Do you have a link for this? I googled it, but I'm never sure what websites are reputable on these sorts of things... Autoimmune disorders are prevalent in my family as well.

You can blog privately at Blogspot (Blogger). It's free. I am subscribed to several of the blogs mentioned in this thread :tongue_smilie:. I guess I'm going to have to find an alternative to bloglines soon...

:iagree: Start with your family practitioner.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

http://http://thyroid.about.com/od/gettestedanddiagnosed/a/bloodtests.htm Mary Shomon's books and website are helpful. If they tell you your levels are fine but you still feel "off", I would wait 6 mos and get retested. I felt awful for a year before I was diagnosed. You can get tested at any time.

Thanks ladies! That is exactly what I was looking for!

Thanks. I have read that before but find her reply to be...unhelpful :confused: I'm not worried about state standards, more with what is covered on national standardized tests (SAT, ITBS??) I agree with Maria philosophically, but dh and I both think it is unfair to make her feel behind or incompetent because she has never seen the types of problems covered on the test.

I only have one year of homeschooling under my belt, so take this with a grain of salt :)... I have decided for my youngers I will skip the math curriculum in kindergarten. I might look into something like family math or Peggy Kaye games for math, but we will probably just play with manipulatives. Everything we covered in SM Earlybird last year will be covered again in first grade.

Don't hate me :tongue_smilie: CLE is a huge flop for dd6. I downloaded MM 1A and she loves it. Fine. I love it, too. We have to test yearly in VA. I have no idea how MM's scope and sequence matches up with the content covered in standardized tests. I'm not going to "teach to the test", but I don't want to frustrate her by not covering things she will be tested on. Without making things too complicated, what else do I need to cover for 1st grade (and how to do it)? I already plan on adding some games, speed drills, and flash cards for math facts.

I guess I do as well! I drove by a house one day that reminded me of your pictures. I had a dream that night that I showed up on your doorstep all "Hey, I homeschool!":001_huh: We were both pretty creeped out by it. :D

I am very much a paper person but I LOVE LOVE LOVE homeschool skedtrack. You can bump assignments, track grades (we don't yet), mark assignments as they are completed (even work ahead), and print daily checklists. You schedule each subject separately so you can work ahead in some subjects and behind in others and it automatically generates a daily to-do list for you. It satisfies my need for organized flexibility.

It isn't like her mil had a difference of opinion in curriculum. MIL was bashing phonics! I don't see Smrt Mama as needing to be enlightened with the virtues of sight reading. OP, perhaps you should have asked her to buy you this. :tongue_smilie:

sphinx

My dd6 loves NAC (she started this summer). I chose it because it is almost identical to my handwriting :). I learned ZB cursive but it evolved into a simplified version like NAC. I decided to skip the fancy strokes and teach her the style that she will actually use.

Can someone tell me what kind of review is built into MM? I did not like the lack of review in SM EB and 1A, so I went with CLE. But I think the spiral is going to drive both DD and I NUTS. I tend to teach the entire concept anyways, not just bits and pieces. I need ONE program that does not need to be supplemented. I want to revisit past topics periodically to keep them fresh. I can probably muster the initiative to add in games/fact flash cards/speed drills on my own (my daughter likes such things), but there is no way I would print off review worksheets and try to figure out when to add them during the year. Make sense? Basically, I need to keep it simple or it won't get done. So, is there any review in MM? ETA: I love the way R&S is mastery with review included. If MM is similar in that respect (except with conceptual teaching included), I think I might be in love.

ecclesiastical (christian)

I also remember my high school trigonometry teacher was awful. He did not have a math degree, just a business degree with a math endorsement. He would give an example on the whiteboard and make a mistake every.single.time. The rest of the class was spent with the kids who got it correcting him and trying to show him where he went wrong and the rest of us lost. That isn't to say that you can't understand trig without a math degree, just that he was clearly lost himself. Lesson learned: If I don't understand something well enough to teach it then I need to outsource. I won't subject my children to that torture for the sake of my pride.

It was a college class. My draft was essentially turned in as the final paper. It taught me more about attention to detail and taking responsibility for my mistakes than any "A" would have.

