Not sure if qualify as "living" but definitely accurate and some great pics (and FREE): http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Our_Solar_System_Lithograph_Set.html Be aware of the Pluto controversy: better to accept that Pluto is not a planet, and instead is one of a few "dwarf planets" in our system. If a book is over 10 years old, it will probably be wrong on this. Just point it out as an example of how we've had to adjust our definitions as we learned more about our solar system, reaffirm the "8 planets" (sorry Pluto, sniff-sniff), and move on. For those of us who grew up with 9 planets, it can be a tough thing to swallow, but easier just to teach our kids the current science and move on. :) There have been some Nova specials on the fight over Pluto's status which might be cool for the slightly older kids to watch -- see how "exciting" science can really be! :lol:

I would definitely get a second opinion. I would specifically be asking about what long term benefits it has, savings in total costs and/or time, whether it is in place of later orthodontic treatment or in addition to it. To start, find out the terminology for your dc's malocclusion. Then read this article to see what the current *evidence* is to whether early treatment is likely to be helpful: http://jada.ada.org/content/131/5/613.full This doesn't replace a 2nd opinion, but should help you understand the pros/cons and what criteria the dentist should be considering before recommending pulling primary teeth. Personally, unless there is compelling evidence that early treatment would replace a longer later treatment and/or *significantly* improve results/permanence, I would just say, "no". Even if it is somehow "better", I wouldn't want to put my young child through that process without compelling reason and absolute confidence (mine, not the DDS's) that it is worthwhile. Braces where tough enough at 12yo, and dental extractions (even primary teeth)...are not trivial surgeries. Your trying to find the best answer for your CHILD, not just your child's teeth. ;) Good luck on a tough decision. :hug:

Night before last, 8.5yo dd felt like something was between her teeth and when she scraped at it with her fingernail a piece of tooth fell out. It was part of an upper 1st molar (baby tooth) and next in line to come out (she's been a bit early getting/losing teeth). Zero pain. Last night another chunk came out when she was flossing, so about 1/3 is out, the distal edge and a pie shaped piece, so that the center is gone. Looking with a light I could see that the tooth was hollow and the permanent molar is coming in underneath (can see the 2 layers of gum and a speck of white). But the darn baby tooth isn't wiggly AT ALL. DDs teeth dont' come OUT easily (did the shark tooth thing in the bottom front which left a bone chip, and seems to take MONTHS for each to go from loose to out, regardless of how much we get after her to work it). Anyone else have a baby molar literally fall apart as it got pushed out? Any suggestions to help it out? I'm a bit worried of collecting junk in the open part. I really don't want to have to make an appt with the dentist to pull out a baby tooth (plus it wouldn't be until next week). What say you, hive? TIA!

Honestly, I'd switch Drs. Or send dh with dd -- I doubt the Ped would be so opinionated when faced with a man (regardless of Drs gender). If I otherwise liked the Ped, I would either say: 1) "Oh, I didn't know you have a degree in child development as well! Wonderful! WHere did you go to school for that?" or more likely, 2) "How about you stick to medicine, for which you are actually TRAINED, and leave parenting to me. You have voiced your opinion, I've listened, but if you're going to waste our 15min harking on it I WILL find a new Dr." I might also add, "You know, this child was kicked thru the foster system and the last thing she needs is to be parked in a ps classroom and spend MORE time in a system that doesn't give a darn about her." ...and I'd be thinking, "...but if telling me what to do with MY child makes you feel better about YOUR lousy choices, I'll smile and ignore you." Sorry, but this type of junk for MDs really angers me. Can you tell? :D So vent away!

Don't forget to download all the mp3s from the GSWL website! Each lesson has one (discuss ideas of the lesson) as well as pronunciation for each word/phrase.

What grade is ds? I hear it is common not to start formal spelling until 3rd or 4th grade.

I'm still reading the book now, but it seems to me that most of the things described in Tools of the Mind are things that occur more naturally in homeschooling. Just before their bedtime, our 3 kids put on a whole play re-enactment of Tangled for dh and I. There was singing, it was choreographed, the 3yo played Flynn and played it with gusto. For the record, they've only seen the film maybe 3 times and the last time was on a road trip 5mo ago. I think with an only child you might need to act as their playmate more, but otherwise the same. Reading it, it just seemed to be a more child-lead, child-centric model with structured imaginary play with teaching that is more responsive to the child. ALl those things are more easily accommodated homeschooling. Maybe I'm missing something. BTW, I really love the book Brain rules for babies.

Details of Vendian: http://www.peripatus.gen.nz/paleontology/Vendian.html ...from which I get that not everyone uses the term (not fully adopted) and it was part of the precambrian. :D We've been using the book "Evolving Planet" -- I read a couple pages each day (which covers one aspect of a period). Doesn't cover vendian, though. Uses "precambrian" for everything before cambrian.

We have many (just counted: 10) Gmail accounts, including one for our kids (LastnameKids@gmail.com). They ALL dump into the mail account (more precisely, all but one downloads automatically to our Mail utility on our Mac. The one that doesn't is the account set up for dh's iPod so I can reach him at work, but only he and I know the account name). So, YES the kids have a gmail account specifically for their stuff (emailing friends; MA newsletters, etc) BUT there is zero presumption of privacy (not an issue as our oldest is 8yo) and they don't know the passwords to the account or to log into the computer to access mail. If something comes in, I just tell them and load it up for them to read. I guess my point is that you can either just give out one of your e-mail addresses or create one for sorting. You don't need to give the kids autonomous e-mail accounts just so they can get class stuff or even e-mail their friends. I got my first e-mail account when I started at college, and I suspect we won't let the kids have real account until around then. :lol: My kids are young, but their cousins are older and I see no benefit to giving tweens and teens cell phones that text and unfettered computer access. No one needs >900 FB friends, like one 14yo niece has! Scary.

Well, I have family here in the US that are teachers, and are very dedicated. I also have a cousin in Finnland who is a teacher, and know what it took for her to get her job. In other countries, the best in a field teach. In this country, those who can do, those who can't, teach. At least that's the model. I would point out that for all her education and for all the respect of her profession, she doesn't earn more money than a garbageman. IMO, one of the biggest myths is that if we pay teacher's more, if we throw more money at education, we'll get better results. Study after study has shown what a poor motivator money really is. Respect? yes. Money? no. I went to a top performing private high school (in the US) and the teacher's earned 2/3 of what their public counterparts were paid. Many had taught in the ps system, a couple had retired from it -- they chose to teach at my school because they were wanted to. If you want to fix math and science education in the country, the first thing you do is allow professionals in those fields -- physicists, engineers, mathematicians -- to teach high school accepting their graduate degrees in lieu of a teaching certificate. I know plenty of folks who would VOLUNTEER to teach math and science courses in ps *IF* they were allowed to. That certification is great for the unions, but bad for our schools. Some even say we shouldn't be able to hs without one. If you need a certified teacher for crowd control, then have them in the room just for that.

In the summer, we're all up by 5:30am, during the winter it's closer to 7am (right now it's 6:30). Glass of warm milk and then straight to lessons. Breakfast is at 9:30a -- they get dressed while I make it. For us rolling out of bed and straight to lessons works. When I let them dawdle until after breakfast it's a slog ALL DAY. Ugh. This way they are usually done with their core subjects before breakfast and we get to do the more fun stuff the rest of the morning. fwiw, I was NOT a morning person pre-kids, but all three were early risers, even in utero! I accepted it.

