It's funny that the OP posted this as just last night when we were watching an interview with him, I told my Dh how he has my hairstyle, but my hair does not look as beautiful as his. I would also LOVE to know what hair products he uses. :) He's so incredibly talented and much fun to watch!

This thread is hysterical! It's also making me realize the number of words I cannot stand; I never thought there were so many! :lol: fart the "F" word chillin' peeps ax instead of ask kewl, rad, sick - to describe something amazing fail - I just heard this recently, and I immediately cringed! the "c" word for part of the female anatomy or to describe a female wicked - I'm from Southern NH, and I hated it even when I lived there :) 'cept - just say except, please "my bad" - grrr... this one drive me nuts! Finally, the misuse of anxious and eager. Anxious means "awaiting in fear/worry". Whereas eager means "to look forward to".

:lol: Oh yes! We would be too!!! Very much so! Thanks for responding... I'm going to talk to Dh about it. Ds is only turning 7, so if he grabs hold of this, then we can shoot for a more expensive one later. He's been asking for one for over a year now, and it would make a great birthday present :)

Do you have one of these, Perry? It's SO affordable; I guess I'm hesitant about it really working because of the price. Although it appears to be made by knowledgeable experts...

When uncertainty strikes and I begin to worry, I revert to my favorite passage (Jeremiah 29:11). It brings me peace quickly, and if I feel as if I'm leaning toward anxiety again, I pray it over and over silently in my head. :grouphug: Praying for you!

I know Teaching the Trivium is often recommended too. It's Christian Classical Ed - not sure where you stand on that, but I'm reading it now, and it offers good ideas.

We stayed home from a Parent's Night Out babysitting opportunity at our church tonight because my boys are stuffy and one started with a runny nose. I'm sad Dh and I lost some date night time together, but I don't want others to get sick because of my boys. So, I think it's great that you stayed home! Germs are not for sharing! :D

Saying prayers! My sister had kidney stone surgery within days of having a c-section. She said the c-section was FAR worse than the kidney stone surgery; however, the kidney stones themselves were by far more painful than labor! :grouphug:

:iagree: This is me to a tee!

This sickens and angers me in so many ways... I am SO glad my children are are HOME!

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

I know exactly where you are, as I was there just 2 years ago. I'm a former teacher, and I was paranoid to start homeschooling even though I knew it was the best option for us. I remember a veteran homeschooler saying that teachers were the hardest to "convert" because we have all these programmed thoughts about school that are a result of our backgrounds/training. We were the ones to take in the masses and educate them, not walk away from the school building and take another path. I think as a teacher, it may seem overwhelming because of the magnitude of it. We had all the educational mandates breathing down our necks in the classroom from NCLB to state standards to administrative/curriculum demands. Teaching at home takes all this out of the equation, and in a way, it's scary to think it's okay to educate without them when that has been so much a part of your role as "educator". I found myself having to step back and re-exam how I truly viewed education and being educated. Once I let go of the societal and professional thinking, I was able to dig in and relax and truly ENJOY the process with my children. I cannot imagine ever going back to a classroom now! This is a journey, and without the "restraints" of the aforementioned mandates, it's extremely liberating for both my children and ME! It's incredibly exciting to watch "the lightbulb go on" with your own child, far more rewarding than in the classroom, imho. Take a deep breath. Read all you can about hsing. Read Discover Your Child's Learning Style (this saved me as I was inadvertantly teaching according to a clssroom model with my son in the beginning); then choose appropriate curriculum. Finally, have fun and savor every moment!

I'm allowed 100 items out at a time at my library, incl. cd's & DVD's. I've yet to come anywhere close; I think 10 has been my max :lol:. I'm a book junkie though and love to have our own books IN our house.

I have a friend who is struggling with what to do with her son since K is coming for him in the fall. She does not feel he's ready to go, nor does she want him gone for all day K. About 4 months ago, she was adamantly against homeschooling for her children, although she is extremely supportive of me and other hs families she knows because she believes it's all about the best choice for your child. Anyway, today she mentioned that she's considering it for next year and possibly another year or two after (then her son would go to private school). She's still very new to this ideology and is even surprised that she's even considering hsing now. One of her concerns in with hsing, which I'm struggling to understand, is if a boy should spend that much time with his mom. To her, she feels he needs outside influences because he's a boy. She openly admits that if he were a daughter, she would not be hesitating. She knows it may be ridiculous to think this way, but it's a genuine feeling she has. Having 2 boys, I obviously think a mom's influence is fantastic, but she is not the first person who I've heard say this about homeschooled boys. If you are a mom of boys, have you ever encountered this? If so, what did you do/say? Is there literature, a study, etc. of which I could direct her? She is open-minded and wants to be educated, so I know she'd welcome suggestions. She's Christian, so either secular or cc would be welcome.

