Continued Part 3: Who is Alexander: http://www.artic.edu/cleo/alex/alexmovie.html - nice little video, very easy to understand - with maps of the regions that he conquered. Alexander the Great – Encyclopedia Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/mityok1#p/u/6/MQfBinQwPGs Alexander the Great: The man behind the myth - http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/National_Geographic_Beyond_the_Movie_Alexander_the_Great/70012719?trkid=2361638 Mini-movies on Greece - http://www.artic.edu/cleo/alex/alexmovie.html (coins and Alexander). http://www.artic.edu/cleo/stele/steleMovie.html - Stele’s and funeral practices of Ancient Greeks. Mythological beings (highlighting Gryphons) http://www.artic.edu/cleo/griffin/griffinMovie.html; http://www.artic.edu/cleo/amphora/amphoraMovie.html Amphorae and Symposia; http://www.artic.edu/cleo/chicago/chicagoMovie.html Women in Ancient Greece and Dionysus – some of these movies could be moved to other locations, and perhaps should be. *hug* It will get better. Just focus on one day at a time. It's all that anyone can do. (sorry about the messed up font sizes, I have no idea what happened :/)

Continued part 2: http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/athens/home_set.html - Athens Section – (Timing: Socrates is mentioned) The story follows a group of people through their day. Ask your child to narrate their thoughts about the question: how are our days the same or different? What professions / activities are shown? Explore is absolutely worthwhile even though it may not seem like it at first. Don’t bother with the Challenge Section, it’s a great idea but the implementation is poor. http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/festivals/home_set.html - Story: Have the children act out each of the Olympic events as you read the descriptions. Explore: Greek Theatre, after doing this, it might be interesting to go here http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/arts_and_theatre/ first and click through ‘The Greek Theatre 2,350 Years Ago’ activity both are very quick. Challenge: Skip. http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/geography/challenge/cha_set.html Challenge – Shipwreck! http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/knowledge/home_set.html Knowledge and learning – Story: Plato’s cave with a couple of animations, Explore: Lapbook covers this. Challenge: Ideas about the plague c430bc. Stomachium – an ancient game played by Archimedes (probably to explore geometric relationships) http://www.math.nyu.edu/~crorres/Archimedes/Stomachion/construction.html - to make your own follow these simple instructions. The game plays like Tangrams where you must form different objects. Interactive timeline of the Middle East - http://ecuip.lib.uchicago.edu/diglib/social/mideast/atlas/index.html - Good for getting a broad overview of the area through the ages, Explore 5000 years of History > Greco-Roman Influence > 323-66bc MOVIES / YOU TUBE (I hope you have netflix - 14 day free trial if you don't ;) it might just save your sanity atm) The Muppets – King Midas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1hrUPVI4Os Aesop’s Fables - - there are a TON of other Aesop tales on YouTube. Of note, the Crow and the Pitcher is also given to be an Indian Fable. It is unclear which attribution might be correct. Ancient Olympia 3D Tour - Lovely, colorful, low res (but still worth it) Parthenon - A really nice reconstruction using the remains of actual frescos. It follows the Parthenon’s construction and deconstruction. Secrets of the Parthenon: Nova - http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/Secrets_of_the_Parthenon_Nova/70098065?trkid=2001778 - A 2008 Nova special about the 100$ restoration of the Parthenon. Supposedly very entertaining. Akropolis von Pergamon - - Not the absolute best reconstruction that I've ever seen, but I love it all the same (Grecian Empire) Pubuç Burnu Wreck - – A c600BC wreck, the videos are uploaded in the wrong order, use this link to get to Video “2†and proceed to video “1â€. A great view of what Nautical Archeologists do and how they manage to do it. Athens the Dawn of Democracy - http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Athens_The_Dawn_of_Democracy/70085591?trkid=2361637 - This 2007 documentary is very long. Only bits and pieces will probably be able to be used. Hoplite Reenactors - http://www.koryvantes.org/koryvantes/activities_en.jsp - This site has a ton of interesting photos, all dealing with various elements of hoplite life. Winged Sandals - http://www.abc.net.au/arts/wingedsandals/storytime/ - The videos available are: Apollo and his Oracle (related content – Ask the oracle); Demeter and Persephone; Orpheus and the Underworld (use the bonus track with hades explanation); and Perseus and Medusa (which could easily go under chapter 19). Jim Henson's the Storyteller - Greek Myths - http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Jim_Henson_s_the_Storyteller_Greek_Myths/70003015?trkid=2361637 - 1991 Philosophy of Greece - http://www.youtube.com/user/PhilosophicalMedia#p/u/48/8wnWUEVhriI (a bit dull, but it might be because there wasn’t anything new in it) -- Follow-ups to this: Socrates – Encyclopedia Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/PhilosophicalMedia#p/u/16/eY0ZoHqdMgw (5th grade or below brief shows of artistic nudity); Plato – Encyclopedia Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/PhilosophicalMedia#p/u/15/1aWK_69ufbo See an ancient water clock or clepsydras made with modern tools: http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-discoveries/videos/ancient-hobbyist-water-clock - There is a commercial at the beginning. Greece - Donald in Mathmagic Land - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACtjN4CSN50

