1-2 hours (depending on if he's speeding through or dragging his feet) for handwriting, grammar, reading (we're reviewing so it doesn't take as long as it will later) and math. We have yet to start writing or spelling. I'm hoping to start that in a month or so. I'm waiting for him to have a bit more confidence with handwriting. History can take up to an hour, depending on the project, but we don't do it at the main table, and we do it later in the afternoon. We alternate with science which takes 30-45 minutes and again is done at the play table and couch.

:lol: My blog is how dh learns what we did. He doesn't remember all the things I tell him, but he remembers the things I write about that he reads. :001_rolleyes:

I have a blog. I started this summer detailing our adventures going through Learning to Be a Scientist (newer ones are at the top, it's in backwards order, and the girl called George is my friend's daughter,) and now I post about the extra projects that we do, a lot of SOTW, and things that I think might be helpful for some people. I also post a funny every Saturday. :001_smile:

LeapFrog Magnetic Word Builder. Best $28 I ever spent. The second link in my signature has a LOT of ideas to work with very young kids learning to read.

:grouphug: nm ETA: I read your other thread and you've got a lot going on. It's okay to be weepy at night. :001_smile: Just trying to be helpful. I am sorry it made you feel worse. Yes it is okay to say homeschooling isn't perfect.

Another crier here and my stomach hurts! :smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5:

Yes, ditto on the handwriting. I'm not actually starting WWE for another month to let ds5.75 get better at handwriting. It won't do him any good if he's so focused on getting the letters right that he doesn't notice the words and sentence structure.

I was recently at a funeral and I saw the same thing! I was appalled. And it wasn't just a few people, it was a LOT of people dressed like that! I guess I'm old-fashioned, too. (I'm 26)

Well, I suppose if you're following the 4 year cycle it's also a 5th grade and 9th grade subject. ;)

That is exactly our plan, with OPGTR.

:grouphug: The only thing I could think to say, I don't think would help. I'm sure you've heard and read the the verses about God's plan and trusting in it.; you don't need me to mention them, too. Sometimes, when I feel far away from God due to a lack of faithfulness and regularity of prayer, instead of praying my own words I read psalms and prayers out of the Bible, so I don't have to worry about my own words. The Holy Spirit makes our intercession, even without us knowing what to say. There is also a series of books by EM Bounds on prayer. I didn't finish the book, but it blessed me to no end. They were written in the late 1800's, but completely relevant. Here is a free e-book version of one, and you can find the others online for free as well.

That's great! :party:

Maybe it will be a learning experience for them? (As in ask first.) Maybe they can join your belly dancing class. :D

Thanks :001_smile: :lol: The things we do for our children's educations.

No advice, but I wanted to say thank you for talking about it with her. I have a teen cousin who a few years ago posted some very insensitive things on her Facebook page and when I pointed out how rude it was she claimed that she didn't remember anything of the day (even though she was old enough when it happened) and no one had talked to her about it and how it wasn't a big deal. So thank you.

We're back (week 5 of school) after no school last week because of sickness. We're only 85% better, but Builder Boy was eager to start earlier than usual. Until I asked him to say an AWANAs verse (which he's known for a year) instead of reading it. :banghead: Just one of those things where you have to say,"well, that's not going to be finished today" and move on. The rest of the morning went well and we will have math and history after lunch.

Just because that is her reasoning it doesn't make capitalism inherently bad, nor does it mean that Christians can't like it either. "Just because Hitler brushed his teeth doesn't mean you have to knock out yours."

Dh teases me that I don't like to watch anything that was made before 2000. I completely agree with you about (most) 90's movies. :glare:

Personally that seems like a strange way to teach science. It sounds like the teacher is working with her own learning/teaching style rather than what might work best for the subject matter or the student's styles. No offense to others, but it seems kind of limiting to me. And I consider myself to be fairly creative. It reminds me of my history professor who was really an English teacher but was teaching the class anyway. (Who couldn't answer the question of when we started spelling differently from the British in an Early American History class!!!) Or my french teacher who was really the music teacher. She tried to imitate the other french teacher, but their personalities were complete opposites, and our class did not learn as much as the other teacher's class.

:iagree: Exactly.

Won't that hit the parents financially pretty hard?

What exactly happens with the kids? Do they get picked up regardless, or do the parents have to make other arrangements? Do the school buses take the kids to these alternatives, or do parents have to drive them themselves? I would imagine a lot of parents in Chicago wouldn't have a lot of flexibility in their schedules to work around this issue; I could see a lot of younger kids staying home. I personally think that teacher's pay should be tied to performance, but not necessarily by standardized test scores.

We use Right Start and I understand the importance to learn quantities for the program. Have you tried with things other than the tally sticks? I started with blocks, tiles, stuffed animals, some big things, some small things. It doesn't have to be just tally sticks. I'd step away from the lessons for a while and just work on quantities up to 5 at least. I really like that with 6 and up they show 5 as one color and the other ones a different color. Maybe that will help. :001_smile:

:iagree: That was my first thought.

It ends right when Ellis Wyat (arg, can't remember how to spell his name. The oil shale guy) disappears and leaves his fields on fire. From what I understand they are tying to keep it as close to the book as they can and as part of that they are making it in 3 parts because it would be too long otherwise. ETA: as a person who hates most movies made from books, I was not entirely happy with the movie. But it was good for dh to watch since I've talked about it a lot, but he couldn't get through much of the book. I think he lasted 50 pages. :tongue_smilie: