Does anyone know if there is a huge difference besides the books they added? I have the 2005 version and will have some extra money to upgrade soon if it's really worth it. Anyone know?

Twitter - http://twitter.com/katieinuganda FB - http://www.facebook.com/people/Katie-Davis/1513020117

Some of you have probably heard of Katie Davis, the 21 yr old from the States who adopted 14 girls from Uganda and lives there with them. I recently saw that she is doing Sonlight over there:) I think that so far she has only written about that on Facebook, where she freely accepts friend requests from people who want to encourage and support her even if she doesn't know them. I saw a posting where she and another friend who also does SL took the kids on a field trip to Jinga train station after finishing The Boxcar Children:) A Video - Her Blog - http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/ Her ministry - http://amazima.org/

I have read studies that say no matter how creative or wonderful a caregiver or teacher is - especially at this age - the child does better with the parent. Age 5 can be quite young to go to school and they will be in school for such a long time - which makes this a special opportunity to have some more time with your child and they with you. I do understand your wife's feelings of perhaps wondering if it will be too much because mine are 364 days apart. When we lived in Germany I didn't think I could handle them even though I come from a HUGE family and thought I would have a large one also. You just don't know how you will feel or what you will really want to do until you are in the situation. If your wife had a nice curriculum that laid everything out and made it simple perhaps that would help? There are so many great ones out there! I knew I wanted to homeschool this year but found it very daunting until I bought some curricula. I have a 4 and 5 yr old this year and we are going slowly through the Sonlight K and will backtrack a little and do Sonlight's P4/5 when we have all of it in the mail. The P4/5 is good and wouldn't be too overwhelming:) I have friends who send their children that age to a little school one day a week and homeschool the rest. Also, maybe there are some good homeschool co-ops near you for added support. Hope all goes well with the decision for all of you. We just got out of the military so I know how it feels to be so far away from family and it's harder to take on things like homeschooling when you are not near them. My husband was in CID and is going to be doing it on the outside now. Thank you for your service and sacrifice!

When I was growing up my family had a TV in the closet that we pulled out only if we were watching a movie on the weekend. Later when my parents divorced (me, 12) we had the contrast to that which was my Dad's house where it was always on - he liked the background noise. It was depressing:( Years later when I was a live-in nanny I wasn't tempted by their huge screen/billions of channels. I think the foundation my Mom laid really stuck with me and all of my siblings. It was easy then to go into a marriage and not have TV because my husband didn't care for it - so we've never used it for anything other than to play films during the weekend. When we had kids we decided not to let them watch any TV or movies until the time felt right. Of course there have been rare times when they have been at a friend or cousins house and have watched a little or I've shown them a clip on youtube. Both of my boys just turned 4 and 5 and we have recently decided to watch one special movie a month. They love it:) and we don't have a problem with them wanting more. This has worked so well for us and I love the time my children spend using their imaginations and the time we have spent as a family because of the lack of it. The few times I let my children watch things I could see that if we had it going all the time that it would probably be the top choice. Most of those times their behavior became aggressive and rude when they wanted to watch more - this particular reaction they had I have only seen in them in regard to TV & movies. I think most children would choose easy entertainment with immediate gratification.

Thank you alpidarkomama! I appreciate all that info:) I'm not ordering till tomorrow or Monday now so the timing is perfect! Have a lovely weekend;)

Does anyone know how the Angels on Amazon compare to the ones from Peripole-Bergerault? Like this one... http://www.amazon.com/Angel-One-Piec...4599565&sr=1-1 Also, what is the difference between getting a one-piece recorder and a two piece and so on? I like a lot of the three piece recorders but I have no idea what I am doing.:tongue_smilie:

This is the only thing I have to go on from the OM book since I don't have it yet and will probably need to order the recorder tomorrow before the book arrives... "The notes you will learn in the first quarter are: B, A, and G. In the second quarter, you will learn high D and C. The third quarter will consist of learning more songs using all five of these notes." I don't know how that effects what kind I should buy, I just know that I need a soprano recorder. I like the Angel soprano recorders at Peripole-Bergerault but for now my Mom was going to do a big order on Amazon and add some things in for me. Does anyone know how the Angels on Amazon compare to the ones from Peripole-Bergerault? Like this one... http://www.amazon.com/Angel-One-Piece-C-Soprano-Recorder-Black/dp/B0002D15JU/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1284599565&sr=1-1 Also, what is the difference between getting a one-piece recorder and a two piece and so on? I like a lot of the three piece recorders but I have no idea what I am doing.:tongue_smilie: KrissiK - That's great - how fun! What book are you guys learning from?

My boys 4 and 5 are very used to long periods of reading - mostly because we have always done it but also because we still do not watch TV or movies. BUT, we are doing school and Sonlight for the first time and they are not used to it and being little boys they have a lot of energy:D So we read a little 20 to 30 minutes and then get up and play with Playmobil or I have the table already set up with simple crafts to work at, then we read some more. If there is something like the history (Martin Luther) that they are fidgety with I read while they eat. I usually, especially with it still being so hot here, get them outside in the morning and after they have run around they are more ready to sit and read. We also have some good Haba games that they will play quietly with. Today we are going to the nature center and after we play we're going to do our reading on a blanket outside:) Hope you have a great year of reading with your children.

Sad for you:( and praying! Hoping that peace finds you soon.

Thank you both very much!!! That helps:)

I just ordered Oak Meadow's Beginning Recorder and haven't received it yet and I'm wondering what kind of recorder they suggest. We don't have much of a budget for music at the moment so I'm starting out with this. From the picture on the OM site the recorder they use looked like this... http://www.amazon.com/Angel-301N-Three-Piece-Sopranino-Recorder/dp/B001LY6XFK/ref=sr_1_11?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1284431230&sr=1-11 or this (which I think looks better) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002F7C5Y/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A16A7Q5XF4OWBQ My Mom is ordering a bunch of stuff for my birthday on Amazon soon so I'm hoping to find one before that:)

Thanks everyone - these all look good:) I like Kumon but had forgotten about them. R&S I'm not familiar with but I like that you can get a bundle of workbooks for such a low price! Brainquest looks good too!

I get a burst of energy around 11pm too - recently noticed this. If I'm reading or watching a movie I fall asleep but if I'm at the computer I stay WIDE awake;) I think I need to turn the computer off at 11 or right before:P Our days go so much better if I've had sleep and I get to start them earlier with my coffee by myself:)

One of my sisters wants to do something very low-key with her preschool age daughter once or twice a week and asked me for an idea. Is there anything out there a little richer than just the big workbooks you find at B&N? I'm having trouble thinking of something really good that won't overwhelm her:P

So, 11 is way to early:P The best I can do is 11:30-12:00. I've found that any later than that and I can't get up early enough. The thing is I LOVE night but I also really love morning and I don't like to miss it. In my case and can't have both to the extent that I want them. Last week I did good on 2 nights and the following days went swimmingly:) The rest my DH was away on business and I couldn't sleep. So trying again this next week for 11:30-12:00!

Thank you for the recommendation on the book "Better Late Than Early" - I'm checking that out. I found the Teaching our children to write, read & spell: Part II very interesting! Miss Sherry I am interested in the Three Step Method - I will pm you:) I know so little about all of this and I only have this one chance with my boys who are 4 and 5 right now. The 5 year old is the one who may or may not be ready. So I guess I need to try and ascertain whether the connection between right and left hemispheres has formed for him first of all. I'm not worried about pushing him - that's not really me. I am worried that I won't present him with enough learning opportunities if he is ready. He talks like an 8 year old much of the time and yet he does not recognize all of the alphabet. I blame that on myself because I haven't really worked on it much with him. We focused on art and playing. I will look back at that article to see what exercises they advised for building that connection but if any of you know of some please let me know. And if you have any advice about where I should begin at this point with him only recognizing about 80% of the alphabet I'd love to know. I have the 3 Get Ready for the Code books coming in the mail, Developing the Early Learner, Sonlight K, Sonlight p4/5 and Handwriting Without Tears and TWRTR but I don't think he is ready for SL's K LA, HWT or TWRTR:P My sweet husband isn't pressuring but he often has stories from friends or co-workers whose children are the same age or younger that are already reading. I'm not really the type to feel pressured by what other people are doing but sometimes this makes me feel like I've failed my 5 yr old:(

The Article I read this article awhile back before having children and it made me wonder - was it a bit hokey or very true...or depended on the child?

As my name implies, I'm a bit of a Night Owl;) I've always liked night but for some reason I started staying up much later 4 yrs ago when we were living in Germany. I do fine on 5 or 6 hours of sleep but I don't think I can continue going to bed at 2am and homeschool well:P I like to feel rested but I don't like going to bed - there is so much to do and read and it's quiet. :D So, we start our little school here this Tuesday and I'm going to try and get into bed by 11 - which is really like 8 in NightOwlMama time. I hope I can get on this new bandwagon!

Wow! I have a huge list now - Thanks:) We like a wide variety so all of this looks good. Sounds like we need to get Hank the Cowdog for sure :) - I've never heard of it. I recently bought the Winnie the Pooh series read by Peter Dennis and checked out a bunch read by Jim Weiss. My boys are going to love all of these:)

Thanks everyone! That helps:)

Ok, I am clueless so bear with me:) I was just looking up homeschooling laws and did not know about the "letter of intent" and some other things. I am in Atlanta and it looks like kindergarten is nor required in Georgia. So I don't need to do anything for my five yr old I am teaching this year? Also, we will be moving in the next few months, most likely the DC area so I'd need to know the law for VA or MD. If it is required in those would I just send a letter of intent after we move even though the school year has already started? :confused:

We need some new books on CD for downtime so we'll be hitting the library and then ordering what we like. Anyone have audio book loves to share? My almost 5 yr old will listen to things far above his level so share all age levels please. :)

That worked - thank you!

Thanks everyone! That's all very helpful:)