I am looking for a new second grade and beyond grammar curriculum for us. What are the options other than R&S and FLL? Thanks!

In reporting, I would also be sure to mention her comment about the social worker just picking him up and bruises being left on his arms. I admit that the whole thing sounds a little weird to me and she should have never spanked after agreeing with DSS not to, but there could easily be something physically wrong with him that is causing the easy bruising. Don't worry about determining guilt, your jog is just to report and let child protective services investigate.

Alicia, I have so much sympathy for where you are, because I have been there myself in a lot of ways. Thankfully, not being assertive enough, with my parents especially, finally made me physically sick in the form of severe anxiety attacks. In talking with a therapist I remember saying "Can't we just keep things the way they are and continue to smooth over the times my dad is rude and intrusive and just not ruffle anyone's feathers? It would be so much easier!" I was half-joking, but I will never forget her looking at me and saying "No, you can't, because it is making you physically sick and that is not fair to your husband or your children." That one statement is the kick in the rear end that I needed to start setting the boundaries I needed to with my parents. I was no longer responsible for making them happy by feeling like they always have to be pleased or even understand my choices. Yes, that blessing is wonderful, but it can't come at the expense of where God has me and what he has called me to do. And I need to let them know when they have crossed the line. It doesn't have to be a knock down, drag out conversation (unless they make it that), but you can lovingly and consistently set boundaries to let them know that certain topics are off the table or whatever. It was an adjustment for everyone, but I can tell you that this past Christmas was the happiest of my adult life because of the results of dealing with these issues. I apologize for being so personal, but my heart really went out to you when I read your post. I pray that you will be a happy homeschooling mom!

I love, love, love Rightstart Math because it does teach the why's.

I actually really, really love everything she has worn today. Classy, feminine, stylish and most of all she looks comfortable wearing them.

Research your family tree Plant a garden Bird feeding and watching Get on facebook Start a blog Scrapbook Quilting or some other kind of sewing, needlework, etc. Work with disabled people or foster children or some other kind of service activity Bee-keeping Make your own jam, jelly or preserves and can it Make your own cheese Go to the symphony Learn to use a gun Dog-sledding Water or Snow Skiing Try out for a role in a play at a small town theater Photography Run a marathon or half-marathon These are a bit random, sorry I just wrote them down as they came to mind based on memories I have or things I would like to do. Maybe they will spark some ideas.

I need ideas of school things to do to engage my 5.5 yr old ds in learning. He loves to play with army men, build with tinkertoys and kinex (sp?) and Legos. I am fortunate that he mostly has always entertained himself with these things, but I would like for him to start showing some curiosity about other things. I will say he enjoys our Rightstart Math lessons pretty well. But, he is good at math and has listened to my 7.5 yr dd's lessons and can do a lot of what she can do already. We have read about animals and looked at videos of them on nationalgeographic.com, but he only finds this slightly interesting. I don't want to give the impression that he is rude about it or anything, but I can just tell that he is biding his time until I am finished with whatever I am showing him. I do know that he does like anything that is humorous quite a bit, probably to a fault, but this might be an area I could use to engage him in some things. He memorizes poems quite easily because he has always liked the way words sound, like when they rhyme or have the same beginning sounds, but he himself is not very verbal. I have to work to find out things from him and he rarely just volunteers lots of information about something (unlike his sister who is a never-ending verbal fountain =) ) I know lots of people like to wait a bit, especially for boys, but I would like to be doing something with him, if only for the interaction. It doesn't have to be sit down and write or read anything. I know he is not ready for that. But if anyone else has had a child like this and has ideas for what we could be learning together, I would really appreciate it! Thanks!!

I find that with Rightstart my children have such a fantastic understanding of mathematical concepts that there are several times a week that problems come up in our everyday life that if given time they can find the answer to on their own. I don't usually give them the answer they are looking for if it is something I know they can work out. We have this little routine where they ask for the answer, and I use the dumbest sounding voice I have and say, "I dunno!" They think it is so funny (not sure if the humor translated into the post), and it encourages them to keep trying to work it out. For example, yesterday my daughter wanted to buy a coat that was more than I was willing to spend. So, she was going to kick in some of her own money to cover the extra. Then she wanted to add in a scarf. She did all of the work in her head to come up with how much of her own money she would have to use with the coat and scarf together minus what I was paying. She is 7 1/2 and on almost the exact same lesson as your son. Also, a couple of times with Rightstart when I could tell she wasn't fully comprehending just because her brain wasn't there yet, we have taken breaks and just done review pages from Singapore. Then in a month we try it again, and she has always been ready to move on at that point. HTH!

I always imagined that we would have 3-4, so it has been hard to accept only having two. We have prayed and prayed about this and feel like it was the right thing to stop and have seen several confirmations of that, but it is still really, really hard. I honestly didn't realize how deeply ingrained my desire for more than 2 was until we decided to stop, and I saw how sad I was about it. I continue to pray that the Lord would take this desire and do something with it. Right now that is concentrating on loving the two we have well and working with abused/neglected children in our area.

We started homeschooling for academic reasons that really stem from our religious beliefs. We believe that it glorifies God when we do things in an excellent way. For us being able to select tailor-made curriculum and having one-on-one instruction is the best it can get! As a former teacher myself, that was so attractive to me. I have found that homeschool curriculums have very little fluff as opposed to lots of curriculums used in public schools especially. Our two areas of concern as far as people misunderstanding us when we decided to homeschool were my parents and my husband's colleagues. He is a physician at a children's hospital with lots of friends who either choose to do above average public schools or private schools. The responses have been things like "I wish I had the nerve to do that," or like someone else said, "Can our kids come to your house?" (they were serious!) No one has really challenged it after he has explained why we do it and our methodology. That was a big surprise to me. My parents were hesitant to give their blessing initially, but it is amazing what an about face they have done after their eyes have been opened to how widespread homeschooling is in our area and how many resources are available to homeschoolers. Now they especially appreciate the fact that they are able to spend more time with the children as a result. The two homeschooling families I know where both spouses work team teach different subjects to their children when they are home. It takes so much less time and your home can become a learning environment where there are few moments that are not learning experiences of some sort. Good luck and make sure you get to know a few other families doing something similar for support. I think you will be really happy you made this decision!

A good math curriculum. It seems like that would be hard to do well via the library or internet. I'm sure you could find it used or borrow from a friend. I just discovered the National Geographic website which contains tons of videos and info about animals, if you decided you wanted that to be part of your studies. Writing paper and pencils for learning to write, read and spell. Really and truly they are all you need anyway. Colored pencils, markers, crayons would be great motivators to illustrate writing. Science and history could easily be done from the library. I am sure there are resources online for beginning a foreign language study as well. Good luck! Necessity is the mother of invention!

I am so sorry you are in this difficult place right now. It seems like you are really trusting and waiting on the Lord to work on your behalf. I want to encourage you as you try to serve and love your husband as he is struggling. And I guess you could say that one way to do that right now is to have the children in ps, since that is his desire. Until some of the other stressful parts of your lives are resolved, I would ask the Lord to provide good teachers and supply what your children need even though they are not in what you see as the ideal situation (hsing) right now. Praying for your family. And just to encourage you, my best friend growing up grew up in a home where her father was bipolar and depressed most of the time. He also struggled to keep a job because of these issues. Yet, she attended ps, was the top graduate of the program she was in in college, and is now married with 3 children living overseas with her husband as missionaries. So through the prayers of many people, especially her grandparents, and the love and support of a church family, she turned out beautifully. There is a lot to be hopeful about in your situation though it may be a very long road. Keep trusting and waiting for the Lord to provide for you. Learn to look through your circumstance and find your joy and contentment in His love and provision for you. I will be praying!

I only have 2 comments to add to what has already been said. My husband is a physician who, while in med school, signed a contract to work in an underserved area of our state in order to receive loan repayment. When he decided against doing primary care in order to do academic medicine (working in a teaching hospital, doing a lot of research and some patient care) that contract was voided. Now in academic medicine, he has benefitted from loan repayment programs for physicians doing research in academic medicine. Also, from what I have observed of women in medicine through the years . . . med school and residency are very tough, because that is also the time that many women are ready to start their families. But, a few years down the road, now that many of them are practicing, they can work for 2 days a week doing what they love and be compensated really well. We even have a friend who is a part-time physician and part-time homeschooling mom. I would say if she understands ahead of time how hard it will be when she is in school/residency and many of her friends are starting families and can think about how she will handle that it would be really beneficial. It seemed to catch many of our friends by surprise, and they were very torn and unhappy at that time in their lives. Good luck to you both!

