Core Knowledge has got their language arts available for free download! Third grade is up in it's entirety, but I haven't checked the others yet.

That's how it works for me as well. Today was a shorter day because we're still warming up, so we schooled and I had time to pick up the house a bit, but we're having leftovers. Tomorrow is science day, and we'll be doing a lab, so tomorrow the house will be a pit and I'll probably be able to make dinner. I can do two of three but not all three in the same day unless something extraordinary happens!

We do incentives for books read. I have a paint chip from the hardware store with the name of books written in each color square. I hole punch the square when he finishes the book, and he can trade in the whole strip for a reward when it's finished. Rewards can include a special dinner chosen by him, a new movie, or something little like that. He can also save them and trade more than one in for a bigger reward like dinner out, a more expensive movie or toy, or a special outing somewhere.

The thing is, education never stops.You just keep throwing things at them; some things stick, some don't. Most programs are structured so that you cover the same stuff more than once, and different stuff sticks at different points. I taught my 2nd/3rd grader about angles and geometry last May. Some stuff stuck, some didn't. We're reviewing that same material right now, and I can see different ideas sticking now. It's repetition that seems to be the key.

I bought an Uglydoll lunch box, a Thor/Avengers lunchbox, goofy sushi shaped erasers, and I'm currently eyeing some awesome duct tape with zebra stripes on it. We'll use these things, but they were *utterly* frivolous. Two lunch boxes for a homeschooled kid?! :laugh:

It looks awesome! I hope they release it for android soon!

We started this am, with a light start. We're only doing math, free reading, and some work on synonyms. Tomorrow is Geography, Latin, and math.

I'm waiting on a paycheck so I can get a new bookcase, and then we'll post pics of our revamped school area!

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Normal, especially for left-handed kids. Mine did this for years :)

Thanks!

Owl pellets have been our Waterloo. I'm not in the least bit freaked out by them, but ds nearly gagged when I suggested it as an interesting idea for science this summer. He watched a dead rattlesnake being skeletonized/decompose over a few weeks, so that doesn't get him, but owl pellets are apparently not quite acceptable :lol:

My 9-yr old is exactly like this! He's a perfectionist; if he can't get it completely right the first time, he shuts down and immediately announces that he can't do it at all. I've tried to show him that making mistakes is part of the learning process, and that mom and dad make mistakes all the time, and we keep trying until we can do it, but he's stubborn as a mule. The worst part is that I'm never sure whether he's just being stubborn because he can't get it right, or that he's really not ready for that kind of work yet. I had this problem with his reading, and I pushed too hard at the wrong time. Result: although he *can* read, he hates to :crying: I don't have any solutions, but I have lots of sympathy!

One third-grader, an only child.

One of my favorite books! Yeah, the Christians don't come off so well, but it's not anti-Christian, per se. It's anti-colonialism, and Christianity was widely used to spread colonialism, so it does come in for criticism for being a vehicle for colonialism.

This. Man, I so gave up on that.

I drink too much wine and worry about screwing up my kid this year. Then I have a good cry, sober up, and start getting school supplies organized and ready.

Carp, I replied to some of the idiots on there :( Live and learn I suppose...

I feel like I need to be flexible, so I have a general idea where I'd like ds to be by next year, but I'm not so hooked into those goals that I can't move them around if I need or want to. Otherwise, I plan day-to-day :svengo:

Milk crates or Sterilite/Rubbermate totes. I use them to tote stuff back and forth myself and they work a right treat.

Only partially finished, but so far: Ben and Me Little House in the Big Woods Pedro's Journal Ben Franklin (Ingri D'Aulaire's book) Detectives in Togas The Arrow Over the Door Atticus of Rome Leif the Lucky (D'Aulaire again)

I have a Dyson animal that I like, but I bought a refurbished Bissel that ran circles around the Dyson. I loved that vacuum and genuinely mourned when it broke :crying:

Cannery Row! Travels with Charley is also one of my faves. I love Grapes of Wrath as well. Tortilla Flat and The Pearl I didn't much care for, but I know lots of people really love those as well.

We do limit the outside activities that Darth Kid does. He has one sport (swimming) that takes up evenings, one science class, and I'm hoping for one art/music lesson. Other than playdates, that's it. Ds is an introvert however, and thrives on quiet time and a limited social schedule, so we work to accommodate that.

Almost wordless today!