Hi, I'm KM, Mama to one ds (5.5) and one dd (20mos). I taught in public and private schools on and off for about 18 years, but met my dh while taking a break to dabble in behind-the-scenes stuff on the music and sci-fi sides of La La Land. Dh has two children from his first marriage so I ended-up raising teenagers before preschoolers which was enlightening to say the least. I have known since college that I would homeschool my own children, and though skeptical at first, after dealing with the public high school for five years with my step-children DH was fully on board when we 'started over'. So far, we've been a nice blend of Waldorf and Montessori with a little bit of Reggio thrown in for good measure. As my avid reader ds matures, heading down the classical road seems to be dovetailing nicely. I've been visiting and lurking on and off for a couple of years but just registered a couple of months ago and only recently began posting. I guess I feel more official now that ds is technically of age.

My kids love those window gel things and my mother loves visiting the dollar store which means we get a new batch for every holiday, season or theme that comes along. I never know what to do with the old ones when new ones arrive. I don't want to just trash them, but saving them is a problem because even if we do remember to keep the plastic sheet they came on they are still too sticky to put against anything else. We've tried using a ziploc bag but then they get mushed. So my genius husband just brought down a three ring binder and several empty page protectors and told my son it is our new window gel organizer. :blink: ....:001_huh:....:hurray: I tell ya, sometimes I remember just why it was I married that man. :001_wub:

I haven't used the cursive yet so take this with a grain of salt, but I have used the pre-K, K and 1st levels and am about to begin 2nd. I always hem and haw over buying the manuals and the truth is that you can go through the workbook with your child and teach them without the guide and do just fine. However, although I don't use the day to day lesson plans in the manuals, I usually read through them in sections and always find good tidbits, activities and advice that I otherwise wouldn't have thought to incorporate and which have made a difference in the lessons for my son. So, because they are so inexpensive and have pretty good resale value I would say to go ahead and get it.

I love audio books but they are a big investment, so I just wanted to remind everyone that it is fairly easy to record these stories yourself using your computer. Macs are especially great for this but PCs are still fairly easy to use. If you need one, microphones are inexpensive and there is decent free and low cost recording software available on the internet if your computer did not come with such a program. My son loves to help with the recordings by ringing the chime that will signal page turns. After I record a book I save it to my iTunes folders and am able to download it to an iPod or burn it to cd. As an added bonus, Mama doesn't have to be the only reader. In our home Papa records books in Spanish and grandparents that live far away record books when they come to visit.

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Believe me, we do not condone the affair and had we known about it at the time we would have had direct discussion about it with both of them. In DS defense, she was separated and they were talking divorce at the time, but no one is disputing that a line was crossed. Although we were in the dark until yesterday, my brother-in-law has known about the entire relationship, including being aware of the advice emails when they were happening (which was at least two years later) and their marriage is solid. I completely understand that some people are very emotional about their significant others’ past relationships, but I do think it depends on the history and nature of the people and that relationship. My dh and I, as well as my sister and her husband, all have platonic friendships now that grew from dating relationships in the past. We are friends with their families, we get together as families/couples and exchange emails, holiday cards, pictures of our kids, chat on facebook, etc. So DS and DF coming to their senses after a few months and evolving the relationship into a platonic friendship, with brother-in-law’s full knowledge as they went through counseling to repair the things in their marriage that were leading to divorce, was not an issue. This is the context in which the advice emails were sent. "Hey, I'm having trouble communicating XYZ, can you give me an idea of how to word things?" "Sure, why don't you think about talking about it this way." "Thanks, that worked, we had a great conversation about it." Absolutely DF should have stated to his girlfriend that he had asked a friend for advice and that he was following that direction. Perhaps had the history of the friendship been asked and answered at that time then there would not have been an issue. He made a very poor choice out of ignorance or fear (knowing him I have a hard time believing it was out of blatant disrespect, but then again I'm upside down on the whole thing right now) which when compounded with the history of this particular relationship shows some strong lapses in what we have otherwise always noted as good judgement. We were not surprised to find out that “the one†had reacted strongly and required him to break contact with my DS, and understand her reaction given the way he handled things. We are very surprised to find out this happened over a year ago and that over time she has become more and more insistent that any contact with us is “too painful for herâ€. So again, thank you all for your wisdom and advice! I have been lurking here for a few months but had just begun posting in the last few days and it was so helpful to be able to ask for advice in a place where I knew that thoughtful people would respond with positive intentions. We will work this weekend on crafting a letter to the couple and after that leave it to prayers. I am still very emotional about it but I’m striving to hold back tears as best as possible around the children. Oh, and DH already downloaded a will amendment form to fill out this evening so that something is in place while we take the opportunity to review and rewrite the larger document since it has been a few years.

Thank you all for giving me some perspective, I truly appreciate it. We will work on writing a letter to them as a couple and leave it at that. Though I didn't get any sleep last night, I can see things at least a bit more rationally this morning. I don't think I can reach out to her alone right now, I would not trust myself to maintain civility. Just FYI, the reason we suggested he find a counselor was because he spent most of the phone call sobbing, saying that he didn't know what to do and that he wished we were there to guide him. We said that our guidance is tainted by our own feelings and desires on the subject now, and that if there are other major factors in the relationship that concern him he needs to talk to a counselor, with her if possible, to address them before getting married. Thank you all again for your wisdom.

My dh and I were devastated tonight to find out that we are being cut out of the life of a dear friend, a person whom we have considered family for several years and who has often referred to us in the same terms. He is, in fact, named as guardian of our children in our will (yes, we'll be changing that). The back story is that he and my sister had a secret emotional affair a few years ago. Nothing 'majorly' physical happened as they were living on opposite coasts and only saw each other twice at family events with no time alone. (Yeah, I know, but we do believe them both on this point.) Anyway, my sister rededicated herself to her marriage (she was separated at the time this happened) and moved forward to a strong relationship, she now has children and her marriage is solid. Our friend also moved on, dating a few women until finding "the one". We met her, she was very nice, beautiful, fun - we liked her. DF and DS kept in touch here and there, basically like in-laws with us in common. So at some point in the first months of his relationship with "the one", DF sent a few emails to DS asking relationship advice. She advised, life continued. Then a few months later "the one" found said emails, "needed to know" who DS was and DF felt the need to confess all. He was immediately required to cut off all contact with my DS, which he did and she respected. All of this happened without my or DH's knowledge. (Okay, we knew DF had a crush on DS way back when but never knew any of the rest until today.) So DF has become increasingly difficult to contact over the past year. We now live several thousand miles away so phone calls and emails are the only option. More and more have gone unanswered. Lately we had been diligently trying to contact him as last word was that he was setting a wedding date for this coming summer and we needed to know said date to plan for the trip. This morning I mentioned my concern for DF to DS since we haven't heard from him in so long and she spilled this story. I called DF and left another message, just saying I need to get summer camp tuition in next week and need to know a date so please call. Tonight he calls in tears to say that he is being required by "the one" to break off all contact with us because any mention of us is too painful of a reminder for her of his prior relationship with my sister. We tried to be as calm, rational and respectful as possible. In the end we asked him to promise to talk with a counselor or priest about his relationship before walking down the aisle, just to be sure the rest of their relationship is appropriate and solid. We also said that we would respect her wishes and stay away but assured him that our door and hearts are always open to him. So here's the thing, upon further (admittedly emotional) reflection, we don't think we should respect her wishes because they are not his. He stated that he is only asking us this because she is threatening to leave him if he contacts us. We know that part of the problem is that he had a very unstable, much more than average dysfunctional family life growing up and not finding and having "the one" scares him. So we are thinking about sending a letter to him at his office with family updates from time to time. We will assure him that he is welcome to share this with his wife or not at his discretion. We will also state that we do not ever expect him to reply and break her rule, but that we are his family and we are not abandoning him. He deserves to see pictures of his niece and nephew as they grow. He deserves to have a window into the people they become. He deserves to know when and how we celebrate milestones and that we continue to love and cherish him. If he sees the return address and never opens the letters, so be it. On the one hand we don't want to cause strife in his relationship and her to leave him, but on the other hand we think that if this is enough for her to do so then there are bigger and worse issues involved. I really would appreciate opinions and suggestions but please be gentle, I am just heartsick over this.

Nope. Used thick glass shot glasses when ds began drinking at meals and a thermos with a straw when we were out and about. My dd was a banger in the beginning so I bought the cutest little wooden mugs from Nova Naturals for her. Now (19mos) she uses small glasses most of the time but still loves her mugs and pulls them out of the cupboard often. We follow a lot of Montessori principals in the early years so they choose their own dishes and such and set their places at table. Also, when ds was firstborn my LC cautioned that little ones who use sippy cups are more likely to bite while nursing. Not sure if it is true or not, but niether of mine ever did bite so :shrug:

Although I believe there is definitely no reason for even a mini-panic, I'll be the voice of, umm, deviation. I do teach sight words along with a phonics program. I taught kindergarten and 1st grade for years and I personally feel, after seeing so many children, that there is just a wide range of what works. I believe it is very important for children to learn the phonics rules for reading and spelling mastery (we currently use AAS) but I also think sight words are important for increasing a child's reading fluidity. This is especially true for children whose comprehension level far exceeds their reading level which may lead to feelings of discouragement. ("Why do I have to read these baby books?") I have an older copy of, "The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists" that I have found invaluable. One section is devoted to an ordered listing of the 1000 most common words in written English. This is similar to the Dolch lists. I use games to teach the sight words as much as possible. For example, for my son I currently have rock shapes cut from construction paper with the words written on them and laminated. Then I build pathways and play different games where he jumps from word to word - perhaps he has to find and jump to a word I say in order to collect block pieces to complete a tower, or perhaps just read them in order to cross the ocean (playroom carpet) and reach the ship (craft table) before the alligator (little sister) gets him. He now has enough of a word bank that we can line pathways throughout the downstairs living space and we use dice to play a life size version of Candyland or similar (that blasted troll always sends me back to the beginning). A good place to start might be Peggy Kaye's, "Games for Reading" book. There are many games adaptable for both phonics words and sight words and I have seen this at even small town libraries. Have fun!

Bumping and hoping someone in the weekday crowd might be able to point me in the right direction.

Just wanted to be sure you know that you can subscribe for a reduced rate to either level through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op.

We changed our daughter's name just before her first birthday. My sister wrote about it here.

that I believe was posted here. The person had a calendar set-up that included the phases of the moon. She used a key ring to move from day to day on the number grid. I thought she had some great ideas and thought I had bookmarked it but can't find it now and I want to revamp our calendar display this week. Is it yours or do you have the link? Thanks!!!