Thanks!

I got my first professional job because I spoke French. It's a major world language, and many companies need French speakers. There is relatively little competition for those jobs in the US, which is absolutely *not* the case for Spanish-speaking jobs (where there is a TON of competition, as there are so many Spanish speakers). Now, I would have the opposite problem if we lived back in Canada (where I grew up), but in the US it has definitely been an asset!

Thanks! Really good to know!

I am interested in SSL for DS too, next year. What are the components that are actually needed? Do I need the full $82 set, or can I skip some of it? Thanks!

I got most of them through Inter Library Loan. It took a few weeks, but was worth it (particularly for Jenny's Surprise Summer, which was a favorite).

Good luck!

dmmettler -- that is such a helpful perspective! Thank you so much!

Hi Everyone, You were all so helpful with my earlier thread (here) that I wonder if you might humor me with one other question regarding pre-school and an HG/PG child. We work through a lot of math, puzzle books, LoE, etc. at home. He has been going to a play-based nursery program two mornings per week, mainly for socialization and to give me a break (plus he gets a chance to get messy and I don't have to clean!). We are considering options for next year, though. We still want to send him to a morning preschool program a few mornings per week, and then homeschool on his off days / after school in the afternoons. We definitely intend on HS'ing full time once he gets to K age (he is currently 3, so two more years given our state's age cutoff). We are pretty much done with the current nursery school -- they just aren't meeting our needs socially (he is by far the oldest in the class), and certainly not academically, and there are a lot of very active boys in the group that easily overwhelm the teacher, which leads to sensory overload for my little guy. Two options we are considering instead: A) A Reggio-Emilia preschool, with a big focus on hands-on art and sensory activities. No academic subjects per se, but they centre on "project-based learning" where the class decides what they want to do/study/learn and academic subjects get built into the projects. The kids in his class would be clustered closer to his age (his birthday would fall more or less in the middle of the group, and all are within a few months him). B) A Montessori school, which follows the traditions *very* closely. They do teach academics along with "life skills", and with mixed-age classrooms (he would be among the youngest, with 3-6 year olds in the class) they claim to teach individually or in small groups to the level of each child in each subject, without regard to "grade" or age. This appeals to me not only because he's currently doing grade 1-2 math, but also because he tends to favour playing with older children and he does need to work on his fine motor skills. I'm on the fence mainly because I think the academics would be the easier thing for me to do at home, and I could tailor every subject to his level probably better than a teacher who also has 20 other students. I do like the Montessori approach (we use RightStart and have some manipulatives), and it would probably be more challenging for him as a school environment than the Reggio school. Reggio seems harder to implement at home, and I will admit to that partially being because of the mess! But I also know how deeply he can engage with a topic that interests him, so I think Reggio could be a great thing, too. If any of you are familiar with these two schools of pedagogy and/or have first-hand experience in terms of how your AL fared with them, I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or wisdom you could throw my way!

Ah, sorry -- I misread your question (I was thinking 3 lines, rather than 3 sections)!

My son (3yo) currently spends about 10hrs/wk with a German-speaking babysitter, who has taught him a few basics (Hello/Goodbye, Goodnight, Sleep well, etc.) and a song. He is very eager, so I am wondering if there is a curriculum out there that would help him to be more organized (knowing what to teach). It would have to be mostly oral, rather than written. I'm thinking something like Tatou le Matou, but for German, if that helps anyone. Any suggestions? Thanks!

From LoE, their cursive sample: https://www.logicofenglish.com/images/Products/Handwriting/RhythmOfHandwriting-CursiveSample.pdf

I think that's fairly standard handwriting practice paper. LoE uses it. There is some here: http://www.donnayoung.org/penmanship/handwriting-paper-bw.htm http://www.printablepaper.net/category/penmanship If you want a booklet, there's also something like this: http://www.amazon.fr/Serpodile-9791090155060-Mon-cahier-reliure/dp/1090155069/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1453794695&sr=8-7&keywords=cahier+écriture+reliure+cursive

Also, the fonts that are used in the boutdegomme website linked above are all here: http://maternellecolor.free.fr/ldivers/Index.html

I am a French speaker -- watching the video you linked, the *method* reminds me a lot of the way LoE teaches cursive handwriting, even if the script/font is slightly different. I expect you could use LoE method adapted to the French font Monica in Switzerland has linked to.

Mine will be PK4ish (turning 4 past the cutoff, but only by a couple months), and nothing is definite yet, but here's what we're thinking: Math: RSB, Mathematical Reasoning Level B, Miquon and maybe starting LoF and/or Singapore Reading: LoE Foundations C+D Fine Motor/Handwriting: Kumon Tracing and Maze books Logic: Building Thinking Skills Level 1, Mind Benders, (actively looking for others) Literature: We're going to try FIAR and/or Wee Folk Art, Poetry for Young People series Music: Suzuki violin or piano (he wants to do both, we're trying to decide between them) Art: Ivy Kids, Bento Box French: conversations with me, and I'm looking to see if there is a curriculum that would fit a non-handwriter his age German: with our babysitter/tutor Nature class at the local nature centre Gymnastics Swimming Ice Skating We're considering a morning Montessori preschool program, both for social reasons and to work on fine motor skills.

Thank you all so much. Lori D. -- that's a really great list!

My son loves logic/puzzle books, but does not have good handwriting skills. I'm trying to do more hands-on activities with him and to "go broad" but he really loves working through things like CTC's Mathematical Reasoning and Building Thinking Skills, and Lollipop Logic. He's blasted through a few levels of each and I'm looking to diversify our collection, both to add interest/challenge and to slow him down somewhat (he's 3). Thanks!

