Dd did her first spelling bee last weekend and finished second even though she was one of the youngest participants. She gleefully skipped to and from the microphone and went back to the wrong seat 4 rounds in a row and had to be redirected by audience members sitting near her. During the trophy presentation she was so focused on trying to open her package of candy she received after she was eliminated that she didn't even realize the moderator was trying to hand her a trophy.

I'm feeling less unusual the more I read this thread.

This pretty much describes my situation also but my full-time work is in the business that dh and I own so my schedule isn't a typical 9-5. Dd has a desk next to mine at the office and we both go to "work" every day.

We try for once a week but life gets in the way a lot. Sometimes we go workout together, to a movie, dinner, running errands or various other things. We talk about business a lot because we run a business together. We also work together all day long so we pretty much talk all the time.

I agree with the others. I am pretty conservative and haven't found anything problematic with SOTW. I have read reviews and wondered if those reviews were from people who actually read the materials. I have run across some people who don't want their children learning about Egyptian or Greek gods at all and that only teach Bible as history. If you were of that mindset then of course you would need to avoid SOTW. Otherwise, I think you'll find it enjoyable. We did a survey of the Old Testament at the same time we were doing SOTW 1 and it worked well together. I didn't discover Biblioplan until later and might use it for the 2nd time through the cycle. We had a great time studying Egyptians, Greek & Roman mythology and it generated some really good theological discussions considering that dd is only 6. We also spent a lot of time discussing why we feel the Bible is different than the myths referenced in our ancient history study. I will also add that like the pp, the curriculum instilled a love for history in my dd. The moment we started reading SOTW history became her favorite subject and she still re-reads the SOTW 1 book on her own during her free time even though we've moved on to book 2.

:iagree: on the science issue. Early on the focus needs to be learning to read and more importantly learning to learn. The WTM is the perfect resource for outlining this process. If you want a stronger science emphasis you can find plenty of information here on the boards when the time comes for that. In the meantime, I would consider adding Latin to your plans. The WTM and other resources are available that make a great case for the benefits of Latin in careers like medicine and law.

Having been in your position I can tell you that the WTM was the most useful resource I found. The outline for K -12 is very helpful but I found with my accelerated learner I have to just move ahead in the recommendations in some areas. For example, we have completed 3 or 4 levels of math over the last 18 months and skipped levels in things like First Language Lessons and Writing with Ease to get to the appropriate level of challenge. At 4 we did Bible lessons, HWOT, math (we started with Horizons but switched to mathusee. For us, mathusee is the perfect curriculum for acceleration), and explode the code. As she progressed with reading we added other things like Song School Latin, FLL, etc. I also bought the what your "x" should know books but found they were a waste of time. I was worried about not covering something but the further we go down the road the less concerned I am about that.

Does he recognize letters already? If so, I would be tempted to skip before the code and go straight to ETC. I found with my darter when she was that age more challenge was better. It still only took ten or fifteen minutes but took more mental energy so when she was done she happily played by herself for a while. Also, you might look at mathusee primer. It's perfect for that age and the blocks can provide lots of opportunity for independent "school time".

Thanks. They were tough. The words started out very simple but I think we were in round 12 before a winner was decided.

Thanks for the tips. Dd came in 2nd and had a lot of fun. I was going to post a picture but can't figure out how to get it off my phone on to the iPad. This was the Just for Fun bee for K thru 3rd because she's not old enough to compete in the Scripps qualifying bee yet. She spelled gadget, fragile & subdued right to get down to the final two but then missed incubator. The winner spelled instinct right and she told me she sure wished that had been her word.:lol:

I loved Macdonald's book, I really want to change so help me God. I read it a few years ago and you just reminded me of it. I think I'll pull it back off the shelf!

I enjoy sermons by Steve Viars and Brad Bigney. Both have websites and podcasts.

I ordered several off of amazon and love them. I think AYL is the brand and they vary in price from $7 to $11. I use them for our iPads and they have a cord that attaches to the headphone jack.

Thanks for all the tips. The bee is Saturday and I didn't know about it (or remember that I knew about it:confused:) until last week so we really don't have prep time. I've focused on reminding her about the format, not to worry about results, enjoy the process because this is fun, etc. She is coming out of her shell a bit lately. Normally she doesn't want to try something unless she's sure she will win but she seem sexcited about trying this out. She told me she didn't need to be in the "little kid" bee that she wants to do the one that allows her to win and go to the national bee. We recently watched the documentary about that so she decided she wants to go straight to the "big" bee. I told her that requires study and hard work and she said, "okay, I'll do the work". Fortunately she's not old enough and I know better. I did think the word lists provided were pretty simple but I also know that I have no perspective on what a normal K-3rd grader can spell easily since dd is an only child and seems to just know how to spell anything I throw her way.

I remember that someone on the board has a child close to my dd's age (she'll be 7 next week) who does spelling bees but I can't remember who it is. I am letting dd try her first "just for fun" bee this weekend and wondered if you had any tips. We're just trying it out on short notice and didn't do much prep work so I've managed her expectations but when I quiz her on the practice lists they provided us she gets about 98 percent right on the first try without practice or study. I told dh I wouldn't be surprised if she gets out on the first word or if she wins...it could go either way:lol:

Ditto. We could have finished the Island series already but we've had lots of interruptions and breaks lately and I was trying to do FLL, WWE, and MCT all at the same time. We just weren't getting to everything so I decided to hold off on Sentence Island and the second half of Practice Island until we finish FLL3 in a few months. Dd really enjoys mct and has read all the books on her own. We were just working through the exercises together.

It is encouraging to read that I'm not the only one with a child who doesn't want to try unless she knows she'll do something well. I am about to start dd in piano lessons which I think will be good for her and we're trying the spelling bee out this week. I read in Condeleeza Rice's book that she wanted to quit piano ten her parents told her she wasn't old enough or good enough to make that decision yet. I thought that was a good perspective.

Thanks!

What apps do you use for learning to read music and lesson planning. Those are two things I've been searching out.

:iagree: too. We recently left a small church we attended for fifteen years. I often taught in the women's ministry and hated when I was instructed on occasion to make it an informal discussion becaus it always ended up with "what does this verse mean to you" which leads to spending the entire time listening to opinions that may or may not have anything to do with what the verse actually means.

Thanks. I will show her this option, she really prefers doing everything mentally but I like to see the steps so I know where the error is if she gets the wrong answer.

What do you mean by short division notations? I tried googling but I'm not sure what you mean by that.

DD's writing has improved over the last few months since we started cursive but on the long division her writing ability was an issue at times. Especially because she would lose her place while daydreaming about tinkerbell in the middle of a problem.:lol: The amount of writing was frustrating her so I started helping with some of the writing and doing some things on the ipad. We alternated problems where she wrote one and then on the next one she did it orally and I wrote in the answers. Also, using Notability in the ipad we could blow the problem up bigger and that helped.

Yep...this is pretty much dd's story too. Another reason why I won't just slow down. Yes, it would be more pleasant for me but I figure it's better to win this battle and teach her she has to do things whether she feels like it or not now while she's 6 than when she's 16.

Interesting that you mentioned this. I have been reading Extraordinary, Ordinary People by Condeleeza Rice about how her parents raised her. I just told dh last night that one of the main things I have taken away so far is that between piano and ice skating she was forced to be disciplined and work hard even though schoolwork came easy. Apparently she was gifted musically but not so great at ice-skating so that took extra hard work. It also kept her very busy which was helpful since she was in school with people several years older than her. I just pulled up information on piano lessons today. Also...I read the responses in the post on the k-8 board and was reminded why I appreciate this accelerated learner board. I know my child and know it is more an issue of laziness than ability so slowing down is not the right answer.