:iagree: And I always brought a pair of sneakers and clean socks for after the game too. Nothing better then peeling off all that sweaty, stinky gear and putting on some clean socks! In most of my leagues you couldn't play without socks over the shinguards. Ref would check.

I feel the need to declutter, but I have such a hard time doing it. I think I would be one of those hoarders if I didn't control myself so well. A decluttering session for me goes like this: Item 1. I should throw this thing away. But I could do (something) with it, (sometime). Item 2. I haven't used this in... ever... but it was my grandmothers. I can't get rid of it. Item 3. This might fit DD in a couple months. Item 4. I know these are too small for DD, but I can't just get rid of perfectly good clothing. I'll hold on to them until someone needs them. Finally I get frustrated and quit. ugh. And the toys. Oh the toys. :glare:

You know, you are right. I definitely don't have to turn all her interests into further learning. It is just so easy to teach her when she WANTS to know! As opposed to trying to teach her in 10 years when she wants to be out with friends or something.:lol: I guess I'll have to learn that I can't turn everything into a learning opportunity. Just keeping repeating it to myself... :D

I am definitely not complaining about her choice of interests, they are some great things to want to learn. But she does want to do schoolwork, and using her interests is how I'm keeping school fun for her. I should add that we do a lot of reading, which is how we really satisfy our interests. But I do want to create a love of learning!! That is definitely my first job right now. It's just hard when she is asking for more... I don't want to do too much, but I also don't want to do too little. Would it be horrible to say I wish some interests would drop off for a little bit? lol. I'm overwhelmed spelling words all day long, and telling her the meaning of every new word she hears, and telling her how to say all those words in French, AND trying to figure out what to tell her about Mauritius (which is a country off the coast of Madagascar... we learned that after watching the opening of the Miss Universe pagent last night.. I love the national costumes! :D)

Oh come on! Someone let me in on the secret. The curiousity is killing me. (and the cat!!! You know, the one that has her own condo. :lol:)

I actually don't think 7 is too much. I don't think she can actually study 7 languages at once though. But it sounds like she is already proficient in English and Russian, so you could stop considering them "languages" and just do school bilingually. Since she is already studying Spanish, let her get a solid grounding of Spanish is, then add another language in once every year or so. Eventually (hopefully) she'll get to a point in the language where she can drop the official study of it and just read, write, listen, and speak to keep up her knowledge. My DD is 4.5. We speak primarily English. We have been studying French for about 6 months. We *may* be adding in Latin this year. In 2 years, we'll be starting German. If we don't start Latin this year, we'll start around 3rd grade, after having a year of German. Then around 5th-6th grade we'll start Greek. Then in high school, she'll do another modern language, of her choice. That's 6 languages, and this is from an English speaking family, in an English speaking environment. But eventually I'm hoping that we can drop the modern languages as an official study and we will converse in it, read books, watch movies, etc. to keep using our skills.

DD enjoys learning new languages, and now that we've been doing French for awhile now I was thinking of picking up Song School Latin. We spend a lot of time in the car, and this is something that we could do in the car. But then I started thinking... what comes after Song School Latin? I see that a few people do it with their Kindergarteners, are you just doing a year of Latin and then taking a break for a couple years? Or is there an acceptable 1st grade Latin program? If there is a good program for 1st, I'd like to do SSL this year, it seems like an easy introduction and something DD would love. But I don't particularly want to take a break, so if it'll be 3rd grade or so until I can find an acceptable program, I'll wait. Thank you for any thoughts!

DD is 4.5. As such, most of her learning comes in the form of me noticing she is interested in it, and exploring that. I know there are others who do this but... Do you ever find that there isn't enough time to cover everything? DD is interested in languages, so we are doing French this year (and possibly Latin.. but that's another post. :tongue_smilie:). She also loves to learn how to spell words, and since she is currently working on learning to read (also something she started on her own) I am going to do All About Spelling with her. Then she loves to look at the globe and ask about the countries, and then find library books about those countries, so I was going to do Galloping the Globe with her. She also enjoys learning about new words, so I was going to do Wordly Wise (but decided not to because of time constraints!) I guess I could drop the programs and just let the learning be natural, but I really like to capitalize on her interests when she has them. I don't plan on dropping anything else, I feel like I have a good balance for now... but I'm dreading the next time she says "Mommy, can we learn about...." She doesn't seem to stop being interested in something, just keeps picking up new things!!

