Thinking of your family and hoping things improved through the night. :grouphug:

So did I! lol :)

We reached a time of frustration with math. We dropped all formal programs and played games, read books and did fun math activities. We then branched into online programs for awhile (mathletics and khan academy) and then focused solely on solidifying math facts using Reflex. We spent about a year winging it with math. He was ahead so I figured if it didn't work out we would still be at the right level of progression. The most important thing for me was to improve his attitude and outlook for math. Once the math facts were completely memorized it made computations much easier and we were able to start a formal program again (Beast this time). He doesn't love it, but he doesn't hate it either. We have no tears. The BEST thing we did was get involved in a math circle. Nothing is available here, so I started one just over a month ago. It has been great for ds to see other kids enjoying math and also seeing them struggle. I think he thought he was the only one that didn't immediately know how to solve everything. Despite me trying to explain that he was way ahead in math and that it was normal to have to think hard to solve problems, actually seeing how other kids process math questions has been invaluable.

:grouphug:

Yay! What a great first testing experience. I love that she wore a costume. :)

I miss thinking the world was a safe place where everyone had the best intentions. I miss carefree days of no plans and endless summers of fun. I miss not being in charge of everything and not being responsible for food, laundry, cleaning, planning.

We put a warming drawer in the kitchen. We never eat when planned, but at least the food is always hot.

How wonderful! He is very talented at conveying a powerful message. Please let him know I think those things are priceless too.

Ds' best friend asked if he could text with her. They are both 8. This was a definite 'no' for me, but I had an easy out as ds' phone isn't on a plan -- it is essentially an iPod. Fortunately his best friend's phone isn't an iPhone, so I don't have to deal with iMessage as a possibility. This did get me thinking though about what age is appropriate these days for texting with friends. I don't do texting myself because I find it annoying to be interrupted and for people to think they can contact me at all times and expect an immediate answer. So I'm not the best person to ask about texting. What age do you allow your kids to start texting with friends?

Congratulations on the new name! I think it sounds great (although I also like Peace Hill). Many thanks for the products that you publish and for this wonderful forum. You have had a monumental positive impact on our homeschool (and life). Wishing you continued success under your new name!

Congratulations to your ds!!! :hurray:

Congratulations! :hurray:

We just started notebooking this year when ds turned 8. For us it was the perfect time. He loved lapbooks in grade 1 and did other writing (including WWE) so it didn't seem necessary before. Now he feels he has outgrown lapbooks as they were becoming busywork. He *loves* notebooking and wants to create pages for everything. I think waiting until he was old enough to get more out of it really helped with his enthusiasm.

my ds loved Lego simple machines so much he ended up with four sets. He then got Lego we-do. Does he have a marble run? We have a cheap plastic one which has been well loved. There is also cuboro, which is a wooden block-based set that is pricey but useful for many years.

:party: Hooray! I wish him all the best.

See if your library has Games for Math by Peggy Kaye. It gives lots of great ideas for playing games that don't require a lot of materials (many of them use a deck of cards, sometimes you make your own game board on paper, you need a couple of dice, etc.)

We are going to give this a try. Ds is VERY excited about it. Will an automatic sprinkler cause a problem if it waters the pond? I told dh the instructions talked about leaving water sitting out for two days before adding it, but he seems to think the sprinkler water will be just like rain and that the frogs will like it. We have raccoons this year for the first time. Hopefully that won't be an issue. I don't want to encourage more raccoons. ETA: We're west coast Canada, so we will set it up this weekend.

After the last thread where that game was posted I printed/laminated a set and we have played it numerous times since. It is really fun and we have learned quite a few of the elements. We get out the books I mentioned upthread and discuss the elements that formed our sunk ships. Someone always makes an "Unun" boat (ununseptium, ununoctium for example) so we now have a family joke about temporary boats. Yes, we are so cool that we have periodic table jokes. :cool:

That's the one. :) It's an excellent book.

I don't remember that thread, but both of the books "The Elements" and "Picturepedia" have periodic tables with photos of items made of or representing each element.

Ds' 5th birthday party was at 10:30 on a Sunday too! That was the year he wanted waffles for his party. There may or may not have been mimosas for the adults. I can't remember, but it is likely there were. :)

This thread got me thinking, so I went searching through Amazon for more resources. I just ordered "10 Minute Life Lessons for Kids" and "Buddha at Bedtime: Tales of Love and Wisdom".

Julia Cook writes excellent behaviour/manners picture books. Also, ds loves a book called "If Everybody Did". It shows what would happen if people did whatever they wanted instead of following rules or the expectations in our society. For values, we have a book called ValueTales Treasury that discusses certain values (determination, honesty, helping, believing in yourself, humour). We also have a series by Brad Meltzer called Ordinary People Change the World. They are biographies that focus on specific character traits that helped make ordinary people into heroes. So far there are biographies on Amelia Earheart, Albert Einstein, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Lucille Ball, Abraham Lincoln, Hellen Keller, and Martin Luther King Jr. They are engaging as they contain cute comic-style drawings along with photographs.

You can buy PDFs of Miquon through currclick.com. That way you can print whatever pages you need, and print duplicates as well. Give Jr. lots of time to just play with the rods before jumping into Miquon. It helps if he is already familiar with the different sizes and colours. I really like doing this booklet before starting with Miquon: http://www.nurturedbylove.ca/resources/cuisenairebook.pdf

Congratulations to your daughter!! :hurray: