Thanks fshinkevich! I'm headed over to Amazon and checkin' it out right now. I appreciate you doing that for me. Blessings, Lucinda

Good tip. I will keep that in mind. Do you know what model you have? Blessings, Lucinda

Aren't they like $600-800? I've seen a store demo and thought they were nice, but.... Blessings, Lucinda

Nope, we've got a red-headed mutt that does a good enough job of shedding already. LOL! Blessings, Lucinda

I'd say the $200-300 range would be the most I would be willing to pay for a vacuum. Thanks for looking it up! Blessings, Lucinda

Sorry about your rough day....truly I am! :grouphug: And I just want you to know that we had a VERY rough day today at our house too. It was so bad that we started shouting, then there were tears, and then we decided to hug, put the books away and watch a movie for the rest of the afternoon. Some days are just that way. Aren't you glad that we have this place to come and commiserate? Blessings, Lucinda

For some reason my family has gone through a half a dozen vacuum cleaners within a decade. They all seem to die or lose suction power within 1-2 years. Is this just us, or have you also noticed that the quality of these machines has gone downhill? Maybe my problem is that I can't afford the really expensive brands. I don't know for sure, but I've had TERRIBLE luck with vacuums and it is driving me to frustration. Right now I have an Electrolux lying in a heap on the living room floor and my floors are dirty. I bought it brand new just over a year ago (hence, no warranty), and it will no longer suck up dirt. I have wood floors and area rugs in most rooms, and we have an upstairs. I do not like upright models, but rather prefer to use a canister style vacuum. It needs to be powerful yet lightweight and easy to move around. Does anyone have a suggestion? So is it me? Am I the death to vacuums, or do you have a similar problem? Blessings, Lucinda

Thank you for the encouragement, Elizabeth. :001_smile: Blessings, Lucinda

About the copywork...my dd is in remedial handwriting this year. We are putting in lots of practice in because she needs improvement. It is really starting to show too, so I think that it is much more than busywork. My goal is to work with dd on this for the first part - middle the year, while gradually adding in more composition. We have the WA program with TOG and are just getting our feet wet. She has a good understanding of sentence and paragraph structure already (SE gave her a good foundation in that during 2nd and 3rd grades.) I have to admit that we have not done much outlining though, so thanks for the tip. That would be a great addition to what we do in writing during the week as we start to increase on the composition. I guess I'd have to say that my goal for the next two years is to guide my dd into writing clear, concise, well-constructed language in a neat, legible fashion. Blessings, Lucinda

Anybody? :bigear: Lucinda

I'm with the rest of the girls. I'd give just about anything to have our curriculum cost $200. We don't have a very good library system either, so we buy our books and I try to resell any that we don't want to keep in our family library in order to recoup as much as possible. And my saving grace, like another poster said, is that it is still much cheaper than private school. Blessings, Lucinda

...but when I do, then something cool comes up that makes me realize its worth it all. Last weekend, for example, dd spent the weekend with her bff who goes to ps. When dd came home she commented on how much she is starting to notice that her vocabulary exceeds her friend's. It was not a put down on dd's part, she just wanted to confide in me about how she realizes this more at their current age than she did in the past. (They have been friends since the age of 4.) Then there are days that dd opens up and engages in very meaningful conversations about the theology or the history she is reading. She is starting to connect dots, and she often just blows me away when sharing her insight. At moments like that, I am confident beyond words that we are doing the right thing. And then there's the pure JOY I experienced recently when I used SL's reading assessment tools and found out that dd's reading level is well over two grades higher than her actual grade. I try to hold on to these memorable moments whenever I feel anything close to "same-o, same-o" creeping into my day. Blessings, Lucinda

LOL! Actually, we are new to EG and Daily Grams this year and dd REALLY likes it. Its very simply put together so its easy to understand --- takes very little time so we have more time for other fun stuff. Blessings, Lucinda

We're set up in a similar way, but we have a separate grammar/composition notebook for the LA assignments. Dd's main TOG notebook has her weekly assignments too. Blessings, Lucinda

:001_smile:

