I think it's an awesome idea! I want someone to get that for me for Christmas :001_smile:

I'm not a single mom, but I know a lot of single parents that are in the same boat as you. Looking at your schedule, it seems fine. And like the previous poster said, as long as she's happy and you're happy, then don't worry. Is there something in particular that makes you concerned that you're pushing her too hard or is it just that your schedule is so full?

I got TOTALLY made fun of at my serious literature and non-fiction reading book club when I shared that I read the whole Twilight saga when I was laid up with a dislocated knee last year. About 10 years ago, I was completely devoted to Dawson's Creek and The Real World. Now it's the whole ABC Wednesday line up (i.e. Modern Family, Cougar Town, The Middle) and my new addictions are The Event and Detroit 187---which my book club also teased me about.:D

I think that $60 per month sounds very reasonable as long as the class size is small (i.e. 10 students or less). That's about how much art lessons run in our area too.

You are not crazy. I think it seems like a bit excessive for a first grader, if the expectation is that they would do it on their own. Of course an assignment like this is going to require some forethought (AKA an outline) on how to incorporate the spelling words if the story is to make sense at all! My daughter is in K, but a year from now I don't see her being able to complete an assignment like that without a LOT of assistance and guidance from me. And I'm sure some tears would happen here too. I guess in the end (and this is why I quoted this portion of your post) the teacher did say she would review it with your daughter if she didn't produce what she expected. It's hard as parents to just let them go and do their work on their own (I am the #1 offender in this area). Hopefully, her teacher will make it clear next time how much parent involvement she expects.

:iagree: Go bronze if you're have a historic home or are going for a more traditional look. Go nickel if you lean more modern.

I've found Melisa Nielsen's website and Yahoo group (homeschooling Waldorf) very helpful in understanding the Waldorf/Steiner philosophy. Plus, if you want any of her products, they are very reasonably priced. http://www.waldorfjourney.typepad.com/

Your post cracked me up. When I was a kid, my mom would "make Rotel" for parties, i.e. melted Velveeta mixed with a can of Rotel in a fondue pot served with tortilla chips.

Some may think this is harsh, but we took the tough love approach with my daughter. We were in essentially the same boat as you, and one night we just let her cry it out. I went in there once, patted her and put her back down in the crib and didn't go back in. Yes, it was a nightmare that night because I felt awful not getting her (the crying went on for a very long time before she settled down), but after that night she slept through the night. :grouphug: Hang in there...

:iagree: We use just OPGTR here. It's simple to use and effective. And there are definitely no frills there. That being said, my daughter loves the games in the book that come along every 10 lessons or so. We're at around lesson 105 (out of 231, I think) and she's reading at around a 1st grade level. I'm happy with her progress so far and the phonics based approach vs. whole language/sight words that they are teaching in her kindergarten class.

I know you said cool and low humidity, but my husband and I are going on our first big trip without kids the week before Thanksgiving so I had to share my trip excitement. We ended up choosing Hollywood, Florida. My husband wanted access to watersports, but without the craziness of being in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. We got a non-stop flight on Spirit Air to Fort Lauderdale (20 minute drive to Hollywood) and 5 nights at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa for $698! The rooms at the Westin normally start at $175 a night so we got a rockin' good deal. No matter what you do, I recommend checking out the rates on Hotwire.com and then using Betterbidding.com to figure out which hotel it is. I still need to get back on Hotwire to get a rental car. Have fun on your trip no matter what you choose! P.S. How about Cape Cod, Newport, R.I., or Bar Harbor, ME? All beautiful spots!

I hear you. We attend a very small church (attendance is less than 70 each week) and in our case both my husband and I got burned out. We were the "young people" so we were expected to do all the work. That got very old after several years of being officers in the congregation and chairing committees so we're both currently on a break. He has no leadership role in the congregation and I teach Sunday School on a rotating basis once every five weeks. The children's program is very small too (less than 10 kids in Sunday School each week), but my daughter has two friends there so she wants to go to church. We didn't go this week because we were doing "potty training camp" with my son, but I understand about just feeling blah about it. We did the "church shopping" thing a couple years ago and really every church has its own set of issues. Maybe some prayer and reflection about your situation and feelings would help? In fact, I need to do some of that myself. Thanks for the reminder.