Rivka, I am so sorry about your father-in-law. You are doing fine. Please don't be so hard on yourself. Everyone snaps to some extent during times of emotional crisis. 1. I'm seconding the suggestion of Aquaphor and the zinc lotion. It will remove the diaper rash and alleviate the pain. 2. Offer fluids every 1/2 hour. With a child that young even a tblsp every half hour is enough. I only know this because my pediatrician told me, Mab has feeding issues. She wound up in the hospital during my stay up at my grandmother's funeral last year for dehydration *head desk*. 3. Don't worry about being patient. You will not irrevocably shatter your children's trust in you by not being able to meet everyone's needs at this time. Do what you can, as you can, and don't destroy yourself trying to be everything to everyone. 4. This sounds callous, but arrive in time for the service and lead your children away from it as soon as the funeral is over to speak to the mourners and quietly slip out as soon as possible. Unless they ask, don't mention the casket. Funerals are for us all to grieve together, the service will be nice, no child could handle more time than that at such an event and hopefully your husband's family will understand. If you can find someone to take them for a few hours before and after the service (a distant relative or friend of the family) that would be ideal, but with it being so far away that might make it more stressful for you and your husband rather than less :/ 5. I don't know where you are in ancient greeks, but here are some links and some material that you might be able to occupy your daughter with the following - many of them can be done by a child who is only 'ok' at reading -- I have more if you need them, they're just not all in an easily accessible file yet: Aesop’s Fables - http://www.aesopfables.com/ (this site has numerous fables attributed to Aesop and others, use if your child happens to develop a love for the short tales (they were considered by John Locke to be the best stories for a young student to use to read) or if you don’t happen to have a copy of Aesop’s fables at home. King Midas - History\Year 1 - 5000 to 500\Greek Myths\The_midas_touch.mp3 – The fictional story of King Mita (c800bc) from Storynory. Create Ancient Greek buildings with Keva Blocks or Legos Theseus: Lord of Athens – Choose Your Own Adventure (Online) - http://www.mythologyteacher.com/Theseusintro.html - This will need to be read aloud to younger students http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/acropolis/home_set.html - The Acropolis section at this site can be done very quickly before actually heading over to watch the Acropolis and Parthenon short videos – the build your own temple challenge might be particularly fun for younger students – I would save visiting the Parthenon site for another day unless you child is particularly fascinated with ancient art or architecture. World Ceramics: Greece (c500BC) - http://www.artsmia.org/world-ceramics/hydria/key_ideas.html - Follow the Key Ideas pathing at the bottom of the page for interesting information about this piece! The Artist’s Hand - http://thewalters.org/pachydermpubs/00-64-881120031647100113-9310870-6-106-1129824/ - Figure out the difference between vases to see which ones were created in the same artistic style, more suitable for 5th, but younger children may enjoy it. Social Studies > Attic Red-figure Amphora Create your own Greek Pot - http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/kids/greecepot.htm Origins and Movements of Greek Intellectuals – 800BC-323BC http://mappinghistory.uoregon.edu/english/EU/EU15-02.html and Travel of selected individuals – These are very quick simply for children to see the volume of Intellectual thought happening around Greece and the movements of those intellectuals. Origin of Winning Olympic Competitors 776BC through 396AD - http://mappinghistory.uoregon.edu/english/EU/EU13-10.html - A quick run through, but a nice way of illustrating how much interaction was going on between the different countries. The Greeks - Crucible of Civilization http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/htmlver/ - The site is old, and uses flash 4, which occasionally isn't recognized by newer flash versions, however it's worth the trouble. The Acropolis experience, The Greeks interactive, and the 5 videos sets about individual Greeks are helpful. The Socrates video uses Plato’s account heavily - make certain that you mention that oral accounts depend on the point of view of the raconteur. Make statues out of a bar of soap (please note: The classical sculpture period dates from about 500bc, therefore this activity would fit well in either this section or the next). http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/dailylife/home_set.html - Story: I would choose Athens & Sparta Girls and Athens & Sparta Boys as the comparison pairs. A good narration topic might be: Which would you rather be and why between each of the two pairs. Note: The pairs do not age equally and some end in the middle of the person’s life. Explore: covered as a lapbook. Challenge: Set the scene is engaging; http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/sparta/home_set.html Story: Why did Sparta change? Explore: is a desk with objects relating to different areas of Spartan life. It is better suited for 5th graders but seeing the objects might still be interesting for 1st grade if there is time. Challenge: is fun but will probably be difficult for the younger children to complete by themselves. http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/war/home_set.html Story: The Battle of Thermopylae. Explore: does not seem to be working. Challenge: Salamis sea battle easy enough for any child to do and a bit of fun entertainment Orpheus - History\Year 1 - 5000 to 500\Greek Myths\Orpheus.mp3 - The storynory version of the tale of Orpheus, it’s in verse. Richard isn’t as much fun to listen to, but this might be a fun project for a video, set to music or something. The verse can be found here: http://storynory.com/2010/02/22/orpheus/ Ancient Rituals - http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/gods/story/sto_set.html - an ancient ritual animal sacrifice as illustrated on Greek pottery. Stories in the Sky - http://www.nmm.ac.uk/stories-of-the-skies/ - Mythological Legends for three Major Constellations Ancient Arcade - http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/interactive/arcade.htm - Match the mythological figures with their symbols. This may be better suited to 5th grade. The Parthenon Online - http://www.parthenonfrieze.gr/#/home - play with the Parthenon frieze is interactive (younger children may need assistance since even easy modes are timed)

The clips were all great :D I only regret that I wasted 10 minutes of my life reading the nonsense that made up the rest of this thread. And for those just tuning in, the president has now released two birth certificates. The one that is considered the only LEGAL form of birth certificate in his state WAAAAYYYYYY BACK in 2008 and another just two weeks ago that is not considered a legal birth certificate in Hawaii, yet he did so because the 'birthers' insisted that it would satisfy them. Obviously it hasn't. Nothing actually will, because their whole movement is based off of the concept of Obama's "otherness". You can decide for yourself whether 'birthers' and Trump are racist or not but please at least read the other comments in this thread before posting, especially MrsMungos as she has addressed all salient points to date.

:iagree: There is nothing in HIPPA that would or should prevent you from entering the room for your child's teeth cleaning. My guess would be that because most people (and health care professionals) are unclear re: the scope of HIPPA that your dentist is either being A) overly cautious or B) taking advantage of the lack of clarity to try to restrict over crowding due to additional people in patient rooms and make it easier for the dental assistant and dentist to do their jobs. Neither option will result in the option that you want - which is to be allowed to go in the room. I'd switch dentists.

It is normal, the fees are usually high, although Fidelity was relatively reasonably priced when I did my own (I had an option of two companies to cash out my options and I went with them). In order for you to have missed the notices for this either your home address was not have been associated with with your stock or the company did the notifications by e-mail because you had previously waived your right to hard copies. Certain notices are usually offered in advance, including the amount that you should be receiving per share, your rights and obligations etc. It may have been sent as an addendum to the yearly fiscal report. It also matters whether this company stock was granted, options, or part of your 401k, or other company profit sharing plan. Depending on the type you should be able to have company stock roll over into a tax protected retirement account rather than cash which can cost you an insane amount in taxes. I would contact Fidelity or Vanguard advisers to find out what options they can come up with in terms of properly handling the fund transfer or at least getting it safely away from the company handling the transfer. Also, if you want the cash and cannot simply roll the full amount into a retirement, education or other protected account you absolutely MUST have them withhold the taxes or tell you what the estimated taxes will be so that you can withhold it -- otherwise you will be in a lot of financial pain next April.

