Personally, I'd wait until he was 6yo or a very strong reader before worrying about him picking a hand. It's a choice you make once in your life and we really don't know what's going on, so for me it's a no rush thing. He WILL learn to write eventually. ;) It helps to know there are different theories about handedness. THey used to think that LH brains were mirror image of RH brains, but that's not the case. Most lefties process language in the left hemisphere just like righties. There is a theory now that it does have to do with specialization of the brain (asymmetry of functions on left and right side -- we have the most asymmetric brain of any primate). Lefties don't tend to have the same degree of brain specialization as righties. Looking at twins (a LH identical twin has a 50% shot of having a LH sibling and a 50% of being RH) has led some to believe that it's not about having some "left-handed gene" but the absence of a "right handed gene" (or actually, a gene for specialization). So if you don't have a RH gene you have a 50/50 shot of being LH or RH. Now before you think LH = brain damaged :lol: there ARE some distinct advantages to the functioning of the LH brain. For one thing, they tend to process holistically ("whole brained") -- one study likened it to asking 2 people to find a red popcorn in a bowl of white popcorn. Most folks would go thru the popcorn one at a time, a lefty would tend to throw the popcorn on the floor and process the image at once. Don't know if that's true, but I can say that lefties make a disproportionate percentage of artists, scientists, and politicians (including our last 3 presidents), not to mention an advantage in certain athletics. Even if your dc chooses RH, he may posses a LH brain.

:iagree: Same here -- if ironing is required, dh does it. He even steamed and ironed my dress for our wedding. :lol: We just got a new dryer-- I chose an LG with the steam feature to help him out. :D I only use the iron for crafts or sewing projects. ETA: dh is ex-military, so I'm wondering if that has something to do with it. Seems like a lot of the military guys value a good ironing and don't balk at doing it themselves. :)

I'm in the 2-3 years piano lessons as a kid group. We are using Pianimals. It's light and frothy but seems solid, and has accompanying CDs. What I like about it so far is that my kids LOVE it (just turned 6 and 8). We had just done the first 3 lessons when we went on vacation. When we got back 3 weeks later they could still play the little tunes and WANTED to do more lessons. Anyway, it might be a fun way to ease into more traditional piano materials. It may depend on your goals -- for now I just wanted them to WANT to learn piano. :D

Looking for PDF of WWE :D Any chance of a sale soon? (yeah, I know they host this site, but had to ask :lol:)

Trouble is with "most" -- I'm a bit of a fluke apparently -- eye dominance switches based on which way I'm looking. Made me abysmal in archery since whether I shot left or right handed the "wrong" eye became dominant. :tongue_smilie: My leg dominance is also iffy.

Honestly, as I said in another post :D I would just put the pencil/crayons above and in the center and give him time. If you want to encourage righthandedness, put the pencil and crayons on his right, but I really would not correct him if he uses his left hand. I'd hold off on handwriting and focus on prewriting fine hand coord until he's really ready. :) The toughest thing in the world sometimes is to not compare your kids. Not all K'rs are ready to learn handwriting. If he is lefty or ambidextrous he may be a late bloomer with handwriting. My RH first child started handwriting by 5 and was writing very well and thru the first 2 HWT books by halfway thru K (age 5.5). Her LH sister is just now "getting it" and we'll restart formal handwriting now. She's 6. She's reading "above grade level", but that and writing are both about 8mo behind were her sister was. They're both great, same curric and "teacher" -- they're just different kids. :D

:iagree: I still remember in 3rd grade every time the teacher walked by my desk she'd slant my paper "the right way" and as soon as she stepped past I would turn my page back how *I* liked it. The way the teacher put the page would have required me to hook my wrist. The itsy-bitsy only-right-handed-desks in college made me adapt my writing to keep my elbow in, so now I print sideways top-to-bottom and do cursive sideways from bottom-to-top, so when I print I pull and when I do cursive I push with the page turned 180 degrees. Weird, but just further proof that lefties are adaptable if allowed to figure out what works best for them! :D BTW, my oldest is righthanded, my 2nd is strongly left, and oue third (the tie-breaker) is almost 3 and clearly a lefty, tho more ambi than his sister (only draws and writes with his left hand, but eating and everything else is iffy). I was strongly lefthanded, tho' use scissors righthanded, so NEVER assume (my K teacher tried to force me to use lefthanded scissors which I promptly put in my right hand)....as well as play tennis righthanded but racquetball lefthanded. My brother was a "slightly lefthanded" ambi so my mom put stuff on his right side and he became righthanded (no issues and is still more ambi than most), when she tried that with me I insisted on using my left hand, so she went with that.

