The study you linked compares planned homebirths in the year 2000 to hospital births from the 1970s and 1980s. So, yes the rates were similar. However, if you compare the perinatal mortality rate of ALL hospital births in the same year (2000; the authors left that out, hmmmmm) you will find that the rate of perinatal mortality at HOME is almost 3 times higher than the hospital births for that year. Just because you read an abstract from a research paper doesn't mean the actual data within the paper is true. You did link the only paper in existence that attempts to show that homebirth is safe. In reality, even that paper shows how incredibly unsafe it is. I won't change your mind but I will debunk your "science" for FACT. ACOG standards for a VBAC states that you should have continuous fetal monitoring in a tertiary care facility with access to an immediate OR. I don't see where any of that can take place in your home. You take whatever medical advice you want but one anecdotal story of a successful VBAC at home would never convince me to risk my babies life at home.

Thank you! Huge applause. To those that think it's your body, your choice you are forgetting the innocent life you are putting in danger. Two out of three babies that die in a homebirth could have been saved at the hospital. The risk of your baby dying at home is 3 times higher than at the hospital. Those are pretty alarming stats. The OP is a VBAC and that in itself should risk her out of delivering at home. Risk factors, smish factors, right? I think the families that have expressed concern over these homebirths have every right to be scared silly and I applaude them for speaking out.

Been thinking about you all day. Hugs.

I am so sorry!

Gosh, my preschoolers go to bed at 10 most nights and even later if they have napped. I am not sure what is weird about that? My almost 2 year old goes to bed between 8:30 and 9.

Yep. My third is almost 2. He is also my first boy. He is non stop and sometimes I literally feel crazy. I also think "is there something wrong with this child?" Everyone has assured me he is just a boy. I don't know if it would have been different if he had been a girl but this third child business is making me nuts.

That is my hometown. I was so sad to hear about the fire. Hugs and prayers to your mom.

Well, I suppose I am failing in your eyes. My DD cries everyday when we do anything learning related. Every single day. I have tried several different approaches and my expectations are close to nothing. She will be 6 in 2 weeks. I have finally chalked it up to a maturity issue. She certainly doesn't cry for lack of ability. We do 2 things, math and phonics. More specifically we do Saxon 1, ETC, and half a page of Phonics Pathways. Still, there are tears. I don't think there is anything wrong with my teaching ability or approach. I have changed things several times.

Anyone?

Trying to decide between Horizons 1st grade and CLE 100 for math for my rising 1st grader. We are currently doing Saxon 1. Do you find the TM for Horizons essential? Thanks!

My poor first child. We started our K year doing a simple Liberty Math K book. It was silly and was too easy and quite boring. We switched to Singapore after reading here how wonderful it is. It was my mistake to try and have her do 1A but at a slower speed. It didn't work. She retained nothing. We tried MUS after Christmas and it also bombed. We both hated the way it was taught. I then took a month off and we did a little Miquon and relaxed. I thought she may do really well with Saxon since it is spiral. She has done well with Saxon 1 and we are on lesson 49. However, she is bored and I am about bored stiff. I literally can't imagine continuing this for another 2 years before we get to 5/4. I purchased a Horizons K Book 2 from eBay and got it today. It looks pretty good and not as slow as Saxon. Would book 2 be a good fit for her coming from 50 lessons into Saxon 1? Is there another spiral program I should be considering? I really want this to be the last math switch for awhile. Thanks for any advice.

I want to hug you! I have been stressed about all the things I need to add in the fall when DD is officially a first grader. My gut is to continue to read aloud, phonics, and math. I guess this helps me to just follow my gut.

Don't read these forums when you are first starting out and get discouraged when you see in someone's signature that their 6 year old is doing 4th grade math. That pressure turned into me pressuring my Ker to go beyond what she was capable because I was so stressed about making her "advanced". They all go at their own pace. Don't do too much. Teach them how to read, form their letters and numbers, and do a little math. All the rest can wait until they can read. I did way too much and had to scale way back. My poor first child. Enjoy them, read to them, and have fun. I pushed curriculum too much and wished I had just sat down and read to them more. That is what I am doing now. Read, read, read.

