Some resources we are using this year for Nature Study/Nature Journals: 1) There's a lot of good ideas on emmanadine's pinterest. http://pinterest.com/emmanadine/homeschool-nature-journal/ Emmanadine, I hope that it's okay that I posted this here since you had already shared it in a former thread. I apologize if you did not want me to do so, and please PM me if you want me to adjust this post. 2) Handbook of Nature Study website has "Nature hour (aka 15m of nature) challenges. Here are the beginning ones, but there are several for every season. http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/2011/01/outdoor-hour-challenges-getting-started.html Remember: a good nature journal entry is: --a picture --a word or phrase to describe "today's weather" or "sunflowers in our garden" or "ladybugs" --a date If your kids aren't ready for more than that, then don't sweat it. 3) Purchase a calendar at the beginning of the year and start writing down firsts: first robin of spring first day over 100 degrees Fahrenheit first day of snow first day of leaves changing colors first monarch caterpillar found first buds on trees first seeds sprouted in our pre-garden pots By the second year, your kids will be asking if it is time to look for the robin yet, and "what time did he come last year?"

Last night, I looked over from washing dishes and saw the 20mo climbing the entertainment center. Daddy was in close attendance. Me: "[Dd1], does Daddy let you do whatever you want to do?" Dd1: "Yeah."

This is our K/1 year. Dd is 5.5. We started with the ETC ABC books at age 4. The "How much writing? issue for 5yos," is something I don't want to burn dd5 out on. We are also doing Saxon Phonics and PAL Writing (IEW) this year. And yet we want to build hand strength so she will be able to write full sentences and paragraphs when it is appropriate for her to do so. We are aiming for full and fluid sentences within 12 months from now, with the ability to write/copy paragraphs over the course of several days. Last year, the plan was for 1p/day. Dd was 4.5 - 5.5. BUT --We only did schoolwork on T-R. Dd had preschool MWF mornings, and was really only good for science experiments, games, and art by the afternoon. --Some days dd5 would do as many as 10 pages of ETC when she was motivated. She can earn tv time by doing schoolwork; and, sadly, tv is a HUGE motivator in our home. This year, we will start out the year with "at least one page of writing in ETC each day." Dd5 is currently in the 1.5 book, and if you check it out, some pages are writing words, and some are just Xing out a word or circling an answer. So, some days she will do 1 page; and some days she may do 2 or 3. When dd turns 6 in December, I will move her up to 2p/day.

We have not done a lot of Saxon: just Saxon Math K, and we are past Lesson 90 in Saxon Math 1. When dd5 finishes Saxon Math 1, I am planning to have her start taking the "end of the week" tests for Saxon Math 2. If she can score greater than 90%, then we will skip that week of lessons and move on to the next. Last year I sat in on a convention workshop with the mom talking about how her daughter started the year by doing the weekly review tests at beginning and the book and didn't score below 90% until she hit Lesson 75. So the next day, they started with Lesson 71. I do not know if my dd5 will go that far. She may only pass one or two or even none of the review tests. But I do hope with this system, she will be exactly where she is supposed to be. I have not yet decided if passing out of a week of lessons means that we will skip the entire group of lessons she has tested out of, or if we will still do the workbook pages for extra practice. I am also hoping to do this with her for Saxon Phonics 1 this fall. -------------------------------------- We also do flashcards every day. I set a timer for 3 minutes. Dd5 does as many addition cards as she can in that time period. If she completes all the cards in the stack, beats her former score (# of cards completed), or matches the former score, she gets a treat of 1t mini m&ms. We do the same thing with subtraction.

We had high winds, and one could tell the INSTANT the cold front moved in. The electricity flickered a few times, so I sent Loverboy to check the weather report. (The rest of us were in the middle of bathtime). The computer was rebooting...... The tv was down, because we have a TIVO that needed to reboot, too....... Loverboy found his weather radio, and the report was "seek shelter; if you live in a trailer, move to the storm shelter." .....and we live in a trailer. So in the worst of the storm, we packed up the kids, put tennis shoes on everyone, grabbed our disaster bag and a couple of flashlights, and ran through the thunder, lightening, and high winds for the storm shelter around the corner. Within an hour, we walked home to wet streets and dry skies. We're too grateful for the rain to complain too much.

I don't think the issue is how much you are doing, but whether what you are doing is the right amount for your kids. (You can see from my signature that we keep busy, too!) I have a lot on our list, and dd5 is a consistent and hard worker. She accomplishes so much each day! But I also hope that I know when to take a break if we are having a tired day. I know that you will use good judgment on those days, too. In our situation, there is also the reality that dd5 and I just don't do well when we have nothing to do. She watches tv all day, and then it becomes a struggle to get her to do ANYTHING (let me read her a book, pick up her socks, come to the table to eat lunch) if we do not have a plan for each day. I feel like I get less done (housework, meals created, laundry) on non-school days than on busy school days because I don't maximize my time. Loverboy is finally starting to understand this part of our (dd5 & my) interactions in this way.

We are happy with FG. It is the right choice for our family. It is very homeschooling friendly. I was introduced to FG by my friend J, who was excited about it. She was looking for a GS-like experience with badges for her 5yo daughter. One big advantage for FG is you can be your own daughter's leader, and go solo. In looking at the program, J suggested that she be her daughter's leader, and I be my daughter's leader. (In this way we sidestep the complication and paperwork and responsibility of a "troop" since it is just we two at this time.) During the school year, we met every other week to work on badges together. She would lead for some badges, and I would organize other weeks. Hopefully everyone went home with one or two new badges earned. We also had the freedom to work on other badges independently. Likewise, they have been gone traveling all summer, but we have each continued to work at our own pace. Because FG is so new, they are very open to anyone who wants to suggest or write a new badge. Badges requirements are worked on according to child's grade/age level, so children of varying ages can be part of the same troop and work on the same badge. For example, when my younger dd joins FG (if we continue), she will be a Penguin level (age 3-5), and will do 3 requirements for a given badge. Older daughter will be working on the exact same badge, but as an Otter (4 requirements/badge) or Dolphin (5 requirements/badge). And yes, there is a Hiking Badge. And a Camping Badge. And many leadership opportunities from either inside the troop or encouraged throughout your community. There is also a certain amount of community service required by each FG, which can be tough to do for the preschool age. But we make cookies for our local firemen and have adopted a public garden to weed. Also, one month of our lives is not consumed by selling cookies. (I like to eat GS cookies, but I am not a salesman). There are advantages and disadvantages to this program, as with any program. Please feel free to PM me if you have any further questions.

Oh! Another idea! If you need a day off (or a period of time while you clean up what the dog threw up), put on your kids' favorite Disney animated film, but set the Spanish language option. The kids already know the storyline anyway. The kids can watch Aladdin, and you can say that you did over an hour of Spanish!!!

We also have Spanish Level 1. It starts out teaching vocabulary and verbalization, but no writing AT ALL. Supposedly, then you move on to the workbook, which is NOT young-child friendly. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought it. Just say no.

1) Bug cups! We think these are the best ones, and I knew I had crossed a "line of no return" in homeschooling when I started buying them in bulk! When dd was 3, she ran screaming across the yard because of a spider. "Shall we put it in a bug cup???'' It immediately changed the dynamic of the spider situation. These are small enough that they are easy to throw into the back of the stroller whenever we go on a nature walk in case we find something interesting. 2) "A butterfly net and a pond net" is the recommendation of one of the naturalists at the local Nature Center. We have even used our butterfly net to catch a couple of orphaned goslings running through our yard. The pond net is cool for digging stuff out of the pond and looking at on the shore. 3) TV magnifier --This instrument plugs into your tv and makes it a "super magnifier." Things will not be as magnified as with a microscope, unless you are thinking of a dissecting microscope, but..... --this is a good solution for kids that are too young for a microscope --this tool is good for group exploration and discussion --it's so easy to do science when you send your kids and their cousins outside for 5 minutes and ask them to each bring in 3 items. Rocks, leaves, flowers, shells...anything they find is super to explore. Inside the house, look at orange peels, teddy bears, hair, and money. It's all so cool!!!! Our first tv magnifier was from Toys To Grow On. It was really easy to use, but didn't last as long as we needed it to. This is our second one: Eyeclops I'm still figuring it out, but I honestly haven't put the time into it. 4) Ant farms, Ladybug habitats, caterpillars that change into butterflies, and tadpoles that change into frogs are all animals we have had in our house. I would like to do them once a year, but we didn't do it last year (new baby in the house), and I haven't gotten to it yet this year. I don't want to order them and risk them in my superhot mailbox. I think this is the company I have ordered from before, but I can't really remember. There are several who will send you caterpillars.

I think so. It seems to be set in the 1930s/1940 time period and style of music.

I read it at least 3 times between being a teen and in my early 20s. I never understood or liked it. However, I ran into a friend's mom a few years back. She had just retired from being a youth librarian (middle school) for years and year. She said she had never understood or liked the book either. Then she re-read it after retirement and she thought it was one of the funniest things she had ever read. Maybe I just need to wait another 25 years......

I'm sorry this is so long. Hopefully there is something of value in here! Here are some games you can play: 1) Play Uno in Spanish. They will learn a few colors and become proficient in the numbers. If you really want to take it up a notch, learn the words/phrases for "reverse, draw 2...." What other common games can you play with a modified amount of Spanish? 2) Play Candyland or bingo. Again...colors and higher numbers. 3) Make flashcards using clipart and cardstock for different items in your house. Make one card with a picture of the item, one card with the Spanish word, and one card with the English word. Do one room at a time. For example: Bedroom blanket bed pillow teddy bear doll window door dresser closet rug blah blah blah **I get many of my words from Usborne "First 100 Words in Spanish" and "First Thousand Words in Spanish." If you don't own them, your library may have them. Give child(ren) the flash cards and send them on a "scavenger hunt" to put the right card in the right location. El tocador should be on the dresser. El osito de peluche should be with the teddy bear. As you collect/check the cards, the child must pronounce the word for you. 4) Use these cards for other games like: a) Memory -- if you have the clipart card and a spanish word card, have all cards RIGHT SIDE UP, and the kids must match them. For your 5yo, help her with all reading. b) "Which Word" --(This is a good way to learn new words) -- put out 3 cards, face up. Ask "Which word is the word for window?" When child answers correctly, remove "la ventana" and replace it with the next word on the stack. "Which word is the word for bed?" When child answers correctly, remove "la cama" and replace it with the next word on the stack. c) Word Bingo -- Print off 5x5 grids on 8"x11" paper. Choose 25 words; you could choose your "bedroom words" above. Have children write the words in a mixed up order, one in each square. (Help the 5yo with the writing.) Each sheet should be different. Now play bingo using the picture cards or speaking the English translation. "Spanish phrase for 'I like,'" or "Spanish word for 'She wants.'" Have rewards for the winners of lollypops or other treats, the chance to "pick what we have for lunch today: mac and cheese or tomato soup," or "get out of practicing piano for one day with no nagging from mom card." d) Pick nearly any board game you have, and pull out just the board and markers. Consider Candyland. Put your flashcards face down in a draw pile. When it is your turn, pick a card. If card is a picture, player says Spanish word if they know it, and player can move X number of predetermined spaces. If player does not know word, have group help him (remember we are ALL learning here, and we are family and need to support each other in new things!!!), and player can only go Y number of spaces. (Y is less than X). Mom automatically takes the lesser number of spaces. If card is a Spanish written word, player must read word and tell the translation for X number of predetermined spaces. If player needs help with translation, they only get to go Y number of spaces. Mom automatically takes the lesser number of spaces. If card is an English word, player translates to Spanish, and can go X number of spaces. If player needs help, they can go Y number of spaces. Mom automatically takes the lesser number of spaces. Other details: Values for X and Y depend upon what you think is fair. You could also use 2 dice to roll for each turn. The higher number is automatically X and the lower number is automatically Y. If the Candyland board is too long for your children's attention span, make it clear that you are only going to play until you get to the lollypop forest. Or if you use a circular board like Monopoly, set a timer for 15minutes and see how far you get. 5) Do your kids receive any magazines? Sometimes there are silly little games in the back that can be modified to teach Spanish vocabulary. You could expropriate the games in the name of bilingualism. I know we have one little game with hats and mittens and scarves to be matched (colors and new winter vocabulary!). We have another one with a birthday cake and candles and hats and little animal guests (counting and birthday vocabulary). You could also raid the library's stack of old magazines with a pocket of quarters to copy the games. Look for High 5, Ladybug, and Click. ***High 5 has a bilingual story every month.*** 6) Do your children have little plastic animals? We have a giganto bin of them: elephants, donkeys, whales..... Pull them out and name them. Put them in a pillow case and pass it around with everyone pulling out one and naming it. See who can name 5. 10. The most. 7) Do your children eat lunch?:D Make a list of the common foods you eat for lunch: sandwiches, soup, noodles, cheese, milk, juice, apples, grapes, etc. Put it in a plastic sleeve and post it near the lunch table. See who can list what is on their plate. Use words like "Quiero mas jugo por favor." (I want more juice, please.) ***Please don't skewer me for my poor Spanish grammar! I'm trying!!!*** "Me gusta fruitas!!!" (I like fruit)."No me gusta el brecol!" (I don't like broccoli)....well, your kids would never use that phrase, of course..... 8)We are going to try Visual Link Spanish this fall. The first lessons are very appropriate because they talk about going to the park, the movies, to work, to the bathroom. The second set may not be as applicable because it is about travel and business, but we'll worry about that when we get there. There are 10 or 11 free lessons to sample the software. Check out the blog. Yes. Spanish Dave. Indeed! There always seems to be a sale going on, so don't feel you need to be in a hurry to buy right now today. However, the actual software is way cooler than the free lessons.