Oh my goodness! She's just so darn cute :D and I'm so glad that my girls don't frown like that I wouldn't be able to hold in the giggles :lol: (ps - congratulations ~ you pregnancy!)

My daughter knew them all as well at that age and was begging to learn to read, but she was not quite ready to move on to blending. I found that doing the first lessons gave her the time and confidence to move on, but also made her feel like she was accomplishing something towards her goal. We then also did starfall intermittently and then reading eggs for about 35 lessons (I did the mouse-work) for fun until our three month free subscription ran out. Luckily, she was ready for blending by then, so I suppose that I'm really just saying that it's up to your child. If you're noticing that she's struggling from one day to the next with the same words or having issues reading the words 'backwards' she probably needs the extra processing time, and you'll need to find a way to sidetrack her until she can do blending with ease. If she seems to jump right in and blend without too much effort then she's ready to go as far as she wants to (with a quick confirmation that she understands which letters are vowels and which are consonants, because it's a really important concept).

:party: CONGRATULATIONS!!! How absolutely wonderful for them both!

Perhaps Three Little Kittens, I seem to remember that one of the older versions continued the story past the pie and ended with her tucking her little kittens into bed after supper, but I can't recall which version it was. There was a Rand Mcnally Elf Book version and a Golden Book version, but I don't have either - perhaps someone else on the board does and would be willing to check. I'm also afraid that I'm confusing the Three Kittens story for another similar tale - but the kittens and the bed just sound so familiar :( I suppose that it might also be The Tale of Tom Kitten as they are sent up to bed with the "measles", but I doubt it.

God Save the Queen!! I hereby formally institute a petition for the arrest of Mr. Spycar for offenses against the Queen with the supplementary recommendation of incarceration in the Tower. As a reminder, I will be hosting tea Thursday next. Please remember to instruct your servants to pack additional brandy in your reticules, as I am currently on short supply due to a series of unfortunate incidents. Sincerely, Lady Sandra Kitty-Park, descendant of Longshanks, rabid Tory.

Lady Sandra Kitty-Park here, now if only I could find my ticket to the event, it seems to have been buried under a stack of books ;-)

We use the plastic volumetric ones from Nasco, but they also sell wooden ones Yenisei. Here's the link to two sets that came up quickly, I seem to remember that there were a few more if you search around the site a bit you'll probably find them easily: http://www.enasco.com/product/TB16659T http://www.enasco.com/product/TB15069T They also have different, more complex shapes available in different materials, ie triangular prisms, tetrahedrons, cones etc You could also try looking for them on Amazon in germany since I'm not sure what the shipping rates would be to ship them overseas (they may have a European office though, I'm just not sure). Something that I know that you could pick up overseas (only because I haven't been able to get them here ;)), but which might be too small for a 2yo would be Anker-steinbaukasten. The architectural blocks come in a variety of kits with many different shape models which you may also be able to purchase as individual block types. Hope this helps! In the future you might have better luck getting specific answers by creating a new thread than resurrecting an old one :)

IEPs for advanced students are common in some states. It's called GIEP here. Here's what it covers in my state: (1) Enable the provision of appropriate specially designed instruction based on the student’s need and ability. (2) Ensure that the student is able to benefit meaningfully from the rate, level and manner of instruction. (3) Provide opportunities to participate in acceleration or enrichment, or both, as appropriate for the student’s needs. These opportunities must go beyond the program that the student would receive as part of a general education. Basically, it really just means that they're expected to do their "grade level" work in addition to bringing home (or working on in class) the IEP level work. It usually only covers Math and Reading. But as part of the process your child will be fully evaluated for giftedness and be assigned support staff in addition to the teacher to help manufacture challenges within the school day. From what I've heard it is only moderately successful, to not at all, in relieving boredom in students who are gifted in subjects other than LA, but I'm literally saying this purely on hearsay. Oh, and when your child both suffers from a disability (ie dyslexia) in addition to being gifted then they're actually covered under the term IEP rather than GIEP, because IEP apparently has different services. I hope that this was helpful, I only chimed in because I didn't see that anyone had addressed your question about IEPs for gifted students :) and I plead ignorance to anything other than their existence and the public regulations!