:iagree: He may already have a RH preference, so I wouldn't mess with it. You could try skipping coloring/writing for a week, then start up again with coloring, putting the crayons above in the middle and see what he does. With an ambi or lefty, I wouldn't do any handwriting instruction until they have demonstrated a clear hand preference and good command of drawing with one hand -- generally 5 or 6. I think lefties (even those that use their right hands) tend to be late bloomers WRT handwriting (including myself :D). You can do all sorts of other stuff to improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. ETA: lefthandedness is a spectrum -- if he was hardcore you wouldn't have been able to switch him without drastic measures (old days tying hands behind back, hitting with a switch, etc). Often lefthandedness is more a LACK of clear right-handedness (including less specialization of regions of the brain so that a lefties brain is less assymetric than a righties). If that is the case, you haven't somehow ruined him by influencing him to use his right hand. Because he doesn't have a strong preference, either hand is likely to be weak for penmanship for quite some time and will likely develop later. Just be patient, postpone handwriting a bit (or do it slowly without pressure) so that he doesn't get all stressed about it. :) My handwriting was unreadable until I was 8, and pretty bad until I started college (somethign clicked when I was taking all those lecture notes freshman year). Now folks comment on how neat my writing is, so just be patient. ;) ETA2: I remember crying almost every day in school in 3rd grade when they taught us cursive (the push/pull messed me up). So gentleness with handwriting is important to me.

I've seen some awesome big box deals posted -- thought maybe be nice to group in one place? Also, those that require being a teacher to get, how do you get the discount as a HS'r (copy of affidavit or make an ID?)

I spent about 3 months covering prehistory before starting SOTW (planned on 6 weeks, but it was such a success I extended it). I just used the various good book out recently as a spine to work thru. You could do it as sci/history combined by throwing in some geology-type experiments, but it's hard to come up with hands-on experiments, which kids love in science. If there is a good Natural History museum in your area, go there. You can pair some nature study and biology (classidication, observational) to round out the science. I LOVE when I can do science and history together (or at least complimentary topics)! :D I plan to use Story of Science for mid/late elementary. :)

Only thing I'll add is that I believe most hs'rs overspend their first year (including me :D) -- so many choices.... :lol My advice would be to focus on the core (3Rs and read-alouds in history) for the first term. Once you know your "style" and have picked those materials, add in more subjects.

A tablet is useless without content. Developers LOVE iOS. iPads are ~ 80% of market share for a reason. *Maybe* android will come with something great, but for now, unless you are a techie or apple-hater, the choice is iPad. I mean, as a developer why would I waste my time developing for android? All the good apps are on ipads and until that changes your best bet is sticking with Apple. But Chrissy, keep hating Apple and hang on to your Flash-playing (you'll have plenty of time for Flash content since the Android apps suck). :lol: Real question is the whole iPad 2 now, iPad 2+ or iPad3 rumor mill. :confused:

We do something like this. I have set start times for the core subjects and the kiddos know when they complete their work the remainder of that "block" is free/play time. So, an hour long block may just have a 20-40min "class" plus maybe a 5-10min chore time. Our start times are also flexible, in that the "schedule" is more an order of events, so if X comes after breakfast and breakfast ends up 30min late, then things just shift. There's usually enough playtime built in so it only affects the next block. ETA: THe "fun" blocks come after lunch, so if the kiddos don't complete their core they start losing their fav activities. I also agree you've gotta use what works for you NOW -- what works today may not be right next year, so you have to be willing to adapt, but hey, if it got you through today.... :D Not exactly like you're talking about, but I can see we do better with a functional list of the day than a rigid "schedule" -- I got overwhelmed when we got off track. :p

I don't get the feeling most families with schoolrooms "just" school in the schoolroom. We don't. :D Having a schoolroom just means having a space to organize school related stuff, shelves/drawers for the kiddos (no longer in my office) to get/put their materials and some comfy/quiet workspace(s) to use, esp when I'm working with a sibling in a different room. :)

@Swordedhip: Wow! THank you sooooo much for reviving this old post. I just ordered my set and it went through easily. I've been eyeing those books for some time and am glad I waited to get such a good deal -- I mean, 50% off the guides (esp the teacher's guide which is pricey) and the student workbooks for $3 instead of $13 -- awesome (even if you can only buy one copy)!

I would try to fight the newbie splurge-fest: I think it is really easy to overspend the first year. Think: library, used, and progressive. Use your library, including getting your hands on SOTW materials. Read a but and do an activity or two to see if it's right for you. I ended up liking the book but liked other (free) resources better than the AG. Another good used book source: betterworldbooks.com I always check them and Amazon. I definitely had to get over my "cracking the spine of a new book addiction! :D Consider getting just the first month or semester of stuff (that you can't get at the library): see how you REALLY like it before you invest. In the early years, just reading the books on the program lists with your child and discussing them can get you most of the learning and for free. Finally, you might want to start simple -- SOTW, reading (keep stocked from a supply of good lit from the library), math. You can do journaling/free writing or handwriting. For science you can do it topically or nature study (or go to the sci museum and them get library books on subjects of interest). As you get more comfortable and less overwhelmed, you can add in the LA, formal science, etc. Starting out less really IS more -- you and dc need to adjust and fewer "subjects" mean easier scheduling means less stress means happier mom! Some people hs totally for free and others spend thousands per kid. Cost doesn't equal quality, it depends on your teaching style and convenience factor.

At that age a better option might be playing games together (board, dice, made-up-games with duplo blocks and stuffed animals). One of our favorites is dice racing -- they toss 2 dice down a hallway, case after it, and try to add the spots as quickly as they can. I like math as play, but imo early math via computer games is kinda like feeding them junk food and then expecting them to like broccoli later. :D Just my opinion tho.

NO. For all the reasons listed, but at a family event with strangers, the people you trust your child with will be distracted -- dd WILL fall thru the cracks, she WILL be unsupervised at times, which in an unfamiliar place with inherent dangers (ocean, strangers)...just not worth it. And what happens 2 days in when she gets really homesick -- will you be able to drive out and pick her up? I couldn't live with myself if something, anything, DID happen, so no. If you DO decide to let her go, you probably need to write up a legal permission document and have it notarized, to allow them to authorize medical care if needed, plus a copy of her insurance card.

I believe you want what is best for your child, but I also believe you are being grossly insensitive to her to just decide it would be easier at the dinner table if she eats right handed, but hey, she can play left-handed sports. My sis is RH, my brother showed pref for LH (as a TODDLER mind you), so my mom put his utensils and toys on his right side and he became a very ambidextrous RH'r. When she tried it with me I just moved it to my left hand, and she accepted it. Soooo, I am LH, DH is RH and 2 of our 3 kids are LH (last was the tie-breaker, woohoo! :lol:). We ALL eat continental (european style, which is basically left-handed and far more efficient) which means no trouble. But yes, I know about the "sitting at the end of edge" thing as a kid, but to be honest I always liked it! It meant when approaching a table at a restaurant I always knew where to sit -- and got to watch the silly dance as the rest of the folks figured out who was sitting where. Bottom line: why do you feel the need to control this? Why do you feel the need to change your child to suit your whims?

AT 2yo I think it's more a losing control of themselves thing rather than a willful "I shall defeat mommy!" thing. :D Losing control of yourself is scary. I try to maintain my empathy and am a big fan of distraction, so I'd vote for the errands. Live to work on it another day. :)

Wiki claims in the US alone we fly over 583 TRILLION passenger-miles each year.. and we see a report with 3 injuries to infants, one in a seat. That doesn't sound like you're buying much safety. It isn't whether a carseat in an airplane seat is safer, but HOW MUCH safer and how great is the risk? It is ALWAYS a trade-off! If you feel better buying a seat, fine. If you don't think it's best for you, fine. But the suggestion that this is cut-and-dried and not mostly just emotion is IMO wrong. Last month we flew with our 2yo in a carseat and the seats are so close together I do not believe it could function as designed anyways. But it did keep him contained (if not his cheerios). :D Look, you can reduce your child's risk of in-flight 100% -- don't fly. There's also paranoia about SIDS, yet moms will haul their infants in the car all the time and not give the RISK of doing so any thought at all. You want to reduce the risk or your child's death in a car accident? Don't take them in a car, at least on extraneous trips. We still don't take our kids grocery shopping, etc -- one parent does the errands while the other is home with the kids (also faster and easier), and YES the reduction of risk of car accident as well as risk of illness is part of that decision. On the other hand we just did a FUN 2,000 mi family road trip. Basically, we measure our risk based on necessity or value. That doesn't make another family's decision to carschool WRONG, they just value the risk to benefit differently. And we value the risks often based on EMOTION, not fact. Your risk of injury or death is lower PER MILE in a plane than a car. So if the OP took her child on 4,000 mi LESS in the car this year her child would be safer even with the flight. :p

