That I don't know. That is kind of why I bought it in a rush. :)

I don't know of any homesteading blogs but I know in some areas you can rent goat herds for clearing land BUT goats need really good fences.

1. I read the TV Guide cover-to-cover as soon as it arrives. 2. Zoo Tycoon 3. I could watch Tori and Dean all day long.

They have 29 items on sale at 29% off to celebrate the 29th Olympiad. The BigBook is one of the items - use coupon code 29olympics at checkout. It saves $22.62 :).

for 29% off at classicalhomeeducation.com. I have been totally indecisive about a latin curriculum. I hope I made the right choice.

Whew! You guys have put my mind at ease. I really appreciate it!

This is a great idea that I had never thought of! I will be in touch with his ped to see about arranging it. The dentist is a pediatric dentist, that's what got me concerned! I'm really glad to know that this is well within normal and I need not worry (aren't there enough things to worry about :001_smile:?!)

None of them are even loose! He is 7 years and 2 months. The dentist was concerned but said we should wait 6 months and reevaluate - do more x-rays and such. He was preemie and is very small for his age (not even on the chart). Does anyone have any experience with NOT losing teeth?

I am in no way a professional but I have had BAD experiences trying to replace parchment with wax paper when baking. I wish I had another suggestion...sorry...

We have been using a book called the Nurtured Heart Approach which is really designed more for kids like my ds who have intensity issues but it can work for anyone. This book teaches parents to spend their energy encouraging and reinforcing the child's positive behaviors and good qualities rather than making a big deal of the negatives. The negative behaviors have consequences, just no big reactions. This, in my experience, is easier said than done. :D We are doing our best! To that end, the book recommends a reward system that we have implemented in our house. Each day ds gets points for following rules that we have listed on a board and for doing his basic responsibilities. We emphasize what is important to us by assigning it point values. Each day at the end of the day we have a "points ceremony" in which he is awarded the points he earned through good behavior/following rules. We focus on those things that he did do properly and talk about how he could get more points but don't rehash the days problems. Once the points are his they cannot be taken away. He can spend them and we have a list of things he can get and the number of points needed. These things range from "30 min. of screen time", "camp in the backyard with dad" to a "a trip to the movies" to "$1 per 100 points". I guess I am mentioning this whole process because it could easily be used just for "school" time if you wanted. I did think long and hard before implementing a reward system in our house. I do think a child should behave right and not be compelled to do so because he might "get something." On the flip side, though, we were doing a lot of punishing/yelling and being unhappy (all around) and this system has brought a lot more harmony into our home. By focusing on the positives we have bolstered our ds's confidence in himself and we now have much more pleasant exchanges. We won't do this forever but it is working for us right now.

Thanks everyone for the great ideas (and pictures!). I have been inspired!

Please help me with ideas for organizing/storing the many, many legos in ds's room. They are used daily (for many hours, I might add) and put away daily - into one big plastic box. I want to help get it sorted in a simple way that he can handle. It is getting out of hand!

I think the card is a way of the mom saying "thanks" and not just as a reimbursement for gas used. Enjoy the free gas :D.

Ouch! That really stinks. Any way you could gently mention to g'ma how much that hurts the kids' feelings? Or would that just open up an ugly debate about homeschooling in general... Does she do this out of spite or just total, mindnumbing ignorance? :001_smile: Either way it stinks.

www.letsgolearn.com I learned about this site from the Sonlight site that recommended it as a way to determine where to place dc in terms of grade levels on reading and math.

I think what you brought up - attempting to approach things from various points of view - is essential to critical thinking and to really understanding history. I read your post and it got my wheels turning. I didn't reply mainly because I couldn't succinctly and intelligently put my thoughts into words! I feel I never received a thorough knowledge of history in school so my ds and I are sort of learning it together as we read and explore. Even though he's only 7 we do discuss, "what would the other guy say?" and "what if this battle had turned out differently..." I have found that my ds can even identify biases sometimes without them being pointed out. I do remember in college one of my professors assigned a book, I think it was The Conquest of Mexico or something like that. It was blatantly and offensively biased and the whole point of it being on our reading list was to make us aware - "hey, everything you read reflects the author's take on things." He was hitting us over the head with it to make the point. So, your question was great and I think I was just a little shy to respond. Sorry :o!

map/globe pencil sharpener :D I am off to google desk apprentice...

I think you can use all three of these programs together easily. ETC is for reading, right? So, they each would cover different areas: reading, grammar, handwriting. I've never used ETC but I do use FLL and HWT. I really like FLL. We have finished with the book for 1st and 2nd and will be beginning the 3rd book soon. HWT is only supposed to take a few minutes each day. I have found it essential for my ds who has trouble with handwriting. To answer your question about waiting on FLL, I think you could jump in with the 3rd book later without having used the 1st/2nd one. I don't know about any other programs as I have no experience with that. :) HTH.

We just "officially" started 2nd grade a couple of days ago, so I'm sure this will change and morph as we move through the year. This is what we have been doing recently... We start doing our "activities" or lessons around 9:30 am after breakfast and all the animal chores are done. We work on handwriting, vocabulary, science, history, math and grammar/language arts. We try to get done by lunch time but sometimes we get hungry before we are done :001_smile:. I would say we spend 3 to 3.5 hours on instruction daily. I also have a ds that likes to be in constant motion. I start things off with movement (fine and gross motor), I make sure he has gum and opportunities to move around during our lessons. I think each child is different so the number of hours of instruction one could handle might be inappropriate for another. For us, we are at just the right amount of "school time". I like having afternoons for free time, playing, reading, listening to audio books, errands, etc.

Kids Discover is ad free - as are all the Cricket magazines (Cricket, Spider, Click, etc.).

My dh works one full-time job and two part-time jobs and I work one part-time job (2 days/wk). We work out our schedules so that ds is with one of us and not in any childcare. It is hard! As ds gets older, I am struggling to feel like I am accomplishing everything I should be for him in terms of homeschooling. I would really like to be home all week with him. I think of homeschooling as a full-time job and I'd like for it to be my only job :).

Thanks to each of you for responding. This really helps me to have more confidence in the results I got.

Could you sell it on consignment at a local antiques shop?

I am wondering if anyone has experience with these tests and how accurate the results are in terms of grade level. Did your dc score where you think they should have or wildly differently than you expected? I ask because I have given these to my ds and I am not sure I trust the results. Thanks in advance.

:lol: :lol: :lol: