Thought I would share. http://www.two-daloo.com/worm-observation-tower/ http://www.aneverydaystory.com/2012/09/11/reggio-science-activities-observing-snails/ My 15 y/o is already excited. Yay!

This is a great idea! I was actually thinking about making a compost bin with my 4 y/o so i am loving this idea. Have you dobe this before? Ill definately google the coral eating fish, as well. You are a genius!

Hello everyone. I am looking for ideas on some live animals and even plants we can add to our home and when are the best seasons to introduce them. I have two boys that are very interested in science (all) with a special interest in living things. My oldest, although not a science guy, really enjoyed Biology and loves animals. Some things to keep in mind. My dc are ages 4-15 We want to include them all whenever possible. (Albeit at different levels) San Diego weather I am not looking for goats, pigs, or any large animals just yet. Thanks. No invasive species. Open to reptiles, but would only like to choose one or two quality ones. Dh and ds are handy, so ideas for habitats we can build are welcome. We have an ant farm I will be filling up shortly. Also the kids want to do butterflies (which ones, where from, when?), praying manitises (spring), antlion larvae, tad poles (spring, self caught?), pill bugs, silk worms (will this keep their interest?). What other ideas are their? If you have experience with anything in particular, please share. How did your dc enjoy it? What did they learn? Advise. I do understand the time, care and possible smells involved and plan to do plenty of research first. I have no idea for plant studies but we will be hiking, as well. I would still lime sonething we could incorporate in the classroom. Thanks!

Are you usng a food diary? I have noticed that when I begin to feel sluggish it is because I need some veggies or I'm a few calories short. I noticed that I need vegetables with every meal, and a nice mixed salad at least once a day. I also jog, so i really have to watch this. Try myfitnesspal or another app.

I agree, I have used Juguemos A Leer with all for of my children. I also used Mi Libro Magico (purple cover). Op, Spanish is not my bative language, but we are a bilingual house hold. I am a herritage speaker that rarely used Spanish until eleventh grade and very hard to increase my Spanish skills. I suggest you begin immersing your family in French, if you really want to do this. All movies, TV, and even music in French. Get children's audio books in french from your library, craigslist, freecycle, any where. After you have done this for at least six months, then decide. Give yourself time to really prepare and make an educated decision. If you and your dh can take a class, that would also be fantastic. There are free resources on line and listed on the boards. Really start googling around. Good luck to you.

Just remember, the grass is always greener on the other side. Honestly, I miss my boys like crazy. There have been classes that I am sure I could have done better at home. They are gone for hours, then come home with plenty of HW. They all complain that public school History is "lite", so I keep plenty of biographies, historical fiction, and documentaries on hand. I'd bring them back home, but I honestly was very burnt out after raising my husband's very difficult and needy siblings, and my dc really are thriving. I started pre-k with little guy this year. I am really enjoying it.

Ds has kind of become a lump on a log, meaning he just lays around the house and isn't very active. I signed him up to do the 5k Color Dash with me for some fun next month and recently learned there would be a mud run in a few months. I'm thinking it might be something fun to do and a good way to get him out of the house. Has anyone here participated in one before? Ok for a 15/16 y/o?

Ayah, the marinade U.S. different. Both are Oarnge based, but the similarities end there. Let us know how it comes out. My family might be interested in trying to make sone for Tortas Cubanas. ;)

Yes you can. Are you trying to make Cochinita Pibil? You can also do it in a pressure cooker or an oven. I think when I did it, the crock pot was on low for 6-8 hours. HTH Danielle

Me too! In my defense, I am taking some college classes in order to update my resume. I'll look into these. Thanks. @ Kerileanne99, thanks for reminding me about the key to series of work books. They might actually do the trick for overall review this year. Thanks again.

Ep well, geesh. I guess I'll have to get off my keister and write down a few daily problems myself. :D

NM

We used OPGTR followed by McGuffy. We also used explode the code while going through OPGTR, although I don't know if that would be completely necessary. I chose to do it this way because I do not teach the boys English until age five and after they are reading in a Spanish. In my experience, sight word lists aren't necessary unless you really want them. Honestly, once my dc got through the primer, things really started to fall in to place. Even my non reader is solid in this area. Other things I did a lot of were reading aloud to them, and having them read silently to themselves every day. Of coarse, when they are just beginning you can keep simple bob books, beautiful picture books, and audio books around for this. Most importantly, enjoy the one on one reading time. let your dc attach a sweet memory to learning how to read, ;) HTH

Thank you, everyone. It is for an advanced 8th grade US History, so I think they will oly be using some of the books. It is in addition to the textbook that the school district supplied. Ds was homeschooled up until last year and is strong in History. I just want to be sure he is challenged. Thanks again.

