I have not done excel. I have an irrational fear/dislike of spread sheets. I have thought about just getting over it, however, and making a log there. Just trying to see if there is any other option first! 🙂 Two votes for Goodreads. Maybe I will have to check it out. I have logged most of the books in our house into bookbuddy, which I love. But as I don’t have a smart phone, I can’t enter things into apps or websites on the go. A notebook with sticky divider tabs would be good. I would be able to mark if I had purchased the book, and any other information I might want to add. When I looked bullet journaling up last year (to see what on earth it was) I discovered notebook pages filled with elaborate pictures and lists and things that looked like they took way to long to do. Very cute and inspiring but not very practical for me or my artistic ability.

So. How do you all keep track of the books you want to read, or you want your kids to read? I have a booklist binder with compiled booklists from random sites and sources, but right now my system for individual books I find or hear about is to write them down on a scrap of paper, lose it, then find it two years later. Any brilliant, easy, ideas? That keeps random scraps or sheets of notebook paper out of my life? I would like to be able to organize it easily for different people/interests. No online suggestions or bullet journaling, please! Anyone who comes up with a solution that works for me will be my hero forever. I kid you not.😁

Morning “Basket Time!” Lovely idea, but in no way is it workable for us. Tried a few times. Failed every time! There is no way we can ‘ease’ into the morning in this way. Our steam just petered out and we would end up just wandering aimlessly around the house! We need to jump feet first into the morning. Plus all the lap books/crafts/recorders! Also: Unit Studies (much to my mother’s chagrin)

Good reminders. I also have fallen into the “busy” trap of not feeling like I have the time to explain and teach. He does think about things, sometimes for a few days then he surprises you with an insight on something you had almost forgotten.

Thank you! I think something like this would work well.

Thank you! My father, though I love him dearly and I know he only wants to help (and I have asked for his advice from time to time), has a lot of things to say, mostly revolving around the fact that boys need dogs and need to be in the country so they have room to run and fall and do physical things. Which I don’t disagree with, but as DH is a pastor, we live in a parsonage and have people breathing down our necks about the state of the house and the yard, his “advice” mostly just makes me feel even worse and like things are hopeless! You made me feel better🙂

Yes. Need to play more games. Just seems like all my time right now is taken up by teaching DDs10&8 and keeping DD1 from climbing everything! Plus, he spends almost all day playing outside, so we try to play catch-up together in the evenings. Helpful to remember!

I hear you, and by no way am I saying he is negative. He is the greatest, sweetest little guy. Just feel like right now I am in over my head, his sisters are so different!

I will check these out, thanks! He doesn’t explode, just....flops and growls so far, but I don’t want it to get to exploding! DD8 was, and still is to some extent, very dramatic as a toddler. I remember sending her to her room and her crying and yelling, “I can’t breathe, this is my last breath!” Needless to say she was breathing just fine! 🙄 She was also the one who, when I sent her to her room another time, took the screen off the window and was hollering for help! So glad we didn’t have neighbors on that side of the house at that point! She has calmed down nicely. DS is nowhere near as dramatic, just....resolute and a persistent little bugger, lol!

So, ds4, third child, only boy, is turning out to be a cross between myself and my father. This equals a very strong will (which is mostly self-willed at this point, obviously), he is very active (as all little boys), very sure of himself, and he has a darn good mind—nothing escapes it. I am looking for advice, books, etc, to help me harness his will so he can be strong-willed but not self-willed. And I don’t want to start a firestorm over discipline, but what are some things that you or your dh have done for discipline? My dad said, “have as few rules as possible, but enforce them.” We aren’t rule-heavy, but he knows our house expectations. What has worked (or not) for you?

We know he lived in Dubuque, IA. Apart from that, no, no books have said when or where he was born, or when he died....

Hey all! DH is helping out with producing a history of the small town in which we live. It was founded, “in a sense” (his words), in 1897 by Frank Adams of Dubuque, who was the chief engineer of the Chicago, Clinton, Dubuque, and Minnesota Railroad. Would it at all be possible for someone to look up some information for me? DH would like to know where Frank Adams is buried, when he was born and died, and if at all possible, would like to find a picture of Frank, his daughter, Mabel (for whom our town was named), or a family photo. He has read a lot about the railroad and has done research of his own in books and articles (even drove 3 hrs to a historical library), but has not found this information in what he has been able to procure. So this isn’t just laziness! He would appreciate any help. As would I, so I can finally stop hearing him read little tidbits from old newspapers. My evenings of late have been thrilling!😁

Just wondering what the homeschool laws are like in Montana? What are the requirements? Thanks!

Yes! One thread per year! And I suppose they would be outdated pretty quickly. Sigh. Oh well.

No, but I will, thanks! I am aware of the NOVA program, just have not watched one yet (just starting to look into this). Glad to know you recommend them!

I wouldn’t choose to die on that hill either. The fact that he is learning cursive at this point is enough. I was never that great at getting a slant, but now that I am teaching my kids I am able to fix that, and it is easier to fix as an adult than it was for me as a kid. We are using Pentime and the kids love it. If you do want to work on the slant, they have a nice piece of paper that has diagonal lines in dark print. You place it under the page you are writing on, so you can see how your letters should slant. My 4th grader is just now starting to really get the slant, and she has been doing cursive for 3 years. I think that the letter formation is enough for some kids to deal with to begin with.

That is too bad! I put one I had found at the library on last night for them but it was rather boring, even for me. Sigh. I guess I will have to start watching documentaries every night to find good ones. That is something that would be nice to have included in future editions of SoTW. I like that there are sometimes audiobook suggestions, but documentaries would be a very welcome inclusion.

