Thought I would kick things off a bit early. Our co-op starts tomorrow afternoon and with the boys excitement, I don't imagine we will get much accomplished in the morning. :D Here is our week!!

Homeschool Share has a lot of free printable lapbooks on different books. You might look to see if there are any that interest you or just look to get an idea of what to put in a lapbook. I personally LOVE lapbooking but my boys aren't really into it. I'm hoping one of my younger two will enjoy it with me later on. :D

My goal is 5, but some weeks we hit 3 or 4 days. My k'ner does science and history with my 6th grader 4-5 days a week and we work on phonics 4-5 days a week. Sometimes if we miss a couple weekdays, we'll do a bit of work on Sat or Sun.

My oldest plays baseball, soccer, basketball and adding golf this fall. This is a year of firsts for my 5 yr old. He played baseball this summer and will play soccer and golf this fall. He wants to play basketball next school year (has to be in 1st grade). I would like to get the older three into martial arts but my oldest isn't interested. Both of my middle boys want to though.

My inlaws don't question me about my children's education, but they do take any jab that they can. If my oldest doesn't use perfect grammar, they'll catch it and ask him who his teacher is...and laugh. (because they are SOOO incredibly funny :glare:) I just tell them that I am still trying to correct their beloved public school's teachings...or non-teachings (two of their three children including my dh graduated from that school). I also don't let them forget this year's standardized test scores compared to last year's while ds was in ps. I do, however, plan to have a presentation night similar to a co-op's presentation night after Thanksgiving and again in May, but only for all the grandparents. Mostly to give the boys a chance to show off what they have accomplished, but partly to show the inlaws how silly their little *concerned* jokes are. A blog is a really good idea but I have yet to let my inlaws know about mine. :lol:

This is my 11 yr old ADHD son OFF his meds. He has to be directed to every.single.task...over and over again. He thinks the same kind of random thoughts. When he is on his meds, he can concentrate more (not as well as a child without ADHD but much, much better than *his* normal) and is more independent with his schoolwork. Actually he would be completely independent if I let him. I have to have him on a very strict schedule---the stricter the better. He just responds so much better to knowing EXACTLY what comes next and when. If I get sidetracked with another child or something else when I should be working with him, he walks around like he is lost. If I don't have his day FULL and have too many breaks in between, it is harder to pull him back to the task at hand. When we start school, we don't stop until it's done. We do break for lunch and he has one other break in between but that is it. Anymore extra time and he's lost. I hope you can find a solution that works for you both!! Praying for you!

LOVE this!! I'll have to remember to try tomorrow. Thanks!

:lol::lol::lol: Would be doing the same if my oldest hadn't seen Grandparents Day on the library calendar.

I found this post on some Grandparents day ideas. Anyone doing something else? I like the coaster idea but my mil is loaded up with coasters. Plus her walls and shelves are full of pictures, art work, etc from a total of 15 grands and great grands. I would love to come up with something unique and fun for the boys to make for my inlaws and my mom. My dad and his wife will be getting the coasters. :lol:

What paper work needs to be turned in and how that works? (Since school has started, she'll have to wait 2 weeks unless the super agrees to allowing her out sooner) What would happen if she turned in the paperwork today and didn't send her daughter to school during the two weeks? (truancy laws...and I told her this would get her<the mom> in trouble) She wants her dd out of school NOW. And then a bunch of questions about what to use and where to find it. More about how to get her caught up. Mostly I think she was wanting to know what to use and how to get her daughter caught up. HOW to teach. She mentioned that she thought maybe her dd is dyslexic and how to deal with that. I gave her a HUGE "I have no idea" on that one and suggested she be tested for it and other learning disabilities to find out for sure. My husband is dyslexic but I have no clue about it and how to teach a dyslexic child. One of her examples of her daughter's reading problems is not knowing whether to start at the d or n of the word down. When asking about the paperwork required, she asked whether PE, art, and the like are required. I did tell her that she could check out some of the homeschooling books at the library. Ours has several good ones that I read before taking my oldest out of school. A lot of my answers tended to be "it depends on the child" and then an example of what we use. I talked to her a bit about afterschooling, but she had a good point--her dd is having to do things in school now that she doesn't understand so she would have to teach what dd has missed and what she is suppose to be learning now. My thinking is slowly coming around to just offering to help if she does take her dd out of school. Maybe our family can minister to theirs. I'm a little nervous about it but I feel like I should help.

AR. 3rd through 8th grades take the IOWA test with the ps in the spring. Not a *state* test but required. I didn't intend it to sound like the state had its own test.

lol...that just might do it!! Thanks for the laugh!!

