As much as I'd love to love it, AAS isn't working for us. Not that it isn't great, I just don't think my kids need all the letter tile and card stuff. I desperately need a solid straightforward program. I have a k, 3rd, and 5th grader. Fwiw, we are on level 3... I started later with my oldest and I combine the oldest two. Help!

awesome you guys! thank you so much...will be checking all this out! feeling better about the year ahead already

we have never been heavy on the workbooks (in fact, we've been light to none), but as the new year approaches, I'm thinking they might be a good addition. I have a rising 4th grade ds, 2nd grade ds, and almost 4 yo dd who just wants to "do school"! I work part time outside the home. I need something that I can just hand to dad or grandma and with our current curriculum, I feel like it's too much of a headache to lesson plan for the days I'm absent b/c it's so teacher intensive. any workbooks you love (or anything similar you've used in conjunction with one or all of the following)? rightstart math all about spelling SOTW FLL WWE my biggest issue is work for children on days I work, so if you have suggestions other than workbooks, please pass them along! THANK YOU!!!!!!

My 9yo got the ev3 a month after turning 9. My 6 yr old does not express any interest in it beyond watching what it can do after programming. We are rural, but have had the luck to find two summer camps, one of which is sponsored by the local high school robotics team...the other by a children's museum about 45 min away. Lego robotics are expensive, but I have found them to be worth every penny. Ds is applying knowledge from a class he took,at the museum and just "figuring it out " on his own....cool to watch

Va resident here...we use the cat. Zero problems administering, getting scores, and being accepted by our school board

Fwiw, we started spelling this year, in third grade. Not even really a plan, just how things happened. But my first grader is doing the program too alongside the third grader. So I have no crystal ball to predict what I may have ruined, but we'll see! My oldest is def not a natural speller and he reads at a higher grade level. Hope you get more responses!

I don't have to keep a record of anything, including attendance. so, just curious what I maybe should be keeping that I'm not??? I have a 3rd grader, 1st grader, and preschooler. I am looking back at folders today (as well as baby books!) and ordering a backlog of about 1000 pictures and it got me thinking about what I should be keeping a record of even at this age....just in case the school board would begin asking or what you as a veteran (or your older children) like to look back and see, what you wish you'd had when you got to a certain point, etc... what's burning in my brain now is keeping a reading log - just so I can keep track of what we've read/want to read....but that seems a bit much to tackle considering the vast amount of reading we can do in just a day sometimes. just curiosity nosing around here!

We had a similar problem...not sure about how to advise hanging it based on your wall...ours was in log so pretty indestructible...but to get it to hang well, I used that sticky putty for poster hanging and attached a few quarters along the back side bottom edge to weight it down (so it was only attached to the wall at the top). Worked great!

For those who incorporate independent work...what are you using? The most we really have is reading to self or 3yr old, a math worksheet, or a computer quiz. But it seems they all require setup of some Dort or are over so quickly that I never really gain any time!

[quote name="Walking-Iris" post="5626520" timestamp What do you use? Maybe some in this thread can help or share how they have scheduled it if they use the same? Right start math Fll Wwe Sotw Aas I combine boys for aas and sotw and also science which is hodgepodge now but mostly mr q I dream of adding music, art, second language but right now there barely seems time to get the other stuff done with the bickering, stalling, and interruptions of a 3year old.

So moving toward independence/ self-education?

Thanks! :)

I need advice on how to get myself together as a hsing mom. I work a day or two a week as a nurse and the days vary by the week, but always day shift. I have a 3 rd grade ds, a 1st grade ds. And a 3 yr old dd. I've never gotten into a steady rhythm despite this being my fourth year! I make big plans and lists but my kids are killing me and I never stay on track bc I feel like I spend all day dealing with whining, sibling fights, and dawdling. Most days I want to run away screaming and I hate that. I need to figure out how to transition from paper and mental plans to reality. Any advice?

Is it even possible? I have a 3 rd grade ds and a 1st grade ds. Oldest is as struggling writer and speller but ahead in reading. History is a hard thing for me to fit in but I want to. It seems like I should be able to combine these three things but my brain is not cooperating on how to do it and plan it out. If you've got any ideas I'm desperate. Time is short already and I've constantly got a 3 yr old interrupting.

no but wow, I've never heard of that. glad you figured it out, but sorry you had to experience it. I mean I guess he could have had some undiagnosed strep, but he's had little more than about 3 days of sniffles in the last year. oddly, he has started a blinking tic though and it was bad for like a day or two and now it's gradually diminishing. but the sep anx isn't diminishing. he is hyper though (to the point where I've said to dh that if he were in kinder at PS, we'd be getting the Ritalin talk no doubt). maybe he should see the ped for a strep antibody test?

not that I've noticed or that he's mentioned. his reasoning is either i'm afraid i'll have a bad dream or I love you so much I want to spend as much time as I can with you

thanks! i'll take any tips!

thank you for responding! it's not that i'm against professional help at all...I guess this seems like a normal childhood thing that my 8 yr old didn't happen to experience, so i'm new at handling it...it just doesn't seem "abnormal" which is why I tend to feel it should not "require" professional intervention. could be totally wrong on that one though... as for limited caregiving, that's just the way it is. I homeschool and work prn as a nurse. I have never found the need to expand our caregiving beyond grandma. he is comfortable with grandma's two neighbors and his great aunts. and has stayed with them for limited times. and until this move, he didn't have this issue going on. so I don't think it really has anything to do with "limited caregivers" or a "24/7 mom". I guess my basic question is how to best help him through the transition of my leaving for work. and actually, this is only a problem right before I go. once I leave, he's fine. and if I leave before he gets out of bed, he's fine. it's just when he's right there and i'm trying to leave that it's a problem. also, handling bedtime if he wants me to sleep with him. do I just keep doing that til he doesn't ask anymore or is there some kind of process we could start to work through - step by step to help "wean" him of the need to have me right there?

I have searched and read a few things here but there seems to be little discussion on this topic (at least for kids...there's a lot of talk about dogs!) and I am desperate for help! My 6 yr old ds has started exhibiting some major sep anx with me...he does not want me to go to work and literally cries and tries to block my exit. at night, he wants me to sleep with him. occasionally he wakes in the middle of the night crying for me to come to his bed. he only stays with his dad or his grandma in my absence - the way it's always been. we just moved in june but that is the only big change for him (and it was literally across the road- not a new town or anything). I realize that could be the cause of his unrest, but I don't know how to help him with this. the few threads I could find that were somewhat similar all suggested therapy. is that really the only solution here? in all other aspects of daily life, he seems perfectly fine and happy. I feel like I should be able to parent him through this without professional help, not to mention the fact that considering our location I don't even know where we'd have to go to get professional help! I have 2 others - an 8 yr old ds and almost 3 yr old dd. some have suggested this is a component of "middle child syndrome". and I will also add that it's particularly stressful that my 8 yr old gets angry/jealous if he sees "giving in" to 6yr old (i.e. if I get in bed with 6 yr old, 8 yr old will say "why are you just letting him get his way?". most days I feel like I really can't make anyone happy! any advice? btdt? please help!

well, he gave it back and apologized. i could tell he was embarassed (i was watching out the window without him seeing me). i think the whole ordeal has shook him more than any punishment i could conjure up! probably shook me a little more than it should have too!

well, his friend is coming over this afternoon. it will be taken care of shortly.

thank you. may i put your number on speed dial? :)

yes. i over think everything.

\ ok to wait til monday? or make it happen asap?

what is an appropriate consequence for lying?