Sounds like a good idea if I knew what a housing addition was. :lol:

What are all these forms people are filling out that ask for the name of a school? The only time I think I've had to do that was for a free DVD from the History Channel. Now we get occasional mailings to "Pine Alley School" (the name my ds came up with as I stared blindly at the paper), so I suppose that tells me who they share their lists with!

Well, there's Thidwick, a Dr. Seuss book, and Morris the Moose, an I Can Read book. Both are easy readers, though, not chapter books.

"Let me put it this way . . ." Perhaps it's not the phrase itself, but I've never heard anyone say it without a smug expression and patronizing tone. Ugh!

Well, since you asked . . . I dislike the modern trend of using the phrase of "begs the question" to mean "raises the question" instead of the traditional meaning of circular reasoning. ;)

Nice blog! I noticed in a recent post you have some photos of some posters about the Renaissance -- a timeline and Renaissance artists. They look really good! Where are they from?

I do my own self-study in history, literature, math, or science. I usually have a couple of books I'm working my way through. Of course I have to be prepared to stop and answer questions, help with math, etc., but I can make some good progress and set a good example for ds on how to focus and study. ETA: Or I read ahead in ds' history or lit to prepare for discussion.

Wow! I have been thinking about just this question recently -- how to efficiently pass along links for my child. I wasn't thinking of assignments specifically, but more general links that I think he would enjoy or find edifying. The bookmarks function in the web browser seems cumbersome. I used to use the composer function in the Mozilla browser to make my own webpages, but I no longer use Mozilla and I have no design skill so my pages were pretty ugly. And here I find a thread full of tools that will serve this purpose perfectly and probably with a lot of other features as well. The hard part will be deciding which tool to use! :)

It's fine. The only suggestion I would make is that she change her habit of crossing her t's at the very top. It is hard to see the crosses and forces your eye to go back and see if it really is a t or not.

For my ds, some kinds of movement are helpful and some are not. Fiddling with a pencil or rubber band is *not*. He gets very distracted by it and can't complete a sentence. Rhythmic movement, on the other hand, is very helpful. He likes to bounce a rubber ball and WOW can he focus while he's doing that. (Works well for memory work, not so great for holding a discussion LOL). We also have an old-fashioned sewing machine with a foot pedal, and he likes to pump on that. Again, it's rhythmic. Marching, hopping, bouncing on an exercise ball, rocking in a rocking chair. All of those are *good* focusers for him. I just now noticed (duh!) that not only are they all rhythmic, but they are also large motor. Interesting!

Wait. The branches are hanging over the fence into their yard? Then I'd say they're entitled to the apples. How would you pick them, anyway, without going into their yard?

I just downloaded the trial and I'm wondering about the logistics. Do you read the activity lesson outloud? Do you watch each video or only if there's a question? Some activities look like they'd be better outside, but it's a little difficult to watch a video outside. I'm having trouble seeing how this would all come together smoothly. I'd love to hear the nitty gritty of how you go through a lesson with your kids.

I only have one child. Circle time sounds absurd for a grown woman and a tween boy sitting at the table. :lol: I guess we call it together time, though we don't really have a formal name for it. Or sometimes "red boxes", because I put all the things we work on together in red boxes. His independent work goes in green boxes.

Thanks! I'll check them out.

Slightly off-topic, but could you share what you use for Music Theory? Looking for something for my 6th grade son.

I would start by asking him what he wants to learn about and go from there. I would also make sure he has a thorough reference on puberty, hygiene, and sex that he can read in private.

He's only four, right? Why do you keep calling him five? No, do not force him to write a sentence a day. That is way beyond the capabilities of the vast majority of children his age. Think in terms of letters per day. And since he hates it right now, I would say take a break entirely for at least a month and then start over again. With perhaps 3-5 *letters* a day. If he does want to write words, encourage him to write words of interest to him. Japan is a great word to write. He'll get to his name eventually. Schools want kids entering kindergarten to be able to write their names. Your ds is a whole year away from kindergarten age.

Yes! Glad to know I'm not the only one. Not sure if this would help your bathroom situation, but what I did in facing the same dilemma was to take a few squares of tp, dampen it with water, and wipe down the counters and around the toilet with that. It's very quick and easy, much less paper than a whole paper towel or disposable wipe. I just do it once a day when using the bathroom, and flush it down the toilet.

What do you mean by "do the grammar part"? I don't understand how you could translate without identifying the parts of the sentence, and I don't see how you can do that without discussing grammar. We didn't find the amount of grammar in LFC Primer A to be very onerous, but my ds is a little older (just turned 11). I found it a very good reinforcement for what he learned in English grammar (we use Easy Grammar). We're looking forward to Primer B this year.

I was just thinking about this recently myself, as well. It seems like both kinds have benefits. What I'm considering for my 11yo ds is to do a mix of both kinds of dictation, alternating weeks. One week would be "traditional" copywork and dictation, with a couple of days doing straight copywork of passages and then one day of straight dictation of a different passage (no previous studying). The next week would be a Brave Writer style week, using one longer passage for copywork to be studied all week long, culminating with dictation from it at the end of the week (probably not dictation of the whole passage).

A number line and, depending on where you live, a thermometer. ;) Then make up simple number stories -- "If I'm at 3 on the number line and I move 4 hops to the left, where would I be?" "If the temperature is -8 degrees, and it increases by 1 degree, what is the temperature now?"

Elizabeti's Doll, Elizabeti's School, and Mama Elizabeti by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen. Picture books about a contemporary girl's life in Tanzania. Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams. A picture book about a boy's quest to make a wire toy.