I was a grad student when my kids were little and I had a colleague who needed more control subjects for her study. So both my kids had a full battery of psych tests every six months from age 2-6 at the Yale child study center. So that was kind of neat. I would never have done it otherwise, since I can't imagine what exactly it would tell me that I didn't already know. In all honesty, I think IQ tests are often totally unnecessary.

I think yes, the expectation is that the student should be able to both read and write words that follow the patterns introduced in that level. For instance, by the end of book 1, the students have encountered all of the consonants and short vowels. So they should be able to both read and spell any CVC or VC word... even if they haven't seen it. So they should do fine with 'mad' and 'hat' and 'at'. They'd probably spell all words as if they followed the patterns they know... so I'd expect something like "I luv buks." for "I love books." and that's probably fine. That said, a lot of kids may be stronger with the reading than the writing at first since it's a difference of receptive rather than productive skills... just like listening vs speaking (in the same way that toddlers or second language speakers will often understand more than they can speak.)

We're not doing italics, but I have begun to *love* working on the Spencerian copybook with my daughter. We have matching fountain pens and it's just a fun time. Plus, I can kind of explain how to form the letter since there's not a lot of intstruction.

Learning to read is tricky enough... start grammar when your kids are reading pretty well and no longer need reading instruction. Of course, *talk* about language all the time... but doing a formal program? I'd wait.

Starfall and Reading Eggs are popular. I'd pair those with a bit of written work from the ETC books.

Maybe there is a connoisseur of hot glue guns out there who will correct me, but I've never found any difference between them. I've used all sorts and really... even those 3$ mini glue guns usually work just fine for my purposes.

I was in a PhD program with children in tow. I left ABD with a consolation prize MA. Unless the degree will lead to a definite job in a town you are willing to move to, I wouldn't pursue an academic PhD. The sacrifices were just too much. In my department, at my university, the idea of parenthood was foreign. I was the only one with kids. I remember trying to explain to my professor that I had to go pick up my daughter at daycare at 6 and couldn't do some extra work because it was her 5th birthday that evening. And she told me she's old enough to understand that mommy had more important things to do. Anyway, I missed too many important moments while locked in my ivory tower (though it was a lovely, exciting, challenging tower...) I felt I could be a good mother or a good student, but wasn't able to do both. I might have made the sacrifices on behalf of the family if I thought I would get a good job in the end, but even that was a long shot.

We've done the first two weeks of SWS 2 and SWS 6. So far it's fine. The words seem appropriate I like that each day's work is self-contained in a page. So far, the only complaint I have so far is that the dictionary definitions are often too difficult for a second grader to understand. For instance, my daughter was supposed to match the word "laugh" with "to expel air..." or something absurd like that... when she didn't know what expel meant. Anyway, I'm happy with it overall.

Jesus or Buddha or Moses or Mohammed or St. Francis or Martin Luther (and so on...) are all extremely important historical figures. I think that it would be appropriate as long as the religious figure was presented in a historical biographical sort of way, not in a religious sort of way. Discussion of the annunciation and virgin birth is probably not the right approach, but "Jesus was born around the year 5 BCE in the town of Bethlehem." is totally appropriate.

Check out "Painless Poetry" by Mary Elizabeth. It's a self-teaching kind of book, aimed at middle or high schoolers. I have it on my shelf, but haven't used it. I think it'd be a pretty good choice for something open and go.

Thanks for the review -- we were thinking about Song for a Dark Queen or Outcast or Eagle of the Ninth. I have them ordered from the library and will look them over this week. I do have Augustine came to Kent. I hope my daughter (and her 5th grade pal who is working with us too) can get into it.

I'd go straight to ancients. Geography can nicely be incorporated into your study of history. But if you're only going to be living in South America temporarily, I'd make sure to have a particular focus on history and culture and geography of your region.

That's a tricky one! I usually say go with the birthday, not with the skills... so that would be third grade. But, on the other hand, he was most recently identifying himself as "first grade". So second grade makes sense... especially with a summer birthday. I agree with the previous posters to consider when you want him to graduate. If in doubt, go with second grade. It's easier to 'skip' later on than to hold back.

I've been working on Spencerian for a month or two with my daughter. It's been a fun thing (in an outrageously repetitive sort of way). My daughter thinks it's hilarious to say things like "Sit up straight" and "Take Ink!" Our handwriting is definitely improving... I'm particularly working on keeping the direction of all my letters headed the same way.

I think as long as you've got a direction in mind and your child is learning things that will benefit him in his high school or college or adult life, then it's okay to stray from the WTM or your state's standards or any other plan. I think it's totally valid to study content in whatever order works for you.

I've read the Liping Ma book and don't use the HIG. I have, however, taught math at PS before and feel pretty confident about teaching without a guide. I'm good at introducing the topics and using manipulatives and games to teach a concept before moving on to the textbook.

Thanks! The hat is an old straw hat that we cut the back off. I had my girl use some remnants and pin pleats in and we ran a stitch around with the sewing machine. She had wanted to decorate it more with lace until somebody told her it looked like Little Bo Peep and so I think she'll go without a hat for halloween. We still need some opera gloves (and a pair of shoes!)

We're going with Growing with Grammar, Soaring with Spelling and HWOT for my 2nd grader this year. I would really like a secular version of CLE, but wasn't happy with what was out there.

Hopefully this works! http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/319221_769951274314_317364_37201944_1846988_n.jpg http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/319221_769951279304_317364_37201945_5460658_n.jpg http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/319221_769951289284_317364_37201946_6919714_n.jpg

Hmmm... I'll work on that.

It depends on the type of frosting. If I've made a stabilized whipped cream frosting, I'll frost it pretty deep since it's light. If I'm frosting with a nice buttercream or ganache or something, it'll be about 1/4" deep. If I'm frosting a cake with canned frosting or frosting made from Crisco, I'll frost it paper thin because I hate the flavor.

My 9 year old is a huge Jane Austen fan and wanted me to sew her a regency style dress so she could be Lizzie Bennet for halloween. I just finished it this morning. Sewing is not something I'm particularly good at, so this is quite a triumph. There were both tears and blood involved in the process, but I'm very happy with the results. http://forums.sensibility.com/viewthread.php?tid=24268#pid228143

At the beginning of first grade, the older would have been able to, but the younger would not have. By second grade, both girls could have.

We're Episcopalians and my kids have Godly Play at church. This will be my older daughter's 7th year of it... because I'm the DRE, she's going to be a "junior storyteller" while I'm doorperson this next year. Eventually we plan to use the RE materials from Galore Park. Meanwhile, I've used this: http://www.amazon.com/What-We-Do-Church-Anglican/dp/0819221058/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314802460&sr=1-1 and a bit of this: http://www.amazon.com/World-Religions-Gabriel-Arquilevich/dp/1557346240/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2 Because we don't take a literal approach to understanding the Bible, I think it's especially important that we understand the historical context, so I try to tie the Bible and church history into our history studies. It's sometimes tricky to find materials for kids that address our faith and traditions from a thoughtful and scholarly way without the socially conservative and moralistic evangelism that seems to be common in children's materials from Christian publishers.

Keys to... Definitely! LOF has its place, but for a child who is struggling to understand a concept like fractions or decimals, I'd go with Keys to or MM.