I don't think you have too much scheduled, you just have large blocks of time scheduled for each thing. Once YOU get your routine down and get to know the curriculum, I think you'll be surprised how fast the time will fly. Please don't make either of your littles do an hour of math unless you are planning LOTS of games and projects. :)

It is NOT just fair skinned people! My sister has gorgeous dark skin and at the age of 27 had two very scary pre-cancerous things removed from her arm, with two layers of stitches. I am fair skinned and I just try to stay out of the sun as much as possible. My girls get sunscreened up and wear protective clothing.

My twins are 10 year old girls, too! Sometimes I feel abnormal but most times I feel lucky. No sibling rivalry, schooling at similar levels, lots of benefits. But, boy, once an age or stage is over, it's OVER. That makes me want more kids. Sometimes.

Glad to hear he is ok! My dd had a swollen neck lymph node and the doctor said it could have been from anything- a bite, illness, even a cut. It's always hard to tell when to put them on preventative antibiotics. Tough call.

I don't see Latin. :confused:

I would look at the school websites and see what the expectations are. Check the common core as well. For instance, did you know that as part of the common core, 5th graders are supposed to be able to type two pages in one sitting?!?! That was shocking to me. You should be able to email the 3rd grade teachers at the school and ask for expectations for the beginning of the year. Or, email the 2nd grade teachers and ask how you can best prepare your child for third grade at their school. If you are respectful, they should be helpful. I think the biggest difference, depending on how you homeschool, is that public schools usually require a LOT more writing. It's crappy writing, but the quantity requirement is high. So, I'd grab a 6+1 Traits book (what many districts use) and take your kids through it. At least they'll be familiar with the language. Make sure they know how to use a binder. (Silly, but essential.) I wouldn't worry too much about your 6th grader in other areas if she is going to a middle school with kids from different elementary feeders. They will have to train all the kids anyhow. Unless, however, you want her in an advanced class. She won't have a recommendation from her 5th grade teacher, so you want to find out the requirements now. That's all I can think of! Good luck!

We are going for the second time. I would look into staying at the Powhatan (sp?) because they are timeshare condos with a second bedroom for the kids. We stayed for $50 a night or something ridiculous like that last year. We sat through a time share presentation so we could stay for free this year (but I wouldn't recommend doing that). They have nice pools and activities, too. Are you not doing Williamsburg? That is my girls' favorite. We are signed up for programs at all three places this year. We didn't do any programs last year because we wanted to walk around and do our own thing since we hadn't been before. You can pack your own food if you want. Jamestown has a cafeteria. There is a great cheese shop right outside of Williamsburg but it's a but pricey. They have sandwiches and stuff. Great Wolf Lodge has a homeschool discount during that time as well, but we don't stay there. I think it's still pricey and we aren't there to do the waterpark, we are there to do Williamsburg.

We moved into a house half the size of our previous one. I clearly marked each box and wrote STORAGE on the ones we were just sticking in the basement. That helped tremendously because there wouldn't have been a "staging" area to make decisions once we got here. I sold things to friends and on Craigslist, including two couches and a king bed. Things went fast. Also, I thought I knew what we would need and I still ended up boxing up and putting even more stuff away when we got here.

I taught for six years, four of which were in an international baccalaureate school. I've kept the values of the IB program but our core materials are more direct instruction because it just works better for my kids. But IB is definitely still the way we live- constructivist, rigorous, and definitely an international emphasis. Having an IB foundation from K-2 taught my girls that I am not the dispenser of knowledge and that there are always different perspectives on issues. Anyhow. I am less and less schooly each year and I just keep thinking I'm going to be SUCH a better ps teacher when I'm done homeschooling! ;)

Awesome. We will definitely see the archives. We've only been to DC once and we've lived in Charlottesville for a year! I just get nervous about the drive and parking, I suppose. I need to just do it and go more often.

Yes. My daughter's severe speech delay has closely mirrored her spelling and writing abilities, even with intense help in all areas. Definitely get her into speech, even if you just go for an evaluation, get materials, and work at home. If its truly just expressive language, there is a lot you can do at home. My general advice would be to back off of writing for a while and do everything orally. We use WWE and, up until this year, that was pretty much the only writing we did. It worked beautifully and gave her practice with structure at a higher level than her reading or spelling. Now that her language is catching up, her writing is following. Good luck. Feel free to pm me. We've been in speech....always. My dd turns 10 next week.

My dh just finished reading all 4 books to my girls, who will be 10 next week. They are now rereading all of them on their own. I have one VERY sensitive child and she would get really nervous/exciting when he read the first book, but now she can't get enough!! They have loved these books. The movie is very harmless, FYI.

This is great! Thanks!

We live in Virginia and I'm thinking ahead to some of the field trips we can take this year that will correlate with our history studies. Here's what I have so far: Philadelphia Mount Vernon Eli Whitney Museum Boston (hopefully) And we're already doing Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown and we basically live at Monticello. :) What are some other ideas? Anyone? Thanks!

:iagree:

Would I be nuts to take my kids to Philadelphia the first weekend in December to do all the historical things? Will it be too cold? Would we be outside/walking a lot? It would fit best with our curriculum that weekend. :tongue_smilie:

My husband scared one of my dd's friends, but she was being really mean to my other dd and totally deserved it. He basically told her we don't do that in this house, but she was obviously not used to being corrected. She didn't come back over for a long time and that was just fine with me! I would hope other parents would correct my child if they were being rude or mean!

I agree with others. Change his number. Demand that guy be removed from working with youth. Contact the other parents. I don't know if I would be calling the police just yet(even though I'd want to!), but I would definitely tell the pastor that that is next on your list!!

I don't know if they've changed, but there is no way my dd could spread them out in a binder and write on them without ripping them right down the fold. I want them to go on the wall. I bought the stickers to go it. If I write on it, it will be with a Sharpie.

Oh my gosh! What poor quality. They are being laminated right now, for an extra $24! I will have spent about $60 bucks for something I should have just made. The guy at my local copy place was really concerned about putting them through the laminator, but he is going to slowly do it when the laminator is good and hot. I should have just sent them back to Rainbow Resource. Sigh. Live and learn. These better last FOREVER. Ugh!

I think that sounds perfect!

I'm just about to get it up and running again for this year. I'll do better!

Ooh. I didn't even know you could do this. Do you use Yahoo? Google?

I'm thinking it would be good for their typing skills, but I'm a little nervous about it getting out of hand. How do you monitor it?

Nope, they are included!