You know what? I do have one of those cards. My dad was a teacher and gave me a lot of materials when we started homeschooling. Thanks for reminding me. Hopefully this works for my DD. Thanks, Cindy

Hmm, one thing that I find myself bringing out all the time is fake money. For some reason, the lighbulb in my kids' heads lights up when I relate a concept to money. Another item that's been helpful is a clock. Cindy ETA: Two of my kids are in 5/4 and above. I have one DC in Saxon 1 also, but I didn't buy the maniplatives from Saxon; my parents are former teachers and gave me a lot of manipulatives for free.

I started SWO with all three of my kids at grade level. I've found that each list breaks down to be about 30% easy words, 50% medium difficulty words, and 20% difficult words. I give a pre-test at the beginning of the week and they end up missing 10-25% of the words. By the end of the week, they re-test and usually get them all right. If they were get all the words correct I would have them skip the lesson. I haven't had to do that yet. Cindy

Background info first: DD went into PS Kindergarten last year knowing all her letters, sounds, and able to read three to four letter words. She learned at least 30 sight words while in Kinder, but did not progress otherwise. This year, I pulled her out of school in September to homeschool indefinitely. We used OPGTR for a while, and now HoP for 1st grade. When she completes HoP, I plan to go back to OPGTR. Now for the questions: DD complains that the words are too difficult to read, but when I pull out the letter cards and arrange them to form the words, she can read them with no problem. I don't know if the number of words on the page overwhelms her and makes her want to give up too easily, or if it's a confidence issue. The same thing happens when reading a regular picture book. She whines and asks for help when she comes across a longer word. I help her break down the word and eventually she'll get it, but it is frustrating to say the least. Also, she appears to guess a lot of the long words based on the pictures (with pretty good accuracy). I think she learned this in PS, because I'm seeing that my third grader does this also (I am going over phonics rules with this one too). So my question is, what can I do to help my DD? Do you think there could be another reason for this? If so, what am I missing? Thanks, Cindy

It is. I got an LG steam washer a couple of years back when my old one died and was surprised to see this cycle as well as a baby cycle. I have no idea what the difference is. Also, the sanitary cycle is almost two hours long. I wash whites every other week because of this. Cindy

Thanks for the quick replies. I'll try to check out that book from the library this week. The description is very helpful. DD understood when I passed on your description. Now she wants to try to make one. Cindy

Again, DH is a germophobe, so I do make it a point to close the lid before flushing because it is important to him. I had never thought of it before, and it does make sense. You could call me a convert, but don't tell him. Another reason I oblige is because I have never in almost twelve years of marriage fallen in the toilet in the middle of the night due to his not putting the seat down. That alone is worth it ;) Cindy

No judgement from me! I was just wondering based on my neighbor's observation that it was gross to combine my laundry. I usually wash them in the sanitary cycle with no bleach, except maybe once every few months. Today was the day I decided to wash with bleach, so I included it in my post. BTW, DH is a huge germophobe, which is why we wash such clothes in hot water. If it were up to me, I would use warm or cold water to save $. Cindy

I didn't know it was either, until my neighbor told me how gross it was to mix underwear with dish towels and such. She washes her sheets separately too. Cindy

We're reading Farmer Boy, and there is a reference to an air-castle that is hanging over a table made out of wheat straws. My DD and I can't picture it, so I tried to look it up in the dictionary and on the internet. I've had no luck whatsoever getting a description, much less a picture. Help us out if you can. Thanks, Cindy

This particular scenario includes the use of detergent and bleach and a front loading washer set to the sanitary cycle. Thanks, Cindy P.S. I've never set up a poll, so please be patient while I learn how to do it correctly.

Sorry your day was... uneventful. :grouphug: Cindy

My kids are guilty of this all the time. Then they complain when I don't bring X or Y or Z from the grocery store. Well, if they would just throw away the box, I would notice that I need to buy more X, Y, or Z!!! Cindy

Thanks for the laugh. I wonder if anyone had noticed, and if they did, what they thought the stain was. Once when my oldest two were in school, I had volunteered to help decorate the bulletin board in my DD's class. Earlier that day, I had let my then 3 year old style my hair, and I completely forgot to look in the mirror before I left. So I went to the school with a big purple bow right on top of my head holding an odd clump of hair on my head. I got a few strange looks, and noticed that the teacher wasn't as chatty as usual, but I figured maybe she was having a bad day. Later that day, when I picked up my DD's, they asked me why I had a big bow on my head. I can't believe that I went looking that way, that DH who was watching the 3yo didn't tell me before I left, nor that anyone at school: the receptionist, the teachers, the kids, told me about how ridiculous I looked. Cindy

As I stated earlier, I have changed my stance on taking the toys away. I'd never had to deal with behavior like this before, which I now believe was an isolated incident that escalated. In the past, I've been able to implement a cooling off period or time-out effectively. The incident that sparked the rule, was one in which the children were asked to cool off in their rooms for a while while we adults could calm down as well. My oldest child left immediately, while my middle and youngest children refused and continued to yell insults. The children were upset at each other initially, with the anger turning toward DH and I as they felt we were not handling the situation fairly. After we were able to cool off, we all reconvened, listened to each other, and made up. As for the removal of junk food, I did say that we are making the changes slowly. The first thing we did was stop buying pop-tarts. Then, we will stop buying unhealthy cereal when the last box runs out. After that, we'll make another small step. They already have good healthy foods to snack on, and they do choose carrots or celery or an apple over a fruit roll-up, but not always. I've done this (eliminate unhealthy foods) in the past when the kids were much younger, so I do know that it works. The bad food has only crept into the house since the baby was born, and DH took over a lot of my responsibilities. I can assure you that my kids do not see this process as a punishment. They've seen numerous documentaries and read plenty of information on the subject, and they agree that they need to cut out the junk and save them for special occasions. As I said before, they like veggies and fruits and whatever food DH and I serve for lunch and dinner. In our case, it's just a matter of removing the bad food from the house. I do feel bad for those whose kids aren't accustomed to eating healthily. That makes the process much more difficult, IMO.

