This was my thought, too. I wanted so much for him to be reunited with his family, but I sort of knew that once he crossed into China, there would be no reunion ever with his family. He had so much hope, but as his story unfolded, I began to see how impossible it was going to be for him to do anything to save his family. Are people ever allowed to leave North Korea? (I'm showing my naivete about this here.) I was struck with how difficult his life was once he returned to Japan. He was a citizen of nowhere, with no family to give him support of any kind. I just couldn't believe that he lived such a sad life, risked so much escaping, and then went on to continue to live a sad life. He suffered so much. I honestly don't know how he found the mental strength to go on.

These are such good ideas!

Just want to encourage you by saying you can do it! I'm sort of doing the same thing, only I'm tutoring the 3 school age children in an Arabic speaking household and the mother joins in (she sounds a lot like the woman you are describing). It's a little crazy, but it's been fun. I read a story, we read phonograms, play word games, read simple stories, and then talk and read words from the Arabic/English dictionary. I visit them once a week for about an hour and a half. I try to remember that I'm only there for a short period of time, so most of the learning has to be done by them. I leave them homework, help them get books from the library, tell them about programs they can use to learn English, and encourage them to do whatever they can to learn English. But then I don't get discouraged if there is no progress week to week because they aren't practicing. It's ok. If nothing else, I'm a friend who comes back every week to check in and just be there. I guess what I'm saying is, the impact you make on this woman may not be what you expect, and that's just fine. Do what you can and leave the rest up to her.

We've had an Ektorp corner couch for 11 years with two kids and two dogs. It has held up remarkably well. The covers are easy to wash in the washing machine. I guess the cushions are somewhat compressed, but I don't really notice. The back cushions have gotten squashed down over the years, but just the ones the 20 pound dog likes to sit on. I've compensated by rolling up a few old towels and placing them inside the slip cover, just under the cushion. Problem solved!

I think it's a great idea, and the website looks just fine to me! I'm a fan of your thoughts, so I'll be reading.

We read one chapter a week of SOTW for 4 plus years. I always ordered picture books from the library to go along with each chapter (1-lots, depending on the topic and what was available.) There was never a plan other than read a chapter a week and complete the maps. Lots of times we read a few picture books, too, or sometimes the kids read books on their own. My plan was just always to have books available, so I never assigned any independent reading. I sometimes read a chapter book out loud that went along with the time period. When the oldest was in 4th, we read 2 or so time period chapter/ literature books together History has always been loved in our house. I admit that I enjoy it, so my enthusiasm shows. My opinion is to have fun and read to your kids at this age, maybe do some projects, too. Exposure to the past is really all that's needed at this age. We're finishing up ancients again (end of 5th grade and not SOTW), and this is the first year my 11yr old has had assigned history readings (I still read aloud the core text.) I'm so glad I waited until he was older to do that! He enjoys reading about history on his own now because he has 4 years of hearing engaging stories about the past. He's genuinely interested in learning more!

Bummer. That's not how it used to work for me. In fact, I never had to click the dot. Somehow "it" just remembered where I left off reading in every single post. No matter what. I can't be the only one who experienced that. Kinda frustrating now...

This worked, but then I left a thread without reading all the replies and went back and the big dot isn't displayed anymore. The thread starts at the beginning again. More ideas? I'm reading on my phone....

I'm reading on my phone (and usually do.) It used to be that if I clicked on a thread I had already started reading earlier, my phone always scrolled ahead to the last post I previously read in the thread. Now when I click on a previously read thread, it starts at the beginning. Any suggestions?

I agree! The articles, although expressing their beliefs, are also trying to sell their curriculum to a specific audience of homeschoolers who want to make sure they get it "right." If they just use this, their kids will magically be well rounded and perfectly educated. I read the first article and was struck by the tone more than anything. It was one of the most fear driven articles I have ever read from their magazine. It was almost like they purposely tried to tap into the fear of some homeschoolers in order to sell more products, using the current cultural tone to advance their agenda.

