How about creating a target with vocab words or definitions in each section. Then let them shoot with Nerf dart guns! Whichever space they hit, they only get the point if they know the definition, or the word that goes with the def.! =) I might try that myself this year! =) -Melissa

I am going to attempt to bring in classical music to our studies this next year. I've never even learned it myself! Can anyone give me a brief description of some of the main artists we'll look at? Or mention a great resource for this basic info? I know I'll need more in depth info when I get there, but having the basic idea will help me with planning. For example: John Doe: lots of violin, very somber, hard to listen to for long periods; Jane Doe: lots of trumpet, soothing sounds, good for quiet reading times; etc. Thanks! Melissa

@ WishboneDawn: Ha! Funny... =) Though I did ask her. Her usual music in fun, dance around the house kind of stuff. Even she admits that won't help! :lol: @ All: I love all the classical ideas! :iagree: Anybody also have suggestions for classical guitar, cello, etc.? Whether "traditional" classic, or even something with a Latin flair? I'm trying to round out my music tastes:)

I am planning ahead for my dd10 this year. What is the best music for to listen to while doing her lessons? I'm going to put her on headphones so her siblings' noise doesn't distract her from her work. Thanks a million! -Melissa

Wow! Thanks so much for your feedback. =) "Maus" echoed some of my thinking. While my ds's "symptoms" may or may not reflect something, what would that really change? I already work hard to determine the best ways to work with my kids' quirks; medicating would be the last thing on my list, a last resort; and I still would do many basic things the same. I will definitely keep an eye out on those things I've noticed, to see if we can work with them, or if he grows out of them. If it is still concerning I'll talk to his doctor. I guess my major concern was that there might be a reason to take action ASAP. I'm so thankful for this forum. As a parent so often we just need to know we're not the only ones... Blessings! -Melissa

My sister, a 5th grade teacher, was just here for a visit. She noticed that my ds8 would not maintain eye contact with anyone. She brought to my attention as it may mean a behavioral or other development problem. Any thoughts or experience with this? To be concerned, or NOT to be concerned, that is the question. My son is very smart, loves being with boys his age, adores his little sister, and I thought was a normal 8yo boy. But when I started googling the eye contact thing, it was listed with several other "symptoms" that can signify a social/behavioral development problem. Some of the symptoms he also has is: 1. Does not pay attention or stay focused on an activity for as long a time as other children of the same age (which can also be normal for boys) 2. Focuses on unusual objects for long periods of time (Legos); enjoys this more than interacting with others 3. Avoids or rarely makes eye contact with others 4. Gets unusually frustrated when trying to do simple tasks that most children of the same age can do (though it's more when he needs to do something that pulls him away from any of his chosen activities in which he's been focused on for a long period of time.) 5. Shows aggressive behaviors and acting out and appears to be very stubborn compared with other children 6. Displays violent behaviors on a daily basis (though it's more that he shows an impressive temper when bossed by his older sister or something he sees as unfair) 7. Does not seek love and approval from a caregiver or parent (doesn't seem to covet approval from anyone, unless it's in response to him showing us his latest lego creation, etc.)

I've just committed to my first convention down in Modesto later this month. My very FIRST home school convention. Rather excited. They'll have some curriculum stuff of course, but I was thrilled at the number of classes they offer. If I attend every session my head will burst! * can't wait! Any tips on what to do, what out for, or even how to retain all the info? Should I wear comfy shoes LOL! I saw that some classes will be recorded and will be for sale, but that can add up I'm sure. Do they usually have good hand outs or do I need to take really good notes? Melissa

Thanks everyone. I just hate the thought of my kids growing up lonely...I had enough of that myself as a kid at times in ps. And also, I just wish our kids came with a little manual, if not with directions, than at least with clear descriptions of their personalities, learning styles, etc. Would sure make parenting a whole lot easier... What do you think about adding more activities to their days? If I can just find stuff that happens earlier in the afternoon. Most activities don't begin until after 3 or 4 so ps'ers can join. If I fill say 3 or 4 of their weekday afternoons with activity, they won't have the time or the energy for loneliness! =) Not to mention how well I'll sleep at night myself after all that activity! Melissa

