Hello, I just wanted to put in a plug for the Practice makes perfect books. They aren't fancy but really get the job done. Despite being in a bilingual family and being raised in Mexico, ds avoided speaking Spanish as much as possible. To this day he hates watching movies or reading books in Spanish. Teaching him Spanish was a full time job for me. I introduced the Practice Makes Perfect books to our Spanish study while he was in middle school. He usually doesn't like work book type programs, but he didn't complain much. The result was an improvement in his grammar (both written and spoken). When he was forced to speak Spanish, he did a better job of conjugating verbs correctly, using the correct tenses, and even used new vocabulary he had picked up. Obviously, his case is different than your dd's because he was immersed in the language. I have no doubt that the books forced him to actually learn that which he was so opposed to. I used it along side SYRWTLS, but it could be used for review along side any program. If money is an issue, I know Mango is offered through many libraries. I have also heard good things about Duolingo. Also, I am a firm believer that it is not necessary to spend big bucks to learn Spanish. Pick your favorite movies and watch them in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. Watch a Spanish novela, TV show or news. Read a Spanish children's book while listening to the audio version. For intermediate students, grab a Spanish/English dictionary and read a young reader's book in Spanish. There are many resources put there. I know people are hesitant to do it this way and feel obligated to spend a lot of money on a curriculum, but this is how we pass our own language on to our kids. Right! I taught my my kids (accept oldest) in this way. I also taught five of my husband's teenage sibling English in this way. Off my soap box now..... HTH

I need a heavy duty binder for ds. Last year we bought him a Mead Five Star 2" binder, but it was falling apart by April. He wants something thicker, durable, with a zipper. Extra pockets to help with organization would be fantastic. Thanks!

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You can find quite a few videos on Youtube. One I know of is Coerver coaching. They have a lot of drills. Good luck.

Do you speak any Spanish! Will this be their first exposure to the language? How confident are they learning languages? How confident are you teaching it? Do you want something online, video based, writing intensive, etc? Knowing these things will make it easier to make suggestions. Things that come to mind Breaking the Spanish barrier Mango languages Destinos So You Really Want to Learn Spanish

What is the. Work load like?

I had to chuckle at this. Ds obviously didn't get the memo. He even met another boy this past year, who was also homeschooled, and everyone goes out of their way to keep them on separate teams when they play soccer. This particular boy plays club soccer, and ds says he is a feniminal player.

There were some comments made up thread in response to an article (satire?) about raising these kids in camps to be God fearing, English speaking Americans. Assimilation was mentioned, etc. My response was to ask who would be tasked with this responsibility. I think expecting the schools to do it would be difficult. The pledge was just one af many minor things I mentioned. Some may not agree, but it seems being taught the pledge is ones all step in passing along patriotism to the next generation. Albeit, not the end all be all. Basically, we just were having a side conversation and went down a rabbit hole.

I think it is on a school by school basis, not district or state. For example, in San Diego city schools I have found a few schools that say it MWF, some that don't say it at all, and others that do it for special days/assembly. In Chula Vista, elementary schools are beginning to do it I both English and Spanish, but I am not sure about middle and high schools. My cousin, in Idaho, says her children have recited it at every school they gave attended in that state (K-12). The high schools in Murrieta seem to do it MWF, as well.

I am going to snip quotes but wanted it to be clear whim or what I was responding. Please forgive the typos, I am on my Ipad and sitting in a dark room. I am glad you found my post helpful. I hope, though, that nobody takes this to mean that Mexico is 100% safe. There are still many dangers to traveling in Mexico. Obviously, you could say this about travel to any country, but Mexico has it's unique troubles. Cartels, corruption, etc. yes, soldiers help local and state police with things that the US Military wouldn't be taking on, but some cases are more serious than others. It's simply a logical and easier step to take in Mexico. No, not quite a civil War. I know it has been described as such in the news, though. I wonder how much attention is being paid to the success of Colombia. It is a country that has come very far and seems to be a good candidate for a case study. Is the current US fight against drugs/cartels being affected by how things have progressed in Colombia? I know there are some great differences, but it seems to me it isn't just about passing laws and throwing money at the problem I think if children are going to be allowed to stay here, it would best that they become "Americanized". But who is charged with doing this? The parents? Schools? As a Latina, I'd say this is an unspoken problem within our community. Many parents want the American dream, but don't want their children to become too American. Whatever that means to them. Or they think they do, but then are upset with their kids when they act too much like American teenagers. I often find myself juggling the too identities. Sometimes there is a good mix, but sometimes I feel like there are two distinct people living within me. Maybe it is because I am back and forth between the two countries, but I have two faces I have to present depending on who I am with. As far as schools go, good luck. Many schools no longer say The Pledge of Allegiance. My oldest two started school this year, after living all their lives in Mexico. They were both shocked to find themselves among the only kids who knew the National Anthem, any patriotic poems, the Presidents or at least the last five, and why the flag has the number of stripes it does. I can't speak for all latin American countries, but Mexico really drives patriotism home in the schools. So much so, that many Mexicans in the US pass it on to their dc. I don't know how to explain it, but patriotism in Mexico is HUGE. This is a very good point. I don't think that anyone would disagree that cartels have indeed branched out. I don't think it would simply cease to exist without drug money. People get used yon"easy" money and want to continue on that path. I also think the younger generation is beginning to idolize cartels. This paired with the loss of empathy and openness to violence seems to be feeding the growth of cartels. I hope, for the sake of future generations, that something changes soon.

