Congratulations!!

I asked to have mine pierced when I was about 9, but I only wore earrings for a few years before I got tired of wearing them. None of my kids have pierced ears.

Thank you! We just read it this week!

This might be overkill for you, but here is what I did: I had a librarything.com account with a lot of my books entered in already. When we were packing for our move, I had the laptop next to me as I packed, and I tagged each book with the box number. Now I have a garage full of boxes of books, but because they're all catalogued, I can look in librarything to find out which box has the book I want. Good luck with the move!

We are in the process of deciding whether to put our rising 3rd grader in public school or continue to homeschool. Since she's always been homeschooled, I took her to our local elementary school for placement testing today. They only tested for her instructional reading level, which they said is fine for 3rd grade. The teacher who tested her did say that her reading level and writing level don't really "match up." She did well at answering straightforward questions, but not as well when asked for deeper meaning, the moral of the story, etc. She said that Common Core focuses more on the "writer's craft" and asking students why the author made the choices s/he did. Her 2nd grade language arts curriculum consisted of FLL (she finished level 3 this year), WWE (though level 2), Sequential Spelling, and daily journal entries. She finished up FLL3 a little early this year (she insists on doing 4 lessons a week, so we've moved more quickly), so I had her doing poetry lessons from an Evan Moor book in place of that for the last several weeks of school. The EM book did concentrate more on the kind of skills that the teacher mentioned. I added daily journal entries this year to try to encourage more critical thinking/writing, but she absolutely hated them. I found prompts on the internet and had her pick, or she would write about the latest book she'd read. She is adamant that the journals have to go. She does much better with structured lessons and more black-and-white kind of writing, so going beyond the literal is a tough for her. I had already been thinking about a writing supplement to FLL/WWE that would help her if she continued to homeschool, but now I feel additional pressure to get it figured out. Sorry for the novel, but any guidance would be appreciated. :001_smile:

We've been in a similar position for the past year. It is definitely getting old!

We use a plastic trash can that gets cleaned afterward.

We'll be moving from Missouri to Tennessee in February. Here in MO, my DD isn't compulsory age yet, but she will be in TN (she's 6, turning 7 in August). Is there any good reason not to just notify the local school district in TN when we move? I know that umbrella schools are popular, but I'd rather not incur the extra expense right now. Thanks!

Baby girl is 11 months! She's going to be so excited tomorrow! :)

Congratulations!!

:hurray:

:iagree: I joined after I finished college as a way of meeting people, and I think only my parents and DH know. I only went to a few events, but everyone was really nice and welcoming. I guess it depends on the group!

Yay!! :D We'll be done soon -- DD is so excited!

:iagree:

Congratulations!! :001_smile:

Congratulations!!

Oh, yes. Definitely! ::sigh::

Congratulations!! :001_smile:

I've nursed through two pregnancies -- it's tough! :grouphug: Does she know how to drink through a straw? My first two did well with straws long before they were able to drink well from a cup.

Thanks! :001_smile:

:thumbup1:

This is my first year of full time homeschooling. (DD attended preschool part time last year and did a relaxed kindergarten at home.) We'll be doing first grade this fall. Last year, we finished MM1A and a good chunk of 1B and worked on OGPTTR on and off. She's progressed a lot in her reading/phonics by reading with me and independently. We also did some copywork. I could use some suggestions for materials for this year. I want secular curricula, which narrows it down quite a bit, but I'm still finding it really tough to decide. I have a busy 3yo and a getting-busier 6mo, so I also need to make sure I'm not getting myself in over my head when it comes to prep work. Math - Will continue with MM. Phonics - Will finish out OPG Spelling - Should we finish OPG first, or start now? She's a good reader, but doesn't seem to be a natural speller. Grammar - GWG? FLL? KISS? Something else? Writing - WWW? WWE? Something else? Handwriting - We have some Kumon handwriting and cursive books, but she hates the repetition. The writing part of math makes it drag out forever because she gets careless, makes reversals, etc. and gets upset when I ask her to make corrections. Not sure how to make this fun, but she really needs the practice. Science - I'd like to do BFSU (maybe on the weekends when DH can assist) along with Life Science/Bio studies (animals, plants, human body). I've looked at RS4K, REAL, ES, but I think a textbook may be easier...or should I just try to pull something together on my own? History - I'd love to do Ancients this year, but I'm having a tough time getting on board with SOTW. Geography - Evan Moore? I'd like an overview of map skills, world geography, and the 50 states. (I'm sure I can put together the 50 states part on my own, but she'd probably like something with activities/worksheets/coloring.) Anything else that I've missed? Thank you!!

8 months. We just celebrated our 8th anniversary! :001_smile:

Our parents live out of state, but they occasionally watch them when they visit, and DD did PT preschool the past two years. A good work friend of DH's helped us out for several hours when I was delivering DS and little DD. Those are really the only times they've been left with anyone.

I have an Annabelle. It seemed more complete that way, but Annabel is nice too. :001_smile: