If you were already planning on getting the TWSS for yourself, and you feel comfortable teaching writing, I'd suggest the TWSS in combination with one of the theme based books. I'm using the Medieval History this year with my 2 boys (13 & 10) and it's going really well so far. The theme based are supposed to cover all 9 units (as opposed to the SWI), but I just noticed that based on the TOC the Medieval History seems to leave out unit 3 (retelling a story). I may be mistaken because we're only a few weeks in and I haven't dug through everything yet. But in any case it's not a big deal since I have the TWSS. I used the SWI-B/SICC-B with my dd, and I really like the approach of the theme based books better. Theoretically you should be able to teach the program with just the TWSS, and many people do. I tried it that way at first, but put it on the shelf because I could never seem to find the "right" paragraphs/sources and didn't know what to assign.

It's so good to hear it's not just me! My big liked it/sold it/bought it again is Rod & Staff English (grammar, not writing). Things I've loved all along: Singapore Math (worked with all my kids, despite different learning styles) Things I loved, put on the shelf, and love again: IEW Writing - The Medieval History lessons are going so much better than the SWI/SICC with my boys. Don't know if it's the way it's presented, or if it's just that older ds is more mature now and ready to do it, or if I have more experience with the program, or all of the above. IEW Poetry Memorization Never found a program I love: Science! RS4K was the most successful, but I didn't outright love it. Apologia was a disaster. MODG Biology is barely OK. Next year oldest dd is doing science at community college and I still have to figure out something for the rest of them.

I used Chem Level 1 and Pre-Level in a coop about 5 years ago. The Pre-Level is pretty good in terms of what it covers. I had 1 younger kid in my Level 1 group (I think he was about 8), but he had a huge interest in science. It depends on your kids, but I think the Pre-Level would be your best option for combining the kids. If the oldest needs/wants more, you can always add topics from something like the Usborne Science Encyclopedia, History of Science, or the Atoms and Molecules books the WTM recommends. I'm not sure I'd get the second lab book for the K'er. You can keep a notebook or print out your own simple lab sheets. You can also see the full texts of the books on the Gravitas Publications website. Pre-Level is here. http://www.gravitaspublications.com/pl1-full-text Level 1 is here. http://www.gravitaspublications.com/l1-full-text Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the suggestions. No, I probably don't drink enough water in the winter. I need to work on that. I think I actually have some liquid band-aid or similar, and will try that next time something breaks open. But hopefully I can keep it from getting to that point. I do use bedsocks, because my feet get nearly as dry. No, it's not terribly appealing, but it's really, really cold here right now!

I didn't think of that! Makes sense - it worked great for nursing.

I admit I don't use lotion that often. I hadn't thought of using an exfoliating scrub, but it makes sense. I do have the MK pink nightcream, which (I think) is the same stuff that comes in the Satin Hands kit, and I've been using that, but not in combination with exfoliating. I'm willing to try anything at this point. Thanks for the ideas.

Every winter I struggle with my hands drying out to the point that the skin on my fingertips dries out and cracks, sometimes to the point of bleeding. It hurts, and it looks awful. I use lotion often. This winter I have tried Burt's Bees Hand Salve. It helps some. I add extra Vitamin D. I used to take Omega 3-6-9, but it really didn't seem to make a difference. Maybe I wasn't taking enough? Anyone else have this problem? What do you do that helps?

Slept late (ish), drank some coffee, reading here. Beginning to feel vaguely guilty about lack of productivity. Will research a science program now to feel better. Drink more coffee. Plan to sew doll dresses for the twins' birthdays. How can they be almost 8!

Mine don't get sick all that often, but I sure wouldn't say never. This year seems to have been a little worse. I'm not sure what to attribute it to, but I think it's partly being homeschooled. When they're sick they stay HOME. I remember when the oldest 2 were little and I was still working, the pressure to just send the kids to day-care or school if it was "just a cold". And yes, I am not proud of that now. My house is not overly clean, except when we're expecting company. :) I do avoid anti-bacterial soaps, but that's the only thing I'm really picky about. Anyway, my mom (a nurse) swears by plain saline nasal spray. She says when the nasal membranes get dry and cracked it gives viruses and bacteria more places to enter. This winter she has been spraying twice a day and has been much healthier than last winter. And she's working part-time in a local clinic where she gets exposed to a lot of stuff. So I'm heading out to buy bottles for the entire family. FWIW, my brother and one of my good friends love their Neti (sp?) pots. I can't go there myself, but they wouldn't give them up for anything.

:iagree:My dd's acne got pretty bad a couple of years ago. It took some trial and error, but we found a combination of OTC and prescription products that work well. She uses Differin cream (prescription), a Neutrogena product (can't remember the name) and Persagel (Clean & Clear?) to clear up any zits that do break out. Our gp was able to help us out, but did offer to refer to a dermatologist. One advantage of the gp for us is that it can take 2-3 months to get in to see a derm around here. She also washes her face twice a day. Ds is now starting to experience some acne as well, but hasn't yet figured out that he needs to wash his face before he breaks out. I will have her give the honey a shot next time she gets a break out, though. That sounds interesting.

My dad and step-mom have a Bosch and it's super quiet. I love that about it. They have an open floor plan (kitchen and living room connected) and you can easily sit in the living room and have a conversation while the dishwasher is running. We have a Kenmore Elite that's 4 years old. It used to be pretty quiet, but it seems to have become noisier over that last couple years. The feature I like best about it is the delay timer, which allows us to set it to run 2, 4, or 6 hours later. We usually run it over night. Of course if it were quieter, I probably wouldn't care about that so much!

I like this one from Simply Recipes. I haven't made it yet this winter, now it needs to go on the menu list!

I'm curious about what you've found at Costco. I'll check it out next time I'm there. Thanks

If you really want fluency, I think you have to be a little bit careful, even with cc classes. Our dd is taking Spanish from a native-speaking tutor. It's only once a week, so she's not getting as much practice as she would with a more frequent class, although I remember enough to muddle along with her. But I like the fact that the tutor really focuses on conversation. She has the kids talking the whole class, and it's almost exclusively in Spanish. It helps that it's a small class, so everyone has to talk. The tutor told me she's also working with several kids from the local community college who want more practice in conversation. I don't know if it's that the classes are big enough that it's easy to escape conversation or if their particular professor is more textbook oriented, but these students seem to feel that there's a need for additional conversation practice.

Love this approach! My older ds has Backyard Ballistics. I need to ship the book and both boys to my dad. He would have lots of patience and he has a huge back yard.

I kind of feel like a failure at science myself. Which seems all the more ironic considering I have an engineering background. As other posters mentioned, we've only completed a full year science program in the elementary grades twice. Once we were part of a coop. And the only year for which I can claim actual responsibility we used Real Science 4 Kids (RS4K) Chemistry Level 1. I think my oldest was 11 or 12 at the time. It has real experiments (that work!), clear explanations of what's going on, includes resources that are easy to find, and the lab sheets are very specific. Level 1 is supposed to be for grades 4-6, but I think you could use it for 7th grade too, especially if you filled it out with additional reading. The publisher has Level 2 Chemistry for middle school, but according to their website they're now turning it into a high school course. Too late for my oldest, but will probably keep and eye on it for the rest of the crew. The only thing I don't like about the program was that it was designed to cover Biology, Chemistry, and Physics in one year (10 weeks per subject). That can get expensive. However, we just did Chemistry and I added a couple additional experiments and we read some background information (I think I used Joy Hakim's History of Science) to fill out the year. And after all, 10 weeks of something good is better than floundering around. Since I am having that failing feeling with my youngest again this year, I'm thinking about ordering Biology so we get something done. Hope this helps!

I can't answer the Dolciani aspect, but my dd went directly from Singapore 6B to Jacobs Algebra with no trouble and I plan to do the same with ds 13 in a few months. I think Singapore's approach to problem-solving and the little bit of introduction to algebra included in 6A were good preparation. I don't know how the Dolciani and the Jacobs compare. The first few chapters in Jacobs seemed like a lot of review on operations and such (sorry, I don't have the book handy right now, so might be off a little).

I sometimes make a sweet version - kind of tastes like caramel corn. But SIL sent a big bag of the sweet stuff and Mom is making the traditional stuff, so I'm off the hook this year! More time to decorate fussy little cutout sugar cookies with my kiddos!

I'm 45 and my cycle swings started when I was about 39 after I was done nursing my twins, but have gotten worse in the last 2 years. In the past year, I've had cycles as short as 16 days and as long as 36 days. Some months I'm psycho-mom and some months not. Vitamin B (12 I think?) helps for that. I asked my doc about it several years ago, and she said pre-menopause symptoms can occur up to 7 years before your cycle actually stops. Fun stuff, huh? As for natural remedies, I believe the book "What your doctor may not tell you about premenopause" (recommended in a previous post) includes natural remedies. I haven't had the hot flashes yet, but it's been so cold here lately I think that's one thing I wouldn't mind. :tongue_smilie: I'd take them over loosing my near-vision, too.

Don't know about the rest, but what about English cucumbers?

I loved sci-fi as a teenager. My favorites were Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series and Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea series. Both tend more toward the fantasy end of sci-fi. The Dune series is also very good. I personally liked the first two books in the series better than the later books.

Thanks for these codes. I just got Elizabeth Vandiver's Aeneid for $7.95! And I found several of her other courses at my library!

Is she interested in animation? My 13 yo ds has been fiddling around with Storytelling Alice. It's free computer animation software. You can take a look at it here.

:iagree:Mine either. I figure she would have loved it back in the day when women were basically knocked out!

I'm on the verge of purchasing this for my dd, but am hesitating because of the price, especially since we won't be reading everything it covers. I want it primarily for the Herodotus, Illiad, Oddessey, and Plutarch. Is it worth it? Can I get by with just the Teacher's Guide? Are there better alternatives? I did find an older thread discussing this, but wondered if anyone else had experience with it. Thanks!