That's awesome, but we don't have an ipad, or a tablet of any kind. Maybe I can convince DH to buy one in the interest of education :).

So, I'm thinking of using Beast Academy for afterschooling math this year, and I showed an online sample to DS yesterday. His reaction: "I like the comic book part, but do they have one where squirrels teach the math?" Yeah, the kid is kind of obsessed with those little animals. Anyone want to write a "squirrel academy" math for him? :)

I let DS self wean and he nursed until he was 4. DD is still going strong at 2.5. Neither kid has taken to trying to nurse their own dolls or toys, but they've been quite happy to bring them to me. My favorite was when DS brought up Thomas the Tank Engine and said Thomas wanted to nurse. DD usually has me tandem nursing one of her dolls or stuffed animals at bedtime. The other night she lay down in my spot on the bed, pulled up her shirt, and told me she was going to nurse me. That was the best yet. Worst nursing story..... when DD was just over a month old, I decided to try volunteering at DS's school again. I'd been a regular volunteer until she was born. I wore her in a wrap and was able to nurse her in the wrap without anything showing. However, after a couple days the assistant principal called me in to her office and told she'd heard that I was breastfeeding while volunteering. She said that wasn't appropriate (even though the kids probably had no clue) because not all families support breastfeeding. She gave me access to a conference room if I needed to breastfeed while volunteering. That would have been a slightly weird end to the story if it hadn't been that the principal was away at a conference when I was granted access to said room. The assistant principal mentioned it upon her return and the principal told her that I shouldn't be coming in with the baby at all because it might "distract from the learning process." Apparently some parents had been bringing toddlers in while volunteering and that really had caused some problems, so the principal had decided to start a strict "no siblings while volunteering" rule. Because, you know, a sleeping newborn is really going to distract kids, especially when what the parent is doing is shelving books in the school library. Um, yeah, that principal still kind of annoys me.

So I read about Mosdos Press on here awhile ago and thought the curriculum looked really cool. In my imaginary world in which DH decides we should try homeschooling instead of afterschooling, I'd love to give it a try. Anyway, I looked at the website the other day and realized they just released a new program. It's called "Opal," and is aimed at 3rd graders. For those who don't know, Mosdos Press produces literary anthologies that are secular while still being morally sound and free of literary fluff. There are a few people on here who swear by it. It's kind of pricey, and you won't like it if you only want to teach lit with whole books, but if you're looking for a lit program for a 3rd grader, you may want to check out the new program.

We got our last week, and the kids were super excited. Even DD(2) loves it. It's a nice change from Go, Diego, Go! :)

I only made it a short way into the The Casual Vacancy before I gave up, but I'll have to check this one out. I love mysteries!

Yeah, I would say a polite conversation with the leaders about the purpose of the papers and how they're affecting your kids' enjoyment of the youth group is definitely in order. That just seems extremely weird to me. I did have to write one paper on part of the catechism and present it when I was confirmed, but that was a grand total of one paper, and the church I grew up in doesn't even do that anymore. I'm just confused as to why these papers are being required in the first place.

I just want to chime in and encourage the OP to keep getting to know this mean despite the age difference. DH and I are only 6 months apart. My parents are 6 years apart (they met when he was a TA in one of her college classes) and are happily married nearly 50 years later. My older brother and his girlfriend of many years are approximately 15 years apart. He's 41 and she's in her mid/late 20's. I actually don't know her exact age, but I know she was just finishing college when they met 5 years ago. I agree that compatibility is more about life stage than age. I have friends who are 10 years on either side of my age because we're at the same life stage (parents of young kids). And, yes, do give serious considerations to questions like, If you were to marry this guy, would you be prepared to care for him as he aged? If he has kids too, how would the blended family get along (they'd have to relate even though they're presumably all grown)? Have you processed your abusive relationships of the past well and know what to avoid? Sometimes people seem perfect in the "getting to know you" stage and then turn out to be jerks or worse once a commitment is made. And, yeah, even if you marry someone your age, you just never know what the future will bring. My cousin, who married a man 5 years her junior, was widowed two years ago when their daughter was in kindergarten. A friend whose husband was within one year of her age was widowed this year when their daughter was 5. As you get to know this man, I recommend, if possible, having honest friends get to know him too. If they see anything that hints at abuse or dysfunction, you need to listen to them.

