We read (or I read) to the little ones before bed and that is it! Once they know how to read themselves, they read on their own before bed. I have enough trouble trying to get all of their work done without adding a read-aloud to my crazy schedule. I do like to read to them - i just don't have the time!!!! Just wanted to add that our kids have books that mom assigns (the good stuff :)) for their reading time during school hours (30-45 minutes) and then they are free to choose their own books for bedtime. For example, DS7 has the stepping stone version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as assigned reading but before bed he is choosing to read an NHL hockey almanac.

So glad she lifted your spirits :) I had one of those moments this week as well with one of the librarians at our local library. We don't go to the library that often (i prefer to buy our books since 90% of the time they don't have the book), but i stopped in to pick up a book (reco'd here) and as i was leaving they had a huge shelf full of books for 50 cents each. I couldn't resist and spent the next 15 minutes going through all of them. When i went to pay, she commented about the sheer number of books (only 16 LOL) and asked if i was a librarian, i answered no, but i homeschool our kids and love books. She had the biggest smile and went on to say well homeschooling moms are pretty much librarians!!! Even though WE know it is the best decision for our kids, there are so many misconceptions out there that it is nice to get a high five from virtual strangers.

We've used SWO for the natural spellers here. For DD who is an average speller (or maybe weak) we tried phonetic zoo (IEW) and it was a little better but the whole auditory thing did not work for her. We've gone back to SWO and she is happier although she doesn't like that the spelling words are in cursive LOL

Totally agree.

I am thinking this too. Maybe just wishful thinking but until there is hard evidence, i'd like to be optimistic about this. Praying for all those affected.

AARGHHH! I thought you would all tell me the same thing LOL It looks like a pretty even split! Thanks for all of your insight :) Nothing is irreversible so I guess it couldn't hurt to try it and then see if it makes a difference to our days. DH hates when I change things around like furniture, etc but as I keep reminding him - everything is a stage and we adapt and move on. I'm not asking to tear down walls or anything! What I thought we could do is basically have the basement as our homeschool zone. It is probably around 1200 sq. ft? It is above grade so lots & lots of sunshine through the big windows - no worries there. We have a spare room we use for guests - so we could put some desks in there along with the laptops, bookshelves, etc. Doors close so kids could have quiet if the little ones were watching TV in the main area. Plenty of room for the guests as well as our school stuff. Then we have the play area for the little ones with all their toys. And then the typical TV/couches/comfy relaxing chairs for taking a break or reading or whatever. I think part of the issue is not being able to be in the same place at the same time! The little ones want to play in the basement with all of their things but the older ones are doing school on the main floor. So inevitably, someone is left unsupervised and you all know what happens from there........ My DH doesn't think it will work. But he isn't the one here for 8-9 hours a day with 5 kids trying to keep little ones entertained while schooling the olders. I also work PT from home so the ability to be linked into the office and still be available to the kids is critical. Right now - my "office" is in our master bedroom. I feel like I am running between the 3 floors all day!!! Who needs a gym?! Still pondering......doesn't help when someone on kijiji is selling phenomenal ikea stuff dirt cheap that would be perfect for us!

We are sticking with WWE. I am on my 3rd round of WWE3 here - and even though I've dropped it a few times in order to try out the shiny, new options - I've always. always. come back. We do combine it with IEW SWI-A though and it seems to work well.

Does it? We are finishing up our 4th year here and have basically used our main floor rooms (kitchen, LR/DR and family room) for all of our daily homeschooling. When we first started we only had 2.5 doing "school" and the tidiness factor was manageable. It got messy but not overly so - we didn't have that much to tidy up. But wow - what a difference now. The kids are doing their work in the usual places on our main floor but now they are in their rooms, in the basement, pretty much everywhere. Books are all over the place. The kitchen table is always covered in work and it is such a hassle to be cleaning up for every meal - not to mention, it feels like the entire main floor is a disaster by the end of the day. In the fall we will have 4 doing "school" + a toddler. I am really starting to see the wear & tear on the house and it is starting to drive me crazy. I'm not OCD about keeping our house spotless but I do enjoy a tidy home, with a place for everything & everything in its place. I am wondering if a homeschool room, complete with work tables, bookshelves, etc in a separate area of the house will actually help decrease the clutter that ends up all over the house. Am I in la-la land on this one?

Ds12 (7th grade) is enrolled with Kolbe. We enrolled in early November for a couple of reasons but mainly for DS to be held accountable to someone besides Mom. We did sign up for the Enhanced Evaluation Service. We are very very pleased. Everything is well organized in terms of daily course plans, tests, and quarterly exams. It is pretty much open & go. Anytime we have called, the advisors have been great. I can only speak to the 7th grade materials - but we are happy with the level of rigour. It is a LOT of work. It is a LOT of reading. Reading is like breathing for DS so this has worked out beautifully for us. DD10 would not do well with Kolbe - the amount of reading would throw her into a panic. If your kiddos are self-motivated, like to read and enjoy a challenge/are strong students - then I think Kolbe would be a good fit. If they struggle academically - you will likely need to tweak their plans quite a bit. If your child is academically strong but less motivated - i would recommend the enhanced evaluation service which allows you to submit 12 pieces of work per quarter. The feedback the advisor provides is OUTSTANDING! Much better than what i would provide LOL not to me to mention, DS takes the feedback so seriously. He is very keen to put his best work forward to his advisor. The quarterly exams are tough!!!! But it gives us a great opportunity to work on study skills, how to prepare for exams, how to study, how to actually write the exam, etc. All in all - we are very happy!! Feel free to ask any questions.

