This morning DD has music and PE at the public school, so I am running errands. This afternoon she only has Math (TT) and her on-line reading remediation program, so i get to do my paid job from home. This week- We just started Teaching texbooks 6 (we finished 5 in Feb!) Reading remediation (online program) Copywork and sentence construction Wrinkle in Time (we get to see the movie when we finish the book!) Science-starting a unit on cells!

We love TT, so i thought others might be interested in the "new" online program. Some have been using it for a while, but it is now available on their website. http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/v/vspfiles/tt/News.htm

Today: Math--teaching textbooks (DD is sailing through and wants to do multiple lessons every day!) Reading--Audible book: Wrinkle in Time Narration: Wrinkle in Time HWT Cursive (3rd grade) History: Beginning look at local First Nations tribes (defining the vocab for the lesson so it's easier for DD to read) PE: Walk in the spring sun and play at the park! "home" work Cooking: Chicken soup (little bro is sick) Pet care: Caring for our pup post-neuter surgery.

I almost never post, but I just wanted to let this group know of my recent success with our local University's Special Education Department. If you are lucky enough to have this option in your town, it is worth your time to look into it. Yes, many of the profs there are anti-homeschooling, but if you ask for help/assessment/tutoring and show that you are committed to your kiddo, then they might be willing to assist. Simply by asking (and asking!) I am now getting free reading and writing assessments, curriculum guidance, a grant for a science tutor, and free access to Read Naturally Live for my learning differences/sensory/anxiety kiddo. One of the ways I have avoided some of the side-glances about homeschool is by stretching the truth about how long I plan to homeschool. "Oh, yes, this is just for a year." or "Only until she is in high school." or "I am trying to get her ready to re-enroll in public school." The profs have been lovely and really, really helpful! I have met some amazing people, plus my dd gets to hang out on a university campus like a bigshot college kid, which is really good for her self-image.

Therapies for learning differences, emotional health, and sensory issues are my biggest expense in education my kiddo. For traditional curriculum, science can be a little pricey for us since my DD needs lots of experimenting to understand concepts.

OK. Sorry.

We are progressive Christians. We use secular curriculum for most subjects, then attend church every week plus Sunday School and youth group. My first thought when reading your message was Godly Play, even before you mentioned it. Do you have a church in your area that has that program as Sunday School? That might be a good thing to look into. Many Episcopal churches and some Lutheran and Presbyterian churches are using this program. The materials are prohibitively expensive for the home teacher, so you might benefit from connecting to a church with the program. https://www.godlyplayfoundation.org

Thank you for the LitWits rec. I was a homeschooler when my kids were small (PK-1st grade for both), but that was years ago now. I picked curriculum in about five minutes because not much has changed there, but I feel totally out of the loop with resources. And, yes, Lori D--Luci Shaw! She is absolutely angelic when you meet her. When we got assigned to the same committee at church, I completely had to keep from acting like a FanGirl. LOL.

I have seen educational neglect and it is sad and ugly and leaves lasting mark. It happened in the public school. To my daughter. That is why we are homeschooling.

We're going to start "A Wrinkle in Time" so that we can read the book before we see the movie. The book will go relatively quickly, as my learning differences kiddo needs it read out loud to her. Anyone else scanning the web for ideas to go along with the book/movie? As an added bonus, we go to church with a poet who was a dear friend and collaborator of Madeline L'Engle and she has agreed to have coffee with us and chat about the author and the book! We'd love to be prepared with good questions...but I'd also like to look into art projects, math, science stuff to companion.

If your church has a youth director, children's director, or youth pastor, set up a meeting with them. IF you belong to a smaller church, meet with your head pastor. Talk to them about your child and what kinds of accommodations would help them in worship and in Sunday School. I am a youth pastor in a mid-size mainline church and I minister to multiple youth with special needs. Some of the accommodations we have made in our congregation: We allow a youth to walk freely in and out of the Sunday School classroom, with his boundaries clearly explained. He can be in the hallway outside the classroom, or in the coffee hour space, or in the classroom and can get up when he needs a break from the stimulation. The youth group understands that he might suddenly jump up and leave and they are all great about it. We educate the congregation that the worship space is for everyone. Sometimes a child, youth, or adult might run to the altar, wear earphones, or speak out of turn. Get your pastor to teach people by his or her actions of love and welcome. We have taken all sugar and junk food out of youth ministry to support a youth with an eating disorder. We welcome fidgeting! We welcome one-on-one support for students when needed. There are many, many accommodations that congregations can make. Let your pastor or youth pastor know what you need! Help them work with your family and you will benefit those that come after you.

My grandmother was born in 1903 to a poor farming family in North Dakota. At 13 she was taken out of the school to begin work. She worked as a domestic in other people's homes, taking care of children and cooking. She was also in charge of all the baking at home. Her older sister cooked the family meals. I certainly don't want my daughter to have the hard life my grandmother did, but it is amazing to reflect on how far my family has come in just 3 generations and hope my daughter can have a glimpse into the "old ways" in our family history. We're thinking of doing a "Great Grandma" unit, where we will study where her great grandmothers were raised, do the work that they did, bake, clean, and maybe make some money. Anyone else do something like this?

Teleios means “complete,†“mature,†or “full grown.†It refers to something (or someone) that is a finished product or well-rounded outcome. Paul used it (again in the letter to the Ephesians) when he referred to the goal of Christian discipleship, “that the body of Christ may be built up, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature [teleios], attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ†(Ephesians 4:12-13, NIV).

DD plays clarinet and wants to stay connected to her public school buddies by playing in the public school band. Anyone try to work with their district on this? Experiences good, bad or indifferent?

DD Private school PK-K; then homeschool in 1st-2nd; Has gone to public school 3rd and is currently in 6th. She is floundering...She has a D in three subjects...her only A is in PE (which is actually pretty hard at our school); D's are due to her failing tests that I WATCH her study for/help her study; and due to her constantly "forgetting" homework, assignments, books, test dates. I think she is also STILL delayed in reading, but this seems to just fly right over the heads of her teachers. At her most recent conference, her teacher said that she needs to "work harder" as if an 8 hour day (bus ride, etc) isn't long enough. (Rrrrgh) I am at the end of my rope, both with her AND the school. I'm considering pulling her out to get her back on track over the next couple years. We'd intend to go back to public for High School. She likes school, and has tons of friends, plus she enjoys having band and PE, but I am just watching her fall further and further behind every year, and have no idea how to study or read to learn. I'm not sure if I am asking for help or just some validation that we can do this....I loved teaching Homeschool, but she got lonely and bored...sigh...

I'm listening in on this one. DS wants to homeschool, DD wants to stay in PS. So I might be HS'ing just one. I HS'd DD on her own when DS was little, and I enjoyed it, but DD did not. She is a social butterfly and needed more people than just me. DS is quieter and more introverted, so HS'ing suits him better.

Anyone been able to balance work outside the home and homeschool? I HS'd my kids when they were younger, but put them in public school when I went back to work two years ago. DS has been asking to "go back" to homeschool next fall and I am open to the conversation. I am a part-time youth pastor at a medium size church and work about 15-20 hours per week. I am able to put DS in a local drop-off program 2 days per week for science, art, social studies, and PE. I would be able to adjust my schedule to have some of my hours during his co-op classes. So homeschool would be Math, and Language arts mostly, with the addition of SOTW. Am I crazy to consider this? Does anyone balance work outside the home and teaching duties? DH works full-time plus and would not be much help homeschooling, but would be supportive.

Your family has been through multiple traumas. Formal schooling can wait. Read books, draw and paint, make up stories, count things, play with any simple toys/games you might have, rest, listen to music, let the babies take naps, eat simple meals. maybe your littles might enjoy playing nurse to big brother? Make him presents and treats? Fetch his toys? Hope you are all healing.

Put me on the PM list for an address to send a square as well. I am new here, but I am so touched by this, I must contribute. To Rosie's daughter-My house was built in 2005, so it might even be younger than you! It is made of a wood frame, with planks nailed to the outside that are called "siding." The siding is made of a special kind of cement, if you can believe that! It is painted a funny color...imagine if you mixed grey and the color of dried moss together. So a grey-green sort of color. The house is small for a new American house, about 1400 square feet, but it's big for most other parts of the world.

I have no words. I am just so very, very sorry for your loss. You will have all of my prayers tonight.

I think I read somewhere that dogs respond better to 2-syllable names that end in an "ee" sound. Names like Maggie, Benji, Bobby, Ronnie.. How about Bertie? It fits better for a dopey lab than Jeeves. ETA: I voted to change it because I think re-homed dogs should almost always get a new name in their new life.

Yep! Changed!

For those that wanted to hear the end of this story... We talked to the detective assigned to the case today. He told us that due to the age of the girls it would take some extra effort on the part of the prosecutor to make a case against the two girls that robbed our house. If we wanted to press charges, it would make a difference about whether or not the prosecutor will take up the case or not. Due to our concerns for our children's safety at school, as well as for our own within the neighborhood, we have decided NOT to press charges. I don't want to mess with the children/siblings of gang members. We will be moving soon, and that will be the end of it. Besides, we got everything back, so there is nothing to recover. This is such a sad situation all around. The Detective was even floored by the age and cunning of these kids. He said the story has been all over the office this week!

One of my children has an unidentified birthfather, and this is troublesome to DC. DC has said things like, "I like to pretend my birthfather is at work. That's why he can't come to our visits." DC is veeeery sensitive and the situation is confusing. We will see how this pans out in the future. I honestly believe that birthmom knows who he is, but just doesn't want to say. Our other child's birthfather is identified, but he's pretty flighty...kind of a hippie...so he's hard to pin down. We have never met him in person and it's been a long time since we've had an e-mail from him. I check him out on facebook sometimes. He has two other kids now and I wonder if i should try to get them together...

Yes to this. In our state, reunification is the priority regardless of ANYTHING. Our first foster son was reunified with birthfamily despite neglect, drug abuse, prostitution, criminal activity, and homelessness. On his home visits with his mom, he would be returned starving and with a rash because he hadn't been fed enough or had his diaper changed. But because she took her classes, she was reunified. He was a precious, sweet little baby who called me mama and had just stated calling my dh "Da-Da." The situation broke my heart. Literally. The day the social worker took him away I cried so hard that I started throwing up and couldn't stop for almost an hour. Foster parenting is not for the faint of heart, and in many cases does not result in a permanant placement.