Names are tricky for us, because they have to sound good in both French and English, and with British and Canadian accents. :glare: Sebastien and Madeleine are my top choices if we decide to go for one more.

You're not the only one! My younger son is in public kindergarten and having lots of fun cutting, pasting and learning about the letter T. :p At home, he's doing some math and spelling, but at a much slower pace than he's capable of. My older son likes to be challenged in math and has recently become pretty interested in science, but everything else is "easy" for him. I'm so jealous of your weather! I'm afraid of my kids getting stuck in snow drifts when I send them out to play in the backyard. :glare:

Thanks, I think I am slowly being convinced! It'll have to wait until at least the summer though, I'm feeling a little guilty about the recent math purchases I've made for myself the children. :blush:

Ds went out on the boat with Dh today, so I had too much time on my hands and now we get to learn about Tunisia! I wish I'd never noticed the "clearance" button on RR. :glare: I'm a little torn about MCT as well. English grammar is something I'm not comfortable with at all, so I'd like to stick with FLL for now. Maybe we could do both...

Wow, that'll definitely be something to keep in mind if we're ever looking into American programs.

Can you elaborate a little on what type of program you're talking about? Just about everything I look at has restrictions either by grade or age, but not both. I'm curious because one of my boys is at the very young end of his grade and the other is technically one grade "ahead" of where he should be. Competitive sports aren't an issue here, because they're not connected to the schools.

I agree with regentrude. Unless he begs for reading lessons (one of mine did, one didn't), I would hold off for a year or so.

We started at 4.5, but it sounds to me like your Dd is about where he was. I don't think there's any harm in trying - if she doesn't like it, you can just put it away for a few months and try again.

My boys are still young, so right now we're just doing gymnastics, which is once a week, and hockey, which is three times per week for my 6yo and twice a week for my 5yo. In the summer, they'll play soccer and/or baseball instead, and I'm hoping to get them started in piano lessons next fall.

I used level 1 with both of my boys and just started level 2 with my 1st grader. It's exactly what I expected it to be - incredibly easy to use, quick and fun. I really like the set-up and how scripted it is. Even though I have a good background in science, I sometimes struggle to break things down into little pieces for my kids. Nancy Larson science does that perfectly, and then we have lots of great conversations when they already "get it". Level 2 is a little more focused than level 1 (mostly physics, less jumping around), but very much the same. I'm finding that I want to add a lot more to it now than I did when we first started with NL, but that's because my son is more interested and I know a lot more about what I want. I think that it's a great "launching pad" for young kids and inexperienced teachers, but I we'll likely be moving on to something a little deeper after we finish level 2.

My tentative plan for next year (2nd grade) is to use Mr. Q Chemistry and Ellen McHenry Elements, along with lots of books and following his interests when possible. Thanks for posting this! I hadn't seen a lot of those books!

My kindergartener is loving LOF! He's been through Apples-Cats and is going through them again before we move on to Dogs.

I'm definitely turning into a math curriculum addict. My AoPS order arrived this morning! I'm beyond excited to use them. My oldest just turned 6. :blush:

My 5 and 6 year olds don't watch a lot of TV, but they LOVE Ben 10. The younger is pretty sensitive about a lot of things, but he doesn't find Ben 10 scary.

We've had a tough time getting into a routine since my younger started half-day kindergarten after Christmas, but today was pretty good! I've instituted a "quiet reading time" right after lunch, and that seems to be making our afternoons a lot less chaotic. My older has decided that physics is even cooler than math, so we spent most of the morning watching youtube videos and testing some things out ourselves. It was fun. :)

My older guy went to public school for the first half of K and he loved it, especially when his teacher gave him a "special" (2nd grade) math workbook. CWP and Primary Grade Challenge Math are hits here right now. While we're waiting for the next BA book to come out, we're using MM, but skipping or talking through anything that he already knows.

"Sheldon was right, physics is the best!"

We've really been enjoying Nancy Larson Science. It's not cheap, but it's completely open-and-go.

I allow pop as a treat at a movie or a restaurant. Dh allows it whenever they go into a store or anywhere with a vending machine. But, we never have it in the house and they very rarely finish a whole glass/can/bottle.

We moved just before Christmas and still haven't set up the Wii, XBox or cable. It's been so nice! I also have a couple Nintendo 3DSs in my sock drawer, which will be returned to their owners when they prove that they can go two days without fighting. :glare:

Nancy Larson Science! So easy to use and my boys both love it. I would drop science for this year and start next fall with Nancy Larson 1 for both of your kids. We haven't used it yet, but REAL Science Odyssey looks very fun and easy to use as well. For history, we've really been enjoying SOTW 1. We haven't done too many activities, but the maps, colouring sheets, tests (we use them as worksheets) and a few extra books are enough for us.

My boys are pretty close to bilingual (French/English, with English being their stronger language). Schools here begin teaching French in kindergarten for immersion students and 4th grade for everyone else. I'm planning to let my older son pick either Spanish or Italian to start studying next year in 2nd grade. I have a very basic knowledge of these and will take an introductory course in whichever he chooses over the summer to prepare. My basic plan will be to spend one year on fun immersion/vocab/culture activities, then begin a more serious study in 3rd grade.

Unless you're absolutely convinced that she will always be better off with kids a year older, I would call her "Pre-kindergarten" or "Junior Kindergarten" in the fall and not start her in Girl Scouts until the following fall. I'm not sure how the age groups work, but I would try to have her with her age peers for activities that aren't academic. With a birthday in November, she'll be on the older end, but definitely not the oldest, which I think is preferably to always being the very youngest by several months.

Now that I think about it, anything that I buy in pdf, I buy ahead. I have Math Mammoth 1-6, WWE 1-4, Miquon, several Ellen McHenry products, Evan-Moor, etc. We've been moving too often to buy a lot of physical books, but I definitely do have a natural inclination to buy ahead.