This is my experience also. I'm sorry that you are having to make these decisions; they are difficult.

I understand braindead, and I was actually concerned I wasn't going to get my response to you to be coherent! :lol: Your question about the review questions being the narration is something I've often questioned since ds will sometimes answer my "What is one thing you remember" question with info from the review questions. I often tell him he has to give me one piece of info that was not part of a review question or to give me more information about one of his review question answers. He sometimes struggles with this since the review answers are now freshest in his mind, kwim? Honestly, we don't narrate for every chapter like we're supposed to; however, we do answer all the review questions, and some days I'll add my own questions in there on top of the review questions. It is one of my goals to get us to narrate for every chapter (and ultimately, every section within each chapter). Sometimes we just run out of time though, especially if the 2yo is around to distract us. My "justification" of this neglect is we're narrating in FLL, science, and after reading (either independently or aloud). :)

I *think* I'm following you, but if I'm not doing very well at it, I'm sorry! I think you're thinking your son should see the review questions. So, typing them out would be a great idea. Since he's only in first, answering them may be too much writing like you said. What if he read the sentence and then answered orally in complete sentences? You could write the answer out for him if you wanted it on paper & maybe he could do it as copywork then? Is he very advanced at spelling and such so that he could correctly write out the answer in a complete sentence on his own? I ask only because I would avoid him taking the chance to do inventive spelling if he can't spell something since that can backfire later when it comes to correct spelling. As for the narration part, at first grade, it's okay if he can only tell you one or two things that he remembers. Narration is important though as it teaches a child to see the story in pictures in their minds, to put it in order, pull out key events/facts, and then organize it logically from start to finish. Of course, this isn't all expected to be perfect in 1st grade, but the early practice now allows the brain to work out information in such a way to be fluent at it during the latter 2 stages (logic & rhetoric). I'm a huge believer in narration, but you may not be. If you are not sold on it, then you may want to pass on it.

How frightening! Saying prayers!!!!

I completely forgot when I wrote my other post about the numerous picture books!!! For some reason I was thinking it had more advanced book lists too. I'm sorry... forget my earlier answer. I think I'm beginning to get curriculums mixed up in my head since I've been researching so much lately! I still think it's a neat program though.:) Good luck in your search!

This is exactly what the owner of our local homeschool curriculum store suggested to me when I was trying to figure out our first grade year last spring. I went with SOTW, and we are thoroughly enjoying it. Everything else we're doing for 1st is in my signature.

I think you could do it. It's a really neat curriculum, imho. I would just extend it further for your oldest by having him/her research further, craft something more intricate, create an extremely detailed map, etc. Many curriculums can be adapted if you just push it that extra step within the boundaries and interests of your older child.

For life science, we've really been enjoying Life Science with Real Books by Susan Marra. She works around a specific spine (or choice of spines) for each "section". For example the human body section uses the Readers Digest: How the Body Works book (although I've supplemented Usborne's First Encyclopedia of the Human Body instead, and it's working fabulously). There are suggested spines for animal study and plant study as well. Her curriculum also offers booklists, vocabulary, opening facts, review questions, and experiment/enrichment options. We've found most of our resources at our local library and experimental items are common household items. This curriculum can easily be used for both the grammar and logic stages. I wish she offered more than life science.

I'm about to go out and by a box of hair color to do my own hair and save money. I have naturally curly/wavy, dark brown hair with some reddish highlights (when it hits the sun). My issue right now is covering greys. I'd like to know which brand you love and why (ie. L'Oreal, Garnier Nutrisse, etc). Also, any tips for doing this would be great too! :lol:

:iagree: I answered other because it's a matter of "if we get to them" some days. It looks nice, and I always do mine, but some days the boys' rooms are undone.

Here's what I have planned so far, but I'm open to making changes as I haven't bought everything yet. Math: Singapore 2A/2B with IP and CWP Writing: WWE2 Grammar: FLL2 Spelling: AAS - I'll know better what level when we finish this year. Handwriting: Queen's Cursive Primers Reading: Assorted recommendations from TWTM History: SOTW Vol. 2 w/ AG (Middle Ages) Science: R.E.A.L Science Odyssey - Earth & Space Bible: TeamKID at our church (like Awana) and weekly scripture memorization for his Sunday school class. Music: still trying to figure this out... Art: Discovering Great Artists and/or classes at a local art museum Foreign Language: Song School Latin (still trying to decide if I even want to start a FL at this point) PE: Soccer (fall & spring seasons) & horseback riding. Possibly indoor soccer (futsol) during the winter months as well.