My kids are little so I don't have much of a school schedule at this point. We roughly do things at the same time each day, but the day-to-day might vary. For example, I work two afternoons and evenings so on those days I have to do everything in the morning. Other days I might do some school in the am and some in the afternoon. What I do is type up a schedule each week of everything we are doing, along with dinners and cleaning tasks. It would look like this: Monday: Library Storytime ( I would put here anything out of the house for that day. Dentist or doctor appointments, classes, meetings, etc.) Clean: Downstairs Bathroom (I've divided my cleaning into Mon: Downstairs Bathroom, Tues: Kitchen, Fri: Upstairs Bathroom, Dust, Vacuum, Sheets/Towels...it's heavy on Fridays but we're usually free and I like having a clean house for the weekend) Dinner: Whatever we are having School: Phonics x 15 minutes HWT x 5 minutes Math x 15 mintues FIAR: Read book, discuss geography. Then I also have a to-do list on the side for things I want to get done in the week. This might be church tasks, e-mails, appointments to make, extra household cleaning, etc. I try to think of one "extra" task a week. Any more and it just doesn't get done. So this week it is sort through toys to give away. Or it might be clean windows, clean van, etc. I started doing this after my second son was born and I just felt like I couldn't keep up with everything I had to do. For me, having a schedule is very freeing. For example, instead of just thinking "oh, the bathroom needs cleaning" I just know that I do it on Mondays. So I don't worry about it on Saturday. It will get done. If I don't do a task on the "assigned" day because I'm not feeling like it or life happens...it's not that hard to just do it another day. I typically don't plan much on the days I work and I leave Saturdays completely free of household stuff. Often we end up doing some stuff on Saturdays but I use that as a catch-up day and I know if I get everything done on Friday...I have the whole weekend free. (We try not to shop, do errands or cleaning on Sundays.) This has worked for me. I am a pretty perfectionist control-freak kind of person. I think a schedule with times would end up making me feel crazy because I would never be "on-time" and I'd just feel frazzled. Although, I can imagine as my kids are older having more of a daily schedule to make sure we are doing what is needed with school. As we're juggling multiple subjects I think that would be helpful. Also, I should add that although the typed schedule may seem incredibly compulsive (and probably is :)) it doesn't take much time. Many of the things stay the same week to week so once it's typed once I just go in once a week and add what is specific for the week and print it out.

Grace-Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel.

My teenage nephew (13) and nieces (16,18, 20) all really love their ipods. Editing to say: We didn't give them all their ipods. I realized this might sound like we did. They all have them though and have really loved them.

Don't feel bad! I hated being read aloud to as a kid. I think for me it was two things..I was a fast reader and knew I could read it faster myself (maybe similar to your son's efficiency explanation). And also I'm very much a visual learner. If I read something (or write it) myself I know it. If I hear something, not so much. Even in college I had a very hard time focusing on lectures. I was good at taking notes and would get a lot more out of reading my notes on the lecture or reading a book than on listening to the lecture itself. Is your ds more visual than auditory? I do love reading aloud to my own kids. My guys love it right now (but are young and can't read themselves) but we'll see as they get older what they like. I think talking with your son about what he is reading is a great alternative to reading aloud. You could even have sort of a "book club" where you read the same thing and then discuss it. The point of reading aloud seems to me to be the time together...so if you can get that in another way it seems ok to me.

I don't have much to add, except to say that I am also impressed with how you handled it. And your son sounds like a great kid. I hope my guys one day are "independent, able to talk to adults and able to assume leadership roles"!

I didn't like it, but not really because of content. (Although sometimes I did feel like he was trying to be over the top for the sake of shock-value rather than for the story.) I just thought it wasn't all that well-written. It was way too long and after awhile I got bored. I didn't really care about any of the characters. It's really rare for me to not finish a book and I did finish this one, but I kind of felt like I had wasted my time.

The initial annoucement I saw about rebates mentioned that they would be distributing by Social Security Number. (I can't remember but maybe by the last 2 numbers in the main filer's number?) So, they initially planned a staggered distribution...maybe they will still be staggered just starting today.

I work two days from 1pm-8pm as a pediatrician. I also go every morning to the hospital to see patients, but I do this very early (am back by 8am). My situation is a little different in that my dh stays home when I work, so it's easier I think to balance everything. We are also very blessed to both have super-flexible work environments that allow us to do this and to be flexbile in other ways. And...we live very close to family that is willing and anxious to babysit. My SIL has for the past few months voluntarily been coming over one of the days I work to babysit as she wants to spend more times with the kids (this gives dh extra time at work). And my parents live only about 2 hours away and are often available to come up and babysit if we have something come up. All that is just to say that I'm very aware that I am incredibly blessed and that there is no way I could work, parent, and homeschool without a lot of help. In general, I'm a very naturally organized person. I find that with juggling work and parenting, for me I have to stay very structured or I start to feel out of control. I type up a schedule every week of the things I want to do daily as well as meals and appointments we have. I give myself the flexibility not to do it, but it helps me to know that I'm going to do this task on this day instead of just feeling like there is so much to do. And it definitely makes it easier that dh is home. I'm kind of the manager of the house but a lot of days as I leave I'm asking him to finish some tasks I started (like laundry). Like you, I only have a young child now. As far as homeschooling goes, we can easily do it all in the mornings before I go to work. Our plan right now is that once the boys get older and it can't be all done in the morning dh will help more with school...we're thinking he may take over one or two subjects that can be done only a few times a week.

Well, my kids are 4 and 18 months so I'm reading this thread more out of curiousity than anything else. I was 17 when I went to college (turned 18 in Feb of my freshman year). It never bothered me and I was definitely ready. Both my boys have fall birthdays...right now my thought for them is to have them be a year "ahead" of where they would be in the ps system (we're doing kindergarten next year, although my son would miss the cut-off) so they would both graduate at 17. Then I'd like to give them both an intentional "gap" year after high school. I would have loved the opportunity to take a year off and do something special (travel, volunteer, pursue an interest, etc) and I want to provide them with that. I know my guys are young and this plan could easily get derailed at many points along the way...but it's where I would love to see us end up.

Edward Ferrars. And in the other quiz I was Elinor...so it fits.

Not sure what to tell you to do but we were graded like this in med school. The % needed for a "A" changed depending on what people scored...only a certain percentage could ever get an "A". Not only was it frustrating but it created even more competition than already existed. Hard to help someone else when you know your own grade could be hurt if they ended up doing better! I think some professors get a kick out of being known as difficult (probably why this guy bragged about failing 75% of the class). I would say study as hard as he can for this test and do as well as he can and then avoid classes with this guy in the future.

I didn't have a cookie-baking grandma either...but she was wonderful. She was Parisian (met my grandfather during WWII and moved to rural Virginia at age 19) and took me to Paris several times. She was a hard worker...many times I would call and she would tell me about being up on the roof fixing the skylight or cleaning the gutters (this was when she was in her 60's). She was fiercely proud of me. At her funeral I read Proverbs 31 because for me she sort of epitomized that woman. My grandfather was quieter. Kind of always in her shadow but a strong, dependable, gentle, loving man. He had to leave school after the 10th grade and was always so proud of anything I did academically. He was funny and loved to joke. I was an only grandchild (talk about spoiled rotten!) and it makes me so sad that they both died before they got to meet my children. I am really loving seeing my kids interact with their grandparents (my parents). Like many, I have issues from childhood that can make my relationship with my Mom complicated but for my kids they are just "Grandma and Pop" and they LOVE them. It's really wonderful to see and I think has been healing for my own relationship with my Mom.

I like this one from Cooking Light. It is very garlicky as written but you could easily just use less. 2 teaspoons olive oil 3 garlic cloves, minced 3/4 cup ricotta cheese Other cheeses of choice (they suggest 3 oz Guryere and 2 TBSP of Parmensan...I usually use mozzerella and feta or goat cheese or sometimes a little freshly grated Parmesan) Combine oil and garlic in a small bowl. Mircowave on 70% Power for 1 minute or until bubbly. Cool 10 minutes Combine garlic mixture and ricotta, spread mixture over dough. Sprinkle with other cheeses of choice. I usually don't top this with anything...but have used spinach and it is good.

Well, here in Virginia we used to have Lee-Jackson-King day. Yes, that would be celebrating two Confederate generals on the same day as Martin Luther King. Only in Virginia. :) But they split the holidays in 2000. Officially Lee-Jackson day is still on the calendars (it's the Friday before MLK day) but I'm not sure anyone really celebrates it...my Dad works for the state, I'll have to ask him if the offices are closed for it.

If your goal is preserving food more than the experience of gardening...you might be able to get what you need from farmer's markets and your CSA/local farms. Here a lot of places sell stuff cheaply at the end of the season. A woman from church got bushels of peaches and apples from a local farm for canning. She buys them when they are ripe and not so pretty and they sell them cheap to her.

My parents are skeptical, but in general supportive. I asked for WTM for Christmas two years ago when we were starting to think about it. My Dad looked through it and said "Well, if this is what you're going to do...that should be ok." :)

Ice is good for about 24-48 hours. After that it doesn't do much.

We didn't enjoy the second one as much as the first, although it was good. I can remember being furious with my mother when I found out in college that the "Betsy-Tacy" books went on beyond the first two. I went back, bought them all and have re-read them over and over many times since. :)

We are liking Handwriting Without Tears. I didn't buy any of the manipulatives (slate board, wood pieces, etc) and it's working fine.

I am 36 and have women friends of all ages. We have 8 women in our tiny (75 members at most) church who are pregnant this year. Many are young first time moms so I'm actually starting a new Mom's book study/fellowship group in May. I'm not sure where your question is coming from, but I do know that I have really really appreciated the friendship of women who are older than me. And although I hate thinking of myself as "older" at 36, I know that I do have experiences that hopefully younger women and moms can benefit from. (And often I find that I benefit from their younger/different perspective also.)

Jessica- What grade is PLL meant for? Would you start it in 1st grade or later?

My 4 1/2 yr old loves to be read to and like your dd will sit for hours reading books...but he would never sit for 30min for a chapter book. He needs the pictures. Things I've done that have helped him learn how to listen without pictures and to lengthen that attention span: *We read our chapter book read-aloud at breakfast time. He's better able to listen, maybe because it's the morning, maybe because he's doing something else. We used to do it at bedtime but I've found he's tired and doesn't listen as well...we read at bedtime now but I just let him pick whatever he wants to finish the day with. Other times that have worked are lunch time (or sometimes after lunch with a little treat) or bathtime. *I purposely read for only 10-15 minutes from it. A lot of times we don't finish the chapter but I just find a good stopping point. I'd rather keep him wanting more than have him bored. (We do lots of other reading during the day...I just keep the harder reading short.) *I've found books on tape in the car to be great. He loves them and really since he has nothing else to do...he listens for much longer than he would at home. I've found he can listen to books that are harder on tape than he would with me reading. When I started with the books on tape I got one he'd already heard as a read-aloud (Charlotte's Web), thinking it would be easier for him to develop that listening skill if he knew the story. It did seem to work. We also did some stories on tape (Just So Stories with Jim Weiss are great) and that helped build up his attention span.

At some point maybe I should start paying you a consultant fee. :D Or at least bring you some cookies. I'd love to come by sometime and see what you have. We have family stuff the next few weeks but I'll PM or e-mail you sometime. Thanks! Thanks for the other suggestions too!

I'm looking for some fun games to do with my son as we're working on phonics and reading. He is 4 1/2 and we're just finishing ETC Book 1. He is great at sounding out the words and does well with CVC words. He likes the workbooks but I've found he does better when I break it up with more games and activities. Last week we did a Mad Lib game, a word Bingo game and a game I made up involving him picking letters from three piles and building words. He liked all of these and I want to keep doing some to help with review and fluency as we move on to learning blends. So what games have worked for you all?

I can't really improve on this. Pretty much what she said....:D