Hey there- I just wanted to post a follow up to my response on this thread. So today we have been trying the "no more diapers" approach. He's spent half the time in underwear and half the time bare bottomed (his choice). We reminded him every 15-30 minutes to try to use the potty and if he sat on it for a minute we gave him an M&M. From 830AM until 1PM he had 4 accidents (luckily all on hard surfaces or in the underwear) and he peed on the potty once (high fives all around, although I'm pretty sure it was just by chance that we caught the pee). He's taking a nap right now in a Pull Up. I have a feeling this is going to be a very very long road. I'm glad I'm not in it alone. By the way---I forgot to mention before that maybe you just need to find his motivation. I still haven't found what makes my son really excited to use the potty (although the chocolate seems to be a minor hit). My friend's son got a Thomas train every time he pooped on the potty---I'm sure that got expensive after a while. My daughter was very motivated by Gwen Stefani music videos on You Tube ("The Sweet Escape" was her favorite song at age 2) :lol:

That is so awesome! I was thinking of all the runners yesterday when we were on a Model T tour that drove through Indian Village and we saw all the no parking signs posted. Good for you and your sister! I have no personal desire to run a marathon, but I admire all who undertake the challenge. :001_smile:

Time to read the whole Twilight saga! That's what I did when I dislocated my knee last year and was laid up on the sofa for a week before I started hobbling around with a cane. I still get teased about it. :lol:

Thank you so much for your post! Now I know I'm not alone---phew.:tongue_smilie: My 3 year old son is really not into it either. After having my daughter be completely trained (night and everything) by 2 1/2, it was a rude awakening when he flat out told me NO. We're baby stepping and I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be done before he turns 4. Hang in there. I'm right there with you. :001_smile:

I've used a timer before and it actually worked out pretty good. I just told her "If you can focus, I'll set the timer for 15 minutes. When it dings, we're done. No matter where we're at, we're done." I think she liked knowing that if she plowed through and did it, I would keep my word and we'd be done at the ding.

That's great! You must be so proud that the teacher has such faith in his abilities.

:iagree:

It might help to ease into it. Why not back off and start with only doing her school homework and then doing one of your planned lessons and see how it goes? I was trying to do it all (reading, writing, math, read alouds) with my K age daughter and it was just too much. We have hit our stride by right now doing whatever homework she gets from school and then a 10-15 minute reading lesson. She is MUCH more willing to do the reading lesson now than before. We also do read alouds too, but that is more tied into our bedtime routine. My plan is that once we get that going for a month or two to add doing some short math sessions a couple of times a week. Do you have any time before school? She might be more willing to do it then while she's still fresh.

I don't think that it matters whether your kids are homeschooled or public/private schooled, they are all going to have some gaps somewhere. At least at home, you are aware of the gaps --- hopefully ;)

Sending positive thoughts your way. Just out of curiosity, what has him so excited and motivated about the program?

I'm in the same boat here as you. Those are the kind of reading books my kid is getting at school too. My 5 year old is in K at PS as well after I was planning on homeschooling her (we decided to send her to school at he last moment because she desperately wanted to go with her friends). I've decided to just view school as her time to play with her friends, and I'm working on the stuff I was going to do with her anyway for K at home. She only has 1/2 day K so that's within the realm of reason so I don't have to worry about burning her out. All we're doing at home right now is OPGTR (we're at around lesson 100) and reading aloud. I dropped writing and math because based on the practice work her teacher is sending home I decided she's getting enough there right now. We're going to revisit whether or not to send her to PS for first after this year is over.

I think she did most of this in school too (with the exception of the questions about herself and the shoe box) and they had sent duplicates home for more practice.

I was surprised how much homework she has had so far for kindergarten. So far she's had --- -A sheet to copy the numbers 1-100 -Sight word cards to practice - A sheet with a bunch of questions to fill in about herself - Decorate a shoebox to put her favorite book in - Practice sheets for capital E and capital F - A weekly poem that she must recite Granted, she's in Montessori K so maybe they're pushing her a little harder because she went to school already knowing how to read and write?