Thank you again. Farrar, I am happy to say that there will be no enforcement of lexile only reading. Tests are just being given to gage where ds is, find strengths and weaknesses. My plan is to keep throwing books from the AO and WTM lists at him. It is what has worked thus far, and he enjoys them. Thanks for giving me night into the whole thinking behind these scores. It gives me an idea of what to look out for.

Ds needs extra practice in multiplying decimals in expanded form. Ex. 4 x 0.1 + 5 x 0.01= 0.45 He does fine with 0.4 + 0.05 or 4 tenths + 5 hundredths, though. Are there any websites that allow me to make up worksheets for this? Or will I have to do it the old fashioned way? I guess you can say I'm feeling lazy. Thanks.

I have heard that f these but am not too familiar with them. My son's He story teacher is using this series, so I was wondering what the hive thought of them. What grade level are they usually used for? Thanks.

Thank you, everyone. I'll look into exactly which tests were given (there were at least two). I haven't recieved the full report, but the district seemed happy about his results. They did some testing in late August/early September and chose to do some more testing. At that point they just said he seemed to be testing well, but they wanted to go a little more in depth. The vibe I got was that they were being cautious before letting me know any numbers. I was actually a little worried when they seemed hesitant. On Friday they finally gave me a number and only seemed concerned about finding books that wouldn't have very mature content, so I took it to mean he scored well. I think they were quite surprised, since his first language is Spanish (learned English at age 5) and they know he was raised in Mexico. I am not overly concerned about matching Lexile, but was just doing more research when I noticed that things in that range were geared towards adults. Strangely, i think his reading is what I would expect of a normal middle schooler, but I am basing my opinion on my limited experience with my older dc and what people here have discussed their dc reading. Thanks again, everyone. In general es I have much to learn.

Is there anybody here who is familiar with lexile scores. Ds 10 was recently tested and scored 1500. What does this really mean? Does he simply gave a good ability to read words? Understand their meaning? Comprehend the whole text? It seems that most books in/near this Lexile score are somewhat adult for my son. He just turned ten in August and still has that childish innocence. I'd like to preserve this quality a little longer. KWIM. I use the AO books for free reading and read alouds. I have also let him loose on the books we own from the Sonlighht 100 list. He seems to be enjoying those since he loves History. And other suggestions? Thank you.

Maybe the op should change the bread title. Sorry you are going through that.

Does she have a large wall calendar? My sons use theirs to list all deadlines, tests, HW, etc. It really helps. Also, I taught them to take notes from the texts (apart from lectures). This has really helped them to pick out whch themes are stressed in class and where to focus studying. It also makes review much easier, as you don't want to reread the whole book for finals and midterms. Also, making a weekly check list word fume the and printing it out hels. My oldest ds had some major organizational issues when he entered a B&M high school last year. He has 8 periods (no study hall) and mostly honors and AP classes. These things have really helped. Hopefully it continues when he enters the full I?b classes next year. HTH P.S. Colored pens and highlighters are her friends. Many used on calendars, agendas, and bites.

No snacks for practice, but we do have game day snacks. Each parent does it once. Usually it is a small Gatorade, some crackers or small chips and a fruit snack or fruit slices. It's a once a week thing, so I'm not that worried about it. Our kids play a 90 minute full field game, though. They are not supposed to eat anything heavy immediately before the game, and I would guess they get a real workout, especially the U14. Maybe it's the area we are in, but the games are intense. The kids go through multiple bottles of water during the game, as well.

Yes. Sometimes leading to a better relationship. Not that it's the way anybody would like to get there.

I recalled that there was some discussion about charter schools a couple weeks ago and saw this article this morning. It isn't too detailed, but I thought some might find it interesting. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/09/19/why-no-excuses-charter-schools-mold-very-submissive-students-starting-in-kindergarten/ There is also a link to a report written by the interviewee, which goes into greater detail on her views. I knew there were some issues/concerns about charter schools, but I had always heard it represented as an issue relating to uncredentialed teachers, no real oversight, and accusations of cherry picking. Thoughts? Here is a link to the report I mentioned above. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/09/19/why-no-excuses-charter-schools-mold-very-submissive-students-starting-in-kindergarten/

Bump