So proud of you!! Congratulations! :hurray:

Origami?

Embroidery? Maybe a cross-stitch kit? Or one of those plastic grids that you cover with yarn in a diagonal stitch.

Happy Birthday!! :party:

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

2 iPads microscope (maybe a Brock) lego we-do and Mindstorms Snap Circuits Here are some special books that work with a range of ages: One Million Things: A Visual Encyclopedia Exploratopia; Exploralab DK Knowledge Encyclopedia Smithsonian Natural History Kingfisher Geography Encyclopedia A Family of Poems; Poems to Learn by Heart by Caroline Kennedy The Story of the Orchestra Art Fraud Detectives A Street Through Time

97%. The highschool I went to has been 100% every year for the last 5 years (I couldn't see further back).

For small items, placing them at your front door rather than on the curb would be better. Here we also have many places where you can donate items. Or, you can post on Craigslist and hope people aren't flaky about their appointments.

For me, I would consider it trashy and would not be happy if neighbours did this regularly.

Ds loved playing with the Cuisinaire Rods and using this booklet before we started Miquon: http://www.nurturedbylove.ca/resources/cuisenairebook.pdf (Note that each page is really 2 pages and the left and right sides don't correspond. You need to read the titles of the game and find the instruction that matches.) My ds liked many of the activities in the booklet but really loved the game Snakey Rods. Overall it made a really nice intro before we started Miquon.

So funny!

I have the Scotch brand one and LOVE it! I laminate stuff all the time. I buy the pouches from Amazon. We made a "microscope slide" with snake skin, so I can confirm that laminating snake skin works.

I feel your pain! I went desperately searching for answers at that age too. Playpen time with toys that only came out during school helped a bit. I made several busy bag type toys (putting straws into a container through holes in the lid, moving Pom poms with plastic tweezers, etc). It got a lot easier once he started to enjoy colouring. We now have each grandma come one morning a week to play with him so we can get school done quietly with our oldest. And the days we don't have help are getting better with time. Little ds is a few months older than 2 and we have a fairly good rhythm once again.

Denim is excellent! When it is too hot for yoga pants I usually wear denim shorts.

I'm going with Tier 8. I wear yoga pants daily, have numerous Apple devices, and homeschool for both academics and so I can hang out with my kids and do awesome stuff. I own way too many books, math manipulatives, and educational toys because I like to think we unschool, even though we don't. We do rigorous academics in the morning and spend the rest of our time at the beach, hiking through forests, or getting messy in the yard. Tier 8 is a lifestyle. :) ETA: For the record, I ate sweet potatoes for lunch today. Yum!

Wait, what?!? Do you get a credit for having a Prime subscription but choosing regular ship speed instead? Or did I misunderstand? (sorry for the derailment, I've been considering getting Prime)

:grouphug: I'm upset about this and I don't even know your family. Raising children is hard enough without family undermining your efforts. I'm so sorry. :grouphug:

The math program that has made the biggest impact on ds' math skills is definitely Miquon. We supplement with living math books, Life of Fred, and other stuff just for fun. We plan to do Beast Academy once Miquon is almost finished. Ds is very strong in understanding the concepts in math, and that can greatly be attributed to Miquon. Although Singapore Math is excellent and I really liked it, it made ds cry and hate math. It took months to recover, but he loves math once again and has asked for Miquon for next year (even given the choice of no curriculum he still wanted Miquon). I would be reluctant to invest in a lot of a math program until I knew it was a fit for my child.

Thank you! I have been wanting to own this book after repeatedly checking it out from my library. The sale is in Canada too, and is still valid today (Thursday).

:grouphug: Thinking of you and your family. :grouphug:

I just spent a bunch of time comparing the sticker books to the wallbooks. They are similar, but the wallbooks definitely have a lot more info and are larger. However, for elementary I think the sticker books are probably more interesting as they have an interactive component. I will be ordering the sticker books. I also checked out the book by the same author, "What on Earth Happened". There is a review (I think it was on Amazon UK) where a homeschool parent mentioned it was good for her 10+ year olds who had previously enjoyed SOTW. It is written in a story format, but at a higher level. I will probably be ordering that too!

These What on Earth timelines look wonderful! It is hard to find secular timelines. Was the first one you ordered a sticker book or a wallbook? I can't decide which to buy. It looks like the wallbooks have more info, but the sticker books will be fun. I am thinking of the big history and the science ones. We have the Charlie's Playhouse evolution timeline, so the natural history one would be redundant for us. Choices, choices... Also, I found them at Book Depository: http://m.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=what+on+earth+Christopher+Lloyd There are pocket book sizes on there too if people want something small. I wonder what the What on Earth Happened and What on Earth Evolved books are like...

Yay!!

I don't have a paper one to compare it to, but I'm guessing it is specific to the iBooks. It gives page numbers which are probably different. If there is someone who has the paper teacher manuals perhaps they could compare what I wrote in post 5 to see if it aligns?

We are taking the week off and mostly using it to clean/organize the house. Ds thinks it is great fun -- I'm the one groaning.