Thank you all for the suggestions. I did mention the responsibility and effort involved. This was actually the 2nd time she has come to me. The first time was last year and was in an effort to avoid the school and DHS probings, but didn't because she didn't have internet to print off the waivers and such. My printer was broken at the time so I couldn't do it for her. I think she just got bored with the idea and she might do the same now. We would rather not be in close contact with the family due to behavior and such (wild drinking parties, bad language, etc). My oldest son rode his bike passed their house and the dad (drunk) yelled for my son (by calling him an inappropriate name) to come to him. I was outside at the time and called him back to me. My boys don't play with their kids, mostly because of age differences and my littles aren't allowed outside our yard. Just to explain my comment about the state being more involved, we have to do the same state testing for 3rd-8th as the public schools which isn't an issue for me because its a free way for me to see how we're doing. Beyond that and the initial paperwork, that is all that is required. While I wouldn't want to submit anything to the DoE either, I'm a little sensitive to it since working at an abused women's shelter and seeing, firsthand, parents who use homeschooling as a way to hide their children from the public. The only thing some of those kids were learning was the abusive behavior. Also a few years ago a little girl was found dead, obviously abused, in her parents' home close to my hometown. The parents admitted to pulling her out of school because people started questioning some things. It is frustrating to see these cases and know it is happening right in our area, although I do absolutely realize this is not even remotely near the majority. I'll just be hoping she gets bored again.

Oh yes. I have those days. Now I have a name for them. lol My k'ner has never been to school or daycare of any kind, but for some reason just the thought of public school has him thanking me for not sending him. :lol: Not sure what he thinks goes on there, but he definitely wants none of it.

A neighbor came to my door to ask about homeschooling one of her school-age daughters. She wants to take her out this year to get her caught up and then put her back in next year. This family has had some issues with the school and DHS in the past. I worry that she is maybe trying to keep her daughter out of the public's eye. Her oldest will still be in school, though, so that may not be the case at all. I just worry. Right before she left, she said she needed to get back to the house because she left her toddler and baby by themselves asleep in bed. That kind of set off alarms in my head. I thought their dad was home with them. This is the kind of situation that makes me think it wouldn't be so bad to have the state more involved with homeschool families. As it is, she just has to turn in the required paperwork and she's done until next August. Anyway she asked if she could come back if she has more questions later. I don't know if I should be encouraging (because I totally understand the lack of help from the public school). Not sure what to say at all.....or if it is even my place to say anything. :confused: What do you think?

Between forgetting about it when I do need printables and finding so many good FREE items online, I just haven't used my subscription much. I do find myself wishing I had an edhelper.com subscription every now and then though. Also that Teacher File Box looks good too.

Thank you. This is good to hear as I plan on using it through high school with my boys.

I have been printing a bunch of fun activities and games for my pre-k and k sons. They have SO many fun activities to do each day!! My oldest would like some of his own that are age-appropriate but I just can't find anything besides word puzzles and searches. Any great links out there that are for the older child? Thanks!!

He sounds a lot like my oldest son. You might read about Oppositional Defiant Disorder and see if this fits your son. My oldest has ADHD with ODD tendencies which means he has some of the symptoms but not full blown ODD (although sometimes I wonder). ODD is a coexisting disorder so it is important to be tested for other issues such as ADD/ADHD learning disabilities, and mood disorders. Here are a few links with some information: http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/children_with_oppositional_defiant_disorder http://www.conductdisorders.com/ourarticles/oppositional_defiance.shtml You can google it and find many, many more websites with information.

That about covers it here. My 11 yr old nephew is in 6th grade ps. He is so intelligent. His test scores show him on an 11th grade reading level and 9th grade math level. Instead of putting him in challenging classes like the Gifted and Talented program, they reward him by assigning MORE work at school and send home extra homework. I hate that for him but my sister does not have the money for private school nor the motivation to homeschool. Instead she complains that the public school won't/can't meet his needs. :glare:

I wouldn't let mine walk. I do let my oldest son ride his bike to the library and such (very small town), but I wouldn't let him walk alone. He also carries my phone when there isn't a definite time set.

My blog includes all of my children, but it is strictly for school...not diapers, breastfeeding...but maybe a few neat things to do with 3 and 5 year olds. :D

I have a k'ner. Most of my posts include my other boys too but you're welcome to check it out!! I have a lot of printables links and resources listed forpre-k/ K.

Thank you for the suggestions! Laura-No I don't speak French. I have absolutely no experience either. I would prefer they learn Spanish since I do have some years in that, but I guess I will have to learn French along with them!

I just tried the files at the yahoo group this morning and the links worked. Maybe it was just a glitch yesterday? Thank God because I hadn't printed them all out either! :D