That's not true at all. The lycopene in tomatoes and watermelon is way better for you when cooked, and the oxalic acid in many green veggies like kale is much harder on your body if uncooked. In fact, people hurt themselves eating too much raw kale or collards sometimes, and when cooked it's fine. I think people freak out too much about vitamins and minerals, honestly. The main reason we should eat a lot of veggies is because they are low in calories. Yes, vitamins are good, as are minerals and fiber, but I roll my eyes every time someone talks about making zucchini muffins and how healthy they are. All these baked goods with a cup of sugar and oil, and then a cup of zucchini or carrot supposedly making them healthy.

I would go to FLL4, maybe, because it does go back and review the basics before moving on to harder concepts. I would also add WWE, any level you think would work. I would probably use level 4 for a kid with that level of ability, and then in 5th you could move into WWS, which is a fabulous program, IMO.

Really depends on the kids. I would trust my 9 year old but not my 8 year old, but probably my 7 year old.

I make them all the time in a Pyrex. I put a chunk of butter in the pams, put them in a cold oven and then turn it on to preheat. When the butter is melted and the oven is hot, I pour in the batter and shut the door quick.

My first grader reads well, so we aren't using a phonics program. She does FLL 5x week, Writing with Ease 4x week, and reads a ton. I have her narrate in a journal about twice a week, and she's aloud to pick what she narrates. It's usually about the science or history book she's reading. I also have her doing wordly wise 4x a week and a handwriting page a day. We read aloud an hour or two a day and memorize poetry, scripture, and prose.

I love SOTW! Audible would be nice but the CDs are great! My littles demand it every time we drive and they've learned so much! ThNk you Susan!

I would say they are pretty different- WWE is mostly writing, narration, copywork, and the Lit guides are more literature study and comprehension, etc. I think they're both great but different things.

I use it with my middle schoolers and now and then my 1st grader listens in. There's been no problem.

My Fathers Dragon Narnia. Beverly Cleary, anything Judy Blume Mrs. Piggle Wiggle poppy AA Milne Rumer Godden

We use TOG, and I have an 8th, 5th, 1st, prek. It's wonderful and I recoup my investment.

For composer I use Squilt. We use it over a couple of weeks and it's pretty relaxed. For composer I bought those Great Composers for Kids books from Amazon and we read about half the book, look up pictures on the Internet (sometimes I print them nicely) and do some basic picture study. Then I Pinterest an art activity related to the artist and we do it at a separate time.

I can share my routine, with 3 students plus a gaggle of toddlers and preschoolers and a baby. :) We begin with a bible story from our preferred children's bible. Then a prayer or two, and we sing a hymn. Then we do scripture memory and quick catechism (just 2 questions a week). Next is poetry memory and a quick geography review. Each of these is very short. The geography is just labelling a map of a continent (we do one continent every 2 months or so), then I quiz them for a minute on "where's France" or "if I went to Portugal and then went straight south, where would I be?" Very easy. For scripture, I don't use an elaborate system, I just pick 3 or so longish verses and we recite them every day until we know them. Poetry we use Linguistic Development through Poetry, and it's super easy. My kids were not amazing memorizers, but they are doing great with steady repetition. We also do Artist study, Composer study, Logic, and a social studies read aloud EACH once a week. In addition we cycle in other things seasonally or as we are interested. Right now we are studying Taming of the Shrew, so we have scaled back the art and music for a month or so. It's pretty loose, I can scale it way back to just a hymn and prayer and read aloud, or we can go full throttle. At max, it takes around 75 minutes, minimum 10. It's a great flexible time to fit in stuff that really makes homeschooling feel different, and has done a ton to improve relationships, attitude, and warmth in our school. Start small with maybe just singing 1 song a week, recite a quick poem, and a read aloud. Anything that is routine and has you all together, invested in something beautiful. :)

Check out the Your Morning Basket podcast and the edsnapshots blog, also Mystie Wincklers site and Cindy Rollins.

I'm doing Year 4 with my crew, who are 8th, 5th, and 1st. TOG does a great job of making the topics age-appropriate. While my older kids have been studying WW1 and 2, the youngest is doing stuff on Disney, teddy bears, cultural changes in the 1950s, etc. She has learned a bit about the Holocaust, Civil Rights movement, etc, and it's been good for her. It has been sad at times, yes, but also really good to give her some perspective. My 5th grade is solidly doing mostly dialectic books now. I like that with TOG you can pick and choose week by week. So for my kids I've usually started ramping up the work in 5th grade, slowly assigned more D level books. By the second half of 5th grade I am assigned a couple of accountability questions each week. I have always included 5th graders in discussion, too. It;s worked great.

What goes in a hope chest? I love the idea, but struggle with modern implementation.

Yeah, hunger is a sensation sent by hormones, to tell you to eat. You can train yourself (OF COURSE YMMV). I used to overeat a ton, and when I went on a diet and started eating 1500 cal/day, I felt ravenous. Not just emotionally, but physical hunger, stomach growling, shaky, irritable. After a few months of sticking with eating less, I trained my body to expect/demand less and I stopped feeling as hungry. This is not true for everyone, of course, but our hormones and bodies are not inert. They can change and adapt.

This used to happen to me. It was pretty bad. I eventually figured out it would go away with regular diet and eating less. Lower carb and higher protein and fat got rid of it, for the most part.

I usually just cut a pork loin into pork chops. I buy it all the time.

I might go for some Dr. Suess if the goal is language proficiency. All the rhyming and word play would be good for him.

When I graduated from an Ivy League education program in 2005, balanced literacy was being taught. Phonics was a bad word.

i like to cultivate a sense in both myself and my children of thankfulness and gratitude, even for things others should do or give us. As part of that I thank my husband for taking out the trash, for working hard at his job, and for doing lots of other things, though of course I expect them and they are his responsibilities. I have never asked my kids to thank me for providing them with "basics" but they all thZnk me for making dinner, buying them socks, cleaning, etc. it's not like I even expect them to do that, but I think they have learned thankfulness as a core value and we express gratitude to each other daily.

This is pretty condescending, honestly. I don't get my ideas out of parenting books. I have parented 8 kids now and I'm doing okay, thanks. I don't know where you're getting the idea that I don't have friends with different perspectives or that I don't have grace. What are you talking about? Parents don't lack for opportunities, no, and when they decide that being kind, being grateful, being loving and obedient go out the window because a child is hungry or tired or it's Christmas, they teach an important lesson. How we act in the hard moments, in less than perfect circumstances, says who are a lot more than how we act on a full stomach and good night's sleep. Grace, in my book, does not mean ignoring. I don't recall saying I'd burn the kids' presents or beat him or something, do you? I mentioned relatively gentle rebuke and discussion. I certainly don't think it means I don't have grace because I would ask an 11 year to try again, to wait 5 minutes to open presents, and to apologize. I'm honestly shocked at these responses, acting as though I and other posters are thought-policing evil controlling monsters because we would have some sort of redress for rudeness. No wonder so many kids are rude and thoughtless. I just asked my 14 and 11 year olds what they would think of this response and they said they would think of that kid as spoiled. I asked what it the kid told his mom he really didn't want a shirt, and they said that the boy should still just say thank you, what's the harm? No, we shouldn't. And the way children go from childlike behavior to adult behavior is through discipline, in the sense of teaching. Discipline, which can mean a discussion, consequences, logical or otherwise, punishment, restitution in certain cases, etc. Many many options. My entire point is that this is normal, yes, kids are bratty sometimes, all of them, but the way we handle it teaches a lesson, either way. Great teaching opportunity.

To answer: Opinions are great. I don't think this kid was just expressing a preference is rude. Maybe you are confusing me with another poster, but I don't find making a Christmas list or making specific requests rude. My kids do so. I think there are sometimes ways to express opinions kindly. If I gave my kid a shirt and she didn't like it, I would expect her to thank me for it, and then later to mention that she really isn't crazy about pink, but would love to exchange it for a blue. Totally cool. My kids do this, and FTR, that's what I would expect of an adult, too. I would be even more horrified by an adult who acted the same way. I honestly don't understand why so many people are having trouble with the idea that every feeling we feel doesn't need to be immediately expressed in it's totality. I have many feelings which are rude, so I don't share them. I would ask my child to apologize to me, the person who gave him a gift. I believe parents are given authority and as authority holders, children should obey them and treat them respectfully. I also believe just as firmly that parents should love their children, protect them, treat them kindly and respectfully, and teach them well. Yes, I agree, however I didn't mean that I would be hurt. I meant that I see it as my job to teach my kids how to treat each other and me and their dad both because it's right but also because it's good training for life. It is hurtful to people to tell them you don't like their gifts, generally, IME. Even if they got it wrong or ignored your preferences. I don't agree with the oft-expressed idea that if you treated someone rudely (EG, by ignoring their gift preference), they should treat you badly back (EG, the kid being rude about it). WHen I got to a family party or a group gathering and bought someone a gift, I think they should thank the giver and smile and say something nice, whether they like it or not. That's my values and culture. I get to teach those to my kids. If you teach your kids differently, that's fine. Sometimes. Sometimes our honest feelings about people are crappy and hurt them and need a little softening, or we need to just suck it up for kindness' sake, accept a shirt, and move on. I would want to teach my son that others' feelings are more important than his own (and I believe the same thing for myself, and for everyone else, as well, not just kids) and that it cost him nothing to be grateful.

Isn't there a difference between having an opinion and expressing it? I have many opinions all day long about people's choices, clothing, music, etc. I choose to express almost none of them, because it's rude and/or not my business. My children may hold any opinions they want, and many or most of them may be expressed in many ways. This was an inappropriate way, whether or not the OPs decision to gift the shirt was rude. If the boy was upset, I would say he should have spoken to his mom privately later. But I won't apologize for feeling that yes, children have a greater responsibility to be obedient, respectful, and deferential to adults in authority over them. That doesn't mean children should be seen and not heard, or that I don't treat mine with respect.

I never said I wouldn't discipline a child privately! I wouldn't shame a child. I would tell h it was hurtful and rude, explain why, and as I said, probably ask him to sit out for 1 round of present opening, or take 5 minutes to calm down, apologize, etc. I would speak privately and respectfully.