We've done it twice! Once from CA to CT with 1 & 3 yr olds and once from CT to OR with 5 & 7 yr olds! Both moves were excellent. The first move, we decided that we did not own enough to warrant properly moving. So we sold everything we had that couldn't fit into our mini van (or be shipped media mail through the post). We put the kids in the sedan and we drove! On the move back, we had more stuff (and more money). We sent everything via PODS. Get a quote from them, compare with ABF and then go back to them and ask if you can get a better rate. We hired 2 moving guys (best 70$ ever) and they were able to pack the POD efficiently. We had a wonderful road trip on the way back! We spent a few weeks and saw some very interesting sights.

I would retrain all teachers in a Montessori philosophy. I think that it's really the way to go. It's child appropriate, seriously academic, down to earth... I would also look to other countries with a successful educational system and adapt it for the U.S.

If you're okay with using online sources, try out: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm . My daughter goes through the 'tutorial', reading about each country or geographic feature and then tries a quiz. It's not a full program or anything, but it's free and easy and kids can work on it independently.

I totally enjoy looking at the textbooks of previous generations because they can be cool and sometimes nutty and offer insight into the culture of the time, but I wouldn't really consider using a dated textbook with my kids. Of course, primary sources are different... but I'm talking especially about secondary source textbooks and basal readers (i.e., "McGuffey Readers" or "Child's history of the world" or "Our Island Story"...). For those who happily use older textbooks, I'm really curious why and how you use them. Is it nostalgia -- books you knew as a child? Do you have a sense that previous generations had better curriculum than our current generation? Is it a mistrust of modern (presumably more progressive) textbook writers? When you use these textbooks, do you find you often have to reconcile ideas of xenophobia or race or gender that are different from your own? Do you use older curriculum in all subjects (incl. math and science) or just reading or history? Also... do you know of any penmanship textbooks? (I'd love to see how my 96 yr old grandmother learned her amazing script!)

I think an enjoyable, accessible introduction for a non-linguist would be something like "The Language Instinct" by Steven Pinker (ch. 4 particularly) because it's an interesting and useful read regardless of whether you explicitly teach syntax or not. Otherwise, check out a beginning linguistics textbook in a library. It's a topic that can get heavy quick, so be forewarned!

The key to learning about syntax is knowing when to stop... The goal of syntacticians since Chomsky in the 1960's has been to figure out a framework of grammar in which all grammars of all languages can be predicted... but that's not what you need! And you certainly don't need the details of the minimalist program or lexical-functional grammar or any of that. You just need the kind of basic generative syntax that you'd learn in the first two days of a freshman intro linguistics class. You only need to help your child understand the idea of parts of speech and phrases and how they fit together. You can do it in Dutch and then in English and then in Latin or whatever languages your kids might be working on. Diagramming sentences would work too, but I think syntax trees are more modern and useful. And learning a bit of real linguistics may make them one day want to become linguists!

Check out Homeschool your child for free: -- http://www.amazon.com/Homeschool-Your-Child-Free-Effective/dp/0307451631/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258650033&sr=1-1 I sat at Borders for an hour and copied down some useful resources, but it's probably worth the 13$.

It's been a long time since I've used Warriners. But I'm pretty sure that Course 1 is 7th Grade... Course 5 is 11th.

It's about the journey (including the destination)! We've done road trips with the kids cross-country twice (CA to CT and CT to OR on moves) and up and down both coasts a number of times. We've also done some trips to a location (London or Poland) and then explored from there. I love travel... these days I like to have a hotel planned and ideas of what to do, but I'm very flexible to change if something else looks better. We like hostels too! It's wonderful to meet people that way... And camping, of course! And I love fancy hotels and charming bed and breakfasts too... Man, I could travel all the time.

When our girls start their periods, I imagine we'll probably go with pads for a cycle or two and then OB tampons... The cup is fantastic for me, but requires an ability to insert it properly that may not be there for a 12 yr old (neither anatomically nor mentally ready). Out of curiosity, has anyone had a young teen who could use a menstrual cup?

I used to be a linguist and I've had the username of lingmom on a board or two... now I'm not working in linguistics. But I am quite short... so I just switched it up to be a little mom --- a momling.

Thank you all for your responses! I'm the original poster and am so impressed by the collective knowledge that this group has. You've given me new ideas and helped me re-evaluate what I thought I wanted. I've come to realize that my daughter has a lifetime to learn from the more substantial textbooks and that at 7 1/2, she doesn't need the depth that a middle school book has. We've decided to go with the British 'Jr. History' series that Laura suggested (which, incidentally, are available on Amazon without international shipping costs). It looks like a lively and appropriate book for her. She was tickled by the text and pictures and is excited because we're planning a trip to the UK in the spring. She can't wait to do book 3 (on British history). I'll let you know how it goes!

