What's GTG? Thank you, ladies, for the information. I am starting FIAR with my young kindergartener this year and all the tips are very helpful!

We did domestic independent adoption. We started out with an agency, but the agency wasn't very proactive and we wound up going independent with our first. With our second and third, we were knowledgeable and experienced enough to go completely independent. With international adoption, though, I'd be hesitant to go independent unless I knew exactly what I was doing. Most things in adoptions of every sort are not guaranteed until it's complete. Internationally, it's too easy to send money to someone disreputable who just takes the money and runs. If you know families that have done independent and that's the route you prefer, I would listen to everything the families have done and try to go with the same people they used. There are books that can be really informative about adoption, too, (as I'm sure you already know) but nothing beats real life experience from real life people who straight up tell you what works and what doesn't. I have made wonderful online friends that have given me great advice. But see if you can find someone locally who has been there, done that. I would consider looking for a local support group for families who have adopted from the country or countries you are looking to adopt from. It's possible that some of the families completed their international adoptions independently and perhaps they would share their experiences with you. Good luck! And don't stop praying about it.

I know this is an older post, but, have you used this book at all yet? Does it still seem like a good fit? We are gearing up to start school after Labor Day and I'm still not 100% sold on what I have for history. I like living books, but I think I really need a schedule of sorts. Or at least to be working out of one book. I can always supplement, if I choose, but I'm not very organized. I need a good schedule and book to work with.

Thanks!

My youngest will be 5 next month, and although he would likely be okay in this situation, I would not be okay leaving him with people I didn't really know. It makes me remember that Cub Scouts that are in the Tiger Den, which is the youngest boys, in 1st grade, at age 6, the Cub Scouts requires each boy have a parent with them. The biggest reason as that they are little and squirelly at that age. A bunch of boys that age is too much for one adult to handle. My oldest ds will be 8 in November. We think he has Aspergers and he would not do well without my direct supervision at all.

:iagree: YAY!!!

In theory, it sounds wonderful. But dh is not very handy and we don't have much money at all. If we were handy people and had enough money to renovate, I'd absolutely do it.

That's hilarious! I totally had to share :D

I am wondering how many days/weeks everyone plans for. This year we are going to start in bits and pieces, as my dd is doing a beta-test for WriteShop and they are starting before we were planning on starting school. I'd really like to get a flexible schedule for the year out. I don't care if we get every single thing done, but it's good to have aims and goals. I just won't want to plan too much, so that it feels like we have a huge amount of unfinished business at the end.

:lurk5:

I like to print my own from this website.... www.worksheetworks.com If you go into English Language, then Writing, one of the options available is to make a scissors skills worksheet. You can make the shapes big, small, many, few, etc. I am still working with my 7 year old and that's what I print off for him. I will start working with my soon-to-be-5 year old with this sheet next month.

Thanks! :D

Someone had posted awhile ago about a website which had planners/schedulers, etc that could be printed off and used for homeschooling. Of course, I didn't save the information. I'm looking to plan out the year and would like something I can print off and work with.

Our Dell printer is nice and a color printer, but it is a total ink hog. I asked around here, and was told to look for a good workhorse printer. On the advice of the Hive, I bought a Brother printer. I can't remember which printer it is (it doesn't say on the front) but it takes TN-330 toner. This printer is one that is often on sale at Office Max. I think I purchased it for around $60. And although the toner is a little pricey, it really is a workhorse printer. It prints a ton. I am on my third toner cartridge now, and I've had it at least 18 months. I print a ton, and the first 2 cartridges printed several reams of paper each. The current toner cartridge I purchased at the Business Costco. It's the TN-360 High Yield Toner Cartridge, and it was $47. I do not expect to need another toner cartridge for a few months and I'm currently printing a ton in preperation of the school year. The only thing I don't like is that it is a black and white printer, so no color. That's not really a huge problem for us, though.

Yes, we are waiting for this one, too.

D'oh! That sounds like something I would do. I'm sorry!

I'm still trying to decide on a spine for history. I have some old history books I've downloaded, but nothing seems quite right. I'm also looking for some "easy reader" type history books. It's seems very time consuming to search for easy reader history books, unless I know a specific author, title, or subject (such as a specific Native American Indian tribe, or the Underground Railroad). At the homeschool conference, I found some at the Rainbow Resource booth. http://www.amazon.com/Penny-Goose-Can-Read-Book/dp/0064442500/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312789556&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Providence-Story-Roger-Williams/dp/0064442160/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312789666&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/Drinking-Gourd-Story-Underground-Railroad/dp/0064440427/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312789732&sr=1-1 The first two are non-fiction and the last one is fiction. I like these because they are good stories and keep a child's interest. When my dd10 saw these books she plowed right through them, quickly. She tried to plow through my new copy of The Bulletproof George Washington, by David Barton, but quickly declared it boring. (LOL It's not geared toward children) So I am interested in books my dd can easily read and keep her interest, as well as lengthier books she can read herself. As long as it's interesting to her. And these shorter books I can read to ds7 and maybe even youngest ds, who will be 5 next month. Is there some sort of list somewhere? No matter how I search, it's tedious and often doesn't result in very many discoveries.

I have the TQ guide (AH1), but the book list is hugely overwhelming to me. It's nice to have a list of so many resources, but I can't sort through it all. I'm hoping that the using Story of the Great Republic and Story of the Thirteen Colonies, by H.A. Guerber, will be enough of a spine. I have some Scholastic activity books to do various activities to go along with it, too, but I think I will need mapping activities, etc. I like the flexibility, but I am having a hard time getting a good schedule together. I really wish this had a schedule like Apologia Zoology notebooking journals do.

I just went to order the last 2 student packs I need for the upcoming school year and found the Epsilon student pack is on backorder. Flagnabbit! The other one, Primer, is in stock, of course. I wish it were the other way around, as I'm not too bothered as when my soon to be 5 year old begins math. My 10 year old, however, should start on schedule or close to it. I hope they are back in stock soon!

We love them here, too. I've been reading them aloud during lunch during the school year. We've read them a little this summer, too, but we probably won't read every day at lunch again until the fall. I like that each chapter is almost like like it's own short story. The chapters are broken up in sizes that are just perfect for reading during lunch.

I had been considering a CD to make my own handwriting sheets (I think it's WriteShop? It's on my wish list on RR) but now I am thinking I may be better off just downloading a free handwriting font somewhere. I know others have mentioned these before but I never followed any links. So, does anyone know of any? And would I use them in Word?

I just looked at the Staples ad for my area that starts Sunday, 7/31 and there are finally .01 deals! Highlighters, pencils, and index cards. I am totally taking advantage of that! I really hope I can sign up as a teacher, too. Do I need to bring something to prove I'm a homeschooler?

I didn't know there was a new one coming out, but I saw it at Target today. Knowing how much we like the others, I picked it up. http://www.amazon.com/LeapFrog-Sing-Learn-Us-Leapfrog/dp/B004YK29BK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311985846&sr=8-1 Jalen insisted he wasn't going to watch it - EVER - and then sat on the couch, completely mesmerized, through the whole thing. It has 12 sing-a-long songs/stories based on the 5 short vowel sounds. You can also put the DVD into your computer CD-rom and print off books for the 12 stories. There are coloring pages, too, but only 3 I think. I think these printout books will make a good addition to Jalen's kindergarten curriculum and help him learn to read. I love it!

McDonald's added the apples a long time ago as a choice. Making it the regular part of the meal is indeed an attempt to force people into the apples. I don't know anyone who apologizes or makes excuses for feeding their kids McDonald's. I know we sure don't at my house. I don't have guilt and I certainly don't need to be made to feel better. By making the apples part of every Happy Meal McDonald's is caving into the elitists who make rules and laws at every turn to make choices for the general masses. The general consensus among elitists is the general masses are too stupid to know better, so the elitists must "take care of them." Making apples available is a wonderful choice. Making it part of every meal after only 11% wanted it in the first place is the equivalant of the cowboy prodding the herd of sheeple.