A few ideas that I've used with my girls who are both young as well -- you may find that you already do all of it already: At the Learning Express Store they sell scissors that will only cut paper (not hair, not plastic, not cushions on couches. If your child's hands are damp or the paper is crumpled they might have trouble, but I found that buying thicker weight paper was helpful. He might happily cut things up with impunity and if given stick-paste and crayons could probably happily construct and deconstruct to his heart's content for some time every day. Building Blocks (both the huge ones to make life sized buildings and the smaller ones), C-rods, Lacing Beads, Pattern Blocks, Tangrams, Geometric Solids, Duplos and Keva Planks are all relatively indestructible and incredible fun. Most of them can also be used to build math and physics skills. MEP has a free math program called Reception for Pre-Kindergarten that you could try to use if you feel that he's ready for formal math, there's very little writing and he could sign the answers to you quite easily as long as he knows the signs or has the words for his colors, numbers and positional words - such as above, beneath etc - which I assume that he does since you mentioned that he had already met all K standards. Kitty also plays a game called Castle Logic which she loves. Workbooks such as Kumon or the Total series can be a lot of fun and can build up writing skills. You'll see right away whether he enjoys them. Mother nature is varied and incessantly fascinating to the young, anything relating to science and nature are huge hits here. In particular my oldest is obsessed with the workings of the human body. There are litterally a ton of games and activities on the human system for pre-kers - but if you're interested I can dump the doc file on my rarely-updated-not-really-maintained-because-I'm-a-slacker-about-it "Blog" LOL Also, even though you couldn't do any formal reading with him because of his speech problem, you could play starfall.com together, sing the alphabet song with the phonetic sounds rather than letter names. Read to him running your finger along under your words, go back in each paragraph and explain new vocabulary or usages, various phonetic rules, point to each picture and ask him about what he sees offering him opportunities to use the words that he has accumulated in both sign and verbally. We put in a solid hour often 2 of reading a day which seems to have been really good for both girls... Unfortunately because he cannot communicate well I would personally work on non-verbal things as much as you can - I'm not sure how hard it would be to adapt a formal K curriculum to his needs, and whether it would even be worth it for you to do so rather than simply looking up free materials online to make your own. Best of luck!

Thanks for sharing! It looks very helpful :)

This above is why I won't be reading it. I place a high value on myself and frankly, although I love romances, I read the sweet ones where true love and good people triumph over adversity sometimes with a twist of sci-fi or fantasy to make it even fluffier ;) To the OP: I also agree that JunieB and many of the other books geared for 4th+ graders are rough. Poorly written and with protagonists that are frankly rude and crude. There's nothing wrong with sweet valley twins series, the girls were ok, I think that have one (maybe two?) that I managed to save up for and buy for myself, but it wasn't my favorite series because there were other books that I liked more at that age -- but I was in a different situation from the one that you describe, for girls who are struggling to read and for whom you think that SVT will be an engaging and enjoyable challenge please do what you feel is best for them regardless of the opinion of the board :) Ultimately, I think that many of the people who posted here (myself included) simply saw SV and just wanted to caution you that your children WILL probably want to read the HS books once the books about the Twins have all been read - it's more of an head's up- you're going to have to deal with this later kind of thing.

This is just so unbearably cruel :crying: & Joysworld, it got heated because there is some room for disagreement in what constitutes "behind" and frankly people tend to get defensive when they feel that someone makes a comment that resembles them. It happens a lot on these forums. It doesn't help that tone is so hard to convey electronically as we're all jotting our thoughts off before running to put out some household fire or spend time with our significant other. As a side-note I rarely post unless I'm not feeling well, which seems odd at the outset ;) but here I am, cold *check* well trained mind forum login *check* otherwise I just lurk because I feel that I haven't the time to get sucked in -- because I do get sucked in and emotional about posts -- not this one, but others ;) My youngest is on the snail track, and there's nothing wrong with that. She is beautiful and creative in ways that my oldest isn't and I adore her even if she can't even count to 5 or doesn't know her letters by either names or sounds yet, she's far more interested in the colors and bugs in her world than anything else -- but there comes a point at which I would worry about a child that couldn't add 1+1 with manipulatives by the time that they're six. And I would be seeking a second opinion about a potential learning delay or processing problem.The beauty of homeschooling is that we can move at our pace, the danger that I see in homeschooling is that sometimes we don't know when to get help or even if we should seek help at all. It's so easy to second guess the stuff that really Doesn't matter, that a real issue could be swept under the rug in the same way.

:iagree: I'm so sorry I got so sidetracked by Sweet Valley that I forgot to say -- yes! Reading for pleasure is wonderful. If your child is a voracious reader there's nothing wrong with lots of fluff in their free time. My free time is often spent with fluff, there's something to be said for non-intellectual reading, especially for people who think too much as it is. The only caveat to that is that I would suggest that fluff should be library reading only unless they want to spend their own money for it and I would do what my dad did and make sure that older 'fluff' ended up in my library pile as well so that your child becomes really familiar with the flow of language older books in a nice non-threatening way - anything by Lucy Maud Montgomery comes to mind, then maybe move to Burnett, Jane Eyre might work, I wasn't mature enough to 'get' the 'boring' end the first 2 times that I read it, just keep working backwards - that way they can get some 'candy' and learn at the same time. If they love reading they'll eventually run out of fluff books at the library anyway :) and that's when they'll start to get really desperate and roam aimlessly though their middleschool years clutching Don Quixote and the Brothers Karamazov and building up a fantastic relationship with your local librarians who will pull the choicest books for them in anticipation of your child coming in to discuss their reading of the past week and their preferences for future books :cool:

I liked the Saddle Club books a bit better that SVT or SVH if you're looking for content for young readers (I only read into the mid-30s though, so I'm not sure what happened after that). I just had trouble getting into the Sweet Valley, although I did like the one about the person that goes blind from SVH -- I think that I actually bought that one and have it some where around here - probably tucked in the closet with the romances ;). Ultimately, it's up to you, but I agree with the poster that said that your child won't stop with SVTwins, they'll go to SVHigh and then ultimately to the new book for adults Sweet Valley Confidential -- I've linked to the review, for you to read about the end point for the series for yourself. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/business/media/17sweet.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Sweet%20Valley&st=cse It may not have been my favorite series, but I liked the girls. They were popular, but nice, even wholesome if you consider the fact that they were secular Californians -- after reading the reviews I would not use the word nice to describe them now.

I'm not much of a veteran either, but with Kit I just stopped showing her what she had to read. I cover the entire page except for the one line that we're reading. Then we work through it. By the time that she thinks about complaining I start stringing her along with just ____ more lines in this paragraph and then only one more paragraph to go. I also use my judgement. If it's a "struggling" day (ie she's either woken up on the wrong side of the bed, is not feeling her best, or if it's simply a hard concept) I just break up the lesson itself into separate lessons for each paragraph. With the long reviews at the end of each section she has to read the entirety in one sitting, if she can't then we've missed something and I go back to the areas that she had trouble for a while. But before we sit down, for a few days leading up to it I prep her with the knowledge that she's going to get to read a REALLY BIG story and that I know that she'll do wonderfully and that I'm so excited to find out what happens. I've also found that reading sentences or a paragraph after her helps with her comprehension and I also make sure that she can tell me what every word of the first part of the lesson is (especially if they have more than one meaning) because I've found that if she's not enjoying the story (and / or if I can't build some suspense into it) she'll balk or wiggle-hop, or stare at herself in reflective surfaces rather than read. I also created little books for her to read on her own and my sister and sister-in-law did pictures for them that she gets to keep in her bedroom as reading material before bedtime and during "nap-time" along with the bob books and the pig books (piggy and daddy) :) that's helped with the off days since we only do reading 3 times a week. (I noticed that other people do more-- maybe that's part of it too, just burnout?)

