>*every single Magic Schoolbus science kit (and lots of supplementary picture books) for a "science sampler" How did this work out? I am looking for a low-key but reasonably organized science curriculum for my K'er next year.

I've gotten such great suggestions from this board -- could anyone possibly recommend a good secular science curriculum for kindergarten? I'm looking for something low-key but relatively structured, feasible to do with my 5yo for a short while 2-3 times a week with a toddler underfoot and a newborn hanging off of me. Also, we live in a no-pets apartment on the 16th floor in the middle of the concrete jungle, so all of those charming science activity books that begin, "Go dig up worms in your backyard" tend not to be so great for us. Thanks so much!

My older son trained shortly before he turned three -- and about two weeks after his younger brother was born. Once he saw the baby wearing diapers he was ready to be done. At 5yo, though, he is still not night trained. He stays dry because we take him to the bathroom while asleep in the middle of the night, but he never, ever wakes up on his own. My younger son, now 2.5, trained immediately after he turned two. I did almost nothing; it was all about wanting to be like his big brother. He also stays dry at night and regularly wakes up when he has to go. (I keep him in pullups, though, because his older brother has to wear them and I just can't open that can of worms.) FWIW, I know lots of folks have great success with the run-around-pantless thing, but it completely freaked my older son out. He did MUCH better with the security of pullups. #2, OTOH, was happy as a clam to run around sans pants.

I'm so sorry to hear about your stress, and I am hoping beyond hope that your results are good. FWIW, I would be completely horrified if a medical professional started talking about religion.

Wow -- this looks fantastic. Thanks so much for the suggestion.

I'm in the market for a timeline of human history to begin using with my almost-5-year-old. We're not doing any sort of formal history curriculum, but he's constantly checking various history books out of the library and I'd like to give him a way to mentally organize his ramblings. We live in an apartment with sharply limited wall space, so I'm thinking that a sturdy notebook setup is the way to go. We're Jewish, so I would greatly prefer either something secular (although I can't find much on that count) or at least something that can be easily modified that way. At the moment, I'm leaning towards the Sonlight timeline. I like the fact that the years are more spaced out as time goes on, and it seems that I could readily use it from a non-Christian perspective. But I would love some feedback from anyone who uses it and would of course very much appreciate any other suggestions. I'm also willing to entertain the possibility of making something myself, but I am not so crafty, and I really want something that will hold up for a while. Thanks in advance for any help!