How many people do you want to look it over? Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

Oh that's a great idea! After thinking about it for a while I was thinking of finding several aspects of the regions and studying each for a few weeks, so that Vivaldi study sounds like a great place to start, thanks! Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

A little background behind my question. I have always wanted to study Italian and DH has always wanted to study French, when it came down to choosing which one we would teach our children first we went with French because that's the one we had the most resources for already in our home. We studied French off and on, mostly with Learn French with Alexa, Little Pim, and a few various other things we've found along the way. Fast forward about 3 years, and I found out that I qualify for dual Italian citizenship through my ancestry and now I really have a reason and desire to start studying Italian. I tried just ditching the French, but that didn't work because my kids actually enjoy it. So, I decided that when DD starts first grade this fall we'd start a more formal French and then add in Italian like we started with French with Little Pim and whatever else the library has to offer for kids. I was thinking that I can do some unit studies on French and maybe also Italian history and culture. So, what are your opinions about this? How would you study these? Are there good resources out there about the history and culture that are aimed toward young kids? Have any of you tried this sort of thing with your kiddos? ETA: I was hoping to find something or things on these topics that would allow us to spend all year studying them, or maybe a half year for each country, not just a little one week study.

I recently discovered thriftbooks.com, I'd look for hard copies of books you really want there. Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

Hahaha, how clever! Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

I guess there's a seven year itch for homeschooling too. Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

I think this is a good way to think about it. Thanks :) Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

Thanks for your opinions! A lot of what you all said was rolling around in my head I just couldn't put in words and I kept arguing with myself about it, haha. Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

This has just been running around my head, wondering what you all think. How many years if HSing til you are no longer a newbie? Also, do you consider HSing kindergarten a year toward that^^? Like right now I'm doing Lifepac LA and SM with my K-er, but it's not everyday, and we often take a couple weeks off at a time so I'm not sure if I can count this year, or do I start next year with official first grade stuff? I know it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things, but I'd like to know how to answer people who might someday ask me how long we've been at it. So, what are your opinions on the matter? Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

Haha, I thought of that thread. Oh well. But if people are going to look I may as well mention that it occurred to me that as we study various cultures I can tie in corresponding episodes of Stargate SG1. ;) There's ancient Egypt, Mongols, Vikings... Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

See, I'm pretty sure I'd still be looking at the same curriculum if it for just one DC. I LOVE history, so TOG appeals to that for me as well as all it has to offer as a system. And if we don't have the money to buy the whole LOE foundations then I plan on just using their teachers manual + their youtube videos and activities book. The whole curriculum would be nice though, but I guess we'll see what all we have money for this summer. Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

Nevermind. My tablet kept telling me it didn't post but it was. :(

I'm planning first grade and it seems a bit spendy to me but I'm telling myself that TOG and LOE will be reused by our younger two so it's really not that expensive in the long run. But then I think, what if I change my mind? So, were any of you able to pick some core curricula and stick with it for several kids? Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

I'm planning first grade and it seems a bit spendy to me but I'm telling myself that TOG and LOE will be reused by our younger two so it's really not that expensive in the long run. But then I think, what if I change my mind? So, were any of you able to pick some core curricula and stick with it for several kids? Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

I realize this is subject to change, I just need to get it out of my head or I'll explode, haha. -TOG year one -Logic Of English Foundations for Language Arts -Singapore Math U.S. Ed 1A & B supplemented with some Life of Fred here and there. -Science will be books from the library on whatever it is we are interested at the moment. -Italian might be Rosetta Stone or Professor Toto -Bible, I'm not sure, but I'm thinking the Answers Bible curriculum. *phew* now I feel better.

Thanks for your input! I hadn't thought about her reading books beyond the first readers and board books so bringing up context and cultural cues was very good information for reading down the road! I did find My Little Pony books (60+ pages) on amazon so if we do decide to teach her to read in French first those will definitely be on her reading list, she understands pony culture! ;) Right now we are going over new vocabulary everyday, both by saying the individual words and repeating them in sentences. We listen to one lesson on the Learning French With Alexa audibles, learn french nursery rhymes and songs, watch Little Pim, watch a cartoon in french (Tchoupi, Peppa Pig, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, etc), use our learned french words as much as we can throughout the day. I am working my way through Duolingo. If we do teach them to read in French first it wont be for a while, at least 4 months, and by then we'll hopefully have a few hundred words under our belts, and be able to understand at least 80% of any given french cartoon they watch. But we'll definitely reevaluate when the time comes to make sure it's a good fit or not.

That would probably be why DH thinks it's a good idea for us to know more before we teach them to read, lol, understanding what you're reading is pretty important! ;)

Oh, hey, I hadn't thought of that but that actually does make more sense than just getting a certain number of words, we should spend more time focusing on common words. Thanks! This gives me a better idea of where to go from here and about when to start thinking about reading.

DH and I are wanting to raise our kids as bilingual as possible, which is really hard since neither of us are native speakers in anything other than English. So I know I have a LOT of hard work ahead of me. DH is better than I am at French and it wouldn't take him long to have a professional working knowledge of the language. So, as we stand right now we are slowly swapping out words and phrases as we learn them. Once we learn how to say it in French the English equivalent goes out the window, at least while we are at home. Hoping to some day be able to hire a native speaker to come hangout with us a few times a week, but until then it's just us. Anyway, now on to the actual question. We are thinking of teaching the kids to read French first then move on to reading in English later. About how many words should we have under our belts before this would be a good idea. At the moment we know about 100 words and a dozen or so phrases, DH thinks we all ought to know more first, so how much more? 500? 1000? I know this is kind of abstract, and at the earliest it would be February before we would buy any reading programs (thanks tax return!) Just wondering if anyone else has thought of this. I'd like to know so I know what our weekly/monthly goals should be until then. Oh, and my oldest turned 5 this summer so I'm not in a terrible hurry to get her reading, I know I've got a little bit of time. :)

I <3 Fan di Fendi and Vince Camuto. You can grab a sample of Fendi that might last you a couple wears if you walk through Macy's. :)

If your DH is a kid at heart kind of guy then maybe a set of legos. Both my brother and my DH will spend hours putting these things together, and now that I think of it I think I might get him some little ones as stocking stuffers. :)

These sourdough pancakes. :)

I went a little over ten years ago. If I remember correctly there is quite a bit to do right there including just hanging out on the beach. There are water slides, and aquariums, and shopping.

This but with farmhands to help take care of all the animals. And plots of land near by for all my siblings and their families. And a trip to France and Italy and a person to help us with genealogy research while we're there. :)

http://honeyvillegrain.com/products/Products.html has a lot of freeze dried meals and plain ingredients so you can mix together your own meals in jars good for 5-7 years if you do it right. I'll have to dig around for the blog of a lady does does this, she has a lot of recipes. Here's a video If you have some friends who are also interested then you can get together and try some things out at minimal cost.