We switched DD to Saxon and started at 54; I wanted her to be solid on everything and understand Saxon's way of doing things before she hit anything complicated. We did 54 kind of fast -- I just did lessons where I knew she didn't know the concepts or was weak in them. Then we went on to 65, and she did fine.

DD (5th grade this year) did the CryptoMindBenders book this year. It didn't take three hours a week, and that might have been a good goal, but it wasn't really realistic for us. All I really wanted was to stretch her brain a little in a different way, so I had her do one a week. Next year, we're stepping up to Art of Argument, and I think that will require a slightly different type of logical thinking.

I think those test results are perfectly fine, and I wouldn't worry about them at all. There are so many variables that could affect standardized test results, as PPs have said (shoot, a kid's reading comprehension scores can be affected by whether they thought the paragraphs were on interesting topics or not!), and 70 percentile is very good. The tests only correlate loosely to what you've taught them/what they've studied. Unless they're seriously below grade level in multiple areas, I really doubt you'll have any issues from an oversight standpoint (not sure where you are -- here in PA, the local school district has to see test results every few years). You're doing just fine -- they scored well above the average! These are the two ways in which I feel that testing may be useful. (And since we do the 1970 CAT, we only test math and reading/verbal -- so the tests don't at all reflect anything they've learned in history, any rabbit trails they've taken in science, DD's love of Latin, or their ongoing obsession with matching classical music works to their favorite TV/movie characters.) One, my DD took the test, as required here, in 3rd and 5th grade, which for the 1970 CAT is the same level of test both years, and I was glad to see that her number of correct scores in all areas went up. That was reassuring, although things like a bad day could have affected them negatively just as well. And two, she did a lot better in one area than I expected, so I'm crossing it off of my "let's work on this specifically" list for next year, but she didn't do as well as I thought she might in another area, so I do want to target that a bit next year. But beyond that, it's all highly dependent on what is actually on the test, not what is in your student's brain.

I don't use a curriculum until closer to second grade, depending on the kid, and it seems to be working fine. With DD, we did Miquon stuff occasionally in K-2, but she wasn't really into it; she preferred more to learn math from real life situations but doesn't really enjoy number play and patterns and that sort of thing. I did introduce a slightly more formal routine sometime in third grade, because I felt that she had the basic skills and concepts down and needed a bit of an outside push. But for all of not having practiced much formal math in the first few years, she has done just fine and will start pre-Algebra as a sixth grader next year. Now, for my son, I wanted a bit more consistency, more of a set routine, so last year, in first grade, we started doing Miquon. He loved it, but we do it almost entirely orally, and we take side trips with the c-rods and such. I also started adding Singapore to the Miquon this year, second grade, and he is really thriving with it. It's just enough structure, just enough mind bending for him, to provide a gentle challenge for him. I don't regret not doing Singapore in first grade at all. My next little guy turns 5 in October and desperately wants to be able to do everything the big kids do. I picked up Making Math Meaningful from the Cornerstone Curriculum Company (or something like that) free last year and thought it looked interesting. It seems to have lots of hands-on mathy activities that he'd probably really enjoy. The thing for me is that with a bunch of small children, having *some* sort of plan laid-out for me means that I might actually do it. If it's up to me to think of and plan activities for a 5yo, it's honestly probably not going to happen. But the MMM book might be just what he and I need.

For glasses, I would check out 39dollarglasses.com or Zenni Optical. Much cheaper!

Oh, I so understand that one -- btdt! Also, it's really hard to do a summary -- who wants to summarize when you can just remember the whole darn thing?

Is it best to take ADHD meds after breakfast (about an hour after waking), or immediately upon waking, so that the meds kick in sooner? This would be for XR meds, if it matters. Is there a reason NOT to do one or the other?

That's what I was wondering; 99 cents is worth the hour or two I might spend making a form myself. I think I'm going to get it.

Yes, this.

That's what I was hoping re: station apps. But hmmm, I really am still unsure. :) Still thinking -- thanks!

I usually just say something like, "it was the right choice for our family." But if anyone knows my kids at all, it becomes fairly apparent that a brick-and-mortar classroom setting wouldn't be a great fit for my older two -- one is super active and would really not fit in a classroom very well, and one is very shy and was absolutely not ready to go off to school at five. I was already planning to homeschool before I had kids, but especially for my second child, I'm really glad I already had decided on that option. He truly needed some extra time to be little, and he needed to wait until 7 or so to read and do math and everything, because he just wasn't ready. At 8, he's matured and is thriving and happy; of all the things I will ever regret in my life, keeping him home and letting him take his time will never be one of them. I hate to use the "special needs" sort of thing, but neither of my big kids would have fit well into a classroom setting and thrived, and that seems to be slightly more acceptable, unfortunately, than "we chose it as a lifestyle."

Thank you for this heads-up -- several of those look like they should be perfect for copywork for my third grader next year! I'm trying to decide about the Master Planner -- can anyone comment on whether or not they like it?

One of the unintended benefits of my child studying Latin has been the increase in mental organization it's brought her. Since Latin is so logical, she's learning to follow the steps, every time -- look for the verb, look for the subject, look for the object, etc. This is carrying over into math and other subjects in a positive way.

Would Amy Axelrod's books about the Pig family count as living books? They're awfully goofy, but they do show a lot about math and its usefulness. My kids love them! http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Axelrod/e/B001H6NNK0/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1365487857&sr=8-1

Lots of free ones here: http://www.fi.edu/math/index.html

Does the iPhone have the guided access thing that the iPad has? I know on the iPad, I can set it so the person can't leave that particular app without entering a passcode -- not sure if the iPhone can do that or not. Google says it can: http://osxdaily.com/2012/09/25/enable-guided-access-ios/ No jailbreaking needed. So you can't password protect certain apps, but you can lock a child into one specific one.

My fifth grader read Coolidge, then Black Ships and The Wanderings of Odysseus, as well as D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. We also read In Search of a Homeland as a family. The kids didn't love In Search of a Homeland, although they liked the pictures. She liked the Sutcliffe books pretty well, though. I had planned to do the Aeneid/Iliad/Odyssey For Boys and Girls but ended up not doing them, because everyone was kind of tired of the topic.

I don't, but that's nice to know. The Amazon movie rental thing is a big draw for me, though, so I'm leaning toward a BluRay, if I do anything.

This might be above first/second grade, but we're going to use the Great Google Earth Puzzle Challenge next year with our third and sixth graders, adding supplemental books about each country/area as we get to them. I'll have my kids write out the answers to the questions, but they'll also draw the flag of each country, read some books about it (maybe try some recipes/snacks from a country, or learn about animals from the area), mark the locations on a blank map, and look at the pictures in the book and on Google Earth.

I really like Clay and Sally Clarkson's Educating the WholeHearted Child, and Elizabeth Foss's Real Learning, because both discuss using real books instead of lots of textbooks.

I would like some pre-gathered copywork suggestions for my third grade son for next year. I don't mind writing them out by hand, but I don't want to take the time to gather them myself. I specifically want things that might appeal to a boy (nothing too flowery, but inspirational is okay); he strongly likes adventure stories, knights, historic fiction, stuff like that (not so big on sports). We will be using WWE3 with him, but he will need to do the 1970 CAT test next spring (end of third grade), and since he's only been reading for about a year, I'm not sure he's had enough exposure to print to absorb proper punctuation and spelling (although I realize that may change as his reading strength increases). I know WWE3 addresses that sort of thing, but I"m not sure it's quite enough. I don't want to do a specific spelling/grammar program with him yet, but he does need the copywork practice in cursive, so I figure I'll kill two birds with one stone. So, any suggestions for inexpensive collections of copywork that would have those sorts of things? I do have the Lord of the Rings collection, and I think that will be right up his alley. Others similar in tone (maybe even a bit longer)?

We school year-round and take breaks as needed. We start our school year around July 1 (when our state allows us to start counting days toward our mandatory 180), and we finish (with more than 180 days) sometime in May, giving us 4-6 weeks of a complete break through the end of June. This works really well for us because it's so hot outside in July and August and so cold/bitterly windy in January and February, so it makes a ton of sense to do a lot of bookwork during those months, so that we can be freer to relax in May and June when it's nice out (and also when there is a lot of other stuff going on). It's nice that by the time fall rolls around, we've already done a large chunk of work. (We do make time for swimming and other summer stuff, though.) Also, our evaluator likes to do evaluations in April/early May, and in some years, we need to do standardized tests, so it's nice to be mostly finished by April, so I can get the portfolio together, and so that we've gotten through as much math as possible before the tests. (We're currently at about 190 days and will finish within 4-6 weeks, as we finish some of the major curricula work; other things we'll just stop where we are, like Latin, and we'll pick them up again in July.) I don't plan 6 weeks on/1 week off or anything like that, because I don't always know when we'll need a break, or when we'll have company visiting, or whatever. I do a lot of work in the spring, for the following year, so that when I'm ready to do school, it's open and go with minimal prep time. This year, I'm planning for up to 6 weeks off in August/September when our new baby arrives, and I'm hoping to take the whole week (maybe two) around Thanksgiving off, plus maybe two weeks before Christmas and one week after Christmas, plus the weeks before and after Easter. (We'll do special crafts and stories and such before Christmas and Easter, so they'll count as school days but won't necessarily get the standard curricula done.) I also start up slowly in July and in January after the Christmas break -- a couple of subjects a day for the first week, adding a couple more the next week, and so on, until we're at full schedule. This worked SO well this past year.

Wait, what kinds of shows do you watch on the roku? Current stuff, or past seasons? I think I'm leaning toward the Blu-Ray, since I think it will serve us better in the long run. But it'll depend on whether or not we also want to pay $8 a month for HuluPlus service. Buying either a box or the Blu-Ray player seems like a lot of money for only the occasional movie if we are still watching TV shows on the desktop. Decisions, decisions. Thanks for the input, everyone!

I'd call our doctor first and see if she could look at the baby that day. If that wasn't possible, for some reason, at that age, I'd take the baby to the ER or urgent care. That's scary stuff! I don't know that I'd do *ambulance,* but I would have someone (DH, me, or one of my older two kids) sit next to the baby on the ride. If I really, really couldn't get someone to see the baby that night, I'd sleep next to him/her, with a hand on the baby, or I'd sleep sitting up in a recliner with the baby in a sling against my chest. If money were an issue, I might try urgent care before the ER. But if I were that worried about money that I'd be even debating about care vs. no care (and I'm far from one to take kids to emergency care for small stuff), I'd be applying for help/Medicaid/CHIP for my child.

Oh. Hmmmm, that could be a deal-breaker all around. Thanks for that heads-up -- I'm really glad to know that!