Louisburg (NE of Raleigh) :) Trying REALLY hard to coax State Reps to support homeschoolers being able to play sports in NC! Hitting brick walls...heard some rumors though...

I LOVED the ideas of quiet time boxes! My 21 mo has roomtime for 1 hr. while I do school with my 3 yo in the mornings and then in the afternoon while my 21mo is asleep (2 1/2hrs), my 3yo has roomtime for about 30 min and then quiet time (strictly on the bed) for about 2 hrs where she can read and take a nap (we are in transition mode), which she usually does. They share a room but nap in different rooms to accomplish this...I love being complicated:tongue_smilie:

I don't have time to read all the posts so sorry if someone already posted this but there are Pregnancy Life Care Centers for girls to go to who are considering an abortion and they will inform the pants off your friend about what's going on inside of her body. Another cool thing is that they will give her an ultrasound to show her the LIFE in her. I would google it + your city.

Thank you! I think you said it perfectly. I guess I am just not one of those "natural" mothers so the clock helped me a lot. I use it the same way you described... My 3 mo "Why are you so fussy? Oh, well you have been up for a little over an hour. I think you're tired..." He is! He goes right to sleep and wakes up happy! Actually, now that he is rolling over, sometimes he wakes up crying and if it has not been 3 hrs yet, I just roll him back over in the position he started and he goes back to sleep right away (no crying). If I did not look at the clock, I may have felt he needed to be fed and that is NOT what he needed at that time. The clock/nor GKGW is not the enemy...it is just a TOOL to use.

I learned nothing in college that has prepared me to teach my children. I did learn a lot actually teaching though that I think has prepared me...meaning I made a lot of mistakes with other people's children that now I don't have to make with my own :D sounds mean, but it's true! My degree is in Spanish Education (K-12) but I taught ESOL, Spanish (elm.) and 5th grade English and History. I have about half of the classes to have a masters in English. I learned A LOT about linguistics and grammar and I think that made me a better teacher in the English area but nothing in my bachelor's degree years.:tongue_smilie:

I don't know how old your baby was but mine is 3 months old and is feeding 5-6x/day...and I follow prep for parenting. He is eating every 3-3.5 hrs and then about 10.5 hrs @ night. Whenever I go to the doctor and they ask how often my babies are eating, I tell them and the doctor has always said they were eating as often as they should. They were surprised at how long they were sleeping at night (so soon) but I'm not sorry for that one! I'm a much happier mommy now that I get to sleep through the night :D Oh, and by the way, the shrimp of my 3 kids is 80% (others are 98%+) and I nurse until they are 1 (or until I get preg). I say that only because many who are against "scheduling" (such an ugly word these days) say they are because they tried it and stopped producing milk. I have never had this problem and the Ezzos even address this problem and say to pump after you nurse, nurse more, etc. I just think it is a book full of very practical and helpful ideas ;)

To quote my father (which I HATE doing), I think some are "majoring on the minors" when they say they don't agree with the book because of the title. So they could have picked a better title...okay. I love to read the Above Rubies magazine even though I don't do AP and they say that AP is right because it is God's way (by using scripture). Just because I do not agree that the only way is to do AP and nurse until my children are 2+ does not mean I disagree with Above Rubies and how it encourages me in many other areas...just using that as an example.

This is exactly how these books get a bad wrap...there is NO place in their books where it says to let your child cry that long! I says to let your child cry a little bit when you put them down because some children need to cry a little to get some energy out before they settle down for a nap. The only time it talks about waking a baby up is when they are newborns and they should not go very long without eating or when they are toddlers and taking afternoon naps...to wake them up so they will be ready to go to bed at night at a decent time. This is very frustrating and makes me wonder what book they read and if they ever went to a GKGW class!

I was raised with a perfectionist father and was berated growing up. This is what I learned and this is what God is changing in me everyday. I was introduced to GKGW by a lady at church and I think it has saved my kids from abuse. I am just being honest...my natural inclination is to abuse (verbally and physically) because that is what I grew up with and never knew anything else. Like I said, God is changing my heart but the examples GKGW gives for discerning childish/foolish behavior helped me be more soft-hearted and less rigid with my children. Their suggestions in Prep for Parenting book helped me be less rigid with my babies as well. It taught NOT to be all about the clock, which is my nature. I get comments CONSTANTLY about how well-behaved my children are. We are still working on the respecting adults part (but they are toddlers afterall) but I will continue to glean much wisdom from GKGW and am terribly thankful I was introduced to the books. I think it is ungodly to be a child-centered family instead of being a God-centered family. GKGW is big on teaching children that they are not the center of the universe so they will not be "wise in their own eyes" which is foolishness in God's eyes. Just my two cents :D

Those are some great ideas. My daughter used to do that when she didn't feel like reading and I took it as a discipline issue. Sometimes when she is reading a difficult book or gets to the end of a book and doesn't want to finish it, she will start crying. I disciplined her from the beginning and now a simple, "calm down, have a happy heart, and read" will do the trick for the most part (sometimes, I will leave the room for a minute for her to compose herself and have a happy heart if need be). Keep at it and like others said, start EASY and slow to build confidence. Another suggestion that was made to me from another thread is to take a book and you read a page and she reads a page...that has worked for me, she loves reading WITH me, ya know?