I'll put in my two cents as a former Spanish teacher and possessor of an MA in Spanish/Latin American Literature. In the U.S. we sometimes think of "hispanic" as a racial term, but it's really a cultural/ethnic term referring to someone whose origins are from the Spanish speaking parts of the Americas (although I don't think Portuguese speaking Brazilians would mind being identified as Hispanics either). The person we might traditionally think of as "hispanic" is probably a mestizo - that is, a person of mixed indigenous and european heritage. Generally, the mixing occurred many generations ago. However, Hispanics can also look totally European and totally African, even occasionally Asian. European heritage is especially common among Chileans and Argentinians, but isn't unheard of in other countries either. African heritage is especially common in the Caribbean Islands, but isn't unheard of elsewhere.

I'm really sorry to hear you're starting to feel singled out. Communion is usually at the end of the service, so you could always leave early if you feel really uncomfortable, but, yes, you're totally doing the right thing by staying and not participating. In my (large) UM congregation, there are always a few people who choose not to receive communion for various reasons, and I've never seen any hostile looks directed toward them. Communion in the Methodist church is open to Christians of any tradition, but, yes, people of other faiths or no faith should abstain. What is the setup for communion at the church? Would you feel comfortable speaking to the pastor about your discomfort? If everyone in the congregation receives communion from the pastor, perhaps you could go up and receive a blessing without receiving communion, if you'd be comfortable with that. That way you wouldn't seem so set apart.

Thanks! I just ordered it. DS adores Magic Schoolbus, and I agree that some of the characters can be annoying :). I figure I can put up with them since he's having fun and learning at the same time.

So we did end up going to DC the first week of July, and the trip was wonderful. The heat was slightly less bad than it could have been due a cold front with rain moving through early in the week. This meant our bike tour on Monday took place during a downpour, but DS (8) thought that made it epic, so it's all good :). Believe it or not, hotels in DC actually have really good deals around July 4th. We met up with a friend of mine who lives in the area, and he said he paid twice as much for a room at our hotel (Courtyard Marriot Arlington/Rosslyn) when he used to live in Chicago and come down to DC for meetings a few times a year. We saw most of the usual sights. We opted not to wait in the long line for the archives, but there weren't particularly large crowds or long waits for anything else. Our favorite "off the beaten path" sights were the memorial to Teddy Roosevelt on Roosevelt Island in the Potomac (a memorial in the middle of the woods seems fitting for him) and the Einstein Memorial in front of the National Science Foundation headquarters. The building itself has some neat public exhibitions as well. The kids also really enjoyed the hotel pool :). On the 4th we watched the parade downtown, which put our city's parade to shame. There was even a marching band from Kentucky! We watched the fireworks from bank of Potomac on the Virginia side, not far from Arlington Cemetery. Even on the 4th, the crowds weren't as bad as we were warned. It did help that we bought seven day short trip metro passes and only used our car on Saturday to visit the Air and Space museum in Virginia and on Sunday to visit Mount Vernon. The rest of the week we took the Metro or walked. If you haven't visited DC and you have the opportunity to do so, I highly recommend it, even with fairly young kids. DD (2) enjoyed the Air and Space museum immensely. The Zoo was her favorite, but that museum was a close second.

I'm so happy to see homeschoolers pointing out in this thread that public school is not all bad. Frankly, as an afterschooler I do sometimes feel abused on this forum. Even many of the afterschoolers would be homeschoolers if their family situation allowed it. That's how I started as well, and I can see ways that homeschool would benefit DS, but, now that he's made so much progress to overcome his dyslexia, I'm seeing again how good his public school experience is for him. Because I send my child to public school, and also know and respect many homeschoolers, I have often found myself in the middle in school related discussions. Just a few weeks ago in my Sunday School class one public school dad was going off on how homeschoolers are overprotective and don't want to let their children become independent (it was in the context of a video series about parenting). There was a homeschool dad in room, but he chose to remain silent (perhaps because it's his wife who does the homeschooling), so I spoke up briefly and noted that developing independence in your children is more about parenting style than schooling choices. Other times, I've heard my neighbor (the husband, not the wife) say very negative things about public school. I occasionally speak up in defense of public school. Other times I just keep my mouth shut. The local elementary school my son attends is very good overall. They don't have appropriate intervention for dyslexics, but we've been able to address that outside of school, so, as time has gone on, that has become much less of a problem. This particular school has a lot of differentiated instruction, and a wide variety of kids can thrive there. That said, our local middle school is quite bad for both academic and social reasons. If we don't get DS into a different school, DH may actually overcome his philosophical dislike for homeschool and agree to homeschool DS for those years. Our good local elementary school, however, would not be a good fit for all kids. The homeschooling family I know best has three (out of four) 2E kids who learning needs and capabilities are so diverse I don't think any school could serve them well. It's a blessing that their mom decided to homeschool them before they were born. The fourth child could thrive in any school setting, which means homeschool is working well for him, but public school could be just as good for different reasons. I'm thankful that we have lots of educational choices in the U.S. and many other western countries. I will always defend a parent's right to homeschool, but I'd like to get more respect from homeschoolers for my right to make the public schools the primary partner in my children's education.

