I do the group subjects in the morning because that's when we are all full of energy, most importantly Mom. Our group subjects are the content subjects, which are often the first to go if you leave them to the end of the day, when everyone is out of energy. I've found that I primarily need mental energy for the skill subjects, making them perfect for the afternoon, when I just want to sit and rest. Also, by treating content subjects as group work, I can teach broadly, as skill level does not matter as much for these subjects. Everyone takes what they can and produces according to their own age and ability. This is another benefit I've observed for doing our group/content work in the mornings. This is the fun, happy, exciting stuff. No one wants a break from science experiments, history activities, art projects, etc. Then, because each child gets my full attention during their individual time in the afternoon, there is no lull in the pace of their work, no fidgeting while waiting after being told to hold on while I explain something to another child. In my experience, that is when you lose them. Teaching independent work to multiple kids simultaneously is a breeding ground for distraction here. You can actually watch it snowball into complete mutiny. :lol: So, I do 100% focused one-on-one, which makes it virtually impossible for them get distracted. I find that my constant attention to them and only them keeps them on task. While I'm doing one-on-one, the other two are in their bedrooms in quiet time (1 hour) and quiet play (1 hour). They lose high-value privileges for interrupting for anything less than life-or-death reasons. (Obviously with a 2 year old running around, that won't work for you, unless you can assign older kid(s) to play with/entertain or make that daily TV time. I like LeapFrog videos for that age. There is always a nap, if that still works.) I am not necessarily actively teaching/speaking that entire hour. I might teach a new concept in Singapore for a few minutes and then sit there next to them, available for questions and clarification, while they do their workbooks. As another example, I read passages and take down narrations for a few minutes and then sit there next to them while they do their copywork. One thing I've learned for sure here though is that if Mom doesn't have a plan, a routine, a schedule of any kind in place, the children just don't know what to expect and start to feel like anything goes. The old adage "give them an inch and they'll take a mile" really applies to inconsistency with teaching. If you don't know what you're doing when, it's even more nebulous to the kids. If your kids know that school is from ___ o'clock to ___ o'clock, period and get into that habit, that will be easier for them to adjust to and hopefully they'll recognize the futility of asking for breaks so often. By the way, I don't know that any of this applies to you. It's where my thought process took me and I have a terrible sinus infection so I'm a bit foggy. Disregard if I'm way off base... :tongue_smilie: Is it bedtime yet? :D

How are you dividing up the teaching? I found out early on this year that I absolutely cannot teach three kids three separate levels of math at the same time. Should have been obvious but, you know... :tongue_smilie: About the FLL/WWE, only you can decide if you should divide the kids for that. If it's going well to keep them together, keep them together. If they are too distracted by each other, divide them up. I changed things up so that I am doing group subjects (history, science, art, etc.) in the morning with all three kids. Then, in the afternoon, I spend one hour with each child, doing individual, one-on-one lessons. It has made for a longer but more serene day for me. Also, what are you using for science? If you can't find something that works for all of them (worksheets included), I would consider moving to a science notebook/journal for each child. Then they could each record their work and findings at their own level. Ditto for history. In a million years (or unless required by law :lol:), I wouldn't have my kids on different periods of history or topics in science. Good luck!

Neat! Thanks for sharing. You've probably seen these but for anyone who hasn't... Think! (We fell off the wagon for awhile but I was reminded of it the other day and DC want to start up again.) Lego Quest Kids

I agree about trying another brand. I have had some bad, bad, bad green tea. My absolute favorite green tea is Tazo Zen. It is comforting when hot and refreshing when iced.

