I feel very fortunate that we found this at the very beginnning (K/1), since it is much simpler to implement if the child begins with this program. RS discourages counting. Don't worry -- the child does know how to count; however the program does not utilize methods such as "counting on" for addition. It trains the child to "see" groups of numbers (I can see that is five and then there are three and I know that is eight). I can't say enough good things about it. My son has done "B" through "D." He completed public school Kindergarten before that. So if you are beginning with a kindergartener, you would choose A or B. I have heard that A is a bit slow to get through -- but B is certainly not! Yes, you do it every day, and it takes 45 to 50 minutes I would say. (Not sure about "A" -- ask the nice folks at RS.) I would recommend playing every game suggested. The games are in the textbooks at the earlier levels, by "C" you are referred to the Games book. The games really solidify the skills and concepts learned. After we finish each RS level, we supplement with Singapore just because I'm a nervous mom. Except for a few things he hasn't learned yet in RS (multi-digit division), he can do everything in the 3rd grade Singapore books. I like Singapore because it is portable -- you won't be taking your RS on car trips! Have fun. Julie (mom to 9-year-old adventurer)

I live in Alaska, so my prices will be higher than yours. I got these VERY good red wines at Costco last week: Tin Roof Cellars (Merlot) for $8.00 and a wonderful Beujolais-Villages (2006) by Louis Jadot for $9.39. The french wine is a type of burgundy. If your family likes wine at all, go ahead and get a case of the Louis Jadot if they have it. Oh my. Yum. And I agree with the recommendation of pinot grigio for the white wine. But if your family doesn't drink, I'm sure your friends would understand. Have a great time with your friends.

I just read the Little House books for the first time, and the sentences are quite short and simple. I think she should read the "real" books, and that she will have no problem doing so. I think she would love them. Just make sure you only get the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The first is "Little House in the Big Woods." My sophisticated nine-year-old likes them, but he would hide them whenever he ran into a friend lest they ask, "Watcha reading?" Hee. Enjoy.

The Birch Aquarium at Scripps. It used to be called Scripps Aquarium and is still affiliated with the Scripps Institute. It is in La Jolla, which is in the northern part of San Diego. I grew up in the southern part of San Diego and my high school was in La Jolla, so it's not that far. I don't live there anymore. But every time we visit San Diego, we visit the Birch Aquarium. Excellent place for homeschoolers --- or any curious kid! We are going to the Getty Villa in Malibu this summer. I haven't been there in 20 years! There are two Getty Museums now, and I recommend both of them. When you look them up, they will both be on the same webpage. J. Paul Getty was so wealthy that it is free to visit the museums. Have fun!

They do have books for older kids now. Here's a link to some of their offerings: http://www.sciencekitsforkids.com/samplelesson.htm Well gee, that doesn't look right. But it should get you there. My son is going into 4th grade. The kits come with rocks of the appropriate type.

How cute are you (all)! I love that the photographer included a description of how nice (and well-behaved) you are. Lovely photos, lovely family.

1. Age of child: 9 years old. 2. Grade (K-12) - 3rd grade 3. How many hours does the child spend on school work each day, on average? 5 hours, if you include violin practice 4. What time does the child start and end school each day, usually? 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., or thereabouts 5. How many hours does the child spend on math each day? 45-50 minutes 6. How many subjects is the child studying? (Count subjects that require at least 1/2 hour per day on average) Nine subjects: math, grammar, spelling, Latin, Spanish, history, science, violin, writing/reading. 7. On a scale from 1-10 (with 1 being the lowest) how focused is the child during school time? 8 8. On a scale from 1-10 (with 1 being the lowest) how comfortable (quiet, well-lit, sufficient space, etc.) is the child's study space? The child doesn't have a separate study, space, but he likes the kitchen table and the couch. He would say 8, probably.

