My son is about to be 7. He can read cvc words and sentences. He is starting to read long vowel words, but that is still a struggle. I am sure that with continued practice he will continue to improve, BUT I need improvement asap. In August he will be starting montessori school (at 2nd grade). During our interview we were informed that by 1st grade the kids can read very well (most above grade level). Right now he is still at a kindergarten reading level. We need to get him to at least a 1st grade reading level before he starts school in the fall. I KNOW I can't force learning on him, but he really needs to improve him reading skills before the fall. If anyone can give me any tips, websites, books ideas, curriculum ideas to use with him it would be appreciated. (FYI-We are going to get him a reading tutor asap to help also.)

I saw this was 50% off so jumped at it. I really like the way it looks and I think it will be much more manageable for me.

Sorry if this has been asked. I am having a hard time navagating the new boards. This year for 1st grade I picked Real Science Odyssey for science. It is an awesome curriculum, but I can't do it again next year. This year I picked some really teacher intensive curriculums and by December I was burnt out on all the time I was spending getting our lessons together. I want something open and go for science next yr. I don't mind if it doesn't have experiments (I can do that on my own) and we don't mind worksheets. My only "thing" is that it be secular. What would you recommend?

Louisville is a big place with a lot of homeschoolers, but it feels like they are hiding under a rock I haven't found! We are not religious so not church. This is also goes back to the statement of faith issue. We lived outside of ATL for 18 months before moving here and had an awesome group of 5 families who met 2x a week. It was amazing. We all got along and our kids became really good friends. I think I expected this here and have been seriously disappointed.

In the past few yrs we have moved quite a bit. Our 6 yr old has always been homeschooled mostly due to this. We have been in our current place almost a yr and plan to be here at least 5 more yrs (we bought a house so we are locked in). I really like homeschooling our 6 yr old, BUT I feel like I'm all alone. I have joined multiple online groups in our area for homeschool, signed up for numerous outings, co ops, and classes. The problem is they all fall through. People don't show up, classes get cancelled after 1-2, even the co op fell through. There are 2 more co ops and we can't join them bc you must sign a statement of faith to join and take any of their classes. I'm not going to sign something I don't agree with and lie to them. Im an honest person and am not going to lie so my so can take a class. We have made 1 friend, but they live a good ways away so we don't see them often. My 6 yr old thrives on routine and this is anything but. He takes karate and plays baseball, but those are very structured and he doesn't get actual playtime with the others kids. He is lonely. He also would love things like art and music, but I can't afford private classes. I guess I'm.having a pity party. It just seems like the homeschool community is saying if you aren't just like us them you don't get support and your child has to be alone. This lack of support and activities for our son has led us to really consider a b&m school. Anyone else ever feel like this?

My grandparents who had their kids in the 60's tell stories of only having $10-$15 for food per paycheck. They grew their own food to supplement and they hunted for meats. When my grandfather was a boy they had no indoor plumbing and ate off the land. Fast forward to my childhood. My parents divorced while I was young and my father never had much $ for food. I ate squirrel, deer, rabbit, ect. I understand that people living in cities can't go out and hunt or something, but I feel like we have come so far from our roots that *some* people wouldn't have the slightest how to care for themselves and their family without being given prepared food. I agree it's sad that even here in America we have childhood hunger.

Our first move wasn't much of a choice. Hubby's layoff date was dec31 and dec 28 he got a job offer in another state. They gave us relocation and paid for our move plus his salary went up. 18 months later he was offered a higher position in his company several states away making $15k more, a very nice relocation package, and the cost of living was less than where we were living. We kinda go where his job takes us.

1) yes female coworkers 2) yes bc of his phone it syncs with their FB 3) as above if their FB pic was provocative then that's what would pop up. I'm not jealous and I don't really care if he has female friends. If they started texting him inappropriate photos then we might have a chat.

Hello, would you like to be in my special group I call misfits? Lol yes! I've never fit in. It started way back in kindergarten. I didn't have my first friend until 5th grade. I moved in 9th grade and never really found a place in high school. I didn't go to college and married straight outta high school. So I don't really identify with people who spent years at college. I'm a SAHM who hasn't worked in years. I'm way to hippie for the mainstream and not hippie enough for hippies. We homeschool so non homeschoolers don't really fit, but I'm not fanatical and just might send my kids to school next year so that doesn't go over well with our homeschool groups. I've become used to having aquantiences, but not true friends. I have my hubby and kids and I will have to be happy with that.

Once when I was 6 or 7 my "fake" uncle sent me a box from overseas. He is military (my grandfather was military and they kinda adopted him). He got all the guys in his unit to give him their socks with holes and he put them all in this HUGE box. So I had to wade through all these hole-y socks to find my gift.

