right now my boys (12 and 10) are into chess, stratego, othello, backgammon, parcheesi and monopoly. on my list for the next game buying binge are clue and yahtzee. maybe scrabble too. and boggle.

Dh's family are of the Levi tribe. That information gets passed down, especially since those of Levi or Kohanim descent have specific roles during services. tombstones are also usually marked 'the Levite' or 'the Kohain'. I know someone who found out he was a descendant of the Kohanim by visiting ancestral cemetaries in Russia. as others mentioned, it is assumed that my family is of Judah.

library emails help. also, I go to the library weekly and when I take out new books I always ask for another receipt listing the books I may still have out. otherwise I tend to forget a book or two. I tried the basket idea but invariably books found their way under the sofa or behind a bed. if I didnt remember I still had it out I wouldnt know to look for it. with all that, I average a few dollars/month in late fees. not terrible for all that free reading material.

the only regular chores my kids have are making their beds, picking up their rooms before bed, and dog-related chores (two older ones switch off getting up early to take him out and third kid feeds him dinner, fourth kid rounds up all the dog toys before bedtime) which were agreed upon before acquisition of said dog. otherwise, its a help-out-as-needed around here. sometimes I think about putting something more concrete into place, but then I dont. this seems to be working so far. I had waaaay too many responsibilities as a child.

we pulled out midweek. no one gave us any trouble. my only regret was that in was in the middle of standardized testing, and my state requires testing every other year. had I allowed ds to complete the week we wouldnt have had to test the next year.

you know, winter, I totally agree with you. I hate the reader and I hate that ds hates it. to me, that's a sure way to destroy the love of reading. they are doing the same with math, thanks to the common-core curriculum they are using. this is a child who plays 'number line subtraction' for fun but now they insist that he use three different methods to solve subtraction problems. I allow him to just use the numberline because I cannot bear to stand by while his love of number play gets squelched. I had a conversation with the teacher today about homework, and that I would like him exempt from the assigned hw. I assured her that I will be reading to/with him (not from the reader, I will find something appropriate for him) and that he will do the math but I will modify as I see fit. her biggest issue was that 'now all the kids will want to be doing their own thing'. I will look for those Usborne books you mention.

20 years! You are are rockstar!!! october is always a tough month for me. not only hs'ing, whatever is going on in my life always seems so overwhelming in october. by november I get my mojo back. hopefully so will you. take a few 'fun days' either yourself or with the kids to re-energize. sometimes just recognizing the burnt out feeling and letting it be helps me get through it with minimal damage to my self-esteem and confidence.

my 9 yo devours anything by Roald Dahl.

I'm looking for some book recommendations. My 6 yo ds decided that he 'loves history!' and wants some books about columbus. He is not yet reading, but I read aloud to him and his comprehension is pretty good (we just finished reading The Witches by Roald Dahl and he has a stash of non-fiction reads as well, mostly about bugs and spiders, so I'm glad he's branching out, lol). I'd love some really engaging books for him, my experience with history was awful and to this day I find anything related to history so boooooring. so I'm hoping to keep his interest alive and to maybe spark mine as well : ) thanks in advance!

:::sigh::: so ds wasnt placed in the reading specialists classroom. why? depends who you ask. reading specialist strongly implied that it was a matter of space and triage. meaning, that other kids need the help more than ds and there are only so many spots. ds's teacher says that 'he is keeping up with his reading group in the classroom so we will keep an eye on him'. I dont know what to believe, but the homework is nothing but an exercise in frustration. I do see that his reading is improving. so that's good. and the teacher is sending home phonics homework, so that's good too, I think. he can even do his phonics hw, but the reading homework just makes him cry. he says its so boring. I think its hard for him and the truth is that the reader IS boring. I also think more than 30 min hw is just plain wrong for 6 year olds. I happen to think all hw is wrong for 6 year olds but that's another story. right now I cant even imagine afterschooling, the poor child is so tired and really needs a break. I am starting to seriously consider hs him next year. Its just not a possiblity this year. I will take a deep breath now, and use this weekend to formulate a plan.

very interesting. thank you for posting this.

this thread is great! I might do a unit on this as well. when we were fixing up our bathroom I actually did look into a composting toilet, but dh said no because it needed electricity and he was worried about power outages. oh well. it was also really expensive. we do compost our dog's poop though, that's a fun poop-lab :)

thanks! the code worked for me too

ah, that makes sense. meeting with the reading specialist is a good idea. ds really avoids playing games with words or letters, he much prefers games like othello, checkers, blokus. but maybe I will look for some new games and strongly encourage :) ds is being followed by an opthomologist for a mild lazy eye, but other than that he has no signs of vision/tracking/focus issues. I am fairly confident he just needs more instruction, time and practice, but I havent ever taught a kid to read so what do I know? I dont think he's got any sort of learning issue that's keeping him back. two of my older kids struggled to learn to read and it was so different with them. this one is clearly making progress, just slowly.