One option we have been considering is enrolling him in a part-time (mornings only, about 3 hrs a day) Montessori preschool that is close to our home. Mainly to give me a break, but also for social reasons, he currently attends a play-based nursery school 2 mornings per week. Because of the age cut-offs he is the oldest in his class and I'm not sure he benefits socially from it as much as I would have thought. At parent-teacher conferences in the fall his teacher said that on the first day he went around the room to each of the other kids and held out his hand, saying "Hi, I'm *name* -- nice to meet you. What do you like to read?" and the other kids (most of whom are still 2 years old) just kind of stared at him. At the Montessori school, because of the mixed-age classroom, he would be among the youngest, with kids 3-6 years old in the same primary class. Do you think this would be a good fit, based on your experience? I could then follow up on his math, reading, and other interests in the afternoons. Once he hits age 5 or so there are a lot more class/co-op options for homeschoolers, so I expect we'll meet his social needs that way in the elementary stage.

Thank you all SO much for the responses and suggestions. There are a lot of really great ideas here, and I can't tell you how nice it is to not get the standard "don't PUSH him so hard! he's just a kid!" responses that I generally get in real life. I think that has made me extra-sensitive to seeming like I'm pushing him, even though he is really leading the way. dmmettler -- my son loves those picture/word books as well, and I had also assumed he had just memorized them (along with many others). That is so interesting! Languages, Montessori, and music lessons in particular I will be looking into for the very near future. We do go to a lot of museums and have a zoo membership (we are fortunate to live in an area with excellent, largely free museums and a great zoo), and similar to dmmettler, he loves learning their common and scientific names (he actually makes up songs about them) and their characteristics. I know we have Suzuki violin and piano teachers in the area, but I hadn't considered starting him yet. We did do some Music Together classes in years past. As a follow-up question -- should I just let him progress as he needs/wants to in formal academics by doing things orally, and worry about his handwriting catching up later? Also, for math, one of the reasons I chose RightStart was for the hands-on manipulatives, but I wonder if he's bored because it's not the right level, rather than being the wrong approach. I have also considered Miquon, and may look at that again. Any other curriculum suggestions for math that doesn't require much in the way of writing? Expat_Mama_Shelli -- what are you putting in your workboxes? Again, thank you all!

Hi Everyone, I'm hoping to get suggestions on what to do with my son, who just turned three in the late fall. He is extremely verbal for his age (speaks in full, complex sentences with many advanced vocabulary words), and excels at math and puzzles (mazes, logic problems, etc.). At this point I am not pushing academics, but in many ways he seems to crave these sorts of exercises and really enjoys them, so I started teaching him bits here and there and he just wants more and more and more. We have been working through RightStart A, which he seems bored by, and Logic of English Foundations, which he loves and seems to get intuitively on the reading end, but the handwriting is frustrating for him. We have also been doing some Critical Thinking Co. books -- he will sit and want to do 30+ pages at a time of Beginning Thinking Skills and Mathematical Reasoning. He also has some Kumon Maze and Tracing books that he will sit down and do 20+ pages at a time of, which I bought to try to build his handwriting skills. He can do the Singapore Math 1A/1B problems conceptually, but can't write any answers yet. He knows all his letter sounds and reads CVC/C words without prompting, and he often sounds out longer words on his own for fun (earlier this evening he read the word "curiosity" off of one of my emails). We read a ton of picture books, and he often has them memorized after the second reading, and he will sit and read/narrate the books back to himself for hours. I started reading longer chapter books to him at bedtime, and he has absolutely loved this -- so far we've done Charlotte's Web and both the Winnie the Pooh books. We read the Poetry for Young People volume on Lewis Carroll a few months ago and he has been reciting The Walrus and the Carpenter from heart ever since (just for fun). He happened upon my Harry Potter audiobooks, and fell in love (though I cut him off after Book 3 for now, just due to the increasingly dark subject matter). I want to keep academics fun, and appropriately challenging for him. As background, I tested as highly gifted when I was in school, skipped a few grades, was put in French immersion, was pulled out one day a week to go to a gifted magnet program, and with the exception of the liberal arts subjects I took as part of the IB diploma program, I was still mostly bored out of my mind. I graduated early, had a BA from an Ivy league school by the time I was 19 and my Master's when I was 20. I feel pulled in a few different directions. On one hand, I don't want him to be bored and want him to have to work hard to understand things, as I feel like I never really had to work at school and as a result my work ethic is nowhere near as strong as my husband's or my colleagues'. On the other hand, I don't want to be pushing him at the tender age of three. I don't know how to find the right balance. Any thoughts or suggestions would be most appreciated!

We subscribe to it and really enjoy the crafts and activities. It means that crafts actually get done in an organized way around here, which isn't typical otherwise.

I just have a preschooler now, but I teach the History of Medicine (from Antiquity to present) at a university part-time, so I imagine I will incorporate a fair amount of that into our history lessons when the time comes.

I'll second codecademy.com!

Thank you so much for your responses! It's really good information to have as we head into this process. Although now I'm considering whether I should just wait several more years, so he can really get something out of it. I had no idea about the contracts possibly not including testing fees - I'll be sure to ask!

I'm an infrequent poster, but really appreciate the collective knowledge of the Hive! I'm considering martial arts for my son (pre-K) - not necessarily now, but within the next couple years. There are, however, classes in our area for kids as young as 18 months! I don't like to head into things without researching first and I don't know the first thing about what to look for in a program. So, questions: - What are the basic differences between different styles (karate vs. tae kwon do vs. jiu jitsu vs. aikido, etc.)? - What age would it be reasonable to start? - Are certain styles better/easier to start with for younger children, before moving on to other modalities? - Anything in particular I should look for in a program/instructor? Many thanks in advance for your help!