I just finished putting together a floor to ceiling Bestå for my school room. It seems like it will be plenty sturdy for books, especially since none of the shelves are wider than 24". Some of my 31" Billys have started to bow just a bit after 2 years. No big deal since extra shelves are cheap, but not an issue with something with more supports like Bestå or Kallax.

I have a room full of Billys, a Kallax, and a couple of Bestas. I think the Bestas are the best combination of adjustable shelving like the Billy but with the depth of the Kallax. If you have anything tall, you don't want the Kallax. With that said, I think the Kallax system is the Ikea Family special this month, so the price might win out.

I am currently using it for my 9 year old. We have only been using it for about a month, so I can't speak to its long-term effectiveness. It is a British company, but you can choose whether you want British or English spelling and pronunciation. If you go directly to their website, you can request a 14-day trial. After your 14 day trial, if you purchase through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op, they will have to send an email to reset your account, but it was easily done within a day. You will lose whatever you progress you made during the free trial, but since you can choose where to have the student start, that isn't really a big deal. Lessons are short. I would say usually about 5 minutes...never more than 10. I usually have him do a couple of lessons a day with a break in between. I like that every 5th lesson is dictation so they aren't just copying the words but learning how to type them from ear. Like I said, I'm not sure how effective it will be for spelling/reading, but it seems to be a solid typing program. I'm hoping it will help the spelling as well since that was my primary reason for going with it.

FYI - there are a couple of books that have mentioned on this thread that are available right now on sale for $4.95.

Have you looked at the booklist for Build Your Library's year 8? It has many of these, plus a few more.

I've actually been really impressed with Victoria's Secret's new line. The Incredible model gives really great support. It goes up to 40 DD or 38 DDD if that's high enough. They also have a front clip and zip version.

Favorites: Brazilian Curry Chicken -- http://paleomg.com/leftovers-brazilian-curry-chicken/ Balsamic Chicken and Sausage -- http://popularpaleo.com/2013/02/20/slow-cooker-balsamic-chicken-sausage/ Enchilada Chicken Stew -- http://paleomg.com/enchilada-chicken-stew/ Chicken Tikka Masala -- http://popularpaleo.com/2013/03/20/slow-cooker-chicken-tikka-masala/ Mongolian Beef -- http://ourfullplate.com/recipes/crock-pot-paleo-mongolian-beef/ Crispy Garlic Citrus Carnitas -- http://crockpotgourmet.net/2014/03/26/crockpot-crispy-garlic-citrus-carnitas/ Honey Ginger Apple Shredded Pork -- http://paleomg.com/honey-ginger-apple-shredded-pork/ Maple Blueberry Bacon Carnitas -- http://paleomg.com/blueberry-breakfast-carnitas/

http://spellingyousee.com Huh? Does anyone know anything about this? What's up with all the math folks venturing over into Language Arts?

Are you guys tired of pre-algebra questions, yet? Okay, my oldest is finishing up 4th grade. We have used MUS from the beginning. He just finished up Epsilon, and I expect that he will finish Zeta by September-ish. He has done 3a-4a of Beast Academy, and we will continue to use those as they come out. He has also done LOF Fractions and we plan to use Decimals and Percents, though these are really just for fun. I'm trying to figure out exactly how many different curriculum I want to continue to use (hint -- it's all of them). I currently have AoPS Pre-Algebra, Jousting Armadillos, and LOF Pre-Algebra. My head tells me that surely that is enough, but I have a niggling fear of dropping MUS. Should I just continue doing it all, or is that serious overkill? We haven't had to do all of the practice pages in MUS pretty much ever....maybe like half. Thoughts?

I am the headmistress at Lastname Ninja Jedi Academy for Smarty Pants. Progress Academy is on our paperwork. I just couldn't bring myself to put the children's idea on the official paperwork.

It looks like the backsplash in that picture with the example cabinets is back painted tempered glass. I love that look, but it is $$$$$$$$$. I really, really, really wanted to use it when we had to redo our backsplash, but it just wasn't in the budget. I've never heard anything bad about it, except for the price.

Sorry to ask and then not check back in...busy couple of days. I'm glad I'm not hallucinating. Curious to see what this turns out to be. If they are any good, they might be a fun supplement. My 4th grader loves Fred. Might be a fun supplement.

What???? I was perusing the Horrible Books site just now because I was considering getting a few more Life of Fred books, and I saw that they have Life of Fred Language Arts listed as coming out in January 2014. Is this some kind of witchcraft? Has this been discussed and I missed it? What is going on? Any info?

Where are you??? Are you okay??? I know I'm a lurker, but I geek out on your OUAT posts, and you are letting me down!

We're not quite finished with 4a yet (also with a 9yo), but my "plan" is to use Life of Fred, probably start working slowly through Jousting Armadillos, and maybe slowly introduce AoPS Pre-Algebra. Maybe others will have a better idea that will help us both.

We have a George. Only his name is Wall-E. He's starting to slack because I don't clean him out like I should. Because I'm lazy. If he gets much worse, I'll have to get a new one.

We use them both, but we don't try to align them. It has worked fine. I like the mastery of the facts from MUS and the deeper thinking of Singapore.

122. Which is crazy because we normally hit a wall in December/January - March-ish, and then I scramble the rest of the year. I think it might have something to do with dropping Facebook, but I don't want to admit that to myself.

He needs to be able to see them. Get some baseball card sheet protectors and a binder.

He needs to be able to see them. Get some baseball card sheet protectors and a binder. Edit: like these ----> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007XXFGG/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000PWZU4E&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1YQQGJXPGFBT22X7XKK2

A subscription to The New Yorker Upgrade my iPhone Corner table for the living room

Ditto everything Lori said. It's super light, but it gives me the security of knowing that *something* got done for science that has a paper trail. We watch lots of videos and my do other science as well, but when things get busy and we miss a day or a week or whatever, Daily Science still gets done.

49. If I make it that long. Or if he does.

Thanks for this! Bumping to let everyone know that the coupon is good through Monday the 19th!

I know for sure that you can't on Netflix. Amazon is usually easier and buffers less for us. I'm not sure I ever got it to completely buffer in full, though.