Why is this? Age/puberty/hormones?

You had gifted classes all day? Ours was only one day a week in elementary school and one period per week in middle school. I do remember doing a simulation in seventh grade. The basic idea was that x amount of people were stuck in a building because there was a deadly virus (?) outside. There was only y amount of antidote and we had to decide who got the antidote and who died based on their descriptions A(single mom, child, grandma with cancer, etc...) Aubrey described something similar recently. I can't wait until my kids are old enough for this! Hmmm, I can't remember which side. I believe the final copy was supposed to be on the right side and the last rough draft on the left side. But yes, I got a failing grade on the paper solely for that reason. FaithManor-Thank you! There was too much food for thought to quote and address :).Have you applied this in any way to your own family?

What do you remember from your pre-college education and does it affect the way you educate your children? I went to average public schools. In elementary school I remember raising mealworms, wet field day, student government, Oregon Trail, an individual study on North Dakota (I STILL remember that Roger Maris grew up in ND)and a paper I wrote on Eva Peron (what 5th grader chooses HER to write about :001_huh:). I have a vague memory of a neat English teacher in 8th grade, but that is about it for middle school. Actually, I do remember learning to read music in middle school chorus. In high school I had a fabulous history teacher. I remember him encouraging us to inform ourselves about the world around us (this was the first time I had ever heard of c-span). I took dual enrollment English classes the last two years of high school. My professor had been an English professor at a prestigous university before "retiring" to teach high school and dual enrollment. He gave me access to his library and for the first time I read books like Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Leon Uris' Exodus. I remember complaining to him that Faulkner must have been on LSD when he wrote the Sound and the Fury (of course, I had only read the first chapter ;)). He also gave me an "F" on a paper that I had worked my entire senior year on. I was so proud of my work and checked it *one last time* before I turned it in. I accidentally switched the draft and final paper to different sides of the folder. He *knew* what I had done because the draft was clearly marked, but it was still wrong. I was angry at myself, but knew the grade was just. It brought my English comp grade down from an "A" to a "B", but the lesson I learned served me well through college and even now. I want to apply what I have learned from this to my own children.For us, this translates to Elementary school: hands-on projects, FUN, less is more (quality over quantity) Middle school: :confused: High school: Discussing good books; giving my children the tools they need to decide what they believe and why they believe it; as a teacher, I might have to do hard/unpleasant things I"m sure there is more, but I would love to hear about what other people remember and how it affected them.

If you are unwilling to cut anything, you might consider a loop schedule. At least that way you could get done what you want to do and accomodate dh at the same time.

Meant to add.. It looks like you can get a good 3.5 hours MWF (including breaks). TR, if you get ready early and school before you leave and then school when you get back, you can get around 2 hours in. Perhaps reevaluate those subjects that are consistently running over on time (for example, you think spelling should take 10 minutes and it is taking 30).

You could do a less intensive science program (perhaps following WTM recs or *just* library books or a fun science kit every other week). I understand he likes the program, but sometimes you have to say "no" for the greater good. There really isn't a such thing as "on level" for science in elementary school. If he had to go back to private school he would be fine. ASL and Spanish cut altogether. Even as extras, they take up time. Can you let him listen to SOTW during his rest time or perhaps on your way to appointments? For comprehension, can accomplish that with your other subjects? You could even drop SOTW. Are 1st graders at this private school studying ancients? Turn off the t.v and maybe he would listen to SOTW while playing playmobil/legos or something :). Audio books are your friend. I understand wanting to do it all. :grouphug: We haven't started this school year yet but I had to shelve a formal science program, song school latin, spanish, math enrichment and formal art. We are adding a few outside activities this year and my kids still need time to just be kids. Like you, we take frequent breaks (in our case, to nurse the baby, clean up an overflowed toilet, etc...;)). Can you compromise and agree to try it for a semester? It is amazing what we moms can make happen when we believe it is important for our children.

I'm sorry, but I don't think his requests are unreasonable. Having time to run, play outside, and be bored are all essential parts of your son's development. You have a heavy schedule. There are certainly things you can eliminate or do more simply if you wanted to. We all have to make tough choices for one reason or another--KWIM?