Costco! I got mine for $20 there. You could also check Craig's List and see if there are any good deals.

My boys are in an all homeschooler Cub Scout pack and we are loving it. It keeps them active and it's not expensive. There are so many things for kids out there and no matter how much we like them, all those little expenses add up. I may look at 4-H for my daughter this year, plus the National Science Bowl. I'm hoping to find a good Lego Club for the kids, too, depending on where it is, how much it costs, etc.

Thanks! :001_smile:

Are these free online as well? Does anyone happen to have a link?

Does anyone know if AAR 3 would be out by fall 2013? Or sooner?

I haven't used AAR yet, but intend to with my youngest in the fall. In your shoes, I think I would be starting with AAR 2. It sounds like AAR1 would be too easy for her. And since you already have AAR1, if you find that AAR2 is too difficult, it's not like it would be difficult to back up a little and start her where she needs to be.

I believe that's what Roku is....a "cable" to hook your computer up to the tv. It's just that Roku is wireless, so you don't have a cable running through your house, if tv and computer are in different locations. Our tv in the family room needs replacing before we can get a Roku :(

They have this every year and apparently this is the week. The sale is for markers, crayons, and construction paper. It's a bummer they never seem to include colored pencils, but it's still an awesome deal. I think I will go tomorrow and stock up on giant marker packs.

Which store? We use a ton of glue sticks, too. It's plastic, so I recycle glue sticks, too. I usually pull out the little gluey end and chuck that, but the lid and the tube I recycle. We seem to go through a lot of glue bottles, too. I went to grab one the other day to use with my youngest ds and his cousin, only to find 4 bottles with about 10% left in the bottle. I had to go grab a new bottle, but I also took the time to combine all the remaining glue into one bottle and recycle the empties, too. I may have to actually buy a big giant bottle of glue and just use that to refill the smaller bottles. Where do I get those? Lakeshore Learning? Business Costco? Office Depot? Is it cheaper?

My oldest ds used Spectrum Reading last year for much of 2nd grade. It worked out well enough. My son didn't hate it :)

Everyone here is going to be using the Evan-Moor Daily Geography for their grade level. I also bought this puzzle globe from Timberdoodle. http://www.timberdoodle.com/Ravensburger_XXL_Children_s_Globe_180_Piece_Puzzle_p/214-522.htm It seems like a fun way to remember which continent each country belongs to. ;) I have one of the GeoPuzzles, too. http://www.timberdoodle.com/Geopuzzles_p/120.htm I got just the USA & World puzzle set. I may eventually get others, but it seemed a bit overkill for our limited budget.

Don't forget that Apologia has the junior journals now. Your 1st grader could easily do the junior journal, as it's designed for younger students, or students who don't like a lot of writing. I'll be using Apologia Atronomy with my 1st grader ds(who is young and also can't read yet) and my 3rd grade Aspie ds. I know my youngest will use the junior journal. My 3rd grader doesn't like to write, so he may, also. My 6th grader dd, who is NT and pretty independent, will be doing Zoology 3.

Thanks for sharing! I didn't realize there was such an awesome place so close to us. We went to Hell's Canyon a couple summers ago and they had some information on Lewis and Clark there, too. It doesn't look anything like this, though!

Oh, crud! I've been waiting on my dh's annual bonus to order next year's stuff. RR had better prices than Timberdoodle. I'm scared to go look now:(

I found dry erase alphabet flashcards, with a dry erase marker, for letter writing practice.

I agree that learning can be fun and I love to try to play games with my kids while teaching them. But I can't imagine turning our entire curriculum into games. I don't want to teach my kids that they should earn "stuff" for absolutely everything. The "stuff" they get out of an education should be knowledge and the ability to think for themselves and the freedom to control their own lives.

I passed one of the stock girls setting up the Back To School stuff out at Walmart last night. We need to stock up on a few things, too. I'll be looking out for Toys R Us' Buy 1, Get 2 free on Crayola products.

Our regional Science Bowl is in Portland and it covers Washington and Oregon. So it's not too far from us. For the subjects to study, it's physical science, earth and space science, life science, energy, mathmatics, and general science. I'm hoping that, if we do it, it will be fun for the kids. It sounds like fun and a great reason to get together with other homeschool friends.

I've been trying to figure out how to help them study, if I manage to get a team together. I think the easiest and funnest way for all involved is to maybe have them do a continuous lap book. We can add different science subjects each time, and they can have their books to study as they prepare. And once we get some of their books made up, we can practice how to answer rapid-fire questions, too. Does this sound crazy?

I'm x-posting here, hoping someone may have experience with this..... Has anyone done this before? My dd will be a 6th grader this fall and I'm considering trying to get a team together for her to be on. So that would be a team with her and 3 other kids. Here's the National website http://science.energy.gov/nsb/ I've looked at some of the sample questions and there is a lot she doesn't know. She would have to study hard and there is no way she'd learn all of that before our regional competition in January. I don't want to set her up to fail, yet at the same time, it would be a good goal for her to work toward. If she and 3 teammates started as a team of 6th graders this year, they'd never win it, this year. But they would gain experience. If they enjoyed the experiences, they'd study hard, while hopefully having fun, and perhaps they'd have a chance by the time they were 8th graders with 2 years experience under their belts. But considering the difficulty of some of the questions, how can I direct them, teach them, etc, well? I would definitely want the kids to get something fun out of, otherwise, what would be the point? Would I be able to demonstrate a concept each week, or every other week, that would teach them something useful for the competition? I am not a mathy/ science-type person and if they are not successful, I want them to at least learn and have fun. If I don't plan well that won't happen :001_unsure: So any thoughts or experiences?

I'm trying to help the kids with their projects and get a head start. That way we're not in a big rush at the end. In helping my 3rd grader, we're considering that old Mentos in a 2-liter of pop thing. But, we'd get different kids of pop and try to measure how high the geyser of each one is, and see which one makes the highest geyser. I don't think it's enough, though, and am trying to figure out something that will keep his interest while still being a viable scientific experiment. Perhaps if he first did the Mentos geyser, and then tried different methods of geysers, such as baking soda and vinegar, to see which is the highest. Or, if we had pvc pipes of a few different heights and widths, and then tested which would create the highest. I don't know. I'm mostly just thinking out loud ;) My 1st grader saw on a Disney sitcom where the kids built a maze and had a mouse trying to find the cheese, and now he says he wants that. He is NOT getting a mouse and I think it's a little overdone, anyway. (although for 1st grade, does that matter?) I'm trying to talk him into building a maze for slugs to find the cat food. Our cats are outdoor cats and the slugs always find their food. If it's been the slightest bit damp out, I always have to scrape slugs off their food dish when I bring it inside for the night. I'm thinking if we can build a slug maze that's shiftable, he can test their sense of smell and their memory. My husband thinks I'm nuts and that a slug will take forever to cross a maze. I guess he's never sat and watched a slug :lurk5: They can be disgustingly entertaining. So, am I nuts here?

So no one has done National Science Bowl? I've been trying to figure out how to help them study, if I manage to get a team together. I think the easiest and funnest way for all involved is to maybe have them do a continuous lap book. We can add different science subjects each time, and they can have their books to study as they prepare. And once we get some of their books made up, we can practice how to answer rapid-fire questions, too. Does this sound crazy?

It's not unreasonable at all. What you are considering is totally doable, and what boscopup suggests is doable, too. You should do whatever works for your family. We are not in a co-op, but my oldest has already done Zoology 1 and 2. She'll be doing Zoology 3 this fall, while by 2 boys will be doing Astronomy.

We really like MUS and my 6th grader dd will be working in Zeta in the fall. We like it becasue the DVDs with Mr. Demme explaining each lesson is a huge help to us. Plus the manipulatives really helped my dd when I pulled her out of public school at the end of 3rd grade, then had to go back and remediate what she was supposed to have learned in the public school.

I know many families that have dropped out at the end of this year, so this fall will be the first year they are not using it. It became much too restrictive. They were using it for things like music lessons and such and I know one mom was still able to use Apologia, as long as she didn't use specifics (she was encouraged to do this by her coordinator). I refuse to participate. Any money from the government comes with strings and I'd rather be broke and free then rich and tied up with strings.