I'd like to show dd13 and ds15 a performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Does anyone have any recommendations for a video that is appropriate for young teens? (It's best if some of the jokes can go over their heads...)

We (my husband and I and two kids, ds15 and dd13) are planning a trip to Italy and need to read up on Italian history, culture, etc. Can anyone recommend some good books or documentaries that will help us get ready? Thanks!

My 13-year-old will be applying to various high school programs next year, and the entrance exams all involve essays. We've been using WWE and WWS all along, but I think he needs some practice with the traditional essay form (e.g., "Write an essay for a classroom instructor in which you take a position on whether participation in organized school athletics should be required. Be sure to defend your position with logical arguments and appropriate examples..." etc.) Are there any easy-to-use resources out there that people can recommend for practicing this kind of composition?

We just read The Hound of the Baskervilles aloud, which my dd10 and ds12 loved. Now I'd like to order some Sherlock Holmes books for the kids to read independently, but I'm not sure which ones would be best for this age group. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Over the past month or two I seem to have developed venous insufficiency/varicose veins. My doctor recommended compression socks and leg elevation, but I'm finding the whole thing pretty uncomfortable. I have an appointment in a few days to talk to a vein specialist about possible treatments. Do any of you have any advice? Any "Been There Done That" stories? I'm trying to get informed so that I can make good decisions about what to do. Thanks! Anna

Does anyone have any documentaries on Egypt they can recommend? I'd like to order something from Netflix, and I'm looking for ideas. Thanks!

My dd9 says that she's been feeling a lump in her throat off and on for a few weeks. It feels like she needs to swallow something down, but it won't move. My first thought was that it's a food allergy, but she says it sometimes happens between meals. Have any of y'all run into this kind of symptom? I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow, but I'd like to get some ideas of what it might be.

Thanks for the suggestion!

We're heading to Maine for a few days in September. Can anyone recommend places to stay in the Acadia National Park area? (Not camping). TIA

My ds9 had dental sealants put on her back teeth at her last dentist visit, and I've just found out that these sealants contain the chemical BPA. I think if I'd know this I wouldn't have let him do it. Does anyone know anything about potential risks of dental sealants? Can they be removed?

My dd9 is about to finish FLL4, and I plan to have her switch over to Rod and Staff English for grammar. My question is which grade level should we use? R&S Grade 5 English seems to repeat a lot of what she already knows. Has anybody gone from FLL4 straight into R&S Grade 6?

What did you think of it? Is it good clean fun? Or filled with adult innuendo and cynicism? (You never know these days.) We don't go out to movies much, but my husband has Monday off, and Puss in Boots is in the local theater, so we thought, what the heck - let's go see it. I just thought I'd check in with the Hive and see if y'all give it thumbs-up or thumbs-down.

My .pdf draft copy of WWS refers the student to a "labelled diagram of the parts of the volcano," but the diagram is missing. Does anyone know how I can get a hold of this diagram? Thanks!

My son has done some challenging reading lately, and now I'd like to make sure he has some books that are just pure enjoyment. The tricky thing is that he doesn't really like fantasy (Narnia, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson do nothing for him). Examples of what he does like are books by Robert McCloskey (Homer Price), Sid Fleischann (By the Great Horn Spoon), and Arthur Ransome (Swallows and Amazons). The last book he couldn't put down was Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French. Any other ideas? TIA!

My son has been studying percentages in math but is still a little foggy about it. Can anyone recommend a good YouTube video or other web site video that provides a good demonstration of what percentages are and how to calculate them? TIA Anna

Hi SWB, Do you recommend that parents show kids the narration rubric before the kids write a narration? Or should the rubrics remain a behind-the-scenes tool just for the parent? Thanks!

We've been using SWR for years, but I'm thinking I'd like to switch to a spelling program that the kids can do independently - something with a workbook that has a weekly spelling list and exercises that help them learn the words. I've looked at Spelling Workout, but their approach seems so different from SWR that I'm not sure it would work for us. Any other ideas? TIA!

Anybody have a list of primary sources for the modern era that they wouldn't mind sharing? Or a resource (book, website) for primary sources that you particularly like?

My dd9 and ds11 will start the modern era in history in the fall. Dd9 will use SOTW4 with the AG. My plan was to have the kids read each SOTW chapter together. Then, ds11 would study the events of that week's chapter by following the WTM recommendations for 5th grade history (list of facts, outlines, timeline, etc., using the National Geographic Almanac of World History and other resources). However, as I read SOTW4, I find that many of the chapters are made up of sections that talk about very different events. For example, Chapter 2 has a section on Japan opening up to foreign trade and a section on the Crimean War. In a case like this I'm trying to decide if: a)Ds11 should just pick one section for in-depth study for the week and skip the other, or b)He should follow the sequence of the NG Almanac of World History and just read sections in SOTW as they relate to NG Almanac section he's working on. In this case he and his sister would be studying different things at different times (for some reason I want them doing the same topic at the same time, but not sure if that's entirely rational...) Anyone else faced this dilemma? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

My ds10 and I are about to embark on First Form Latin, and I'm wondering how other people using this program like to schedule their lessons over the course of the week. Any example lessons plans would be appreciated!

My ds10 just finished LL Book 1, and I'm pondering my next step. I'd appreciate any feedback from LL Book 2 users. Thanks! Anna

The absolute best production of Pride and Prejudice, hands down, is the 1980 BBC production starring Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul. I don't think people know about this version but it's soooo good. It really does justice to the book.

I'm trying to decide about which modern language to focus on with my kids (dd8 and ds10) next year: Portuguese (because there are lots of Portuguese native speakers in our town) or French (because I studied it in school and loved it). I really can't decide, and it occurred to me that maybe we could do both? My son has started Latin, and my daughter will too in a year, so doing both modern languages would probably be crazy. But just for fun I thought I'd ask if anyone is doing this many languages and if so, how's it going? And how do you schedule it? I'm thinking we would use Rosetta Stone. TIA, Anna

Any suggestions for well-written page turners that a 7-year-old girl would like? She has recently enjoyed: Caddie Woodlawn, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The 100 Dresses Laura Ingalls Wilder series What else is good for this age? TIA, Anna

My kids (dd7 and ds9) learned printing in kindergarten, but when I started homeschooling each of them in 1st grade, I taught them cursive. They currently do all their work in cursive, and their printing is getting very rusty. Does anyone have a recommendation for an easy-to-use printing practice workbook for older kids? They already know how to form the letters, and they use college-ruled paper for writing. I know that I could make up practice sheets myself, but we're extremely busy at the moment, and it's just not getting done. TIA, Anna