:bigear: I'm listening in! I have a 4 yo ds and while I'm not a native speaker, I'm fairly fluent in french. I asked about Muzzy not that long ago but as my library doesn't have it and there were so many mixed reviews, I don't think I'll spend my limited dollars on it. The thing that came up the most was playing the french track on DVD your child already knows well. There's computer software with Mia the mouse, but I think it's meant for kids who can read, alhtough the topics aren't complicated and a pschooler could probs do it with someone to read for her until she got the hang of it.

Honestly, kilts are not common around here, except perhaps for parades or the odd funeral. HOWEVER. Try reading Diana Gabaldon books. I'm eternally in love with kilts now lol.

I'm lucky (or stupid) and started an organic produce delivery service with my friend and my sister. I can get *almost* anything at cost that way. It's actually not a lot of start up, besides a cooler and we were able to get that fairly cheap as 2 out of 3 dh's are carpenters lol. And most of the time there are leftovers that won't last until next week, so there's usually a box of free produce as well. Again, I'm lucky in that I live on a ranch so chicken, lamb, beef and eggs are taken care of. Someday I'll have my own dairy cow too, but it keeps getting pushed back somehow. I'd LOVE to make my own yogurt, butter, cheese etc. Also, very big garden and lots of u-pick orchards. canning and freezing and jamming at home. And my dh hunts and fishes. so really, since I avoid most processed food, the only thing I buy in the store is dairy and bread, occasionally pork.

Thanks for all the responses guys. From what I've read, muzzy probably isn't for us, especially since it's not in our library lol, although I may check it out on YouTube. Thanks for the tips! Might try a video or two with French tracks. . . But I've done it before and he mostly complains that he likes the English ones better lol. But he'd probably get over it eventually!

I kind of feel the same way! I know that living on a ranch would provide LOADS of opportunities for our kids to do all sorts of neat, important things. But I LIKE structure, I enjoy doing things with my kids (who are admittedly still very young lol) that are somewhat contrived. I don't restrict myself to doing "what the book says" or what my to-do list and schedule say but I do like to arrange our days so that there's order, repetition and expectations. Maybe I'm thinking more of radical unschooling, which is a whole different kettle of fish, but . . . I just LIKE it lo l:001_smile:

My ds is 4 1/2. I sorta consider us homeschoolers since birth, but things are getting a little more formal - if for no other reason than to get in the habit of sticking to the plan of daily learning time. I also really enjoy 1+1+1=1 and homeschool creations. We've always done tot school and are just developing that some more: lots of games and activities. In August I'll be starting OPGTR and I'm considering either get ready, get set, go for the code or jumping into ETC1. Kumon books. A geography curriculum I'm putting together myself. We already do calendar daily but I'd like to start a bit of memorization and adding a few other things to that time (like a 100s chart, more complex patterning etc). Lots of reading - he really enjoys the easy novels we read at lunch and before bed. Some of the What your preschooler needs to know, but we're Canadian so our focus is elsewhere for a lot of it. We live on a ranch, so there's a ton of incidental learning outside too. And his little brother (2) is following along for the ride!

Anybody used this for very young children (preschool, kindergarten, primary)? I'm considering it for my four year old in French. I speak French fluently, but I'm looking for something to hold his interest for a few minutes while I work with my other children. I feel like we've got math and phonics covered and French is definitely an area I'm interested in exploring with him - hence the language program. If you have used it, did you like it? Did your child? At what age did he/they use it? Would he be able to use it for more than a year or two? Did they learn from it? If you didn't like it, or used something else, what would you recommend for this age? Thanks!

This describes my family to a tee. We're not religious but we do believe in modesty - for both genders. It's respectful to others and to ourselves. Swimsuits are fine, cleavage is not. Knee length shorts for girls (I avoid them) is one thing, daisy dukes on a 12 year old is another thing all together! I don't know if this is under modesty or anti-consumerism but we also avoid graphics on clothing, giant brand names, commercialized clothing (disney etc). We want to be judged by what we say and do, not what we wear. I guess the fact that we don't wear certain things also projects something, but I'm okay with that particular projection, if you know what I mean?

I use this link a lot: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ she reviews each recipe and there are some real good'uns in the index list!

I'm planning on using Usborne's Encyclopedia of World History, the Prehistory section as a spine. You can also get it separate from the wold history book (I have both). Can't tell you how it works cause my son is only pk and I thought I'd wait until K to do it - but it exciting for me to plan it out! If a book gets me excited, usually that transfers onto my kids lol.

Yup, I agree. Definitely think vertical - look through Ikea catalog for inspiration lol. We've used those plastic drawer dresser thingies so if you're using the shoe shelves like is actually suggested in the book, this would save a lot of room too (and the shoe boxes could be repurposed for toy storage etc).

I've read about 1/2 with WEM. So i have the chapter summaries to get me going again when I'm ready! I too have to take breaks with it. I enjoy it when I actually read a good chunk - it has those glimmers of a really good book that makes me reluctant to abandon it altogether. I keep telling myself that classics are classics for a reason and there must be a good ending!

For a secular book, Usborne books puts out a few good ones: What's Happening to Me? There's a version for boys and one for girls. There's also Body Books that describe a lot of puberty stuff. I've always really appreciated the honesty and respect for children in their way of describing things. They manage to balance between honest, yet still . . . tasteful? For lack of a better word!

My son is younger than yours yet, but I wanted to mention that I love the website! Will probably use it for alphabet and printing exercises.

We really enjoy our National Geographic for Little Kids. When my now teenage daughter was about 8, she enjoyed Kids National Geographic. Great combo of history and science and fantastic photos.

I adore this website. Really the point of her toddler ideas is to sit with your toddler and pay attention to him/her (which could possibly by you some alone time later maybe?) but there are a lot of ideas for constructive, independent play too. http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/TotSchool.html

Hi all. New here, excited to join such an active board! I have a 16 yo dd, in public school, a 4 yo ds and an almost 2 yo ds. I thought I'd start gleaning a little knowledge now as I plan on homeschool the younger set - have since they were born. My question for now is how do you explain to your child that he's not going to preschool or kindergarten? What I'm running into now that he's older are random people he's chatting with in town telling him "You must be in kindergarten now, hey? No? Well, preschool then, right? Oh, well, don't worry, I'm sure you'll be starting in the fall." This has happened more than once! I don't feel like I need to explain my educational goals with complete strangers, but I do feel like ds and i should talk about this. It seems like he's getting all set up for "public school is great!" and he's not even going. What do you tell people you don't know? acquaintances you see occasionally? Your preschool children with no older home schooled models to refer to? Actually, the daughter of my mom's friend home schools, but we only see her once or twice a year, so . . . TIA!

I pay a flat rate, depending on time of day and what's required. My dd is 16, her little brothers are 4 and almost 2. Most often, she's in charge in the evenings. If she has to feed, bathe and put them to sleep and then hang out for a few hours, it's probably around $20. If she has to change her plans to accommodate mine, I might pay her more. If all she has to do is hang out after dh or I have put them to bed, it's more like $10 or so. I don't pay her for being responsible for them when she's already at home during the day and I'm just dashing into to town for an hour or less. She's part of the family, after all and we all help each other out for free :001_smile:

In our family we have a Grami and Grandad, a Gramma and Bucca (another mispronunciation that stuck), a Gramma Nell, and an Oma (and Opa until recently). Honestly, I'm still having babies myself so I haven't even thought of it. Maybe I'll go with Oma to honor my German relatives. I could go with the native term fro gramma to honor my dh's family but I'm blond and blue-eyed, so that might be a little odd!

We have 800 acres . . . Around here, that's medium lol. We're surrounded by Douglas Lake Ranch, north America's largest working cattle ranch. They have a couple hundred THOUSAND acres lol! We're in BC so we also get to craze on crown land, so including that we have 6000 acres. All put to very good use between horses, cows and sheep. We love it, it's been in dh's family since the late 1800s.