I have heard several people mention this. Could you give some examples of some of these items? (I may mark up my guide!) Thanks!

We do it in the car. We have X amount to get through, and as soon as we are through they get fun music for the rest of the day's car time. If they are SLOOOOOW, then no music, and whatever remains has to be done the next day before starting that day's work.

That is what I call a glowing review! Can't wait til they get here!

What age? I am hoping my 6 & 4 1/2 year olds aren't too young, but I guess we can always save them for few years if necessary!

Ever heard of this? Reviews?

Put in the order - THANKS!

I feel like an idiot admitting this, but I am a new enough Christian to not even know exactly what I should and shouldn't be worried about / offended by. If most mainstream Christians are OK with the teachings, then I am going to with "it's fine for us"!

Has anyone seen these? Reviews? From their website: What’s in the Bible? What’s in the Bible? is a new DVD series from VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer designed to walk kids and families through the entire Bible. The 13 DVD-series will release beginning March 1, 2010. Phil Vischer and Jellyfish Labs In 1990, 24-year-old computer-animator Phil Vischer sat down to create a group of characters that could teach Christian values to kids in a delightfully different way. A tomato named Bob and a cucumber named Larry were born. VeggieTales would go on to revolutionize Christian filmmaking, selling more than 50 million videos and placing Phil’s faith-filled stories in one in every three American households with young children. Phil continues to pursue innovative new ways to integrate faith and storytelling through his new company, Jellyfish Labs. His projects include Jelly Telly, which provides faith-based daily programming via the internet at JellyTelly.com

Why not, since it is just a supplement and not vital, give your son the 1st grade book and let him fly through it? Would probably be good for his confidence as well as reviewing all the basic skills. I have gone round and round the math programs for my K-ers. Here's the current plan. Main: RightStart A Supplements: MEP Reception, Miquon Orange I plan to do RS A & B with them, then move to Math Mammoth. Whatever MEP & Miquon gets done is just a bonus! :)

DITTO! We had SO MUCH handwriting frustration around here, and I bought each kid a Stokke Tripp Trapp and the difference was truly amazing!

Copied from prior posts: We use The Core's "blobbing method". It's a method of learning to draw the world map from memory. They start by learning where to draw the "great circles" (equator, tropic of cancer, arctic, etc.). Practice until too easy. Then they have you add the Prime Meridian (straight line down the middle of the page). Draw a "blob" (oval) with the focus being getting the location right. For ex for Africa: Does it start above or below the Tropic of Cancer? Does it go past the Tropic of Capricorn? Does it extend farther east than Europe? Farther west? does it run into Australia? Does it share space with the Prime Meridian? Etc. Then you practice drawing a general outline of Africa. Etc. Etc. I bought those world map placemats. I then used Sharpies to draw a simplified outline around each continent, and to trace the Arctic Circle, Equator, etc. If you do trace your continents with Sharpies, you may want to draw simplified lines to represent the borders to make it easier for kids to replicate. I tried to limit it to 5 or 6 dots, then connect those dots to make the border. Like Africa is a triangle below the equator, and a rectangle on top with a corner cut off. South America is pictured in this blog if you scroll down. http://memorize-maps.blogspot.com/ I do NOT let them trace, and my kiddos are 5 1/2 & 4. They are able, with practice, to draw very rough (but recognizable) outlines. In fact, they can probably do a better job than most adults in America at this point! The real plus to the placemats is that they look at them while they are waiting for dinner to be served, anytime we talk about "Aunt Helen in Montana", when they overhear us talking about the earthquake in Chile, or when their school friend is going to India for the summer. They LOVED tracking Santa across the world last year using that NORADSANTA.org. They really enjoy finding places that are relevant, and can point out more places on a world map than I can! Be sure you coordinate your colors. In our house, purple is for North America, magenta is for South America, green is for Europe, aqua for the Arctic Circle, red for the Tropic of Cancer, etc. Everybody's map uses the same colors. The huge wall map uses the same colors. Even the globe - I used a Sharpie to outline the continents & trace the major lines. When we draw the maps, we use those color crayons. "Everybody get out your dark orange crayon! Let's look at Africa. Is it north or south of the equator? Is it east or west of the Prime Meridian? What shape is it? YES! A rectangle sitting right on top of the equator, with a corner cut off the top, and a triangle below!" Etc. etc. I guide them through placing the rectangle & the triangle. -------------------------------------------------------------- We do a "hotdog" fold (longways) and a "hamburger fold" (shortways) first. Draw equator & PM. Add Tropic of Can, Trop of Capri, Arctic C & Antartic Circle. You HAVE to have these lines BEFORE adding any continents!!! THEN go to continents. I always start with Africa b/c it is in the middle. If you start with some of the others, and they draw too big, they can't keep going b/c they are out of room! If Africa is oversized, they can still put other continents on the map, they just end up a little skinny! :) If you do Africa FIRST, then Europe, then Asia, you are much better off than if you start on the left side of the map and work your way over, like would naturally be your inclination!