Well, I am embarrassed to admit that I am not sure what clock letters are. We are using Handwriting without Tears and there isn't a slant with their manuscript. I learned the traditional slanted cursive and I like the way it looks. Maybe not?

Awesome. Checking these out. Thanks!

I have been teaching my daughter handwriting using HWT and I really like it. However, I do not like their cursive. I would like to switch to something else for cursive. Does anyone know of a good program to do traditional cursive that resembles HWT?

Not necessarily. HWT lies flat and the pages are long. One of the many reasons why I like that program. :)

Thanks so much for posting!

I am new to all of this as my oldest is only in K but here you go. After reading WTM, I decided on Saxon K and ordered it. I wanted to get started right away (last June) but it was really written to follow a traditional school calendar and I couldn't figure out a way to tweak it. Also the K book was TONS of counting bears, over and over. I thought my kid would be bored stiff. I promptly returned it. I then went to Liberty Math K and it was super boring as well. Tossed that and jumped into SM 1A. It was great until it wasn't. I loved it but was too big of a jump for my DD, just as I imagined it would be. We took a break and tried again. No avail. She is just too young. After Christmas we gave MUS a try. Again, it wasn't for us. I then bought Miquon and thought we would just do that for awhile. One day, on a whim, I found a great deal on Saxon 1 on eBay and bought it. Math is good for us again. She loves it, she is doing well with it, and the repitition and gentle approach is exactly what this child needs. So, for now we are happy with Saxon, with this child, for this year. I have 2 more LOs coming up and DD is only in K/1st. It is going to be a long homeschooling career and the choices! My word, the choices! :)

It was not our style. I returned it and we are happy just doing read alouds.

Currclick does! I just looked. Great idea! Thanks so much!

Thank you!

My DD is almost 6. We are doing the 3 Rs only. She has sailed through HWoT K and 1st grade book. She knows how to form all her upper and lower case letters and all her numbers. I purchases the HWoT 2nd grade book but there is a lot of reading (she isn't reading well yet) and the letter size is much smaller. I don't think she is ready for that book. We won't be doing a formal writing program for a while longer. What can I do for handwriting practice? Should I have her do some copywork even if she can't read everything she is copying (I would read it to her)? Should I purchase the HWoT 1st grade book again and go through it for practice? Any other ideas? Thanks!

Thank you to everyone that responded. I have taken a very deep breath now (LOL) and have decided to start with the Miquon Orange book on Monday. I am really going to focus on concepts and not skills. We will do Singapore 1A again in the fall. Slow and steady, right?

My DD5 is a kindergartener this year. Most of the K curriculum choices were boring her silly. She is a bright child. I made some adjustments and she did really well for awhile. We started SM 1A in August and my plan was to just go very slowly. We moved along ok until Unit 6 in 1A. She understood how to make a "10" and what the "extras" were. She easily did 10+ ? whatever. Then we get to 13+4 and problems like that where the sums are more than 10 but less than 20. Of course, I introduced it the week before Christmas. Big fat fail. I just decided to stop until after Christmas. With my frustration level mounting, I ordered MUS Alpha, thinking a different approach might do her some good. We started it last week and it lasted a week. I HATE it! She doesn't get it. Totally different concepts than what we were learning with SM. I should have known. This week I went back to SM Unit 6 with resolve that we would work through it. We have done "school" 2 days and my frustration level is through the roof. Suddenly she doesn't know the difference between an 8 and a 9, she "forgot" what the values are of the C-rods, she can't write her numbers, and she cries. I am not putting undo pressure on her. What am I doing wrong? Do I just quit cold turkey? Please, I know she is 5, so I don't need any comments about her being only 5. I know she will be fine but I also know this isn't fun for her (or me) and I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing for her. I know we should just stop, but stop and do what? Miquon? What level? Stop and do living math for awhile? Stop and not do math? I don't want her to hate learning but I also feel like we should be "doing" something. Color me type A. :bigear: and thank you! ETA: It just occured to me that not much is lost here. We could just stop, I can order another 1A Workbook and EP and we start over again in the fall.