After reading your post about what actually happened, I say distance yourself from her. No way do you need to put up with being called names repeatedly for an innocent mistake.

It would depend on what it was about. If she was trying to be helpful, that would be one thing. If she was truly being mean-spirited I would talk to her and let her know you were shocked and offended by the comment. A 3-year long friendship is nothing to just toss away. I would try to get it resolved to keep her and her daughter in your lives. I know many on this board are of the opinion of 1 strike and you're out; but, in my experience, friends don't come along that easily so I would really work to salvage it if I could.

A good part of that might be the Burgess book! I could hardly keep up with the sentence structure in those books! I was doing it with my oldest when he was in second grade and just chucked it because it was such advanced vocabulary and syntax. Before changing anything, I would move on to the next book (hopefully more to his reading level?) and if the problem persists then looking for other options. At first glance though, I would be strongly inclined to think the book is the problem!

One thing that is important to note on subject requirements: In Ohio, while the state requires a list of subjects you need to cover each year, no time allotment is also required for the subject. So, if you do one lesson on music, or listen to one classical song, or listen to the radio, or hear music being played at a performance, you've met the requirement for the year. Just don't feel like you need to make all the the subjects into a course to meet the requirements.

So those that think this is something to stop supporting Sonlight over...why? How is this not purely a good thing for everyone involved? Christians can continue to use Sonlight for their religious matterials. Schools can support homeschool communities by offering classes using Sonlight materials in an inclusive way. I just really don't understand why this is leaving their faith at the door of the church. Or, is the thought that any time something secular enters the house/business/mind of a Christian they are no longer Christian?

Why can't reaching a wider audience with great materials be a goal in and of itself? Most curriculum companies started out Christian, because that was their only market. I think it's great to see this type of change, especially with all the good it will do for the communities it helps. I don't think it would be better for them to leave the religion in and have the program shut down (because that is what would happen). Having a 'Christian' company (what does that mean anyway???) show some flexibility to provide a great resource for homeschool communities is nothing but positive in my book!

I don't see it as Sonlight changing who they are. I've used Sonlight and omitted parts. Should they not sell to me because I'm not using their curriculum in full? Of course not! I see this as no different. The school district is providing a really incredible service to their homeschool community and after the materials are delivered, Sonlight really has no say in how the materials are used.

:hurray:

I just write what I want to use on the lesson plans. Then go through the lesson plans and write down all books and materials I will need for each week before the year starts. Every week I look ahead 2 weeks and pull out all the books/movies we'll use and/or order what I don't have from the library so it arrives in time.

I haven't noticed too much infomercials by the speakers. The speakers only draw a large crowd if what they say is useful. Andrew Pudewa is a good example of this. He does sell curriculum but never have I heard "You should use my curriculum because..." Instead, he addresses specific problems and how he's overcome them as a homeschool dad. He has had just a fascinating life too. He got to study violin under Suzuki (yes. THE Suzuki) and talks about those experiences in relationship to math. He doesn't even have a math curriculum for sale. You can go talk to them at their booth, and see what they have to offer if you want, but it's certainly not going from one workshop to another hearing how good their curriculum is and how bad everyone else's is.

Personally, I wouldn't. If you don't like the classroom atmosphere, the drama and taking an entire day away from what you are trying accomplish at home, it just doesn't make sense to do classical conversations.

Pick 2 per hour you want to see. If the first one you pick isn't helpful for you, get up and leave and go to the next one. Hopefully you'll find a few favorites. Personally, I have to stay away from anything with worldview, discipleship, biblical or science in the titles of the workshops. After you attend a few, you might pick up on a similar pattern of ones you don't enjoy. Are the speakers you enjoy more practical in their lectures? Or are they more relational in trying to get you to feel encouraged? Do you want a cheerleader or a specific problem addressed? Are you looking for lifestyle information or educational information?

:rofl:

I've done a menu for all our meals for many years now. Not so much to stop the child drama, but to stop my own drama on what to make for whichever meal. Now it's not "What do I feel like eating?" and messing around with that decision but "Today we're having" and that makes everything run so much smoother. A picture menu is a great idea!

No advice, but I'd like to offer my condolences for your loss. :grouphug:

double post.

Still tons of snow here in Ohio. I'm jealous of your warm weather though. We are certainly ready to be outside!

Call Scholastic and have them send you a homeschool edition. I get one copy of the 3rd grade news and 1 copy of the K news. It's still the cheap price (I think >$10 a year) and you can take part in the book club and earn free books for your home library.

I've really enjoyed Phonetic Zoo. It's a jingle, a word list and that's the end. It comes on CD's so your child could do it independently. One of the ideas I've implemented time and time again is to write each word on a white board using a different color for each syllable. This really breaks the word up and makes it *so* much easier to remember. So, if spelling is giving you fits, I would just work off a word list instead of teaching a bunch of rules and see if you like that better :)

I wouldn't see him not enjoying school as a failure on your part. You did everything you could with the information you had to make the best educational choice for your child. The information has changed (he is making himself ill, hates it, etc) so the choice has to be different. That's not a failure, that's continued success.

I just dropped spelling for my oldest! We do end-of-year-testing in March (b/c it's so much cheaper!) and according to the WJII he would find spelling difficult when he got to graduate school and was testing freshman in college. So, we said "bye-bye spelling!" I think that's one of the hardest parts of accelerated learners: realizing that they are so capable of retaining and applying information that we have very little idea as to where they get it and letting go of our curriculum and letting them continue to pick it up and retain.

But wait! Haven't we all seen how much better technology has made all bureaucracy? And learning disabilities? If your child isn't listed as having one in the database, they simply don't have one. All education problems solved! After all, the computer is NEVER wrong. Oh, and how teachers and principals have been inflating test scores, they won't get caught quite as easily with only one source, so this will create huge rises in standardized testing. Our kids are so much smarter already. And, haven't we seen how Facebook and Netflix always know exactly what ads and movies we need to see next using these exact same algorithms? They've never been wrong! Right, right????

I would suggest making the consequences for wasting time be more meaningful than eating sandwiches for dinner. My son has a DS, so we haven't had to use this, but I do remember another poster saying that for any wasted time (i.e. reteaching lessons), the child just sits for that long during their free time. Maybe that would help provide the motivation you need for them to just complete the work? For us, no screens unless school is complete by noon. We are regularly done by 11 because the kids are motivated to get it done so they can do their own thing. (FYI: This doesn't mean they get to watch tv and play video games for the rest of the day, just that they get them at all).

I am having a horrible time uploading a picture, but we do all our homeschooling in our dining room, which is pretty tiny. If you go http://straderspiel.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/wordless-wednesday-organization-edition/ you can see where and how I store everything. We work at the dining room table...and that's it!

I'm not exactly clear on what you are asking. Are you wanting advice on what homework to send with your child to have his montessori teacher work with him on?