Ok, so I need some advice. DS 6 (soon to be 7) is a very gifted reader. He's been reading chapter books since before his 6th birthday--we didn't believe it either, until he correctly answered questions about plot, character, etc. He's a reading whiz. So this year I've selected books for him to read with the idea we'd do a notebook page for every 1-2 chapters. The problem is he sits down and reads the whole book in 2-3 days. So, I thought we'd just do a "book report" worksheet every time he finishes a book. This is not working. The book report templates I've downloaded from the internet are a huge struggle for him since he claims he never knows how to answer questions like "What happened at the beginning of the story" and "what happened at the end." He assumes he needs to detail every little aspect of the plot, and I've tried to explain generalization/summarization to him, but I'm not doing so well. We did WWE and FLL 1 and SOTW 1 last year, so he's used to the "what's one thing your remember..." which he does easily, but when asked to summarize the whole story can't give me the big picture and instead tries to remember the minutiae. Am I rushing things? Should I give up on book reports? I haven't many of these books myself, so I can't come up with any specific questions for him to answer, and I would rather not spend a lot of money on comprehension guides from Veritas press, although I will if you tell me to : ). Do I slow him down to 1-2 chapters a day and work from there? Or do I just leave him alone, let him read the whole thing, and tackle with narration with SOTW1 and WWE2? Thanks

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Great advice! Thanks for that!:001_smile:

I second Miele canisters. We bought the parquette floor attachment (for hardwoods) and are very happy.

:iagree: with naps and t.v. (if she watches). I'm trying out busy bags for my 2 year old (there are some really great ideas for these on the web and pinterest), although these might not work as well for someone so young. If you can, splurge on a way cool toy that only comes out during school time (busy ball popper was a *miracle* for me last year with my then one-year-old!!). Good luck!

Didn't get to listen to it all b/c of cranky todder and baby, but hoping they put up the whole show online soon. Anyone listen to it?

I like the idea of having a calming/relaxing aroma in our classroom (maybe it will help me not to fly into a rage when my kids whine about work? :glare:) Any online retailers/oils or blends/diffusers you swear by? I'm thinking of buying an electric diffuser... Gloria

Unfortunately, our state requires nothing of the school district, so all would be favors asked.

So I'm meeting with the new principal of our local elementary today to say hello (she used to work with my husband--apparently she's very nice). It's more of a social call, but I did want to let her know about the homeschooling community here and to possibly ask for stuff :D My question is: how much to ask for? I'm planning on asking for library privileges, and maybe inquire about afterschool activities. Anything else? I'm not interested in sending my kids for classes during the day or anything like that. I don't want to bust in with a list of demands! :) Anyone done this before? Gloria

Thanks!!

I am an ancient historian and while there were errors in Vol. 1, they didn't bother me at all. College-level textbooks are full of "errors"--some resulting from misinformation, some resulting from differences in interpretation (and therefore are only "errors" to some!). For me, the real value of this book is not for my son to remember when exactly the Minoans were wiped out with a volcano (they were not--had to bite my tongue with that one), but to introduce places, peoples, and behaviors of the past to my son, which these books do brilliantly. When he's old enough to evaluate history writing and its sources, then he can quibble with particulars, but until then, he's learning an enormous amount and will be well-equipped to discuss and evaluate history in the future.

You might find that you will want the extra practice--we did K in a couple months, then moved to 1st, then did 1st again (in marker over her original pencil) in a year.

It was more of an adjustment that #3 for sure, but that's probably also because #3 was a great sleeper and #4 didn't start taking naps (AT ALL!!) until 4.5 months. His not napping definitely put me over the edge, but we're doing much better now that the newborn stage is over. My biggest thing is that now I can't go anywhere. With 3, I could go to the store if I absolutely had to, but with 4 I feel like I'm bringing a crowd--too many bodies to keep track of. So long story short, we spend more time at home than we used to, and I have to be much more creative about running errands (I use more sitters than I used to). That said, I love having 4--it really does feel like crowd of happy kids.:party:

http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/transitofvenus/ :hurray:

I agree with onaclairdeluna! My DH is a HS Latin Teacher and Ph.D. in Classics. He just switched to Learn to Read Latin. It is challenging for sure, but probably the best textbook out there for a rigorous curriculum that will prepare students for college-level Latin.