We love Audio Memory's world geography, but don't like the states/capitals one nearly as much. All the songs sound the very similar on the states/capitals one, so it is easy to get them confused. We worked on the states by region in the house until they at least pronounced them properly, then used the states songs (which are by region) on that Audio Memory CD to learn the locations. Again, not my fav CD, but it did work.

This might be the coolest thing I have ever seen! http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

Thanks!!!

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=261470

I bet if you asked a dentist or oral surgeon they could hook you up.

THANK YOU!!!!

Satori commented about how she did summer language camp as a child. I would love to learn more about this. - best age? (obviously I am not thinking for this summer - I am just thinking ahead!) - required level of language proficiency to attend? - are they normal camps doing fun camp stuff like arts and crafts just in a different language? or is it mini-school? - best programs?

Which group is it that is known for having the great hand motions for the CC timeline? I looked on youtube and there are a TON of different ones.

We are planning to use Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. The plan is to NOT use it as intended, but instead to try and work through ONLY the lessons related to anatomy & chemistry. Then the following year, we would start back at the beginning and use it as intended, weaving the different strands together.

I will warn you to be prepared for other parents (your kids' friends' parents) to see this as a slap in the face. That was the big shock for me. The reaction of other parents. They didn't outright say it, but it was like "this school is good enough for my kids, but you don't think it's good enough for yours - you think you are better than us?". Almost as if you are judging them negatively b/c you are making a different decision than they did. I don't think I have IN ANY WAY given off this air, as the main reason we are homeschooling is that my kiddos have some medical issues that would make regular school attendance a problem. And even though I explain up front that that is the reason we are doing it, people jump in and start explaining how great the local school is and how it is challenging their particular child. In a defensive way. (Two of my kids are the ones with some issues, and I am keeping all 3 triplets home just because, why complicate things? But they all think I should send the third and only keep the two at home.) I have made it very clear to everyone that we are making a ONE YEAR commitment, and will re-evaluate at the end of the year to decide what to do for the following year based on 1) how it goes, and 2) how close we are to being done with therapies. I think everyone thinks I will crash and burn b/c they think it is WAAAY harder than I am expecting, but are somewhat relieved that at least I will putting them in "real school" before they get too far behind. Then next year, I have left myself open to put them back in school if necessary, but also I have left myself open to say "look, it worked out and was fun and the kids learned, and now with some experience under our wings we are committing for another year!". My experience is probably impacted by the fact that most of my friends are/were schoolteachers, and they don't think anyone but a trained schoolteacher should be in charge of education. Just wanted to give you a heads up to be prepared for that. You also want to be sure your kids know and are on board BEFORE you start telling people. One of mine found out when a nice lady at church asked her if she would be starting kindergarten at the local elementary school next year, and she turned to me for the answer. That wasn't ideal.

search here on Robinson Curriculum - there are lots of opinions that may help you clarify what it is you are looking for

Shop FAST!!! I have figured out the hard way that longer shorts are available at this time of year, but once school is out for the summer (and therefore no dress codes), the longer shorts are not available anymore! My favorite kid shorts are Gymboree's bermudas.

A lot of my interest in giving my kids a music education is that it has more life-long repercussions in our society. Go to a wedding? You dance, and you can't dance if you have no rhythm/music sense. Off to college? Kids either spend their time on the dancefloor or standing at the bar - I want my kids dancing! Art tends to be more solitary, whereas music is a way to connect with others.

Such a helpful thread - thanks to all who responded!