I just started doing P.E. with the kids during our homeschool day. The kids know it is on the schedule and won't let me get away with skipping it. ;) Plus it is fun to do it together. If I had to do it first thing in the morning, there is no way I could. I can barely drag my butt to the coffee maker in the morning! :D

Thank you! I orderd the Colonial one. Looks like fun! There are also some free downloads available. Just search for "free" and a bunch will come up. :D

I'll be your (virtual) friend! :D I know what you mean, though. I miss chatting with other moms when picking up my kids from school. But it also seems like everybody is so busy all the time, it is hard to make plans to get together. It would be great to have a homeschool buddy, but I haven't really clicked with other homeschool moms I've met (except for one who lives like 2 hours away). This is a good reminder to get ourselves to more park days and other homeschool events to see if I can find a homeschooling pal. How cool would that be?!

I probably wouldn't put it all in one place. But I'm kind of a chicken. :D

Ds definitely cried in K. I think he learned to hold it in eventually (so he wouldn't be embarrassed in front of his peers). Now he still gets teary at his afterschool program if he feels like he doesn't know something. I don't think tears are necessarily flowing, but he starts to tear up. I think he feels a lot more comfortable letting it out around home. When I taught 1st grade, there was a student that had a huge tantrum with his mom right after the holiday party. She looked at me and said, "He doesn't do this to you, right?" And I said, "no!" I think kids just let their emotions out more freely at home and/or with their parents.

Yes. It is day three. Tears from ds and pouts from dd. :tongue_smilie:

Wow! You gals are such angelic snackers. :lol: My current favorite snack is honey sesame cashews from Trader Joe's. I also sometimes have a bit of peanut butter as a snack, sometimes with a banana. Or a bit of chocolate. I've been known to eat a potato chip or two... Often dh makes popcorn in the evenings and I have a bit of that. Or an ice cream sandwich. (Not all of this in one night, mind you!) I didn't realize everyone was so much healthier than I am! I'm going to have to switch to brussel sprouts or something. ;)

Another book to check out is "It's Not the Stork" for younger kids and "It's So Amazing" for a bit older. I've only read the first one and I think it does a good job of spilling the beans without getting too detailed.

I remember that from when I was in high school. That was the first time I looked forward to getting the mail (because there was actually some for me! LOL). I had assumed that this had stopped because of the internet. Teens today could just browse the school's website, kwim? But I guess it makes sense to get your glossy photos in their hands. :D I also remember sending in a lot of postcards for more information with my social security number written on them! I guess this was before identity theft was a well-known issue. :001_huh:

Thank you! I'm hoping to teach/learn a bit about Rosh Hashanah with the kids in a few weeks. :)

I wonder if this tends to happen in a classroom setting. Just because the teachers are trying to catch up those that are behind in reading and don't give as much attention to those that are reading at a higher level?

We just started, but so far we have the guidelines of (1) be respectful and (2) have a positive attitude. Hopefully we can keep those in mind as much as possible! I do have the rule for ds not to answer for dd. So far that rule is not really being followed though...

Hmmm... Maybe just a button up shirt and nice pants? In cooler weather, I would say a sweater and pants. I'm not sure where they would do tailoring. Maybe a nice department store?

I printed out a general weekly schedule that includes what subjects at what times, as well as what days of the week for certain things (art, music, etc.). I have a more specific plan in my own plan book, but I don't really show that to the kids. I think it is nice for some activities to be a surprise. :D

It is tough. We have found a couple tutors through Craigslist. One was really good, but really just teaches adults. But it was helpful to learn from her ourselves, and she had a set curriculum she uses. The other was for the kids, but seemed to mostly want to help them with homework (they were at a bilingual school at the time). We also found a tutor by asking a local high school teacher for a recommendation. (We didn't know the teacher, just looked up her email on the school's website). She got us in contact with someone who was a native speaker and was in college for early education. She was definitely more personable. BUT in both cases with the kids' tutors I could not get them to just speak the 2nd language to them. Even though I asked them to from the beginning, they both spoke mostly English. They didn't seem to understand that they could speak the 2nd language and act things out and the kids would understand eventually. I was thinking it might be better to look for a baby sitter or nanny-type person instead of a "tutor." The tutors seem more comfortable helping with homework or doing reading/writing, when I was really looking for someone to just converse with them. Still looking for the best solution!

