Well, it sounds like you're making a well informed decision. That in itself will save you lots of money. I think you made a wise move. I think I can identify with you just a bit, although my pre-schooler is not on a 4th grade reading level. I'm in the process of what all I'm deciding for my youngest (Kindergarten) - sorting out all the wants from the needs. I'm also considering CLE versus other resources. Best wishes as you make your final decision.

:lol: She sounds like my one child.

:bigear:

:) You make me chuckle.

Although time is something we are working on too, we first have been working on getting our routine to go smoothly. My kids often here me say, "Focus!" (That's what I personally work on too -- focusing. I often feel overwhelmed.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ROUTINE Rise and Shine *Dress & Tidy -Dress, Pick up bedroom, Make bed *Brush & Wipe -Brush hair, Brush teeth, Wash face, Clean something in bathroom (sink, lightswitch, doorknobs . . .) *Nourishment - Eat, Vitamins, Prepare Water bottle for the day *Train Myself - Bible & Stretching/Exercise Cares (Chores) Chores that can be done within a 5 minute period. *Kitchen *Cleaning *Clothing *Outside *Animals ******************** Rise and Shine to be done before seatwork. Best if Cares can be done before seatwork, but doesn't always happen & so then it's done with our breaks. I put charts on inside of a kitchen door that are divided as above. The children re-use the charts in that I fixed it so they can cover up what's completed. When all done, they have a little angel pin that they put on top of the Routine Chart. Rise & shine with Cares = AM Routine. Hope something of this can help someone. ETA: Just wanted you to know that I'm definitely work in progress!!!! Ideally I get up way before the kids. Today I'm feeling pretty yucky, so now we limp along today, but will take breaks (10-15 minutes) and do household care in between schooling.

:iagree: We also spend about 15 minutes per day. Many weeks it's just Monday thru Thursday. I think dd would have done OK with other programs, but I love the *O-G basis for the Spelling *learning the rules that go with it *easy to follow script *access to author if needed *results of adapting rules to other words *that Marie called each book "Level" I have all levels now - they are ready to go. :auto:

How neat!

Can I come too???!!! It sounds like it's going to be loads fun. I think you have lots of resources at your finger tips already. Is your dd liking some of your ideas? I also love the idea of Time Travel Thursdays.

Those are very helpful links & so I'm suscribing to this thread. :)

:lol: What a fun little girl! I think you already have great ideas of how to put each theme in a good time period. Here are my thoughts -- but please ignore if it's not helpful. Prize Bags *For dd's BD we had simple colored bags with handles from Wal-mart placed at the entry door. *We put each child's name on their bag with glitter glue & a simple design with glitter glue. *The greeter for the BD informed each child as they came that as the party went on that they would be recieving different things for keepsake. They then were to put the item in their bag, which was kept by the door. Time Travel Enter Time Machine before entering each time station (or change of scenery). *In the Time Machine Get your Passport/Ticket for the next event. Get your appropriate Hat for the next event--- ETA: I bet you could borrow hats or make simple paper hats. *Music changes with the Mood/Time -------------------------------Time Periods Ancients -- Dinos ~ Activity: Hunt Dino Eggs (Plastic eggs with dinos in them?) ~Decor - Big Background Picture with Dinos? (Kid-made) Medieval --Princess/Prince ~ Activity: Simple Craft - (Make simple jewelry? Paint? Draw their silhouettes then they decorate their likeness with princess garb/tiara?) ~Decor - Big Background Picture of Castle? Renaissance -- Pirates ~Activity: Game with Variations of Tag ~If in-door, then-- Decor - Big Background Picture of ship(s) & pirates? Modern (1850 to present) -- (West) Cowboys/Gunslingers ~Activity: Eat from the "Food Wagon" ~Decor - Big Background Picture of the West? Decor Pictures - Made from poster board? packing paper? Balloons - Maybe your kids would like to draw simple pictures with markers? I like the idea of an hour glass that someone else suggested. That could be throughout your party. ************ Sorry if I seem to be getting too involved here. I love thinking about planning events for some odd reason. :glare: ETA: My experience is that I found that most kids pay more attention to the fun & not the decor.

What a neat idea!!!

Amy - Sounds like your creative juices are on a roll! I was thinking that the stations can be in different areas of your house/property, but don't know how that would work for you. Garage, living room, basement . ..?? If not, then smaller stations could be set up. You could gather music related to each theme to help set the mood. Hmmm .. . *Dinos *Princesses ------------------- Can these groups be divided this way? *Pirates *Gunslingers She's has quite the imagination!!! Are you still going with different time periods?

How many people can help you that day with the BD? ~ To add into the great ideas ~ What about a station for each time period set up various places: *Ancient Egypt *Medieval *And so on. When each child enters the Time Machine, they each don an appropriate hat for next time period & given a Pass (Card) with related pictures/information. Each station is assigned 2 items - Theme (Time Period/Country/People group) & To-do item (Games, Crafts, Snack, Treasure hunt, Pinata . . .). Each station has simple decor related to theme. You could have 2 To-do items per station. Example: Enter time machine (Play music related to the next theme?) and each child gets next hat and Pass for the next station. #1 Station = Ancient Egypt *Warm-up Game related to ancient Egypt. #2 Station = Medieval Princess/Prince*Craft related to medieval. #3 Station = American West * Snack related to the Wild West. #4 Station = ???? Just "thinking out loud".

:grouphug: So sorry. What a shock & loss! I'm praying for you all right now.

:thumbup: I wish I could have heard your little girl. That's so precious.

:iagree: I like everything Beach Mom said in her post. This is what we did this year. The oldest is only in 3rd grade this year, but this option helps us. We primarily do the lessons orally. At times I have dd show me on scrap paper/sidewalk/chalk board that she understood the lesson. I then assign a worksheet page.

Trying to help you keep this post "bumped". Hope they find her real soon!

What did you decide??? Oh the joys of choosing curriculum or not!

:glare:Grrrrr . .. . The bolded statement makes me mad - on so many levels.

This has been our approach with R&S. I've been gradually adding more as dd gets older and more practice with actual writing/penmanship.

We're newbies yet - ending our 2nd year of home education. Why we chose to homeschool: #1 Flexibility - *For my kids to see my dh (he works long hours). *Traveling when we want to. (Went last week out of state to my aunt's funeral.) *Not being tied to the ps schedule. *Extra-curricular activity -- it works better for us to be homeschooling with extra activities. #2 Pace / Scope & Sequence of Learning - *Difficult subject(s) --When oldest was in 1st grade I did a lot of afterschooling with homework & re-teaching/reinforcing concepts. Math in particular was hard for her. By the time she just began to understand a certain concept, then her class was off onto something else. It was very frustrating for her & me. *Easier/Fun Subjects-- Allowing/encouraging dd to advance at her pace. A teacher friend (at a private school) stated that she keeps her children working together & doesn't allow kids to work ahead in the textbooks/spines such as with Saxon Math. I like it that we can skip things when I know dd understands certain concepts & move on ahead. #3 Depth/Interests - We love being able to focus on the depth of learning with history & other subjects as we so wish. Also the ability to allow "rabbit trail" learning to happen when we deem it appropriate. #4 Socialization/Character - Felt like I was "losing" oldest dd. It's hard for me to explain, but it seemed like her personality was changing. We don't aim to live in a bubble & we try to go out of our way to interact, and yet we felt like we could help guide her in connecting better with people with the option of home education. Why not to continue? It takes lots of patience, time, organization & I'm not keeping house as I want to. I could go out & work while kids at school & make more $. Why to continue? Well, what I listed above. Rewards *Watching those "lightbulb" moments happen. *Learning together. I loooove reading books & discussing topics that we're learning. *Interaction between siblings -- the good times. *Seeing my dh interact with some of the learning process. He knows more what is going on in their lives. *Observing our family life & how learning is becoming more of a lifestyle. *Coming across books/curriculum that I'm sure I never would have been aware of if it weren't for our choice to home educate. *And more. My stance ~ Could many of these things happen otherwise? Yes. Do I think it bad/wrong of other people to use a brick and mortar school for their children? No. Home Education at this point and time is a great choice for us.

:iagree: But here we try to get to bed earlier so as to get up earlier. You sound like you could use lots of TLC & a wonderful break! I wonder --- is it all the kids or are there primarily one or two who are the ones to stir it up??? I agree with the others -- I think that a 2 yr old in the midst usually adds a lot of craziness to the household.:smash::001_tt2: Is there a way to make so your plate is not so full? or for others to have more responsibility? Just some thoughts. I'm sorry you're having a rough time of it.

:bigear:

I've had great service every time. I'm glad for you that you got it so quickly. Now I'm wondering what the Developing Better Reading set is!:)

I've never edited tags before, but I think I accomplished your request to tag this thread with "AAS". :001_smile: