I just don't put circ'ing and cding in the same category. One is cutting off a part of a baby and the other is, well, not. Same with breastfeeding. My personal oppinion is that formula ought to be reserved for only those who actually NEED it, but even that is not the same as cutting off part of a boy's private...This isn't a reversable event, and shouldn't be done routinely. Period.

I would like to know why no one is acknowledging the fact that the US is the ONLY "developed" country that practices circing as routine. My DH is British and circing was not even an option for us. In the UK it is done only out of medical necessity. Why are we the only country that cuts off part of a baby's body in order to pre-emptively treat something they MIGHT get, and at that, more often than not, they get from acting irresponsibly. Problems in uncirc'ed boys are actually very rare and USUALLY come from poor hygeine or sexual irresponsibility. I asked my husband if he knew of anyone who had ever had their penis get infected and neither him, nor his family, including my SIL who is a nurse, had ever heard of , met or otherwise known of anyone who had. Sorry for spelling errors passion and a bad cold are both to blame!

Im sure not being promiscuous could lower the rate as much and keeping it for marriage even more. Not a reason to cut off a part of my son's boy parts. I agree though this doesnt belong here.

Maybe you need to use a mastery approach to math? Something like Math U see rather than spiral like Saxon?

We may start memorizing with a song but we also do it without songs. I think its best to do it both ways. I find my instant recall is better on things without songs, but with the song I memorize it faster.

We LOVE lapbooks! I was just curious if anyone uses just lapbooks to cover their science and/or history? With there being so many to chose from do you find them comprehensive enough? How do you chose what order you do stuff in? Any other information you can share would be great too!

We are using Math U See and really like it. It is going to depend on if you want a mastery or spiral program though. We tried a spiral and I felt like the girls were getting a basic grasp on the how but weren't really getting the why. MUS has been great for getting a very firm grasp on topics, but won't work for you if you are not wanting/needing to spend quite a while on single topics. Last year we did Horizons which is spiral. I liked it. It just didn't work for us.

There are a few good freebies. Thank you for posting!

PS I absolutely do not advocate this as a baby sitting method. I am always within reasonable distance from him and do not leave him out of my line of sight more than a few seconds at a time.

Probably going to have to duck and run after I say this but here it is (and this is without reading every other reply) I have three. Two older girls and a 2 year old littl boy. Oh boy, do I have a boy. Well, since you already know what it is like to have a young one I will just skip to what worked for us. Blanket time. No, not the beat them if they move an inch off the blanket thing that we hear about. I spread out a special handmade quilt, put out special toys that are only for blanket time and he sits and plays for between 20-30 minutes. We make it a big deal "oh boy! Its blanket time! Look at all the fun toys on the blanket!" and so on. I dont expect him to keep quiet or anything. He can play anything he wants, as long as he is on the blanket. We "trained" by working up to the 30 minute max 5 minutes at a time. The only real rule about blanket time is: If you throw the toy off the blanket too bad so sad. During "training" if he left the blanket I would just pick him up and cheerfully say "nope, its time to sit on our blanket and play." The first time he threw all of his toys off and just sat there crying. The second he put the toys off but left them where he could reach and there was no crying. The third time he was so excited and sat there and played for 20 minutes! We havent had a problem with blanket time since then!

Short answer is no. I dont want the tax breaks, but its mostly because I also dont want the government butting into my homeschooling and any government tax breaks will give them the "right" to make sure I am homeschooling the way they think I should be.

4 hours a day would be a bit much for us, honestly. We usually get in about 2 and are done, but if it is working and you are both happy then go for it!

I get my supplies at Hobby Lobby when they go half priced. Dont know if you are near one but check your local big chain craft stores and you will do much better on the supplies.

Plenty!

Its not a dvd but I really like Artistic Pursuits. It is very user friendly and does a bit of art appriciation in with it.

Just waving and introducing myself. Anna, homeschooling mommy in N.Texas of 2 girls ages nearly 6 and nearly 7 and a baby boy 2 years. I also blog over at www.moldingmindshomeschool.com.

Our year is planned out on my blog www.moldingmindshomeschool.com I only have our core up. We also do violin and piano and do lots of arts and crafts type stuff. I just dont figure that into our school day.

I havent tried it but a friend told me that Weaver is similar to what you describe.