Can I come over? :D I looove chili on a baked potato. . . I think I'll be making some chili soon ;)

Flylady method - I swear by it. Give the bathroom a good once-over cleaning. Then, teach them to spray and wipe the sink and counter every day, the mirror as needed. With the damp paper towel they just used, wipe down the toilet starting with the tank and working around to the seat and rim. Then swish the bowl with the toilet brush. For the shower, I clean it when I am in it. I keep a scrubbie and just put some soap on it and scrub one wall a day, working my way around. Do this everyday and the bathroom stays clean and it takes about five minutes. Leave paper towels and a bottle of windex on the counter and a toilet brush in a container of cleaning solution. I use a utensil holder to hold the toilet brush - the kind that you keep all your spatulas in, etc. and for the cleaning solution, I fill it with water and spare bits of soap or if I bought a shampoo I don't like, I squirt a bunch of that in there. It doesn't have to be heavy-duty because it is for a quick clean everyday, so the toilet doesn't really get dirty. This is what works for us. Otherwise I'd hate to clean the bathroom.

I agree, also - we don't allow screaming, fits or attitudes to exist in anyone's presence. If you feel like you are going to have a fit you must go to your room. If you have a fit or start screaming and don't go to your room then someone will carry you there and shut the door. You are allowed to come out when you can be polite again. This goes for mommy too :D (very useful when I am pms'ing). Also - I can't remember who said this, but I totally agree - NO NEGOTIATING WITH TERROISTS! Which 3 year olds usually are!

Ditto. Nuff said ;)

Actually, you can change the title of your post. 1. go to your post and click the edit button in the lower right hand corner 2. then, when it brings you to the edit box, you have the option to "go advanced" in the bottom right corner besided the save button. Click on that. 3. It brings you to a new page where you can change the title. :D

I play sims in spurts. I'll play every day for awhile and then won't touch it for six months or more. Now that I think about it, I think I play it more in the winter (I hate being outside in the cold) than in the summer. Probably because I'm cooped up in the house more. . . hmmm . . . must go play now, thanks A LOT!! :0)

The card game war is easy to turn into a math game - just flip two cards at a time and add/subract or multiply/divide - whichever skill you want to work on.

Now I'm offended - why can't Canada have it's own spot . . . we always have to share with those Americans! :p

I just posted a huge list of math activities (on my blog) for young children - just look on the right side under documents. There is also a list of reading and pre-reading activities. DD loves to make everything into a game (she really keeps me on my toes, trying to come up with new things) so I just put everything we do into an organized format, uploaded it and linked it to my blog. For workbooks - kumon, rod and staff, explode the code, total math, never-bored kid book. Games - she loves uno (especially uno extreme), memory, go fish, dominoes, etc. Crafts - I keep a 4 drawer tower full of stuff and a little table and chair with a box beside it (all her crafts go in here and I can keep our table clear!). The normal stuff- play dough, glue, paper, paint, etc. and she loves the chicken socks books by klutz (just do a search for chicken socks on amazon and a bunch of books will pop up) - especially the pom pom animals and tree house bugs.

I haven't seen it, but I've heard it is very rushed and hard to follow all the characters. It just aired in December here in Canada - I missed it, but didn't hear very good reviews about it. I'll probably tape it and watch it anyway - just to compare!

I use it. If I see a movie with an actor I'm impressed with I like to see what else he's been in. I also like the trivia and goofs! :0)

I'm posting more than I did on the old boards. I had a hard time keeping up with things on that board. I'm used to this type of board, so I found the switch fairly easy.

We only have the K'er book, but I like it - especially for the poetry.

Well, it may feel wrong to bring her back bodily, but she is being disobedient if you ask her to do something and she says no, so that behavior does need to be dealt with. What about telling her that she cannot do ANYTHING else until her job is done. I would literally take things away from my dd and tell her, "Oh, I'm sorry, but your work isn't done, you can't do this until you finish your job." Basically, she could sit on the floor ;) but no toys, no books, no lunch, until her job was done. Also, what kind of mess are we talking about? Is it a huge pile of toys or something? I find it best to keep things in bins and allow access to one thing at a time, otherwise we end up with a huge mess that is difficult to clean up. HTH!

Sweet, but not TOO sweet. Give me a good piece of dark chocolate anyday and I am happy.

Chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots.

Not a problem! The more places for us Canadians to shop the better! :D

Forgot some - Peacehill Press - has a list of Canadian distributors for their materials. Voyageur Publishing - they've got stuff or Canadian History and Geography Solid Oak Publishing - this one looks really good - it's a Canadian history program and they've even got SOTW scheduled in it. It's on my list of things to consider for history. HTH!

I have never used any of these places, so I can't guarantee anything about them, but I hope they help! Canadian Home Education Resources Cornerstone Learning Resources Heritage Resources Spectrum Education - their catalogs are great, more of a teacher supply store, but some good stuff for science, etc. Scholar's Choice

I just posted a reply on the other message and noticed yours was gone :D but I'll repost here. I do a lot of my shopping through Chapters (online) - but that's mostly for books and such, though I have gotten some workbooks (kumon, evan-moor, etc.) through them. The search feature can be a pain, but if you can get the UPC or ISBN code from amazon and then search with that, it is much easier to find things. Free shipping over $39 I haven't used amazon.ca so I'm not sure of the shipping, but it is an option. I believe they also offer free shipping over a certain price. I have used CBD and Rainbow Resources, as well, for the things I couldn't find locally. The shipping cost is a pain, but I've still gotten things fairly quickly. I did have to pay duty once (about $8). I'm sure I'll be looking at other options soon, when my dd is older. Give me two seconds and I will list all the other places I've found in Canada. :)

I do a lot of my shopping through Chapters (online) - but that's mostly for books and such, though I have gotten some workbooks (kumon, evan-moor, etc.) through them. Free shipping over $39 I haven't used amazon.ca so I'm not sure of the shipping, but it is an option. I believe they also offer free shipping over a certain price. I have used CBD and Rainbow Resources, as well, for the things I couldn't find locally. The shipping cost is a pain, but I've still gotten things fairly quickly. I did have to pay duty once (about $8). I'm sure I'll be looking at other options soon, when my dd is older.

We just made paper chains today. DD still needs work with her cutting skills - she holds the scissors upside down and doesn't like it when I correct her! I cut a piece of construction paper in half, and then draw lines about every 3/4 inch with a pen and ruler. Then she cuts out all the strips of paper and I help her loop them together and tape them. We like the klutz book as well, but she finds the scissors difficult to use. Kumon has a another set of books - they are smaller than the regular workbooks. One is for cutting - and dd loves it so much, we've done two of them. The pages are smaller and easier for little hands to hold. The Never-Bored Kid Book (evan-moor) also has quite a bit of cutting and pasting.

I'm still having a hard time trying to decide. I've looked at GtG but I think I actually prefer Trip around the World. The only BIG difference I see is in the book suggestions in GtG. And I'm pretty sure that I won't have too difficult a time coming up with my own books. They both give an overview of countries, a flag and map to color, some activities, etc. And now they've taken the recipes out of GtG and you have to get a separate book for those, and I can get Trip around the World and the sequel for the cost of just GtG (without the companion recipe book). Hmmm... decisions, decisions.

Here is a link to CBD - they have samples of both books - "A Trip Around the World" and "Another Trip Around the World".

I found this website, Knowledge Essentials, that has some neat worksheets. I haven't looked at the higher grades, only the preschool and K, but it goes up to fifth grade. If you look at the list of items on the left side, there is a section for worksheets. Hope someone finds this useful! :D