I purchased the entire set of primers from Timberdoodle last year on sale for $75.00. It was a great investment, my kids love them so much and we use them for our daily reading session. These are books I will hang onto for my grandchildren, so I wanted the entire set to read and enjoy for years to come. P.S. I also picked up the workbooks at a used curriculum sale this past spring for $3.00 for the entire collection with teacher manuals in brand new condition. The homeschool mom who had them never used them and was just trying to find someone who would enjoy them. It was a great deal, we are planning to use the workbooks this year along with our primers.

When my kids are fighting, bickering or giving me a hard time, I take them outside and have them run laps. Lots and lots of laps ! The exercise and fresh air is so good for them and the exercise makes them tired and relaxed afterwards. They come back inside and they are no longer fighting, no longer bickering and they get along well and are much more focused on what they should be doing, instead of what they shouldn't be doing. I found that just like with dogs who need many walks and plenty of exercise several times a day or they get into trouble and act up, so does our children. Aggression in children just like in dogs comes from lack of focus and lack of physical energy released in positive ways. When I was growing up we were outside all the time, running, playing ball, swimming, biking and we never were in the house watching tv or playing video games. My parents rarely had a problem with us fighting or arguing, we were too busy being active and releasing all that energy inside us. This generation of children is so used to just sitting around watching tv or playing video games and being sedentary. They are constantly bored and then cause mischief. Children today are not getting in the exercise that they must have throughout the day to keep them healthy and happy. Lack of exercise causes too much pent up energy that needs to be released somehow. When the pent up energy isn't released through exercise or physical exertion, it is released through rage and anger. The rage and anger come out as bad attitudes, bickering and fighting amongst themselves or with the parents. Basically, if the kids are fighting or causing you stress, take them outside and have them run laps until they wear down, relax and can focus again. This technique also works great for kids who have a hard time focusing on schoolwork. Throughout the day, we take short mini breaks to go outside and run and that helps to get the focus for school back on track quickly. As soon as you see the first signs of bickering or fighting starting, pack them up and get them right outside for a good physical run. This quickly stops the problem behavior from surmounting and gets them in the habit of learning to control that pent up energy in postive ways. Great for moms too, keeps you active and fit as you exercise along with the kiddies ! Your kids are young enough that if you can get them into the habit of several daily runs now, you can nip this problem behavior in the bud quickly. And you can start them on a positive release of energy that will keep them out of therapy and happy and healthy for a lifetime !

Covering you in prayer Molly !! May you be filled with the Lord's Perfect Peace !!

I did the Times Tales program with my three youngest children ages 9, newly 7 and age 5 and they did great with it ! We started out reading the stories in part 1 everyday for a week. Then I added in the flashcards with pictures for a few days. Once they knew them well, we did the written quiz worksheet with pictures and they flew through it. After that we did the flashcards without pictures with just the numbers like 8X7= ? Then at the end of the second week we did the written test worksheet (just numbers no pictures). They did great on it ! We are now timing our test with numbers only and they are doing the sheet of 25 in less than 1 minute, which I think is great for their ages. Last week we started part 2 and are following the same regime as above. They are really doing great with it ! We are currently on the flashcard with no picture portion and I am getting ready to test them without pictures on Friday. I am thrilled with the program, it made life so much easier on me with not having to deal with multiplication flashcards or various math games. Best of all my 5 year old is learning his times tables really well from just sitting in with his big brother and sister doing their Times Tales, now that will be one less thing I have to do with him when he is older. Oh yeah, and I laminated all the flashcards, quizes and tests. We do them over and over again daily for speed and they all hold up well with lamination. So I highly recommend laminating the items above and lots of daily and consistant practice for mastery !

Covering you in prayer Molly !!

I'm trying to find the Two Plus Two Doesn't Equal 5 on the website but can't locate it. Can you tell me more about where you've seen it or could you possibly link me to it ? Thanks so much !!

Hello, Does anyone know of a memory (story) system similiar to Times Tales for Addition/Subtraction facts ? My two children ages 9 & 7 just finished Times Tales for Multiplication and did fantastic, they loved it ! It was a perfect fit for them and helped them to memorize their Multiplication facts in less then 2 weeks. I would love to find something similiar for their additon/subtraction facts because they really seem to do well with the story memory system. Any suggestions for similiar programs would be so appreciated !! Thanks in Advance !

As I said in an earlier post, I too have had a very difficult time with my own mother for years and years. Growing up, my mother was not a good mother to us children when we were young. She was very hard to deal with and tended to be very verbally abusive. As an adult dealing with her, I had to learn to bite my tongue and clench my teeth to just have a conversation with her. Then one day, I just decided to not deal with her and moved her out of my life for years, only seeing her or speaking to her several times a year. Then a few years ago, my oldest daughter got seriously ill with a life threatening cancer and my whole world turned upside down. I re-evaluated everything in my life, from the way we lived our life, our spiritual beliefs to my relationship with others. I realized how short life was and I decided I needed to change. I could not fix my mother, but I could fix the way I dealt with her. I realized that for whatever reasons, my mother was very, very, lonely in her life. She just didn't know how to relate well to her children, she had never been a "kid person" and didn't really understand her role as a mother (she did not have a close relationship with her own mother) or how to interact with us. My mother was not a stay at home mother, she was always working and finding any excuse to get away from her kids. She needed me to extend her some grace in teaching her how to relate to us, how to get to know us and who we are and how to learn to just enjoy spending time with us. I gave her tons and tons of grace. In the beginning I found myself biting my tongue, nodding my head and just listening to her go on and on. Then one day, when she was spent out in her verbal diatribe of how her life was so awful because of "such and such". I said "Mom, let's find some helpful ways to get to know one another". I told her I loved her, that I wanted her in my life very much and that I would need her help to foster a close relationship with her. But I believed if we worked on it together, we could do it, we could find a way to interact and get along and maybe even grow to enjoy one another. I wanted it not only for myself, but also for her. But most of all, I wanted her and I to have a close relationship for my own children. For how we treat our parents, is how our own children will someday treat us. I wanted to stop the cycle, my mother didn't get along with her own mother and could barely tolerate her until the day she died. So many of the elderly end up alone and so lonely, nobody to care for them or to want them around. I didn't want my children to someday see me as a burden to them. I wanted them to enjoy time with me, I wanted us to be close, I wanted us to enjoy our time together and for them to want me and include me in their lives. But, I first had to demonstrate that to my children (who are always, always watching and taking their own cues from us) by spending time and creating a loving relationship with my own parents. It wasn't easy, it took A LOT of work ! On both my part and my mother's part. But we did it. We still to this day do not see eye to eye on everything, we have so many differences in how we live our lives, but I forgave her a long time ago and she forgave things she needed to forgive with me. We now talk daily on the phone and spend every Saturday together. I have to share that it is such a beautiful light in my life, those special Saturdays with my mother. She will never know how much they mean to me or what a gift it is for me, I feel as if we are making up for so much lost time ! I didn't want to repeat the cycle. I wanted the cycle of difficult mother/daughter relationships in our family history to stop with me. I wanted to create a new heritage for my own children, one of close bonding between parents, grandparents and children. I think we are doing just that. Here is a story I read recently that made me cry and reminded me of how much our children learn about how to treat others by what they see us doing. It really spoke to me, it is not exactly the same situation as you speak about here of course, but it does show shades of extending grace to the elderly and I thought it may speak to someone else also. The Wooden Bowl I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now. A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth. The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. "We must do something about father," said the son. "I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor." So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl! When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little wooden bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work. The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.:::::: I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that, regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.

I talk to my adult married oldest daughter (age 22) at least 3 to 4 times a day ! As soon as her husband leaves for work (he works second shift) she calls me and we discuss all kinds of things, many times book we are reading, recipes we are preparing for dinner, netflix movies or tv shows we watched the night before, her new puppy and it's behavior problems, what homeschooling curriculum I have purchased or implemented, her sewing projects, ectera. My daughter and her husband live about 5 minutes away from me. They have no children yet, but are planning on starting a family very soon. I imagine once the pregnancies and children come along, I will have to have a permanent phone line attached to my head, we will probably be on the phone for quick chats non-stop. I talk to my mother every day. I call her to check on her and dad, we discuss what we are making for dinner that evening, we give each other recipe tips. We also discuss what she found on sale at the grocery store, how she did that day as a vendor at the flea market, what tv show she watched lately. I pick up my parents every Saturday morning at 5:30 am (Just Mom, Dad and I), we go for breakfast and then hit the yard sales and flea markets together to find treasures for our homes or in my case books and educational things to add to our homeschooling curriculum. After the yard sales we get an early lunch and then hit the GoodWill's in our area, it is a fun trip for us and it is something we all enjoy doing together as a family. I didn't always have a good relationship with my mother (her choice). For years we were very strained and rarely taked or saw each other, but once or twice a year. But I worked really hard the last three years to establish a closer relationship with them both. My parents are getting up there in age, they are in their mid to late 70's and I realized that I have very little time left with them. After dealing with my oldest daughter going through a terrible cancer crisis and loosing my much loved grandfather (who I went to mass & breakfast with every Sunday morning) several years ago, I realized how precious and fleeting time is and I wanted to really work on that closeness with my family before it is too late.

I had an awful ex, I mean awful, so I can understand how hard this is for you to make this decision and I totally sympathize with you. But, I would ABSOLUTELY want my children's lives to remain as normal as possible. I think that allowing him to stay on as nanny/tutor and paying his fine (as much as it would kill me) would allow their young lives to maintain some normalcy to it. If he leaves, you have to send them off to Florida for visitations. You then wouldn't know who he may be seeing or what type of people he is around, so many variables can then enter the picture in which may cause you more worry. Especially with young impressionable girls. I'd go for the best choice for now which is keeping him on, until another best choice arises for you. Pay the money, keep him local and keep your children's lives as normal as possible. And try not to clench your teeth too much, it creats TMJ, I know, I have been there and done that. Good Luck to you !

Here !

I'd take a pregnancy test. These were my sympthoms when I found out I was pregnant with my 5th child (I was also still nursing my toddler at the time).

Is this better then netflix's ? Can you share more about it ? Is it pricey, for netflix I pay $8.99 month and we love it for the educational shows and all the shows my entire family enjoys. What is the difference between this and netflix and how do you watch this, is it also through the wii ? Thanks for any information you can give me about it, I am always looking for a way to get more informational shows into our home for our children and family.

Or the rental property owner can be upside down on the rental property (the housing bubble crashed and the house is worth far less then the mortgage payment) and therefore the rent they recieve is not enough to cover the mortgage payment, so they are foreclosed upon. Or the mortgage is one of a variable rate and now the interest rate has gone way up and they can't cover the difference between rent expectations for the given area/location and the mortgage costs. This is what I am reading about more and more often, the upside down problem and foreclosures of properties.

Thanks for the link ! I'm all signed up !! I just received my Right Start Card Game Kit and Right Start AL Abacus, AL Activity Book and AL Worksheets Saturday from the homeschool buyers site and I'm now ready to go ! I think my little ones are really going to love to use this as supplementation this year.

Here !

This is year 11 for me. I am only counting Kindergarten and above into it, it would be more years if I counted pre-k or pre-school.

I'd be thrilled to have such awesome neighbors and such a nice boy that offered up his favorite books, I'd look at it as a wonderful gift. Imagine the sacrafice of that boy ! I covet my books ! My books are so important to me that when I loan one out, I am giving a part of myself to you. I would look at it as a wonderful gift and I'd look past the twaddle to what the book represented from the boy's heart as a gift. And yes, I would let my son read them if he wanted ! In fact, I would encourage him to at least read a few so he could talk to the boy about them. Books open doors to friendships, this could be a very important lesson for your son to learn. Much more important then what is in the book, but what the book represents !

Is there someplace to find out where his speaking engagements are ? I'd love to hear him speak in person. I read "Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire" and I am currently listening to "There are no shortcuts" on CD, but to hear him in person would be fantastic. Does anyone know where I can find out his speaking engagements ? Thanks so much !

* The rest of the Young Riders series (only 1 came out a few years ago) * Relativity (loved this show with Isabell and Leo who met in Italy and was so incredibly romantic), from the creators of "Thirtysomething" and "My So Called Life". * Men in Trees * Life Goes On (later seasons with Jesse the boy suffering from AIDS) * China Beach (loved this show, made me want to be a nurse) I always wanted Colleen McMurphy and Dodger to get together on the show !) * The 5 made for tv movies with Alex McArthur in the Desperado series !

Can someone recommend some good literature guides or books to help me teach the classic books to my children. I was reading about how important it is for me (the teacher) to really understand the true meaning of the books like "Mice and Men", "Huck Finn", "Anne Frank", "The Catcher in the Rye" ectera so that I can give my children the whole experience in understanding what these classic books represent and how to truely relate to them. I need a good book or literature guide of some sort that will help me to explain the books in detail to my children so that they can really understand what the author is trying to relay to the reader through their stories. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer me !

Definitely number 1, I need an equal partner in the marraige and parenting roles. I figure for number 2, I can just have something going on on the side ;) Just kidding !! :lol: Acutally, I would take number 1 anyday over number 2, I want that best friend and partner and a loving and involved father for my children. I would just get a lot of good romance books off of amazon and live vicariosly through those romantic dramas and invest in some "toys". I would just make number 1 work for me ! I can do without the affection and "in love-ness" in a marraige, but I can't do without an equal partnership and companionship.

May I also suggest the wonderful "PaperClips" which is a must see !!!

Lie to Me, excellent tv series ! Rough Science Myth Busters Dirty Jobs Survivor Man Man Vs. Wild Deadliest Catch

No, because what I do inside the home is 10 times harder and more important then any work I have ever done outside the home at a 9-5 job and I worked some really hard and rough jobs in my lifetime ! Daily my jobs consist of work as a cook/baker, gardener, maid, chauffer, butler, nurse, teacher, principal, janitor, professional boo boo kisser, dog walker, personal shopper, menu planner, body guard, home interior designer, referee, policeman, hostage negotiator (my toddlers can get rough:lol:) and countless other jobs depending on what kind of day we are having. :001_smile: My husband totally agrees, he thinks my being here and taking care of our home, the kids and educating them each day is much more stressful and difficult then his work at his job will ever be. He does not want to trade jobs with me, ever ! I love my job and everyday I get up and do it again, for FREE !