My recipe calls for melted butter. It seems to prevent the bread from going stale so fast. I've forgotten it and been able to work it in at the end. It's slippery and takes time, but it's worked out fine.

I'd love to hear some suggestions on colleges for dd to check out. She has no clear idea what she wants to do, but knows she does not want to pursue STEM-type majors or business. She loves theater, sewing, arty things, English Lit. The one thing she does seem to be focused on is a minor or double major in Spanish. Her current search parameters are: Smallish in size (1000-5000 students) Solid liberal arts core curriculum - preferably a required 1-2 year core. Preferably located in Upper Midwest. She isn't crazy about only being able to get home via plane at Christmas. Conservative worldview (Catholic a plus, but not an absolute) Spanish available, at least as a minor Hillsdale currently tops her list, but it's not exactly easy to get into (about a 62% acceptance rate). I'd really appreciate hearing other suggestions. I'd like to do some visits this spring if we can, at least to give her a basis for comparison. We may just visit some local schools, even if she thinks she won't go there, just for that reason.

That's really encouraging. My oldest has absolutely no idea what she wants to do (but a fairly extensive list of what she does not want to do). I was planning to set up some shadows/informational interviews this spring and summer. I really hope it helps her think about possibilities.

I had originally planned that all my kids would do Spanish, for several reasons. (Generally practical, fairly easy to find live teachers, it's the one I know, at least a little). However, we're going to end up with at least Spanish and German. I don't know that I have a really good answer, but I do think that if the student is really interested, they're going to learn more and be more willing to put the hard work in. Doesn't necessarily make the driving any better though. :) As far as practical aspects, I have been told that German can be very practical for kids interested in techy, engineering type fields. At least older ds hopes that's the case.

Take a look at Hillsdale. http://www.hillsdale.edu/

Connecting with History meets all your requirements except being open and go. I like the fact that it has resources for K-12, so you can do the same time period with all your kids (when you're ready to add them in). We like it in general, but I still use parts of SOTW as a spine for the younger kids.

I use Nordic Naturals too, and there's no "fish burp". The guy at the co-op told me that a fishy tasting Omega supplement means it's rancid. Fresh ones shouldn't have a bad taste.

A district in the nearby metro area just handed out ipads to the entire freshman class. The kids will keep them until graduation. Each new class will be given ipads as well. Too soon to know how it's going to turn out, but it was an interesting contrast to this article that I saw on another loop last week. It's an article from the NY Times that talks about how the spending on technology in classrooms hasn't been backed up by improved scores.

So I'm just wondering what happens if your child's school doesn't offer AP classes? DD attends a small, classically oriented school that currently doesn't designate any classes as AP. Their intent is for most classes to be taught at that level so kids would be prepared to take AP exams. DD does not test well, so we haven't decided whether or not she'll attempt any of the AP exams. Just curious how colleges might view that. Doesn't sound like graduates are having trouble getting accepted, but I don't know how many have applied at some of the super selective schools.

I have appliance envy. :tongue_smilie:

I did it by semester, because some of her classes were only one semester long. Now that she's in school, they report by semester as well.

I charge $40/hour for reading/spelling tutoring (I drive to them). A friend was paying $60/hour last year for a math teacher to come to her house and teach Geometry to one daughter and Algebra to the other.

I have had my Kenmore front loader for about 5.5 years. I also do 2-3 loads a day. It does take longer to wash a load, which I have kind of gotten used to. At first, it seemed like it took less time to dry, so the oveall time balanced out. Now the dryer seems to run longer (I suspect the humidity sensor thing is going bad). Also, the machine seems to chew up my clothes. In the last few years it has put holes in or torn (usually the sleeves of) several T-shirts, a soccer jersey, 2 pair of hi-tech long underwear, and countless dish towels. It seems to happen to lighter weight articles, and last time I noticed that the machine was pretty full. So for now I am doing laundry the way mama taught me - separate heavy items from light items. Also I am underloading the machine and lowering the spin speed. Of course that means more loads and even more time in the dryer. I am secretly hoping it dies soon so I can justify replacing it. When it does I will replace it with a top-loader. Added advantage, I can try felting!

I've been lurking (again) for ages now, but since dd 17 is finishing her jr year and college stuff is looming, I'm back with lots of questions. I'm considering purchasing the Kaplan SAT Online Test prep. Homeschool Buyers Co-op has it for $49.95 until tomorrow. I'm wondering if anyone has used it and what your experience was. I've done some searching online and it seems that all of the paid test prep courses get mixed reviews (along the lines of questioning whether or not they really increase scores as much as advertised). - DD's PSAT scores were Critical Reading 51, Math 49, Writing Skills 51. Not too bad, I guess, but probably not good enough to get her where she wants to go. I'm hopeful that the on-line course will help her structure her study time, since right now she keeps putting it off to concentrate on homework and work. Thanks!

Thanks for the mental jump start ladies. Looking forward to trying some new things.

:iagree:I spent all last week running around like a crazy person cleaning the house for dds's First Communion. Now you could hardly tell. On top of that it's May, I want to be DONE, I've just realized how little dd absorbed of Biology, and am generally feeling that we didn't accomplish what we should have this year. Yeah, wine sounds like just the ticket.

:iagree:Mine too. Dd 16 listened to The Iliad and The Odyssey this year, and we found that the Sutcliffe versions did a wonderful job of preserving the original feel of the language.

We're in the midst of baseball/softball/soccer season and several nights a week don't end up eating at the same time. I'm looking for ideas for dinners that are easy to put together and that "keep" well for a couple of hours or warm up well. Tacos are my usual standby, but less than a month into the season everyone's already a little tired of them (OK, I'm tired of them). I just feel stuck in a rut and need some new ideas. Thanks for your help! :001_smile:

Glad to see the positive reviews. I noticed last night that hubby had recorded 3 episodes. I'll have to check for more.

Ditto these, although I've think Eddie Bauer's quality has been deteriorating over the past couple of years. Fabrics are thinner and pill and shrink more than they used to. Also check Anne Taylor. I know they have tall, but not sure about plus. I've just found a wonderful consignment store in my area that carries mostly higher end brands. If you can find one, it's a great way to stock up on better quality clothes without breaking the bank. I found a gorgeous Talbots silk dress for only $25. Yeah me!

I voted Singapore. We've used the US Edition since 2003. I may have been living under a rock :tongue_smilie:, but I'll admit I've never heard of Math in Focus. Although once we tried Singapore, it's the one part of my homeschooling I've never even been tempted to change, so I haven't looked at other elementary math programs.

Yes! I love that movie! That scene always cracks me up!:D Now I HAVE to make the cake.

Well that's something to look forward to! Can't imagine my grocery bill in a couple years with two teenage boys in the house. We'll have to buy half a cow at a time! Or buy stock in Skippy. :lol:

:bigear: We're finishing Biology and I had just made up my mind to skip dissection and cast the class more as Life Science. Virtual dissection might to the trick though. And somewhere I recall hearing about a Jell-o frog kit that you can sort of dissect. Maybe I'm imagining it though..

Jacobs doesn't have Algebra II (I wish he did), but I remember reading that the author recommends following up with Foersters. My dd is not particularly math-inclined, and I believe Foerster's can be fairly rigorous. We decided to go with Lial's Intermediate Algebra for her, but will probably make a different decision for ds.