:confused: Know where to see a pic?

I never thought about that but it makes COMPLETE sense! So, my question is, how do I know how much time is appropriate? I spend about 1 hr 15 min with my 3 year old (may) on math, reading, and writing and then more time with her sister with Bible and when I read to them (don't have to sit still and concentrate as much). Does that sound like too much? I assume it is different for each child but I don't want to push (time-wise) until she is not enjoying school (especially at such a young age).

We LOVE Kitty Hawk. If it's nice, go on a dolphin tour and hang out at the beach! We enjoyed the Wright's Brothers Museum for a little homeschool during the summer :) When we go and it rains, we go to the aquarium in Manteo...very fun!

Back in the day (OT times), sex=marriage=sex. The bride and groom would go into the tent, become "married", the bride would present the cloth to her father for proof that she was a virgin, and there would be a celebration. This is still my belief (sex=marriage=sex). I do vote but otherwise stay out of politics for 2 reasons: 1 because sinners are going to act like sinners and me trying to keep them from sinning by law is not going to save them and 2 because it frustrates me that "Christians" are against homosexual marriage but not against divorce (hello, look at our divorce rates!), which is just as wrong (with few exceptions). I could go on and on about point 2 but because of point 1, there is not point :D (pun intended)

I couldn't find one anywhere that was political (only geographic). However, we did find a shower curtain and I was thinking of putting it up on the wall and using visavis pens or dry erase, whichever worked :D Thanks for all of the other places to look though for an actual map!

I went to your blog and saw the Book Samaritan...the link took me to a search engine that said it could find no such thing...is it still up and running? ps...i'm a big list person too :iagree:

partner read books above their instruction level - you read a sentence, they read a sentence, you read a sentence, etc. I just did this the other night and it was great! Thanks!

Thanks for all the suggestions! Especially about the frustration, independent and instruction levels...I think I read that in WTM and I just forgot with all the craziness of having a baby, ya know? :)

I'm surprised I have a voice with all of the reading I do throughout the day...my dds race each other to see who can get me a book the fastest (not sure why because all I do is alternate). I am so glad when dh gets home so he can take a turn!

You are filled with the Holy Spirit when you are saved. Baptism is just like announcing it/making it known to others that you are saved. Most of the mentions of baptism in the Bible talk about Believe (1) and then be baptized (2). There are a couple of times it talks of Baptism first but it is referring to what the Jews did preJesus...where they washed themselves before they presented themselves at the temple...they prepared their bodies for worship. PostJesus Baptism/washing is more symbolic of what Jesus has done for you (in that He saved you). That is what I remember of our study in Deuteronomy, although that was a couple of years ago so...

We use a trash can with holes in the sides...If you want to spend the $ for another trash can, don't cut the bottom out, just poke holes. Then, secure the top on every once in a while and have the kids roll it around in the yard.:D

Alphaphonics sounds exactly like OPGTR!

I know I am one of the young moms who should listen and not give an opinion but what are message boards for? :) With my children and friends' children what I have found is that those who are not consistent have unruly children who are not blessings. Those who are consistent have the opposite. I have never known anyone who is consistent and does not spank, actually, but those who spank only when they are going off the deep end or don't spank but yell, the results have not been good. With mine, I have found that consistency of "nipping it in the bud" rather than reminding, warning, yelling, timeout, and then spanking when I am pulling my hair out has much better results. I agree with VT mom. I start spanking around 18 mo. (when they start having a will) and hopefully will not have to spank past 5 (basically what I have seen in neighboring families). I try to discipline as soon as the first offense happens, which teaches them there is no testing mom and then I am able to deal with it before I get emotionally upset. Who would have thought that 2 1/2 was my favorite age so far? I thought we were done spanking then because my daughter had learned what was acceptable and what was not...then 3 hit where she knows what is right but just chooses to not do it. This frustrates my husband but I hear that's what happens at 3...we also limit ourselves (more or less) to spank as many as their age. I was raised in an abusive home and it is a good check for me...anyway, that's my "young mom opinion":D

When my oldest was two, she knew her letters and sounds so I decided to start OPGTR. We zoomed through the first lessons on letter sounds (I can't skip...type A personality and all). I am a big fan of the book. She is 3 and on lesson 113 and we are actually taking a break from learning anything new and just practicing reading fluency with Bob Books and other early readers from the library to master what she has learned. I did not think it moved slowly at all. It is (as the earlier mother said) VERY thorough and I like that! I also like that it goes from non-reader to master reader...not K reading, 1st grade reading, 2nd grade reading, like other programs do. And, it can be used over and over (less money in the long run if you have a lot of kids) because there are no workbooks - I like that!

I started OPG when my dd was 2. One year later, we are on lesson 113 but she still isn't reading fluently. She can zoom through the first set of Bob books but I was thinking that her reading would need to go along with what she is learning (long vowels). The Bob books with long vowels are too long and take us about 2-3 days to get through (she reads to me 30 min/day) because she still sounds out most words. He gets the phonics completely, but the fluency has not come yet. I hear it just takes time and practice but my question is...should I drop her down to "her level" reading? I know you will say "yes" but then I am afraid she will forget what she just learned...suggestions? I've never taught anyone to read before so I don't really know what to expect.