I can't compare, but gswl is awesome. Easy to use and understand. Good practice but no busywork or cutesy junk. And great retention.

Do you wash yours every day? Or do you sometimes dry comb it? I think the combing in the shower is supposed to be fine. But I've been combing it at other times. Thanks for the detail on your method. What was your hair like before the CG method?

I live in Florida. Frizz is here to stay so I'm trying to combat it the best I can :) See I thought wavy would help keep my hair down better than curly. Hmm.

I started trying to follow the curly girl method about 7 weeks ago. I use a sulfate free cleansing conditioner, and then deva curl cream. I stopped brushing. my hair, but I do comb it. I don't wet my hair and apply more conditioner or cream aside from the days I wash it, which is much less than it was with regular shampoo. So my questions since I was just re-reading some curly girl stuff, and I think I am doing some things wrong. Should I be using several conditioners on the day I wash it? I use only the one, scrub my scalp and lather my hair and rinse. That's it. Should I be doing another step? Should I be wetting my hair each day or applying a leave on conditioner? Do you never dry comb or finger comb your hair? How do you take care of it? That's why I'm wondering if I should be at least rinsing it each day so I can comb it. Which products do you use and like? What do you like each one for? My hair is not that soft and silky. In fact, it irritates my neck some. Hence my question about applying more conditioners or leave in ones. I really want just wavy hair instead of curly, kinky looking hair. Is there anything I can use that would smooth it out more? ( not a flat iron though). Or is that more of a dream? I used to have very straight hair; this curly stuff is since kids. And I'm finally trying to deal with the huge mess (I have super thick hair that will bellow out and frizz up).

Our priest once said something like this as he was encouraging the congregation to sing more and sing louder...if a God gave you a bad voice, what better place to use it than church :). Cantors all volunteer their time and want to use their voice (good or not so good) to praise God. I'd find comfort in knowing God has made us all; she is one of Gods children and she is singing to him and for him. She probably finds great joy in singing and I wouldn't want to take that away.

Are you part of a 4h group at is working on a specific project book this year? In our club, everyone worked on Junk Drawer Robotics, including the Cloverbuds. And the demos that the Cloverbuds did were something along that had to do with the project or that was related to the project. Another 4h club does gardening, and the Cloverbuds end of year demos and exhibits are related to the gardening project. Now if you are just beginning your 4h year, and trying to pick a project book to work in, then that's different. Our club all works on the one base project book, and then all members are allowed to work on a second (or more) project book as well.

Thanks!

Have you used that second book? I look at the samples online and had trouble figuring it out. It's a different style. Would you be able to explain it a little? I like the idea of taking time off and just doing practice island. I own some of mct stuff but it never got done. I hadn't even looked at that book before. Thanks much!

AG was one of the ones I looked at. Their online sample is discussing and diagramming prepositional phrases and such. We covered that pretty well in FLL it seemed; it just looked like busy work. Does AG end up covering grammar in more depth than FLL? Or is it essentially more practice? maybe I'm not getting the point of it? Or perhaps it was a bad sample to look at? Thanks for the help.

I never heard of these until recently when I saw all the threads with everyone posting their ribbons won. I checked out the website and it looks like they sell a lot of materials to help prep for these exams, which they also run. Since it looks expensive, I wanted to ask about the costs and benefits by doing this. What are your children getting out of this, or what do you see as the benefit to them? And are the same study materials used each year? Or do they sell new ones each year that you must buy? Are some of the materials more necessary than others? Thanks. Pondering it for next year.

My 9yo dd made me a stuffed bumblebee for Mothers Day out of felt and cotton balls etc. it is scotch taped together. :) Guess we are not a family of sewers. I'm tempted to sign us all up for a few classes at Joanne's. I know I'm not setting a good example, though I use safely pins instead of scotch tape.

Thanks!

I've been googling grammar stuff and came across ALL. I see a picture of the book and all, but the links to the samples are no good, and can't really find more on it. Anyone? Thanks.

