Monsanto is a HUGE corporation that started way back making fertilizer and weed control (think Round Up) and then started making genetically modified seeds that would accept round up without being killed by the pesticide. Slowly but surly, they monopolized the market on most corn and soy being grown in the US, and they haven't been nice about it. There are farmers who have tried to avoid using Monsanto seeds, but due to nature, seeds from neighboring fields have drifted into their field, then Monsanto sought them out and tried to sue them, successfully I believe. It is just a crummy situation all around, and for the folks that are trying to avoid genetically modified food, making it available at Wal-Mart is not helping to slow the company. The movie Food Inc has a lot of good information about this. It is on Netflix (streaming I think, but I haven't checked in awhile to see if it is still available to stream). I am sure there are some others on here who can give a lot more detailed, precise information, but that is my take on it in a nutshell. :)

We just took a lot of our random leftover meat and made a bunch of omelets for dinner tonight. We have also made calzones, pizza, or sandwiches (I know..so original!) with our leftovers.

Yay! Oh oh, I am so excited now. They kids are going to really love it! I just looked at Mr. Schmidt's website and it really looks like it is going to be great. :) Thank you for all the great feedback!

Your schedule looks great!! For history, we decided to go with Ambleside Online, which follows a 6 year cycle and uses older, living books as the spines. As soon as I can wrap my head around it, I want to also incorporate Story of the World as extra reading in addition to what we are currently doing, but I haven't yet taken the time to synch the two programs. For Science, we do both Ambleside Online, which includes a variety of nature study/bird study with The Burgess Bird Book/and some other living books AND we also do good ole public school McGraw/MacMillian Science Grade 1. Now, the best for last!! My FAVORITE part about Ambleside online is they rich music and art curriculum they help provide. For the year, we have 3 artists we are studying (1 per trimester), which includes looking at suggested paintings, reading history about the artists and the paintings, picture study with the paintings (similar to what you would do in FLL), and mimicking the artists style in our own paintings. For music, we study 3 composers (1 per trimester, usually lining up with the artist's same time frame), listening to the music, learning to identify the name of the piece, learning the relevant music terms, history of the composer, etc. We just finished up Mozart before Christmas and the kids loved it! Third, we also follow their suggestions for singing a hymn (which you could omit if you wanted) and a folk song. The kids LOVE it! We learn new songs, learn the history of the songs, variations of the songs, etc. It all seems a bit overwhelming when you first look into implementing this in your school day, but the internet and books from the library are really all we use to get our information. Good luck as you plan your year! It sounds like you have a great curriculum planned!

Hurray for your DD!! What an accomplishment!! That is one to save in the scrapbooks. Can't wait to read it!

Oh my gosh, YES!! Way more then I thought I ever would. Like Celticmom, I had all sorts of accolades in high school and college and here I am learning new things everyday in our homeschool. I absolutely LOVE it!

We have been using Horizons math for about 2 years now and absolutely love it. We supplement with Challenging Word Problems every now and again to change it up and really enjoy the change that brings. Everything was wonderful and happy as we trotted down our home school path until one day in a home school music class, one of the other students came in with a Life of Fred book that he couldn't put down! I took a little glance, came home and looked it up on the computer..and I am very intrigued!! Have any of you used it as a supplement to a more traditional math program and how did that work for you? Darn it--seeing new curricula always throws a wrench into everything!! HA!!

It was a bit redundant reading the book so many times all in one week, at least for our family. We definitely love reading books and have lots we read multiple times, but not back to back days. We also, of our own accord, ask random questions like "Count the ducks on this page" and we talk about migration as a by product of reading Make Way for Ducklings, but the kids weren't big into splitting that discussion up over the course of several days. They wanted to do it all in one fell swoop!! Instead, we do Ambleside Online and love it.

The first question seems like a 1st grade math question, while the last one definitely seemed more along the lines of a 3rd grade question. I second what In2why says--I think they give a good range to help determine the level at which the student (or classroom or school) is performing on average.

Thank you, Laura! My gut reaction to your post is, "Oh shoot!" Because..well..I am not sure if we are CM or Classical!! We just started CM methods this year, but are using WWE in addition to Ambleside Online, and it seems the two narration styles conflict! Oh my...time to research more and figure our what we think is best for our family. Thanks a ton!

Does anyone have any feedback? I am not sure if we are using too much detail or not enough detail. Do we need to work on using less "story telling" type of language (ate and ate and ate and ate) or does that not really matter?

I totally agree with Mrs Mungo and Taming of the Shrew (10 Things I Hate About You). For Romeo and Juliet, I adore the Leonardo DiCaprio version that was released in the 90s. I just watched it the other night while breaking out the sewing machine after the kids went to bed. :) Ohhh, it also appears that there is another Romeo and Juliet coming out in 2012 with Holly Hunter and Ed Westwick. Nice!!

We actually just had our first experience with this as my oldest got her first fundraiser option through gymnastics. We were selling Tervis Tumblers and the price was actually better than what you could get at any store or online. We had my daughter knock door to door (we live in a neighborhood where this is welcome and is very low pressure to buy) and my husband took it into work. I also posted about it on my facebook account for the locals that might be interested. It worked out really well and I think that a lot of people were happy to get the cups at a discounted price. It was a win-win for us! Plus, now I think my daughter feels good knowing that she worked for the team, contributed to the effort, and played a part.

Hi everyone! I have a very good friend who is also a home schooler, but not a member of the boards. She is looking for assistance from a home schooled teenager with a project she is doing. Details are in her blog! If you have any questions, you can direct them towards her from her blog email. Thanks! http://redgatefarm.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/homeschooler-assistance/

Home school skedtrak works great for us. It is a bit time consuming to set up, and there is a bit of a learning curve too, but once you get the hang of it, it is pretty great. Oh, and it is free! (BONUS!) http://www.homeschoolskedtrack.com

We started school today (yay!) and had our first real attempt at narration. We had dabbled in it a bit last year with FLL, but this was our first real go and I was hoping to get some feedback! Parables from Nature, A Lesson in Faith A butterfly said to the caterpillar that she is going to die and asked her to take care of her butterfly eggs and said that they can’t eat cabbage leaves. They eat water and honey from flowers. The butterfly died. Then the caterpillar asked the bird to help her take care of the eggs. The caterpillar said she believed everything she was told. But the caterpillar didn’t believe what the bird said. But she said that she believed everything she was told. Then the bird flew away. Then the caterpillar, she felt something around her. She looked around. Then there were 5 new born caterpillars! When the 5 caterpillars saw the cabbage leaves, they ate and ate and ate and ate and ate. And then the caterpillar was very happy and the bird said, “I told you you wouldn’t believe me!”. Moral: The moral of the story is that we should trust who we think is smart. Even if you don’t know something, you still trust them. The End

We use McGraw Hill science and just buy a used textbook. You can find workbooks on the McGraw Hill purchasing website or you can just make your own pretty easily. My kids love it and really learn a lot from the books. And unlike any of my public school years, we actually finish the science book each year! :) I also get books from the library that go along with whatever the chapter in the science book is, so the McGraw Hill book is almost like a spine. There are science experiments, but it isn't the main focus of the curriculum.

When I was a kid, I really liked Jesus's words in red. I think it helped me figure out what the heck was going on when I was 8 and really not sure how to keep track of everything. I don't think I have a preference now.

Haha! Okay, we all just jinxed each other. :) That made me laugh!

We have the very same problem with my 5 yo DD and I have no earthly idea why she does it. If it makes you feel any better, though, I also find it infuriating and, even after talking to her about it time and time again, it continues to be an issue. Perhaps it is their way of handling stress? Either way, I sympathize with you!!

Our Sienna that fits the three seats in the back is not a hybrid, but it DOES get about 24-26 mpg, and we contend with yucky stop and go traffic. We were shocked, but very pleased, at how good the gas mileage is! :)

I very clearly remember her "very pretty" clothes from when I watched the movie as a kid. I always thought she looked so pretty, like She-Ra. :) I never had an interest in slinky clothes as a teenager and I am a pretty conservative dresser, so I don't think it did any long term damage. But I did love it and thought it was the best outfit. We recently showed the movie to our kids and my 4 year old boy was very quick to notice. He told me that night at dinner that Jabba captured Leia and took all her clothes away, but she got her clothes back when she was rescued. He said it very matter of factly and that was that. As an aside, all of my kids are still SO innocent and have no sense of nakedness or modesty--not sure how much that played into his reaction, but he certainly did notice.

My friends have an Odyssey and we can't fit our three (Britax Marathon and two Recaro Sport) in her back row. We have a Sienna and have all three comfortably and securely in the back with extra room in case the car seats were bigger. My Odyssey friends drool. :)

We bought some roller shades maybe 2 years ago from JCPenney for our Las Vegas house. They were inexpensive and did a great job of keeping the heat and light out. They did smell like plastic for a few days before they aired out, but otherwise, they were custom fit to the windows and didn't cost much at all. http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/XGN.aspx?n=4294964217&deptid=70751&pcatid=70751&catid=70822&cattyp=RLE&dep=WINDOW&pcat=WINDOW&cat=Blinds+%2b+Shades&refpagename=XGN%252Easpx&refdeptid=70751&refcatid=70822&cmAMS_T=XGN3&cmAMS_C=EDB&cmAMS_Z=XGN3ABOVEPAGINATION&CmCatId=external|70822

I am also a noninterventionalist person, and I am a huge supporter to getting it clipped, even if it isn't causing an issue with feeding now. My eldest was tongue tied and we decided to skip clipping. She nursed fine, ate fine, had a few lisps as she got older. However, she had a tough time eating an ice cream cone, or a popsicle, or anything that required major movements of her tongue. Additionally, my husband is tongue tied and after talking to him more about it, he also had similar "quality of life" issues as a result of his tongue tie. The two of them, at ages 4 and 29, went to the ENT and had the minor surgery done together and are as happy as clams. DH noticed that he was compensating and needing to move his tongue differently before the clipping in order to make certain sounds, and it hurt to do so, but now there is no pain or stretching feeling. It would have been better to do it when my DD was younger, but she was a champ and I wouldn't go back on our decision.