I wanted to emphasize that 4H doesn't just have to be farm animals. When I was a kid, my sister belonged to "City Cloverettes." She refinished furniture, learned to sew, baked pies, and did a talk on cats. Our 4H group is very science based. We have melted styrofoam, set up a solar system that has size/distance ratios accurate, learned the science of pancakes, tie dyed tshirts, specific gravity, and did pinewood derby. The Speech Contest is recommended every year. We are in Clover Kids, so dd6 is taking a Coral Reef Diorama and a stepping stone. No animals. ------------------------------------------------------- We have not done Girl Scouts, but we did do Frontier Girls independently last year. For Frontier Girls, dd6 learned a whole lot about a lot of different subjects: volcanoes, amphibians, Egypt, fire safety, cooking, gardening, etc. That is the value of a badge program. Because she learned so much the past year, we are continuing this next year. However, we work independently on badges. We are not part of a group. I know that GS has a similar path called "Juliets." ------------------------------------------------------------------ 4H has evolved into a Communications Program. When my sister was in 4H, she would submit a project with a little write-up. If her project was good, she earned a blue ribbon. Today, the write-up is just as important as the project. Judges ask questions like, "Why did you choose this project? What did you like about it? What was the most challenging part? What did you learn from this project? What would you do differently next time?" Members need to present themselves well in speech and writing. If you are homeschooling, this is a good opportunity for your child to have practice public speaking. Even though dd6 is only in Clover Kids, she participated in the Communications Contest. At that age, the kids make a poster on whatever subject they want. Dd6 chose Snow Leopards. The judges are VERY GENTLE with the Clover Kids. They don't want to scare the kids off. They really want the kids to come back next year and do another poster, or even a talk (age 8+). This will be our first year taking anything to fair, but we are assured that, again, the judges are very gentle with the younger kids. ----------------------------------------------------------- Once one reaches the 4H age, there are specialized clubs within 4H that one can join. So, if we continue with 4H, dd will still be part of our regular club, but she may also join the "firearms and archery group" or the "cooking group" or any other specialized group within driving distance. -------------------------------------------------------- Please feel free to PM if you have any other questions, or if I have been unclear.

I wanted to add to my post (#12) that I have two 9"x13" cake pans that rarely get used for cake. They are irreplaceable for keeping toddler crafts self-contained. They keep the mess within a limited space, and they are an easy way to pick up the craft and move to another area while drying. They fit a piece of paper perfectly in the space. Crafts we do in the cake pan: play doh gluing glue and glitter rainbow rice painting with water (from a book or painting on a sheet of construction paper) beads

We did K, (with some 1st and 2nd grade stuff) this last year. Dd1 is now 6.5. Dd2 is now 2.5. I am still nursing, so the good and the bad is that younger dd still needs breastmilk to wake in the morning, to nap in the afternoon, to wake from nap, and other times throughout the day. This guarantees that toddler gets at least a little personal time, but it does interrupt our day. 1) Know that other moms have done this. You are very capable. You can do this, too, but homeschooling may not be the glorious vision you envision. 2) I wake dd1 before dd2. The ideal is that we do piano and at least some math before dd2 awakens. Our daily mantra is: "The best time to do schoolwork is when dd2 is asleep." If dd1 is hungry, I get her a snack to work on while doing schoolwork. We have breakfast one hour after dd2 awakens, so she is hungry after nursing. 3) We work at the little table. (I sit on a stepstool). This makes us more accessible to dd2. She may join us, or not. The little table is on the edge of the livingroom. 4) Dd1 gets 1/2 hour of free tv. She utilizes this usually while dd2 awakens, and I nurse dd2. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND A TIVO. You do not need to have Cable or HBO or Satellite for a Tivo. We bought a "Factory-renewed" DVR from Tivo, and it has outlived its 3 year warranty. Once you buy the DVR, monthly charges are only $15/month or so. Other advantages: --you can save all of the kids' pbs or other educational shows --you are not limited by when to start or end a show. The tivo keeps your stopping place --the show turns itself off at the end of 30 minutes, so you are not the bad guy to then turn the tv off Another TIVO story: I have a nice box science curriculum for K last year. We used it twice. And yet, dd1 has the most amazing science facts come out of her life. "Where did you learn that????" "Wild Kratts," or "Ruff Ruffman," she replies. What can I say as a mother, other than,"I should let you watch more tv!" 5) I Can Paste has ready made (with a little cutting from you) gluing projects for your toddler. Our dd2 is not yet ready for the other titles in the series. If you want ready made preschool crafts that come to your house (with everything except glue and tape), try Carol's Affordable Curriculum. I have not done' any of this with dd2 yet, but possibly this autumn. Shirley's Prepackaged Crafts will send you a box of preschool crafts every month, or, for a cheaper version, just purchase Shirley's computer cd with the patterns, and prep your own crafts. 6) We have a NOOK with many preschool apps. 7) I have 4 bins of preschool activities that come out on each subsequent school day (M-T-W-Th). What other moms have put into the bins: Here is what is in our boxes and these are BIG boxes 40QT sterilite boxes: Each box has a coloring book w/ a new box of crayons and several puzzles. Some are typical wooden and some are 2-piece matching puzzles. I also have some creative 3-D-ish type things In addition: Monday's box: Play Doh Fisher Price Go-Fish game Fashion Plates and Monster Plates Mosaic game from Discovery Toys VTech computer Silly Faces Colorform book Tuesday's box: stringing beads Clever Castle logic game AlphaBert (computer) Wedgits Rush Hour Safari (she can't solve the puzzles but she is quite occupied by arranging the pieces on the board) Wednesday's box: Cranium Hullabaloo Paint with water book Pattern Blocks Oreo Cookie shape match game Cat in the Hat book w/ magnetic pieces Thursday's Box: Quantum leap pad Lacing Shapes Look and Find Book Rush Hour Jr. Friday's Box: magnetic "paper" dolls Wooden pizza w/ velcro toppings stamps and ink pad And yet another mom: 1. Paint color strips and scissors to cut apart on the lines. Also bits and pieces of paper and foam. 2. Large plastic buttons in different colors and shapes with -a piece of paper with some traced to match up, -different color plastic bowls to sort them into, -pipe cleaners to thread them on. 3. different color pompoms and small bowls or cups to sort them into. 4. wood tangrams puzzles (Melissa & Doug) 5. Stickers and paper (rotate between foam and paper stickers) 6. simple wood puzzles 7. wipe off books on numbers and letters - dd loves these. 8. Dabber paints and worksheets from makinglearningfun.com (I use the ones called Magnet pages but don't give dd magnets at this point - she colors them using the dabber paints - relatively mess free). 9. Round stickers (multi-colored reinforcements) and dabber pages. 10. Playdoh, but I'd rather not. 11. Magic pen books (one pen makes many colors) 12. Paint with water books using a stamp moistener or sponge 13. wooden dowels and large wood beads to thread on them. 14, Lacing cards I did multi-colored pony beads once but put them back away when ds (!!!) put one up his nose. We do have a rice bin that I put out on a table for both kids (ds would never work while it was out). It's not nearly as bad or as hard to clean up as I thought it would be. 8) Do a search online for "free coloring pages [subject]." I print one coloring page for each girl. Dd2 responds with genuine interest in coloring if she can pick her own page to color. (Dd1 saves her coloring page for when dd2 is nursed to nap). If I am focused, I cut and paste the coloring page onto Powerpoint, and write the word on the page. We briefly discuss the letters. 9) We are unafraid to do schoolwork after supper or on the weekends. It's not public school, after all. We school on our schedule.

Donate one to the local homeschool coop. I'm sure they are always looking for an extra one. Offer one to a schoolteacher friend. Most teachers are looking for new resources all the time. Hang on to them until you meet someone who is curious about homeschooling, or new to homeschooling. It is great to be able to give them such a comprehensive resource (because of the variety of choice, descriptions, and fabulous prices), and say, "I don't need this back." I've given away several this way. ETA: Offer one to the public library. Our library has a very nice Homeschooling Consultant....but she is young and has never homeschooled.

