I'd actually love my daughter's teacher to do a home visit. My daughter is very reserved at school, but extremely animated and talkative at home. I wish her teacher could see that side of her. I'd also love her teacher to see what she does at home. Seeing the kinds of projects, reading, and activities she's doing at home would probably give the teacher a better perspective to why she's zoned out in her way-too-easy class.

I think this year I'm going to have to cut back drastically. here s my plan: SOTW 1: started this summer, should finish by Christmas WWE: I'm up in the air about WWE because I think its a good program but my daughter detests it and she has so little free time. Artist studies: keep, but at a slower pace than last year. Math: Finish last chapter of MM 1B, then slowly work through 2A&B. Prep for Kangaroo Math competition in the Spring. Reading: Continue 15 minutes a night required reading, 25 minutes on weekends. Plus, read alouds, of course. Other: Trying to fit in a unit study about the US and some geography. Swimming lessons.

My daughter had her first day of first grade yesterday. She doesn't get home until 4:15 in the afternoon. And then she's so worn out that she needs to be in bed, asleep by 8pm at the latest. That leaves me so little time with her! When I think about homework, bath, dinner, and the occasional soccer practice, I'm floored. How am I supposed to afterschool at all? I'm sure I'll find a way somehow, but right now I'm just really sad and feeling like public school has stolen my daughter from me. Anyone else feeling the loss?

I feel your pain. Last year my daughter's teacher informed me that the school's guided reading program didn't go up to my daughter's level. And she still has another year to go in that school!

Ours has been drying for about a month. We used the washing soda mix and there's been no smell other than alcohol. We also dumped a bunch of ginger and cinnamon in, which helps. I'd be worried if it was mushy. We changed the mixture twice in the first week, and by the end of the week it was looking pretty dry.

I have been waiting for my membership to the Hogwarts Correspondence School yahoo group to be confirmed, but it just doesn't seem to be happening. I sooo want to do this with my daughter! Does anyone have or know of any similar resources outside of the yahoo group?

Not quite as well as I planned. My daughter loves to put off her work, but by the time she's done swimming her head is mush. I know I should make her do it first, and I often do, but sometimes I crumble. So far SOTW has gone very well, because DD loves all the projects and extra books. Math is on track, we raced through some weeks and lagged behind on others, but it's evened out. WWE is a battle. I'm not sure if I'm winning or losing. Reading is going well because DD is involved in so many prize-granting reading programs. She's finally taken on chapter books! Art and bible study have practically ground to a halt. I'm also behind on all my own summer goals, which I blame entirely on The Game of Thrones books.

All my summer plans just flew out the window. I am so excited about this!!! (Hmm, maybe I should keep my summer plans for my daughter and I should go to Hogwarts...)

This is an issue that worries me. I would like to afterschool right on until college, but I have a feeling it will be too much with school commitments, homework, sports, etc. I also wonder how cooperative my very headstrong daughter is going to be about mommy-education as a teenager. I guess my tentative plan is to afterschool through middle school. I dream that my daughter will then be accepted into a private high school with a generous scholarship. My local schools are decent, but not great. I know if we keep working at this rate my daughter is going to require more course selection than they offer. I guess dual enrollment would also be an option.

I have to say I'm not a fan. Particularly of the parts that say homework shouldn't be used to reinforce skills and memorization and that homework shouldn't be assigned over the summer. I think schools try to fit in so much these days that basic skills don't get reinforced. Students SHOULD be memorizing poetry and practicing math facts outside of school. And study after study has shown how much ground students lose during the summer. While all of us here are providing much needed learning opportunities for our kids, many parents aren't. it won't hurt students to have summer reading or other work assigned over the summer. I do agree that students should be able to do the work without the help of a parent, however. Many parents can't (or don't bother to) help their kids with assignments and it's not fair to those kids.

It's tough to be an afterschooler. Your kids want a break, but you want to fit in everything you want for your child's education. I'd love to fit in so much more this summer, but I finally narrowed it down using the following criteria: 1. What my daughter loves: art and artist studies 2. What my daughter needs: she wasn't challenged in math at all this year, so we're doing that. Her writing ability can't keep up with her brain, which frustrates her, so we're doing WWE too. 3. What school isn't providing: History At this point I simply can't fit in science, grammar, music. After we finish SOTW and WWE we may switch to science and FLL for a while before continuing with SOTW 2 and WWE 2. Try making a list like this to hep you narrow down your goals!

My daughter loves myths and got very excited when I told her about the national Mythology Exam. Unfortunately, she doesn't want to wait until 3rd grade; she wants to take it NOW NOW NOW! Anyone know of something like this for younger kids? Or other exam-type competitions? (My daughter is obsessed with earning medals.)

When I was a kid my mother started reading Dr. Doolittle to us. But she kept falling asleep in the middle of sentences, so it was never finished. I think that technically makes it about a 25 year read aloud!

How long have you tried each of the new strategies for? I find my daughter grumbles a lot when I require her to do something new. But after a few weeks it just because a regular part of her day. Maybe you can find a system or program YOU really believe in and keep going no matter what for one month. At the end of the month you'll have a better idea if it's really not working or if it's just an adjustment issue.

Whenever people tell you your kids won't be like everyone else, just think about the David Letterman segment where he asks people on the street simple questions about the world. You'll feel better instantly. "Normal" isn't something worth striving for.

I don't preread. I think it's important to expose our kids to lots of different worldviews, even those we disagree with. While my daughter is young and we're doing read alouds, we take the time to discuss issues as they come up. I notice tons of mean name-calling in books. As DD gets older and reads independently, I hope she'll be thinking actively as she reads. We'll continue to discuss ads we see, news stories we hear, things other people say, etc. This should provide her with a strong foundation to keep her steady in the tide of opinions she'll encounter.

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess we'll stick it out, but condense it a bit. I'll lay off the grammar lecture and just have her do the copywork to increase her writing endurance and to encourage her to complete work that requires effort. (She doesn't have trouble with the writing, she just doesn't like to do anything that doesn't have an instant "wow" payout. She likes projects or "really hard stuff" that she can impress people with and get lots of accolades for. I guess it's the curse of being an only child and the first grandchild on both sides of the family.)

Hmmm...I'm starting to wonder if DD needs WWE 1 at all. She has no problem answering the comprehension questions. (Not reading them before the passage, no rereading necessary, uses complete sentences). Pretty much all the books the passages are from are on our reading list for the year anyway. And while her handwriting is far from perfect, its very good for a 6yo. (I knew all that arts and crafts would be good for something other than destroying my kitchen table! :lol:) Right now my major reasons for sticking it out are: a) I'm inclined to think SWB has spent much more time and has much more experience figuring out how kids become good writers than I have. So I hate to buck her suggestions. b) DD is very, very lazy. She's never really had to work at anything (academic at least), and really resists anything that requires a minimum amount of effort. So maybe pushing the copywork is good for her. Are those good enough reasons?:confused:

Wishbone: classic literature.

My daughter isn't enjoying WWE 1 so far. (We are up to week 6) She dislikes comprehension questions and HATES the copywork, even though I have her do the shortest sentences. Looking ahead, I notice that the first 17 (!) weeks of copywork focus on proper capitalization. I don't think my daughter's going to make it through all that repetition without throwing a hissy fit. Has anyone else found the slow pace to be a problem? Can someone give me a good reason for dragging capitals out that long? Is there a way to accelerate the grammar without increasing the writing? (In other words, I wouldn't want to move too quickly through the book and end up in WWE 2 long before DDs ready to write that much.) Other suggestions? Is there a better curriculum for a bright 6yo?

So I had finally saved enough up to buy some of the curriculum I needed for this summer. Nothing fancy, just the SOTW 1 AG, Challenge Word Problems, and Song School Latin. In my house, it takes quite a while to save that much though. Then, THIS WEEK, my cell phone broke, my printer broke, my garbage disposal broke, and I got a flat tire! All in one week!!! Let's just say that the curriculum won't be coming until summer's over. :banghead:

So what did everyone spend their other $1.01 on? :D

I have the Lawson, Boswell, & Stiff one. I use it with some of my tutoring students. I think it's pretty thorough. I like that each chapter begins with an "Are You Ready for this Chapter?" section that reviews the background skills and information a student needs. This can help identify if you need to go back and fill in holes before teaching the new concept. There are lots of different types of questions and real-world applications throughout. The only thing I didn't love is the companion website. Other publishers have much more useful online support resources, IMO.

My daughter loved the pretend archaeology dig we did after reading about archaeology in SOTW. A tide pool scavenger hunt is always fun too.

Thank you so much for this! I think folk music is currently undervalued, and I'll definitely be borrowing some ideas.