Is there a thread about documentaries that line up with SoTW? Did I completely miss it in my search? Or if not, does anyone have a good list of documentaries for SoTW Volume 1 (or/and the other volumes as well)? I am want to implement Documentary Wednesday into our HS and would love suggestions. I have been trying to compile a list, but why reinvent the wheel if there is already one rolling around out there! 😁 Thanks!

We have started doing the questions orally. I would have liked it if there were flashcards included, as in some MP curriculum. Just for the basic traits of the animals studied. Making them is a good idea, but maybe a bit of a stretch for me right now. Maybe over Christmas break when I am itching to get back to our schedule! She does already do some drawing in the book, but I could implement more. She does really like drawing and is actually pretty good at it. Yes, that does relieve my stress! At first I just wanted her to read in the Christian Liberty Nature readers and get library books on the animals she read about. BUT poor DD is my oldest and the guinea pig for our homeschooling, and I always second guess myself and think we need to do a formal curriculum. Back to the plain old reading, discussion, and library books!

SO hard! ALL the books by Thomas Eidson (not Edison!). Modern day author who write about frontier life. Wonderful writing, great characters and stories. “Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of The Dog)” by Jerome K. Jerome (also “Three men on a Bummel” by same author) “Cold Comfort Farm” by Stella Gibbons “Freddy and Fredericka” by Mark Helprin Also, I think everyone should read “The Benedict Option” by Rod Dreher.

So...we are in our 7th week of school and I am looking for some ideas to help out DD with science. She is in 4th and we have done RSO Life and RSO Chemistry the last two years and really enjoyed them. I thought about doing RSO Physics, but didn’t think I was up to all the experiments this year with a 2nd grader, pre-k, and a busy almost 1 yr old. I needed something open and go for DD. Enter MP Mammals. I like the material, the drawing (DD is more artsy), and that she is more in charge of her own learning. However, as much as I think the comprehension questions are great—I don’t want to completely ignore them—I would like a bit of a change. DD still struggles with sentence structure and spelling (had a speech delay (no other disability) that did affect her writing and delayed her reading though she is reading at least on level now ). We alternate her writing her own answers, her dictating them to me, and us discussing them instead of writing them. But the quizzes have not been great. I am looking for some ideas on how to avoid the monotony of the comprehension questions every week, how to help retention of the readings, and just how to have a bit more excitement, because a whole year of those questions will get old. I am looking for independent work ideas, as I don’t want to spend a lot of time on prep.

So, another question, what about family members? The kids know grandparents are safe (though they still don’t go anywhere without telling mom and dad), and most immediate family, but dh’s Younger brother is making some pretty poor choices in his life, and since many (most?) cases of molestation have to do with family, we just are more wary about him. I have told the kids to never go anywhere alone with him, but at the same time I don’t want them to think he is a horrible person and be scared of him. My MIL was also pretty ticked at dh when one night we left the kids with her to watch and brother-in-law was there too, and dh told her we didn’t want her to leave the kids alone with him. She was really offended and got defensive. Sigh.

Well, dd7 likes to pretend she is the mother 🤦🏽‍♀️ So she would probably help keep dd9 on track. She has much more just plain common sense than dd9, though dd9’s judgment is much better, Which is why I would feel better about them being together. They are very good at following instructions (when it comes to things like this, that is...school is another issue. Grrr.) and even though dd7 likes to think she is as old and capable as dd9, when I tell her dd9 is in charge, she does listen. Goodness, I wasn’t even thinking about CPS. Sigh. Most people recognize us, and know our parenting tactics and that we hs, which makes me think they would be less likely to call CPS, but you never know, do you. I think maybe I will start trial runs like many of you suggested. Since the school park is just across a very very quiet street, maybe I will watch them cross the street (little bro in tow) and let them play there alone for a short time and then join them. And let the older two walk a block ahead of me on the way to the store and library (staring shots, can see all the way down). Our librarian is a 91 yr old woman who is a member is a member of the church, so rules aside, she would be fine with the girls there as long as they don’t make a mess but I won’t let them go there alone quite yet. The kids have walked to church alone (1/2 block, can see from home) when baby decides to take her nap before church. But I watch them across the not busy street and make sure ds holds dd9’s and (thankfully he does). Also this morning I had another chat with them about safe and un-safe people, who our safe adults are, what to do in certain situations. They are fairly aware, but get a bit confused since they know the people pretty well from church and then I single out three safe families. Just keep teaching, I suppose.

Yeah, I don’t feel quite ready, though I think having her younger sister would actually make her feel better. Dd 9 is more timid than Dd7 and would probably want her company. I was thinking more like next summer. But then I was at the park with the kids and a PS 2nd graded who lives 2 blocks away brought her 4 year old brother. Too young, IMO, but I could so easily be that mom who never lets her kids go anywhere on their own just by default since we get SO many books from the library that they could not carry them, and since when I go to the grocery store I never really know what I am looking for (VERY small, struggling, never know what produce they will have).

Walk to the park, or run errands for you around town? I grew up on a farm and have NO idea at what age to let my kids go places without me in town. We live in a, quiet small (780 people) town. DH is a pastor, so most everyone knows who we are, though I probably only know 1/3 by name, 2/3 by sight. Our park is not far, though there is one busy-ish street to cross. We have a local grocery store and library three blocks away, but there are two “busy” streets to cross. I know they’d do fine watching for cars, but I just don’t at what point do I let my DD9.5 (raising 4th grader, to use convention terms) walk with DD7.5 to the grocery store to get milk for me? Or go check out books from the library. Or take their 4.5 yr o,d brother to the park? We aren’t 100% free-range parents, but do lean more towards that. What do you do?