The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads!

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Journey to the Cross-roads
The Two Towers Edition

Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)

Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.

[Corin Stormhands]

Maybe they don't have the actual date and they're basing it on the previews that say "Coming Christmas 2003."

But this time at least you don't have to wait until after New Year's...

[SuziQ]

RE: the fashions. All I can say is, do these folks look into the MIRROR before they leave their houses? Gak! Those clothes are UGLY! Liv definitely needs to ditch the huge bow on the dress.

[SuziQ]

Oh, boy! Beowulf... I'm numb with excitement.

As you're going through some of those medieval British writings, remember that Tolkien used ideas from those pieces in writing LOTR! You'll probably be able to spot them. You could even use that as the basis for a research paper if you needed to do one!

[SuziQ]

This might be a booger, even my A students messed up on the assignment I gave them Tuesday

You might need to grade on the curve for this one!

[HairOfTheDog]

What were they thinking with the big bow? I just can't imagine!

[RMDupree]

Good morning one and all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENB!

Cake time!

Bacon, egg and cheese biscuits are ready..

...with 6 platters of sausage patties and bacon strips.

Blueberry muffins and 3 dozen donuts (pick a flavor!) are on the table.

Coffee is brewed and juices are chilled. ENJOY!

[ksen]

Liv definitely needs to ditch the huge bow on the dress.

Yeah! The skimpier the dress the better!

.

oh, did I just post that?

[SuziQ]

Looks like you're going to have the record for the longest Birthday Celebration in the Hobbit Hole!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, again!

[SuziQ]

I bought Matthew's 4th grade curriculum yesterday!

Sounds like a good deal. Do you buy a whole package or do you gather the parts from different places? Does your homeschool group have a Used Curriculum Sale each year? The local Christian homeschoolers group does that. They have some really good buys if you get there early!

[HairOfTheDog]

Are there plans we should be making for Entmoot?

I don't know how far in advance to start looking at airfare deals, is there some magic window of time that is the right time? - And what about room reservations? - Should we go with a standard hotel, or is there a more loose idea like a big ole beach house with all kinds of bunks and a TV that we could rent? If there was such a place, I like that idea alot because there would be more opportunity for 'hanging out around the table or piling around the TV kinds of chit/chat time. In a hotel, we would always be meeting in a restaurant or something.

[Corin Stormhands]

We had seven platters of bacon yesterday...

[HairOfTheDog]

Is this Meat or Cake?

[RMDupree]

Shhhhh! I'm hiding some for g'nad in case he gets here late!

[Corin Stormhands]

Are there plans we should be making for Entmoot?

And what date did we settle on again? I'll write it down this time.

[RMDupree]

It's burnt lembas!

[RMDupree]

Hmmm...I think it was either the weekend of the 17th or the 24th. I can't remember which.

Yoo-HOOOO! KSEN!!!!

[HairOfTheDog]

It would still be buried in the that poll! - There was a most-favored date over the other options.

Just a minute.

[2Jedismom]

I bought the whole package at once. All the manuals and workbooks. Do you know how Alpha Amega works? It consists of 10 booklets that are about I guess on the average 60 pages long each. It's not easy...each booklet takes about a month to complete (at least that's how long it takes us and that's how long they say they are supposed to take). It has periodic "self tests" frequently through each book. At the end of each booklet, there is a major test over the entire booklet and that is what I use to grade Matthew for the year. He doesn't really get a grade on the "self tests" because he has to re-do them till they are correct. So, over the course of the year he has 30 booklets to complete. The SOS science curriculum shouldn't take as long because it's mostly just click on the answer.

[Dawntreader]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!!

[SuziQ]

What curriculum do you use? I don't think I've spent $1,000 on BOTH kids over the last couple of years. But I DO have a penchant for buying used books, so that number might be a little low ;o) ! I also tend to buy 'in advance' if I find a book that I know they'll use later on in the Classical sequence. Barnes and Noble has some awesome books on sale right now. I got several the kids will be able to use studying the Ancients in the Fall. I found a "Historical Atlas of the World", "Technology in the Ancient World", and a "Dictionary of Latin and Greek Roots". And for the Medieval Era, I found a book on the "Knights Templar". I also found two great Science books;"Astronomy", written by David Levy, and "Modern Science". Each of the books was $10 on sale, and I got an additional 20% off for the Homeschoolers Discount! Woo Hoo! I love books!

I don't follow a specific curriculum because we don't have any specific requirements locally. It's whatever I want to do. I know the basic subjects I want the kids to do, and I buy whichever texts or other materials I think they'd enjoy using. As I mentioned, we're following a Classical schedule, so I just go with what I need for that.