Yuck! I'm sorry. And Pippen's advice sounds right to me, esp. about the electricity to the fan.

I would.

I don't usually clean the ceilings, just the corners, lights and vents, but last year I did them with a dry swiffer on the swiffer pole and it worked very well! I'm short, too.

I make yogurt in my crock pots, 2qt or gallon. I heat the milk with additional dry milk powder to 180 degrees, which takes 3 hours, let it cool to 115-120, which takes 45-50 minutes, and stir in the starter. I test the temps with a meat thermometer. Then I unplug the crock pot, cover it, and wrap the whole thing in 2 bath towels and let it sit for 8 hours or overnight. In the morning, it is yogurt. Magic. :coolgleamA: Both of my pots are Crock Pot brand; my old Hamilton Beach warmed the milk up faster, but cracked due to user error (ahem). When I first purchased my new crock pot, I tested it for the timing, but I still use the thermometer. I chill the yogurt in the crock before I disturb it so the whey doesn't seperate as much.

I want to second the recommendation of Peggy Kaye's books. There are games to build phonemic awareness in "Games for Learning". I borrowed it from the library and liked it so much that I ordered it for myself.

That helps a lot. My friend was being kind; knowing her children's learning styles has helped her tailor some things to them. I think I'll read up on this. I may learn more ways to present things. Thank you very much!

A more experienced home school mom asked me what my 5yo's learning style is. I think I understand basically what she's asking, but I haven't read up on it or analyzed my kid. At this point, I think I should teach her using as many learning avenues as possible (preschool: say the letter sound aloud, form the letter with cooked spaghetti, find the letter on the wall chart, find the letter on the page...hear, say, touch, see, see...). If I figure out her favored learning style and choose curricula that cater to it, wouldn't that be a disservice? Wouldn't she be better off learning to adapt? She has no learning disabilities. (Obviously that would make a difference - I'd teach however she'd learn, in that situation.) What don't I understand? What should I read about learning styles? Do they matter to you? Thanks!

:iagree: :hurray:

We're doing this study now. You are right, there isn't as much guidance in the workbook for which questions are intended for the group discussion. I led for a few weeks as a sub. Since each day's homework only covers a few verses (it is a short book!), I think those verses are their own principle statement. We were best able to stay on track when we read the day's verses from James before discussing the day's homework. If you are leading people who are used to having a principle statement, it might be neat if you asked them to write one and share it for each day's study!

Interesting! My daughter turned 5 in October, just after the cut-off date, so I'm calling her "preschool". She's learning to read and doing the first book of Miquon math, and I'm using the luxury of the extra year to add a subject each month and gradually extend her attention span. I'm doing it this way, though academically she could be called kindergarten, because I want to be able to skip her later if it seems good for her, rather than hold her back later if she slows down. I also want her on the old (and, hopefully, mature) side for her church classes, especially when she rolls into the youth group.

My kid did that at the same age, with a small button! She was sitting on my knee, at my desk, and suddenly said to me, "Oh, no, Mommy, I put your button up my nose!" She tried to recant a few minutes later, but it was too late. It was her first ER visit. But our ER must be pretty laid-back, because they just checked her for respiratory distress in case it had headed to the lungs, and said she must have swallowed it. She never got any symptoms of it being stuck in her sinus cavity or in her lungs. Did I inspect to make sure it, uh, came through? Nope. I wonder if I should have done so!

My daughter is 5yo, and has decent fine motor skills. She writes letters and short words for fun, and writes numbers for math (Miquon). Her hand position is ok, though she hunches. My concern is that right now she starts circular letters at the 8-o'clock and goes around clockwise, which to me is "the wrong way". She likes worksheets, and can handle a little more school time, I think. I learned from WRTR as a child, and Getty-Dubay italic as a teen. I prefer the beauty of old-style cursive, but am not too attached to teaching it. Any suggestions? Is there something I should read about teaching handwriting? Thanks!

Any great ideas? We have a nice-looking, fake tree which is about 8 years old, and the dust turns my hands brown as I set it up. I don't see the dust once it is up and decorated, but still, it bugs me. Do you think I'd destroy it by gently swishing the pieces in a bathtub of water? I could blow-dry it so it wouldn't rust. Feel free to tell me to chill out, if that is the best option. I could buy a new one, but I'm cheap. :rolleyes:

My daughter enjoys reading aloud to me the first set of Bob books. (She is just beginning to learn digraphs (sh, th, ch) from OPG.) I don't think I'll buy more readers at this point, because she's starting to read random things around the house. I like Games for Learning by Peggy Kaye. She has some fun activities to reinforce early reading and comprehension. She assumes a sight-reading approach, but that doesn't stop us from enjoying the games. I got the book initially from our library, and enjoyed it so much, I bought it.

Thanks! We love Peanuts. :001_smile:

I have no great advice, but just wanted to bump this for other people's input and say I hope he feels better soon. That is miserable.

We love Miquon. My d5 says math is her favorite "learning time" activity, my husband is encouraged about homeschooling by watching her work, and I find it easy to use. I never would have heard of Miquon without this forum. Thanks.

This thread is helpful for me to read. Thank you for starting it. I hope you find the balance you need soon! :grouphug:

I'm so sorry for your loss.

What a neat kid you have.:001_smile:

Oh. You are so right. Good grief. :o It is still a beautiful name. (Going to start re-reading my classics, obviously...)

Thanks, I'll look into that. Do you think you can take it while nursing?

I saw an idea in a magazine: bring breakfast pastry for them to enjoy the next morning! I want somebody to bring me cinnamon rolls. :001_smile: You could make scones (they are easy, if you like to cook) and freeze them on parchment paper before baking, bag or box them, and then give instructions to bake them frozen. They turn out great.

Persephone is a beautiful name. What a strong, creative person she was in the Odyssey! I don't know what to say about your mom's feelings. I'm sorry this is so stressful. I always like to run our name choices (and the likely nicknames) through a google search, and by a sharp 6th grader, just in case. :tongue_smilie:

I feel a little silly asking this, but you folks are a large pool of (mostly) women who might have the input I need, so here goes! When my second child was about 9 months old, I began having PMS-like emotional swings (you know, "He left his socks on the floor, so obviously he DOESN'T love me at ALL! Waah!") which lasted for 3 months until I returned to a normal cycle. I was (and am) heavily breastfeeding. It took me six weeks to realize that I was hormonal. Calling it hormones helped me relax and push past the horrible feelings, but during those three months, I really, really didn't ever want to have another kid. I felt crazy. I did a lot of crying. I wanted to give away all the baby gear. My poor husband.... I feel much better now. Is this anybody else's experience? Is there a way to smooth this out if we decide to have a third child?