One other thing about Saxon: they have evaluations/review lessons every 5 lessons. When dd started Saxon Math 2, I had her do the oral reviews and the pages for review. If she scored well (better than 90%) we moved to the next review lesson. She was able to do this until we hit lesson 90 or so. I backtracked to lesson 60 because I knew there were a few topics in the 60s to which she had not been exposed, and started doing regular lessons at 70 (topics I KNEW she had not been exposed to!) We still do the "easy pages" from prior to Lesson 70. It is good practice for dd6, and gives her confidence to read the directions for math and work independently. (For OP, these could be good pages to do independently on "off" days). In this way, dd will come close to completing Saxon 2 by June 1st. She is working at the level she is supposed to be at. And we have extra days off for museums, plays, and illness.

I got sidetracked in the garage. The good news is that I cleaned out several bins in the garage for donation (clothes and books). The bad news is that the size 2 summer clothes are tight on dd2. I need to go find size 3 tomorrow. And no pumpkin dessert yet. :sad:

I need to get off the WTM Boards and go find some summer clothes (and bigger clothes) in the garage for the 2yo. She's so long legged that we can see her big-girl-panties peeking out from some of her dresses! Also hoping to make some pumpkin dessert today! Off I go!

If you choose to keep the dog, take the daughter and the dog (and you, too, Mom!) to doggie obedience school. Then the dog will have consistent commands from the daughter AND from the adults in the house. Tomato-stake the dog to daughter. Make sure she plays with the dog several times a day and practices commands, too. A dog that is happy with and feels loved by their owner will try to please the owner. DO NOT ignore the dog in the back yard. A dog is a pack animal and needs a pack. He is part of the family and needs to be treated as such. If you choose to re-home the dog, find another option for your daughter to interact with dogs. --At what age are kids able to volunteer at the animal shelter? --I have known of two households that LOVED LOVED LOVED when a neighbor regularly took their dog for a walk in the middle of the day. Do you have a neighbor that has a dog that your daughter could give a good long walk of walking/training/playing on Saturday or Sunday afternoon? If you don't know the neighbor well, but the neighbor agrees, just instruct your daughter that she not enter their house. She telephones as she is stepping out, and she meets the neighbor with the dog at the door. (In the modern age of the telephone, this is a good strategy. If your dd gets delayed or it is not a good day for the neighbor, this can be handled by phone). In one the households I know of, the neighbor had a key and just came to walk the dog in the middle of day while the dog owner was at work. In the other, the retired neighbor telephoned the SAHM of very young kids and she opened the door for her dog to run out, barking and excited for her daily walk! Both situations worked out well for EVERYBODY: owners, walkers, and dogs!

:lol: I can't wait to teach Ancients this autumn! Or should I fear being labeled the Roman?

Be prepared for when they show up unannounced at your door. I would be incredibly surprised if this did not happen. Be ready to say, "Oh, I'm sorry, but this is really not a good time...."

Adult: "What grade are you in?" HS Child: "I don't know." (especially when they are different grades for different classes) Adult: "What is your favorite subject?" HS Child: "Snap Circuits."

Andrew Pudewa (of the Institute for Excellence in Writing) says in one of his talks that if you MUST test your child (for state requirements), then put the results in the bottom of the filing cabinet drawer UNOPENED. Two decades later, you may open the envelope and laugh your head off.

It appears that our Monthly Book Club has fizzled out. If individuals are still interested, let me know by PM.

