I'll be doing pretty much what TWTM recommends for 1st grade. Phonics/Math - A Beka History - SOTW volume 1 Science - Kingisher First Encyclopedia of Animals We've been doing a lot of singing and poetry in kindergarten anyhow, so we'll continue to do that.

I've gotten stung several times and never got a vax. My son put a "dead" wasp in his mouth last summer (don't ask me why, he's a boy) and it stung him and his lower lip swelled up something fierce. The swelling went down in a couple hours and he was none the worse for wear.

and then I read this thread and realized... I am not. I have some vague, general ideas, and sometimes I get some good ideas about fun units, like about spiders or something and plan that out, but I generally plan one week at a time. I never know what's going to come up. I like to be flexible and I hate having to redo all my plans.

It's not terribly glamorous, but I cook my brown rice in Swanson's Vegetable broth and it gives it a really good flavor.

I have had 5 years of allergy shots and I have no idea if they've helped or not. I tested positive for everything they tested me for, but I wasn't in horrible shape before I went in. It's a long story. So, I'm quitting them. It's a hassle. The closest allergist is 45 minutes away and I was going twice a month. With gas prices here in Calif. and just the time spent, I couldn't do it. So, we'll see what happens as I go off them. What helped me most was Allegra-D. I think part of my problem, too, is I have chronic systemic yeast infection and E. Barr virus, so who knows what the heck is making me feel lousy half the time! Or it could be my three little kids! Heehee!

We vacation in Santa Cruz every year. The aquarium in Mont. is great, but it is pricey! Just drive out on the peninsula to Asilomar, it's gorgeous, there are tide pools. It's just gorgeous. You can take a boat tour out on the Bay from Fisherman's Warf. That's always fun. Gotta get the clam chowder and sour dough bowl, fried calamari. If you want to drive toward Santa Cruz, there's the Roaring Camp Railroad up in the mountains near Felton. Last year we hiked around Big Basin, which has a lot of redwoods, etc. That's in the same general area. Capitola (near Santa Cruz) is a darling little beach town with a yummy Mexican restauarant close to the beach (forgot the name, but I could tell you have to get there, lol) Oh, and there's a good fish restaurant out on the pier in Capitola, too. Lots of fun things to do in that area!

Narnia, definitely Outlander. I was Claire in all those books. Oh, they were so good!

I haven't have a lot of experience with bullying, but one thing I've seen is that if they are stood up to, they back down. Generally. I was a timid shy child growing up, but I was never bullied, except for once on the bus. I was in the "bully's seat". But, there was no other place to sit. He told me to move, I looked him in the eye and said, "No, you can sit with him" motioning to his friend in the next seat. Everyone else was yelling, "Sit down, sit down" so we could go home. He was ticked off, but he sat elsewhere and never messed with me again. Also, when I was teaching, a bullying victim finally turned around and punched the kid who was bullying him and that ended that scenario once and for all. While we teachers were "officially disapproving" of the fight, in private we celebrated this kids gumption to stand up for himself. He also gained a lot of respect for himself among the bully's friends. It was pretty funny!

I taught jr. high science for many years and loved the Brock. It is simple, practically indestructible, yet does most of what you want it to do at that age. I love the fiberoptic tube that lets light in. No worries with cords or anything, and you can take that sucker outside, too. I love the Brock and would recommend it to any elementary age student.

We've read "the Littles" which is an easy chapter book with pictures. We've read the Beatrix Potter collection, which isn't chapters and is still illustrated, but the stories are pretty long and I'll cover them in a couple of days. My boys are 4 & 5 years old, btw. We've been doing this for about a year. Bill Peet has some darling books that are longer than the average picture book, but still illustrated and interesting. There are a lot of transitional books that would probably be considered picture books, but are for growing attention spans. We always read for about 1/2 hour before our afternoon rest time and also before bed each night. Oh, and I forgot my favorite book - The James Herriot Treasury for Children. My kids loved that book, as did I!

We use A Beka, but we're only doing kinder. I think the worksheets are very well done and colorful. I'm not overly thrilled with the History or Science, but we'll be supplementing that with other stuff. I like A Beka because it's easy to use and the lessons are spelled out for me. I like homeschooling, I'm committed to it, but I'm not "totally in to it!" KWIM? I don't want to spend all my time putting together a curriculum and A Beka works for me. (Do I sound a little defensive? Probably! Sorry!)

I'd go with the "whatever works" camp. I'm teaching my very verbal/linguistic 4 year old and my very analytical 5 year old (both boys) kindergarten this year using A Beka phonics program. My 4 year old is doing great, he's really learning how to read, but he also loves words in general. He's familiar with words, he talks constantly. My 5 year old makes all sorts of stuff up when he's reading. It's very frustrating. But, he's excelling in math. I'm not planning on changing the way I'm teaching. I'm not going to buy a separate curriculum for each learning style. But, I have set myself to be much more patient with my 5 year old and try to adjust to his learning style a little better with what we've got. I think A Beka is a fine curriculum, but I"m sure the others are great, too.

Hugs! I agree with trying to be as honest as possible. I can understand your Mom's position to a certain extent. I'm an adoptive mother of 3 young children and one of my greatest fears was that my kids would find their bio families some day and run off with them and I'd be chopped liver. I know that's kind of a dumb fear, but it comes from watching too many soap operas. (that always happens on soap operas). So, I don't know what to say. Just, that I feel for you!

I use Stevia for sweetening. I'm going back on the Candida diet (as much as I can) and have no idea what I'm going to do for baking. Generally, we've used Splenda for baking, but I don't know what to do about a flour substitute, either.

How about the Lily books by Kevin Henkes? I love those!

"The Trials of Life" are excellent videos. I used to show it to my jr. highers when I was teaching all the time. Only we learned the hard way not to show "Continuing the Line". A parent walked in the room when they were "discussing elephant reproduction". It was rather... uh humm .... awkward!

I use the program I use for absolutely everything else in my life -Excel. I don't think I could use it to print labels, but I prefer handwriting the addresses anyhow. I use Excel for my budget, for my menues, address book, gas mileage, everything. I love it!

Sunday nights are quesedilla and smoothie nights Friday nights are taco nights I make "Everyday Cassoulet" out of the Betty Crocker cookbook a lot. It's healthy, and quick and yummy. enchiladas marinated, broiled chicken breasts with brown rice roasted chicken and veggies, esp. with sweet potato fries (those are the best!)

I started reading it (on recommendation) before I knew it was theologically unsound. I couldn't get past the first couple chapters when he was talking about the murder of the little girl, because I kept going into my 2-year old daughter's room while she was sleeping and crying and making sure she was ok. Why put myself through that? Stupid book. I put it down and didn't pick it up again!

I'd wash them with jeans or towels. Definitely don't put them in the dryer. They make a huge racket. And the part about the rubber soles, that's important, too!

I've had worcestershire in the cupboard for years and it still seems good. I agree, they are in ridiculously large containers, esp. when you only tend to use a teaspoon or two at a time, and not a whole lot of recipes call for it.

my boys are just learning to read, and generally when we get to one of those words, I'll just remind them. "Now there's an 'e' at the end so the 'o' says it's name" and them I'll prompt them.

I've even used watered down Elmer's glue and painted over stuff with that. It works out fine.

Our schedule is pretty busy generally, so we do school 3-4 days a week as it is. We're just doing kinder, so it doesn't matter. I'm doing school maybe 1-2 days next week and maybe 2-3 days the week after, obviously taking the holidays off and whatever days Daddy has off.

Keep in mind developmental milestones as well. I'm not a huge fan of educational psychology, but I do think that Piaget had it down with his cognitive milestones. Children are unable to process certain things until they are at a certain age, so you may be fighting a losing battle. 4.5 years old is awfully young. Even if she seems ready for some things, she may not really be ready yet. I taught jr. high and that's right at the border of a cognitive leap and some kids literally could not understand algebra, but their parents kept pushing them. Finally, the parents gave in, put the kids back in a more concrete math class, and then put them in algebra the next year and the kid did great.