my schooled kids are in dual-curriculum schools so they dont get home until late afternoon (high schooler gets home at 6, 1st grader at 4:40) so there isnt all that much time left. my first grader takes basketball on fridays but thats easy, its in the school so I just have to pick him up. now he also wants karate, that is twice weekly so I'm not sure I can handle it but it would be so good for him (he's low tone and socially quiet) so I think I will just make it happen. My high schooler takes guitar on monday nights and also goes to a math-help place twice weekly, she loves math now so I make that happen too even though I do feel run-ragged sometimes. school got off to a slow start this year because of all the holidays so they havent started afterschool clubs yet, we'll see what she gets involved in. dd plays her guitar as a form of anxiety management, so I never have to remind her to practice, its like breathing, she's always playing when she has free time. My 4yo dd wants to take ballet or gymnastics but I just cant figure out how to fit it in. the classes tend to be when the bigger kids buses come home and I like to be home to greet them. I do nearly all the driving (dh takes dd to/from guitar lessons). I usually run errands while they are where they need to be, but it doesnt always work that way. sometimes I run home to put littles to bed and then run back to pick the kids up. sometimes I take my homeschooling lesson-plan work and work in the car while I wait. if the weather is nice I'll go for a walk. and sometimes I just play candycrush :001_smile:

ugh, my ds school is using GO math. I really dislike it, although I am not sure if its the book alone or also the way the teacher is using it. My big problem with it right now is that my ds (first gr) isnt reading yet so its impossible for him to do the hw without me. and the instructions are not even written on a gr 1 level anyway. I had to think twice a few times before I understood what he had to do. I *think* that this 'talk it out' part of math is part of the common core business. its really frustrating for kids who just intuit math but have trouble expressing it in words.

my 12 yo ds is like that too. And I know the problem is that I have no spine. I feel bad asking him to re-do more than once. pass the titanium!

I love home science tools, we bought so much stuff from them, very good customer service. another vote against the rock tumbler though. we had one, its so LOUD and takes forever. we just got some k'nex kits from them, my boys are itching to rip open the boxes but we're waiting for rainy days. we got our frogs for dissection from them too. very pleased.

I've been *this* close to buying it for a while now. I think I will just do that already. My 7th grader will probably do well with it even though he says he doesnt like lessons on the computer. I'm not sure about my 5th grader, he's a weak reader and a resistant writer. do you think the fifth grade level will be appropriate for him? or should I get the fourth?

thanks for all of those suggestions. I do think we need more than just leveled readers, he brings home small books that he makes in school to read for homework and sometimes he can muddle through but mostly he can't. Ellie, you confirmed my gut feeling. ds brings home books he cant read and I cant help but to think 'he needs to learn these skills first!' as far as the expectation, I was surprised that the teacher felt he was so far behind, but apparently 'most' of the kids in his class have 'over 30 sight words' and are 'reading most short vowel words just fine'. But what do I know, one of my kids was a self taught reader by age 4 and the other two didnt learn to read until the end of second grade. so I have no idea what 'average' is. I do know that if I were hs'ing this one, I'd feel confident that he WILL learn to read sooner or later, I can see he is making progress, but not enough to keep up with the class apparently. I spoke to the principal about it today and he arranged for ds to be evaluated by the reading specialist. they do pull some kids out for small group reading instruction, so we will see if that is appropriate for ds. I just dont want to wait or rely on the school too much. so kiwik, better to ask the reading specialist for guidance as far as what to work on at home than to start with something myself?

long story, but I dont think my ds (first grade) will get adequate reading instruction in school this year. I cannot homeschool him right now so I'd like to work with him after school, but i don't know where to begin. He knows all his letters and sounds, he can slllllloooowly sound out words like 'cat' and 'fox'. He's not great with sight words. We read all the time, he understands everything and has a pretty impressive vocabulary. I would really appreciate any direction, tips, strategies, etc thank you!

oh that looks good! I just ordered it. thanks

I'm looking for some good read aloud suggestions for my boys, ages 10 and 12. what are your fav's? thanks

what do your kids do with their free time? My kids spend, on average, 1.5 -2 hrs on schoolwork in the morning, and another hour in the afternoon. that leaves them with an enormous amount of free time. sure, they go outside and ride their bikes, or read a bit. occasionally pull out some art supplies, once in a while (very infrequently but it has happened) they might spontaneously write a short story or a comic strip or collect and sort bugs or rocks. but for the most part, they whine that they are bored. I'm thinking maybe they need more work? or a hobby? I dont want to just load them down with busy work just for the sake of keeping them busy but staring into space cant be good for anyone. well, not on a regular basis. they play piano by ear, and self-teach from youtube but not on my suggestion. I can require it, but I dont want to take the joy of it away, kwim? ETA: my boys are 12 yo and 9 yo

my kids kinda grew up always knowing about 9/11. we live not far from NYC and every time we drive by the altered skyline dh and I go on and on about it. so the kids have always known the story, my older ones know more details (like people jumping) than do my little ones but honestly I do not remember ever providing those details. I think its a communal sort of knowledge. we lost many local firefighters and many of our friends were working in the towers that day. so the kids just know. on 9/11 we talk about stories of heroism that occured that day and about how precious life and loved ones are. we also talk about bravery and resiliency. things like that. ages 14-3.