Just in case anyone was curious about math before the bible, here's a link to the Before Pythagoras exhibit: http://www.nyu.edu/isaw/exhibitions/before-pythagoras/ The highlights page has information about cuneiform tablets that give us an idea of what types of mathematics were being performed by the ancient Babylonians. As to everything else, I'll chime in with-- as a parent I never feel like I'm doing 'enough' or things the 'right' way, but by that same token I have trouble believing that I'd be OK with the idea that a developmentally 'normal' child of mine would be behind the (imho) non-rigorous public school standards. I hated math. I'm pretty darn sure that it hated me, and I know that I'm terrible at it now. I'm currently trying to re-teach myself pre-algebra in an attempt to obtain some small appreciation for the subject, barring that perhaps a better understanding of it, so that I can teach my children not to struggle with it as well. However, despite all that, after 13 years of public school I was never behind in math. LOL those are my credentials ;) I will also refrain from commenting on gender biases except to say that spy car is catchier and easier to spell than Nmoira(sp? I'm so sorry if I've misspelled it again!) and... Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I WANT that cowboy icon :lol: *makes grabby hands* Where is he?!?! HOW do I get him? waaaannnnntttttttt!!!

Here's the link that she mentioned - it's absolutely wonderful, my 4.5 yr-old loves it (we've been using it for at least the last 6 mos and she just keeps asking for it - just be aware that the colors of your rods may be different than the colors of hers, my 3 rod is grey not lime green - or maybe it just printed strangely!!). http://nurturedbylove.blogspot.com/2008/12/cuisenaire-discovery-book.html Here is the link to a thread containing a bunch of blogs relating to miquon http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253318 And don't forget, even if your child isn't ready for Orange you can still do many of the games and activities within the First Grade Diary (that has been absolutely invaluable to me as well). One of the biggest issues that people seem to have with the Miquon program is that they treat the workbooks as standalones and just work through them, they should actually imho be the smallest portion of the curriculum, basically I plan to move on to using the Orange book in the fall as the sections correspond with what we're learning both as a check before hand to see if she's already mastered the skill and also to see where weaknesses might be. I hope this helps :) EDITED TO ADD -- Too late again :D some days I swear my brain just works slower than molasses !!

This is how I was raised as well, I called all of my parent's friends by their first names. I did and still do respect them immensely, they are like second parents to me. Because I found that adults are not referred to solely by their first names in the region that I moved to as an adult I have instructed my children to call people by Mr or Ms, Mrs [First Name]. I've found that it's an acceptable compromise for nearly everyone. The girls know that if an adult requests a different form of address their wishes always take precedence over our norm. It is really interesting to me that different regions and people have such wildly different responses to this :). Personally, I think that saying Sir or Ma'am sounds incredibly servile and will often be said in such a way (ie in customer service) as to sound disrespectful as well. I prefer that it not be used in reference to me by either my children or others. I will also make that preference known in a polite manner, and I simply use gentle reminders with children and their parents that forget. We use yes please or no thank you to denote respectful address in response to a question both inside and outside of our home. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside because it's what I learned, but I would be very unhappy with my children if they continued to address someone in that way after they had been informed of a contrary preference. Basically manners are supposed to be a way smoothing social interactions, not hindering them or forcing others to adapt to your preference. It makes me sad to see a few people on this thread using them as some sort of standard to force on to others or as a tool to separate the polite 'us' and the impolite 'them'. To sum up - I agree with Tara, it is NOT inherently impolite to address an adult by their first name if a preference has not been offered and you didn't have time to ask what they'd prefer before your child spoke to them. And in my opinion it is unfair to make it seem like OTHER regional preferences lack validity because they are foreign to you. Just as I have adapted as well as I could to my current region, I ask others to be respectful to me and my "foreign manners" and address me with my preference. This is manners to me. To the OP I wish you every luck in your pursuit. I've found that simple quiet corrections have worked beautifully with my girls and that in this case there really is no need for a reward, having an interested adult's attention is reward enough for most children :)

Oh that's wonderful! Congratulations :D :party: