Have you looked at Elemental Science? I know that this can be used secularly. What about art? (I have no suggestions here. . .as I'm artistically impaired)

NAPTIME!!! Your oldest is 6, so I would try to get as much schoolwork done as possible during naptime. My kids are 8, 6, 3, and 1 1/2. . .and I'm trying to take my own advice on this. My 1 yr old dd is constantly climbing up on the table, crying, and playing with the computer etc. . . My big kids can work atleast twice as efficiently when it is quiet and they have my full attention. Oh how it would be nice to be done before lunch. . .someday. ;)

hmmm. . . snow boots 2 pair of sneakers brown flip flops black dress shoes (I only dress up for weddings and funeral!) that makes five. . .or maybe six (I may have another old pair of flip flops somewhere?) I used to have TONS of shoes before I had kids, but I'm soo over caring about shoes

:lol:I literally laughed when I read the poll. . .no my bedroom is not dust free. . .nor is any other room =) But the kitchen and bathroom are clean so that keeps me happy

Funny. . .a year and a half ago I thought my 3 yr old (then 1 1/2) was going to send me to the looney bin. . . . fast forward a year and a half. . .I think my 16month old dd is going to send me there.:glare: I feel your pain

:lurk5:

what she said;)

Of Course he's a boy. . .don't ya remember when he gets twitterpainted?;)

Titus Andrew Titus Alexander

yeah!!! Congratulations!

:grouphug: I have no experience with Montessori materials, but I felt like couldn't just not say anything here! Condolences I think it's wonderful that you're taking care of your sister. Wish I had more helpful info.

It only takes us 30 minutes all together. . .when we first started in lightunit 107 (we're in the 300's now), it actually took longer, because ds didn't know his math facts well. But now that he has them DOWN PAT, everything goes REALLY quickly. Hope this helps:D

So it's a good idea to have more than one on hand. I had never heard of the Sibley ones before. I really like how they have the birds from different positions! Oh and that nature journal is very cool

We have used golden guides:) We have enjoyed them; the pictures are nice. Very simple. My 8 yr old likes to read through them. But we've used them more like: "let's learn about robins" as opposed to "gee. . .I wonder what that bird is that I'm unfamiliar with" I'd like to do more of the latter.

those are what we're looking to study at the moment. The ones I'm most familiar with are the peterson and the audobon ones.

I sure hope we will!:D

Which field guide is your favorite? All I have are the beginner ones for little kids, and we're ready to move up so we can do some serious nature study. Can't decide whether it's better to have the drawings or the photos!?? :confused: So what do ya'll like and why :lurk5:

Oh my goodness! It's wonderful. My 2nd grade son is in LU 302 math --->30minutes max LU 203 language--->20 minutes max It's wonderful!!! And it's independent, so we have more time to read together. =) Hope it works for you! There are great samples online

:iagree: What she said: Flash card, LU's, TM's for 1rst grade Lu's and Answer Keys for 5th I don't know anybody who's using their creative writing book, so I can't help you there.

McRuffy Color K Next time I have a Ker, (in a couple years). . .that what we're using. I have a Ker this year and we didn't discover it soon enough. It's fun, hands on, has short lessons, is teacher friendly, and covers all the basics.

We have had a very busy year, so we used Sunrise Science for 2nd grade. . .it's as good as it gets for workbook science if you ask me. Science is only Sunrise in 1rst and 2nd grades. I know Social Studies is Sunrise through atleast 4th grade. I'm very impressed with the Sunrise editions, but I wouldn't touch the NON-sunrise editions with a 10 ft pole.

This is our first time doing that type of thing. . .I'll turn in our first quarterly report in 2 weeks. I'm doing this. . . Hours this quarter: 225+ 225 times 4 = 900 ;)

:thumbdown:okay.. .so I'm deducing that a good xylophone/glokenspiel is going to be currently out of my price range for now. Sooo. . .I'm looking at some of the ideas. I really like the idea of the handbells. I have a really loud cowbell that I use to call everyone in for mealtime, and they always want to play with it, but can't because it's too LOUD. Makes me think they'd like it. I want to get a variety of instruments so we don't have fighting. . .

I would like to get some decent quality instruments for my little crowd. I have a little tikes xylophone that I HATE. The sounds are so off key:banghead: Have ya'll found any that have good tone? Also I would like some percussion as well. . .but I really hate to get something cheap that's going to just fall apart. I know there's good stuff out there, but reviews are so mixed that it's hard to know what to get. What says the hive:bigear:

This is what we did. . .my kids that use the kindle are 6 and 8. This is their only electronic type thing. I'm the antithesis of technologically saavy.;)