if you end up in the Kenner area, I'm part of a wonderful MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) group and you'd be welcome to hang out with us while you're here!

:confused: All of our friends live in Kenner, Metairie, and New Orleans, and I know NO ONE who has bars on their windows/doors. The life she described does not fit with my reality in the least.

We live in north Kenner (between I-10 and the lake), and it's perfectly safe (suburban!). Norco is an easy drive from here. Metairie is the same, suburban, with some perfectly safe areas. There are also lovely areas of New Orleans itself to live in. The city has a bad reputation, but really, it's a wonderful place to live. Like any large city, there are areas with crime and poverty, but they're easily avoided. I wouldn't live in NOLA itself and commute to Norco, though. Kenner or Luling would be my first choice for that commute.

Singapore EM with c-rods is my plan. We've been playing with c-rods and some of the PK/kinder concepts on the Education Unboxed videos for now and having a lot of fun with them!

My plan is to do FIAR (without adding additional history or science) for K and 1st, and then do a year of US history in 2nd, and then start a 4 year cycle with SOTW for 3rd-6th. But, as we're starting K next week, I reserve the right to change my mind. :lol:

Congratulations! :D I second all the "it's hard but worth it" and "the first year is insane but it gets better" and "read the Dr. Luke book" comments. I carried mine 36 weeks, brought my 6lb 7oz baby boy home with me, but my 4lb 4oz baby girl got to do a 10 day stint in NICU. I had an OB who was supportive of vaginal twin birth, as long as baby A was vertex. I delivered a vertex baby A and a breech baby B. Baby girl was breech my whole pregnancy. She spent 8mos hearing me tell her to "Get your head out of my rib cage, kid!" She never complied. :glare: Foreshadowing of her current temperament. :tongue_smilie: It's a fun journey! Not one I'd want to repeat, but also one I wouldn't trade for the world. Best of luck to you!

We are using golf pencils with erasers, as suggested in HWT. Mine also have grippers (either crossover or stetro, depending on kid). I agree with HWT that a shorter pencil fits better in a smaller hand. Oh, and regular crayons. I have never liked fat crayons.

:iagree: She said it all a lot better than I did. This is what my kids do, too.

We have been easing in over the last few weeks, and are calling next Monday (the 20th) our "official" start, when we'll add our last component.

I went and test drove machines at my local dealer and am getting the pink Brother Project Runway Machine for my birthday later this month. I am SO excited.

I don't think I would start phonics with a child like that. I would read, read, read to them, and wait another year or so to begin teaching them to read.

I think AAR pre-1 would be a great fit for her now! I have a just-turned-5yo in speech with articulation issues. I was really worried about phonics with him. He has had such a good foundation in AAR pre-1 and the Explode the Code primers (Get Ready, Get Set, and Go for the Code), though. He can identify individual letter sounds for every letter, even ones that he struggles to say in his regular speech. I will say that he didn't seem like it was "sticking" until I added the ETC primers to AAR. Having letter sounds coming from multiple sources sees to have really made the leap for him. Just recently, we have started to work through Phonics Pathways, and he's not blending yet. I don't think he'll have major trouble, though. He's progressing nicely!

I think the fact that there are 3 of them makes a BIG difference. My kids are a force to be reckoned with in our music class and in Sunday School. They are comfortable with each other, and the sillies can take over quickly. They'd often much rather play with each other than listen to whatever is going on in class. :glare: Any one of them does well alone, but it's the herd that's the problem. I don't have any good answers, but we deal with it, too.

I went to my local teacher supply store and bought one of several different styles to see what suited each kiddo best before I bought more online. I have two using the crossover grip, and a third using the stetro grip.

I'm with you. I'm using it less and less. We still have some DVDs that the kids will ask to watch occasionally, but the vast majority of our viewing is netflix streamed through ROKU.

I used to do it all the time. When we lived really close to one, and I went frequently, I'd often browse and come home with nothing. Now? When I have to drive 5 hours? No WAY!

I searched pinterest. ;)

I have printed a few of this lady's and they're really pretty! http://www.kindergartenkindergarten.com/file-folder-games/

I have the Scotch laminator (LOVE!) and use the inserts that Sams Club sells. They're like 200 for $20 or something like that. It's shameful how much I laminate just because I can. :lol:

I have wood pattern blocks from discountschoolsupply.com and they've been great. Their website says they're 3/8" thick, so I guess that's not quite 1cm? I have plastic c-rods, but am going to switch my stash over to wood. There is some hot debate over that, though. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=411532&highlight=wood+c-rods

Mine love it (still in the "getting ready" books), or I'd ditch it. I think it's completely redundant with the other stuff we're doing. I felt like I "needed" ETC since everyone I knew was using it. I figure as long as it's popular, it's worth it, but in your case, I'd drop it without hesitation.

This is what I was thinking! I definitely was not feeling like I'd won the kiddo lottery at the 1 year mark. :lol: Your babies are beautiful! I do love having twins, but it took me longer. MUCH longer.

offers are only visible before you turn the kindle on. They don't bother me in the least, and I don't' regret the purchase at all. I love my kindle!

I find that a google search for "FIAR (name of book) blog" will produce a ton of ideas!

I'll go join the social group when I'm on my laptop. Too much a pain from my phone. I'm just starting homeschool with a kindergartener and twin PK4ers this year. I was introduced to CM about 12 years ago when I applied to teach 3rd grade at a classical/CM hybrid private school when I graduated from college. Susan Schaffer McCauley's book was required reading before my interview. I had a wonderful experience teaching in that school (4 years) before I had my kids, and IMO, the best parts of their curriculum and methodology were what they took from CM. I have re-read For the Children's Sake since I began preparing to homeschool, but have never read her original series. I'm excited!