I think it automatically made so much sense to me because I am still in school and actively using my "pegs". It really does make a huge difference when you are living it instead of just reading/hearing about it. The sad thing is... I know more about world geography than I do about where the states are! I'm more likely to locate a country than a state. :tongue_smilie: (As a side note... we are doing Galloping the Globe this winter also! :D)

Right. Me too!! I spend all kinds of time here, and seem to miss all the good stuff!... that's what I get for going out to lunch with a friend.

I'd remember it as 85-29. I'd just repeat 85-29 to myself a few times. When I needed to recall it, I'd remember that it started with my birth year (85) and that would jog the rest of it.

I guess I'd say it depends on the parents involved. Ideally, I'd hope that the non-custodial parent would offer to chip in with extras that wouldn't be possible otherwise. For example, if the child plays soccer, but also would like to take a musical instrument, and custodial parent can't afford all of both, noncustodial parent should offer to help if they can. But things like school supplies, food, clothes, (the basics!) should come out of the monthly child support. Of course... this is coming from a parent who has sole custody and gets not a dime in child support, so what do I know.

I play hide and seek with my dog all the time. Except I make her go in another room while I hide something (that she has already seen in my hand. Usually her bunny) Then I say "Come find your bunny. Where's your bunny?" and watch as she runs around like crazy to find it. Then she finds it, brings it to me, and leaves again. lol. Silly dog!

Honestly, if we get to the history rotation a second time and DD can remember anything from the grammar stage, I'll be happy. The whole making pegs theory is one that really makes sense for me, even as an adult. It actually is how my brain works. I can learn something new in one of my classes, and automatically recall old information about similar topics, which helps remember the new stuff. It gives a foundation. So, with the geography example. He's learned the continents and some countries (and like someone else said, that is more than some adults!!), but he is also learning that people in other places live differently. So, right now he knows that people in Korea eat rice. But soon he'll learn that rice is grown in the hot climates, and then he'll realize that people in Korea eat rice because that is what they have, which could lead to a discussion about how some people don't get to go to the grocery store and pick out what they want, but have to grow everything on their own. It's a building process. I think what you are doing sounds perfect. You are exposing him to a wide range of topics and giving an introduction, and later he'll have the abilities to explore more in depth.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I picked a 1 bedroom apartment over a 2 bedroom apartment purely because my dog could live there/come visit. :tongue_smilie:

LOL. I can't do Danielle Steele... but I do occasionally read a Harlequin. My grandmother used to give them to me. Along with her Weekly Inquirer's and all those other fake magazines. :lol: This started when I was... 10, 11? hah. I usually read pretty heavy, historical stuff, but sometimes my brain needs something quick and easy.

Well, since your past history can be an indicator of the types of people you hang out with, I think it is relevant. Besides, newspapers often report a victim's occupation/family life/hobbies, etc. Criminal activity could fall under occupation or hobbies, so why not?

I think I've gotten them at Giant before? Oh, and also check your local parks and rec, I KNOW that I've found them there before. hm. Thinking... lol. We use discount coupons to KD a couple times a summer (except this year, when I haven't been at all... :glare:) but they always seem to just pop up!

My DD turns 5 in January and we are doing K this year. Even calling it K! (gasp! :tongue_smilie:) She should be in preschool, will be doing a lot of 1st grade curriculum, so I picked the middle ground. If she ends up needing more time in K, we'll do a second year. Luckily, she's too young to know any different and won't realize that she was "held back". We will just keep moving at her pace.

