Gosh, I hope not! :(

We use graph paper to make sure our digits stay in the correct places. This has helped my son tremendously. However, he does still get some wrong on occasion - same as your son, just one number off most of the time. It is just going to take time and practice. Sounds like, too, that he may need to revisit his basic multiplication skills and make sure he is not multiplying wrong to begin with. If that is not this issue, teach him to erase all of the "carried numbers" when he finishes one multiple. My son was getting confused by writing say, a 1 over top of a 2 and when he went back to add the carried numbers, he couldn't remember which one was from the multiple he was doing. Does that even make sense?? LOL

Woo hoo!! That wil be great for us next year. :)

Well, if you are driving the car and the child is not properly restrained, you will be fined...so yes, dear hubby of your friend will have to just get over it when she is in your vehicle. Personally, and this is just me, I am 100% behind boosters and such until the child is the correct height to properly fit in the seatbelt. It is just a safety measure. My oldest is 9 yrs, 2 mos. He is 4'7.5" and weighs almost 70 pounds. In MY car, he still has a booster! My car has bucket type seats in the back and the seatbelt comes across his neck. In my dh's vehicle, he can ride without a booster because the seats are made differently and the seatbelt hits him right. There is no shame or silliness in being safe. Better I do this and nothing happen than I toss it out the window and then we have a car wreck where he is hurt badly or worse! As fr typical boosters not being safe, I dont' totally buy it. If the seatbelt fails in a crash, no one is safe...booster or not. If MY seatbelt fails, then I am not safe as the driver either. However, most of the time, a buckled safety belt does not fail. I do remember a horrible story of one woman who lost her 4 year old son who was buckled in properly in her van in a booster when the were hit and rolled. He was thrown from the car because his seatbelt failed. Her daughter, though, who was in the very next seat and fastened in the same way was not hurt and her seatbelt did not fail. This particular mom (can't remember her name) launched a campaign to encourage other parents to use the 5 point harness system at all times because of her experience. My 5 year old might let me "harness" him in. My 9 year old would run screaming.

I was 10 and in 5th grade when my mom started leaving me alone during the day. I was 14 when she started leaving me alone at night. Neither were really great ideas on her part. I did lots of dumb things. My kids will not stay alone until they are much older, and even then, I will not let them stay alone TOGETHER. Oh no. I would come home and someone will have "not made it!" LOL

I disagree with the 3 hours being too little for a 7 year old comment. You definitely do not have a typical 7 year old! My 9 year old, using Calvert and about everything else I can find to supplement the boring program with, is almost always done within 4-4 1/2 hours. That said, before I brought him home this year, he attended Public school for K-3rd grade. In 2nd grade, he was 7. His school day was from 8:15-3:15. He had one hour for lunch, 30-45 minutes for recess, 30 minutes for extra type classes (computers one day, music the next, then PE, etc). They took bathroom breaks four times a day and spent 15 minutes doing that as a class. Then, when they did math, the spent a certain segment of time on it - say, 1 hour. If my son was done in 20 minutes (which he normally was), then tough turkey. He sat there until the rest of the class finished. That meant that, for 40 minutes, he doodled on his paper, talked and got in trouble with his friends, and so on. There is a HUGE difference between 8 hours in a public school and 3 hours of one on one study in homeschool.

Oh - my dh so looks like the guys who played "Robert" on Everybody loves Raymond. He is just shorter!

I had lots of people tell me I look like Alanis Morisette (sp) when I was a teen and she was popular.

P.S. Which hotel is it that connects to the conference center? The Embassy Suites or the Marriott?

Ah....the Winston Salem, NC one? My friend and I were just saying TODAY how we needed to get that figured out for a girls weekend. I have heard it is utterly THE BEST conference period!

Which should I choose???? Bio, Chem, or Phy? I or II? Gosh, the website was no help at all. We are currently using Calvert Science, so most anything is a step in another direction. Thanks!

I used Horizons with my son who was coming from 3rd grade in PS and he went right back to 3rd grade Horizons. I would definitely recommend at least book 3B to start. I don't recall a lot of area, volume, estimaton or Ratios in the 3A book and what little there may have been was just "getting ready for" type stuff. I wouldn't worry too much about that. Out of curiousity, where was he in his Singapore Math?

The other night, my husband suggested we put the kids in bed and have some "forshata." I was like ..."huh???" It took him 10 minutes of explaining to me that while, yes, it is a drink at the Mexican restaurant down the street, he thinks it sounds a bit naughty.... Umm...okay honey...whatever. LOL Prior to that, it was just a gentle humming of the "bow chicka bow bow" sound from the 1970's porn movies!

Why yes, I am a homeschooling treehouse.

Are there tests in Singapore? We got one of our workbooks today and are still waiting on the other materials. Just curious...do you test every so often with this math curriculum?

I agree with Jay Leno..."how shocking." LOL

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions!! I will look at all of them over the next few days. I did add in Spanish - my oldest really wants to take Spanish. There are so many programs out there, for now, I am considering doing Calvert for his Spanish. Ask me tomorrow and I will have changed my mind! LOL

I must have answered somethng totally wrong because I came out with Orthodox Judaism. Whoops...I believe in Jesus.

We homeschool exclusively and outsource sports, art, music, and Karate at our local Co-op. :)

Hmmm...good question...one I have asked myself a few times to be honest. Mostly has to do with my ex husband possibly wanting my son tested with a standardized test in order to evaluate how well I am teaching him at home. For English and math, I figure it is going to be a breeze. For History and Science - if we do a whole year of one thing then he takes the test, he won't know the information he needs for the standardized test...if his dad forces my hand and has him take it. If it weren't for my ex, I wouldn't be concerned one bit. My youngest, I have no desire to hold him to any standards but my own! :)

If you go with spiral, I would not necessarily recommend Horizons. It moves fast (or it did for my sons) and it sounds like you son needs a slower pace and more repetition. Personally, I would try CLE or MUS.

Sounds spider-ish to me. I would maybe take some benadryl for a few days and see if you can knock the histamine down some.

Hi - I am jumping in here completely...but I was curious. I don't live in CA, but my dh was reading something online saying that if you were a homeschool parent in CA, you had to now have a teaching degree to continue. Is that true? Is there a way around it? I am just curious and thought you all would be able to tell me more than what I heard from my dh. Thanks!

We let the kids dress up and go to the church's trunk or treat. Then we come home. :) I do like baking cookies, making caramel apples, and carving a pumpkin with the kids too...but we do that in the week leading up to Halloween.

Thanks for the suggestions - I will have a look at them! I actually don't live in CA. I live in TN! LOL But I think the CA standards are really good and I like to hold to those no matter what...just so we can be prepared incase there are any state tests in the future. I figure if you do it to CA standards, then you are more than good for a TN state test. LOL