DH and I love most salad greens and I buy whatever strikes my fancy at the grocery store. I grow mixed lettuce greens and microgreens in the fall and winter. And I always have fresh herbs, like salad burnet and rosemary, to mix in with our salads. DS will ONLY eat raw spinach salad - nothing else on it or mixed in with it.

Do you have a local zoo that has a "junior zoo keeper" program? Or an animal rehab center? Or nature center? I would encourage hands-on exploration as much as possible at this age. Find a way for her to "get in the field" and learn first hand, either by taking outside nature/animal classes or doing some sort of volunteer work w/animals. Do you have a Home Science Tools catalog? (Or any other extensive science catalog.) Let her look through it and see if anything strikes her fancy -- maybe she would like to do some dissections? plant a butterfly garden and raise caterpillars? Go to the library and let her explore topics on her own.

:iagree: That was exactly why I switched - well, that and the fact that DS has such a late year birthday. It just made sense to me to go by his age. Grade level is so arbitrary anyway and each district/state has a different cut-off anyway. :lol:That was my final thinking. Hey, why I am still using their school year??

Trampoline sends my DS into the stratosphere. I guess it must wear out some children, as I see it listed often as a good physical activity. But it just makes my son more bouncy and unfocused. He has to do something physical that also engages his brain. I love FitDeck cards: http://www.fitdeck.com/ We own the Jr set and the Speed Ladder set. The Jr set can easily be done in the house. I will pick 5-10 cards and we will do a few cards between subjects. We don't have a ladder to go with the Speed Ladder cards, rather draw one on the driveway with chalk. I will set up 3-4 patterns and we will work our way through them. We also go for nature walks - either around the block or simply out into the back yard.

My DS has a very late December birthday, so I run our school years from January to December and go by age and not grade. We are on our fourth year and it hasn't created any major problems. I work at his grade level, depending on subject, so it doesn't matter (to us) for "promotion" purposes. If people ask what grade he is in, we just say that we don't follow grade level but he is X years old. If it is an outside activity that goes by grades, I place him where he would be in public school. But - really - sports classes, art lessons, science classes, etc normally go by age and not grade anyway. I think Sunday School is the only thing I know of that goes by grade and we don't have DS in our church's Sunday School anyway. He has two good friends that are in public school and they make a big deal about their grade level. They know we homeschool and don't follow public school grade level and it has never been an issue. My thinking: We don't follow the public school scope and sequence, so why should we follow their arbitrary grade levels?

I forgot another favorite source: http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/index.aspx I have not bought rock samples from them, but have ordered other items and been very pleased. If nothing else, order their catalog. It will keep you happy and drooling for hours. and hours. and hours. ;) I forgot about his website. I have looked over the site several times, dreaming about going out for one of his field trips. When I was looking at a local gem and mineral show, I noticed that one of the big rock clubs in our area has a junior club. It meets once a month and has the goal of "bringing up a new generation of rock hounds." I am planning on attending one of their meetings. I know the OP didn't ask for books -- but the book "Rocks in his Head" by Carol Otis Hurst is wonderful. It is a picture book, but still appropriate for slightly older children.

DH and I grew up in the same rural Midwest town and went through the same school system four years apart. (He's older. ;)) DH graduated top in his class. I graduated, um, near the bottom? Like 120th out of 128 students? Let's just say - I graduated. :glare: Barely. (I had other things on my mind.) DH remembers quite a bit about his school years. I remember next to nothing. The few things I do remember, I would rather block out. The funny thing for both of us --- We lived in the Missouri River bottom, land that had been river when Lewis and Clark went through. We went to school just miles from a big monument dedicated to L&C. We neither one knew, until last year, that Lewis and Clark went through the area!! :001_huh: How pathetic is that? Major piece of history right at our feet and we didn't have a clue. Oh, wait. I do remember watching a Star Trek episode in 5th or 6th grade science class.

:lol:That's where I am today!

I was probably too brief in my initial post. DS and I both have food allergies, which makes some standard food out of the question. Add in, DS has sensitivity issues. He is a great eater, aside from some notable quirks. He loves sushi, salmon, spinach salads, etc., so I can't complain too much. But it does make lunchtime a challenge because he won't/can't eat some standard quick lunch foods. (What I really need to do is figure out how to make sushi!) DH and I actually eat a mostly raw foods diet, but I need stuff to "round out" meals for DS. Which was why I was wanting the convenience of some frozen meals. If I could give him a cheese stick (texture issue) or peanut butter sandwich (allergic), I wouldn't worry but those are both out. (I do feed him soy nut butter sandwiches but I don't want him to have soy more than a few times a week.) I buy organic - and have for a dozen years - because I believe in supporting local, small farmers. It is a moral issue for our family. Also, we don't use corn syrup and we do not support the food subsidies that corn farmers (like my BIL) receive to grow what we believe is a mostly worthless crop. By buying organic products, we can easily avoid corn syrup - and food colorings. Thank you. I keep asking myself, "Well, even if I feed him a frozen pizza with fresh fruit on the side, at least it is better than school cafeteria food, right?!" Right? :001_huh: I like the idea of striving for 80-90 percent ideal.