So I just finished LOKI'S WOLVES. I really enjoyed it. It has a pretty different feel from the Percy Jackson books. Some tidbits that won't spoil the story are: 1) The Norse gods are dead, but their descendants live on. 2) Said descendants are particularly concentrated in South Dakota. 3) Some of them know about their ancestry and some of them don't. 4) All of them have some kind of power because of their ancestry. 5) Ragnaroek, the end of the world, is coming, and one particular descendant of each god or goddess must stand in their place to fight the monsters. 6) It's the job of the three protagonists (two descendants of Loki and one descendant of Thor) to find them and form them into a cohesive team. Because of the kids being descendants of the gods and not children of the gods, it reminded me more of the Kane Chronicles than the Percy Jackson books. There's also a much greater immediacy to what the kids are doing. Percy Jackson fights part of his battle every summer and then goes home. I have a feeling these books will take place over a much shorter time period, just as the Kane Chronicles did. My only problem now is that it will presumably be at least a year before the next book comes out. I'm going to have to read Myths of the Norsemen just so I can get some more Norse mythology :). Finally, I just loved that the book takes place in South Dakota. It's not that I have any particular connection to South Dakota, it's just that mythological adventure stories aren't usually set there, so I think it's cool. P.S. For any Norse mythology buffs, no, Thor's and Loki's descendants are not best buddies from the beginning. The book does address the whole "Loki leading the monsters at Ragnaroek" issue :).

You've had some great suggestions so far. Some other series books he might enjoy: A to Z Mysteries Capital Mysteries Animal Ark books (the characters are middle schoolers, but there's no inappropriate content) Puppy Place Kitty Corner Imagination Station (Magic Treehouse-like, with Christian content) Cul de Sac Kids (Christian content) Bunnicula and its companion books

It was in the Middle Grade section. The main character seems to be about 12. I'm guessing any child old enough for Percy Jackson would enjoy it, and older kids (and grownups) who love Norse Mythology would probably love it too. After all, I'm nowhere near middle grade age :).

I've never tried them, but I have friends who swear they've worked wonders, particularly for teething babies. I have other friends who say they're pretty but not useful. It could be a placebo effect. It could be they work for some but not for others, just like various types of modern medicine. I'm in the "they can't hurt and might help" camp, and at least they're pretty :). If they're in your budget, go ahead and get some.

..... he didn't, but someone else has. Apparently the first book just came out recently. I found it at the bookstore when we were there for toddler storytime this morning and couldn't resist getting it. The series is called The Blackwell Pages and the first book is Loki's Wolves.It's written by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr. I haven't opened it yet so I can't review it, but I have high hopes.

So, despite the mixed opinions, we finally went ahead and made hotel reservations for D.C. the first week of July. We arrive the evening of June 28th and leave the morning of July 6th. We have a good idea of our must see places, and I've contacted our rep to see if we can still get in on any tours his office arranges. What I'm looking for is advice specifically regarding the 4th. What do you recommend doing with an 8 year and a 2 year old in tow during the day? Is the parade really good? Are the kids likely to get anything out of the Folklife Festival? Would it be really cool to visit Arlington Cemetary on the 4th, or will it be insanely crowded? FYI, our hotel is in the Arlington area and we're planning to watch the fireworks from a park on that side of the Potomac. DH found a site listing different fireworks watching sites and decided that one would work best for our family. We're also tentatively planning to go on a bike tour. Has anyone been on one of those? Are they cool or a waste of money? We love cycling as a family, and DH and DS aren't that into tours as a general rule, so I thought a bike tour might be a way to make everyone happy.

Perhaps the tooth fairy could write a note to the effect that she accidentally dropped the $2 she brought for your daughter on the flight to your house and will bring more money soon. BTW, don't tell my son the tooth fairy gives your kids $2. He only gets $1 :).

I'm also chiming in to say get an eval as soon as possible. In the meantime, check out www.letterland.com. It's a multisensory LA program from the UK. The letters are all introduced as characters, and that helps some kids avoid reversals. My 8 year old dyslexic was helped just by me buying the initial "ABC" book and reading through it. He still sometimes reverses b and d, but always picks up on it when I ask if the letter is Dippy Duck or Benjamin Bunny. That kind of thing won't help all kids, but it's worth looking into. They also make handwriting books, with a rhyme for each letter character that helps kids learn the correct letter formation.