My point was that assumptions about signature or no signature work both ways. It is possible to look at someone with tons of details in their signature and think they are pompous, egotistical, rigorous, demanding, laid back, workbooky, slacking, classical, unschooly, totally together, rigid, lying like a dog because no way is that workload even humanly possible etc., etc., etc. It is equally possible to look at someone with few or no details in their signature and think they are wishing to fly under the radar, in the witness protection program, concealing ages due to giftedness or delays, concealing ages so they can give advice to moms of high schoolers even though they have toddlers, slackers, trolls, too busy homeschooling to bother but still might be classical, unschooly, rigorous, workbooky, etc., etc., etc. All this to say that the presence or lack of a signature does not necessarily define people as well as we may think. I don't mind if people have no stars upon thars. Indeed, let us learn from the Sneetches... I’m quite happy to say. That the Boardies got really quite smart on that day. The day they decided that Boardies are Boardies. And no kind of Boardy is the best of the Boardies. That day, all the Boardies forgot about siggies and whether They had one, or not, upon thars. OK, the rhyming was a problem in the end, but you get the picture. :D

I found it here, with a veritable treasure of other math resources. NUMBER SONG 0. Make a circle, be a hero that's the way to make a zero! 1. Just a line and then you're done that's the way to make a one! 2. Around and over, then you're through that's the way to make a two! 3. Around the tree, around the tree that's the way to make a three! 4. Down and over and down some more that's the way to make a four! 5. Down, around, put a hat on top! 6. Around and around until it sticks that's the way to make a six! 7. Across the sky and down from heaven that's the way to make a seven! 8. Make an S and close the gate that's the way to make an eight! 9. First a circle, then a line that's the way to make a nine!

I do it because my curriculum choices completely identify who I am as a human being on this earth. :tongue_smilie: I do it for all the reasons everyone else does. Also, it's possible for those of us with signatures to have assumptions of their own about people who don't. ;)

I logged in just to :lol: at this. And that picture of your DH is hysterical!

We did/will do... 2 years American 4 years World 2 years American 4 years World It gives us two complete World history cycles, allowing true immersion into international affairs without feeling that we are not doing justice to American history. We school year round (but light in the summer) and I have planned several geography unit studies to take place in the summer.

I had the other thread about pencil grip, but my dd could write/draw for hours and has good penmanship so I'm happy to let the "problem" go. I would say what you're describing is a real problem. I hope someone can help. I purchased this pencil grip for dd. It will stop your ds's thumb from sliding, as there is a place for it to stay. I do think it will take a lot of time to correct the grip, as old habits die hard. When I was struggling with dd, I would try to hold the pencil like she did and it literally hurt my hand. You just get so used to holding something your own way. I hope someone else can chime in!

I'm glad this thread could help others. DD and I are both enjoying our new freedom from worrying about this. I didn't know there were replies to this thread, or I would have posted again earlier. I guess the system gets overwhelmed sometimes and doesn't send e-mails for new posts in subscribed threads? :confused:

:iagree: I just purchased this book as a Christmas gift for my DH, because he loves the movie so much. I couldn't help but read it and it's just lovely. I never knew it was a real book until someone on these boards mentioned it. I knew immediately that I had to get it for DH. He was not a big reader as a child but, having a wife and kids who are huge readers, he is coming around to our ways. :D I think we'll do this as our first family read-aloud of the new year and follow up by watching the movie.

My A/C was seriously struggling this year, just as you describe. It was running constantly and couldn't keep up the 77 degree set temp. This began in June, when it was hot but the crazy temps hadn't started yet. I had an A/C guy come out and he cleaned the coils. He had to unweld something to pull out the coils. He spent 2 hours in the front of the house disassembling and hosing them down. He said they appeared to be in fine shape (6 year old A/C unit), just needed to be cleaned. Since then, the A/C has been running beautifully. The coil cleaning and other checks he did of the A/C ran me $271 total (but I didn't need freon, so that saved me $). He was here about 2.5 hours, so I thought that was a fair price (and left me thinking I might convince my kids to take up a trade! :tongue_smilie:). The best part was that despite temps being 10 degrees higher the following month, my electric bill went down $100 from the prior month! Talk about a repair paying for itself! My August bill was the same, so by the end of Sept, I imagine I will be even or maybe even ahead of that $271. I can't imagine what my electric bills would have been if I hadn't had the system serviced. My house would be hot, my electric bills would be high, and my A/C would have probably worn out from constant use by now.