I've been getting that question a lot recently, since DD is 4.5 and at the age where people expect her to be going to school. Here's how the conversation usually goes: Stranger: Oh how cute! How old are you? (to DD) DD: (turns to me) Me: She's 4. She doesn't really like talking to strangers. Stranger: Oh, that'll change once she's in school. (back to DD) Are you excited about going to school? Me: She's not going to school. We homeschool. Stranger: (with a disapproving look) Oh. Well then. Ugh. Very rarely I get a positive reaction, but I've also had people tell me she won't learn to talk to others without going to school. :glare: Yesterday I was at a family get-together with my bestfriend and her family, and her BIL was asking me about Jenna going to school. So of course, I had to explain. He said: Don't you know homeschoolers turn out to be serial killers? He was completely joking, and I laughed and explained that sadly, I have heard that in all seriousness!

LOL, If they had something like this here, I'd so do it. What we do have is a best friend with a huge backyard and large glass sliding door, so the kids can play outside while the moms can sit right inside the glass and watch. :lol:

Me too!! :lol: I am a serious night owl. Always have been. Luckily for me, DD is similar. She is still up right now actually, playing with her cars. Luckily for her, she seems to adjust better then I do to earlier bedtimes/wake ups when needed. My sleep issue is a mixture of a few different factors. I don't think my body is on a 24 hour clock. For example, if I sleep from 2am-10am, I won't be tired until 3 or 4 the next morning. 8 hours of sleep + up to 20 hours of awake makes it HARD to get on any sort of schedule. If I do get myself up early, I end up exhuasted by dinnertime. Not just a little tired, but can barely keep my eyes open exhausted. If I give in a take a nap, then I don't get to sleep until 5-6 the next morning. If I stay awake I get my second wind which keeps me up until 1-2am. When I do lay down I have a hard time turning my mind off. I think... about everything! What I'm doing the next day, what I did that day, any problems I'm having, what my dog might be doing, different people in my life, etc.etc. My mind just races, for hours at a time. And THEN, when I do manage to fall asleep, I don't EVER sleep through the night. I have nightmares which frequently wake me up (4 times a week or so). I was also in 2 serious accidents a few years back and have hip and back pain which gets worse as the night wears on, and ends up waking me up. I'm a barrelful of fun at night! The only thing that works for me is to take medication. (Xanex helps calm me down, pain meds and cough meds knock me out, ambien helps). However, since I am the only adult here with DD, I will only take something to help sleep when we are visiting my parents or staying with friends. And in less then a week, I need to be up at 5:30 Mon-Fri to get to class... :glare:

I very much prefer winter to summer. I *hate* being hot. With an intense passion. And I feel bad, because DD wants to go out and play and stuff.... and all I want to do is sit inside my nice cool house, or the cool library, or a friend's cool house, or... see the pattern here? :lol:

Even with a typical child, the joy of homeschooling is that you can work around your child and work when it is best for him/her. I can see how having a break every 30 minutes or so would definitely extend your day, but since that is what J needs, that is what he should get!! I have a typical child. Well, I strongly suspect she is at least mildly gifted, but haven't tested. But anyways, we are the same way. Sometimes we can sit and get everything I want done done in an hour or less. Sometimes it takes longer- because DD needs more, wants more, needs breaks, etc. These are young children we are talking about, I love that DD doesn't have to sit for long periods of time unless she decides too. I'm sorry. I don't have much advice. I'm not married, so I really don't know what it is like to share the parenting. But :grouphug:, and I hope you can reach a compromise!!

If you lay out a couple baby dolls, my DD will almost always pick up and play with the black baby. (She is completely white. In fact.. you can almost see through her she is so white. :tongue_smilie:) But her two best friends are both b/w biracial, their stepsisters are black, and even though she definitely notices (She has asked me why some people are so dark), it doesn't seem to register as a method of identifing certain people as a different group. It amuses me to see her playing with the darkest babies she can find. My parents... not so much. :glare: My mom even tried to convince DD NOT to get a Princess and the Frog nightgown and instead to get an Ariel one. Ugh. We had a long discussion after that (my mother and I!).