Havent read most of the replies, but the fact you HAVE to put an infant in their seat if they have one is why we didn't when we flew with a 6wo -- the best way to avoid ear pain during takeoffs and landings (and resulting crying) is to breastfeed during takeoff/landings. If the baby will take a bottle, you can also bring bottles of breastmilk/formula with you -- TSA may have to test it, but it's viewed as "medical" and goes right through. Just don't give the baby the bottle until you start rolling down the runway. You can tuck a bottle under your shirt for a warm up. I used my sling, which also provided privacy/modesty so they couldn't exactly say "no" to it either. :D In an emergency, I'd keep the baby in the sling. People who think they'll "fall out" just don't understand slings, IMO. When my baby was in a sling, you could've hung me by my toes and shaken and the baby wouldn't have come free. ;) We bought seats for older toddlers, mainly when they are of a mobile age and the carseat is the only way to keep them in one place. I don't think there is a "consensus" -- you just have to go with what you think is best. Last month a family with a 2mo lapbaby was across the aisle and the baby just cuddled, nursed, and napped the whole 3 hr flight (plus another hour for delayed takeoff). Good luck! ETA: could pp provide a link to lapbabies dying in turbulence? I cannot find any such stories via Google, only that the only lapbaby on the plane that landed in the Hudson was uninjured (held by a passenger). Carseats aren't designed for plane crashes or turbulence. I hope they are doing some tests now (was no data when my kids were little enough for it to matter) and FAA approval just means they fit in the space, not that they have been tested or shown to be effective.

Personally, I much PREFER Ancients and don't plan on covering modern history (beyond the broadest brush strokes) until perhaps my oldest is in 5th grade. Why? Because I think the remoteness of it makes it more cut and dried and more suitable to their concrete thinking. Distance gives you the perspective to dispassionately consider things like motive and methods. I think you can learn a lot about human history in general from the ancients (after all, it themes tend to repeat) without the baggage of fresher social wounds. Modern history has a lot of nasty bits -- ancients does too, but somehow the slaughter of a few hundred greeks doesn't feel as traumatizing as the mass murder of a few thousand jews in WWII. There's also a lot more things in modern history that require IMO more of a logic-stage appreciation for nuance and different perspectives, and a lot of things are still "being written" and interpreted. Sure, those things are nice in ancient history as well, but studying the ancients helps prepare kids to study modern history. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :lol: DD8 has covered thru the middle ages and we've restarted with prehistory with her and DD6. We cover modern history only as it applies. ETA: We only lightly and slowly covered history at all with DD5/6 until she had learned to read (finished 100EL at least) as we focussed instead on the 3Rs, though that was K.

I did a poll on this question: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=260565&highlight=dating+poll By-and-large it seemed 16 or older. I think it depends on what YOU consider the purpose of dating to be. Fun? Finding a spouse? It's also something you can't undo -- tough to say yes then change your mind if it doesn't go well. I personally don't think it's the best way to learn about romantic relationships any more than I would think throwing a kid in the middle of the ocean was a good way to learn to swim. Watching my almost-14yo niece with her first boyfriend (nice guy from youth group) is absolutely... terrifying. It has made dh and I agree that dating with our kids will only be well north of 16 (probably 18) and only after a couple years of psychology units (possibly including college-level classes) and looooong discussions on relationships, what's important, etc. Bottom line: every relationship will leave a mark on your child, some good, some scars that won't heal, and IMO you need to feel confident they are mature enough to handle it. THe people I know of my generation with the best marriages seemed to not date at all until college. Maybe has to do with not feeling that having a SigO was the point in their life? But that's just a small sample. Maybe need another poll. :lol:

Solid, thorough, respected, mastery-based program. Check out: http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/k6books.pdf I use it with MM and am jealous of your find! ;)