:lol:DS used to have egg/dairy allergies, which basically made him a vegan. (He wouldn't eat meat at that stage, due to sensitivity/texture issues.) I had always ruled out any processed cookie-like things. We were at the store one day when DH ran up to me, waving a box of Oreos. He was beside himself with excitement that he could "share the wonder" of Oreos with his son.

My first thought was gallbladder. I had mine out ~4 years ago when I was probably the healthiest (and lightest) I had ever been. My nurse told me that for some reason, they are seeing a lot of younger, skinnier ladies losing their gallbladders - especially within a few years of giving birth. In my case, I didn't have gallstones, rather my gallbladder simply quit working. It was a pain for the doctors to diagnose! Ultrasound revealed no stones, so they ruled out gallbladder. But the problem persisted so they eventually ran a Hydascan, which showed my gallbladder wasn't working at all.

I really need to get a grip on lunches when we resume school this fall. :tongue_smilie: If you can buy organic cheese pizza w/whole wheat crust and no corn syrup in the sauce, would you consider that a somewhat decent lunch every so often? I can easily round it out with some fresh fruit and/or veggie. What about chicken nuggets baked in the oven? Frozen sweet potato fries baked in the oven? Are there any frozen (convenient) foods that could be considered marginally healthy, if they are organic? (Assuming them to be made with whole wheat and minimal sugars.) I generally make lunches from scratch or leftovers, but need something quick and easy one or two days a week. Thanks!

I've not read the book, but was born and raised in the midwest. (And moved south as soon as I could!) I remember being caught on the interstate between towns in a blizzard when I was 18-years-old and a fairly new driver. That storm came up so quickly that I didn't even have a winter coat with me. The midwest had a terrible time last winter, with multiple blizzards back-to-back. My brother and his family were snowed in for over a week during one of the storms, as the county couldn't even get to their road. They had to climb out a window at one point (needed to get out for farm chores), as they couldn't get their doors open due to the amount of snow blown up against it.

http://agemclub.com/events.php Gem and Mineral Show Tuesday September 4-5, 2010 Our 53rd annual show will be on the weekend of September 4th and 5th, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Saturday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Sunday. Otherwise: http://www.hometrainingtools.com/Default.asp? They are the best! You might also check Hobby Lobby or Mardel.

I bought K books, then ditched them a few months later and moved on up to 1st grade. But we did a lot of 'fun' stuff - like Five in a Row and Galloping the Globe - so we just explored different books and topics, didn't really follow a set curriculum until DS was officially 1st grade age. Like others have said, meet them where they are at. Not necessarily. There are ways to extend out their learning - ex: add in an extra year for intensive study on one or two student-selected topics. Plus, so many high school students do "dual-enrollment" in college that it isn't at all unusual to have 17-year-old college students. It really depends on the student.

Reminds me of the karaoke thing we had at church a few years ago. A lady got up and screeched for 10 minutes. Wouldn't you know it, a few weeks later she had a solo during church services. :001_huh: Our DS has sensory issues and it was all we could do to keep him from running out of the church with his hands over his ears.

DS was reading and asking for school at 4, so we jumped right in. We were doing K level work, but I didn't call it "K." I have never regretted that we started early and it certainly didn't hurt DS's desire to learn. I will say, though, that it was hard. We didn't fit in with our friends who simply sat out preschool, nor did we fit in yet with the homeschoolers in this area. Most of the homeschoolers in this area have larger families so hold off on doing anything "formal" until 5 or 6. Many parents "red-shirt" (hold back) their boys one year, even in the homeschool community, so that made it even more challenging to find friends and field trip opportunities. Once DS was "officially" school age, it became so much easier to "fit in."

As a general rule - No. My dad was a firefighter and that is just one of those things that has been drilled into me. (I know. They are designed to be safe, blah, blah. Just something my dad was always strict with my mom about.) Also - 9 years ago, I was just feet away from the slow cooker when it overheated my counter-top. We have Corian seamless counters and they are suppose to withstand heat. But I had put the slow cooker right on top of a seam in the corner. It got too hot and caused the entire counter-top to "pop" (loudly!) and buckle up. Though it durn near gave me a heart attack, I was glad I was home - and standing right there - to know/see what had happened. It took me years after that to even be comfortable using a slow cooker when I was home!

Thanks for the giggle and memories this morning. My grandmother passed away six years ago and she loved a bit of Scotch in the evening, too. I miss her dearly.

DS started playing chess at age 5. Now, at age 8, he can beat his parents each and every game. :glare: We love boardgames. Some of our favorites: Blokus, Rummikub, Terrace, Monopoly. We also love Uno, card game. For play-alone games, DS loves Rush Hour.

