My kids are 5 & 3....things I'm thinking of for the stockings: flashlight, small book, spot it game, play jewelry (girl), little cars (boy)...(we leave their stockings in their bed for them to wake up and find,so all our stuffers are left unwrapped and need no supervision or assistance. Still trying to think of shows topper stuffers to add to my list. (:

Great question! I'm watching this thread. (: We have two BOB book apps that my kids love, but I'm interested for variety. (I can't remember cost, but I know they were less than $5.)

Wow...this is my mom....like other posters, it is so hard for me to understand how she can be the way she is to her own children and I so hope and pray that I don't end up like her. My brother lives 20 min from her...she doesn't visit or call, didn't go to his wedding (because she might have had to interact with her ex, my brotehr's dad), doesn't make any effort to see her grand kids. We live 1000s of miles away...she doesn't send cards or gifts for any of our birthdays (although she did call me this past birthday), she has visited us twice and (she stays in a hotel because she wants to and we're thankful because she smokes nonstop) when she's here doesn't come to the house til late morning, then heads back right after dinner. When she was at the house she barely interacted with the kids. She has not called my kids (5 and 3) on the phone ever. The crazy thing is, like clockwork, every Christmas she sends us a nice check. I try to include her- send her texts and picture messages about the kids, but she says she can't get the pics on her phone. Lots of excuses....no connection or communication initiated by her...when we do talk, it's very superficial. I know she doesn't know anything about my children's likes/dislikes, activities, etc, let alone mine or my husband's. As a Christian, and now a mother to a boy and a girl, I am constantly soaking in everything about how to be a godly and loving mother from good friends and mentors. When I see godly families in our church where the mom and daughters have flourishing, close relationships, I really don't know how that must feel or how to do that. I just know I want that with my daughter! Thanks previous posters for the book recommendations...I think I will be doing some reading. (:

In past years I've made apple pies at a MOPS group I attended. We cut and seasoned the apples (uncooked), put them in unbaked preassembled shells, and sprinkled a crumble topping on them, then wrapped in foil and froZe. They always baked up nicely. This year, I took the kids to a u-pick apple farm and now have quite a few apples. I plan to make filling too and freeze it in ziplock bags. (: Hth

Thanks! I like my hard copy and I'm visual, but I dream of being minimalist...I just don't know if I would be able to use digital as easily since I work well usin post-its and flipping and marking pages. It would be great to try using digital without long term commitment/investment.

Does anyone know if I can get a free unit of digital if I am already a print user? Thanks!

Thanks, Ladies! Please keep the input coming! I do believe I'll become more streamlined as the year goes on. I do want to finish the year in one year, but maybe I can find some more creative ways to get the reading done quicker. (Since we are doing phonics and my Ker is just really starting to read we already spend a lot of time reading during our core subject time.). And, well, I do need to be a little more diligent and consistent with my prep. ): One thing that has helped, is after both my kids have their rest time (naps- even my older one sometimes) I've quit waiting for both to be ready so they can do TOG together and have instead just started with my K'er whenever he gets up, which is usually sooner. I want to include my 3 yo whenever possible (I'm going to do the same history an science with both of them thru the years)but I'm reminding myself not to get hindered by trying to include her at all costs, if you know what I mean. Thanks for your input! I'd love to hear more tips! (:

What do you do? This is my first year homeschooling my oldest (kindergarten) and I have a 3 year old that is joining us most of the time as interest allows. I am committed to use TOG for the long haul benefits. I'm ok with starting small and adding in layers. Ultimately, I don't plan to use it for writing, but rather just for history, geography, biblical worldview, art, supplemental literature... After reading on WTM forum, I found some good examples of how to implement TOG for lower grammar in just 4 days a week (which is what we have due to our schedule). We started school 8/21 and I am just managing to get both history and science done 2-3 days a week. First, do you think this will improve as we get further along into the school year or should I plan for 2-3 days/wk instead of 4? If I do less history (& science) per week, how will I get 36 weeks done in one school year? If you do TOG in only 2-3 days, how do you do it? (LG). It seems to take us 2 days just to finish the core reading. (Currently in ancients year 1.)I want to be able to include some projects and geography, but we're averaging 2-3 weeks for each week of TOG. (We are finishing week 5 and have done week 4....we started with 4 in order to follow the chronological plan.). Help! (: Thanks in advance!

Thanks! As much as I want to just "dive in" and get started, I was thinking the same thing. (: How do you like it so far? Does it seem like it will be worth it? Is it tedious to set up? Anyone else?... Lisa

I am downloading the trial version of OLLY so I can start inputting TOC and begin planning. I have one K'er. Does anyone with experience with OLLY have any tips or advice for me about getting it set up or using it? I would greatly appreciate your input! (:

Bump

I'm really interested in getting and using OLLY. I discovered it a few months ago, but it is fairly new and there isn't a lot of info from users out there. Plus, it appears there was a recent update, so I was waiting to see how that went as well as what the status is on the iPad app creation. Is anyone using this? Love it/hate it? Why? How are the updates and iPad app? I will be starting my homeschool journey next month with my K'er. I also have a 3 yo up and coming. I am also a former ps teacher and have used technology extensively as a teacher. Thanks! (:

Before staying home with my children (now 3 & 4 1/2), I taught for six years in CA public schools. I've taught in three different districts ( 4/5th gr school in a migrant worker area, k-6 gr school in a poor inner city school, and k-6 in an affluent high performing school) in which I taught 5th gr for four years (2 in a self contained GATE class) and 6th for two years. In all three districts/schools I taught in, cursive was not highly regarded. I believe it was still taught (this was back in the early 2000s), but students weren't required by most teachers to continue using it after the grade in which it was learned. Many teachers I knew felt it was outdated. I've always been a bit old fashioned in this area (despite being very technology oriented) and always had my students do cursive practice throughout the year and required final drafts to be in cursive (unless it was a computer generated project). I never researched the importance of it...it was more of an intuition, I guess. So I found this article really interesting. I still think cursive is important and plan to teach my own children when the time comes.

