We have a set time that he can play games. If there is a question, "Can I play?", it will be asked over and over. Once the time is set, he can let it go out of his mind and do other things. We are much more lax during school breaks, but that only happens a couple of times per year. :)

We'll probably go with Writing Strands soon. I was not impressed with WWW. We didn't even finish level 2.

I think I'm more sad at the thought of him growing old enough that he no longer loves his picture books. This is such a wonderful magical age, I wish it wouldn't end. lol!

This thread makes me sad. :( I remember having a couple of book cases of picture books growing up and often wonder what happened to them. I wish I had them to share with my son. We'll keep ours indefinitely. My son is 8 and while he now reads novels, he still LOVES picture books.

This game looks really neat! I hope they reach their goal!

Wow! It sounds like it was a very trying evening for you and your family. I can imagine how you are feeling about the rest of the holidays coming up. We had a similar (but different topic) Thanksgiving last year. Things didn't turn out as horribly as I thought they would, and a year later things are much better. I do want to say one thing about the issue of helping to clean up. Thanksgiving is always at one of my in-laws homes and I'm very thankful for that. For the first few years, I would always try to help with the clean up, but ended up feeling awkward and in the way. A few times, I was told to not worry about it, etc. After several years of that, I finally just gave up trying to help with the clean up after the big meals. If I'm asked to do something specific, I'm more than happy to help. There may be those who feel resentful? I don't know, but there comes a point, when you just have to let it go. :)

My son got this all in one wall tracks set last year for Christmas and it still works just fine and he still plays with it. You can buy each piece separately as well. I liked it because it was something different and it wasn't always a big mess in the middle of the floor. My husband wasn't all that thrilled about putting it all together at first, but once it's up, it's up. I think we got this all in one set for $60 on some sort of deal last year. Hot Wheels Wall Tracks

Yes!! Previously we bought a lot of lego sets and I really regret it. As you know the lego sets are now to be built and set up as a play set similar to playmobil, however the lego sets just fall apart and over time ... are gone. No matter the amount of organizing that we've done, they are just gone. Maybe when he's older, he will have the patience to dig through all of the pieces and rebuild but for now, they are a waste. We prefer other brands to fulfill the building obsession. The Playmobil sets however and still going strong. The amazing thing is that it was just this year when he really started getting into them more and more and playing with them a lot. Maybe it was because I bought sets that were related to what we were doing in history, I don't know, but he will spend hours with them acting out scenes that are a combination of history, books he's read, shows he watches, and games he plays. For Christmas this year, we splurged and bought the big castle since we are at that point in SOTW2. Amazon had a great deal on this Lion Knights' Castle last night. Unfortunately it only lasted for about 20 minutes. You have to be lucky and fast to get the good deals. Another good thing about them is that they have a very high resale value so if you decide not to keep them, you can make back a good amount of $$ when you sell them. Also tonight starting at 8pm, this castle will be on sale at toysrus for $24.99!! Dragon Knight Castle

We use WWE and soon I'll be getting IEW. I'm not sure about continuing with PR3 at this point considering how much I have to add. I don't enjoy the lit study so far in PR2, and I honestly don't think it's very good. I really wanted to go all the way with the program and on into the Latin Road, but I'm just not sure at this point. I think the spelling and grammar portions are beyond excellent. So, hmm.... lol!

I would wait and get the next generation. We have a first generation and while it's just fine, I've noticed several apps that don't work on the first generation. We'll probably have to upgrade soon.

I would go with option #2 or #3. I think farming mom and dad should be relieved that the boy wasn't hurt more seriously and have a lawsuit on their hands. I also don't understand why it wasn't insured and consider that to be the fault of the motorbike's owner. It's my fear that my son go to a friend's house and ends up in a situation like this. It's up to the hosts to ensure the safety of the guests on their property.

We don't use this as our only writing curriculum. We are in the middle of phonics road 2, and while there is a lot of grammar, the amount of writing instruction has been very small. It's mostly copywork and dictation only so far. There has been a small amount of outline instruction via the lit study.

I guess I'm the weird one out. These things would not have bothered me. I would feel loved that she wanted to help me and make my life easier, and the kids are fine being off routine once in awhile. I'm sure they had a fabulous time even though they were tired and hungry later.

