When you just didn't know what to do? My dd6 is throwing a monster tantrum because she doesn't want to go to gymnastics. I don't want to "give in" to her and let her stay home b/c I don't want her to think that this behavior is acceptable, but I can't literally hold her down and force her leotard onto her. Plus, what if there's a real reason she doesn't want to go? I'm at every class so I know there's nothing bad going on there, though. WWYD?

I'm with you!! It really depends on my mood. A lot of times I see those and it completely motivates me, and other times makes me depressed!! To each his own, right?

I've seen in some blogs various ways that you keep track of chores. If you have some sort of visual reminder for your kids, could I see them? I'm trying to get organized--sort of a late New Year's Resolution! Plus, I just bought a laminator that I'm eager to use!! Thanks!

Thanks for the advice. I agree completely about the TV. The problem is my ds will not sit and do anything quietly. He is very needy right now and will, at most, sit for maybe 5 minutes and work on a puzzle, pattern blocks, etc. He'll sit and be read to, but I obviously can't read to him and help her at the same time. We enrolled him in preschool and that helps a lot. DD and I go to the library or a Dunkin Donuts, which she loves because it makes her feel soooo much older :) and do work while he's in school. It's the other 3 days/week that are a struggle. I don't want to neglect either of them and I feel like I'm always picking one over the other. Sometimes it is disobedience and she is punished appropriately at those times, but I think a lot of it is frustration. Usually we just take a short break so that we can each take a breather and then come back to it. Like everyone, I'm sure, we have good days and bad. Just recently the bad have outweighed the good and it's tough.

this is our first year homeschooling our daughter and every day is a battle. She never wants to do anything other than watch tv with her brother. When I'm fighting with her to do her work and she gets upset with me I start to think that maybe she'd do better in school. I wonder if I'm really doing what's best for her or if I'm homeschooling just because it's what my dh and I think is best for her. Maybe a teacher could get through to her better than I can. We switched her math curriculum because we thought that was the source of some of her frustration but the new one is no better. It's stuff she already did in kindergarten last year and she had no problems with it (simple addition--the beginning of Alpha in Math U See. We had been using Singapore and were much further ahead. I expected to sail right through Alpha). Sorry I'm rambling, it's just been a rough 2 weeks and we're all frustrated right now.

Do I need to buy the text as well as the workbook, or can we get away with just the workbook? It would be WWE1 and we've never used a formal writing program, but we use FLL currently.

My husband's aunt teaches there. She's always had great things to say about it.

We use it through our ps, and I don't like it for Latin. I think it would be fine for a language that you wanted to use in a particular country, but I wanted my dd to learn Latin mostly for the vocab, obviously not for travel. We stopped using it because she just got bored with it and frustrated when she couldn't pronounce something properly. I didn't want to turn her off from Latin forever.

Do I need the instructor's guide for WWE1? Can we get away with just the student guide? Did you start this in first grade? It seems like we do so much now and I'm afraid that if I add a complete writing program on top of it she's going to resist.

my dd6 reads it mostly on her own, but needs some help with the "big" words. It helps with her reading comprehension as well because then we answer the questions in the activity guide.

It wasn't me, but we do skip over lessons and work at our own pace. For us there is sooo much repetition that it becomes dry and my dd was not doing well with it. I tailor it for her and make it work for us. I don't think we'll be done with it in a year, in fact I know we won't, but I don't think it will take us 2 full years, either.

You made me laugh out loud! I had the same thought with my ds (3). Now he's in a bed and there are times I wish I could tie him to it.

My dd is 6 and in first grade as well. We had started with Singapore 1A and just today I ordered Math U See. Singapore seems to be a little too abstract for her. She needs to see why something works and use manipulatives more than Singapore uses them. I don't know why it said that Singapore is for grade 2. The material itself in 1A was at her level, it just wasn't presented in a way that worked for her, or for me. Sorry-I'm not much help, we're new at this too! I don't know much about any other math programs. It's all about finding what works best for you. Good luck!

we're new to it too, following WTM. You'll do fine! There are harder days than others, but on those days we just take a break and change course for a while. I started with Singapore math but we're switching. It's too abstract for my dd, and for me! I think it will work well when she's older, but for now I think we're going to try Math U See. (she's 6, first grade). Good luck!!

It looks interesting, but I don't know anyone who's actually tried it. Is it terrible?? From what I remember it's spinach, cucumber, apples, ginger, lemon & lime juice.

What math program are you using? I did the same thing! Going against the advice in the program (Singapore), I didn't focus on it and now she's struggling. We're mostly just doing flashcards. I bought a pair of blow-up dice and she enjoys tossing them around and adding up the numbers she gets, but of course this only works to 6's. I once saw someone who took one of those big pool noodles and cut it up and wrote answers on each piece. Then they floated them all in a big storage tote of water and the kids had to find the answers in that. I'm going to try this because my kids would love anything with water!! I bought the noodles over the summer, but you could probably find then online or at a Pool City store.

We have been using FLL. I found Writing with East at a bookstore and was wondering: should I use both together, or is it better to do either/or?

I used to do this and loved it. I've gotten away from it over the past few years but you've inspired me to start up again! One thing that always worked for me was to make double or triple of all the meals. It's usually not any harder than making 1 and saves a lot of time and energy. I originally wanted to buy one of those contraptions that sucks the air out of bags but never got around to it. If you seal a ziploc almost all of the way and then use a straw to suck out the rest of the air it works just as well! I would make something like waffles and then freeze them on a cookie sheet before transferring to a ziploc. Like others said, removing a foil-wrapped lasagna saves you from buying so many pans. Also, I could never make more than 7 or 8 meals in a day, so plan more than 1 day to do it all. This saves so much money. I found that I could spend the same amount on ingredients for 1 huge cooking day that would feed us for a month as I would on a "normal" trip for a week. I don't know how, but it worked! Good luck and let us know how it goes! I'd love to see some new recipes!!

I love the ones where you do the 1, 2, or 3 mile walks. You don't even realize how far you're walking and then you're done! They have hand weights you can buy to go with the videos.

My mil got my dh a remote controlled car (he's 34). He opened it and thought it was for our son and she said "no, that's yours! you can race it!" She also gave all of us adults a slinky. It's the thought that counts, right?

Thanks for posting--good article. I'm curious to hear what your friend has to say about the Finnish education system. We could certainly learn a few lessons from them.

sorry! I just noticed that this posted twice. I lost my internet connection and didn't think the first one went through so I reposted. Sorry again! Thanks for your help, though!

I'm frustrated with Singapore and would love to try Math U See but it's a little expensive to just "try out". Has anyone else switched? What are your thoughts?

I'm getting frustrated with Singapore Math. We're on the first book, and I'm finding that it doesn't give a lot of guidance with how to teach the concepts in the book. I myself am totally confused with how they teach subtraction (such as 17-5). I'd like to try Math U See, but it's a little pricey to just "try out". Has anyone else switched? What are your feelings on the 2?

Our local school has a license agreement with Rosetta Stone so that students who are taking languages that we don't have teachers for can learn higher level languages (Spanish 3, etc.). Through the program our dd has been able to start Latin. However I'm not thrilled with RS for Latin. I think it's a great program to learn a language if you were going to that country and needed to speak it, but for Latin I'm more interested with grammar, etc., which it doesn't seem to provide much of. Since the program is free to us to do I don't want to drop it, but I'm wondering if I'm doing more harm than good having my dd learn it (she's 6). what do you think?