:confused:

:grouphug::grouphug: Congrats to the new baby & all the best to your grandpa! Hope he does well with the treatment!

:iagree: Chocolate frosting has hardly any caffeine in it, so I wouldn't worry about it.

That sounds interesting....I used to work at a bookstore years ago and spent way too much of my paycheck on new books...

HI, I just found this great website and just wanted to share : http://www.globalbooks.de/ Their prices are about the same as Amazon.de, but they offer free shipping to the US on orders over 55 Euro!! They are based in Berlin, Germany. Also, if you register you can keep books in your shopping basket until you're ready to order or change your mind, which is nice since they don't have a "wishlist" like Amazon... :thumbup1:

Wow, thanks so much! I appreciate all the great information! :thumbup1:

My daughter can read in English, I haven't given her any german material to read, since she doesn't speak it yet.THanks for your links, I will definitely check it out. On a personal note, how come you chose to teach your kids German if you're not? Do you have any German roots? I was just curious why you would choose German...? :-)

Thanks so much to all of you for your suggestions & questions... I will have to try some sort of incentive for her, since clearly taking away playdates, etc. is not working... I do sit with her during all her schoolwork and if her tantrum gets too bad I send her to her room until she calms down. I don't like keeping her home from ballet or art, since I feel we paid good money for it (& our budget is pretty tight), so I don't like her to miss a class, but I have done it once before... Reading all your responses I do feel better knowing that I'm not the only one struggling with this ...sometimes I imagine that all other HSers are just happy to learn, can't get enough of school, etc...and I wonder why we're having such a hard time, but clearly hsing doesn't necessarily mean all peace and happiness all the time...

I have tried to explain to her that the sooner she gets her work done, the more time she has to play or do whatever, but it doesn't really seem to motivate her enough. When it get's really bad, she's not allowed to play with friends that day, but unfortunately that just makes her mad, it doesn't get her to do her work without complaining, etc... Ugh! :banghead:

Hello! I am at the end of my rope today with my dd (7)... she doesn't want to do even the smallest amount of schoolwork...I had her copy today's date and she was acting like I told her to write 100 pages! Lately she has been throwing fits about schoolwork more days than not and I really don't know what to do any more. I don't feel that we do too much, if she would just do it, we would probably be done in 1.5 -2 hrs a day...we have regular playdates with homeschool friends, she goes to ballet and art class (which she loves) and a lot of days she plays with neighborhood friends once they get home from school. And she has a younger brother she plays with the rest of the time...so I don't feel like she doesn't get enough time to play or do other things and I just don't know how to get her to cooperate without wasting half a day on not wanting to do her work or staring into space, etc... Most days it takes us half a day to get stuff done, because she wastes so much time on arguing about it or throwing a full on fit... Any advice?? I am seriously frustrated!! :crying:

:(

:iagree:

I LOVE that idea! I will have to do something like that too! Thanks for sharing! :001_smile:

:iagree:

To my knowledge kids in PS only get about 30 minutes of recess (including eating their lunch), so I don't see how they would get more outdoor time than HS kids, since I'm sure your kids don't spend 7 hrs a day doing schoolwork.... I would just try to make sure to go to the playground, go for walks etc.. regularly if natural light is really helpful...

:lol: That's hilarious! LOVE that!

The point is to use your creativity to preserve memories. If you're not creative and don't like artsy/crafty things, then it's not for you, but my kids love to look at their scrapbooks and remember places they went to, good times they had, etc... sometimes they just like to see what they looked like when they were younger, etc... If you have the time for it, it's a great way to preserve the pictures you take. Personally, I have switched to making their scrapbooks online (on snapfish or shutterfly) since I just don't have the time for it now... :001_smile:

I try to aim for 10 Am, but a lot of times it's 11. My dd (7) needs a lot of sleep (11-12 hrs), so that's where we are right now. My ds (3) is more of an early riser & doesn't seem to need as much sleep as his sister...so once he starts to do schoolwork, I will probably do stuff with him earlier... But don't feel bad if you start late, that's the beauty of homeschooling...you don't have to be at the school bus stop by 6:30 Am (like the elementary kids in our neighborhood!):001_smile:

Thanks for your advice! So, did you not use any kind of formal german curriculum with your kids? I do have some German children's books and will def. get more & also DVDs... just trying to decide if that's enough to start with or if I should start some sort of program & just use books & dvds as supplement...?? Ah, decisions, decisions! LOL! I'm so glad this message board exists!!

My dd (7) is also left-handed, but nobody in our imidiate family is (I think my dh's Uncle was), so it seemed more difficult to me when she started learning how to write..., but as long as you just let her do it her way & her letters are legible, I wouldn't worry about it. I tried to get my dd to slant the paper (like they say lefty's would/should), but she does not like that and she keeps the paper straight and has no problem writing that way and her handwriting is pretty good. We haven't started cursive yet, so we will see...but I use Zaner Bloser Handwriting and she did well with it.

[ My kids only spend about 1 hr/grade level on academic work. I do NOT combine my kids, especially when they are younger. So, assuming the 7 yr old is in 2nd grade and the 5 yr old in K, I would plan on 3 solid hrs of academic work/day. I would not work w/any of the kids together. Since the 7 yr old is the one w/ADHD, I would work strictly with him first and never move from his side. While working with him, the 3 and 5 yr old can be doing whatever they want to do. I would pick the core subject that he likes least to do first. I would sit beside him and help him stay on task and focused. If he needs a break at that pt, I would let him go play and work with the Ker. If he is fine, I would not stop and continue w/him until all core subjects are done. (My Aspie was very ADHD (still is). It was easier for me to get him on task and keep him there than attempt to drag him back and re-focus after a break. You need to find the rhythm that works for you and him.) HTH :iagree: My boy is only 3, so I don't have any advice for you , just a :grouphug:. Hope it get's better for you soon!

Thanks so much to all of you for your input! That helps a lot! I guess I will try it out from the library and go from there...

Did you try getting some Renoir books at the library? There are some pretty nice books that are written for kids that introduce different artists...just do a search on Amazon to get an idea.... the only one on Renoir I have on hand is called:"Smart about Art: Pierre Auguste Renoir - paintings that smile" by True Kelley- it's nice, but maybe for a little younger ones... Sounds like fun, though!

I'm trying to decide if I want to use Muzzy to teach my dd (7) German, or if I should stick to books...? Has anybody used Muzzy successfully with their kids? I saw a couple fairly cheap ones on ebay (I wouldn't pay full price for it), but I'm not sure... I wonder if my daughter would like it and if it will keep her interest? I appreciate your feedback! :001_smile:

Hi! I'm half German and half Serbian, I was born and raised in Germany and have been living in the US for almost 14 years. I started teaching my kids Serbian, when they were little, since I knew it would be harder to find books, etc. for the Serbian language... Now, to my actual question: I want to start teaching my daughter German, but I do want some kind of structure and I'm looking for either a PC program or books that I can use to teach her the language. I have a limited budget for this, but if there's a super-great program out there, I would be willing to save up for it. I heard a lot of good things about Rosetta STone, but don't know that my 7 yo dd would like it, since it's not geared towards kids...also, pronunciation is not the problem, since I can cover that, I just need some sort of "spine" to get started with, since I do want her to speak it well eventually and be able to read (& write) it, so I do want her to learn proper Grammar, etc... Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated! Also, since my Mom still lives in Germany, she could buy something there, if it's not available here. Thanks!