My kids have gone through first language lessons, seem to have a good grasp of what was taught, and have enjoyed diagramming sentences. The only real problems I see in their writing are mixing present and past tense within a sentence sometimes. I mean, they make complete sentences, use adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions etc properly, capitalize and punctuate well. We could use advanced help on commas probably, but not basic comma usage. They do fine with quotations and attributions. What would take us to the next level of what we need? What is it that I should look for in a program or teach next? When do verb tenses/conjugations like future perfect, present perfect get taught? We come across those terms in Latin, but not in English. I've looked at a few other grammar programs, and I see worksheet like busyness. What is truly a good fit for after FLL? I don't care if it's independent or not. Most independent options look like I'd spend just as much time correcting worksheets as I would have orally teaching something. And how do I know when we are done learning grammar as a separate subject? And just deal with it on an as needed basis? Thanks.

The child reads the passages, not you. Though I do like to skim them myself so I know if their narration is on target. With WWE so scripted out, it's pretty easy peasy as far as getting it done. He reads, you ask a few questions, write it down, and done. Next day you say a couple sentences three times, he writes it, and done. I do it times three kids and it's still pretty easy.

Oh, no. I am so, sorry sorry to read about your son and think about what you must be going through.

I don't think hwot is pretty, but my three kids learned it easily this year and without drama. All have nice writing. No regrets here. They were 8.5yo when they started.

I like him; have even seen him at conferences and enjoyed him. But TWSS does need to be broken up over a good period of time. I watched it according to the SWI schedule, to give me a heads up on what he planned to teach to the kids. I liked having the teachers part under my belt to better understand how to handle the SWI lessons. So if you're trying to do too much, that could be it. Or else it just might not be your style. My kids love Pudewa. The boys are finally enjoying writing and doing really well.

While it's wonderful to hear about so much curriculum, it can be a detriment as well to hear so many options. Especially if you're happy with what you have. I try to just keep everyone's ideas in the back of my mind for when I might need it, but I recently found myself googling three different curriculums mentioned here. I caught myself and made the insanity stop! What we have works. Yes, I may be missing out on another great program, but I already have a different great program. I'm better off not switching constantly. But sometimes new stuff is so tempting! I do at least have a list of new things to look at at the convention to see them in person. Then I can decide whether to still keep them in mind for the future or not. By the way, we love CC and dislike Saxon :)

Yeah, but would you have guessed that clear soap has dyes in it too?!

If it weren't for the fact that you would have to keep going to the doctors and hospital all the time with the kids, I would have said homeschool. To reduce the germs brought in. But the biggers will pick up plenty of germs at those places. Therefore, homeschooling does not provide a benefit in that respect. So if you think you would be better off caring for the baby without the stress of having the others around all day, and without the stress of being responsible for their school, then I'd put them in school. I would focus on having some kind of protocol when the kids come home; any kind of mudroom area? I'd have the kids strip and wash and put on clean clothes each time they came home. Other adults too. That was pretty much what a lot of preemie multiples moms put in place to protect them from RSV. Praying your baby's health improves. A hard thing to go through.

I believe sicc a would be used because it will pick up where SWI a will leave off. SICC b would pick up where SWI b would leave off. So you might miss something if you tried following SWI a with SICC b. Did that make sense? Lots of acronyms! We just finished SWI a this year and my kids loved it. Even the boys said again last week, we love IEW! (First writing program to get that enthusiasm). We are moving into SICC a next year. Hope you enjoy it!

Very helpful, thank you!

I picked up a set at a book sale recently. Aside from the big squares, should all the rest of the colored blocks match up in size? They seem to be slightly varying sizes from one color to another. For example, should the second size in a color match the second size in the other colors? Or not? I am missing three pieces, one blue and the small clear overlays. I'd make my own blue but not sure how to tell what size is missing! And if anyone knows the size of the small ones, I can make those too. I heard they were smaller pieces than the other overlays. Thanks.

Have you watched the TWSS? Pudewa did say this would likely happen, and always cautioned, hands on structure and style, hands off content when you start teaching it. In the beginning, it is not natural to add dress ups, so they can come off forced or strange sounding. He said be okay with that. As they get used to writing with structure and style and it starts becoming second nature, the writing will go more smoothly and you will see less and less of those awkward sentences.