Why not?

Our prospective school has snack guidelines, but each child brings their own. I like this. There's a little bit of top-down, but at least the guidelines more or less make sense. http://www.candeoschools.com/parent/parentdefault.aspx

Growing up, my dad gave me one or two items from the gap (pajamas or a robe or slippers) and then stuck the receipt and gift card in the box. That way I could take advantage of the after-Christmas sales and if necessary return what didn't fit.

We love Duplo, and are just getting into Lego. My son Reeaally loves his Duplo: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/my-party-nikolay-phoenix-az-139687 And now that we are in Germany, we bought him a few "tiny lego" bits, as well as various gifts he received from grandparents. He's going to have to give them back at the end of our vacation, though, because we've agreed that they will be his fifth birthday present next February. This is mainly because I want to wait as long as possible, knowing that his younger brother (almost 2 1/2) will join in with the "tiny Legos," as the boys call them. Duplos are just Legos around here. :-) We are starting with: two or three big buckets from the bricks and more, as well as three small bricks and more play sets, which he received from grandparents: a construction guy, a police man and bad guy set, and a safari set. He may also get the car building set for his birthday, but that should be enough to last him for quite a while, maybe with the addition of a few "guys." We found some of my old minifigs at my Oma and Opa's house, though they long-ago got rid of my Legos. Maybe for next year's Christmas/birthday we'll move into the City line, and after that th Creator. I LOVE that those come with multiple builds from one set. So that's the plan for 5th, 6th, and 7th birthdays. After that, we re-evaluate. Maybe those Tech/robot things? But the main idea is pieces, rather than specific sets, which is why I love the Bricks and More sets as starters. We also found tons of old Playmobil, which solved the Lego vs playmobil debate here. My husband had insisted we should choose, I thought we could do both (why not, I did!) ... But now that Oma gifted them some Playmobil and I found my old ones, the debate has been put to rest. Now how to fit them in the suitcase?

Ohmygoodness, no. My son takes The Worst photos of me with my iPhone. Something to do with his height and the "up the nose" angle.

I had thought of that, as well. I will have to see where he's placed (there is a chance of acceleration, so K kids doing 1st math), and what they use before I can address that though.

We like him, But. We listen to get inspired, and are almost paid off on various debts (still working on student loans) but we can't go all crazy like he would have us... Food budgets can't be cut beyond a certain point because of food issues, etc. Technically out trip to Germany right now isn't DR-approved, but our children will likely not have the opportunity to see two sets of great grandparents and other family members in a few years when it would be DR-approved, you know? We have to weigh opportunities against budgets.

I get you! I read this and feel guilty (usually around 700-800 a month for four) but with no: gluten, grains, dairy, nuts, soy, and sugars... Sigh.

My husband does this with our boys, mainly because he thinks they're grody, and frankly they often are (snotty noses, etc) and yet I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm European and kisses don't bug me too much, though I'd prefer cheek to mouth. What bugs me/sets off my personal space alarms are hugs, esp. from men. What's up with that? I hate frontal hugs, I usually try to divert into the sideways teacher hug.

Yes, but if you've got a few hours to watch the videos, you're fine.

You know the book is optional, right? (Says the woman who has two because savers happened to have them)

I found what looks to be some cool German books for foreign students in Germany, Spielend Deutsch Lernen, on Amazon.de. Might buy a few of those before we leave here... But they're still too much reading. I was hoping to do it more orally first.

I have a good friend who has five children, all of them born in the 35-36 week range. She's just a fast baby cooker, I guess. As far as I recall, there was only one who did a brief stint in the NICU. Meanwhile, my son was born full-term and had to stay there four days! Don't freak out in advance, just take everything - including your beautiful new baby! - as it comes.

Me too! Finishing up Science Fiction/Fantasy course, now also World History and Greek mythology. :-)

Not helpful to the initial question, but fascinating. http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/holiday07/court.cfm

I read that it had more to do with the practice of "bundling," which is depicted in the movie The Patriot... Presumably not all bundles were so effective. ;-)

Yes, this is what I've been thinking the whole time. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.

Here's one Lesefibel. Is this it? http://www.cornelsen.de/mgl/1.c.1450435.de Of course there are some cool vintage ones on Google Books, but they have the old German script that no kid today could read!

Ditto! I'm currently in Germany and could pick some up!

I've been the teacher doing home visits. I found that the families that I was able to speak with wound up being some of my most productive co-operation opportunities. In inner-city Baltimore, that's saying a lot.

This. Lost 22 lbs and counting, and I've even upped the carbs.

Do the pink jeep to tour! I resisted so long, and now I regret it. It was SO awesome.

Great question. My boys are four and two, and I want them to learn German. The irony is, it's my native language, so I could totally teach them, I just want them to get started somehow. We are currently in Germany for a month, so that's a start. I'm doing some iPad apps and then taking them for walks and talking to them, but so often it's just easier to switch to English, like when I have to yell "Stop, there's a car coming!" The Little Pim German digital download will allegedly be available this week, so they can start watching the videos.

In Germany we copied, and our spelling/grammar was dictation. When I moved to the US at the end of 2nd grade (1987) it was all about dittoes. Incidentally, I am here in Germany now visiting my grandparents, and I saw the sort of small half-sized exercise notebooks we used in the store, so I assume they still do something like that. ETA I just saw East Germany mentioned above. I was from the West, and we didn't use copiers for school either, so perhaps that was more a school culture thing than a political thing, at least in the schools.

:iagree: