:crying:I too am sooo sorry you had to suffer such insensitivity. Just as ds is doing a fantastic job of pushing forward, so are you!:thumbup: Keep doing what you're doing and let the comments roll off.

There are questions with each chapter. They have both maps in the IG and a Markable map with dry erase markers. There's also a Book of Time and stickers of various people and events that are studied. SL has samples of the IG.

Oops! Forgot the math.

I'd explain Sonlight this way: Sonlight is a literture-based curriculum with a strong emphasis on history. I understand the philosophy of Sonlight (SL) to be that exposure to good literture is the core of education thus "The Core". A core is a combination of Istructor's Guide (IG), History, Geography, Read-Alouds, and Reader Books, Maps, and CDs. Bible use to be a part of the core but now the books are separate. The Core IGs still have the Bible lessons included. LA, Science, Bible, and Electives like Music are sold separately or part of their complete packages.

I think that it is finding what works to bring all that smartness out of the dc. Whatever that is may differ from child to child, family to family...

I heard the same questions especially when dd started to read early.

We love SL Cores bc of the wonderful books and the well planned IG. Everything is right there.

If they are in high school, I'd suggest seeing if they could teach a class or substitute teach different classes.

We have Music Ace and dc love it.

Dh and dd are like this. Dd needs the sleep though but has a difficult time getting her "brain to stop". We've had such a time getting her to get going in the morning due to this. Reading and other normal routines to get calmed for bed just didn't work. What has been working are boring Preschool TV programs like Barney and changing her morning routine around so that she's more alert. Somedays, she still has trouble but it is getting better.

My dd has had issues with her whole class changing for gym in the classroom. She told me that she asked the teacher to change in the teacher's closet instead. Also, in Lithuania, when dc were in preschool, dh had issues with the boys wearing tights under their clothes. "Brazilian boys don't wear tights." So, ds wore his pj bottoms instead. Funny though, dh had no problem adapting to the whole European man-purse thing. Go figure. In Lithuania, we were shocked by this one: even when -0C, moms would leave their babies in strollers outside of stores and cafes while they went in to shop or cafe to meet with friends. We'd be arrested in the US for this and in Brazil, the baby would be gone .

I think the implementation of the writing assignments depends what each individual child can handle. Some can handle the concepts but not the physical writing. Some may not be ready for either. The labs are written for 20 weeks/once a week so there are 16 extra weeks. Some assignments can be stretched over a week or 2. For dd, I've been organizing her writing lessons centered around the writing process. Some assignments involve more physical writing on her part than others. Each week: Monday- Brainstorming or freewriting for 10 minutes. Tuesday- Drafting/Structure. I've included Paragraph Town labs for this but most of these we'll be doing together (partner projects). Wednesday-Revision. Each week we will look at a way in which she can revise her writing. For each way, she'll write a question on an idex card and save it in her "Writer's Tool Box" for use when she needs to revise a report... Thursday- Editing (Didax) Friday- Writing poetry or letters. As far as spelling, I inherited Spelling Power from a collegue so I use the placement tests to check dd's progress. She's a natural speller so I see no need for formal spelling. If there's a pattern of error, I stop and work on it with her. Also, we'll be using Didax's Editing which includes finding incorrectly spelled words that she needs to correct. For ds, who's not ready for MCTLA yet, I use All About Spelling.

I bought the TM only but that's bc I live overseas and shipping is so expensive. After looking through the books, I sometimes wish I had the student books.

How funny! You're not alone. Dh has a tendency to say "your woman" in English which uhhh doesn't sit well with Americans. In Portuguese this isn't an insult at all. In Brazil, single women are never to say "yes" to dates, invitations... the first time they are asked. Matter-of-fact with any offer of food, gifts... always say "no" at least 3 times. If you really mean "no" add excuses. Only women with bad reputations say "yes" the first time and ofcourse American women have gotten many a bad reputation. While I lived in Brazil, some friend of my male cousins asked me to go to dinner and I said the usual American "Sounds great!" My cousins nearly hung me by my toenails. The feelings were mutual as one of those cousins lived with our family in the US for a year and kept running red lights bc in Brazil red lights at 3am are "just suggestions". I learned the golden rule of being a "good girl" and survived to marry a Brazilian pastor.

I heard similiar thoughts about the poetry books being confusing but I found the them very clear and insightful. After only a few lessons of Music of the Hemispheres, dd turned to dh the other night and started to tell him all about onomatopoeia. She has already learned that there's more to poetry than rhyme, that there are various ways of using words to paint verbal pictures or show emotion and that poetry is enjoyable. We've also read through some of Paragraph Town and dd keeps asking for more. (We'll read it again and go into more depth this coming year.) For me, the most impressive part of MCT's curriculum is that he includes his own poetry and writing which IMHO is an outstanding example of good literture. I started by buying Ceasar's English and ended up buying Grammar Town, Paragraph Town, Music of the Hemispheres, and Building Poems. After tasting MCTLA now, I am not regretting my purchases at all.

I've had problems with it locking up when I try to use a template over and over. I gave up and just make a new sheet from scratch. Haven't had problems since. I hope that they resolve this though.

Sounds good. I think that' I'm going to just add crossing t's and closing p's to the Slovak script and leave the rest as is. Thanks everyone for the insight.

I talked to dh and he highly recommends Sonia-Portuguese. Lots of on-line helps.

I'm a CCK raising TCK/CCKs. (A CCK is a cross-cultural kid.) More specifically I am the hidden immigrant (I look like an American but do not always think as one) and product of a bi-cultural marriage. I was raised in the US but my mom was an immigrant to the US from Brazil. Her parents were immigrants to Brazil from Latvia. My dad, an American, was an only child and we had less contact with his family than with my mom's. I visited Brazil as a child, had family from Brazil visiting, and had influence from the Brazilian & Latvian sub-culture in the US. I lived in Brazil as an adult for 2 years and married a Portuguese Brazilian. We are now living in Slovakia. Our dc (dh & I also) jump between 3 worlds while here: the Slovak world, the Brazilian sub-culture, and the English speaking sub-culture.

We have this in Slovakia too. Just so pretty.

Thanks, this is just the advice I needed. Dd is doing well with understanding the differences. Ds not so much. BTW, I really like how cursive here is taught as an art. Dd's penmenship is so beautiful. Both dc are so proud of graduating to a fountain pen. Dd is now required to do all her school work with it. Ds just received his.

Not much writing. FLL3 continues with dictations and also includes some letter writing but nothing major. My frustration with FLL3 has been that they continue repeating definitions over and over after dd already knows them. Also, poetry is rather weak. In IMHO, they do not go deeper with the ins and outs of poetry. I really like that diagramming is introduced.

Wow! Great start! We'll be using Learnable wordless books but it works for us bc dh and I speak Portuguese. Music is a great idea bc it not only introduces them to the language but also culture. Is there any way to find a Brazilian exchange student that could help? Brazilians usually love kids. My dc love Monica DVDs. Family in Brazil send them to us. Monica is a popular Brazilian cartoon series. Avenida Brasil is a great adult curriculum. If you get stuck on a phrase or word, let me know.

How do you handle different handwriting systems? Which one do you use and why? Dc are learning Slovak cursive which has some letters that differ from US handwriting. They don't cross their t's or connect their p's. Dd goes back and forth easily but I'm not sure how to handle handwriting next year for ds. Any advice?

It is possible. My mom is fully trilingual in Lativian, Portuguese, and English. She switches between them with no problem.