My kids (now age 3 & 4 1/2) love and have loved Sid the science kid, superwhy, leap frog, All abouts, wiggles, Mickey Mouse clubhouse, word world, curious George, jake and the never land pirates, special agent oso, Daniel tiger's neighborhood, bob the builder, Thomas the train, fireman Sam, etc. I will say my kids watched Timmy time once and I won't let them anymore...it appeared that all dialogue between the characters (animals) was animal sounds. It got very annoying to this Mama after 1/2 of one episode! Lol

Wow! I agree with pps about the insensitivity and rudeness of the phone use during the play date. My children are much younger (3 &4) so we haven't had to deal with that yet. I've heard of the basket idea and part of me likes it, but here's where I have hesitation....if my children (when they are old enough to have phones) were at another person's house I think I would want their phone on their person. I'd like to think my children will be safe and I will have been careful about whose house I let them go to, but that doesn't mean children can't still be violated in seemingly safe situations/settings. In the horrible, rare chance that something were to happen to my child or if they got a funny/creepy feeling about a situation or person while at someone else's house, I wouldn't want them to have to draw attention to the fact that they needed to call me (by getting the phone out of a centrally located basket) and then still have to wait for me to come get them. If the phone is on their person, they could discretely text me to come get them now (no questions asked). With that said, I plan to train my kids in cell phone etiquette in social settings and enforce those guidelines. So, I would want to know if my child was acting like the visitor in op situation so I could appropriately deal with it. Maybe I'm s little paranoid about the 'bad guys' of the world and maybe my viewpoint will change a bit when my kids get to be that age, but that's how I feel now.

Sorry- I tried to quote and reply, but it's new to me. (: Do you currently use OLLY? I'm impressed with it and am fairly positive I'll download it to try. (This will be my first year homeschooling K.) I would love to have your input based on your experience. Thanks in advance!

We'll be starting CC for the first time this year in our area. I've heard that there was an app, but I haven't been clear as to what it's all about. Could you please tell me about it? Is it free? If not,is it worth paying for? Thanks!

Hi! I posted about this earlier, but now I have another question...I know someone who has the workbook/syllabus and is going to loan it to me. I have ordered the Reading Roadmaps already. I have past experience teaching the literary elements of literature and Socratic method to 5th graders (I mainly wanted this curriculum for refresher/reference and a starting point, since materials I've previously used belonged to the district, so I no longer have them). How necessary are the DVDs? Could I figure it out without them, or will I be lost? Thanks!

Thank you everyone for the great insights! Thank you especially HomeschoolingHeartsandMinds for the specifics...I appreciated your review (and the other one that was posted, too). TTC looks like a great program!

I saw reference to this for the first time in another thread I just read. I am very intrigued and looked at the website. I also really like the idea of IEW which this curriculum has been compared to. I will be starting homeschooling my kindergartener this fall, well, actually next month! Wow! From what I've been able to see on the website so far, this looks like something I'd like to do, but I don't know where to start or what basics I need. Is it even doable to get started this soon before school starts? So, thoughts? What specific materials would I need to be able to learn, understand and implement the curriculum to my K student? In case this is pertinent, I am a former 5th and 6th grade teacher and have taught gifted students so I have experience conducting Socratic method discussions and teaching/analyzing the elements of literature. (One of the reasons the curriculum appeals to me.). Thank you for any input, tips, and recommendations! (:

We like scrabble, boggle, Yahtzee, phase 10 (cards or dice) farkle (a dice game not a board game), UNO, sequence...

I'm new to homeschooling, but taught a 5th grade self contained GATE class before becoming a stay-at-home mom. One of the extra things we used that I really liked was the vocabulary books by shostak. I don't remember which levels correspond to what grades but here is a link to one of the books. It had great vocabulary, wonderful variety of exercises using the words, and focused not only on meaning, but pronunciation as well. Unless I find something better, I plan to use it in a few years (w're only starting kindergarten this fall). http://www.amazon.com/Vocabulary-Workshop-Level-Jerome-Shostak/dp/0821506064 Hope this helps. (:

I am nowhere near needing HOE (my oldest will be starting kindergarten in the fall) but I got excited to see this thread since I actually purchased and used the HOE set in my 5th grade classroom before I became a stay-at-home mom and soon to be homeschool mom. I loved the program and will have to check out the app.....although part of me thinks I would prefer the manipulatives vs the digital version. Thanks for sharing!

I am really interested in this program and think I will use it, but I wasn't able to find a lot of first hand information on it since it is so new. I have a Mac and want a stand alone single program to do any lesson planning/record keeping I want to do. Do any of you use it or plan to use it? What do you like or don't like about it? Any tips for using it successfully? This will be my first year homeschooling my son in kindergarten. (My daughter will be starting preschool.). I am a former elementary teacher. I will be using apologia science, tapestry of grace, everyday math, and teach America to read and spell (TATRAS). I included this information about myself in case it makes a difference in your recommendation or tips about OLLY as a planner. (: Thanks!