I would go for the 4 year program unless you are really sure about your career direction - just because you have more options during & afterwards should you change your mind about what career you are interested in. If you do plan to be a SAHM, then I think it is worth it to get your degree now because it is much easier when you are young (can still pull an all-nighter when you need to!). Also, I would recommend working for a few years before having kids. This helps you (1) know yourself better before you are immersed in the role of "mom" and (2) save up some money to make it easier to stay at home. The college "experience" isn't just living in a dorm, etc. It really is about learning to be independent, while still having structure and resources around you. Also, many people find that their outlook is really broadened by the college experience. Beyond learning a specific subject matter, you may also learn about taking initiative, seeing new perspectives, thinking critically and other things that will serve you in life. Part of my concern with the lab tech job would be that if there is a lower bar of entry, the job market could get tight quickly. This has happened to some 2-yr program careers around here (like ultrasound tech for example). The job market became saturated fairly quickly as more 2-yr colleges opened programs. So that is one thing to investigate - how many people are landing jobs right out of school. Don't necessarily take the college's word on it if you can find out directly from someone in the field, etc. Have you had a chance to shadow a lab tech just to make sure it is something you would really enjoy. If you can, I would really recommend it. I wish I had done that before starting college. Best of luck to you! It sounds like you have two great options. :D

Just wanted to share a site with a lot of printable worksheets: http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/index.html Tons of pages of: Math Reading Writing Phonics Handwriting Grammar Spelling some Science and Social Studies, holidays, etc. The worksheets are pdfs and look pretty nice/uncluttered. Hope the site is useful to someone! :)

I wouldn't say anything. If I were her, I would want to know but I wouldn't want anyone to tell me (I know that is illogical...). As long as her Math is correct, I would let it be. This site doesn't have lesson plans, but it does have printable worksheets for practice: http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/decimals.html

Thanks so much for commenting on this. I've been thinking about getting it, but wasn't sure. It is on my list of "things to get soon." :D

Thank you! This looks great. :thumbup:

I wasn't trying to be judgmental. I'm sorry if I sounded that way. I'm sure I COULD be a little more judgmental if I tried. I didn't write "What?! Are these people crazy or what?!" ;) I did think it was strange - "strange" being used meaning "unusual." I haven't heard of anyone doing that before. Hence the question marks and asking if anyone has done this before. I agree that it was odd that people asked me before I even started! I guess it is because I was a teacher before having kids. Or maybe they can just sense my impending awesomeness. :D

We haven't even started yet and I've had a few people casually mention having me homeschool their children (not seriously ask if I could do it, but kind of saying something in passing). One of them was talking about someone she knew who wanted to homeschool, but was too busy and was looking for someone to do it for her. I thought that was a bit strange (?). I guess they are looking for the benefits of one-on-one attention, but aren't interested in doing it themselves? Anyway, just wondering if something like that has happened to you. Or maybe some of you have experience homeschooling other people's children. If so, how did that go? Just kind of curious about the whole idea I guess. To the one person that was more serious, I just said I would have to see how the first year on our own goes! :001_smile:

I had a very strange feeling on Monday when our local public school and the private school the kids used to go to both started (so all my kids' friends were having their first day of school). It felt like a moment of doubt - am I sure about what I'm doing? Now I feel back to normal. :) Although we aren't starting until next week. So it feels almost like it is still summer and almost not. :D

Thank you so much for sharing this! I really appreciate it! :D

I think kindergarten social studies is usually things like community helpers (firefighters, police officers, etc.), holidays, things like that. Here is the California list of standards: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/histsocscistnd.pdf There doesn't seem to be much geography in there - just mapping the local community and being able to distinguish water / land on a map. Hope that helps a bit! :)