I guess I'm the weird one out. These things would not have bothered me. I would feel loved that she wanted to help me and make my life easier, and the kids are fine being off routine once in awhile. I'm sure they had a fabulous time even though they were tired and hungry later.

If it were me, I would not do the surgery. I would get the pain meds and the antibiotics. There are a few days yet before Thanksgiving. I would administer the meds and see how she is next week.

Thank you all so much for the suggestions. I really like the ones you posted best Angela, but it seems that the timeline at the top of the pages is pixelated. They have given me good ideas to make my own though. :) I don't think it will be too difficult using StartWrite and google images.

I'm looking for ready made notebook pages that correlate to SOTW2. Does anyone have suggestions? I don't mind paying if they are nice. :) Thank you!

What is his bedtime routine? Maybe you could structure the last hour or so with lots of snuggles while reading or playing a quiet game with you, etc. My son will be 8 in 2 weeks and sometimes when he's feeling especially vulnerable, he really likes it when I hold him like a baby and sing to him for a little bit. Sometimes I'll spend a little bit of time rubbing his back when he first gets into bed, etc. It's sort of like a "love infusion", lol. Then he has his squeezebox which streams the audiobook of his choice. If he's been especially sensitive, I'll pick something sweet like Winnie the Pooh or My Father's Dragon. He used to have a night light in his room, but now he's fine with just the hall light on (we put a dimmer on it so it doesn't have to be on full). Last, I would sometimes walk past his room and peek in to say "I love you" or "sweet dreams", just so he knew I was still nearby and thinking about him (this kept him from having to get out of bed to see where I was). Sometimes he needs all or a lot of this and sometimes he is fine with a snuggle and a book, a tuck in, and an audio book. I think the audio book is an important component, because it gives him something else to think about while falling asleep. I think the more you resist his needs, the stronger they are going to become.

Have you checked the activity guide? We're not on SOTW3 yet, but for 1 & 2, the activity guide was full of books to go along with it.

It could be a reference for a loan application?

I feel like I'm doing a great job with everything except Spanish! For the most part, I researched curricula obsessively and carefully before kindergarten and picked and stuck with what we've picked for most subjects ... except Spanish. We started with Singapore, stuck with that. Same with WWE, FLL, Phonics Road, Elemental Science, etc. In general, I'm not a flip flopper. However for Spanish, I have tried all sorts of things. I tried Elementary Spanish on the Discovery Network (ordered expensive workbooks for it as well), tried Getting Started with Spanish, Rosetta Stone Home School Edition ... nothing is working. At first I loved Rosetta Stone because it has workbook pages and it's something you just follow along with step by step on the computer, but I guess it's not enough because my son is just so frustrated with it that it usually turns to tears (he can't get the pronunciations correct a lot of the time). One big problem with Rosetta Stone is that my son sees the exercises as more of a puzzle than learning the words. For instance, it may say some words in Spanish and show 4 pictures. You have to pick the picture that the corresponds to the words. So for him, it's more of a process of elimination than remembering what the words he's hearing and corresponding to mean. My son has an excellent memory for most everything, but the Rosetta Stone system just isn't working. I do know some Spanish (had 4 years of it in high school/college), but not enough to be conversational, but plenty to help out where he's at. So what Spanish curriculum works in your house? I'd really prefer something that is all in one, but if the best option is piecemeal, I'll consider that too. :) Thanks so much!

The sets are not that expensive. I couldn't possibly need that many sets in one year. I've bought a set here and there, but nowhere near $80 worth. More like $10? Some of the sets (Middle Ages History) aren't even complete.

We like Story Nory. :)

I wonder if it's because we do so many read alouds. I read to him for at least an hour and a half a day and often more (broken up throughout the day). He reads to me about 15 minutes a day. He also has read alone time for 30 - 45 minutes per day. During his alone reading time, he always reads out loud. I know he can read to himself because he does it on the computer, and with instructions on worksheets, etc. I let him know that he may be able to read faster if he reads to himself, but he still always reads out loud. He's 7 (almost 8) and reads at about 4th grade level. I'm thinking I should just leave it alone and figure that eventually he'll read to himself. What do you think?

Mostly I think the photos and memories are for them when they are older. They are for us as well, but at some point, they are who will appreciate the photos the most.