I'm in a similar place. My 5 yo reads pretty well, but he doesn't have much stamina for long readalouds and he can get impatient with fiction. For a while I had him read the Mercy Watson books, but he got tired after number 4. He will happily read Gail Gibbons and the Let's Read and Find Out Science books. I tried the third McGuffey's reader with him--no banana. I pulled out some more readers from Google Books and had him pick one that I printed out. He's not wild about it, but I let him skip around and choose what he wants to read so it's working out so far. I'd love to hear other suggestions! Oh, also... there are picture books that are longer that he could read. For the longest time my 5 yo was copying out One Morning in Maine.

Lucky you! I got engaged in Hong Kong over seven years ago and I wish we could go back there some day. :) We really enjoyed the Silvermine Falls on Lantau(sp?) Island. We went to lots of markets (Stanley was one, and I think there was a Bird Market and a Pearl(?!) market). Honestly, just walking around Hong Kong was a fantastic experience. Hope you have a good time!

Looks like Song School Latin is the clear winner. Thanks, everyone. :)

My oldest (ds5) has been showing interest in learning Latin. My husband is interested in teaching him in a low-key way. I had no thought of doing Latin at all (*ducks the flying tomatoes*) so I have never researched Latin curriculum. What are some gentle, fun intros to Latin for K/1st? Thanks! ~Rabia

:iagree: My dh asked me what I wanted to do on my birthday. I told him I just wanted to go sit in a bookstore for a few hours. He stayed with the kids while I drove to Borders and soaked in the bookstore atmosphere by myself. It was sheer bliss to enjoy all those books in one place!

Sapota? Oh, interesting. :) I once read this utterly fascinating book about fruits (including tons of exotic ones) called The Fruit Hunters. The best mangoes in the world grew on this one tree in my backyard. My husband will occasionally bring home a mango for the grocery store but there is no comparison. *sigh* I just have to make do with what we can find fresh growing here: strawberries in June, blueberries in July, apples in the fall and these yummy! peaches our farmstand gets in from Pennsylvania. I am so glad that summer's coming!

Chikoos! We had a chikoo tree growing in my childhood home back in Pakistan. I haven't had one in at least eight years. When I read that you can also get them in Hawaii, it bumped Hawaii several places up in my "Places to Visit Someday" list. :)

Borders has some fantastic deals in their bargain book section. I've gotten some nice workbooks from there, a nursery rhyme collection that my kids ADORE, and several reference-type books on the cheap. I pop in every month or so to check it out. :D

Thanks for the tip! Thanks, everyone, for responding. :)

I just went on Singapore Math's website to order their new challenging word problems book for first grade... and then I saw the shipping. $12.50 for a $9.50 book?! Crikey! Rainbow Resource doesn't have it, and neither does Amazon. Where can I get it without having to pay exorbitant shipping charges? TIA!

Yep. :) So is getting books from the library. My most expensive hobby is piano lessons but I pay for that out of monetary Christmas gifts. Time is the greatest limiting factor for me. I like to be good at what I do and I have long way to get to the 10,000 hours required to master either writing or playing. ;)

I don't normally get around to these wordless wednesdays, but, hey, I was already out today taking pictures of tulips in the snow.

We use a Cutco bread knife as well. Totally saved us from mangled crushed useless-for-anything-but-breadcrumbs loaves. :D

I'd recommend Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. Very low-key on the romance, and sweepingly epic. It has one of the coolest magic systems I've ever seen, and the fights are very cinematic.

My ds5 started with The Music Tree Time to Begin Activities, and then moved on to the primer level Piano Adventures book.

J. D. Robb's murder mysteries! Even if they end up spooking me so badly at midnight that I have to wake up my husband to keep watch while I go brush my teeth. :D I have a hard time considering Terry Pratchett's books as twaddle, though. :001_huh:

This is a good point, Rosie. I agree with the orderly chronological approach to history that the WTM recommends, but I like for science to be messy, like you said. Right now, we're covering rainforests for science, but we've been reading about the human body, planets and forces, too.

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone. Keep 'em coming. Right now I'm equally attracted to BFSU and a loose WTM approach (using the spines recommended in the book). Would I be crazy for trying to combine them? Focus on the Life thread of BFSU (and any prerequisite units from the other threads) and also read about animals and plants and the human body? Or is that just overkill? :001_huh:

I'm torn about doing science the WTM way (biology one year, earth science & astronomy the next, etc.). The WTM way appeals to the orderly side of me, but I think both ds and I would get bored of doing biology exclusively. However, if I wing it, I worry that we'll miss out on something important that will FOREVER RUIN MY CHILD'S LIFE!! (don't worry, I'm poking fun at myself here ;) ). I want ds to love science, and I want us to have the freedom to explore all kinds of rabbit trails. Ds also like experiements and hands-on stuff a lot (more than me) and I'd like for him to get into good habits of observation, recording, setting up experiments, drawing conclusions. So far, I'm eyeing Elemental Science, BFSU and Pandia Press' Real Science Odyssey. Please feel free to weigh in on any of these (or point me in the direction of the science curriculum of my dreams, *grin*). I've also looked at and decided against RS4K and Noeo. I'd especially love to hear from those who have stuck with BFSU. It seems like it can get hard to implement because of all the work required on the part of the parent. Thanks so much! My husband is tired of listening to me waver and wobble and do the "but/what if" thing.

Thanks!

Has anyone used Family Math and Family Math for Younger Children? I was all set to order Family Math, but I saw the other book and wondered if that would be more useful to me since my kids are 5 years old and younger. Is there much in the way of overlap between the two books? I really like the activities we've done so far in Family Math (got it through ILL). Thanks. :)

Shiller Math, but it is expensive. I only use it because I got it secondhand and cheap. :)

$16 for a half-hour lesson from an experienced piano teacher. She lives way out in the country (on a dirt road, which makes it interesting during mud season!) so that might explain the rate. :D

*nod* I can understand that. I wonder if this book would be good for a summer unit study.

For those of you who are about ready to sell The Private Eye, can you tell us why it didn't work for you? Was it too hard to implement? Helena, can you tell us about some of the activities you've done using this book? Thanks!