I am not familiar with Journey North - thanks! Looks like a great site to browse. (http://www.learner.org/jnorth/ if anyone is interested) We went for a walk tonight after supper. It was still over 95 degrees, but there was something 'different' in the air. It had that touch of early fall feel, I told my DH. He, of course, just laughed at me, since we were sweating from a simple stroll around the block. But then we got back home and I noticed that my garlic chives were about ready to bloom! I don't recall them blooming this early before. So - I am very hopeful that fall is around the corner. :w00t: If nothing else, maybe that happy thought will be enough to sustain me through another month of this heat. :lol:

I know you said it is your grandfather's birthday - but is he sentimental about any special flower? Maybe a nice bouquet of sunny daisies? What about a digital photo frame, loaded with pictures? Gift basket of cheese and crackers? Nice assortment of coffees? Some homemade soups that can be frozen and reheated as needed?

I just had the binding cut off a thick book of blank maps, so I can coordinate them for our world geography study. It cost $1.09 at Office Max. I was soooo scared when I handed over the book, as I had never had a binding cut off before. But -- I love it!!! Now I'm searching around for other books to have cut. :lol: (DS is left-handed and struggles with thick bound books.)

I'm in the same place - only one child, and a young one at that - so take this with a grain of salt. ;) Someone posted on the K-8 curriculum side last night about planning events around curriculum or curriculum around events. We do both. I utilize our breaks by visiting art museums or history museums. We read related books in advance, so DS is prepped and excited about the topic. I believe in the younger years it is very important to lay a solid foundation and "light the fire" so children are excited to learn. I also believe that young children learn best by doing and seeing, so we go on a number of field trips. We plan vacations around educational opportunities. We, the parents, make learning simply a part of our lives and DS picks up on that. Along those lines, DH and I read a great deal - and we read in front of our child, we read to our child, our child reads to us, we talk about what we are reading. When our neighbor boy was recently trying to talk my husband into buying a Blu-Ray and a big-screen TV, our son told the neighbor boy, "We read in the evenings, we don't watch television." The neighbor boy replied, "Why would you do that?" DS said, "Because books are great!" I really think one of the best ways to fold classical learning into your lives is to answer your child's questions. If you don't know, help them look it up. If you can't look it up right away, make a point to remember when you get home. This is a 'soapbox issue' of mine - I so hate to hear parents tell their children, "I don't know" and leave it at that. I believe in encouraging children to ask questions - and making a point to help them find the answer. We decided when our son was younger to forgo current movies and to support local art/theater instead. We go to a number of children's plays each year. (And always read the book first!) I think it is important for children to watch live theater, as it helps them with focus and observation skills. Along those lines, we have always asked our son, What was your favorite animal at the zoo today? What was your favorite character in the play? What was your favorite painting at the art gallery? We talk, talk, talk about what we see and do. We actually straddle the line between classical education and unschooling. ;) But along those lines - we have a number of fun, educational games. Right now, we have a "forever" game of Professor Noggin going -- DS mixed the Human Body game cards with the Solar System cards, so we end up bouncing back and forth between the sciences -- and it is taking forever to finish! We just play a dozen or so cards a night, as we end up stopping to talk about things as we play. DH and I both grew up in families that had a "Sunday Night - Movie Night," where we watched Mutual of Omaha or Disney and ate pizza. We decided to do that with our son. Sometimes we watch an old Herbie movie. Sometimes we watch a science or history video. Again, it is just making family time and learning go hand-in-hand. Have you read the book "And the Skylark Sings with Me" by Albert? He talks about homeschooling being a "community-based" form of education -- taking advantage of what your local community has to offer. I read that book when we first started homeschooling and it really made an impact on my education ideals and goals.

We are on our fourth year of homeschooling, but fairly relaxed. I plan our curriculum around events. And I plan events around our curriculum. For starters, I look over upcoming art exhibits, plays and concerts and incorporate those into our studies. Ex: If "The Secret Garden" is playing at a children's theater, then we will read the book before we see the play. Most of our bedtime reading is centered around plays we will be seeing in the near future. We will soon be reading about Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams before we go to see art exhibits of their works. Likewise, if we are going on vacation and find ourselves near - say - The Pony Express Museum (St. Joseph) then we will read a book or two about The Pony Express. I don't find this disruptive to our schedule at all because I allow for this in our schedule. I don't get into the filing and major lesson planning because I want to allow time to explore other topics. I don't view learning as a linear process that must be done in a set order, so we meander through life, learning as we go. On the flip side, I do plan events around our curriculum. This fall, we will be reading Famous Men of Greece and I plan to hit a local art museum that has a large college of Greek art. This museum also happens to have a new exhibit opening on African art, so we will probably read a geography book or two on Africa either before or after going. See? It all just flows together.