I have little guy (he's 3) and he does the same thing. I have to ask ya'll though, why do you use a nick name rather than calling the penis a penis? I had a class in college and on the first day, the teacher had us fill the blackboard with slang-terms for our sexual anatomy and then we did the wave to "Penis!" "Vagina!" The purpose was to get the giggles out so we could proceed the rest of the term to discuss w/o interruption. I've been teaching my kiddos the scientific terms since they were little and in my opinion it just helps them be more comfortable with their bodies and more able to talk when the time comes. I'm a newbie to these threads and I am not trying to anger anyone... I'm just curious why .... again, my approach works for us and the above statement is my opinion.

What a great thread! I'm a newbie and I'm so glad that I came across this tread. My DD loves China and wants to learn to speak Mandarin. I've tried a few inexpensive CDs I found at Costco and we borrowed Muzzy from the library but nothing really clicked. We like Mango Languages but haven't checked into Rosetta or others yet - thank you for the suggestions here. We'll look into them. :D We know a Chinese family in our co-op and they have been very helpful with pronunciation, etc. However, they are unschoolers and their approach is much different than ours so we haven't set up tutoring or anything yet. Maybe soon. :D

Thank you so much! We have been using Charlotte Mason approaches to Nature Study and I have to admit that science is my strong suit (I was an elem. science specialist for 4 yrs) so we do a lot of reading and talking in regards to science. We love watching "Oregon Field Guide" on PBS or other nature programs. Her fav. show is "How Its Made". She is pretty good at oral narration (as per Charlotte Mason) and we've also done quite a bit of lapbooking which she enjoys a lot. We did a lap book on Ancient China (before I knew of SOTW) and she loved it! She loves creative little mini-books and projects like those in History Pockets (I bought the "Ancient Civilizations" one to accompany SOTW). She also loves to color and study maps so I know that many of the accompanying activities for SOTW would be enjoyable. I guess I just didn't know if we should wait or jump in now... but based on your thoughts, I think I'll proceed forward. Thanks again!

I'm a newbie and only recently read the Well-Trained Mind. I recall that it said to wait until 1st grade to do history and other subjects... to focus on reading until the child can read. In preparation, I purchased SOTW Vol 1 and Singapore Math 1A and 1B. I also plan to buy First Language Lessons on Saturday (Barnes & Noble is giving 25% discount for Teacher Appreciation Week). My DD loves math when 1B arrived in the mail, she immediately started working on her own. She is flying through the 1B book. She has also completed numerous grade level 1 workbooks (mostly math) that she begs for when she sees them at bookstores. I would love to start doing history stuff, too. There are some great new books about ancient cultures (Greece, Rome) at Barnes & Noble. Reading just doesn't come as naturally to her. Though we have been using the "Now I'm Reading!" series of little books (similiar to BOB) and she can read most all of Level 1 with little/no assistance. Should we focus more on reading until she is more comfortable or jump into other subjects (history and science) ??? Oh - She is 5 years old (birthday in mid Sept and as such, in Oregon she wouldn't start K until 2008). I knew she was ready so we started K in 2007. Thank you. Eva

I'm a native Oregonian... grew up on the coast, college in the valley and now in Central Oregon. I love the entire state! :D p.s. I'm a newbie to these forums.