Gold for the Canadian men's hockey in Sochi!! Woooohoooooo!!!!!! Was worth the early wake up :)

So odd - this is my 3rd time going thru 4th grade!! How the heck did that happen? RELIGION Faith & Life 4 on-line course + BC1 MATH Saxon 5/4 LANGUAGE ARTS Writing SWI-A Spelling Spelling Workout D Cursive HWOT Reading/Literature Assigned by Mom with Progeny Press Lit Guides/Ready Readers Grammar FLL? GEOGRAPHY MCP workbooks - Level D/E SCIENCE Mr Q Earth Science HISTORY SOTW 2 FRENCH First Form French LATIN Latina Christiana MUSIC Piano Pre-conservatory level

RELIGION Faith & Life 6 + BC2 MATH Saxon 7/6 LANGUAGE ARTS Spelling Spelling Workout G Writing IEW SWI-B Reading/Literature Assigned Reading by Mom/Progeny Press/IEW Ready Readers Grammar Gage Learning Language Power D Vocabulary Vocabulary from Classical Roots - Level 5 or 6 Handwriting Getty-Dubay HISTORY SOTW #3 GEOGRAPHY MCP workbooks (cheap & cheerful get ´er done) SCIENCE Mr Q - not sure which one yet; currently working on Earth Science FRENCH First Form French LATIN Latina Christiana

WHAT? That is just anti-Canadian. I´m already annoyed that the local hockey league here didn't cancel tomorrow´s early morning games. I mean really - no kid is gonna be focussed when what they really want to be doing is watching the BIG game!!!

Nicely done boys!! Not as exciting as the game yesterday but happy to take the win :) GO CANADA GO!!!!!

BTDT with my oldest DS. Back in November I felt pretty much the same as you. We decided to enroll him in Kolbe and it has been a complete 180 in his attitude. He is accountable to someone besides me and that has made all the difference in his schoolwork. With this change in our homeschooling relationship, the mom-son relationship also changed for the better. I also read Leman's book, Have a New Teenager by Friday (sorry on my phone and can't link) but it was a good reminder. I spend a LOT more time talking with this child about his interests - which honestly are so not interesting to me but I listen and I ask questions and I try to connect with him. I wish there was some instant cure for this pre-teen craziness but for now, it looks like we have found something that works here. I also found that having outside accountability really ramped up the output/effort :)

Yes they work. We don't have them on when the little ones are up cuz the glass does get quite hot. The only trouble is that the one in our basement has a fan that helps to circulate the warm air but without electricity it doesn't do that. So you basically have to sot super close for it to make a difference. I wish we had a REAL fireplace.

We are all eating ice cream by candlelight. Might as well eat it before it melts :). The kids are having a blast!! No woodstove or generator here - this is suburbia!! We don't normally experience this kind of stuff!

The good news is that it isn't super cold (like out west!!). We are hovering around 0 degrees so not too bad. At least it won't be super cold tonight!!! But if the power stays off 'til Christmas eve........ I just can't think about it. ETA: sooooo happy we hve a gas stove. At least we can cook!! And DH has been lobbying for 2 years to get rid of it....... Ummm no.

The latest info is power should be back by TUESDAY at 10pm!!!! What!!??? Oh brother......

It is pretty bad here. Trees are down all over from the weight of the ice. Lots of people without power - we've been without power for over 4 hours. Friends further north haven't had power for over 12 hours now. They are hoping to have everyone back up and running within 72 hours!!!!! I had a huge list of things to do today including cleaning the house since we have non-stop company starting Christmas Eve until Boxing Day and DD and I were supposed to do some baking. Instead we are doing absolutely nothing. The house is starting to feel a little chilly. How is everyone holding up?

Call Fedex. They can reroute it once it gets to the Fedex station in your city. Maybe they can get it there for you afterall??

Our DS is 7th grade this year and NOT happy to be homeschooled. We've homeschooled since pulling him mid year from 3rd grade. He did go back to school for a few months in grade 6 and it was awful. He is also gifted and the curricula we have for him is at or slightly above his level. At school, he was chronically bored and the social aspects were brutal. 11 year old boys with girlfriends buying them $100 birthday gifts!!!?? Insane. Anyway, I don't have much advice. Every.single.day i wish we could afford to send him to a private military school. His attitude is pretty bad and we butt heads constantly. But when i look at the option of school - i know no matter how challenging it is here, he is WAY better off. Many would probably say he deserves a say in his education, but I disagree. He is 12. We can discuss options in terms of math or literature, and he has lots of choice as to WHAT he learns but we make the decision WHERE he learns.

McDonalds has poutine!!! I couldn't believe it when i saw the sign. I tried it today and it wasn't half bad (runs away).

:seeya: Hi there Soror! I think we had our babes around the same time last year? Haven't been on the boards much since but hope you are all well! We've used the Clearplan monitor when TTC. Worked perfectly all 3 times - pregnant within 2-3 months. And then figured, hey it worked so well for TTC - we should use this in reverse and........ she is now a year old :D I still have no idea what I did wrong with it - I have come to realize that God had a different plan - and evenn that trusty monitor was no match for Him ;)

DS & I were poking around The Great Courses site the other day and he asked me about this one!!!! It was on sale for cheap so I put it on my list of things to look into. Thanks for the reminder! Do you think the lectures are reasonable for a 12 YO? PS. Yep. I worked that way too. I think I actually got worse as I got older - I knew my limitations better I suppose & knew how far I could push. But it did catch up to me one day 5 years ago when I had a huge deadline at work. I had already put in a 14 hour day but had to pull an all nighter (which I NEVER had done in university. Ever) in order to get this presentation done; finally finished it at 6:30am THEN went home to shower & change and go do the presentation in front of 150 people in a hotel conference centre at 9am. And then head back to the office for another full day. I was completely shattered. Crazy.