My dd is like this with math. Enough about the baby kittens! Can we move on? That's what I think, through a plastered on smile. :lol: For your dd's read aloud, I highly recommend Jenny and the Cat Club. Too sweet! My youngest is in Kindy this year. He is so incredibly excited, probably because he's just like his older brother and sister now.

You couldn't pay me to vacation at DW with her again if she did this to me.

"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that MIL. The boys were so looking forward to it. Here, let me put you on speakerphone so you can explain it to them. They are going to be so disappointed." I'm not nice sometimes. ;)

Sometimes I have to take a break from remembering. For my own sanity. So, I get it. :grouphug:

:lol: Mine too. I think DH is overwhelmed by my purse. You know that baby shower game where you get points for everything on a bizarre list of potential items? I've won that. Repeatedly. :tongue_smilie:

Thank you! This is very helpful! :)

:iagree:She did always say that. But...but...but... Where did she go? She was possibly the nicest person on the planet. :iagree:I don't know if it's as much a logic stage skill as a personality issue. DS8 is all about the summary, and always has been. When I ask for a CM type narration, he gets that look in his eye that says, "Seriously?! You just read it to me! You really need to to cover all that again?!" But then he does it anyway because Mom makes him and promises him that, just like for eating his vegetables and brushing his teeth, he may not think it's important but he'll thank me in the end. :tongue_smilie: DD, on the other hand, would apparently rather die than leave out a single detail or nuance of flower type or color. :lol: In a Charlotte Mason style narration, the student is challenged to remember as much as possible from a passage. Rich detail is encouraged, as the narration serves to reveal proof of full attention. In a WTM style narration, the student is challenged to distill a passage down to the most important points. The end game here is that the student will go into the logic stage ready to outline, with the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. ETA: I see benefits to both, so we do both. I don't tell the kids what style of narration will be requested when I'm finished reading. It keeps them on their toes. :D

Yes, to all of this. And thanks so much for the info on the TM. :)

Thanks. This is a good point. Our home/school is very much the same. Yes, this does make me feel better! This is very helpful. Are the vocab words and sidebar notes listed and/or discussed in the TM or only in the lit books? In other words, what level of disadvantage would you have by purchasing the TM alone? I love the idea of making the program a bridge. (At the rate we are flying through Island, there is no way it will last a year. I hesitate to move ahead too quickly because I hear the program gets significantly more challenging and dd is grooving right along with us for now. I would like to keep it that way, if possible.) My primary question about using the program as a bridge would be whether all elements of MCTLA are evident in the lit program. Obviously vocab is there but do you also see the 4 level analysis of sentences? Does he point out examples of poetic devices and intentional, artful use of grammar? I want to keep the kids in the drink of all those terms and usage examples so they don't have to relearn when we start the Town Level. I do look forward to your review.

:lol: Free stuff is nice. I will say that when my three were tiny, my air lights came on and I was too tired and frazzled to do it myself. I drove it into the Wal-Mart bay and asked them to do it. They did, for no charge. OP, you could give that a whirl, and keep your money to save up for your fighter jet. :tongue_smilie: They would probably even know how much pressure to put in depending on your current weather and forecast. They have sense like that...usually.

They are wrong, wrong, wrong. Yes, challenges in life are character building. Yes, learning to deal with difficult people is character building. Being under the control and authority of a cruel, immature bully of a teacher is character destroying. You have time. You have plenty of time. Take at least this year to let him heal from that terrible experience and then reassess at the end of the year. Aw, this is why he'll turn around and be OK in the end. Let him feel that every single day. :)

Don't know what your weather is like in AL but in TX, almost everyone I know had their low pressure tire warnings come on the day after the record-breaking heat ended. We went from having highs well over 100 to highs of 85-87 and lows in the high 50s/low 60s. It will be back up to high 90s by the end of the week. My lights lights have already gone out again, as a matter of fact. Anyway, I can't help you with your actual question (sorry! :D), but do be wary of filling tires during a cold snap if your air is going to heat up again. We had an epidemic of blow-outs this summer from high temps and full tires.