Been there, though not at middle school level. I tried to keep our routines as normal as possible, and I kept up with schoolwork as much as we could. Honestly, doing normal things helped me not focus on how not normal it was to have a sick child. It also helped our sick child and not sick child feel secure and not scared during the whole process. We just looked at it like, "ok, ds has this illness, and we have to go to appointments, stay in the hospital, and take medicine to get rid of the illness, but we'll make it work. Now let's do math." But again, we faced a very long road (years of treatment), and I'm not sure I'd have taken the same approach for a short term illness, especially if it was serious. But, I think routines make children feel safe and secure, so I'm sure I would have continued with life as close to normal as I could, especially for my ds who wasn't sick. I'm sorry you're dealing with this. It is very stressful. Maybe this helps a little?

Totally agree with this. I despised the math curriculum that our district used. Every lesson had 8 and 9 year olds collaborating on a math problem when what most of them needed was some direct instruction at that age.

Yes, as a former elementary teacher, I will tell you that some of the loveliest looking classrooms I saw were the classrooms of young teachers who were enthusiastic but had little in depth knowledge of math and language.

Thank you. That thread lead to others, and it was very informative!

Thank you so much for all of this! I must have missed it on the website.

I am having the same exact questions as I plan writing for 6th next year! I had always planned on moving to WWS, but now I don't know. This has been a piece-meal gap year of sorts for writing. We've continued doing lots of writing work, using history and science as the backdrop. My son is great at taking notes and writing a summary, and I really feel like he's getting the hang of outlining. Now I wonder what to do next as I think what I'm teaching now for writing needs to be expanded. For those that have used Writing & Rhetoric, where would I start if I went with that program instead of WWS? We've done WWE 1-4 and now this gap year, and I can't quite figure out which level of Writing & Rhetoric I would even choose. OP, any more insights about which direction you might take? I've looked at the sample pages of WWS, and I'm just not 100% convinced it's right for us. I sometimes didn't like WWE, but it did a good job of teaching my son how to summarize, write complete sentences, and write from dictation. So, maybe WWS could be viewed the same way? I might not love it, but it produces the desired results? But I also want my son to understand the value of writing and how to convey his thoughts to an audience in an interesting way. What to do!

Thank you for your responses. I guess we are just having a hard time with a child accurately drawing a model that shows a line divided into sevenths. I do see the value in drawing a visual, but I see this example as being a bit tricky. The two fractions are so close that I could see how a child could draw them and see that they are the same length.

Thank you for the responses. Can you explain the main concept the teacher is teaching or what understanding this shows?

We can solve this, but not by using a number line. it's a 3rd grade problem, so no knowledge of common denominators or multiplying fractions: Liz and Jay each have a piece of string. Liz's piece of string is 4/6 of a yard, and Jay's is 6/7 off a yard long. Whose string is longer? Draw a number line to model the length of each string. Explain the comparison using pictures, numbers and words.

This is exactly what is wrong with the rules!

This. These rules do not support building community. They also don't support kids choosing for themselves how to deal with situations. Sometimes it's best to walk away, and sometimes it's best to ignore bad behavior from others. Honestly, I can't understand what these rules are intended to do. They don't teach kids how to handle conflict (which they will encounter their whole lives), and they do nothing to build a positive learning environment.

This sounds amazing! I'm thinking my mom would love these experiences. She wants to travel, but my dad has no desire. I like that she could go with my kids.

I'd reschedule. I'm waiting on my dental visit and my eye exam. I know I'm being a bit paranoid, but we've been sick more than normal this fall/winter, and I just don't want anymore illness in our house.

Thank you!

You can do Spalding for sure. If you don't want to start writing yet, you can have him "write" the phonograms in a salt box, on the ground in chalk, or in the air. Back in the day, I would write the phonograms on the ground in chalk and have my sons pour water over each phonogram I said. There are lots of ways to learn the phonograms without writing them on lined paper. Just to add, I didn't start kindergarten with my kids until they were 6. Just didn't feel a need to rush. We read, played, and just did stuff until then.