[What grades would you call this?]

Thanks for all the votes and comments! :)

 

I was leaning toward Kindergarten and Pre-K for this year just because of the 4-5 month gap that would be between them and the next youngest in their "grade". I have no idea how common redshirting is in our area, but I'd imagine between that and their birthdays they'd be right in the middle age-wise for their grade. If we want to skip them ahead a year later to put them in the same grade or to accelerate, I don't see why we can't.

 

So, as long as Dh doesn't have any major objections, that's what we'll go with.

[Perspectives needed on preschooler supervision (long)]

I certainly don't think you're being overprotective or a control freak. Your son is 2.5 and he needs you there. Simple as that. You handled the situation as well as possible. :)

 

But, I don't think the other mothers are being neglectful or reckless for letting their kids play in another room. I wouldn't think for a second about letting my boys go upstairs to play with other kids, and when we get together with another family on our street, their 5 year old is great about watching out for his two younger sisters.

 

I don't have much advice other than to either stick with just the close friend's kids for playdates or host them yourself and keep the kids closer. It just sounds like a bit of an awkward situation all around.

[What grades would you call this?]

I can't tell, because I don't actually know how old they are. :001_huh:

I'd go by the cut-off date in Texas. Children who are 5 by September 1 will be kindergarten; children who are 6 by September 1 will be first grade.

 

IMHO, it's purely a label used for grouping children of similar ages and has nothing to do with academic acheivement or ability, nor with maturity, nor with how mature they might or might not be in 11 or 12 years.

:lol: I guess I should have stated that!

 

Max is 5 and will be 6 in January. Dom is 4 and will be 5 in December.

 

I agree entirely. I just feel the need to "label" the grades and don't want them to be disadvantaged by being in the "wrong" grade, such as my younger son not being able to participate in an activity at the children's museum that is for "K-2" or feeling too young and out of place in a similar situation. And, I don't want to ever lie about their age or grade. I guess it's a balancing act.

 

Thanks to everyone who has voted. :)

[What grades would you call this?]

A few threads on here have made me reconsider the "grade" levels that I'd been planning on calling my boys for this fall. So, I thought a vote might help me make a final decision. I do understand how trivial "grade levels" are in homeschooling when they're this young, and we will obviously use materials and learn things that are appropriate for their abilities, not their grade. But, I do want to have set grade levels for activities that are divided by grade instead of age, for them to be able to tell people what grade they're in without a big discussion about homeschooling and a little bit for my mindset and planning.

 

The boys are 11 months apart, with birthdays in January and December. Last fall, when we were living in Canada, we started Max in public kindergarten. He missed the age cut-off by 4 days, but we sent him anyway to avoid the boys being in the same grade level and to avoid having to "redshirt" Dom (which is very uncommon in that district/school). He was the youngest in his class by 8 days, but did very well. Here in Texas, he misses the age cut-off by 4 months, but still thinks he's going to start 1st grade in the fall.

 

My thinking now is that Max can either be going into Kindergarten or 1st and Dom can be going into "Pre-K" or Kindergarten. I'm not taking academics into account too much because everything we'll be using in the fall can be considered "1st grade" or higher and because it's hard to predict how quickly they'll progress at this age. Right now, they're at about the same level in reading, but Max is way ahead of Dom in math.

 

So, if you have a second (and you've made it this far :tongue_smilie:), could you take a second and vote and let me know what you think?

 

Thanks!

[How would you interpret a closed door?]

My 4 and 5 year olds would know not to go into people's bedrooms unless they were specifically invited in to play or something. If the door was closed, there's no way they'd go in.

 

At 11-14, I'd say they had a good idea that they weren't supposed to be going through bedrooms. If they were used to going over and hanging out in your daughter's room, I can kind of see how they'd think it was okay to go in there. But, I can't imagine that they'd think it was okay to rip up her posters? :confused:

[Expectations of our homeschooled kids versus what we did.. (poll) Please read post]

I drank underage, in a province where the legal drinking age was 18. Where we live now, the legal drinking age is 21, so I could handle it if they drank at 18+. Drinking during high school would be a disappointment, but not a family crisis.

 

I did try drugs and had premarital sex, but not until I was out of my parents house. Doing either as a teenager would be a disappointment, but not a crisis.

[Teaching Textbooks...just the book (cp)]

We've been using just the workbook and haven't had any problems.

 

You can see samples from the workbooks on cbd.com.

[Did you know?]

I have one :) If you, or one of your children, "accidentally" write on a smooth, nonporous surface with a permanent marker trace over it with a dry erase marker. It will just wipe away, no scrubbing needed!