Thank you for the input. The difficulty is that this program has been so good for our family in several ways. If it wasn't a good program that we didn't see definite benefits of, it would be a no-brainer - take them out. I guess we will reevaluate at 6th grade, and maybe, like someone said, their friends will be more diverse at that point than just at school/church like they are now. Thanks for your thoughts!!

I am hoping to get some advice on how to sort something out in my own mind. My dd7 and ds5 attend a 2-day a week school for homeschoolers which we love. It has been a good thing for us all around- socially, academically and as a break for me. The problem is that in 6th-8th grade this program is still 2-days a week, but all of their classes are taken at the school. They are given assignments for the rest of the week that from what I hear take up most of the day on MWF at home. A lot of people really love the program, but right now I am thinking I will still be wanting to do some of the teaching and making curriculum choices at that point. I am just thinking about how hard it is going to be to pull the kids out of the program at that point because of friends and other relationships they have made there. By our involvement there now, are we setting ourselves up to feel compelled to participate in middle school? Of course, no one will be making us feel compelled, it will just be us not wanting to pull the kids out of an environment that has been really good for them and they have really enjoyed. Any thoughts? Thanks so much!

I like the idea of an assignment sheet and now that my dd is 7.5 I think she could handle it. But my question has always been with the child working through the assignments independently, when do you teach the skills? At the beginning of each day? each week? or as they come to you for help? What if they need help to go on and you are working with another child? Thanks for helping me understand how this works. I can see how this would make us much more productive. Like someone said, we wouldn't be able to quit when I get tired!

I don't remember all that my signature SAYS we do, but here is what we really do: Science, History, Spanish, Creative Writing, Art - 2 day a week coop Math - Rightstart B, Singapore 2A for extra practice A Reason for Handwriting Transition (starting cursive after Christmas) Rod and Staff Grade 2 I have chosen different books for her to read independently. I think after Christmas we are going to use some of the book guides that Veritas has. Lots of read alouds I wish we had time for more nature study and to do more science in addition to the coop.

Thanks so much ladies! Great ideas! We are going to have fun trying out recipes!

We also watched Nativity Story last night and were so glad we did. I have to say Christmas with the Krank's was a disappointment. It was pretty silly we thought. The kids have been crazy about The Grinch and Charlie Brown Christmas this year.

We always have a New Year's Day party where we have lunch for a large group of adults and children. This year we are doing 3-4 different types of soups. Does anyone have any suggestions of kinds of soup that they have served that lots of people like. My husband and I are pretty adventurous eaters, so sometimes what we like is not necessarily something a lot of people are crazy about. Don't worry abt taking the time to include recipes, unless you think it is a recipe I can't find anywhere. I just need some ideas of crowd pleasers. I guess I will serve it from the stove with the heat on low to keep it warm? Not exactly sure the best way to do it. Thanks for the advice!

No advice, but I am glad you asked because this is a change I want to make after our Christmas break.

I love it that we have so much time together as a family and our life doesn't revolve around a school schedule. I pray that my daughter and son will have a closer relationship with one another because of the time they have spent together, rather than in school. For a child that is working above or below grade level, a group setting has less to offer them than individualized instruction. We have time to pursue other interests in depth. Having been a public and private school teacher, I believe that in general the curriculums chosen by homeschoolers are superior to most curriculums used in the classroom. I don't always do a good job of it, but we have more opportunity to impart our values to our children as opposed to public school values, which leave out God, and private school values, which in my opinion, often encourage elitism. I will add that my parents had strong reservations about homeschooling, but having seen our results and the neat things we are able to do (including spend more time with them) they are very supportive now. My dad has a very strong personality, so I learned a long time ago, to not try to convince him of anything by talking to him about it, but to just let my confidence and the results of what I am doing speak for themselves. And in the end, we have to make the decision that is best for our family whether he understands or not. I don't know if that speaks to your situation or not, but I thought it might help if it did. Best wishes! I will just add that

For Christmas we just listened to The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever. One of our other favorites is Mary Pope Osborne's retelling of the Odyssey.

My dd is 7 and some things she would like would be any kind of craft kit, new doll clothes or furniture, art supplies, books, soundtrack CD of a favorite movie, like Annie. I think this is kind of a tricky age to buy gifts for girls. It seemed easier a few years ago. They are kind of in a weird in-between stage.

Several years ago I bought a CD called One Hundred Sheep which on each song incorporates skip counting of 2's-9's. My kids haven't learned multiplication tables yet, but they know these songs pretty well, so I am hoping that will help them when the time comes.