This is not my idea, but I saved it from the old board: We tried doing it at family gatherings with no success, so started doing a recital 2 times a yr...... My sister would talk over it, my mom would interrupt them to start talking about how great another kid she watches was doing in their extracurricular activities (that one really hurt my kids' feelings), or the little ones would cry or interrupt. It became an icky thing, and my kids didn't want to do it at all. SO now we do 2 formal recitals- one in spring, and one near christmas, although I may bump it to January this year. We invite Grandma, the godparents, their piano instructor and his wife, and 2 older couples who both adore our kids- you know, the 65 to 75 yr old crowd. 8 to 10 guests max. We don't invite any other children, letting ours be the spotlight. We don't have to worry about any comments, or jealosy- the only problem we seem to encounter is their godmother telling them how brilliant they are! LOL. The kids do piano, recorder, voice, and spoken pieces. THey practice heavily for about a month, reviewing poetry and piano music they have learned for the last few months. I type out a simple program, and finally have our exuberant godmother trained not to applaud until my kids bow- that took some effort! Tee hee. It lasts about an hour, and we fix cookies and punch for afterwords. It works really well for us, and meets my dh's requirements for 2 performances a yr (a requirement from their first piano teacher that my dh thinks is a really good idea). HTH, let me know if you have any other questions. LB

I don't have the CD, but since it's in the back of the book, I try to play it on the piano while we sing it. Ds doesn't know all the words yet.

How long has it taken your dd to get through Reception?

I am trying to decide between the two for my ds5. He is going to school 2 days a week right now for K, and I plan on homeschooling him for grade 1 in September. Right now, I am using RS A with him, and we just finished lesson 13, but ds can't tell how many beads or fingers I am holding, if it's more than 5, without counting them. I don't know whether we are going to fast, or whether RS is just not a good fit for him. I know we haven't gotten far, but I feel frustrated that he's not seeing the quantities. Ds also gets fidgety around the middle to the end of the lesson and starts acting silly. I wonder if MEP would work better for him. He does seem to like worksheets. Does MEP use a lot of manipulatives? I took a look at it, and wonder if all the posters, transparencies and other things are necessary? Can anyone compare the two math programs and advise? Thanks.

We have multiplication vacation, and it helped my dc learn their times table. They like the songs.

I have received jury duty notices twice, and both times, I wrote a note describing the hardships that my family would face if I had to do jury duty (financial and physical - morning sickness). The first time, I was pregnant with my fourth ds, and homeschooling my others. The second time was just a few months ago, and even though my boys are in school now, and I work part-time, we have foster children that I stay home with, and my youngest is home with me some days too. Both times, I was excused, and didn't have to show up for jury selection at all. I live in BC. You are the primary caregiver of your children, and their teacher, so it would definitely be a hardship for your family if you had to do jury duty. Who would teach your children, and then you'd have to pay someone to take care of them while you're away. That would be considered financial hardship as well.

I liked Superpuppy when I was a kid, by Jill and D. Manus Pinkwater. I liked it so much that I ordered my own copy from the bookstore.

I am trying to decide between Nancy Larson 1 and Sonlight science B for my ds who will be 6 and in grade 1 in September. He is going to a Christian school for K this year, but I will be homeschooling him for grade 1. Any suggestions or advice? Thanks.

Not books, but two short stories made me cry just recently when I read them aloud to my dc: The Happy Prince, and The Selfish Giant, both by Oscar Wilde. I actually was able to hold myself together reading The Selfish Giant (but just barely), but I read The Happy Prince next and broke down there when the swallow decides to stay with the Prince. I also remember watching the animated versions of both as a child.

I am considering using level 1 next September with my youngest ds who will be in grade 1, and would love to see an update!

Ellie, what you have written is so nice! It's very encouraging.

Thanks. I will look into this series too. I've heard of it before, but I didn't know it was written for children who learn English as a second language.

Mom is not a native English speaker. I don't know how much she actually teaches since English is her second language as well, so something that is not teacher intensive would be ideal. I could maybe go and help him out once a week or once every two weeks. Thanks for the link. I will look into it and also show it to them. She is a single mom, so I don't know if they could afford to get a tutor.

Canada!

Thanks for the recommendations. I will look into them.

The Champ with Ricky Schroder always makes me cry, but I haven't seen it since I was a kid.

Thank you for the link. It was helpful.

Heifer International and World Concern seem to be very similar. Does anyone have any other information about either of them that could help me decide which one to support? Thanks.

I know a 13 year old boy from Germany who has been in Canada for 1.5 years now. He is being homeschooled by his mom, and I notice that he has trouble with spelling and grammar which is understandable. He is fairly fluent in English now and told me he has read the Harry Potter books and the Eragon books, but he also read Harry Potter in German before reading them in English. What would be a suitable spelling program for him, and what about grammar? Thanks.

BSc in Agriculture, then went to get my teaching certificate.

My 5yos is in half-time K, but would love to have experiments to do at home. He is not writing yet, so I am looking for something hands-on, fun, with little writing. Suggestions?

I had kidney stones with my 3rd son at about 4 months pregnancy. It was my first time having kidney stones, so I didn't know what was causing the pain. I got an ultrasound at the hospital and they saw 2 stones. They offered me morphine for the pain and also suggested they go in a blast the stones, but since the pain subsided, I didn't do either of those options, and ended up passing the stones on my own. This was during the summer, and I may not have been drinking enough water. I didn't have problems with kidney stones after that and delivered my son full-term.

We boarded our standard poodle for 5 weeks when we went to Peru a few years ago. She was fine, and had lots of fun with the other dogs.

I don't think I would like BIB because I don't like eating in the morning before I brush my teeth. I would appreciate the gesture though.

I have the same problem.