ROFL!!!! :lol::lol::lol: What a knee slapper! LOVE IT!!!!! Blessings, Lucinda

I have to say that between RC, her sons and now her sister, this forum has been better than a month of Netflix! You guys are da bomb...highly entertaining on many levels. Of course we all know that humor is what we often cling to in times of stress...I'm just so very, very glad that RC is doing better now. What we do without the Hive? Thank you SWB! Thank you!!! Blessings, Lucinda

So dd was ready to grab her literature for this week and asked me if I'd seen her book about "that stinky wolf". "What?" I say...not clear on which book she was talking about exactly. "You know," she continued. "That book about B.O. Wolf. The stinky one!" Sheeeee! :lol: Blessings, Lucinda

Our curriculum choices are in my siggy. I spend an average of $1000 per year on all curriculum for my one dd, but that includes all the resource books I buy new and used for our TOG studies. We don't have a good library situation either, so I stash away books in advance in order to have them when I need them. The good news is that I sell most of what I buy when we are done with it, and the money goes right back into more books. I may spend more than some people, but dd is getting a wonderful education that is worth every penny. Compared to the cost of private school, it is very reasonable. Blessings, Lucinda P.S. Oh, horse riding lessons are $100 mo. on average. No other extra curricular costs.

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree: :iagree: Glad to read your post today RC...what a relief!! Blessings, Lucinda

We are using Botany this year and it is great! Dd loves it, as it reinforces what she's been learning. She also loves drawing illustrations of the plants in her wb. Everything is all handy in one spot too. Well worth the money in mho. Blessings, Lucinda

If the hospital staff rejects any of the things you bring to her today, keep them in a bag in the trunk of the car so they are handy. She will probably get moved to another unit soon and the rules will change. No sense in shuffling stuff back and forth unnecessarily. Thanks for the updates, Ds2. You are a gem! Blessings, Lucinda

It's after 10:00 p.m. here on the west coast and I am just reading this thread because I have been gone all day long. The first thing that caught my attention was "Rough Collie Had a Heart Attack" on the thread feed. That REALLY caught my attention because she is a friend of mine and I care about her very much. I'm so glad that I logged on to the Internet tonight so I can pray with the others. Ds2, you did an awesome job of telling us what happened! Your family has been through a huge crisis today and God used you to be the glue that held everyone together. Way to go!!! Just let your mom know I'm praying for her and for all of you. Please keep us posted. And a word for Ds1-2-&3 and Dd, just stop and thank the Lord that you are living in this day of amazing technology. People that have heart problems get amazing care and survive situations that would have not been so good back in the "olden days". Your dear mother will be feeling much better soon and it sounds like she will be doing fine under her doctor's care, good advice and the procedures they are doing. And paying a big medical bill off bit by bit is much more desirable than losing a mother. I'm so glad that you all knew just what to do and were ready. Blessings to all, Lucinda

Funny...since this thread was started I made what I feel is a better choice for us than WS. I took a closer look at the writing program within TOG that I already own and realized I have a great resource already at my finger tips. I just had not used it to its full potential. It all started when I ran across two workshop audio files that I had purchased and forgotten about. (How often does that happen, friends? Sometimes we buy things and stick them away for awhile and well, "outa sight, outa mind"!) Once I listened to the audios, I pulled out the WA and TOG books and figured out how to make it all work. Now that we're in second semester, I'm increasing her writing to fit the TOG/WA model and so far, so good. We'll see how it goes for the rest of the year, but I'm still going to keep a look out for the premier of WWS. Blessings, Lucinda

You can count on Tina! She is a real TOG expert, has taught it at more than one level and is an excellent mentor for anyone starting out. There are also numerous TOG users here on the board that are happily using the program. Like you, I found out about it here, and I've received a great deal of support since then. I love it that TOG uses history as the backbone (spine) that pulls together other subjects. My daughter reads her core history each week, related literature books that make the history come alive, constructs a timeline and does her mapwork/geography and also writes about it in her composition work. We add our own grammar, spelling, math and science, as well as foreign language and electives. Oh, and we also add in readings from SOTW nearly every week too. (Dd loves SOTW because of its narrative style.) TOG was designed for large families to use simultaneously at multi grade levels, but I am using it for one student and it works beautifully too. Blessings to you as you explore your options! Lucinda

Thank you for doing this! I will definitely keep this in mind...right now I doubt I can buy all five levels at once, but you never know. Miracles do happen! Blessings, Lucinda

I feel your heart in this, Simka. We've relocated a few times over the years too and it is always so hard to get knitted into a new community and way of life. Hang in there, dear girl. It takes time, but it WILL happen. :grouphug: Lucinda

I went outside this afternoon only to find the streets as quiet as a ghost town. Isn't it weird? Blessings, Lucinda

I don't have the tv on today either, and dh went to our pastor's house to watch the game with a bunch of guys. I'm very happy for him, and very happy for me. Yet still, I am bored too! I always try to do something artistic on Super Bowl Sunday because that is my passion, and I let dh enjoy his passion for sports with friends without feeling guilty. But today the sky is gray here in Oregon and I just feel very blah-zay. Can't get myself to pick up a paintbrush or a pencil for anything... Maybe I should take a nap. :001_huh: Lucinda

I think I'd need the whole quote, and then I'd run short of characters...gotta admit I do love it though. Lucinda

With time, women gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, "Good Grief -- look how smart I am! I must be a genius!!" Hope your day is going well. Keep smiling! Blessings, Lucinda

Hands down, Tapestry of Grace. It has changed our lives! Blessings, Lucinda

Dd wants to become fluent in French, and I would like to learn with her. I've been back and forth on this whole foreign language thing for next year, and I have finally come to the conclusion that RS is the best fit for our family and the computers we own. I was leaning this way, and then that way....but RS has won me over and that is that. I won't be talked down from this decision now that it has been made. This curriculum is not cheap, so I have to keep my eye out. Before we can buy I was wondering, when is the best time to buy RS? I need to save as much money as possible. Also, where is the very best resource for making this purchase? Thanks for your input. Merci beaucoup! Blessings, Lucinda

Oh, I see what you mean now. I was thinking about the subject of writing at the different levels and couldn't interpret your meaning. Yes, the subject of logic is a separate thing entirely, yet with that study it will eventually weave its way into the writing and presenting, which is what rhetoric is all about. I see the beauty of all this the older my dd gets and the more I teach and learn myself. We have not encountered rhetoric level studies yet, but my take so far is that the inclusion of rhetoric skills is woven through the TOG program during the high school years as they take on a variety of projects and assignments through writing, speaking, giving presentations, etc. Ideally, an older student will have plenty of opportunities to present with the skills that they have developed throughout the stages of learning. Okay, I'm starting to ramble now...but, gosh, I do think we have a wonderful tool here with TOG. It just depends on how deep we want to go in using it. Every time I think I'll try something else after 8th grade, I wind up thinking it would be foolish to try. Blessings, Lucinda

What do you mean by this, Elizabeth? First of all I don't know what you mean by "milking" it. When you listen to the workshops, the progression in teaching writing is explained. And as to adding Rhetoric and Logic (Dialectic) to the side, that makes no sense because they are built into TOG already as you progress through the levels. WA progresses too. (Quite frankly, Rhetoric level <in all subjects> at this point in time scares the livin' daylights out of me when I think about it. We just went up from UG to D and we are still adjusting to the difference.) I'm convinced that if we follow the program as it is intended and designed, TOG and WA should be a complete writing program for students. Everyone has to draw their own conclusion about this, especially when it comes to styles of teaching and learning though. It may not be everyone's cup of tea - but as for me, I'm willing to give it my best efforts. Blessings, Lucinda

No. I plan to utilize Marcia's suggestions as I use WA and TOG assignments. I really think that will be enough for 6th and 7th grade. I'll evaluate it again after that point. One thing Marcia states in the opening is that writing is perhaps the most daunting subject for home educators to teach. We have a tendency to make it more complicated than it has to be because most of us were not taught how to teach writing. It can be made much more simple than we think it should be. I personally feel that with some guidance that the recording has provided for me, I can take TOG/WA and run with it. Blessings, Lucinda

Just last night I pulled out a couple of audio files I had purchased last summer by Marcia Sommerville, the author of TOG. I had completely forgotten that I'd bought them and had not listened to them in all these months. I could kick myself because after listening for awhile last night, I realized that I'd been searching for something that I had all along! Here I'd been scratching my head, trying to come up with a way to beef up dd's writing for this semester because I don't feel R & S has enough when it comes to composition. I'd looked again at Writing Strands and then changed my mind...then I ran in to those audio files. Now thinking it over last night and this morning, I realize that with R&S English and WA, I really do have a solid grammar & composition program for dd. I just need to implement it all to the fullest. In her presentation Marcia does some great hand holding as she walks you through the steps of teaching the writing process. It made all the difference in the world for me as I looked at WA all over again as I listened. She explains things in her presentation that just are'nt in the WA book. Then in the second audio, "Workshop II", she also explains about how to evaluate the work The audios are titled "Writing Workshop I" and "Writing Workshop II", and are available for download here at the Lampstand store in the Speech section. If you own WA, I highly recommend getting these to supplement it. I'm going to use this for the second semester and then again for 7th grade and will try to keep the Hive posted on how it's going. Blessings, Lucinda

Bump

Anyone?

AWESOME!!! Thanks for the tip, Truscifi!! I have a similar set up on my MacBook with Mariner software, although it wasn't free. But I'm excited about this possibility! :hurray::hurray::hurray: Blessings, Lucinda