Oh! And if you know what you are looking for, you can find one cheaper used at http://www.diaperswappers.com Just be sure to check reputation before doing business with any one there. HTH!

I hated the Moby! It was way too much fabric and then when the babe gets bigger, it is pretty much useless because the fabric stretches so much. When dd was really little, we settled on a pouch. Now I have a Maya Wrap ring sling that has been perfect for us. I started using it when dd was around 3mo and still use it at 20mo. I've heard of some mamas using it until 3 or 4 years old. I also use a Mei Ta for back carrying, which is wonderful because it doesn't have all the extra padding crap that the Ergo has. Seriously, if she wants a baby carrier, she probably has one in mind already because there are so many styles and variations. It depends on her preference. I wouldn't go cheap just to save money. I mean, the baby is going to be in there. Safety and comfort should be priorities... Here is more info on baby carriers: http://www.thebabywearer.com/

This morning I started wondering if my son's chores might cause long term damage. Do you think having your children do chores will cause resentment in their adult life? When I was a child I had to do the dishes after dinner by hand. I hated it. It started when I was 9 and went on until I moved at around 14 (long story). As an adult, I absolutely hated doing dishes. So much so that it took me a week to wash the ones my family used. I knew it was gross, but hated doing them. After 15 years, we finally got a house with a dishwasher and now I don't mind putting the dishes in there it at all. When my husband was a child, he had to do his own laundry. To this day, he has never done the laundry in our house. He lets his clothes pile up until I do it. This goes with mowing the lawn too. I could come up with more examples from other people I know. Now I have a friend that never had to do chores. They were taught how to the necessary tasks, but it wasn't a daily mandatory activity. As adults, they don't mind any household chores. Is this coincidence? All the professional child-rearing advice tells the benefits of chores, but really, does teaching the children how to do something and then requiring them to do it daily necessary? Does it create unconscious long term resentment? Couldn't they just learn how and then do it occasionally? Any thoughts?

Soy is one of the biggest factors that is overlooked. It contains too much estrogen and has a negative effect on both boys and girls. The fact that soy has been pushed as a health food is one of the most dangerous food myths. It wont matter how much organic, hormone free stuff one eats if they continue to consume soy. Be aware that it is in almost everything from premade foods such as Chef Boyardee, Swanson dinners, bread, and even other organic processed foods. There are some great books...The Whole Soy Story, The Hidden Dangers of Soy, and a few others that I can't think of off the top of my head. There are discussions about issues with children that consume soy and early development. Not only does it cause premature puberty, but it also has a tremendously negative effect on adults, both men and women.

Oh my. I desperately need some help or ideas. My almost 13yo son and I can't get anything done because my 20mo dd is constantly bothering us during school time. This is how our school day starts... Ds gets writing assignment. Dd climbs into his lap, takes pen away and starts scribbling in his book. I take her and play with her for a bit so he can finish his assignment, but he has a question, so I try and explain but she is climbing over both of us trying to take pens, books, whatever. We give up and he moves on. Later I try to read aloud, dd climbs into my lap, takes book starts "reading." If I get the book back, she'll either try to take it again or starts babbling in imitation very loudly. We do not spank. EVER, ever, ever. Please don't give me disciplinary advice, I just need ideas to keep her busy so my son and I can get school done. So, if you have a toddler and teen, how do you get school done? What does the wee one do during school? :bigear:

wow! Thanks for the links. I've got some reading to do. He's in 7th now and I wish I had known and used the more gentler Waldorf approach in the younger grades than the rigid academics. He probably would've been a lot better off. I wonder if it's too late to switch methods?

I've been reading a lot of Waldorf stuff for my toddler and wish I would've learned about this method sooner. Has any one used this philosophy with a middle or high schooler? If so, what did you do? Is it just unschooling or mentoring or classical education with a twist? Thanks!

Another issue is that his brain just might still only understand concrete ideas, hence he needs counting beads or fingers, which is PERFECTLY FINE. Later when he is older he will be able to understand more abstract concepts, but until then, no curriculum will work until that part of his brain is formed. This brain development issue is so often overlooked. The Bluedorns have an excellent article in their book, Teaching the Trivium, about delayed math and the brain.

What about for geocaching? Do you think any of the Garmins would work for that?

My son is 12 and 7th grade. He's an incredibly reluctant writer. We have been using IEW and no matter how many key word outlines he does, he just doesn't get them. Does any one have a suggestion for a solid writing program that teaches basics, like maybe writing a paragraph? Ideally it would be nice to have non-fictional and creative. Secular is a plus, but not necessary. Any advice will be very appreciated. Thanks!

Excellent thread. Just subbing to it.

We are going to try and do them both this year. However don't have a schedule yet. If you want to wait until next year, I might have one then...lol Have you tried the secularsonlight yahoo group? Maybe some one over there has done it.

I'm just curious if any one else has any other opinions. Why or why don't you like Teaching Textbooks? Do you think mathy kids don't like it because it's too artsy? Why or why don't you like Videotext? Is it more logical and less fussy?

I like the idea of these magazines, however just can't seem to hit the check out button. Has any one used this series? What ages? Was it worth the cost? Thanks!

We don't pay allowance at all. We pay commissions. He has regular chores, but then there is a commission if he does things above and beyond. Getting paid commissions makes more sense than getting an allowance.

I have those cardboard file storage boxes that they sell at Office Depot. I use one box per school year and throw everything my ds does that year in the box, including my plan book for that year. Then I label it with the year, put it in the garage and start a new box. I don't sort through or organize it. Sometimes my ds likes to go through it and look at his old work or fingerpaintings from kindergarten. :) We've been homeschooling since 2001.

It seems like the program is pretty flexible, although we are only on the 3rd chapter. lol I'm sure you could break the reading selection up however you want. As far as how often, we do it daily just because my son seems to like it a lot and has gotten inspired to write other things after each lesson. The discussion questions took us about 10-15 minutes and the activities have taken him about 15 minutes or so to complete. HTH!

Flashmaster! Although it isn't a software. It is a little handheld device they can take anywhere. I bought mine from Sonlight. It is pricey and I hesitated buying it, but I'm so glad I did because my son really got his facts down quickly. It is kind of like a portable flash card with games built in. It has addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division math facts. In addition to learning the facts, you can play timed games with yourself or another person to gain speed and accuracy. I highly recommend it.

I am not search savvy. How do you find the Elementary Spanish on the United Streaming? I have considered getting a subscription just because I've heard great things... but what else do you use the subscription for?

Maybe you could shave off 5-10 minutes from each activity planned and that would give you a bit left over for art?

I taught a science co-op for K-2 and used a Donald Silver's make and do project book.

Really? I keep looking on the website and can't find the Spanish. That is one of the only reasons why we might be interested in it. As far as the co-op, I got the Plato Science for middle school.

Yup. That is what we did to Astronomy and Flying Creatures... although I used a black Crayola marker. :D

I'm guessing that would probably depend on what your goals are and what you are already doing. I'm pretty sure she'll get some root exposure through LL, although I've not seen the program. I'm thinking that root studies are generally to learn vocabulary and Latin is for grammar...however I could be wrong.

A Thomas Jefferson Education, by Oliver Van DeMille is an excellent book about how to teach and mentor.