Not Othello, for the reasons listed above. Either As You Like It or Love's Labour Lost are comedies, but I would lean toward LLL because your girls could watch the Kenneth Branagh version beforehand to have a clue about the play. Netflix has it. The KB version is a very fun musical. It must have been incredibly challenging to put together!!!

Can she be tested for lead poisoning? At age 8 or 9, it seems unlikely, but you never know. Better check for Lime Disease, too. (Only 30% of those who get Lime Disease also get the "bullseye rash," so no rash doesn't mean that you don't have Lime disease). I hope you find the solution. :grouphug:

The good news is that she is in K, so there is not a lot of things that you NEEEEEEEEEED to do. You may want to do Latin, or Spanish, or Underwater Basket weaving, but the goals should be math, learning to read, and writing. 1) You need to figure out what motivates her. She needs to know that she will get something out of doing XYZ. She needs to know the returns for doing XYZ will be greater than the satisfaction of butting heads with you. a) We use money for dd5's bank to motivate. dd5 earns 5c for each K page of schoolwork she earns, plus 25c for practicing piano for 15minute, plus a bonus if she does everything asked of her. This also eliminates struggles at the store/zoo/science center because if she wants something, she can buy it herself. If she doesn't have the money, we discuss what she can do to get money (schoolwork). This has developed a healthy work ethic for her, where she sets goals and sees the fruits of her labor. **Disclaimer: I am the first to admit that $$ for schoolwork is not the right choice for every family.** b) Would she like a tea set? Buy a tea set, and she gets one piece for every day she completes what is asked. Don't be wishy washy though. Either she did what was on the list or she didn't. If you do this, make it a game that she has to roll a die at the end of the day to determine which piece she gets. For example: 1 = teapot or lid 2 = cup 3 = saucer 4 = fork or spoon 5 = creamer, sugar bowl, or lid 6 = tea party!!! You may only have 2 pieces to play with and have to supplement with your kitchen dishes because she hasn't earned the full set yet. You also need to make sure there is a special treat to shares like juice in the teapot and goldfish crackers, jelly beans, or marshmallows as a treat. By determining her items by rolling the die, she can't choose just the fun pieces, and only have some silly forks and spoons to motivate her at the end of the month. c) Does she like legos? Buy a lego set, and she gets one piece (to collect into a shoebox) for each page of schoolwork (or subject) completed. If there are building instructions, she could earn the pieces in order of the kit. She could earn several pieces in a day. d) Does she want an "American Girl" doll? (Those are expensive!!!) Make a chart with $1 for each square. She can color in one square for each day she does everything. The only problem is that because AG dolls are so expensive, it will be a lot of days before she sees a return on her work. Maybe skip AG and just get Barbie some new clothes for her wardrobe.... e) A trip to the zoo, park, science center, movies, swimming, play games all day, do art all day (one project after another)? Determine the reward beforehand, and make a chart with squares to color. If she completes her schoolwork (Math lesson, Phonics Lesson, Writing Lesson, etc), she can color in a square. When 5 squares (or 10 squares, or 8 squares) are colored in, the next day, if at all possible, is a zoo day. Other tips: --Any schoolwork that needs to be corrected must be done so before the next reward is dispersed. Sometimes it is best to ask for immediate repairs; sometimes waiting until the next day is best. You know your child well enough to know when a good time to make corrections is. --Be tough. Either your child has met the requirements, or they have not. --Make a daily chart to color in with a square for each subject. (We have stripes of squares that represent each day going across the page. 1 square for piano, 1 for each lesson requirement, and 3 that are labeled "20 min reading"). For young children, this helps them to feel accomplishment when you say, "It's time to color in another square," and it helps them to gauge how much work they have left to do today and how much they have already accomplished. --Be non-emotional and nonjudgmental about schoolwork, even though you try to accomplish something each day. If she chooses to not, well, then we just won't go to the zoo. Aw well. If she wanted the rest of the lego kit? Well, you aren't the one that determines when she gets more pieces; she is. Hmmmm.....what could she do for more lego pieces? 2) Does she have any homeschooling friends? It was tough for dd5 to want to homeschool when all of her preschool friends were talking about going to K at one elementary school or another. By meeting other homeschool friends her age, she realized that this was a valid choice for this fall instead of something weird her mom wanted to do to specifically torture her. It helped her to feel part of a group, plus there is the power of group psychology at that age by wanting to be a part of the group. 3) You are not allowed to feel bad if you and your husband do choose to send her to public school. In the same way that some kids are traumatized by public school, but blossom at home: some kids who struggle learning at home do really well in public school because they want to be part of the group; they want to do what everyone else is doing; and they don't want to be the only one who can't/doesn't _________. a) If your school system is accommodating, you could send her for the academic portion of the morning, and have her home in the afternoon. Last year, a homeschooling friend was concerned that her 1st grader was not reading yet. (There are divorce and custody issues, too, for her). So she sent G for the 2-hour literacy block every morning from 9-11am, and G was home by lunch. I would feel sad if you sent your dd to public school, because it sounds like you have wanted to homeschool for a long time, but I also want your family to make the best decisions for your children. I can't make the judgment for what that is, but I can tell you that there are many on this board that will support you whatever you decide. Sorry so long.

Dd is 5-and-a-half. We have finished Saxon Phonics K and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy lessons. Dd5 knows (mostly) the difference between long and short vowels, but she is still working out when to use which when encountering new words. She is exactly where she is supposed to be.

1) One strategy I have seen larger families use is to utilize the older kids to play with the younger ones. (I realize that your two oldest may not be of the right temperament to do this). When one of your school aged children is ready to take a break, send them to do a specific task with one or all of your toddlers. "[6yo], go pick out two books (either readers for school or baby board books) and read to [one or all of toddlers]; then play with them." In this way a)at least some of the littles are occupied b)the littles get some academic exposure c)6yo gets practice reading It's WIN WIN WIN!!! ***Disclaimer: This suggestion does not mean that 6yo should be responsible for littles for an extended period of time or further away than the next room; but it should buy you 20 minutes! Other rotating "assignments" you can give your olders for working with youngers: --sing the alphabet to them and 2 other nursery rhymes (make picture cards to remind olders) --color game, like sorting colored bears --counting game, like counting to 10 with bears --coloring, if your kids and environment are conducive to it (Some kids should not be let loose with crayons out-of-sight of adults). --ring-around-the-rosie --activities from "Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready" (Your library should have a copy.) --building block towers --playing with the pegboard --running cars back and forth across the floor --rolling a ball back and forth for the first 5 minutes of a timer --do 1 puzzle with each little --clothespins in a juice bottle --any shape sorter ***Disclaimer: Assignment is not meant to take 20 minutes. Assignment will probably only take 5 minutes, and then playtime afterwards. Also, find a reward for your olders who "work" for you. Perhaps a nickel for your bank, or a sticker just before supper. Would it be worth 30c/day to have 6 periods of 20 minutes uninterrupted with specific olders? 2) Have a different box for each day of the week of toys that come out JUST DURING SCHOOL TIME. Monday toys are different than Tuesday toys, etc. Mom controls the box, and each child can pick out one toy at a time. (3 littles = 3 toys out) If they want a second toy, they must bring back one of the original toys out. No interrupting mom for toys during lessons. You must wait until she is between instruction lessons. Toys could be: --puzzles --activity books (lift the flap, puzzle) --play dishes --big cars --lego duplos --pages to color (but coloring must occur within sight of the school table). --something messy and texturous, like rainbow rice --beads (spool size) and string -------------------------------------------- You are so ambitious to do this! I feel overwhelmed in reading your story, but I know other moms have done this, and you are very capable, too! Your kids will not always be this little, and it will get easier as they get older. :grouphug:

I imagine one would need to do a little drive in the car for Cosmological and Geological Periods. :auto: And a bike for Archeological Period. (need a bike smiley) Use the ribbon time line at Add-a-Century for Historical/Political period. (It's the 3rd video, at the bottom of the page). http://addacentury.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=2

I attended one convention workshop where the speaker spoke of her child taking the "end of the week evaluations" of Saxon Math at the beginning of the year. Her daughter stopped when she scored less than 90% on an evaluation. This was lesson 75, so they started on lesson 71 the next day. By pre-testing her daughter at the beginning of the year, she eliminated half a year (70 out of 140 lessons) of their math classes. Even if your child only tests out of 1 or 2 weeks of Math, that buys you a lot of Fridays that you don't have to worry about Math.

