We did all of level 2 in 1st grade. It was easy, we did it all orally and it took 15 minutes a day. We will finish all of level 3 this year, for 2nd grade. We do most of it orally. He writes the diagrams and we use the worksheets for more practice. We will do all of level 4 next year, with the workbook. Again, we will do most of it orally but add more writing than we do this year. I am prepared to take 2 years for level 5. We will use it for 4th and 5th grade. I have read that this year is hard and we will be transitioning into more writing and less oral work that year. We have time to take two years. I am not using a separate writing program for DS. R&S has a full writing program in it. I will supplement with assignments (essays and papers) from history and science. I will use all levels (I believe they now have 9th and 10th grade). I like the repetition. We do two lessons at once some daus or skip a lesson of I feel it is too repetitive for him. I gauge what we do by how my son is doing. If he is recalling the daily review lessons, we move faster; if he is forgetting major concepts we slow down. If you are starting in 2nd or 3rd grade, you can skip book 2. Book 3 covers everything with a little less repetition. It was great for a gentle start with a young 1st grader.

He does the equivalent of a paragraph or two a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. We are doing R&S as a stand alone grammar and writimg program. He is actually in the third grade book and there is no composition until the 5th unit. He writes 4-8 pages of math, dictation or a spelling workbook on a rotating schedule. He writes for Latin and Bible and history once a week. He spends his free time watching Khan Academy and writing notes, or writing notes to his friends. He has excellent penmanship when the writing is kept to a smaller amount.

She also takes Mother's Day off to spend time with her mom....DS lost tooth number two on Mother's Day and we forgot! He was upset the next morning, until I explained.....

Half dollar coin. Aidan loves the big coins!

At 3, I did the Letter of the Day curriculum from Brightly Beaming. We also made our own alphabet lap book. At 4, we got a little more formal because she wanted to. We are using R&S ABC series along with Mortensen Math manipulatives and math games. I have tried 100ez lessons and Phonics Pathways with her. We are now adding a Charlotte Mason style reading lesson everyday. It only requires and board and some paper and something to read. I don't buy full formal curriculum until 1st grade. I use a lot of dollar store workbooks and games.

Both of my kids. Sometimes I just say, "I love you, but O need quiet." He has learned to respect that. It only took 7.5 years. Now, I am working on the 5 year old. And I am sure the baby will follow suit.

We start with Math every morning. That sets the time for our day....most days he finishes 3 lessons in about 30 minutes. Then we do Latin, spelling, Bible, Grammar, Reading, and Science or History. Math - SM we complete a text/wkbk set and then do the IP and CWP for a month before moving on to the next level. 5 days a week Latin - Prima Latina 4 days a week Spelling - Spelling Plus with Dictation and Homophones (we rotate the books: week one-spelling list, week two-dictation, week three-homophones). We do this 3 days a week. Grammar - Rod and Staff, 4 days a week. Some days we do 2 lessons if they are short. Science - RS4K, this year we did Chemistry and we are about to start physics. We have spent the weeks between doing am anatomy unit with a body coloring book. It has parts to cut out and attach to a full body tracing. 1-2 days a week. History - SOTW 2 with some AG pages, the Tests as worksheets and a Lap Book I found online. 2-3 days a week. Reading - McGuffey's Eclectic Readers 3-4 days a week. He reads one lesson a day and either narrated back to me what he read or answers the questions. Thursdays we go to a coop from 9-12. He does PE, Astronomy, and a world geography and cultures class. We did a Christmas cultural geography unit study as well. I try to follow as many of Charlotte Mason's ideas as possible. We stick to short lessons, we finish in 2 hours or less and spend the rest of the day playing or reading on our own. I try to get the kids outside as much as possible. Last week the weather warmed up and we did school outside for 2 days and then we went for a walk another day while we listened to history on my iPod. I don't use separate handwriting, copywork, or dictation lessons. Good handwriting is expected on all work, so we don't need the extra practice. Dictation/copywork is covered in Spelling.

We use these almost daily: Travel swing Moby wrap Car seat/strolled travel system Boppy Fold out changing pad with pockets for diapers, wipes and ointment.

I had some guacamole and chocolate chips :) I had a great weekend: rehearsal for music man, birthday party for my friends little girl (got to see my high school buddies), left the big kids at my parent's house, went to dinner with DH and the baby, cleaned the house while kids were spending the night with grandparents, went to church, and now we are just hanging out. We had school outside last week because it was mid 60s, but we may have snow and ice on Tuesday. I have only scrapped my windshield once this winter.

I loved being in a sorority. There was lots to do and.be involved in. By having good grades, I got out of a lot of the "mandatory" activities. I made some great friends! I did live in the house. Where I attended school, it was cheaper to be in a sorority and live in the house than to be in the dorms or an apartment. Our dues with room and board (12 hot meals and 3 cold breakfasts a week) were ay least $100 less than the dorms, and we did not pay for a.parking pass either. It just depends on the house and dorm.

I stopped looking at curriculum posts after I made my purchases for the year :) Last year I ended up with too much because I kept hearing about great things on the curriculum boards. What we have works, so I try to avoid the curriculum posts until I start planning next year.

Rigor and relaxed are not mutually exclusive. With regards to output, I don't require a lot of writing from my 7 yo. Most of his original writing is done on his own in his free time. His handwriting is always legible and he cares about spelling and grammar. He does dictation for written spelling and oral practice for list words. I make him correct grammar, punctuation, spelling and handwriting in his dictation. It makes him a careful writer. We cover math a few years ahead of his ps peers, he studies Latin, Bible, history, and for science we have done biology, chemistry, anatomy and we are starting physics. BUT, I follow Charlotte Mason's idea of short lessons and atopping when the child loses focus. We spent 2 days this week doing school outside. I use the curriculum suggestions and reading lists from TWTM and follow Charlotte Mason's approach.

We bought a house along with all the furniture. They left all the knick-knacks and wall decorations that they did not want. It was annoying because we had a lot of clean up to do. :(

We had a nursery and two sitters, but we had a LOT of kids at the wedding and we wanted parents to enjoy the reception and not have to chase kids in the small hall. Most kids stayed in the ceremony and then they went to play with toys during the reception. PLUS my friends were doing a reading at the wedding and they had a baby. They could not hold the baby during the ceremony. I have not been to any other weddings with childcare.

I have actually used both editions and not used the HIG with either one. I think it depends on your confidence with mathematical concepts and how your child's brain works. My son does not need manipulatives. They drive him crazy. He holds it all in his head. Explain a new concept with manipulatives/games etc once and he gets it. If my daughter needs more work with manipulatives and games, I may use the HIG.

I love that video!!

You don't need the HIG. I am good at math, I understand how to use manipulatives, etc. My son hates to spend excessive time with manipulatives so the card games just frustrated him. I did a quick demo with the blocks/colored pencils/candy and then he did one. If he got stuck on a problem I would hand him the manipulatives. I felt like the HIG really slowed us down.

As far as changing the grade level later, it depends on your state. We are in a non-reporting state, I can change his grade whenever I want. If I was in reporting and testing state, I might label DS differently.

Mine has a late Sept birthday, bit was doing first grade work when the PS said he wpuld start preschool. So we homeschool. He does fine in all social situations where he is with other second graders. He is more mature than a lot of older second graders. It worked for him, but that is his personality. It does not work for everyone.

I like the idea, I use some of them: 15 minute hot spot declutter, and I do zones, but I also do them on a daily rather than weekly rotation. I found the emails distracting. I just want the daily zones, weekly plan reminders. You can't get just that. She says to just hit delete if you don't want to read, but it is still an overwhelming number of emails! I unsubscribed, but they made some email switchup and now I get ALL the emails again. I tried to change my subscription, but it did not work. I am a little irritated with them.

I would cut her activities. Of she cannot handle hygiene, she does not go to activities what others are involved. If you don't feel she can stay home alone, she SOTW in the car at sibling activities. Or she sits outside. My 7 year old has missed activities for refusal to bathe. Are their other privileges she can loose? TV, computer, phone?

There are several rooms with no safe pathway. Even when our house has been at its worst, we can walk through the house, and the mess has been toys and baskets of clean laundry. Food trash and diapers are different. I think the parents need some counseling and help cleaning while the kids are at a family member's house for the week. It looks like a boarder type situation.

I am 8% done....I had a.rough time with the first book, it was so ling and drawn out. I did a quick review of French history when I got to the part where the bishop had the political discussion with the dying man. I am enjoying it, but taking it slow and reading many portions!

Look at her throat and smell her breath. You will see white spots and smell the strep of she has it. I can't describe it, but it is very different from regular breath or bad morning breath. If the thraot is just red, I would keep her home to rest, white spots and funky breath - doctor.

8-10 weekends I have rehearsals, 6 weekends a year we have performances, two weekends we have competitions. So when we have nothin.g to do....we sit around, or play at home. We may do some shopping today.