Home. I would rather do it in a salon because it does look better, but it takes too much time and money. My husband helps me with it. L'Oreal Preference has become my favorite.

Cranberry Thanksgiving is fun.

My twins learned last summer, but I still help with a double knot sometimes -- especially if they are playing outside and I want it to be tight. They have trouble with keeping the tension constant so the laces are pulled tight.

Welcome! I'm pretty new, too. Everyone here is very helpful.

We are using the United States 2 workbook with stickers that I got in the dollar bins at Target. It's very short and easy. A couple times a week we review the states and capitals we've done so far in the workbook.

My kids love "Go to the Dump".

We just finished reading Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. The kids liked it OK, but didn't love it. They didn't want me to read any of the sequels.

We do read-alouds at breakfast from classic children's literature lists that I pick. And then my dh reads to them at bedtime from books that they choose.

Thanks. I just looked up a video about classifying animals for science tomorrow.

Four days per week, about 15 minutes per day. We usually take the 4 days to finish a Step.

I did FIAR Volume 1 with my twins for K. Even if your little guy doesn't do all the activities, he will probably still really enjoy the books. My kids don't seem to have retained a lot from 1st grade history/geography, but from Kindergarten they still remember that Ping lives in China along the Yangtze River!

I buy my wheat at Bread Beckers. If you live in the southeast, they have lots of coops. Here's the link: http://info.breadbeckers.com/co-op-locations/

I have my DD7 and DS7 do some things on the computer that are independent -- using learn to type software (Typing Instructor for Kids) and some phonics and spelling software (Click N Kids). They also use Quarter Mile Math independently to practice math facts. I have to be there and guide or teach them on just about everything else.

We considered getting rid of our land line to save money, but there is no place in our house to leave the cell phone where we can hear it from any room. I don't want to carry the cell phone with me everywhere I go in the house, so we stuck with the land line. I only use the cell when out and about in the car.

Congratulations!! Twins are challenging, but so much fun, too. Mine just turned seven, and are best friends. I keep telling them that they are so lucky to have someone exactly their own age to play with.

We're on a pretty regular schedule. I get up at 6:30 am and the kids get up right after that, when I turn the hallway light on. That's their signal, and they are really good about getting up right away. We eat breakfast at 7 am, and usually do an hour of school (starting with a read-aloud while they eat), then take a break to clean up, etc. It's nice to get an hour of school under our belts pretty early, then take an hour break, and get started again.

:iagree: We use the original Click N Kids as a supplement, and it's good review and reinforcement, but I wouldn't use it as a complete phonics program.

Snorting. My kids have started this bad habit, and it drives me crazy.

We also are doing SOTW. Since we're not doing much American History yet, I decided to throw in a little georgraphy for the United States for 2nd grade. I just bought some cheap workbooks at Target with a half-page for each state, and are using them to teach the states and capitals this year. It only takes 5 or 10 minutes a day, although I can see it's going to take longer the more states we learn, and the more review there is to remember them all.

I've only had twins, but the first two-and-a half months was the toughest physical thing I have ever dealt with in my life. I didn't get more than 2-and-a-half hours sleep in a row for that time period. They were premies and had to be awakened and fed ever 3 hours. I remember feeling like I was in a constant fog, and could barely function. So, I vote that twins are harder even though I can't really compare.

My kids used Reading Eggs for the 30 day trial, and liked it a lot. I didn't buy it because they were really already starting to read and finished it by the time our trial was over. We also use Click N Read -- I agree with the other posters that indicated their kids thought it was a little boring, and they don't love it, but I think they are still learning from it. Every lesson has the same format. I believe my DD is on Lesson 73, and it's gotten harder. She doesn't get everything right all the time, so I'm still having her and my DS use it when I need one of them to work independently.

Your post sounds very similar to what has been happening at my house. I'm teaching boy/girl twins in 2nd grade. I get that blank stare a lot from my son. Lately, I've been experimenting with a lot of different things, and it has been improving. I give them more breaks, tell them to yell "wiggle" if they need a one minute break to move around. I am changing their math curriculum because I think they need more manipulatives. I started separating them when they start giggling and fooling around, then go from one to the other to help each one separately. I don't let things escalate, and tell my son to go to his room, and come back when he's ready to do his work instead of staring into space and not doing what I ask (ie, tasks I know he understands how to do). If he doesn't come back by the time my dd is done with the subject, he has to do it after school when my dd is now done, and playing. This usually changes his attitude because he doesn't want to miss playtime. They are just not ready to do anything much independently, so I am pretty much teaching or guiding them during all our school time. I'm not sure of any of these ideas will help you, but I can understand your frustration. I started making some changes after I threatened public school every single day for a week.

We use the activity guide primarily for the map work and suggestions for additional history books and related literature books. I think it's worth having. We also enjoy the CDS (saves my voice from having to read as much). The CDs have a pretty good resale value. I bought Volume 2 CDs used, and paid almost half of retail.

Oh, that brings back memories. I grew up in Nebraska, and we ate Dorothy Lynch all the time. I haven't had any in years. Yum!

We started in the middle of first grade, and did half of it. We'll finish it in 2nd grade. I'm glad we didn't start any sooner.