Since reading the op I have been wondering if I also am giving my dd enough writing during the week. I, too, would like to have some feedback and/or suggestions. Most weeks our plan includes the following: MONDAY - Write out all assignments for the week, plus 1-2 pages of dictation or copywork. TUESDAY - 2-3 pages copywork (I work one day per week, so dd is with Grandma and works independently on this day.) WEDNESDAY - TOG composition assignment (length varies - usually writing time is about 45 minutes.) THURSDAY - Literature worksheets, 1-2 pages of dictation, revise/edit composition assignment from Wednesday. FRIDAY - 2 pages copywork. Along with these writing exercises and assignments, dd is doing EG and Daily Grams, and we are just adding SP next week. She also writes for fun at least once a week, sometimes more. I'd appreciate any feedback on how this looks and if it seems to be enough for her level. Dd is a very strong reader and enjoys writing as well. Blessings, Lucinda

I am so glad you posted this! I needed to read because I think it will make a huge difference to my dd. She is a 5th grader using TT6, and is doing very well with it so far. I like your idea about going to the MUS website for worksheets just to mix things up a bit. I know that in the world of art it is considered to be good to have more than one teacher. The idea is that it gives you many ideas and points of view. Math is also a creative persuit, so it seems to me that the same reasoning would apply. Great idea!! Blessings, Lucinda

Ooooh, those are great points! I especially like the point about her showing signs of wanting deeper levels of understanding. I'm noticing the beginning of this already, so I will be paying close attention. And there is such flexibility for us in moving up with either all subjects or some as needed. This is much better to my way of thinking than just moving up everything at the beginning of each year. Heck, we could do that in ps! Blessings, Lucinda

I really like your answer, Renaissance Mom! Thanks for sharing that wisdom. It totally makes sense to me. blessings, Lucinda

Across Five Aprils. Loved that book as a read aloud last year, even though dd was an advanced 4th grader -- I know it would be a great read for an 8th grader. Goodness, I loved the book myself! :hurray: Blessings, Lucinda

:bigear: Surely HeatherH and I aren't the only ones with UG/D transition dc.... Anyone else making this decision about when and how? Blessings, Lucinda

When using the classical model for programs like TOG and TWTM, how do you know when to transition your child from Grammar to Dialectic/Logic stages? And do you just make the jump all together, or in small stages? How exactly did you make the transition? I am currently using UG level for my 5th grader this year, as this is the first year we've used TOG and it seemed like the best plan for us starting out. She is an advanced reader and strong communicator, but I didn't want to jump too far ahead too fast. I am planning to add some pre-logic critical thinking lessons when we move on to the next unit of study though, and I am looking at the Dialectic threads and lessons and using some of the discussion points for her here and there. So far I don't feel that we'll completely jump over there yet, and I've already purchased the books for UG. I'd be very interested in knowing how you made the change and when. Thanks for your input! :bigear: Blessings, Lucinda

I would encourage you to print off a copy of the Homeschool Progress Report 2009 from the HSLDA website and share it with your dh. Here is the link to the site and page you can access to get to the report. Once you are there, click on the link with name listed below and you can download the PDF file. View the final version of Homeschool Progress Report 2009 There's also a website to visit (if you haven't already)for people like you folks, that are new to hs'ing and need some assurance and information. YouCanHomeschool.org I read this literature when I was in your place and it got me started in the right direction. The best help I got, hands down, was the book The Well Trained Mind (referred to here as TWTM) by Susan Wise Bauer and her mother Jessie Wise. When I got my hands on that book my whole world (as well as my dd's whole world) changed! If your dh is a reader, you might want to offer it to him as well. I was very fortunate to have a dh that was in agreement with what I wanted to do for our child by hs'ing, but I do know that if I felt as strongly about it as you obviously do and had a dh that was apprehensive, I would certainly hold my ground and work on wearing him down. As you can see by the testimonies of others here on this thread alone, unsure spouses can be won over. Blessings to you as you start your new journey. Lucinda

Well, there you go! Thank you again SilverMoon. I guess the Red Herring suggestion ended up smelling bad in the long run - LOL! Blessings, Lucinda

Wow! Thank you for the tip! What level in this series would you start a 5th grader who, like I said earlier, has no background in critical thinking exercises? And BTW, does anyone know for sure if the recommendation is still the same (or not) in the newer edition of TWTM? Silvermoon seemed to think so, but wasn't stating it for a fact. Thanks everyone! Blessings, Lucinda