We have started to put together our Add-a-Century timeline. http://addacentury.com/ Disadvantages: --more expensive than Book of Centuries --I'm having trouble with the stickers for connecting one page to the other. (They come undone.) I am hoping my next fix (packing tape) will correct this problem. --There is no room for poems and essays and things that personalize and "make the Book of Centuries your own!" Advantages: --Comes in a large 3 ring binder or --May be hung on the wall or --Several pages (centuries/decades) may be taken out of the book at a time to look at side by side; then folded back into the book. --Divides timeline into categories of: History Government & Politics War Science & Technology Church & Religion Art & Music Literature & Theater Fictional Characters Life **This is nice because one aspect of history can be related to a different part of history. Example: Rise of Twitter (Sci & Technology) came just before Arab Spring (War or History); Martin Luther and his 95 Theses in 1517 (Church and religion) occurred about the same time that Henry VIII divorced wife #1 Catherine of Aragon ~1725 (Politics & Government) --Each 2 page spread can be divided into whatever time division works for you. So far I have: 1600-1899: divided into 50 years/2 pages 1900-present: divided into 10 years/2 pages I am trying to decide if I want the 1500s to be 50 years/2 pages or to jump to 100 years/2 pages in that time period and prior. As I move further back in time, I will have a longer time period on a 2 page spread. I haven't figured this out totally, but I'm sure the company has recommendations based on their experience. They will conceivably go back to 2000 or 3000 BC. I also plan to use markers to put colored stripes at the top of pages with similar time periods. For example, all the 10-year spreads will be Blue. All the 50 year spreads will be Purple. All the 100 year spreads will be green. As my children get older, this will be an easy way to explain that 2 pages at the back of the book (2001-2010 CE) is not the same as 2 pages at the beginning of the book (2000 - 1800 BC, for example). --Add-A-Century also has a "ribbon timeline" for the sparse human history prior to 3000 BC. There is a video on the Add-A-Century website of how to use this. I have not purchased one yet. --More years can be added at any time. --This will be a tool that dd5 will use, add to, and refer to for the next 12 years. As she cycles through the Classical Model of History (Ancient, Middle Ages, Early Modern, Modern), referring to her timeline of 4 years before will jar her memory of things she had learned previously. Then she will add more to her timeline to reflect what she has learned. Most families only have one set for their children to share, but I am planning to purchase a second set for dd1 because I have heard about fighting among others' children about "who gets to take the timeline off to college as a resource."

There is Carol's Affordable Curriculum that provides crafts and discusses alphabet and basic letters. It really is more of a preschool curriculum, but you could use it to supplement something more Kindergarteny. http://www.carolscurriculum.com/ -------------------------------------------- Letter of the Week would be a nice basis to dovetail with Carol's Curriculum. You would probably have to find some coloring sheets to print off. http://letteroftheweek.com/ ----------------------------------- Computer time: http://www.starfall.com/ --------------------------------------- This seems similar to Carol's affordable curriculum, but is specifically geared for preschoolers. They were at our homeschooling convention this year. http://www.shirleysprepackagedcrafts.com/

Background: We have not done a 4 day week before. My children are young. Officially, this is our Kindergarten year for my oldest. Technically, we did a 2-day week last year. Dd5 went to preschool MWF mornings, and we homeschooled T-R. This year, I am planning a 4 day week. We will knock off late afternoon for swimming or gymnastics. Fridays will be our day for: --finishing any schoolwork that didn't get done during the week --Legos (pre-lego league building, exploration, and discussion) --weekly K class at the coop (socialization for dd5 with other homeschoolers) --extra reading, game playing, art projects, science experiments --going to the park, nature center, Reiman Gardens, etc --making cookies --cleaning house before the weekend How will this work out? Who knows? I'll probably change the schedule six times again between now and then!

Oooo! I like your metaphor and description of tidal homeschooling, Momto2Cs!!! You are brilliant!

Post stuff on the WTM boards.