But the challenge for us is finding other homeschooled singles. Why? Because ds has little patience for siblings of his friends. He wants his friend all to himself, without little brother butting in and without older sister bossing them around. We have been fortunate to find other homeschooled "onlies" in our community, but it's sure not easy! Often, single children are homeschooled because they are "different" in some way (sensory integration problems, for example). So we just try to find friends who are different in a similar way! Sorry this is hard to read, I'm still sick. Julie

by Audrey Ricker and Carolyn Crowder and is called "Backtalk: 4 Steps to Ending Rude Behavior in Your Kids." It is helpful, and not as harsh as the title suggests!

I absolutely think that reminding the children to be kind now will have an effect on how they treat each other as teenagers. This thread hurts my heart. My parents never once suggested that my brother and sister and I speak to one another kindly. Not once. It was like living with vicious animals, and I was always afraid of them. Ugh. Not coincidentally, none of my siblings have children. We just didn't enjoy our childhoods, and didn't understand that it would even be possible to enjoy being children. Isn't that sad? (My child was unexpected. I never wished to have a child either. But I am thrilled with the result, and cannot imagine life without him.) Julie

What first came to mind (since it's been hailing here!) is to build or buy a beautiful resort in a beautiful tropical location on the ocean somewhere. I would teach meditation and yoga to the resort guests and serve healthy & delicious food. I also would like to be a science writer. I would like to review professional journals and share with the public (in plain English) new scientific discoveries and advances in medicine. But mostly, I have my dream job right now. Homeschooling my son, listening to him playing his violin beautifully, and struggling through difficult Latin translations right along with him. When he decides he doesn't want to homeschool anymore, I'll teach more yoga classes and further my education in the sciences. Julie

I suggest borrowing the appropriate level of Singapore and seeing how he does with that. And if you do know someone IRL (in real life) using Singapore, perhaps they can help him get up to speed with the Singapore bar diagrams. They are really just a way of organizing one's thinking. I would just suggest trying out a curriculum before buying it. But maybe that's a "No, duh." Julie

My son reeeeeeely, reeeeeely wanted to go to England after doing Minimus Latin. The program is based on real archeological evidence of a (Roman) family and their (Greek and uh, Scottish?) servants living near a Roman fort in Roman Britain. So the children get to translate a birthday party invitation written in Latin, but there is also a photograph of the (burnt but still readable) invitation written in 100 AD in Vindolanda. Ah, Vindolanda. Here is the website of the actual site of Vindolanda: http://www.vindolanda.com/ Enjoy! Julie

"Blood and Guts" and also "Biology for Every Kid: 101 Experiments that Really Work" by Janice VanCleave. The title of the VanCleave book speaks for itself, yes? But these books are for the average 10-year-old, so I'm only recommending these if your child is seriously accellerated. Can't seem to spell that last word tonight! Have fun, first grade is a blast. Julie

Time Stops for No Mouse, The Sands of Time, and No Time Like Show Time, all by Michael Hoeye. They are kind of challenging for an 8-year-old, but perhaps you could read them together aloud, taking turns reading to each other?

It gives explicit instructions about how to nip backtalk in the bud. http://www.amazon.com/Backtalk-Steps-Ending-Rude-Behavior/dp/068484124X The name of the book is actually Backtalk: Steps to Ending Rude Behavior in your Children, or something like that. Two important steps that I remember is that whether or not it is backtalk (rude/disrespectful speech) is not a matter for discussion. This is key. Also, the practice of immediately taking away a relevant privilege (or at least imminent privilege), and then DISENGAGING. The last bit is also important, to save the parent's sanity! Best of luck, Julie

As I recall, my son didn't like the samples very much. I'm not feeling well today, so I'm sorry I can't be of more help. julie