Re-gifting is the only way I'd heard it used as a verb before last year, and I was fine with it, oddly. Now it seems I hear about people gifting things to others all the time. Personally, I cringe every time I hear it used that way. Cindy

Thank you for the book suggestion as well as those key phrases you use. Cindy

Thank you for your responses. This is the first time my DH and I have had to make consequences for specific behavior, and I really appreciate your input. In thinking over our situation, I agree that the rule regarding behavior toward DH and me is probably too harsh. DH and I treat each other with respect, and we have always tried to act the same toward our kids. We have, up to this point, had very well behaved, thoughtful children who never needed more than a verbal correction or a time out. I think that we were so shocked at the things said to us out of their frustration that we overreacted. The new plan is to give our kids the benefit of the doubt that their past behavior was due to frustration at us, hope that they will take our suggestions on how to communicate better in the future, and to be more aware of their needs to be heard and validated. Again, thank you for your input; you have been more helpful than you know. Cindy

Those are good points. I had never considered the backlash that might occur from taking the toys. Today, we did discuss ways to deal with anger, as well as asking them to put themselves in our place or their sisters' place. We also listened to their reasons for them speaking the way they did to us, and a lot of it had to do with them feeling that they were being dismissed or not being heard, so they felt they had to make an insulting comment to get our attention. DH and I apologized to them for making them feel like that, and told them that we would never intentionally treat them like that. We also, gave them words to use, such as, "Mom, you hurt my feelings when I was trying to talk to you." With the new baby, and the one on the way, our family dynamics have changed a lot. This little guy demands a lot more attention than our last little one, so I am always on my toes. I realize I need to be more aware of how my older ones feel. Thank you for giving me another perspective. Cindy

I didn't think so either. Now that I think of it, they have been eating more junk recently because of softball. After games, the kids get a snack. If there are left-overs, the parents usually offer those to the siblings. So if there are three games in one day, it adds up to three bags of chips ahoy, oreos, nutter butters plus three sports drinks for each child. We don't allow them to eat them all at once, but when you add up the number of games per week (a minimum of six games a week), that is a lot of extra yuck.

Today DH and I implemented new rules after a week or so of our kids' disrespectful behavior towards us as well as towards each other. We had a family meeting discussing their recent behavior and the need for them to treat each family member with respect. Then we laid out two simple rules. 1. If you are being disrespectful to Mommy or Daddy, you will get a warning to stop the behavior. If you do not stop when asked, we will choose one toy or privilege to take away (and donate). 2. If you use your words or hands to hurt one of your siblings, you must apologize immediately and do something nice for that sibling. I got the idea for number two from someone on these boards. My dilemma now is that I have a mental block when coming up with ideas for acts of kindness. Any ideas? Also, my kids are usually very well behaved and get along very well. This recent behavior is something we want to nip in the bud before it gets out of hand. I can't trace the cause of this sudden change in my kids The only thing different around here is that we are slowly trying to wean them from sweets/junk foods that have found their way into our house. I do not do the shopping, DH does (he does the majority of the cooking), and I got tired of complaining about the junk he brought home. I've been sending him articles and studies that support my concerns, and he is finally seeing things my way. The kids are not happy, even though we are taking very small steps. Also, in their defense, they do eat the healthy dinners and lunches we've been serving for years; they just like their pop tarts and cereal for breakfast, as well as fruit roll-ups and "granola bars" for snacks. Do you think this could be the cause? Sorry this got long, Cindy Three girls (11, 9, and 7) One boy (18 mo.) And one arriving soon

Sorry, OP, I don't mean to hijack your thread; I just have a quick question: Mergath, would you mind elaborating about the benefits you've seen in adding fish oil to your DD's diet? You can PM me if you'd like. Cindy

I'm in. I'm estimating I have about seven loads of laundry. Since I'm starting so late, I guess I'll be working on this until this evening. Cindy

We have four children, and even though the school aged children have their own rooms, they prefer to spend their quiet time in the oddest places. There is a closet under a staircase that serves as a reading nook. The dining room table is used often for puzzles, legos, art, but also when covered with blankets, as a fort for reading and napping. The area behind the couches is pretty popular, as is my master closet for some reason. Cindy

I just have to comment on the open classroom concept. I started school in the eighties, so I didn't know about the open classroom concept until we moved to an area where the schools were built in the 70's. My children went to a school for one year with an open concept, and it was one of the many reasons we decided to pull them out and homeschool them. I tried to keep an open mind about it, and this school is considered one of the best, but I realized that they were the best at performing well on the state standardized test. Scheduling was so rigid in that school, the teachers were required to follow the curriculum to a T, and you could walk through the halls and hear, word for word the same lesson in each classroom. I could never teach like that, and I imagine it would be difficult to teach to different learning styles. Cindy