I find our house overflowing with blankets (I think each yr we get several as Christmas gifts). I am getting them ready to go in my car to hand out. It gets pretty cold here. Does McDonald's still do those dollar gift certificates? That would be good too.

iPod with kid friendly apps, audiobooks, and music loaded on it. I love gifting experiences. Movie tickets, bowling, and putt putt would be good. Looking for something bigger check out your local zoo or aquarium. They have behind the scenes packages or some aquariums let you swim with the fish. How about tickets to a theme park? Does he like plays? Theatre tickets. Music? Check out ticketmaster and see what concerts are playing in january. Last yr for my son's 6th birthday we gave him a ticket for a week long zoo camp, for his 5th bday we took him to the rodeo, and his 4th bday we took him to an amusement park (for younger kids). He can't remember any toys that he was given, but he still talks about these experiences.

I'll try to answer all things in this reply :). Yes, she is uber destructive and we do not buy toys throughout the yr. Gifts are given at Christmas and bday only (by us of course sometimes grandparents bring things when the visit). Last year my mom bought her a bed dresser and night stand. After she painted the mattress we took the bes out of her room (this may sound drastic but for a while she had nothing in her room besides the dresser and slept on a a palette on the floor). She no longer has the bed (we gave it to our 6 yr old son) and she has an old bed . As for the dresser she wrote on it and we think she spilled something on the top bc its that particle board and all bubbled and paint is. oming off. She only hasc 3-4 toys in her room and everything else is shared toys down in our basement. We have punished her and nothing works. She doesn't care and due to this (and some other issues we are seeking therapy for her). She never asks for toys even at the store. Still I refuse to go through Christmas and not get her anything. Maybe some can, but I can't make her sit there and watch her siblings open gifts and her have nothing (especially with other issues going on ). I can type but my new phone is hard to type on.

Writes or draws on toys, rips holes in stuffed toys, breaks it open if possible, breaks off the doors/windows/railings of cars/trucks/houses, ect.

We have Legos both duplo and the regular and she doesn't touch them. I'm off to google soccer boppers though.

Oir middle child is a 4 yr old girl (5 on jan 2). She is so destructive and what she doesn't destroy toy wise she just doesn't play with. We are at a loss on what to get her for Christmas. Last Christmas we got her calico critters, a Waldorf doll, dress up, and some hand carved animals. The calico's never got played with, the Waldorf doll gets played with by her brother, the dress up she uses occasionally, and the animals she gave to her brother. My mom bought her a bedroom set (which she promptly destroyed) and my inlaws gave her a Barbie house with babies. She broke the house and brought me the barbies to give away (her words). The only thing I have so far for Christmas is a pair of ice skates and lessons. We aren't extravagant Christmas givers. We tend to buy 4-6 nice toys plus Santa brings 1 big gift. Any ideas??

I knew there was a thread, but I couldn't find it on search.

I need a whole family gift for my bil, his soon to be wife, their new baby, his 5 yr old son, her 6 yr old son, and her 12 yr old daughter. I have never met her or her kids so I don't want to do individual gifts this yr. I was thinking a zoo membership. Any other ideas?

YouTube!

Hahaha YES! Mine came today and I'm loving it! I even had to Facebook about it.

Not early at all. My 6 yr old has a crush on a girl in his karate class. After karate one day he said mommy XXXX is pretty and really nice. He won't talk to the little girl and gets really nervous around her. (oh, yeah he stares at her. lol) I think that at this age (elementary) that is all very innocent.

I don't like the idea of having a car payment either (we have been car payment free for 1.5 yrs now), but sinking a ton of $ into a car that isn't worth it is not a great situation either. If it were me then I would buy a newer used van and work really hard at paying it off asap.

I'd just send a short email letting them know that you don't feel comfortable letting your child watch those movies at his current age and that both you and your child appreciate the invite and hope they can do something together soon. I really don't think they are going to judge you over your viewing content choices.

I have done some searches and there are no new used (does that make sense?!?) in our area. We don't buy new vehicles. I have found several T&C that were commuter cars for the dealership, short term lease, ect. with pretty low milage and completely loaded with everything from nav system to dvd to back up camera for around $25K for a 2012.

Your doing better than me! My kids had a ton of summer stuff thanks to my mil and then it went from 75-80 to 50-60. My oldest has probably 5-7 long sleeve/pants outfits, middle has 5-6, and the baby has 6-8. I want to add another weeks worth of clothing to carry us through the winter also. This may sound odd, but if my kids went to school I would have them a larger wardrobe (I wouldn't want to send them in the same things all the time), but since we are home and they only see the same people a couple of times a month I'm just fine with it.