We do..... .....what works for us!!! I like the idea of year round schooling, but what works best for us is to take time off during the summer while I put dd6 into lots of special camps and activities. (Younger dd is only 2). We are lucky to be in a town with a lot of free activities for kids, too! Things we did last summer: Library programs (weekly, plus many special events) Swim Lessons (a couple of sessions) Gymnastics Lessons, plus Gymnastics Camp Nature Camp, plus special events at the Nature Center Community Flower Garden at a local park (we planted the flowers and weeded all summer long). Tee Ball Art Class through Parks & Rec And we have access to a small pool at our trailer park. Many days, I would pack lunches and extra clothes for the day. We would end our travels at the pool for an hour. They were busy, but rewarding days. We didn't even do piano! However, once August 1st rolled around, most of the activities dried up, and we ran out of things to do. Waiting for the first day of school was awful. This year: I realize that it is not the end of the world if we don't do piano all summer. Taking a break from piano was a good thing for dd6. I also realize that dd6 and I don't do well if we don't have a plan for the day. I anticipate starting our school year in early or mid-August this year. We also school on rare weekend days that Daddy is called into work. I would much rather do math lessons while he is gone, so we can take a day off in the middle of the week a few weeks later to go to the zoo, science center, or nature reserve as a family.

I have not read the other responses. If I am worried about conflict, I say: "It's what works for us!" "If I sent the kids to school, then who would fetch the bonbons????" (Paraphrased from someone's signature here on WTM). "For the money. And the glory."

I have not read the other entries. This is not the only thing I would give, but I would add this to whatever classy item you select: The Home Owner's Journal and a copy of some sort of seasonal home maintenance. Here is an example: Year-Round House Care Disclaimer: The example for seasonal home maintenance is reviewed on Amazon as "dated." Somewhere we have a book similar to it that lists maintenance items by season, and basic instructions on how to do things. I remember it listing things like draining your hot water heater once a year. Surely you can find something more updated than the book I listed.

I don't know about parachutes, but in talking about life plans, if I had teens, I would recommend: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

Pasta Salad is an easy summer meal for us, and the kids eat it well. Pepperoni and cubes of cheese go into one of our favorites. Another has pineapple. Fresh fruit on the side goes well. This is a nice light option that can be made ahead of time. Just cut up the ingredients (chicken, cherry tomatoes, celery, etc), and don't mix it until minutes before serving. Also, you don't have to heat up the house for cooking at the end of the day!

I'm in the same place as you. I have not done this before. But this is what I have cobbled together so far as a pathway. Older Dd is 6. My motivation is that most employers I know welcome those with computer and building skills, even if one is not specifically an engineer. I just want both daughters to have some familiarity with aspects of engineering. Here's what we have so far for a pathway: 1) Lego WeDo sets. We haven't gotten far in these. I consider starting a "lego club" to ensure that we work on it every week. Look on the LegoEducation website. We also have many regular Lego sets that dd6 has build. 2) Junior Lego League I have been looking unsuccessfully for a JLL group for dd6 to join. I may start one on my own, but information from Lego League is cryptic until you plop down the money for a club. Since I'm not sure that I can properly mentor a club, and no one else may join our team, it so far seems foolish to drop a few hundred dollars on a maybe. That's a lot of money for our family. 3) Snap Circuits We are working through our Snap Circuits kit. We trace the path of the current, name the elements, and dd reads the schematic. I need to make a set of review sheets for big concepts that have been presented so far. In theory, we would review the concepts every time we did a Snap Circuit lesson. 4) Engineering Camp at our local state college. (Check the Engineering Department. Do a Google search for "[your state or your state university] engineering camp." I am watching for when the dates are posted online for our state. Positions fill up fast! 5) Lego League Our current 4H group has an awesome Lego League team. The adviser is an engineer, and the team this year was small enough (3 kids) that each member fully participated and understood what was going on. 4H is a good outlet to find a Lego League team when your son reaches age 9. You are out very little to make a few inquiries. Warning: I have another friend who tried to advise a Lego League team for her son and his friends. She had no background in programming or engineering, and she was too strict in not teaching the boys what she had learned so far..and made the boys try to learn everything from the ground up on their own. Her team fizzled out. If you choose to manage a team, be kind to yourself and give your team a year of learning before you have any great expectations. 6) These two books have been recommended for after Snap Circuits: Getting Started in Electronics by Forrest Mims Make Electronics (Learning by Discovery) by Charles Platt 7) Our homeschool coop has a team engineering challenge every year. It is the type of competition where each team is given a box of miscellaneous supplies, and they need to build a [insert goal here]. They have been requesting toilet paper tubes, paper, and glue guns (to borrow) in the last two newsletters. When dd is older, participating in an activity like this will give her practice with problem solving and building. ETA: The name of this challenge is "Junk Box Wars." 8) Skill in woodworking and, possibly, metal working (Industrial Arts or Shop). This was recommended by another friend of mine who is an engineer. She wishes that she had had more hands-on practical experience in building (Shop) when she began as an engineering student and as an engineer. It makes sense that lots of practical experience "making stuff" with lots of different materials would help one to intrinsically understand the properties of that material.

We are a family of night owls. Dd6 would stay up past midnight and sleep in past 10am if I let her. However: 1) Is the child getting done what he/she needs to get done? For us, we have afternoon (afterschool) activities that we need to start getting ready for at 3:00 or 3:30 every afternoon. This cuts our schoolwork time short. We have Math and Phonics programs (Saxon) that are very time- and Mom-intensive. The toddler needs a certain amount of nursing as she wakes, lays down for naps, and in general throughout the day. It is a struggle to complete Math and Phonics each day. My only comfort is that dd6 is learning to read and do math REALLY WELL. To get these done, the answer is to awaken dd6 earlier in the morning, and that is tough with a late bedtime. If dd6 is tired, I let her go lay down and take a break. She doesn't do this often, but when she does, it eats our school time. 2) Is the child cranky? The rest of the world (myself included) should not have to deal with other people's crankiness. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For these reasons, we aim for 9:30 bedtime. Sometimes we read earlier, and 9:30 is lights out. Often, we go to bed at 9:30, and after reading and teeth and a last bathroom break, lights go out at quarter to 11. Last night, I fell asleep, and Loverboy let dd6 get up for an extra 45 minutes. We often let dd6 read in her bed. Bedtime is just not something that Loverboy and I do well in our house. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that dd6 can tell time, I plan to show her the chart of recommended sleep for a 6yo and let her count backwards from when she needs to get up. Maybe that will help. Likewise, by the time she is 10yo, I could see letting her manage her sleep more independently. If she wants to stay up late, as long as she can get out of bed for things she needs to, I wouldn't worry. Plus, as a 10yo, she would be entering the age of working independently on some subjects. If she would rather study in the evening (when Dad is home) rather than during the day, that would be a choice with consequences for her.

Your poor puppy is probably used to sleeping in a pile of puppies at night. When we had this problem with the puppy my brother brought for my mom, we just put the puppy in bed with us for the night. No more crying at night. She slept all night long all snuggly. No potty issues, either, for our dog. Just get her out at first light. Dogs are pack animals. In the wild, wolves all sleep together as a pack. You are now this puppy's pack. Did our dog run the household being raised this way? No. She would move off of the couch when asked. She was a sweet dog. She could be left home alone (never crated), and rarely, if ever, chewed on something inappropriate or destroyed anything. Downsides: 1) This sweet 70lb hound would climb gently on one's lap sometimes. She was sure that she was still a lap-puppy. 2) My dad drove semi-trucks over-the-road, so he would be gone weeks at a time. When home, if dad got up for the bathroom in the middle of the night, the dog would usurp his place in the bed before he returned. I'm not saying that this is the best solution for your specific family. I'm just saying that this is what worked in our household. I hope you find what works for you.

Nobody's posted yet, so I'll go first: Books I would like to read: Click on them for more information. 1) The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan 2) Insane City by Dave Barry 3) Life of Pi by Yann Martel 4) The Dog Stars by Peter Heller 5) Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden

Maybe I am just talking to myself. :laugh: Spoilers (through the 2nd chapter) here. That's all the further I have read so far. I had read The Hobbit nearly a decade ago, and I struggled to get through it, and the first two LOTR books. I shuddered when it was chosen for a selection this month. Instead, I am laughing my head off at the story so far. Chapter 1 Poor Bilbo has 13 unexpected guests come for tea. They eat him out of house and home. I'm not sure that he likes ANY visitors in the first place, but this is a version of a dinner party from hell! Poor Bilbo! Bilbo thinks that an adventure would be a fine idea. He thinks this during the dinner party, but comes to his senses the next morning. Gandalf pushes him out the door without a cloak or handkerchief or....Second Breakfast!!!! Within a few weeks, he is camping in the mud. Isn't this just like so many brilliant ideas we have? It sounds good at first, but it is much less glamorous in reality. Chapter 2: Bilbo encounters the trolls. The names of the trolls: Bert, Tom, and William. William??? What self-respecting troll-mother names her boy WILLIAM??? I love the name William, but it is totally inappropriate for a troll. Good troll names: Zunabar Hokajin Tzane Zufem Alwan Rashi Haijen Trolgar Alwan Zulabar (Thank you troll name generator on the internet!) Please note that William, or any version of William, is NOT on that list. I have to wonder if Tolkien was naming the trolls after real-life trolls in his world. The lesson of the trolls is to not be sidetracked from what is important in life. Getting back to one's cave before daybreak was important. The trolls lost sight of that in their epicurean arguments.

1) First, many, MANY hugs to you!!!! :grouphug: 2) Congratulations on the expected new baby! 3) Don't feel as if you have to do all aspects of the hippie attachment parenting recommendations. Just do the parts that work for you. If co-sleeping doesn't work for you, but babywearing does, then do that. (We're the opposite. We cosleep, but I could never figure out the babywearing thing. I tried!) 4) I am guided in my attachment parenting by, "What is this like from the child's pov?" We want them to know that we love them, we hear them, and we are doing our best to find a reasonable solution. Arrrg! This is long! Sorry! Examples: a) Our bathrooms are at far ends of the house. Dd6 is afraid to go to the bathroom by herself. I remember this fear from my own childhood. My parents demanded that I go by myself, in spite of the (for a 4,5,6yo) very real fear. Solution: We store cat treats in the far bathroom. Dd6 calls to the cats as she walks up the long hall, and she has the company of 2 of the 3 cats. b ) Dd6 is still nursing. Why haven't we weaned yet? Imagine it from her pov: Wouldn't it be great to be woken every morning by someone you love climbing into bed with you, enfolding you in their arms, and telling you how much they love you? And they brought your favorite beverage for you to sip as you sleepily make the transition from dreamland to waking. Why would anyone want to end that? As an infant, toddler, and even preschooler, dd6 had always been told, "I'm so glad you're such a good nurser! Breastmilk is so healthy for you! It's the healthiest food you can eat!"...but we don't want you to ever have it again! That makes NO sense at all! As a parent, this gives me cozy and uninterrupted time with dd6 when I can say in word and deed, "I love you, and you are important to me. How can I love you today?" Solution: Very few kids leave for college not weaned yet. Sooner or later she will wean. In the meantime, she is nursing less than ever before. Many days she opts to get up and watch tv and forgets to ask for breastmilk. c) Dd2 wants to nurse all.the.time. on some days. Well, she's teething, and breastfeeding is one of the few things that gives her comfort. Why wouldn't she ask to nurse? Solution: Do my best to nurse dd2 as much as I can on those days. I usually ask her to wait while I finish the lesson, or part of the lesson I am doing with dd6. d) Dd2 is upset because older sister is playing on the computer and she is not. Solution: Confirm, "You want to play on the computer, too? And that is important to you?" A not of agreement from the 2yo. Many, many hugs and cuddles for the 2yo, and the the reassurance that, "Your turn is next!" This acknowledgment goes a long way. It says, "I understand that you are upset. I am doing my best to understand why. What can I do to love you and help you get what you want in a reasonable manner?" Some activities, I counsel dd6 to wait until dd2's naptime. 5) Do I yell at the kids? Oh, yeah! A PP mentioned the kids being too tired or too hungry. That applies to mom, too! I also realized that my yelling was usually after I asked them to comply with something repeatedly, and they did not. (putting on shoes, helping to clean up the living room, coming to the lunch table). I started saying, "I have already asked you politely twice to [fill in the blank]. It is time for you to do it." My thoughts are that if I have asked them 2+ times to do something, and they don't, then I don't feel bad yelling at them. Pointing out that they have been asked two or more times already seems to help with most kids because it is a polite reminder that they are not doing what they need to be doing. 6) Counting: I'm not talking about counting to calm myself down. I'm talking about counting to get kids to comply. I always count DOWN, so the kids know what the endpoint is. a) Dd6 is playing with her friends after swimming. It is time to go home for supper. I give a two minute warning, setting my cell phone timer. If she doesn't comply when asked to come after the two minutes, I count aloud (so she can hear me) backwards from 10. This gives her a reasonable timeframe to get herself in gear and start moving towards the car. b ) Dd6 is collecting rocks outside after gymnastics. It is time to go to the car to go home for supper. Again: "You may collect rocks for 10 more seconds." I count backwards from 10. This gives her time to prioritize which rocks she wants. c) Roll the dice for a game during piano lesson (I teach). She rolls and rolls and rolls and rolls in the little cup, wasting time. Games are a privilege in piano lesson. With no warning, I count aloud, "3...2...1." 7) With older kids, get their input for a solution. Explain: "This is what we need to accomplish. (Chores done, no unnecessary fighting, baby/toddler needs). What do YOU think is the solution to this? I would really like your help with it, and we need a solution that works for everyone." You are not bound by any agreement to use the older child's solution. But it can be interesting to have their input as a solution. Plus, it puts the onus on the child to see the bigger picture and find a better system than what is now available. Dd6 has become a budding diplomat in this paradigm.

This thread is for the Monthly Book Club group. If you have not joined us yet, please feel welcome to poke around and make some suggestions. Our current book choice is The Hobbit, and the thread discussing it is here. We have been reading books for three months now (Feb/Mar/Apr), and we read only one book a month. We need to select a books for the next 3 months of May, June, and July. On this thread, individuals may suggest books they would like to read or share. We will take suggestions for 7 days (or until at least the evening of Monday, April 8th, 2013). Any books that are recommended by at least TWO individuals will make it to the voting thread. Again, the voting thread will be open for 7 days. Mea Culpa: If I had been more on top of things, I would have started this thread two weeks ago, to give people time to order or check out books at the end of this process. I am sorry for not being cognizant enough of how best to run this system. I will try harder next time to start suggestions and voting earlier, to give us a whole month to secure the books we need once the selections have been made. Baby's awake, so I've gotta go!

Welcome! This is the third installment of the Monthly Book Club. We're still here (or at least I am...possibly talking to myself), so that is a good thing. We voted on books to read, and the selection to discuss during April 2013 is The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Please feel free to drop in and join us if you have EVER read this book and have something valuable to add to the conversation. First, some housekeeping: 1) Future books (according to the vote): Hey! We have no future books! It is time to recommend new selections for our future months! Do not make proposals here. The place to make book proposals is here. The thread for book proposals that will be open for 7 days of suggestions. Then I will try (around April 8th) to start a separate thread for 7 days of voting on the top nominees. When future books have been decided upon, I will edit this post and try to list them in this spot. 2) If you are not interested in reading specific a book, then skip that month. Our time is too valuable to be reading things we resent reading. Likewise, we welcome those who are only participate sporadically. The ideal is that many voices will result in a good discussion. 3) Keep in mind suggestions for future books clubs (if we can make it through the first few months). 4) Play nice. I don't want to get banned! PSA: I have never run a "book club." I am not planning to start now, beyond the basic organization of voting and starting monthly threads. However: --Please feel free to pm me if I miss something mechanical. --Don't take it personally if I don't get right back to you. Sometimes life gets busy, and I am absent from the boards for a week or so at a time. ETA: link to book suggestion thread.

We use a flashmaster. It is not free, but you can take it in the car. http://www.flashmaster.com/ You can also find it on Amazon.

I think so, but we've done it a little weirdly...but in a way that works for us. My PAL Writing Table of Contents says: Part 1: Printing and Story Summaries (31 Lessons, 1 lesson/day) Part 2: Copy Work and Style (40 Lessons, 1 lesson/day) Part 3: Composition with Style (16 Lessons, but these lessons are 1 lesson/ 4-day-week) 31 + 40 + (16x4) = 135 Lessons Below, I have outlined our path. I think it would be a jump for a child that was learning to write letters to be writing paragraphs by the end of the year. But, truly, I have no experience with that, so I can't say for sure. Perhaps the PAL Reading program is rigorous in just the right way to prepare kids for the trajectory to paragraphs. ------------------------------------------------------- What worked for us: Dd6 already knew how to identify and form her letters well,so we started with Copywork at the tail end of Part 1. We have been continuing through Part 2, but we don't get to writing every day. We are on schedule to finish Part 2 by June 1st. Part 3 specifically says it covers Units 3, 1 and 2, and 7 (for those familiar with TWSS). I think I will hold off until Fall 2013 to start that section. This is simply the pace that works best for us. As I have shared earlier, dd is only 6 and in K. We have time.

Sorry so long.... We are on the verge of purchasing IEW's TWSS at the next homeschooling convention (6 weeks from now!). I have been watching IEW for several years, anticipating IEW as our writing choice. Older dd is 6 and finishing her Kindergarten year, but she is a good reader and has good handwriting. When I started watching IEW, the recommendation for TWSS was 3rd grade. A year or two ago, they moved it to 2nd. I think this change is two-fold: 1) Some 2nd graders are ready for the program....or at least ready for some aspects of the program. The time between K-3 has a LOT of variation in it. I often reflect that being a Kindergarten teacher in the public school system is one of the hardest jobs in education. You have kids who barely know their letters, and others who are reading chapter books. I've seen it. You need to have them all in the same place by the end of the year. Where else in education would this happen? Not in an 8th grade algebra class. Possibly gym class, but kids don't get held back from 5th grade for not being able to make 6 baskets in 3 minutes. 2) IEW introduced their PAL Reading and Writing Program for K-1. I'm sure the company felt they needed to bridge the gap of "what to do in 2nd grade." They have also introduced (as a PP mentioned) "Bible Stories" as their first theme-based writing lessons for a 2nd grade level. I expect more 2nd grade content in the future. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We are in the middle of IEW's PAL Writing. I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I didn't get PAL Reading because dd6 can already read well, and we are using Saxon for Phonics. 1) PAL Writing (section 2) introduces nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. It discusses concepts of using an exciting verb like scurries, chases, or zooms instead of "runs." Use huge, giant, or mammoth instead of "big." 2) There are copywork sentences, but since dd6's writing is so good, we write a second complementary sentence to go with the first and utilize what is being taught. We discuss the sentence, and I write it on the whiteboard. Dd6 copies it. Sentence 1 is from IEW. Sentence 2 is dd's sentence. Dd6 copies both: This is a moon. The crescent moon travels slowly around our precious Earth. (Notice the adjectives, adverb, and use of exciting verb "travels" rather than "goes.") Disclaimer: Writing a 2nd sentence is not required by the program. We do it for practice with parts of speech and picking good verbs and adjectives. This extends the number of days we will do copywork, but dd6 is learning what she is supposed to from this exercise. Plus, she's in K. No hurries. 3) Then dd6 uses a checklist of 4 things to double check her work: punctuation, capitalization, spacing, and "Does it make sense?" aka "Did you forget any words?" She recites the 4 things to me as we review each assignment. 4) Every time we do a lesson, we read a story book, and dd6 summarizes it back to me verbally using the list of questions on the guide sheet. Setting, characters, and theme are covered in the vocabulary of a K-1 child. 5) In section 3, copywork is eliminated, but we will summarize our book with a Key-word-outline, using a guide sheet. Dd6 will then rewrite the story, a paragraph at a time over the course of a week. Dd6 is ready for this (or will be next autumn). Not all 1st graders, or 2nd, or 3rd graders can do a paragraph of writing in one sitting, nor should they be expected to.