:lol: This is definitely the vibe I'm going for. I have never researched Montessori before the several mentions on this thread and it's good to have a philosophy to go with my idea. This is another good idea only I'll reverse it. My K'er has a much shorter day than my 7yo so I'll have my K'er read to the 3yo while I finish off the schoolday. Hopefully all of the other ideas on this thread can keep him occupied for the short time my K'er does school. I think they will. He's very independent just needs preplanned activities. I don't like it much when he finds his own activities. :glare:

I hated history growing up too. I've found since we started hsing that it was the poorly written textbooks that sucked the joy out of it for me. I don't emphasize history as much as WTM but the dc and I really are enjoying the narrative spines and living books approach. History is so much more interesting to me now and I'm learning more than I did in ps through high school.

Praying for little Sarah.

I know I'm late to this thread and haven't read all of the responses yet but... Our little friend Isabella prefers the nickname Isa (pronounced Eesa). That might get rid of one problem. I really do get the issue with Isabella and Elizabeth. That would be a no-go for me, but if you can get past it...Isabella is a beautiful name. I immediately thought of the name Gabriella. You could call her Gabi. One of the little girls in my 5yo's preschool class went by Gabi and she was precious.

Our church does this as well and it IS a huge blessing! I did lose my favorite soup Tupperware but have gained so many great recipes that I'll call it a wash.

Great advice! I do like WTM and follow some of it. I particularly like the grammar and writing. We are using SWB's products for those. However, we are using SL for Lit and history. It isn't that I don't like SOTW or the 4yr rotation but that I (and more importantly, my dc) really like SL. In the grammar stage, I want my dc to like the content subjects and really foster that love of learning. SL does that for us. While we always get SL done, I really do focus on the 3Rs. We do a lot of fun things like Latin, art, and logic but math and LA get done first. For many weeks surrounding the birth of the baby, we only got math and LA done.

The Singapore K books (both Essentials and Earlybird) are less advanced than Horizons K. If you're looking at Singapore and Horizons K is too easy, check out Singapore PM 1A. Before you do that, you should look ahead in Horizons K. It moves pretty fast; just because the beginning is easy doesn't mean the middle or end will be. We use Singapore Essentials, then Horizons K, then Singapore 1A between preschool and Kindy. It's been a good flow of skills.

Funny, that was my plan too! I was pretty set on it and even assigned ages to everything. Married at 27, kids at 29 & 31. You can see how well that plan worked out. :lol: I guess things change when you meet Mr. Right at 21 and don't want to wait 6 years to get married. I don't think I'd care too much about that comment, either. It does seem like she's just trying to express your differences, not infer anything or insult you.

Our church also does not give baby showers. However, since our closest friendships are usually formed in our church (seems like it is that way for the majority of women who attend our church) showers are often given by a member of the church. Sometimes they request to have it in our building just because it is a larger venue than a home. My most recent baby shower was held at the church and hosted by our pastor's wife plus a couple of other members. That didn't have anything to do with me being a member, just that they are my best friends. On that same note, invitations are limited to friends and possibly acquaintances of the mother-to-be. There isn't an announcement in the bulletin or a blanket invitation to the church. The only exception to this was when I threw our pastor's wife her last baby shower. I did make a point to invite every woman in our church just because of her position. I do agree with you that every baby deserves to be celebrated and congrats on your new little one!

The age might be a lot of it. When my ds was going through 1A and 1B, I had to copy the first page of each chapter so he could keep them. I think he still has that collection around somewhere. I had to learn to be patient with him and enjoy his stories. It has gotten a lot better over the last year and a half but he can still weave quite a tale from each word problem. I hope you kept it! She sounds like a hoot.

I don't think this has anything to do with being a lefty. We have 3 lefties in my house so far (myself included) and my righty had the most letter formation issues. It has to do with habit. It takes time and practice to train the hand to write properly. Teaching him cursive was great. It took the guesswork out of where to start letters and his neatness immediately improved. No need to whack your ds on the hand but don't sacrifice your standards just because he's a lefty.

We're only in Core B but add a bunch of books and did for the previous cores as well. We really like to read. I know that the cores become more full as we go up but I'm sure we'll find time for all of the extra books.

My oldest didn't start til 5 and I just started my new 5yo with Cursive First on Monday. My boys have a huge gap between reading and writing. My 7yo reads at a 6th grade level and writes like a 7yo. My 5yo has been reading since he was 3. We use some of the activities Tracy mentioned. A whiteboard and saltbox have been great tools for us.

You are probably right about the attention span. I just don't want to spend 10 mins getting him set up for an activity that will only last him 5 mins. If he can go to another activity by himself and not destroy the house in the process, I'll be very happy. My now-5yo loved doing school with us when my oldest was in K. He was a very early reader and loved phonogram drills. This guy is very different. He's not interested at all. He's one that would love to get wet, though. I'll put this on my list. He would definitely enjoy it.

We're using FLL and WWE with it. It does have plenty of grammar and writing for K-2 but I wasn't confident enough in those areas to go without a scripted program. After using both of those this year, I'm more confident and could go without them for my 2nd ds but I already own them so why not use them? The amount of time depends on the day. It varies quite a bit depending on dictation, reference pages, and spelling rules and can be anywhere from 15-45 mins. We probably average 30 mins. FLL and WWE don't add much more 15 mins at the most combined and not everyday.

These all look great!! This is what I'm after. Those bags look like they would keep hm quietly occupied for hours. I think I'll be pretty busy this weekend :) Thanks for sharing and for the pics.

Sounds like my oldest :D. A Singapore and Miquon combo has been a great fit for him. Singapore keeps us moving so he doesn't get bored. With Miquon, he gets to explore concepts much earlier than they would come up otherwise. The two programs complement each other very well.

That's exactly what I did when my oldest was in K. It was a great year! I'm sure you all will have a lot of fun. I'm going to look for that lock box. Sounds right up his alley.

Good idea! A trip to Lakeshore Learning might be in order. Thanks! I'll check these out.

I'm trying to keep nap time sacred since all of my boys rest at the same time. The older two read while the little guys nap. I'll use it if I have to but I'm trying to explore other options first. I do love Leapfrog. I'm sure it was a big contributor to my 2nd reading before 3. It's in my bag of tricks. He doesn't really interupt us. He likes playing on his own but my playroom suffers. I do hope your right about growing out of it. My 2nd ds wasn't like this. He'd play with only a couple of toys at a time while I did K with my oldest. Part of my problem is that I'm schooling a 2nd grader as well takes longer than when I just had 1 K'er.

Not at all! My 2.5 yo started climbing up in his brother's bunk bed at 6mo. We had to take the ladder down each morning. He can play up there now but no sleeping yet. I used to be firm about no gum or popcorn til 5 but I'm getting lax. I let them take a gum test at 4. My middle guy failed it and had to wait til 5. What's this thread about again? :lol:

Mine answers 4. That's the age he needs to be to chew gum so he's a little fixated on it. He's all over how many quarters are in a dollar!

We average 30 mins for my 1st grader doing Sing. PM 3A and Horizons 3. We also do Miquon, CWP, and PCM but not all on the same day as PM and Horizons. Miquon is by itself on Fridays and CWP/PCM are used in between PM levels. I could see it taking longer but this kid doesn't need much instruction. He just gets it. ETA: I've read all of this thread and thought I could resist getting sucked in. I have no willpower.

I've checked the other toddler threads and can't find what I'm looking for. I just started doing full school with my K'er today and that left my 2.5yo high and dry for a playmate. This little guy is fabulous about playing on his own but I can't handle the aftermath. He's a walking tornado. So...can anyone suggest some activities for him that don't require me to help him with but will keep him occupied for more than 5 mins? We have pattern blocks and he likes those but he needs some variety. We also have a myriad of buiding toys but I need something new that is special for school. I like the look of MFW's toddler package but wanted to know if there was anything else great out there. I am not interested in workbooks or anything that requires coloring. He is an active little boy and none of that would work.

I would definitely consider the frst one preschool level too. I like that it starts out fun and light. However, by the time you get to B, it hits number bonds pretty hard. My new 5yo is about finished with B and I know he'll do great in PM 1A. When I tried EB with my oldest (it was WAY too easy for him at 3yo), I felt that it didn't prepare him for PM 1A. We went with Horizons K instead. I wish I'd known about EM back then. We're still doing Horizons K in between just to give him the gift of time. PM ramps up quickly in 1B and I want him to be ready for that.