I nursed all the way through pregnancy, and have tandem nursed ever since. I have NO regrets over this. The downs: At a certain point in your pregnancy, your nipples may become EXTREMELY tender. This means that your breastmilk for new baby is coming in. (For me this was 28 weeks. Yes, it was so traumatic that I still remember what week it was!!!) Older dd (3.5 at the time) knew that if she wasn't careful with the biting, we would wean that week!!! After a week, the tenderness dispelled. The new bm may arrive anytime after ??24 weeks?? of pregnancy. You may also realize this by softer stool from your older child since older sibling will be consuming more of that healthy breastmilk! The ups: When we left the hospital, new baby was not gaining weight as she should. She seemed to be nursing fine, but the we were all concerned. Loverboy bought formula to supplement, while I spent a certain amount of time crying. We had a follow-up with the lactation consultant, and the consultant encouraged me to keep pumping so my milk wouldn't dry up within two weeks. When she learned that older sister was still nursing, we all brightened. "Well, then, you have LOTS of time to figure this out!" Because older sister was still nursing, we had LOTS of time and LOTS of choices. Those doors would have been closed to us if I had weaned older sister before little sister's birth. We had a happy ending. We learned what little sister needed (a breast shield), and she became a strong nurser within a month. Disclaimer: Little sister was not undernourished because older sister drank all of the milk. Older sister did not nurse at all while I was in the hospital, and older sister was only allowed to nurse after little sister and on one side, so there was always plenty for the baby. Baby always got to nurse first (on both sides, if desired), and always had one breast in reserve just for her.

We use Bright Lines. Some Bright Lines use just color. We have purchased the ones with raised lines. The raised lines are not perfect (1-2mm high or low) so you would have to judge whether this would be more help for your son vs. frustration for you as an adult/teacher. Also, have your son write letters or words several time, and circle his best. Ignore the worst, unless it is a systematic error. Put a star on the best of the page or line. Eventually, let him point out which he thinks is best.

This sounds like Loverboy's description of himself as a kid. (Loverboy was not homeschooled.) His mother tried to put him in different sports, and she encouraged piano/music lessons and drama. He became an Eagle Scout (just as his brothers did, too). He just had no passion for anything other than hiding in his bedroom closet, breaking open batteries or (using fire) to melt the copper off pennies. :ohmy: Loverboy turned out okay. He earned a PhD in science from one of the top colleges in his field. I think some kids are just late bloomers. And I think that some kids just need to be exposed to a lot of things before they find what clicks for them. Offer some "electives" and let him pick one. Try this thread. By the end of a semester, he will either want to learn more, or try something different. Either outcome is fine. FTR, I have given dd6 choices of Unit Studies for the past two semesters. (Apple Tree Farm, then Adventures at Sea). Adventures at Sea was her favorite subject this past semester, and she learned a ton, but is ready to do something different. Now she is chomping at the bit for autumn's Dinosaur Curriculum. She wrote a note declaring her boycott from piano until I found the curriculum, and she has already begged two lessons from me since I found it a week ago.

--Scratch programming. Go to HELP for beginning instructions and inspiration. --Dancemat typing --Wedo or Mindstorms Legos (Expensive!!) --Pitsco has great kits for engineering with paper, building catapults, or learning about hydraulics --Chemistry Set, and mom assigns extra reading and discussions of what is really happening in the kit. --Bicycle Maintenance and Repair --Snap Circuits --Book on Catapults (No specific recommendations here; you'll have to do your own search, try pitsco, too). --Flash, Bang, Pop, Fizz (Chemistry) --A unit on microbiology: make your own agar plates, learn how to use the microscope, learn parts of the cell --Sew sweatpants, shorts, Halloween Costumes. --Knitting or Quiliting --Train to run a 5K or 10K.

I also wanted to share about "Need to Know" (vs. Dateline or 20/20 or such): Need to Know is not sensationalistic. On weeks when Dateline is talking about the Murder of the week, I'm learning about "Medical Tort Reform in the U.S. and Abroad." Or rather than Yet Another Show About Hurricane Sandy, I'm learning about a program that supports companies from having to lay off workers by letting the workers go on "partial unemployment." (Companies cut hours by 1/5, but get to keep their trained employees through lean times; the government only pays a percent of unemployment as opposed to full unemployment with food stamps and Medicaid.)

Disclaimer: I am a liberal. National/International: CNN is my homepage. Whenever I get online, CNN pops up. Of course, I need to be vigilant to read the actual news, and not go after sensationalist stories of Casey Anthony or such. It is easy to be distracted by @#&% like that rather than what our leaders are doing, or by what is happening in Middle East. This is where judgment of what is good news vs. bad news comes in. PBS Evening News impresses me again and again. I don't get time to watch it every night, but: --It is one hour of news, not just 30 minutes --No commercials, there is no problem with offending potential revenue with a story, there are no distractions in the middle of the news, and time set aside for serious in-depth reporting and series on a multitude of topics. --The broadcaster's chair is shared by a half-dozen reputable journalists. Different people host different nights. This strengthens the program because if one journalist needs to travel to do a deeper, more time consuming story on their specialty (finance, international, political, etc), someone else smoothly moves into the chair. No one is limited by needing to be in the chair every night at 5:30pm. --They consistently show both sides of the story and ask critical questions of EVERYONE. This carries over to PBS's news magazine (listed below). --Reputation National Public Radio (NPR) -- I know there are those who will cite NPR as a lefty news source. However NPR has the most balanced listenership of any national news source: 55% Liberal, 45 % Conservative. They must be doing something right. MegaVote: How Congress is Voting: sends an email to you every week or so. It lists the votes congress has taken recently, how your representative votes, and any upcoming votes. EVERYONE SHOULD SUBSCRIBE TO THIS SO THEY KNOW WHAT THEIR CONGRESS IS DOING!!! In-depth -- This is where a lot of background comes from that many wannabe informed citizens just do not have to connect the dots. It's kinda embarrassing when I know more about Montana's political money history and system (and the Supreme Court) than my sister who has lived there for two decades. (I have visited Montana three times). Frontline (PBS) has many political documentaries. I just rewatched the one about the Housing Mortgage Crisis, and why our government is not prosecuting any of the executives that committed alleged fraud. I've also watched docs through them on Michelle Rhee, Climate Science, Crime Scene Investigation, Political Money in Montana, and Retirement Fund charges. Need to Know (PBS) is PBS's equivalency to 20/20, 60 Minutes, or Dateline. For those who again claim it is a lefty liberal source, they should watch it. It's predecessor (NOW) was my source for Sarah Palin. They did a VERY positive story about her cleaning up Alaskan politics a couple of years before she was named as McCain's running mate. All of my Republican friends said, "Sarah who??????", but I knew all about her history and her rise to the Alaskan Governorship long before she arrived in the eye of the national media. This is just one example the type of stories covered by Need to Know. Need to Know is just NOW rebranded. Many of the same journalists report, with the same format. American Experience: is history documentaries, but it can give color to today's news. I watched 4 hours of the Reagan administration, and 4 hours of Clinton. The CCC mitigated the worst of the Depression and prepped us for WWII. The Triangle Factory Fire explains the beginnings of OSHA. Local This is my weakest source, and not followed enough. We just use the same station we use for local weather, usually online. Sometimes I turn on the early morning news (6am) if I am up early washing dishes. Our state homeschool group emails us if something homeschooling of importance arrives in our state legislature. Editorial -- Warning: skewed left. However, this loses some of its bias by knowing it is skewed. Slate and Daily Kos--I'm sure there are conservative sources, too. I am not sure how much of these sources are opinion and how much is good journalism. I wonder if Online Journalism is in the same place as print media was 100 years ago. I have (sometimes weekly or daily) watched portions of Glenn Beck, Fox and Friends, Megyn Kelly, and Bill O'Reilly. This is part of not living in a bubble and being open to the other side of the discussion. One is not well informed if one only receives what one wants to hear. Rachel Maddow Show mixes history with journalism and editorializing. An example is her history of the federal government infringing on 4th Amendment Rights, and the Constitution always smacking down any presidents or executives who overstep. This was the background on the Snowden situation.

When I was in 7th Grade, twice a week, we actually had "Current Events." Our year-long assignment from Mr. Campbell was to (twice a week) write down on paper the headlines for 8 major topics. We were taught how to look at the different parts of a newspaper to get this information, but we could also cull the information from television news. The topics were: 1) International 2) National 3) State 4) Local 5) Editorials or Editorial Cartoons 6) ??Feature?? Weather?? Entertainment?? Science/Technology?? I can't remember! 7) Sports 8) Personal: what's happening in your life today? Then in high school, a friend invited me to join the Extemporaneous Speaking (on Current Events) team. I learned the Gold Standard for being informed (in the 1980s) was the magazines of Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report. Other sources were also used, but this was the tripod of fact sources. I learned to read several sources for a topic, and I learned to read and know well the opposing view points of a topic (as a debater would do). I share this because 1) I don't think that regular news sources are too old for Middle Schoolers to start learning about our country and our world politically. 2) The strength of Mr. Campbell's system was to be able to glean cursory information from a number of sources. 3) I also learned ability to identify a good source vs. a bad source. These experiences have made me a well educated, well informed voter and citizen. I hated the Current Events unending assignments at the time, but it is one of those classes that affected me far deeper, and far longer than anything else I probably learned in all of Middle School. I meet so many people my age (43 today! :party: ) who talk about becoming "more informed" after 9-11, or after some other event within the last decade. I'm glad they are more involved in the political system, but I've been actively following these players (in our government, in the media) since 1982. They look flabbergasted when I cite chapter and verse of anything that happened more than 10 years ago. They never knew! A word of warning: Being well informed has gradually changed my politics, my pov of social issues, and my religious affiliation. There was no one thing that changed it, but decades of watching our government, our courts, and our leaders. ***Concerning Time, Newsweek, and U.S News and World Report: Print is dying. This doesn't mean that good journalism needs to die. Media is learning how to provide good, in-depth journalism for even the local level in the Cyberworld. We are watching this happen. There are growing pains.

1) One of the local school systems distributed heart monitors to the kids with the gym assignment of getting their heart rates up for a certain amount each day (30 minutes?) In this way, the kids could monitor how hard they were working, and they took responsibility for their exercise. A child may choose jump roping one day, biking another, and tossing around a frisby the third. 2) Some of the new exercise research suggests that when you exercise, the benefits continue for 24 hours. It's as if when you exercise today (for a half hour), your body forgets that you are not exercising continuously, and your metabolism is pumped up for the rest of the day. This is extra incentive to exercise EVERY DAY. ETA: 3) If your family is willing to make the commitment, and your son is interested, start looking for 5K run/walks or local bike rides for which to participate or train. For bike rides, google: "[your state] bike ride", and you should find a website that has all of the organized rides listed. Our state has: Brr (in February in Iowa...the Bike Ride to Rippey) Best Dam Bike Ride (ride to the dam and back) 2X4 Ride (2 states, four counties, all in a morning!) There are fun 5 and 10K races in our area, too, although I don't know how to get hooked into them, except to go and get on a mailing list. One of my friends has recently participated in: Jingle Bell Run (everyone wears Santa hats and runs in December) Glow Run (after dark, and everyone wears glow necklaces and other jewelry) Turkey Run (out in the wilderness; you WILL get wet, you WILL get muddy, you WILL get cold, you may even lose a shoe!) Donut Run (free donut stops along the way; for every donut you eat, one minute is taken off your time!)

anything from Cricket Kids Discover Ranger Rick and Ranger Rick, Jr. (formerly Big Backyard) We enjoy National Geographic Little Kids, but do not plan to do National Geographic Kids due to the excessive advertising and the lack of substance. (It's more like Ripley's Believe It or Not than a science magazine that explains and educates. It's too full of factoids, and not enough explanation of why or how). Zoobooks are packed with information!

I don't know why anyone is surprised by this. Our country abandoned the university system and its students three decades ago. IF there is money on campus, within the last decade, it has gone to STEM classes. Computer and biotech are expensive! Ed majors get by with counting bears and whiteboards (although some receive training in classroom technology). In the meantime, the privileged college students (the 23% of the general population who graduate from college, so most likely had a middle or upper class upbringing) probably do not have a lot in common with the 16 million children (22% of all children) growing up in poverty. These are children who may go to bed hungry, live in a household with irregular utilities, or experience higher levels of violence in their lives. How do we bridge this gap?

We have the Add-A-Century Timeline. One can adjust the time periods according to one's needs. You may list a two-page spread as 100 years, 50 years, 10 years, or whatever works for you. Each page has category stickers to help keep political vs literature vs art, etc. This timeline is kept in a 3ring binder, but can be removed to hang on the wall, or to look at several centuries at once. There is also a separate "ribbon timeline" for prehistory, to express how long ago or far apart certain prehistoric events occurred. I am hoping to purchase a second timeline for our second daughter. Then each daughter will have her own timeline to use as a resource in college if needed.

For Saxon K & 1, we used the assigned little readers that came in the Saxon kit. We also used BOB and sight word readers similar to these. For sight word readers, I would review the two words on the front cover, and tell dd6 that she was responsible for those two words. I read all of the book EXCEPT the two sight words. Dd6 (4 or 5 at the time) followed my finger and the text to which words she needed to identify and say. ------------------------------------------------- For us, it also wasn't so much what we used, as how we used them. I put a post-it note in the back of each book. Each post-it had a list: 1) Mom 2) Dad 3) Sister 4) Cats 5) Friend (meaning Grandma, or babysitter, or playmate). Each day we did Phonics, dd read a couple of books to someone on the list, and we checked the name off. The idea is that by the time she had read the book five times to five different people on five different days, she was competent to read and recognize the words in the book. DO NOT read the same book to three different people on the same day. You can, however, read books 1, 2, & 3 to the cats today, and read them all to little sister tomorrow. Or today, read book 1 to little sister, book 2 to the cats, and book 3 to Mom; tomorrow switch it up! The reason "cats" and toddler "sister" are on the list is part of the "read to a dog" program. The dog doesn't really care if you get all the words perfectly right (and neither does little sister), so the young reader has quality, read aloud, practice time to a living entity. We read to dad to show off at the end of the day. Also, in our house, dd6 earned 25c for each reader completed (all five days people read to). This is what worked for us; it may not work for others. ------------------------------------------------------- As the books were completed (read 5 times), they were put in a shoebox by dd's bed for her to read to herself at bedtime. It was a privilege to get to stay up beyond lights out and read her little books once more. (Woo hoo! More practice at reading!!!)

Former marriage: 5 years Current relationship: 8 years Does that count? 1) Differentiate that a wedding is a party; a marriage is work. 2) Respect each others' material items. For example, when neighbors would knock on the door asking to borrow the lawn mower, my mother would tell them to come back later and ask my dad. "He doesn't loan out my frying pans, and I don't loan out his tools." 3) Ask, "What can I do to help?" This is the best question ever, and works in so many different situations! 4) The idea of "Don't let the sun go down on your anger," doesn't always apply. Sometimes, one is more upset than reasonable for the situation simply because one is tired. A good night's sleep can clarify the situation, and it allows for problem solving. There are many sincere apologies given the next morning. 5) Learn what is important to your partner, and support them in their goals and hobbies. 6) If you are the SAHParent, be grateful for your partner. If Loverboy is motivated to change jobs and drag us cross-country to change jobs :eek: , I would support that. He has been supportive of me doing the job I enjoy and want to do: being a SAHM and homeschooling. I am supportive of his ability to have a job that he enjoys and wants to do.

