Singapore Earlybird series. Too many cute colours and fluff. DS was easily distracted by this. Got Singapore Essential Math which is in black and white and now ds can focus on the math -not the pretty pictures. BFSU - I dropped it because I have no idea how to structure it -too complex for mum, I need something more open and go.

:lol::lol::lol: :iagree: Well, my head DID spin around (and yes, it did look scary). My body followed and went straight a bottle of wine I was saving for when having people around. Sipping some lovely burgundy right now -poor guests will have to drink tea. :D

What is the GAPS diet?

I hear you. Loud and clear. I will. Thank you again folks for the help. You have saved my sanity today and maybe my marriage. Sipping wine here while dh helps ds write a congrats card. I wish I could :grouphug: all of you. Words of wisdow. I will be reading the blogs now and chilling, and being nice to dh.

Thank you for the link to your blog. Yes. I guess this morning I saw a puddle on the floor in the kitchen and I assumed the worst. :svengo: I also need to hug hubby because he came home from lunch and found me in a less-than-attractive mood. :ack2:

Not by 6pm...or even. However I am decluttering the house. I am hoping this will make cleaning easier.

Thanks for the personal experience talk. Much appreciated. I remember thinking ds would neve be potty trained. At 3 I tried and it was pretty much a disaster. Then I stepped back, chilled, waited and tried again at 3 1/2. DS was potty trained in one week. No accidents day or night. Maybe I should take the same approach to academics? :tongue_smilie:

Thank you for the replies. I believe you may be right. DS is so bright in science sometimes I forget he is only 5. I think I feel pressured because in the UK the National Curriculum is very heavy on academics. I always thought this to be slightly crazy as it has proven it doesn't mean students are brighter, or more advanced than students in say, the Nordic countries, where they only start at 6 or even 7yo. I know that if ds goes back to school they will simply put him in whatever grade he is supposed to be in and expect him to be on the same level as his peers (the UK school system does not believe in holding back -you swim or you sink). This would not be a problem if I knew we will be hs for a few years but dh is not convinced at the moment. Edited to add: This board moves fast! I'm so glad I'm came here for advice. I was about to throw all hs books out of the window (literally) since I tried jumping out but found the window safety system too good even for me to crack (ok, don't take this literally).

Before anything: yes, I know ds is "only" 5 but... 1- Why does he whinge so much when we do school? 2- Why do I feel he forgets his sounds so we have to redo the same phonics lesson over and over? 3- Why does it feel I'm pulling teeth everytime we sit down to do school work? He starts yawning after 5 minutes! It is getting harder and harder to get ds to do school work. We are so far behind I don't think we can recoup time lost unless we work flat out straight through summer (and we can't because we have a trip planned to attend a family wedding). DS will do science, and math -the rest is like pushing a large boulder up the hill, just to see it roll back time after time. I'm even keeping lessons short because of his age. What is going on???:confused: :confused: Maybe I'm not cut out for hs? I go to the local hs meeting and every one else seems so well organised, and motivated, and focused, so cheerful and above all, on schedule! I feel I'm the runt of the litter.:glare: Yes, I'm venting because it is easier to vent than go out in the street, get on the first bus that comes along and ... Could any of you email me some prozac or something?

I just had a Yoirk test for food intolerances. It turnes out I should avoid gluten it says otas are ok.

I have a Nokia. It works great and it was within budget. I don't do monthly, annual contracts -just pays-as-you-go (it also keeps me within budget!).

I tell dh to press firmly the tip of his tongue to the roof of the mouth, right behind his upper front teeth, and hold it there, and then exhale hard. It makes the tip of the tongue vibrate and a rolling "r" should come out. I speak Latin American Spanish, BTW.

This little house is much, much bigger than many, many houses in the UK! I'd buy it in a second.

Our bodies = biodegrade. Our soul/life force = energy transformation.

:iagree:also: Money: where it is kept and how it is to be spent. Family obligations: pretty much to the last detail who takes care of what. Telly: I wanted to be free to watch a certain soap and not have dh make fun of me. I think this is it. I don't see any of this as strictly "cross-cultural" but as things most couples should discuss before getting married.

We met online. We just exchanged emails for months before I ever sent a picture. Then we were on the phone exchanging calls for a few more months before agreeing to meet in person. We met and four days later he proposed...and the rest is history!

I'm using Word Mastery/Blend Phonics with my 5yo, along with McGuffey's Eclectic Primer. No bells or whistles but they get the job done.

Nope. In the end I didn't get simply because she will not sell the cd to international customers. I emailed Donna, posted a comment on her page, and I never got a reply from anyone. I even suggested she offers the file as a download (you know,like startwrite, HST, etc). I don't have anyone in the US who could get it for me and send it to the Gulf, so...:glare: If you go to Donna's website it says the CD is out of stock.

Every Friday we go out for Friday Brunch and pool (Friday here is like Sunday -church day). The children get to play together and we grown up exchange gossip and news. At some point during the week we go for a grilled Lebanese dinner. Yes, I can grill something at home but it doesn't come out the same, and our little town in the UK doesn't feature a single Lebanese restaurant so...

Maybe going back to basics would be a good idea. Go back to italic print and review letter formation, and move on from there. Then I would follow the CM approach and have him do copywork, and keep the lessons short, say about 5-10 minutes, but stick with it every day. Ask him to copy a model as closely as he can. I firmly believe in muscle training, so even if you have to watch your son like a hawk for a while in the end his "hand" will know what to do. I'm no expert, this is just MHO.

The science curriculum I'm using for my 5yo uses Urborne's First Encyclopedia of Science. We fint it ok but a bit elementary. We always have to supplement it with Kingfisher.

Or the time there was an earthquake and the house shook (I nearly keeled over with freight), or the time when the power and water were cut off because the company mistook us for another family who was due to move out of the building... ...and of course we all get sick when DH goes away on business trips...which reminds me dh is away today. :001_huh:

What an inspiration! Love the white, the clean look, and the easy to clean flooring...and of course the big smiles on the children.

I started out by making copies but after a bit I realised it was a hassle: scanning, making a file, then printing. Now I just use the workbooks. The only exception is handwriting where I make extra copies of copywork when ds needs extra practice.

DS doesn't have an opinion yet. And no,I didn't detect an 'snarky' tones in your post. :) I know, I know. I've registered ds for a full week of swimming lessons. I am hoping he will be more confident around water, and also learn tiles are slippery.:tongue_smilie: