I am intrigued by Maisner's strategy and plan to pursue it with DS after Thanksgiving. (He leaves tomorrow for 10 days with his grandparents.)

Best NOW would be Spanish. BEST five years from now would be Southern US English (we move to follow DH's career, but home is MS). We do not expect to live in the Southwest beyond the next 5-6 years. I agree that just hearing it from the CEO doesn't mean I should do it. I was taking the advice under consideration because of the direction the US is going. China will be the biggest economic influence in our children's adult lives. Even though most of the Chinese they encounter will speak English, those Americans who do speak Chinese will have a leg up on those who do not. Just something I'm considering..... SwordedHip, I'll check out "Chinese with Mike" too. Thanks, everyone, for weighing in. As ChandlerMom pointed out, lots of things to think about.

I credit homeschooling there - he no longer says "I'm a failure." Not sure cute has anything to do with that though. Love your DS's response! All boys should think their moms are cute.

I hadn't planned yet, so thanks for the reminder. Your plans are absolutely awesome! The impact beyond giving someone a fleeting moment of happiness is tremendous. You rock!

See, my DS10 would have said "and because *I* am cute!" Yes, he is. Modest too!

Cut the spine off. As a used curriculum buyer, I happily buy texts like this which have already been made more usable. If your hesitation is resale-ability, don't let that stop you.

It's annoying to me because other boards I use don't have that requirement, so I have to remind myself. Not a big deal, no, but still annoying.

Or purchase the meal (our grocery has the entire meal ready for pick-up) and tell her ahead of time. Don't take "no."

agreed

The way I read it on their site was that only items in the Cmas catalog qualified for free shipping. Wish my catalog would get here already.

Excellent suggestions! Thanks! Man, I have a lot of research to do. ;) Be careful what you ask for and all that....

I remember that thread now. Thanks, I'll look at iStart.

The president of DH's company told me today that he recommends we start DS10 in Chinese instead of Spanish. We live in an area where more people speak Spanish than English, so I just figured we'd start Spanish soon. I am aware that China is gaining influence in the US though, so his rec makes sense. I am completely overwhelmed at the thought, so maybe a gentle approach via a fun app would help settle our nerves. Can you recommend one?

My mom died 4yrs ago. My dad married again about 3wks ago. I'm happy for him, but yeah, it is weird. (((hugs)))

Okay, that second poster is funny!

I will look into both suggestions. Thanks!

How does he like notebooking or lapbooking? Teach him how to translate the yarn on the wall to sketches in a notebook - how to make the drawings to scale. You could do the same with prey measurements.

I am aware of some "glitches" that he has - there seems to be some kind of auditory processing disorder (which seems out of whack with being an auditory learner, but I swear he is!). For example, he absolutely canNOT hear rhyming words. He can SEE that words should rhyme (same endings) but he can't HEAR it. We've done a lot of Dianne Craft/Brain Gym exercises in the last six months. I don't know if those are working or what, but he's made amazing strides in reading. We are working on fine motor skills and hand-strengthening exercises too. I will look into PS testing as well. Thanks. MSNative, where are you from? We moved from NorthEast MS last spring (Tupelo). I grew up in Columbus, and my parents lived in Pontotoc until Mom died a few years ago. I will check into Down Write Funny. And fun grammar? Sounds good to me! 5 Hikers, we do lots of audio and DS listens to an audio book as he falls asleep each night. And in the car - we both enjoy those! I just wanted to say thanks again to all of you for your encouragement. I've gone from being indecisive and a bit apprehensive to actually enjoying the thought of taking our time in Ancients and moving forward. Isn't it amazing what a few kind words from (experienced) strangers can do for the outlook? Thank you!

THAT is so true. And even then.... Try googling "city name" plus "homeschool group" or "yahoo group" to connect with other homeschoolers in the area. Here in Roswell, we don't have a formal group, but we do have a Yahoo group that keeps everyone connected for occasional gatherings. We have met a few homeschool families who have become our support.

We recently moved from north Mississippi to Roswell, NM. If you move to LC or Alamagordo, let me know. Maybe we can meet up sometime - at least we southerners will be able to understand each other! It has been a shock for us. Mostly because Roswell is 3hrs from...anywhere. The isolation of this small town is daunting (not nearly as small as Carrizozo, as Cheryl mentioned). We have everything we need here, but very little in the way of entertainment or shopping. Alamagordo wouldn't be so bad just because it close to LC, which is a bigger place. The landscape is stark - and the never-ending wind gets on my last nerve, but the perks are great: No humidity! No mosquitoes! Any southern girl can appreciate that!

:)

I thought the same thing, AM. I'd feel better about plunking down $20 if I could see something besides "this strategy is great!" I like what the table of contents shows, but I need to see some of the instruction.

Thanks, Kelli. I'll check those out.

Thanks, FBA and Jennifer! I just saw that there was another 5th grade curriculum thread started yesterday that has lots of suggestions, so I'll look closely at those as well. Jennifer, we belong to a small art co-op that studies together twice a month, so he gets some art. Poor thing has a mom who is hard of hearing, so we haven't done any music. I just don't enjoy music. I need to put that aside and find a way for him to learn to enjoy it. Thanks for the reminder. Ambleside - being told what to listen to - would be right up my alley! Thanks for that link.

Haven't heard of it, but I'm always looking to improve reading skills. Thanks for the link!