We love Minimus here. I think if you're on a budget, you can just go with the student book and it'll be a complete program. The student book is not big or particularly pricey. But... I love the information and extra activities that the teacher's guide gives and my daughter loves the CD. \ The CD just has the same Latin that is in the student books, so you don't *need* it. And to be fair, I think the teacher's guide is overpriced, but it looks like the resale prices are similar to new prices - so I'm planning to sell mine after we finish.

Maybe if you use some minimal pairs it'll help? Thing / Think sing / sink singer/sinker singing/sinking sang / sank Ming/ mink etc... You could say the words and have her point to a picture or point to the word.... then try saying the words with all sounds quiet except the /ng/ or /nk/. You might also really want to add that 'h' sound to the end of the /nk/ for her to hear the difference.

How about this one: http://www.eequalsmcq.com/ClassicScienceLife.htm I was thinking about doing it with my soon-to-be 1st and 3rd grader. It looks fun and it's free.

We've been out twice this year and haven't found any yet... We did find some false morels though. We're new to the area and need to meet someone who is willing to divulge their secret morel hunting grounds.

I'd say California - The UC system has a really good reputation - Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, Davis... They're all good. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-top-public

Every cake and frosting recipe I make comes from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible. They've always come out delicious. I think it is really the gold standard of cake making. Check and see if your library has a copy... or buy one - it's totally worth it!

How about Galore Park Jr. science?

I'd say 7 or 8 is about the age that most kids can understand and appreciate crossword puzzles. I'd be surprised if the average 5 yr old could really figure out crosswords without some serious parent help.

If you are thinking about mapwork, I'd recommend Geopuzzles. Once or twice a week I have my girls get out a continent and put it together and they are really getting quite good at them! I love hearing them say things like "No, no.. Uzbekistan is next to Kazakhstan, not Mongolia!"

I went to a show about 15 (maybe 20?!) years ago in Eugene,which is where I was living at the time. I'm not really a fan, but I thought I ought to go as a cultural experience -- and I was an Indigo Girls fan, and they opened the show. I only have very, very vague memories of the show.

Any of the genre of Inspiring-School-Movies always seemed to be weirdly similar to me... To sir with love Lean on me Blackboard jungle Stand and deliver Dead Poet's Society Mr. Holland's Opus

I feel the same way... but again, my girls are young, so I could just be naive. But a responsible teenager who is walking around with a friend at the mall seems pretty safe. Except for the overt consumerism and poor quality food, I can't figure out what danger the mall contains that might lead me to prohibit my kids from going there.

I totally agree that first grade is notoriously difficult to pin down. In the class will probably be kids who can only write their first name and only recently learned the alphabet. And there will be kids who are reading full-length novels. Some kids will barely be able to count, others will know how to multiply. I'm sure wherever your child is at, is absolutely within the realm of normal first grade.

Both of my daughter's lower teeth came in behind her baby teeth. The dentist said that it was normal and he wouldn't pull them unless the baby tooth was still there when the adult tooth had grown taller than it. One of them fell out on its own. With the other one, the adult tooth grew taller and (since we were at the dentists anyway) he pulled out the baby tooth. It was a little distrubing because the adult tooth was at a right angle to the baby tooth. Eventually those weird adult teeth found their way to the right place though, so I wouldn't worry!

Thank you for your suggestions! I hope to start in September, but we'll see how it goes. She is so unlike me (and unlike her older sister) that it's a challenge for me to figure out how to approach a topic like history that, for me, is so pleasurable and for her is not.

My 6 yr old kindergartner is just not the kind of girl who can sit still. For instance, it wasn't until this past year that I could actually take her to a (children's) movie. Before then, I would have to take her out of the cinema because she just couldn't handle the two hours it takes to watch a movie. She's a fantastic little athlete and can climb the highest tree, but she rarely enjoys me reading to her and seems to be unable to pay attention to longer picture books or chapter books... it's just not what she's interested in. She's kind of young in a lot of ways... she still enjoys board books and preschool characters like Elmo or Dora. She is learning to read (ETC), has a good grasp of geography (from geo-puzzles) and is turning into quite a little mathematician (MM), but getting her to listen to anything vaguely academic is kind of ridiculous... I had been hoping that I might begin reading SOTW 1 to her starting in first grade... perhaps with heavy use of the activity guide... I was hoping that she'd have some developmental leap and be able to, if not appreciate, at least tolerate listening to some history in narrative form. But we're just a few months away from first grade and it doesn't look promising. Do I wait until I see that my daughter is developmentally at a place where she can understand something a little more sophisticated? Maybe focusing in first grade on fables and myths and other short stories with lots of pictures? But then... what if she's still in second or third grade and still isn't able to listen to history? Or do I plow onwards and just kind of pretend she understands, when I know she has no clue? I can get her, as a bedtime story, to listen quietly... but she really is kind of out there in her understanding and interest. Thoughts?

My favorite bread recipe... It's a super long rise, but well worth the wait. 1 cup milk ½ cup honey 2 teaspoons salt 4 tablespoons butter for dough ½ tablespoon butter for greasing pans ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) warm water (about 105° F.) 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 1 package active dry yeast 2 cups unbleached white flour 2 cup whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon olive oil Heat the milk until it bubbles. Remove from heat and add the honey, salt and 4 tablespoons of the butter, stirring until the butter melts. Let cool to lukewarm (about 105° F.) – a higher temperature will kill the yeast. In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top and swirl with a fork until yeast is suspended in the water. Let stand in a warm draft-free spot* for 10 minutes and ensure that the yeast is alive by observing that it has begun to foam. Measure the whole wheat flour and unbleached white flour into a large bowl and blend thoroughly. Remove and set aside about ¼ cup of the mixure for kneading and adjusting the dough later. Make a well in the center of the flour. Combine the cooled milk and yeast mixtures and pour into the flour well. Mix with a fork until dough is stiff and leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough onto a floured board and let stand while you wash and dry the mixing bowl. Coat the bottom and sides of the bowl with the olive oil. Knead the dough 10 minutes adding the reserved flour if needed to keep the dough from sticking to the board or to your hands. (An electric mixer fitted with a dough hook works well too.) Form the dough into a flat ball, place it in the oiled bowl and turn to coat all sides with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap punching two small holes in the top for circulation. Move the bowl to the warm draft-free spot*, and let the dough rise until double in size – usually 4 hours. (The slow rise is due to the whole wheat flour – be patient.) Coat a cookie sheet with the last ½ tablespoon of butter. Turn the dough onto a floured board, punch down to the original size and divide into 2 loaves. Roll and shape the loaves into flat balls pinching the seams into the underside of the loaf. Arrange them on the cookie sheet, cover loosely with floured kitchen towels, and move them to the warm draft-free spot as above. In about 3 hours the loaves should have doubled in size again. If you've used the oven for rising, remove the sheet with the loaves and raise the temperature to 400°. (If you have a pizza stone, preheat that in the oven too as a base for the cookie sheet. It will help push the loaves higher and will keep the bottom crust from burning.) Let the oven reach temperature and let it stabilize for 5 minutes. Return the sheets to the oven and bake until the loaves are golden brown – about 15 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool. When the loaves are completely cool store them in a sealed plastic bag until ready to use.

Serve them root beer! How about Sourdough bread? Cioppino? Chowder? Chli? Strawberry Shortcake? Macaroni and cheese? Pancakes with maple syrup? Turkey and cranberry sauce?

I lived in Poland for a few years and my partner is from Poland. We've been to Auschwitz once years ago and it was very intense, but it's worthwhile to see. Before I went, I thought I'd be crying the whole time, but it wasn't like that. It was just very heavy. We went to Krakow last summer with our girls (then 5 & 7). We did not go to Auschwitz with them, but might if they were older (like... 15 and 17). The salt mine at Wieliczka is absolutely amazing and worth a visit. And, of course, Wawel castle is neat too. Krakow is the most western feeling city of any place in Poland - malls, sushi restaurants, a slight amount of diversity... It might be worthwhile to check out some other towns and villages too to see what the rest of Poland is like. Or maybe not... Krakow is a great city.

I've never seen any. But let me know if there are -- we love Brainpop and need to renew our subscription next month.

D'aulaire's Greek Myths Mythlopedia Take me back Horrible Histories

We're coming up to ETC 4 next month with my 6 yr oldl kindergartner... I've heard bad things about it.

What to eat for breakfast...

I absolutely know how frustrated you're feeling... but... I think everything you describe is all pretty normal for a 6 yr old. And I doubt very much that you'll have the same concerns in a year or two. Keep in mind, in a lot of school systems, a september birthday would have him at kindergarten right now, not a 'rising 2nd grader'. And at 6, letter reversals and playing with cuisenaire rods and short attention spans are absolutely normal. Trying to teach time to a 6 yr old is often just developmentally impossible... So think about what he can do: the fact that he can read and write and work with numbers at all is pretty cool. If he's got an interest in science and history, that's an extra bonus!

I think the only picture books that my 8 yr old really enjoys are non-fiction or comic-book type picture books. Her favorites are silly books like Take me back or Mythlopedia or Open me up. She loves Roald Dahl and I've seen her reading Vile Verses or Revolting Rhymes which have pictures... Otherwise, she occasionally will read a picture book to her sister. - I think "Never Tease a Weasel" was their favorite. In general though, I think many 8 yr olds perceive picture books as being for younger children.