn't bear to be away from my kids even for a little bit, started 2 kids in private school was looking to spending some time alone w/youngest was looking forward to going back to work ds asked to be homeschooled and thought he was nuts started homeschooling published 2 (almost finished w/my 3d) book- gained more lbs than I care to admit found this message board and have bought more curriculum than I care to admit am starting to learn Latin preparing to send dh off to a deployment only owned two cars--wish there were a better alternative than mini vans lost one dog recently got two new puppies am loving the person and family I'm (we're) becoming Laura

We're going to add Greek into our day, but I'm not sure whether to start w/Song School Greek w/all three, or just start the older two w/Elementary Greek. We're also going to start a more formal science study w/RS4K, which I've been meaning to do.... And I'm going to start learning Latin alongside my kids. They've been doing it on their own and now is a good time for me to jump in. We're either going to do FFL (all three of us) or ds will do Henle, while dd9 does FFL. DD6 will continue w/SSL. Finally, I'm going to really work my workboxes and throw in at least one fun game EVERY day. There, I said it, now I have to stick w/it. Laura

Gosh I just noticed this w/my 11.5 year old, but thought it was something else. He got everything he wanted, but one thing (i-tunes). Usually, he would be happy, but today he focused on that one thing--totally unlike him. I kind of laid the guilt on hard, but feel a bit more sympathetic. I didn't realize it might have been some age related thing. Laura

I hope you get a chance to publish this somewhere. It's beautifully written and persuasive. Laura

As an Italian American I refuse to consider baked ziti or lasagna a casserole. But it looks like the Food Lover's Dictionary would prove me wrong. Laura

Merry Christmas and Happy Beach Day. You lucky dogs! Laura

Math (we're doing Saxon and Challenge Math), Latin (we just finished LCII and will do Henle), Writing (Classical Writing), Reading (along our history studies). I might have to do this for the month of January and this is what I've decided to focus on. I might have him listen to the SOTW cds. I would do the first three in the am, then reading in the afternoon. Laura

Kohl's is my favorite story b/c of their return policy if you buy w/their card. Target is second--they just look up your cc, but they're returns are limited to 90 days. Kohl's has never given me a hassle. And their sale prices are amazing. Laura

We're using Saxon and MUS, but I plan on doing word problems over the summer from Challenge Math and Singapore. So far, I've thrown in a few word problem days and my kids seemed to be challenged by both (there's a new lower elem. CM book) altho they prefer Challenge Math to CWP. There's more of a real world feel to CM. Laura

Thanks!