I thought the same thing! It was the wording of a certain response where the person said she could write to Charles Schultz (who has died) or Henry Winkler (who apparently has not :lol:). It made it sound, in that thread, as if they had both died. At least I think that's what happened. ;)

This is a lot like what we do, in general. On another board I was talking about this past year and I said, " So we've been kind of eclectically tidally semi-unmindfully-unschoolingly schooling with Sonlight" That pretty much sums it up. :lol: This year I'm going to try to stick to SL as is (I've never pulled that off before) with Apologia elementary science and CM-ish pursuits for music/art, but who knows what next year may bring.

I'm a fast reader and audiate all the time - well, let me rephrase that. If my mind ends up wandering, I can be thinking of one thing and reading at the same time, but then I realize I have no idea what I just read. So if I stop audiating, I lose the story. I also "see" the story in my head. Funny thing is, if I am reading aloud, I can't seem to listen to myself at the same time and have horrible recall of the story.

Love it! :lol: Ours is Epiphany Prep School, though I've been through a bunch of others that I didn't like as much. I like how it can have a religious and a mental/educational meaning. The Prep part - well, I like to think I'm Prep-ing them for life, not just college.

Happy anniversary Anj and Jan! Our 14th was *last* Wednesday. :D 1994 was a good year, huh? :)

beyana = banana (another DD said bana or bananana alternately :)) shoom = spoon packpack = backpack (they all did this) amn't (I actually remember doing this as a child, I just couldn't figure it out) cankum = thank you (we still say this too her occasionally, she is 10 :lol:) igmire = admire bedley = a special blanket oh-ee-oh-ee-oh = Eeyore We have a library in a town near us that has "Marsh" in the name and dd calls it the Marshmallow library. Same dd says she has to "peep" when she needs to use the bathroom. ;) I know there's more, I did write them down somewhere around here...

LOL, I'm guilty of talking to dh like that after a full day of talking to my kids constantly. :001_huh: I usually immediately realize and ask for forgiveness though. :D

Be advised though that constantly talking to your young children can grow four little girls and a boy who all day assault you with words and don't know how to be quiet. :lol::lol: I now cannot get a word in edgewise. :tongue_smilie: Seriously though, I do what many of the other posters say - vary my pitch, but always use real words (well, I have been known to use one or two of my DD's made up words because I find them so cute, LOL - I was giving her a shoom with her fork for quite some time :D) I was a speech-language pathologist before having kids, so I think speaking to them a certain way (the way I was trained) just comes naturally to me now.

From my dad: "You used to be smart." (lol, thanks Dad, I think it has something to do with 10 years of sleep deprivation) "You haven't had a normal one yet, have you." (said in reference to the fact that my oldest has alopecia, #2 has a hearing loss, #1 and #3 have severe food allergies/eczema/asthma...) My MIL said I was only marrying dh for his money (This one makes both of us :lol:) I get lots of "too many kids" comments but my "favorites" are: the lady who passed us on her way out of the post office and said loud enough for everyone waiting to hear "Wow, you didn't waste any time popping out all those kids" and then took the Lord's name in vain :cursing:. Yeah, I really enjoyed waiting on that long P.O. line wondering what everyone was thinking of me, and trying to explain to my kids what she meant... and the woman who said to her daughter (and everyone else on the elevator and in the hallway!) as we exited the elevator and they got on, "Ewww, three kids and pregnant with a forth! Ugh!" in the most disgusted tone. Ummm, gee thanks. I hid out during my entire pregnancy with #5. :lol:

I really like this one too. :) Maybe because I would like my daycare provider (if I needed one) to be like Ms. Frizzle. :lol: Your advertising could explain more what you're really after, like "The Magic School House: Part-time drop-in care with an educational flair" or some such. :)

Congratulations!

This is exactly what I was going to say (right down to the depressing part - this is the hugest thorn in my side, and I have many thorns :lol:). It took a lot of thinking, but I came up with two week menu that we simply repeat. I'm about to change it around a little for summer, and I'm dreading having to think about it again, LOL. :grouphug:

I voted "not breastfed, born in US" but forgot to also vote on *when* (1969). I was adopted, but I know I would have been bottle fed if I was my mom's own birth-child, because she thinks breastfeeding is pretty disgusting (as does my father). I've breastfed all 5 of mine, through heck and high water. :lol: Shortest was 8 months (weaned to hypoallergenic formula because she had multiple food allergies that weren't coming up on the tests so I couldn't figure out what to avoid) and longest is still going - my just-turned-3yo.

Growing up I did not like my name much, but I have come to appreciate it more now. It means "beloved" and that helps me when I am feeling down about myself. Both my foster parents (who had me for 7 weeks) and my adoptive parents named me Amy without knowing about the other, so it must be meant to be! ;) (ETA: either that or it is just the case of it being so common that there were 5 of us Amy's in a 13 person class in my grad school, LOL :lol:)

Congratulations!! He's adorable!

I have no real advice, just adding that I'm in the same boat - starting tomorrow. For all our kids we've waited until they hit three, said "three year olds don't wear diapers" (actually, we play this up for months beforehand) and then just wing it from there. It's worked pretty well three times so far. This kid's a little(!) more stubborn though, so we'll see. I wish you the best of luck!!

It's not just you - I'm a former speech-language pathologist and in our audiology classes we had training in using an otoscope - many of the students (myself included) couldn't make heads or tails of anything. I'm always amazed when the docs can look in for two seconds and make a diagnosis. :lol:

We've used SL so many different ways since my 10yo was in K. This is the first time we will (potentially) use the instructor's guide mostly "as is". (We're starting Core 4 soon). We did many of the things you talk about - using FLL instead of SL LA, SOTW, etc. Typically we wound up using the books as a "book list" and not following the IG - just reading one after the other as fast or as slow as was working for us. I may not be in the majority here, but I'm not too strict or stressed about how much science/history/geog is covered at the ages of your kids, as long as it's getting done in some way - so if we get through 10 books or 20 I still think it's all good. My inner curriculum junkie may be mourning the fact that we didn't get to all the great books on my shelf, but inside I know the kids got a good education anyway! Hey, you could always just read the books for YOU after the kids go to bed. :lol:

:grouphug: I understand. LOL, just thinking about that "group hug" icon kind of makes me freak out. :lol: But I can't find a better one.

We took my dd at 18 mo. or so to a recommended pediatric opthomologist and I was amazed at what they could tell from their tests at that age.

5 kids (10, 8, 5, almost 3, 7 mo). Until last year, we never really had any help ( a friend would watch my kids in a pinch). Last year we hired a mothers helper/babysitter for a few months during my difficult pregnancy, and my parents also moved to be closer. They can watch all the girls, but won't yet watch all 5 of them. I usually go out with dh every few months (often with a nursing baby along though) or have a book club meeting every 2 months or so (ditto on the nursing babe).

I don't think my dad was for it, but he allowed it when I turned 10. Although when I came home from college at 20 or so with double piercings, he totally flipped out. :glare: And they wonder why I have issues. :lol:

My son, my MIL, her granddaughter (my niece) and my mom have consecutive birthdays (Sept 25, 26, 27, 27). Everyone in my immediate family is born in an odd year. I'm adopted and was cared for by a foster family for two months after birth. They named me Amy. My adoptive parents also named me Amy, and they didn't know about the first family. I bet there's more, but my mind is blank!

Can't compare it to SP, but here's the website: http://www.all-about-spelling.com/ :)

Silly one this week - it's hard for me to come up wtih stuff that doesn't have my kids in it! http://epiphanysprings.blogspot.com/2008/04/wordless-wednesday-evolution-magic.html