^^^^^ This ^^^^^ Op, I think many of us had a similar experience with our grammar education. The beauty of homeschool is that you learn new things almost daily. ;)

My son plays soccer and has since he was in K. He is currently doing AYSO. Even that team gets pretty competitive for U14 and required us to travel to LA for a two day championship. Ds is interested in trying for club next year, but the better ones. would require driving far through heavy traffic every day. He has been invited to a couple of tryouts, but wasn't that keen on it until recently. He was even invited to Xolo school, but there is no way I am crossing a border every day for him to train. Soccer do inmates here, but I guess I don't talk about it on the boards because there are plenty of people talking about it within the extended family.

I know this thread is over a month old (don't know how I missed it), but I wanted to add a few things. After living in Mexico for quite a few years, I came to learn that the good schools used the national curriculum along with heavy supplementation. In many Latin American countries, some of these books are required and even provided for free. Things that I saw schools add... Copy work Dictation Poem memorization Math fact drills at home Reading outside of class All these things can be done at home and inexpensively. As someone up thread mentioned, MEP is very good and available in Spanish. The approach is very different so using it in addition to the National curriculum would be a good idea, if testing is required. Most likely, this is the case. In addition, are at can look into what books are used at the local private schools. In addition, you can google escuela en casa. When I last checked, there was an active group in Argentina and even an online school in Spanish. There was also a homeschooling forum for parents on Spain. It was a couple years ago when I was googling, but there should be plenty of info out there. I was even able to find sone videos of families on youtube. HTH

Thank you everyone. I have been checking each of the links and reading up on the subject. I have found quite a bit f useful info. I am definitely going to focus on developing his fine motor skills and have found some good ideas on some of the montessori at home blogs. @anabelneri, I am familiar with that argument. I would argue that our situation is somewhat different, though. I have purposely refrained from teaching my son English. He is, for the most part, only speaking Spanish. It would be logical that I teach him his numbers, counting, etc in. Spanish. It will be at least 1 year before I even begin to teach him English. Once he begins speaking English, I would introduce Math in English. First, because he wouldn't understand it until then. Second, because Ca requires instruction be in English. Thank you for the link. I was also reading up on Waldorf, but I am not sure I understand the approach too well. It seems that many of the articles I have found are not at all unbiased when describing the Waldorf approach. I will continue reading, though.

Me, too! I've been somewhat lax about it and need to get back into the right habits.

Wonderful! I was just asking about recipes in the frugal thread. I'll just follow along here.

For those of you who make your laundry detergent, which rece do you use? Do you make your own fabric softener? How do you store it?

With four boys, we are constantly in need of shoes. They go through them like you wouldn't believe. Thankfully, they all hate those Nike shoes that are popular and run over $150. Yikes! I have had luck buying them Vans during 2X BOGO1/2O sales. My soccer guy has bought cleats and indoor shoes at the outlets with great luck. Thrift stores have never worked out for me. We live in an area where they are heavily shopped and not that inexpensive for what is available. I prefer to spend $15-$20 on a pair of jeans for the guys from Ross or Marshall's. I spend about the same for dresses I can wear to baby showers, church, date night, etc. I always check clearance racks for my own clothes. I have quite a few blouses that I purchased for $5, $8, and $10. I menu plan around what is on sale, only eat out once a month, and buy flour, beans and rice in bulk. Pasta goes on deep discount once very few months, so I stock up. Left overs are given for lunch. If my picky eaters do not finish left overs but Sunday, it becomes Sunday dinner and a day off of cooking for me. As someone mentioned, disconnecting appliances helps. I walk to the store when possible and always use a list. I also only shop the outer side of the store.

My youngest is four and ready/asking for some mommy school time. Obviously, as his mother I am a bit biased and believe he is a sweet and intelligent little sweet-heart. ;) It has been quite a few years since I have had a pre-school aged child, though. This particular child is a very hands on type of boy. He enjoys puzzles, playing with his, Legos, blocks, toy tool bench and tools, taking things apart, and being read too. Also, we have made it a point to speak only Spanish to him from birth. I have always taught my children Spanish first, including reading, before introducing English in K. Although, he understands English and speaks some from hearing his brothers speak English to each other. For these reasons, I do not want to introduce any academic books, but would rather focus on manipulatives and play. I may do MEP'S Reception lessons, but completely in Spanish. I also have R&S A, which I can dust off, but am unsure about trying to start that in Spanish when I intend to do B in English. Basically, I am just not sure what I want to do yet. I know I want a hands activity based approach to teach solidify pre-k skills. I don't want workbooks at all. Maybe coloring letters, tracing them in the sand, but no pencil and paper work. I want to follow his lead, meaning that school will be when he wants it. I like to have a few baskets for activities we can pull out for him to choose from. So which activities would you recomended? What manipulatives could I buy fairly inexpensivelyor make? Also, I am really open to any good suggestions for articles to read to help me learn about what approach it is I really want. Open to any and all suggestions. Thanks.

Do you know which book? I have all four AG and can spend some time looking.

Well, I can't imagine being parent A. With that said, I would likely rush over, ask de hat had happened, if child Y was ok, and apologize profusely. If I was patent Z, I'd be livid.. My reaction would depend a lot on child' B's reaction, parent A's response, and my child's injuries. I am always very careful about my DC not bumping our shopping cart into the back of people's heels, or walking in to people. I have been known to sarcastically say, "excuse me,". When people bump me and fail to acknowledge it. Not very mature, I know.

I think family honor was a big one for me. My father always instilled the independent American spirit in me, but my mother, aunts, and maternal Grandmother always reminded me that my behavior reflected on the whole family. It wasn't expressly said, but it was always understood. When I hit the teen years, I always had my family in the back of my mind. I always considered what my parents would think about how I was behaving or the decision I made. I'd say 4/5 of the things mentioned were part of my life. I still rebelled..... That is, I was argumentative, but never partied or went crazy.

What matters is doing what's best for you and your family. Get the rest you need. Take care of yourself and enjoy your children's visits.