I really don't have a horse in this race, and I doubt the study authors would try to argue their study was definitive on different homeschooling styles, but as a scientist myself I wold argue that: 1) it is common, extremely common, for studies to draw conclusions beyond the original question of the study. That's why they collect additional data at the start, so they can address questions that come up during the data analysis without starting a whole new study. If they hadn't asked about style of homeschooling and then drew conclusions about style, then that would be a reach. [in contrast, I've read several medical articles that excluded groups without data to support their exclusion simply because they were not getting the result they expected! That's bad science!] 2) Studies aren't about trusting or not -- they are about evaluating the data, looking for other studies that confirm or contradict the findings, and developing further studies. 3) most dev psych studies I've ever read involve small groups and small number statistics. There are a few, very rare long-term studies of large populations of kids. Aside from the small numbers, I really didn't see much validity in the blogs attacking the study. They weren't deciding which style of education was best, just which resulted in the best performance on academic tests. I think their conclusions were valid and correct FOR THE GROUP STUDIED. What that exactly means on the larger scale, I cannot say. What that means for any individual child, I cannot say. More importantly, I don't think the authors would have an answer either, and would be the first to suggest larger studies are needed. I can say this study should give some unschoolers pause. If your child is likely to end up being enrolled in ps, unschooling may well put them at a disadvantage and you should consider what you might want/need to do to prepare them before transitioning to ps. It does not mean that an unstructured approach is not the best for YOUR child. Ultimately, we're here to educate our OWN children and I support the individual choice of schooling style.

fwiw, the Kingfisher is the one SOTW recommended for the logic age kids, so between the 2 I went with Kingfisher. Now I'm considering picking up Usborne, but not because of any deficit in the KF one, but just because...um...two is better? :lol: I need to spend $40 for an extra book? Hmmm..... I doubt I need the Usborne, and KF has several pictures on each page and only a paragraph or two on each heading, so not too heavy for your age kids (my oldest is 8yo). We do use it. A bigger factor imo is that the Kingfisher is a big hardbound book and the Usborne is a paperback with smaller pages. I've seen complaints about the Usborne bindings being weak. To get the Usborne in a hardcover (a requirement for an encyclopedia that will be used a lot, imo) you'd' have to pay twice as much. Soooo, if budget is a concern and you can only get one, I'd vote for the hardcover Kingfisher, hands down! :D

For this who've seen both, is the 2010/2011 edition of the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History significantly different in content than the 2003, or not? Thanks!

Almost hate to admit, but my kids learned to navigate by map via Wii games. :D Favorite for that was Endless Oceans 2 (also learned about 250 species of fish, solving riddles, and time management). Just mentioning there are some sneaky ways to teach it (ETA: wouldn't go out and get a Wii for this of course, but *if* your kids play Wii already and you're thinking of getting a new game, consider a twofer. My kids play Wii for a reward after completing lessons). After a while, dd started making maps of the house and having her sister use them to search for "treasure". :)

True academic maturity has to do with the ability to focus and play with ideas, not to sit and "behave" in a classroom. :tongue_smilie: Trouble is "maturity" in ps is determined by how well a child can sit quietly and not make any extra work for the teacher. Kids who are working at a higher level finish their work sooner and are expected to sit quietly dong NOTHING for 10-20min while the rest of the class finishes up. IMO that's not a reasonable expectation in the K-4 grades and a "smart" kid is more likely to be labeled as "immature" because they are being asked to do something (sit and do nothing all day, bored) that the "slower" kids are not. How would holding them back help with that? Also, about 1/4 of kids in the US are introverts, which means their social skills may lag their academic skills. Holding them back is unfair to them academically and hanging around with younger kids is hardly going to teach them to improve their behavior. ETA: Don't forget the recent study showing kids are more likely to be DX with ADHD simply because they are younger than their peers: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38740077/ns/health-childrens_health/t/younger-kids-may-wrongly-get-adhd-diagnosis/#.Tra03mDC5Xc TO me, one of the best things about hs is being able to meet my kids where they are. But the "maturity card" drives me a bit nuts. I was the youngest in my class and far ahead; I was the kid year after year asked to sit quietly and wait for my peers, then get yelled at for talking or taking out something to do, then the school wanted to block my skipping a grade in math because of "maturity" -- skipping was the best thing for me by far, and amazingly maturity stopped being an issue when I had something more interesting to do than count how many holes were in each ceiling tiles in the classroom 100 times a day. IMO, you cannot even begin to judge maturity until you provide a suitable level of materials.

I don't think they are the same. For one thing, a woman reading a romance novel rarely needs to worry about getting the pages sticky. :tongue_smilie: I suspect they are almost opposite in effect -- porn may make a man dissatisfied with his wife, feeling she doesn't live up to some genetic celebrity image or do X,Y or Z. I think women who read romance/erotic novels are getting some of their emotional needs met which transfers to the husband (its like he gets credit for the actions of the hero, rather than he is being compared unfavorably). Both can have negative effects since this can act like a bandaid on an emotionally distant relationship, since the woman may read books rather than expect or ask for more depth in their irl relationship. Personally, I don't have the time or interest in either, but it's a fun topic. :lol:

I agree with what others have said: using different materials allows me to craft a curriculum that is interesting and varied, providing many different perspectives on math. I weave together material from 3 curricula and 2 other resources to keep my dc challenged and interested. I wouldn't use one math program (no matter how solid) and tell my child, "this is what math is" any more than I would give dc one classic novel and say, "this is what good writing is". :D

Costco's business model is that they make their profit on membership dues and markup products no more than ~10%. I might be able to find milk on sale at a local store cheaper, but I know I'm never going to get screwed over by Costco. I can return anything without a receipt, tho that rarely happens. The employees seem genuinely happy to be there -- they are paid well, get great benefits, and those that went off to war were guaranteed their jobs on their return. Pretty awesome. This shows in their helpfulness. Last year we bought the display for a glassware set and an employee volunteered to unpack a different design and pack the glassware in that box so we wouldn't have to worry about getting it home. The glassware set cost $10, and we haven't broken one yet, btw. We stopped by to pick up a b'day cake and a guy working in the bakery overheard us and offered to get dc's name added to the cake immediately. It was such a nice touch. Costco is concerned about things like sustainability and environmental impact of their business. We buy a lot of organic and nearly-organic foods there. In comparison, Walmart/Sam'sClub has a business model of moving into a town, undercutting the competition for 5 years, then raising prices steadily once they're destroyed the local companies. They have a rep for treating their employees badly, and will put one microwave "deal" next to others that are not deals at all, so you think getting the nicer one is a deal, too. You definitely have to comparison shop to not get taken advantage of! Overall their prices are comparable on the basics, Costco does more high end stuff, and in the end I like feeling like I'm doing business with a nice company that is out to make a profit (and does, reliably) but not by screwing over its members or employees. When we shop at Costco, I can relax and know if I find something ti's unlikely I could get it cheaper anywhere else, except maybe if it were a loss-leader item for a store.

Lattice math is a cool parlor trick and fun for the advanced student to figure out WHY it works. But the fact that the why isn't obvious is why I HATE it being taught as a method to use. The trouble is, it is easier to DO, but harder to understand what the heck you ARE doing. I'm more interested in teaching my kids to understand math than to become human calculators. Lattice math, as well as other problems in math education, are discussed here:

Aikido here, all the way. I like it because it's non-competitive, can be done by anyone regardless or size or strength, and can be done your whole life (I have a friend who was a black belt in judo switch to aikido when he turned 50 because it was gentler on his aging body, lol). But the best thing imo is the inherent attitude of aikido -- you are redirecting the other person's aggressive energy to help them find a nice comfy place to lay down (on the floor) and the person doing technique is fundamentally responsible for the person they are doing technique on. In other words, if you throw someone, it is your responsibility not to throw them harder or faster than they can handle. If your partner is injured, it's your fault. That basic sense of responsibility for others and for your actions I find very positive and missing from many MAs where it becomes about how hard/fast your can strike/kick. The "do no harm" attitude of aikido is why it is used a lot for training police officers. Don't mean to sound like an advertisement for aikido, but it's not as well known as some of the others. :)

understanding the symbolic nature of language is one of those things you just can't push. My older 2 were about 4.5 when it suddenly "clicked" and then my son taught himself all the letters and sounds before his 2nd b'day. :confused: The one thing I'd suggest is having the whole alphabet out in a few places. DO you have an ABC wooden puzzle? Do you have magnets up on a board where he can see it frequently? Even blocks with letters. To learn letters you have to not only see the letter, but see it along side the other letters, to see what looks the same and what is different. So, my suggestion would be to incorporate ABCs into play, have it omnipresent in his environment, read a lot, and do the free starfall.com stuff (personally, I didn't find my dd learned anything from starfall, but it is fun and built enthusiasm). Then just wait for signs of interest and readiness. When he starts pointing out letters on signs out and about or letters in books you read, then you know he's ready to start working with it formally. That may happen next week, or next year, or not until he's 6 or 7. You really cannot force it. If his brain isn't ready for symbolic language, it just isn't ready. It has nothing to do with intelligence, just wiring. ;) ETA: make sure you also do a lot with shapes, colors, sorting, comparing (big, little, wide, tall). Pay attention to how aware he is of visual info. That will help you know when he's ready to learn letters.

Interesting point. My older dd is a perfectionist. She's meticulous and hates being "wrong". She'll talk our ears off at home (I guess we're "safe"), but with others...In her MA class, the instructor asked a question and all the students, including my younger dd who did NOT know the answer were raising their hands as high as they could. Except my older dd. She shrunk to the smallest possible size even though I KNOW she knew the answer. It was actually pretty comical. I do worry that to others it may appear she has an "attitude" but she just is more...private and reserved in those situations. ETA: her younger sister is more my flavor of introvert: fearless and outgoing (at least I was as a kid, lol). She has a sensitive social radar (like dh). To see her, you'd think she's an extrovert, but she's just a very social introvert. Very strong willed and driven by an internal compass. But she LOVES to play and talk with others. My older dd has a harder time reading others (like me), so she's social and good with friends but definitely more...private. ETA2: The books being private made me chuckle. My privacy thing was music. I remember in high school a guy asking nicely what I was listening to on my walkman and I remember feeling bemused knowing he'd have to pry it from my hands, kicking and screaming, to find out. Yet I would hold political debates daily with strangers on the city bus (I'd find out their position and argue the opposite, just for fun). :lol:

I think it depends... If your son is an extrovert, it might be about trying to fit in. If your son is an introvert, it might be more an issue of private/public. TO him, what he knows/reads may be PRIVATE and thus he doesn't feel like sharing it. While extroverts read social cues to determine private/public, introverts tend to hold what is important to them as private. Sometimes they mark everything as "private" since they don't feel the need to get social approval (so the exact opposite of the extrovert). Introverts often feel misunderstood or "Why don't they know who I am?" while at the same time keeping their most important thoughts and feelings to themselves (other types of introverts will blab every detail to anyone since they are only concerned with their internal world and don't know how to self-edit yet). If you think introvert = shy or antisocial...don't. introvert/extrovert has to do with where you get your energy (extroverts are energized by social interactions, introverts may enjoy them immensely but leave drained). SO first, figure out which you are dealing with. My two girls are both introverts: my oldest observe before participating and volunteers little of her own thoughts/interests (reminds me of Jane Goodall observing the gorillas) but her sister is a total social butterfly and has never seen a stranger to which she won't tell her life story and befriend. Neither is remotely "shy" around others. If you are an extrovert and your child is an introvert, I strongly recommend reading a book like "gifts differing" by I. Briggs-Myers. Extroverts have a tough time reading introverts (introverts shake their heads at extroverts, but they can usually discern the internal motivations). If your son is an extrovert, play to his social responsibility. Discuss how a child feels when they are asking for help with a problem and the responsibility of anyone there to help if they can. You can also discuss that saying "I don't know" when you do is a form of lying and the value of being honest with his friends/teachers. To the introvert, since this is the action of a strong sense of self rather than a weak one (peer pressure) you may want to allow more leeway. I would discuss social responsibility and lying, and when it is important to disclose what he knows, even if he wouldn't volunteer it. He might benefit from discussing the private/public balance, discuss what YOU disclose/keep private and how it changes in different groups. Basically, you can voice the expectation that when asked he needs to answer and that it is unfair to refuse to participate in group activities when he has something valuable to contribute. In other situations, he needs to be allowed to choose when/what he shares. As he gets his internal world in order and begins to focus more on interactions with the external world, he will most likely be more open.

If he likes stories, might check out Joy Hakim's "Story of Science" and activity guide by JHU -- (I mentioned these before). My dd really adored the "George's secret key to the universe" and the other books by Lucy and Stephen Hawkings (yes, THAT Stephen Hawkings): http://www.amazon.com/Georges-Secret-Universe-Stephen-Hawking/dp/1416954627 http://www.amazon.com/Georges-Cosmic-Treasure-Hunt-Hawking/dp/1442421754/ref=pd_sim_b_1 They are a 3-book series with tons of current info on space sciences. I had to order the 3rd book from the UK (hasn't been released by a publisher here, but I'm sure will be soon). Anyway, definitely worth checking to see if your library has them. One of the lessons our kids have to learn is sometimes learning is work. A guy I worked with once told me a great job isn't one that you wake up wanting to be there every day, but one where you're happy to be there more days than not. I think that's true with school as well -- I try to make learning fun, but I also try to make it clear that dc's job is to make the effort and do the work even when it's not so fun. When 8yo dd has missed that point, I've done the dramatic, "Oh, your hungry? Well, sorry but making you food doesn't sound FUN to me right now..." or dd tells me the baby has a dirty diaper and I've said, "But wiping poo off his bottom doesn't sound like FUN, so why should I do it?" :D Anyway, if dc has been under the delusion learning is optional, a seeming "choice" in ps where glazed eyes go unnoticed...you might well find yourself having to negotiate the social contract that says you'll try to be responsive and make things fun and he'll tow the line even when you fail to make things fun. I think kids in ps often get the idea that learning is something that is done TO them, rather than something THEY do. Anyway, may not be an issue with your ds at all, just something to tuck in the back of your head if you dc seems to turn his nose up at everything that isn't Disneyland FUN. ;) What are your Charter school's and state's rules? Can you take a month or so of just doing 3Rs and interest led, or do you need to be clocking X subjects? The Jesuits have a ed concept that is really neat (I went to a jesuit hs): they teach LA and history (and some other things) together in one subject. So, if you are studying the middle ages in history, you might be learning about stained glass in art, literature from that time, writing in that style -- basically the idea is to teach these things together so that you can see how philosophy affects literature affects architecture affects history affects politics, etc, etc. I try to incorporate those ideas whenever possible. I mention this because you may be able to utilize this to add interest (relevancy) and fun. Look for ways to connect things ( a twofer): if fractions trip him up, get him helping with cooking (leasuring and scaling recipes), pick science projects that use fractions. If he is interested in alligators, get him books on alligators (including classic lit involving alligators), have him write poems or a report on alligators, go to the zoo to see them, study their biology/anatomy, set aside time to discuss what he's read (reading comp). What I'm describing is a lot like unit studies, but it can also be a mindset where you tweak assignments or shuffle their order to bring greater continuity to his lessons. It may morph from one thing to the next, rather than a finite "unit" on something, and you will probably want to develop some overarching themes. ETA: It also may not be a constant thing -- we were doing biology in science until dd got excited about space stuff thanks to those books, so we took a detour to do more earth-space stuff for a bit. We're still doing bio, but more slowly to make room from the earth sciences (which I puled together from resources I had, just a bit of shuffling).