Now in VA, there was a great ecucation channel just for school teachers from 10 - 2. I have copies of excellent programs from art history to mathematica, to geography. I loved using that resource. (Is it still there? I'm in MI now) We do not watch TV either now, even with 3 TV's in the house. Haven't for 5+ years. Too much time needed for outreach, piano, walks, devotions, studies, and read alouds. Need I say more?

Voc from Classical Roots seems better organized, meaning the kids have categories of meanings and can extrapolate the meaning of new words. Wordly Wise activities were good, except all my kids struggled with the reading section on the last section where they had to answer comprehension questions using the vocabulary words. The difficulty often made them feel like they hadn't learned much.

We just took our church kids to a camp where we did the cooking - taco salad always is a winner, Pancake casserole (2 c bisquick, 2 c. milk, 2 eggs, 1/4 c. oil, 1/4 tsp baking powder - mix and pour in 9 x 12, sprinkle 1# cooked sausage on top - bake 20 min at 450), bean dips with chips, veggies, crackers, pita bread tuna noodle salad - add lots of celery grilled cheese/meat or veggie sandwiches Stir fry veggies put on toasted andwich buns with cheese melted on top, add pieces of cooked meat. Or toss meat and veggies with olive oil and pasta Crepes with cottage cheese and fruit filling

Has anyone considered the benefits of an Associate Degree vs a Bachelors Degree? I hear that the average income for Bachelor's degreed students is less than $40,000, so many have much higher debts than income. My dd would like best to take an associates degree in Interpretive Education (signing) and later add more courses for a Bachelors if still interested. My husband is a college prof so this is harder to stomach. Any experiences to share?

I don't know anything about the college, but lived in Carlisle in the 80's with my husband who is from there. You might check out a Reformed Baptist church in the town, Grace Baptist.

I loved the framework Beechick established which allowed me to teach while we worked. Good reading to spark your creativity.

We consider CC to be not much better than HS classes but the difference is the child learns to pace herself in a course where the deadlines are fixed unlike our homeschool. We had 2/4 courses with teachers who didn't show often or where they couldn't secure a teacher at first. So, we look closely at ratemyprofessor.com and talk to the teacher if possible first. (The teachers make or break the course, and could affect the direction your child decides to pursue.) We also chose two classes on the same days to limit the driving time. (Two classes is the limit here for early enrollment and yes our 15 year old took 4 classes this year - 15 credits total.) Lastly, each child is ready to start classes at different ages. My oldest two took classes beginning at age 16 and 17, the third at 15. They all have different paces.

The only sleepovers that made sense was when friends were too far away to make the trip home in one day (and they were very good friends.) We still do overnights rarely (13,16, 18) but no one likes them unless I set a decent bedtime hour. The next day is okay, but the second day after the event is shot!

(1) Stop yelling. It accomplishes nothing and undermines the likelihood he's going to show you respect. Some boys this age (mine!) like to see Mom loose her cool. Your yelling tells him, "She's insane. I'm right. Look at her - she's not in control of herself." That's my main thought - talk, even whisper, but bite your tongue before you yell. He's so close to being a man, at least in age, without a good man role model. But you can't fill that spot. I pushed boy scouts so my son had other male role models and he had one good friend his age. However, I can't say his teen years went well. He just met with his dad he's 21 now) to express the anger he had toward him - an overbearing, underappreciative, busy dad was not what he needed. But he's a solid Christian and God used all that to draw him to the best Father.

Dental schools are great. I've had 75% of my (extensive) dental work done that way.

I tried the "recipe" with the Fels-Naptha ingredient and the borax and baking soda and it completely bombed. Clothes came out dingy and looked almost the same as before being washed. I followed the instructions to the letter. Did your clothes come out like that too? How did you fix it? It sure would be nice to finally stop paying so much for Tide Isn't that washing soda, not baking soda? That's why it bombed.

Once a dental student found 11 cavities in my 7 year old's mouth! She loved juice. Now we eat fresh fruit, drink water or milk, period. She's not had a cavity in years and is totally off sweets. However, I do hear do not brush at least 30 min after eating sweets. And floss daily!

I gave up gyms once my first child started walking - 20 years ago - and walk the neighborhoods instead. I love the outdoors and can handle life at home after fresh air. I can walk, speed walk, run/walk, take the dog or take a child and review spelling, voc, French, geo words whatever. I can pray, memorize Scripture, cry, you name it. The walks are my best therapy. And a 10 min walk 3x a day is sometimes works well. I see you have a teen to help manage the kids if you go out for 10 min.

Be sure to remember the roaming charges. I drove and talked once through Ontario, had a $34 addition to my bill and it was the weekend!

49 until October...