But we do. We use Growing with Grammar 3 and Spelling Workout E. (We have taught grammar from the beginning, with FLL 1/2 and Spelling Workout B in first grade.) My son is 9, and is in third grade or early fourth grade. But there is some grammar in Classical Writing - Aesop, and some spelling. Since your child is a good speller, however, she will not find any words in the models that she does not already know how to spell. We do the dictionary exercises, and that has helped my son learn how to look up words in the dictionary without. looking. at. every. page. I am not familiar with Rod & Staff Spelling, so I will let someone else comment on that. Spelling Workout is easy for my son, but the exercises are valuable and we use it for cursive practice as well (killing the proverbial two birds with one stone). For example, in today's lesson he had to provide the "list" word to complete this: "flying is to flight as sail is to ________" The answer was "voyage." Here's another: "enemy is to treachery as friend is to _____." The answer was "loyalty." And the reading passage at the beginning of the lesson was about wind chill, and was quite interesting and informative. Even if my son aces the pre-test, I look through and have him do any exercises from which I think he might benefit. For example, he has learned those little pronunciation symbols that the dictionary uses. My, am I verbose this evening. Good luck with planning! Julie

Are you talking about showing this to your children? I agree that it is a wonderful movie. But depending on the ages of your children, you will want to fast-forward through the scene where the white farm owner comes into the aboriginal servant's bedroom at night to.....well....he drops his pants. Nothing is visible, but you will have a lot of questions to answer. If the children are old enough for that sort of discussion (abuse of those with no power), that is up to you. Just wanted to give you the heads up. We showed it to my son when he was 7 or 8, that's how it was fresh in my mind. The servant asks the girls if she can join them in running away. It is a very poignant scene, because you know why she wants to leave. Julie

We have used Write With the Best. Yes, third grade would be the right grade to use this product. However, I changed to Classical Writing - Aesop and we have never looked back. We are now on Aesop "B." We also use Growing with Grammar 3, which we all love. I can sell you WWTB really cheap! :) IEW is also really useful. I would recommend you (teacher) watching the teacher DVDs during a school break before you begin the program. All of them. There is also a student-directed program if you need a bit more structure, but I still would recommend watching the DVD's. Perhaps your homeschool association has a copy you can borrow? Hope that helps a little. Enjoy the 3rd grade! Julie

You could play "pass around the scale." Now, it would be more fun if you could participate in this game too, but it would work with just the two of them. So first you name the scale that they are going to be playing, then they "pass it back and forth." So the first one plays it until you point at the second twin, then he plays it until you point at the first twin again, etc. At Suzuki camps they do this with the songs. It does mean that the child who is not playing has to keep up with his left hand but keep the bow silent until it's his turn. I forecast giggles for this one. I'm trying to think of other "fun" things. I will post if I think of any more. The reason for the scales and the etudes is that the pieces will seem comparatively easy if the scales and etudes are really solid. Can you play while walking around the neighborhood or a local mall? Ask the neighbors to come over and hear the Seitz pieces? You could print tickets and serve tea.... My son is in Book 6, but his teacher skipped Book 5 so we are puzzled over how to register for Suzuki Camp. (They place the children according to what piece they are "on.") He will have to learn all the Book 5 pieces by memory if he wants to be placed in a Book 6 class. I highly recommend that your children go to a Suzuki Insititute to refresh their interest in violin. You will be inspired by the students and teachers! We go to the Oregon Suzuki Institute, but they have them all over. Just Google "Suzuki Summer Institute" or something like that. best wishes, julie

Who will do the speaking on the audio CD? Will it be a native speaker? I love Dr. Perrin, but would prefer a native speaker on the audio. I look forward to Spanish for Children too. julie

Hee-hee.

She says the reason it affects some children and not others is because some are sensitive to it and some are not. My child tested sensitive to it. He does not have ADHD, but he has certain obsessive/compulsive tendencies that she says are nervous system deficiencies/challenges traceable to vaccines. I really want to have all the mercury taken out of my mouth (fillings), but it sounds difficult. Not to mention expensive! julie

I hope my earlier post didn't offend. See, it's obviously a flawed theory! I am curious, though: did you explore any other options with your son? I don't really know what "other options" are, but for example did you change anything in his diet or did you notice that certain foods made his behavior worse? I am sincerely curious and again, I apologize if my post was rude. :leaving: julie