(or brined) which is just 10 min on the grill, a big pasta salad (with mozzarella and veggies), a fruit plate and brownies for dessert. Fresh, cool and it looks like you did a lot of work! jeri

I know exactly what you mean about high bp! I was never high either and suddenly in the last year or so, it happened! The best motivator for me right now is this book. I am loving lifting and I am seeing huge changes. Not so much in weight (I'm down 20 with about 20 to go) but I am seeing muscles and I've dropped 2 sizes and several inches. I used to do P90X and Insanity and royally messed up my knee and got plantar fasciitis (heel pain) so this is the best thing for me right now. jeri

We give our kids 8 tickets a week, each good for 1/2 hour. They can't use them during school hours. To me, it's like a budget where there are choices to be made. Sometimes we are so busy around here that some kids don't even spend their tickets (and they can't carry them over to the next week). I guess you could also keep him busier. Around here, saying "I'm bored" usually results in a chore (or at least helping me with something). jeri

PA Homeschoolers was terrific for my 9th grader who just finished AP Bio. Hoping she gets a 5 (test was Tuesday). jeri

It has really helped me. Terrific book and made me feel that I wasn't the only "bad" mother out there. jeri

She is in 9th and quite good at math/science. Her suggestions: it is very helpful (almost necessary) to have a great knowledge of chemistry (shd did high school chem, Apologia, in 8th; a high school bio class or a very good middle school bio class is very helpful; be prepared to study a huge amount (she studied about 4 hours a day over the past year; some days she only did bio!); get a good teacher. DD took it through PAHomeschoolers with Dr. Kanner. I cannot say enough good things about her. She is amazing but demands a lot! We will not know the outcome of the course until the results come in on July 1st, but I can honestly say that it was an incredibly difficult course due to the huge amount of straight memorization. If you do decide to go this route, don't skimp on the resources. She used the latest edition of Campbell, I bought Mastering Biology online, along with two study guides. HTH! Good luck to your son. Jeri

I have a sixth grader adn a 4th grader who are using WWE4, and I have questions on how you use this. My older dd, who is ESL, really struggles with the reading passages since she doesnt' have the background for the reading (i.e. the passage on the Civil War we are doing this week) and often there are words or concepts she doesn't understand. The way we do the narration is I have her read it twice, then I sit with her and go over each paragraph with her for meaning and words. Then I have her tell it back to me in very general terms but I don't write it down. Finally, she writes her own narration. She usually does pretty well and I'm really happy if she gets the points down in order and with correct grammar and spelling. But as for the dictation, that's really tough! Obscure words and phrases, difficult grammar--she eventually can get it down but I'm not sure if it's really worth it for her. So, I understand SWB's philosophy on "getting the words fixed in your mind in one piece" but I'm wondering how critical that is. And please don't tell us to go back one level since we've already done levels 2 and 3. So, can my dd be a success at writing if we don't follow this to the T? Thanks. jeri

Thank you! Can you keep posting them (so I don't have to do the work, ;) For those of you with older kids (e.g. Lisa) I started Book 1 in the fall with two then 11 yos and an 8 yo. I did supplement with experiments from other books and I did make them keep a notebook (composition book) for notes. We are just about finishing up (with a detour through the human body which is more substantive that Dr. Nebel's tour) and I can honestly say that they have learned a lot! I must say, also, that Dr. Nebel really presents things in a logical way. When I said that we are doing the body in a more substantive way, I mean that we are actually doing the whole digestive system, etc. with another book. But I still use his info since it is so logical! Last week when we did the skeleton, I had them make a skeleton and we talked about the bones. But his topic was the structure of animals so we also discussed the general phylum breakdown of vertebrates and invertebrates, watched a worm move, and figured out where mollusks fit into the framework. So they dovetail very nicely. Can't wait to start next year with book 2! jeri

SaDonna, glad to hear that it's not just me! I guess when I think about it, it was the biggest, most time consuming project so far! I would have done this over two weeks, but as it is, we will finish with all of WWS on the last day. And this week we don't even have Friday available to extend since we are going to a science fair. Ok, now I'm breathing. Merrie, honestly, this was jjust a long, tedious project. I was right near by and I did help him, but there was no joy in this project! Hopefully tomorrow will be better. jeri

and I am biting my tongue. Does anyone else's child find this very painful? Do any of you moms find this very painful? It is taking him forever! and he is pretty grumpy about it. jeri

Isn't anyone going? jeri

My dd just found out that she got accepted to Freedom Academy! Anyone else? Jeri

My first impression is that it is written for an older crowd. It has a very British sense of humor and some of the cartoons are a bit bawdy. I didn't use it until my dd was in 7th, but we started with LP2. She is finishing up LP3 right now. LL had not yet been published. As for my youngers, they have both been using LL. My sixth grader is about 3/4 of the way through LL2 and I will move into LP2, partly as a review to cement Latin in his head, then to LP3, Why do you want to move into LP2 instead of LL2? I would think that with younger kids there is more of an appeal with writing in a workbook (like LL) than with copying it out of the text like LP2. (Or maybe you are using the LP workbook for this?) Also, I think LL runs a little slower than LP and the explanations are a bit clearer. Sorry I can't help you with the details on how to use LP. My oldest dd just kept a composition book for the LP books. Maybe you could have them make up flashcards for their LP books? Jeri

we limit showers to "sea showers" as we called them in the Coast Guard. You turn on the water to get wet, turn off water. Shampoo hair. Turn on water to rinse. Turn off water to soap up. Turn on water to rinse. Shouldn't take more than 5 min. We have 8 in our family and the kids are all between 9 and 15 and three are girls! jeri

but I add on a lot of experiments and demos. I just get books out of the library, look on my own science bookshelf, get ideas from youtube, etc. I am just about finished with the first volume. I started using it this year with two sixth and a fourth grader, so I *did* have to beef up the program! But just add stuff in! Jeri