I seem to vaguely recall that Paddington was mentioned several times in the thread about books you are supposed to love, but don't. I agree with the others that suggest changing books. Dahl books are a great choice. We recently read The Green Ember (by S.D. Smith), and my son loved it. Who doesn't love rabbits with swords? There are so many great books. I have no compunction about setting aside books that just aren't working for us at that moment -- either for me or for them.

For those with kids learning Modern Standard Arabic, these lessons are kind of similar to the 'News in Slow French' site, but for Arabic. You can listen to Arabic news which is slowed down a little and spoken clearly, and read along to the transcripts. http://nclrc.org/webcasts/arabic/ ETA: Apparently, they also have broadcasts in Russian and Mandarin. http://nclrc.org/webcasts/

http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Wimpy-Kid-Latin-Edition/dp/1419719475

I posted about this exact same issue last year: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/518257-should-i-worry-speech-issue/ My son has mostly stopped doing it, but it occasionally comes back. I am chalking it up to an excited boy thing.

If we do this all the way through, G-d willing, I will be 59 when my youngest finishes high school. :svengo: I can't imagine that I'd be interested in going back to work, so I expect that my husband and I will travel FT.

This is essentially what we do with our homeschooling charter. He does the core subjects with me 3 days/week and gets all the fun stuff at the charter 3 days/week. He adores it, and it meets our needs both socially and academically. Do they have anything like this in your state? I miss the money that came with working, but not the demands of legal practice. I am glad that you have found something that you enjoy in the law. It's rare to find happy lawyers. ;)

What about Reading Like A Historian, from Stanford: https://sheg.stanford.edu/rlh

I am so sorry for your loss. May Timmy's memory be for a blessing. I thank you both for your service.

My most fulfilling job was working as an intern at Planned Parenthood. I should have gone to med school.

We used Progressive Phonics along with the Nora Gaydos books (http://www.innovativekids.com/shop/140/learn-to-read) and the AAR readers (http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/Supplemental-Products/Readers/). IMHO, what you described is developmental. It will click. Try not to stress and just be patient.

Thanks for this. A Christian POV doesn't really bother me either -- apart from nonsensical science or claims that my kids will face hell-fire damnation for being Jews. My son is pretty good at distinguishing what we believe from what others believe, so I don't worry too much about that. I just want it to be rigorous, and I think we agree from the samples that this program likely is. OT, but...have you looked at the Veritas Press Self-Paced stuff for independent history? Thoughts? I hope that enough people will take advantage of the HSBC deal to get the best price.

Quark, I saw this today on Kickstarter, and thought of you and your son. I think I might buy some for the boat. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/solightdesign/solarpuff-a-unique-little-solar-light?ref=popular

The JCC also offers financial aid. That has enabled us to do theatre and fencing camps this summer. Different JCC from you, but they all offer aid. :)

Don't discount military service (not just academies and ROTC) as a means of paying for college. My parents had too much money for me to qualify for financial aid out of high school, but not enough money saved to pay for where I was admitted (even with the largest merit aid award at USC). I joined the Army when I was 17, leaving for boot camp two days after high school graduation, and spent two years on active duty (and another 4 in the reserves while in college). And I left active duty, at age 19, as a freshly-minted independent student for financial aid purposes. With my DD-214 in hand, I suddenly had need-based aid coming out the wazoo. If you find yourself in the donut hole, and your kids are at all willing, consider this as an option. Other things to consider: -- When I began college, after military service, an 8 o'clock class was no longer an issue. At all. :) The discipline that the military instilled in me was brought to bear on my studies. -- Your kid will be joining the largest alumni organization in the nation. Veteran status provided me with a leg up in interviews for jobs, internships, graduate school, and scholarships, and a commonality of experience that helped me in working (as a young woman) with CEOs, CFOs, General Counsel, etc. (most of whom were male and also vets). -- The military is not just technical/STEM-type jobs. I learned 4 years of college-level Russian, care of the Army, and had many friends in the intelligence/special operations community who went on to employment with the CIA, NSA, FBI, think tanks, etc. -- Your child may qualify for military college payment programs, and a VA home loan, as well as financial aid.

EoE, have you used this curriculum yet? I'm hesitant to order it, as a secular homeschooler, but it looks so dang meaty!

I don't think the point is not to memorize math facts, but not to spend time drilling them at the expense of conceptual learning. I've never drilled my son on math facts, yet he somehow has managed to learn addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts (thus far) without the timed drills that I was subjected to as a child.

We actually switched from ELTL to WWE. ELTL is definitely gentler than WWE, and I wanted something a bit more rigorous. If you are ok with going more slowly, then ELTL is a fantastic program. We switched because I ended up not really enjoying the books that were selected. I wanted to be able to do my own thing with lit. If you like the selections in ELTL, then go for it. Hopefully others will chime in.

It was here, which was linked in the article I posted: http://hechingerreport.org/should-we-stop-making-kids-memorize-times-tables/ ETA: But, her position is obviously more nuanced than the headline implies.

This book club pooped (lol!) popped up on my newsfeed, and I thought others might be interested: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/152451-novareads-a-virtual-book-club

Other online class options: Pre-AP Bio: CTY, Online G3, WTM Academy, AIM Academy, Blue Tent Pre-AP Chem: CTY, Stanford OHS, AIM Academy Algebra-Based Physics: Derek Owens, Stanford OHS, CTY, Clover Creek Science

We are going to read Narnia over the summer, so these will be great. I think that I will keep Shakespeare in mind for down the road. Thank you!

That's hilarious. :) I did find a few at our library, but I was hoping that there might be a more literary version. Ah well. I am pretty sure that he will love them. Thanks, Farrar.

I think my son would really enjoy some Choose Your Own Adventure-type books. I remember reading them when I was a kid. Does this genre still exist? Any books of this sort that you can recommend? Bonus points if they are of decent quality. He comfortably reads at about a 3rd-4th grade level. Thanks!

Soccer is currently around $500/year, but will increase to $1000-1500/year if he moves to the academy team for U8. Guitar lessons = $125/month Mixed Martial Arts = $160/month Summer Camp = $1200/month Homeschool PE class = $50/month Parkour = $40/month Swimming = $170/month