I've had to do this on whiteboards more often that I'd like to admit. :glare:

[What do your kiddos wear]

Do matching PJs count as a uniform? :tongue_smilie:

[They said what? Good thing they're homeschooled!]

Me to dd9 this morning: "I have to take Aly to violin. Your math is downstairs on the table. The video is ready. Just hit play."

 

She then watches the MUS alg video for lesson 25 (difference of squares) and yells upstairs, "Can I do as many lessons as I want? This is fun!" :001_smile:

"Can I do as many pages as I want?" and "Can I just do one more? Please?" are common questions from my 5 year old. :D

 

These stories are all great!

 

A few weeks ago, we were trying to decide whether we'd barbecue for dinner or cook something in the house. My 4 year old said "Why don't we just vote the same way ants do?" :001_huh: He then went to the fridge, got hotdogs out, carried them outside and laid them by the barbecue. My 5 year old piped in with "If you don't want to barbecue, you have to go bring them back in", got hotdog buns and laid them outside. We still haven't figured out where they learned how ants vote. :lol:

[So my kids looked at the BA sample today..]

I'm excited with you, because I think my son is going to love BA too! I hadn't heard of it before I joined here, but it looks like a lot of fun! :D

[Help! For those who have done kindergarten]

My older son went to public kindergarten for the fall and didn't mind carpet time, but when he came home we never continued with it. Things like that come up naturally for us, and both boys have a good understanding of days of the week, months, yesterday, tomorrow, weather, etc. Normally, we'd start our morning with taking turns reading aloud until we got bored, then moving on to "seat work" and finishing with any games or fun projects.

[Favorite Nintendo DS games for a 7yo boy]

My boys like Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Batman, along with Lego Harry Potter and Lego Star Wars. They don't really like Super Mario, but love Mario Kart. Math Blaster is the only educational game that they'll actually play.

[There's a new man in my life. (Baby News and Pics)]

Love his hair! Congrats! :grouphug:

[Galore Park Latin Question]

I haven't used them, but from what I can see it looks like Latin Prep is meant to be started around age 9/10 and SYRWTLL is meant to be used around age 12/13. They're both introductory programs, but SYRWTLL is much more rigorous.

[A little introduction. :)]

Thanks! :D

[Summer Bucket List]

We moved here five months ago and haven't been too productive, so our "bucket list" reflects that-

 

Get to know our new city/state

Teach the boys to swim

Go kayaking

Teach the boys the rules of baseball and sign them up for fall t-ball

Go to a baseball game

Install a swingset

Find and get to know a reliable babysitter

Finish decorating our main floor

Finish decorating/organizing our school room

Visit my parents

Visit Dh's parents

Get a puppy

[Twins and multiples]

Irish twins here, 11 months apart to the day. :)

[s/o Okay, co-sleepers, how long?]

We moved both boys to their "big boy" bedroom when they were 2 and 3.

[What time does your 4-5 year old go to bed?]

My boys stay up until 9:30 or 10:00 to get to spend more time with dad. My Dh works until 6:30 or 7 most nights, so we eat as soon as he gets home, spend some family time together and start the bedtime routine at 9:00. They sleep until 8:30 or 9:00 am.

[How to get a label to stay on an eraser???]

We label everything by colour instead of name, so our erasers either have a strip or blue or green electrical tape around the middle.

[Do your kids share bedrooms?]

We have four bedrooms, but our boys share a room because they get lonely. The other rooms have become the Lego room and the school room.

[A little introduction. :)]

I wanted to introduce myself before I begin posting. I hope no one minds. :)

 

My name is Mélie and I'm originally from Quebec, but lived in England for several years. Hopefully my English is good enough that no one would have noticed if I hadn't said anything. :tongue_smilie:

 

We left England last summer, lived in Canada for 5 months and then moved to Texas in January. We love it here and plan to stay for the long haul.

 

My boys, Max and Dom, are 11 months apart and will be "officially" in Kindergarten and Pre-K this fall. But, Max attended Kindergarten in Canada for several months last year and they've been learning lots at home since then, so they're a little ahead of their grades.

 

We don't have all of our plans for next year figured out, but we'll be using many of the WTM recommendations for Language Arts and History. My Dh is science geek and I haven't studied any English literature, so we feel like we need more help and structure in those areas. Right now it looks like we're going to be doing a 5 or 6 year History cycle, starting with dinosaurs. :lol:

 

I look forward to getting to "meet" everyone!