This really doesn't seem weird to me. Feel free to be cautious and ask for clarification of exactly why they want to come to your home, but it seems likely to me that they just want to observe your daughter in her normal learning environment. If you bring her up to the school and work with her, that adds a factor that isn't normally present. IMO, homeschoolers are sometimes unnecessarily suspicious of public school officials. Of course, I'm an afterschooler, so you can feel free to ignore anything I say about the public schools if you so choose. If they do come to your house, my advice is to just do your best to ignore them and work with your daughter as you always do.

I agree with the suggestion of THE DEAD AND THE GONE by (I think) Susan Beth Pfeffer. That and its two companion novels are my favorites among the more recently written YA dystopian fiction. As a bonus for your DS, it has a male teen narrator. THE GIVER is also a potential winner (besides being great overall) because it's written from the POV of a male main character. Since The Hunger Games is narrated by a girl, I think it would be less likely to be enjoyed by a reluctant boy reader. I myself enjoyed the series immensely. You might also want to consider THE CITY OF EMBER. I didn't like the rest of the books in the series as much as the first, and it's written from a girl's point of view, but there's at least a primary character who's a boy and not a love interest (unlike the whole melodramatic love triangle in the Hunger Games series).

Just coming in to say, if dyslexia runs thick on both sides of your family and your kids are behind in reading, you can pretty much assume they're dyslexic. There are all kinds of OG based homeschool reading programs, and it's quite possible that you can find one that's cheaper than Barton and works for your kids. However, I recommend keeping Barton in the back of your mind if you try a different program and aren't seeing progress. My 8 year old dyslexic is in school and goes to a Barton tutor outside of school for three hours a week, and it's made a phenomenal difference. This past school year (2nd grade) he went from testing at a kindergarten level in reading at the beginning of the year in reading to testing on grade level at the end. I can't sing the praises of Barton loudly enough. Sending him to a tutor, we pay much more than we would have if we'd bought it and used it at home, but he concentrates better and works harder when he's working with someone else than when he's working with us, so it's worth every penny as far as we're concerned. All that said, as you'll discover if you ask over on the learning challenges board, people here have used a variety of programs and combinations of programs to help their dyslexics. Barton is one of the best to use at home because the training comes with the program in DVD form, but if a cheaper program works for you, that's a bonus. I'm already planning to start out using AAR when my DD (currently 2 years old) is ready to learn to read. She doesn't show the early signs of dyslexia that her brother showed at her age, but, with dyslexia running in our family, I'm going straight to an OG program with her. I had this crazy idea when my son started kindergarten that he'd learn to read at school. I'm very happy with his school in many ways, and a lot of kids did indeed go into his kindergarten class not knowing the alphabet and come out reading, but the methods they use are an utter disaster with dyslexics. DD may or may not be dyslexic, but I'm not taking that risk with her.

As just about everyone else has said, I highly recommend having him move on to first grade. My son was about in the place where your son is when he was finishing kindergarten two years ago. He knew just a handful of sight words, couldn't sound things out, couldn't write a complete sentence, etc. His kindergarten teacher highly recommended we hold him back. We knew the research that retention rarely works, and we knew that repeating the same content and being taught reading in the same way would do nothing to help him progress. His school won't evaluate kids for dyslexia until 3rd grade, but we had our son evaluated privately near the end of the year. It gave us a little more credence when we talked to his teacher and explained why we thought retention would do absolutely no good. DS has been going through Barton Reading and Spelling with a tutor for just about two years now, and the progress he's made has been amazing. He still struggled a lot in first grade, but his teacher was quite understanding and willing to work with us. In second grade he made slow but steady progress, and was testing at grade level in both math and reading at the end of the year (he's been on summer break for a week now). He has at least a year left before he finishes the Barton program, and we've also added a supplemental Math program for dyslexics, but his progress so far has been better than we could have believed two years ago. I was terrified of having him move from K to 1st and then 1st to 2nd, but I always knew that holding him back would be worse. This year I'm comfortable with where he ended the school year, and I expect him to make enough progress over the summer that he'll actually go to school a bit ahead of baseline level. So, all that to say, I've been in a similar place and I'm very glad that we made the decision not to retain our son. With supplemental tutoring outside of school and the potential for an IEP that actually addresses his LD in a productive way, I don't see a good reason for retaining him. Think ahead to the future: do you really want him turning 7 in Kindergarten part 2 next year? At least a few of the kids in the class will be aware that it's not normal to turn 7 in kindergarten. It could set him up for teasing. Looking way ahead, do you really want him turning 19 halfway through his senior year of high school? I've heard stories from parents who decided to hold off kindergarten a year for their completely typical boys and ended up regretting that they were so much older than their peers as they got into the upper grades. I know junior high and high school seem like a long way off right now, but it's worth reflecting on.