This is exactly what E did when he was younger. It drove me crazy. I think you need to make the decision whether this is okay with you, or whether you want to talk to her teacher about challenging her more. I let it go for a while, and by the end of 1st grade he realized that getting attention from his teacher for doing well was even better than the attention he got for needing help. Now, in 4th grade, he's much more worried about other kids' reactions than he is about the effort or what his teacher thinks.

At 8 and 9, I don't let my boys beat me. For scrabble or trivia games, we all play on our own, but they combine their points.

Welcome! Our school doesn't even test for giftedness, so we're in a similar boat.

I keep things simple for homework: If it's due this week, it gets done the day it's assigned. If it's due next week or later, it gets done in one sitting on Sunday afternoon. These assignments get a sticky-note with the due date, then put in the "Sunday Homework" drawer. All completed homework goes directly in their bookbags. We each have a desk in our home office, and all homework and "afterschooling" work is done there.

No. We do cute homemade cards for "no present" parties.

Around his 8th birthday, I started letting E stay home for a few minutes here and there, and now he stays home while I take J to violin lessons and things like that. He'll be 10 in January. So far, I haven't had to leave them both home together, and J won't even consider staying home alone.

If I had to stay home with a sick kid, I'd have to have someone cover my classes or cancel them. Thankfully, my fiancé (df?) owns his own business and can take a day off/work from home when necessary.

My son started having homework like that last year - they had study guides to fill out for science and social studies. I tend to think that homework at this age should be fairly painless and I'm okay with helping them out on things that aren't being graded. So, I started out by having him go through the whole thing himself and fill out what he could. Then, we'd read through the chapter together and he'd fill in more questions as we came across the answers. Finally, we'd look at the questions that he didn't get and figure them out together. This was all the studying he did for the tests. By the end of the year, he was filling out the whole study guide himself so that he didn't have to read through the whole chapter.

In our house, music practice comes after dinner, but before dessert. :)

How about Singapore Challenging Word Problems? My boys are using Everyday Math at school (:glare:) and we're doing Singapore at home.

Welcome! I'm afterschooling my two boys, but hoping to homeschool in the future. :)

Our school only does one big fundraiser per year, a "lap-a-thon", where the proceeds go to technology, library books and special events for the school. Every child that raises over $100 gets a T-shirt, so I pledge $100 for each of them. Their grandparents and uncle make pledges as well, but I don't allow them to ask anyone else. Their school also has a recycling program, so I probably donate another $100 or so through that. $150 sounds reasonable to me, but I think it's a little odd that there is a suggested amount. Don't feel pressured to donate any more than that, or even all at once. I'm sure the school will appreciate any donations you make over the course of the year.

My boys have informed me that they're old enough to go trick or treating without Mom, so I'll be home giving out candy. My parents always have a Halloween party the weekend before, so unfortunately I do have to find a costume.

I would drive them and walk straight into the principal's office to deal with it.

I'm not sure how much time we'll have time we'll have this year. Between homework, music practice and sports, it could be tight. I'm really hoping to be able to homeschool after Christmas, but for now our priorities are: Singapore Math Catechism American History, Government & Current Events Literature I also have some books from The Critical Thinking Company (Language Smarts, Mathematical Reasoning and Science Detective) that they'll work on at Grandma's house.

I've been lurking for a few weeks, but yes, I've noticed that your signature is a link. I enjoy your blog and your posts. :)

Our school started posting grades online last year, but I never had to make use of it - my boys are always eager to tell me how they did on a test or a project. When I was in elementary school, when a teacher returned a test, every student had to take it home, have a parent sign it, and bring it back to the teacher. I actually think that's a better way to keep parents in the loop, because it ensures that every parent is checking how their child is doing. And, it might actually encourage them to go over any missed material with the child.

I too would wait and speak with the teacher about it when you meet with her - she might have some great ideas. What grade is your daughter in? My son is a quick worker and had a lot of downtime last year in 3rd grade. But, he wouldn't have been comfortable pulling out other work in the middle of class. Instead, he read. Sometimes he'd get through an entire novel in a day and his teacher would have to let him run down to the library to get another. Still, I'm sure it was less distracting to his classmates than if he had been working on something from home.

We spent a week in Berlin this summer and I can't stop imagining how beautiful it would be to live there. It's a wonderful city. :)

Spot on for my three boys! The only difference is that my youngest is a weimaraner. :lol: I have always thought that J fits the stereotype of a middle child better than that of a youngest.

:iagree: My 3rd grader has an August birthday, and I agonized for months about whether to send him to school at barely 5, or to wait a year. I chose to send him on time, and he's done okay. Nothing has come as easily to him as they have for his brother (January birthday), but I'm not sure whether an extra year would have helped or hindered him. It's a tough decision and it's even tougher to know whether you made the right one.