We just finished our first year of home school last month. It went pretty well, aside from discovering I need to maintain better control in order to get through our subjects. So we didn't get to do as much fun stuff as I'd like, but it was a good year. The kids made new friends and improved in their academics. However, this summer the kids are hitting us hard to let them go back to public school in the fall. They are dd almost 10 and ds8. Their reasoning is all social. My son loves to be surrounded by boys. Not that he's without friends throughout the week (cub scouts, church, play dates), but he misses the camaraderie of tons of boys at recess, etc. And my daughter hasn't been as fortunate in finding new friends her own age; we simply cannot find them! Even knowing lots of families and being a part of co-op classes once a week, there simply weren't girls her age. So we kept in touch with 4 girls from public school. But that left her the odd man out as those girls talked about all the fun they were having at school. So now she sees public school as the best thing, not home school. Help? Anyone have advice here...:confused:

As a first year home schooler I have hit burnout. 7 more days of official schooling. Can we make it ?! lol... :grouphug: So many of you have been doing this for years. I know you know the little tricks it would take me years to discover. So tell us, we want to know your best kept secrets! What is the secret to recovering from burnout before the next home school year starts?

Thanks all for your suggestions. I'll be looking into them. I am on the yahoo singapore math group and there wasn't much help there. Only 1 or 2 responses. Does anybody know of a cheat sheet for the mental math strategies online anywhere? I've googled it but not having success yet. Thanks again, Melissa

I am using Primary Math for my kids, currently 4A and 3A. I need help teaching the mental math to the kids. It's my first year of teaching at all, and I just winged it through math this year. Now that I have a little experience, I realize I short changed the kids not teaching them the mental math, but I don't really understand it myself. I've looked in the TG's and don't see where it's clearly laid out anywhere. Is there any resource on the net that summarizes the methods? I want to review it, or introduce the ones I missed, over the summer. Help? -Melissa

We also just jumped into home school after a few years of public. My kids started this year in 4th and 2nd grade. For history I chose to start in the 2nd volume. For no real reason than I figured they (and I) had enough of Ancient history through Sunday school, etc. The next volume of history sounded interesting. I like the 4-year cycle idea, and figured since we were starting in the middle it wouldn't matter in what year of history we started. And since history at this point is more introductory, and there are no real tests to worry about, I haven't been really intense about getting them to memorize the info. And as a newbie starting in the middle like I did, I recommend that you take it really easy the first year. Start out with a less intense schedule, including activities, etc., and only increase the workload as it works out. The first year you'll experience a bigger transition than if you were starting from Kindergarten. Both you and the kids are switching mindsets from PS to HS and it really IS a transition. So take it easy, and in your year 2 you can ramp it up. Oh, and I'd recommend for Language Arts that you do NOT choose an all-in-one curriculum for your kids the first year. You are coming from PS where the emphasis on LA is usually more intense than what you will find in all-in-one curr. at grade level. For my kids I went with LLATL and found that some parts were on target with their levels and some were above or below. If I'd known, I'd have chosen separate workbooks, at least for the first year, to allow my kids to start and advance based on their skills. Some of their LA skills have suffered as a result. =P Good luck! -Melissa

@laundrycrisis: I totally know what you mean. But this wouldn't be our first puppy experience and we feel like we're ready for it, mentally at least, LOL! On the social side, we have enough going on with people coming & going, etc. that dogs socialize quickly in our household. But if that guardian program doesn't pan out, we're waiting. I'll get my kids a guinea pig or something to tide them over. The cat can only stand so much attention LOL! @ all - Thanks for the sympathy, gang...I appreciate you! =)

Am I crazy? That's what someone asked me the other day. We're at the end of our first year of home schooling, after pulling our kids from public school. So naturally there's a BIG transition we're having, plus having a toddler around to entertain (aka distract) us. :) But my oldest, my dd9, has been quite persistent over the last year (but longer really) of asking (aka begging) for a pet. We live in suburbs where our house is bigger than our yard (you know what I'm talking about). We already have an outdoor cat, and pet allergies to consider in our household. So I've held off getting another pet. I can barely make it through most weeks as it is. Now we're looking at potentially adding a puppy, a mini labradoodle (keeping my fingers crossed!). It'd be through a guardian program of a local breeder in which they keep one of their new puppies to incorporate into their breeding program; they'll find a "guardian home" for the dog and that family has to bring the dog in as needed. We'd get a free puppy out of the deal and get to be a part of the breeding process. How great for our city-fied family! My husband asked me if I was crazy, which I may agree with later. For now I'm thinking my kids dd9 and ds7 are old enough now to take some responsibility. Especially my dd who has sworn up and down she'd take responsibility, even poop patrol if we just get a dog. I figure since we don't have land to get out and grow or build stuff, this is an easy way to add responsibility for the kids. Still waiting to hear if we're accepted into that program. Otherwise those dogs cost almost $2000 each at about every reputable breeder I've found. *cough.... who has that money lying around these days. Wish me luck! -Melissa:D