If I was passive-aggressive and manipulative, I would be tempted to: Tell your son to swim his fastest whenever he is in the lane next to this girl. Let her eat your wake! Thank goodness the OP is not passive-aggressive and manipulative! ------------------------------ Really, just walk away. Work hard to not sit next to this mom if her comments bother you. There are other people to sit next to. Spend the time reading a book or with earbuds in your ears.

Dd6 had two 2-hour naps beyond age 2. My first thought is, "Is he going through a growth spurt?" It's a lot of work to grow! Simply exhausting! With him waking up upset: Is he afraid when he wakes up alone? Temporarily, would he be better off sleeping on the couch in the livingroom for this mini-nap?

-------------------------------------------------- More blathering on by duckens: The arts are exploring new ways to teach. I am currently reading an essay about how traditionally music has only been taught to those who were "talented." You had to have talent and abilities BEFORE lessons were considered a worthy investment of the teacher's time. In the meantime, the masses were usually forgotten for formal musical education and appreciation. Basically, some people could figure out music on their own, and some could not. Likewise, consider art. Until I was an adult, this was the same philosophy for teaching drawing. Either you could draw, or you couldn't. It wasn't until I was an adult that I started to explore the idea that ANYONE could learn to draw. Yes, some could figure out the rules for drawing on their own, but we all could learn to draw with lessons and practice. Another example: The main character in Good Will Hunting has an innate talent for math. He can just LOOK at a math problem, and understand what is going on. Are there individuals like this in our world? You bet! But most of us need tradtional training, lots of practice, and lots of data (number theory, cartesian coordinates, negative numbers, fractions, etc) to apply solutions to these questions. How this applies to the OP: OP's BIL and nephew have the musical version of being able to figure out the rules of music in the same way that some children can draw really well at a young age. They are able to just LOOK at (or HEAR) a situation (or object to draw, or complex math problem) and it makes sense to them. Like the good drawers and Will Hunting, they are able to take the information into their brains, understand it, and express their understanding by communicating it to others. Good drawers communicate by using their brains to make their hands create what they see. Will Hunting communicated by using his brain to solve the problem. BIL and son communicate by using their brain to make their hands and/or mouth change their ideas into song. SOME people have these talents innately. MOST of us need training and background. I have also met people with innate talents who are stopped by a ceiling because of no formal training (in their specific field of music, art, math, etc). Even Mozart and Beethoven took formal lessons.

On creativity in music: I teach dd6 piano. I have been teaching her since she was 4. She is near the end of My First Piano Adventures, Book B. I do not consider her to be an intrinsically musical child. She does not dance, and she does not sing. My background: I am NOT a professional piano teacher. I have no music (or any sort of college) degree of any sort. When I was a child, my parents (at my request) signed me up for piano and violin lesson, but I never practiced, so I am NOT a remarkable musician. In retrospect, I am just now realizing the incredible high quality of music teachers I had, both in the public school ,music classes, and through these private lessons. The system: Inspired by the Suzuki method (and as discussed by Andrew Pudewa of IEW in one of his downloadable talks about memorizing poetry), I have dd6 play her old songs every time we practice. I created a chart of the songs in her book divided into a 5*** day week. On the 1st, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st, and 26th, she plays all the songs on List 1 that she knows so far. On the 2nd, 7th, 12th, 17th, 22nd, and 27th, she plays all the songs on List 2 that she knows so far. Etc, etc. This gives her time to warm up her fingers. If we miss a day, I don't sweat it. We just follow today's date to tell us what to play. She also plays the most recent 4-5 songs. ***Earlier in the year, songs were organized on a 2 day, and then 3 day chart, when there were only a few songs. The creative part: Since dd6 has been playing the same simple songs again and again and again all winter long, she can play many by memory, although I don't require it. On her own, she changes patterns. She changes fingerings. She uses the left hand to play the right's part, and vice versa. She rearranges the notes in a chord. (Instead of playing a C-G chord, she will play a G-C chord at the top of our limited keyboard). Because she is so familiar with these tunes and so comfortable with them, she is exploring different ways to play them.

Just a note: My quote is the stuff that starts as, "I would draw from the Newberry Award winners." I'm not sure who wrote the history stuff above. --duckens

I would draw from the Newberry Award winners. --It is what their peers will be reading --it is generally good lit. --in years to come, they will be considered, "well read" to be familiar with several books from the Newberry family (in the same way that your high schooler will be considered "well read" for having tackled Shakespeare, Dickens, Dosteovsky, and a host of other "classics." --there is satisfaction to see the Newberry Award poster in the library, and mentally tick off, "I've read this one, and this one, and this one...." This also gives kids a framework for how to choose or discern "good lit" from lighter fluff. Hopefully they will adjust this framework to choose "classics" to read as high schoolers or adults, and also to be aware of the NYT Bestseller list and Pulitzer Award Winners as adults. --many have movies to share and discuss after the book is completed: Sounder, Where the Red Fern Grows, Holes. This is a good opportunity to discuss why Hollywood changes some parts of the book for the movie; is the book better than the movie? Did you understand the movie better for reading the book? --ETA: Newberry books should be at the level of your 5th grader or above, so they will introduce ideas and vocabulary that will stretch your child. If your 5th grader is struggling with these books, then they will hopefully push him along to where he is supposed to be. -------------------------------------------------------- I specifically recommend The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. If you have not read this book, read it before you assign/read it with your child. There are a dozen or so characters, and there are clues to keep track of. When I have shared (read aloud) this book with 4th graders, we create a paper list of the characters and a short description of each. On a separate sheet, we write the clues. Using paper to make notes to keep the characters straight is a good strategy to teach kids in preparation for more complex books with many characters they will (or should) encounter in high school or college.

I DON'T believe that you need to specifically purchase readers (unless they are recommended by a curriculum you are following). I DO recommend that you keep reading with your daughter, even though she can "read for herself." It is common for parents to quit reading aloud to their kids once the kids can read for themselves. This stultifies the learning curve for kids, and many kids, in and out of ps run into trouble around 4th grade because of it. They continue to read the same books at the same level over and over again. Although there is a time and place for repetitive reading, a parent continuing to read aloud to children THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL will: 1) improve vocabulary for children by always introducing words that are one step above what the child can/would read on their own 2) introduce deeper topics/ideas for exposure and discussion. 3) give the child an opportunity to read a paragraph at a time in a tougher book, rather than committing to a whole book. We are in the same place as you. Dd6 has finished K, and we are happily anticipating 1st at the end of the summer. Some books we are reading together: --Usborne readers (and quicklinks) --Magic Schoolbus chapter books --Magic Treehouse Fact Trackers --Caldecott, Zolotov, and Goldfinch Award Winners --Usborne collections of Shakespeare and Dickens --Zoobooks and Kids Discover magazines --miscellaneous chapter books from our library

1) Another vote for Ed Emberley. 2) This year for "art" dd6 wanted to learn how to draw. (She was 5 at the beginning of the year). We did a few line exercises from Drawing with Children, then moved on to Usborne'sWhat Shall I Draw? The key for us was drawing together. We each have a big sketch book. We began at the beginning of the book by drawing pigs. Sometimes I would pause before we began to discuss that, "These are not eyes, they are circles. This is not a curly tail, it is a curvy line. What letter of the alphabet do these feet look like?" There is a lot of psychology of drawing in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, which addresses disconnecting items from the lines or shapes that make the item. The other requirement I had was that we draw each subject three times. This may take several days, and each incarnation is encouraged to be a little different. In this way, learning how to draw a wizard is better remembered long term, and problems in earlier drawings can be worked out and improved upon with each manifestation.