:iagree: Wonderful post. I am so weary of being reminded - in whatever way - that I am Laurie (the Adopted One). Can't I just - for once in my life - be Laurie. Period. I would love to be ordinary ;)

:iagree: I, too, am adopted and every single thing you just said is what I would have typed out myself had you not already said it. I am adopted. I wish that I could say that simply I was adopted, but it is (a large part o) who I am. I had a great life growing up with wonderful parents, but I can never get it out of my head that I was signed over to Social Services. I am no "After-School Special" but adoption has played a part in my life that I often wish would just go away.

SOTW and Biblioplan. Started with SOTW. Added in Biblioplan. Tried TOG for 3 weeks (thankfully I sold it on eBay for what I paid, minus shipping), moved to TQ, which is where I would have stayed had I stayed in VA-USA. Have now come full-circle - and my poor DD is just in 3rd grade :lol: - and am back to SOTW & Biblioplan. Couldn't be happier! For now...

:iagree: I also have an 8yo DD doing Singapore and I believe that the textbook is vital. We use the textbook, workbook, HIG (with Mental Math exercises), and CWP! It will probably go fast since your DD is already familiar with most of the work. Give her lots of praise and encouragement - IMHO, in the end you will be glad that you went back through with the text!

Do you so the same subjects each day with your children or not? I am considering switching things up a bit as I try to move to a more CM-friendly plan for the girls. I found the schedules at SCM and also searched the archives here and found this thread but thought I'd poll y'all to see what you do. I like the idea of doing the exact same thing in the exact same order each day. DD#1 and I both have pretty severe attention issues (both diagnosed ADHD - I'm medicated, she's not :tongue_smilie:) I find that we are lucky to get the 3Rs in each day. I feel that that way we at least get in the basics. I will also admit that I need more discipline to keep us on track. It's easy for me to start working on something myself - and get totally lost in my own world - while she is doing her work (instead of staying right there and gently reminding her to keep on track). DD#1, however, would like to switch things up. She loves history and science and we truly never do these any more. She'd love to do art as well. Maybe if we do core subjects before lunch, letting her choose the order, and family work after lunch? Or, possibly switching between core and family work throughout the day so that more of the subjects she likes get "face time"? So, what works well for your family?

'Happens here in Germany all of the time! My husband and I both got tickets in the mail for going just 9 km/h (about 5.5 mph)over the limit :eek: I have never seen the Polizei out looking for speeders - but I always hear about people getting "flashed" by the cameras.

Try Ikea. We just moved from a 3000+ sq ft house in the USA to a house that is 160 sq m (about half of what we had before) here in Deutschland. There is not a single closet in the entire house!!! We have found Ikea furniture to be both affordable and fairly good-looking. Hope this suggestion might help!

Your DD sounds a lot like me at that age (and beyond)! I tested gifted but was always labeled an underachiever. I couldn't / wouldn't / didn't finish much of anything. Ever. My grades could have been all "A"s but were often "C"s and even a "D" or two. As an adult (38 yo to be precise), I was diagnosed with ADHD-Inattentive type. Common traits? Inattention, forgetfulness, procrastination, easily distracted, disorganized, fatigue... Is it possible that your daughter may fall into this category? Just a thought. I hope you find something that works, and agree with the others to get the computer out of her room, or at least figure a way to limit her time online. :grouphug:

TY all so much for your thoughts. Both of my DDs were very early readers (3yo and 2 yo) and are working 1-2 yrs ahead of their grade. I think they could handle most anything but still I am not sure which to use I am continually drawn to AO and am not exactly sure why. I often wonder if it's where I am being led or if I just feel more comfortable with AO because that was the 1st exposure that I had to CM's methods? As I said before, the draw to SCM is putting both girls in history together. I also love Biblioplan with SOTW and that is on a 4-yr rotation. After that I planned to move over to TQ (I was going to do TQ all the way from AHYS but nixed that when we moved to Germany last summer). I don't know...I feel like I live in a state of confusion! Thanks again for your posts!

We do it the same way. My DD hates them, but I think they are really helpful, as she does most of the work in her head. I do like the idea of using the MM sheets as hlee does - making a game out of it. I bet my DD would like it much better that way!

I haven't read the other responses, but both DDs knew their letters and the sounds they make at 3-1/4 (DD#1) and 2-3/4 (DD#2). I tried using LOTW with DD#1 and it worked to some extent, but it was the Leap Frog fridge magnets that taught both girls in no time! We also were given the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD and both enjoyed that as well!

Good morning! For those moms who use AO or SCM (either alone or in combo with WTM), how did you choose which one to use? I have read some of the posts at SCM about the differences between the two and searched the archives here as well, but would love to hear more. I have thought for some time that a more CM approach would be of great benefit to my daughters, especially the oldest. I have always been drawn to it, but just never able or willing to take enough time to really learn all about it and plan our weeks in a more CM-friendly way. Part of the reason is because my oldest DD has ADD (not medicated at this point) and there is no way I can see that she could come close to finishing a lesson in 20 min. or so. At any rate, I am at a place where I now have the time and energy to really focus on changing our homeschool for the better. I want to move towards CM while still keeping with the WTM language arts - DD loves R&S for grammar and I do not want to change that! Both AO and SCM appeal to me. I think AO has so much more in the way of help with their Yahoo! forums and such, but I am not sure how "do-able" it would be to have a DD in Y2 or Y3 and another in Y0. They would always be on different things. But I have also read on AO why they advise not to combine children for the sake of combining. SCM has children combined in history, for instance, which appeals to me more. Each has it's own merits! So, what did you choose for your family, and why? I am very interested to hear!

Although I mainly knit, I do crochet as well. I like any of the Vanna White books! I have Vanna's Favorite Crochet Gifts, which has some really pretty things. I'm sure that your Mom will enjoy whatever you get for her!

Try crackberry.com. They are awesome for any and all BB questions. FWIW I sync mine with Google Calendar & it works well!

We switched from HWOT to RfH and just love it! My youngest is taking two years to complete the K book, as she wanted to start last year in PK. My oldest is now in T and both of them have really nice penmanship (when they try, lol). I highly recommend it!

TY all so very much for the input! DH and I are going to actively pursue German schools for the girls. I think that the positives in this situation will (hopefully!) outweigh any negatives. I will be taking my driver's license class and exam this Wed. and will hopefully be able to drive to our new town Thurs. to look at the Kindergartens and the local Grundschule (primary school). Our hotel is 25 min. away & I am not comfortable with the mass transportation just yet!

Good evening! We moved from the US to Germany last month and as I am starting to get acclimated to my new home (er, hotel - we move in four weeks to our house), I have been thinking about the school year that is fast-approaching. After some research and message-board reading at an ex-pat site I visit, I am wondering if the children should go to school here in Germany, with me filling in a few areas: English grammar, spelling, and history after-school. My other option is to continue homeschooling exclusively (DH is a DOD-civilian so we fall under SOFA and can legally hs). Homeschooling these past 3-4 years enabled us to offer the children something which they couldn't possibly get in a government school. Now our reason for considering German school is the same - they will be able to learn the language and culture in a much more authentic way than either DH or I could ever teach. The positives of German school are that the children will be out by lunchtime. We probably wouldn't even consider it if the children would be in school all day. The classes for my eldest will likely be German, math, and PE. My youngest would be in kindergarten and would have no academic subjects. Like I said, I will fill in the rest after lunch. Has anyone been in a similar situation - especially in a country where the primary language spoken is not English? What did you do? How did things work out? Any thoughts? FWIW we will be here for at least 5 years. We may end up staying much longer than that if down the road we love it as much as we do now!