The previous posters are wise! I'd just add that being "average" or above or below that mythical averageness is irrelevant in a homeschool setting. Grade level is surprisingly arbitrary... and not some universal constant. Different places and different times have different ideas of "average". Your son isn't remedial or gifted or average because you don't need to compare him to anyone, rather you just need to meet him where he is on his journey through knowledge and take him from there.

We love Fred here too (though only on fractions), but I always kind of get the impression the author is an older guy who likes to ramble on about things and perhaps needs a better editor to compensate for it.

I think, especially if you're working in multiple languages, that it makes more sense to teach your children how to do a very simple syntax tree like linguists do than to teach how to diagram English sentences. I think syntax trees are much more intuitive and show relationships between words and phrases and can be applied to other languages. Plus, they can show movement (like why we use 'do' or how questions are formed) and explain/predict ungrammatical sentences. I'd consider picking up an introduction to linguistics type of book and taking a look at the syntax section... A simple tree would look like this (where S=sentence, NP=Noun Phrase, D=determiner, VP=Verb phrase, V=Verb)

There are lots of great threads on this forum about history curriculum, but I'm still at a loss to find something that fits for us. After the rave reviews of SOTW, I flipped through it at the bookstore and was a bit disappointed. What I'm looking for is a book or series that: -is substantial and doesn't talk down to children. -is visually appealing (font/layout/pictures) -is secular (though thoughtfully discusses world religions) -includes both western and non-western history (not just a token chapter) -includes excerpts from primary sources -includes questions or activities or extra materials besides just the text. Any reading level is probably fine... It's for a weirdly mature 7 yr old who reads everything and loves history. Any thoughts? Thanks!

I explain that the schwa is the sound that you would make if you were punched in the stomach. It is also the sound American English speakers use as fillers (like uhh...) and on many unaccented syllables (like the first and third syllable of 'banana' or unaccented 'a' as in 'a cat' or 'the' as in 'the cat').

We bought a used digital piano (weighted keys, etc...) for $400. The feature I love the most is that it you can plug in headphones to it. It's in the living room, but I can practice when the kids are watching TV. And.. they can play the same repetitive song over and over with headphones on and I don't have to listen to it.

How about a box set of the Ramona Quimby books by Beverly Clearly? My daughter loved those at 6.

My 7 yr old is always asking to stay in the car and read her book when I have to run to the bank or supermarket or whatever. And I'm tempted to let her... And I know she'd be fine... She's capable of getting out if necessary. We live in a safe area. She could come find me. But I always say no - because I imagine the throngs of people and police cars that could await me as I go back out to the car. That said, I wouldn't freak out if I saw a happy looking school-aged child hanging out in a car in a not-dangerous situation. A baby or toddler is a different situation.

We have the complete DVD and love them! Like the previous poster said... Some songs are better than others, but all are catchy.

We love A Child's Introduction to Poetry because, along with some very good poems, it also gives some vocabulary and background to talk about poetry. It's also very playful... http://www.amazon.com/Childs-Introduction-Poetry-Mountains-Battles/dp/1579122825/ref=pd_sim_b_1

We only had an afternoon in Savannah, on a road trip last year... but, I highly recommend taking a bus tour of the town to get a feel for it and learn a bit of history. Our tour guide was hilarious! There were several hop-on-hop-off bus tours to choose from.

This is a very noble and achievable goal -- I totally disagree that it is unhealthy! It is just an issue of shopping more carefully than you might usually shop. Check out the "Tightwad Gazette" from the library and you'll get a billion great ideas.

It sounds like the silent reading will come soon for your daughter... I'd guess another few months and she'll be reading silently. As for the missing words, there are certainly exercises you can do (and I'm guessing your phonics book will be a help), though ultimately, it may just be a developmental thing that will come with time and practice. In order to really focus on those little words, you could, for instance, take a sentence from her fairy book and mix up the words and see if she can put it in order. Or you could have her count the number of times the word 'she' (or whatever) comes up in a paragraph. Or you could read the book together -- you reading all words except those that she forgets -- which she can read. Or you could photocopy a page and white out all the little words, and have her put them back into the text. As for punctuation, you could ask her to stop and take a breath after every sentence. Or read a short paragraph to her and ask her to read it again to you with the same intonation and pauses.