Here's an idea. Just today a friend was telling me one mom's plan for maintaining some control over her home. She schools 4 days a week, but Friday's are her Home Day. That's the day she does chores and cooking, etc. and has the kids take part in all of it. Kinda their Home Ec day if you will. If I could figure out how to trim down to 4 days a week I might just implement that for my own sanity :lol: !!

I have only fast from food for a few hours :tongue_smilie: .... however, my husband I decided to do a 40 day media fast a few years ago (might have been for Lent?). It was a great experience. We didn't watch movies, even for our then little ones, we didn't listen to any music, we didn't surf the web, though checking email or computer for work was allowed. We found that while we used to feel we NEEDED the TV to relax in the evenings, we felt just as relaxed with no TV. We had more time for conversation and reading, too. Actually, even now, about 7 years later I'm wanting to do so again. But before school lets out and we don't have as much to do LOL! My kids are getting more and more dependent upon media for entertainment, despite our attempts to minimize it. Food for thought!

I'd say as long as you don't see negative side effects (like canker sores, diarrhea, or something else) then drinking a few glasses a day shouldn't be a bad thing. V-C is great for you and your body gets rid of what you don't need. Enjoy!

I always feel bad when I discover a friend's child can do things my kids can't do but could if I taught them. For example, this weekend we had a little buddy spend the night and she, at 7yo, can already make her own eggs for breakfast! My kids are 9 and almost 8 and are terrified of the gas range LOL! :lol:

With my son who was/is also a reluctant writer, I discovered part of the reason was his fine motor skills weren't quite developed yet. So writing for him was literally hard work. I actually backed off writing much for half the year. Only requiring him to write 2 or 3 sentences at a time on his own, and for larger assignments having him dictate to me what he wanted to write. We would actually put books & papers aside to brainstorm for his writing. Having that stuff out of the way changed the atmosphere, making it less intimidating for him. His imagination would take off! Then I'd get out paper or get on the computer and have him help me remember what we'd come up with and I'd do the writing/typing. It worked great! So now at the end of our year he is less intimidated by writing, is more willing to go at an assignment. Even now he's at the computer emailing a buddy a Lego story the two boys are writing, one piece each at a time. He initiated that on his own a few minutes ago! Good luck! -Melissa

I think I barely made it through. I like the mom's idea of listing out what I learned this year. It's a good reminder of the good and the hard lessons. I taught my dd 4th grade and my ds 2nd grade and wrangled =P my 3yo this year and we've all survived! =) - I learned that I don't know how to manage my time well LOL! - I learned to flex and change all my "great" plans - I've learned it's okay to use different ideas with each child - I've learned that I love scripted plans, but to be flexible with the kid those programs don't work well with - I've learned that I cannot "do it all" - I've learned how to better communicate with my husband to make our marriage, our family and our schooling a success - I've learned to be more creative in our kids' social lives - I've learned to cherish alone time - I've learned it's okay to hide in the bedroom and "have it out" with God when the days aren't going as I hoped - I've learned that I love home school and regardless of it's challenges to keep on swimming! -Melissa

I love this idea! It's quite simple. No need for that duey decimal program at home! Good luck with the library! PS> I'd just add some kind of checkout sheet in an easy spot so you can remember what books you've lent out to your kids / other friends. Otherwise you'll quickly lose track of who has what where. -Melissa

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Thanks Suzanne! bump

Hey, looking at getting CQLA for next year. And maybe becoming a sales rep for it. But I thought I'd find out how many people like it, or even actually know about it LOL! Let me know! Thanks! Melissa:)