Thank you both! Heather

I have a rising 5th and 8th grader. I am looking into my options for combining them for biology science this year. They both really want to study the human body in-depth! My youngest has been doing Apologia elementary science books for the past few years and living books/interest-led topics before that. My older student has recently done Bob Jones Earth Science and before that Bob Jones Life Science. We don't want to start Physical Science until 9th grade. So.... What are my options for combining these two? I've just learned about Elemental Science. It looks good but my concern is the reading primary is from encyclopedia spines. Maybe that will be a fun change for them? But definitely different than they are used to with traditional textbooks. I'd love to hear about other curriculum you've used and would recommend for studying biology in the logic stage? Thanks so much!

Hi all, I have such a hard decision to make regarding my youngest son and I sure could use some advice. My youngest son, Joshua, turns 6 this summer. His birthday is July 20th which is 10 days short of the cut-off date for our local schools. My decision is not what program to place him in. I am already set on using Little Hearts for His Glory for him this upcoming school year. (We did MFW Kindergarten this previous year) My dilemma is whether to place him as a kindergartner or 1st grader for the upcoming year. If I was putting him in school I definitely would have given him that extra year and started K as a 6 year old. If I have him as a 1st grader next year he will always be the youngest and smallest in his class. This doesn't seem like a big deal since we are homeschooling but there are other factors for me to consider. For instance, sports teams, competitions, camps, etc. One of the biggest is his Sunday School class at church (which I taught this past year). He loves his little friends who all were in Kindergarten this year. He pretty much thought he was in Kindergarten this year and I am worried about how he will react if we "hold him back" for Sunday School and he totally has to switch to a new group of kids (although we love those kids, too). I figure if I continue to teach the upcoming Kindergarten class that would help him with the change of friends. Also, he already completed year one of Sparks in our Awana club so it would mean him repeating that year all over again. That's not a real biggie to me, though. When I look at Joshua as an individual I feel like I would be giving him a better set up for success by letting him start Kindergarten as a 6 year old. Also, it would mean having an extra year at home before college. I know that's a long way off, but it's something I have been thinking about. As our youngest son, we've also sort of babied him and he's not as mature as our other boys were at almost 6. That's hard to admit, but it's true. There are two things that are keeping me from having peace about giving him another year for kindergarten: 1. Holding him behind as his church friends move on to first grade. :001_huh: 2. My middle son's birthday is July 14th and we did send him to Kindergarten as a brand new five year old. We were not homeschooling yet, and though I wanted to hold him back we ended up sending him. He has done great academically, but I feel he still struggles at times emotionally. There's part of me that is conveying to Joshua we don't think as highly of him for giving him an extra year. I never want Joshua to think we ever thought less of him because we did Kindergarten a year later than Sam. Oh this is soooo hard. Okay, I layed out my heart to you all. I would really love to hear your advice. Thanks for sharing with me your ideas. Heather

Also in Missouri: National WWI Memorial in Kansas City Truman Library in Independence, Mo

This is a great resource: http://prekinders.com/pattern-blocks/ Heather

We went to Disney this past November. After weeks of trying to navigate the world of Disney, I found out about TourGuideMike's site. Our trip was wonderful, and I attribute it to the help I received from that site. It costs around $30 to join, but I think it was worth every penny! http://www.tourguidemike.com Heather

At our last pot-luck I brought 2 dozen chicken drumsticks. I removed the skin, seasoned them with some bbq rub, then baked them in the oven for about 1/2 hour. Then basted with bbq sauce for the last 5 minutes or so. They were gone before half the line went though!

To celebrate, how about making a contribution to the Human Fund? :lol: (If you're not a Seinfeld fan, that makes absolutely no sense I know.) Heather

1. The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg 2. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil by E.L. Konigsburg 3. Missing May by Cynthia Rylant (I'm on a Newberry kick! :willy_nilly:) Oh, how I love The Bluest Eye and Caged Bird. The writing is breath-taking. Heather

My Father's World and Heart of Dakota Heather

Another Missouri mom sliding in... I agree with the assessments above. Musical practice and instruction would both count the same in your log book. You would need to choose 1 hour of Reading or Bible for the CLE. I would chose Reading, since I don't count Bible as core. I know lots of people who do, I just feel better tracking it as non-core. Yes, free reading definitely counts as reading practice. Even though my son sometimes reads a couple hours a day, I usually only log an hour of free reading a day. Just a personal preference,I guess. In terms of the credit hour question, again there are different schools of thought amongst Missouri homeschoolers on that one. Personally I either log a lesson as a full hour or a half an hour. If it's less than 30 minutes, it goes is as a 1/2 hour. If it's more than 40 minutes I round it up to an hour. I don't feel good about a 10 minute grammar lesson counting as an hour lesson. Again, I know a lot of people who do log it as an hour. If ever I had to defend my log book against the county prosecutor I want to feel confident in the hours I've logged. Heather

Good to know my gut feeling on this one was right. I checked out the trailer and could tell I wouldn't like it. It looked like it had too much slap-stick humor and crude remarks in it for my liking. :glare: We are planning to see Where the Wild Things Are when it comes out. It looks promising... Heather

Do you all know if you can use your customer preferred card along side your teacher card? I've never tried to get the teacher discount, but I think I will do it for this. Will I be able to combine both discounts on a normal basis? Thanks, Heather

http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-peel-hard-boiled-eggs-in-seconds.html I haven't tried it, but it looks like it works! HTH, Heather

Hmmm, I have boys 4, 7 and 8 so I guess I'm qualified to answer. :001_smile: Here are what my boys mostly do with their time: Games (dominos, uno, hullabalo, marbles, Sorry, go fish, war, etc.) Dress-Up and pretend play Reading: me reading to them, reading alone, books/storytelling on cds Puzzles Creative Projects (have a large supply of shoeboxes, oatmeal canisters, paper towel tubes, construction paper, popsicle sticks, glue, tape, scissors, markers and crayons). Let their imaginations lead the way! Building Forts (blankets, pillows, chairs, folding tables, etc.) Writing: my older two enjoy writing stories from time to time. It's not something I've really pushed, it's just come from a steady diet of wonderful, rich literature. Drawing: I have one who really loves art, but they all enjoy drawing. I have several drawing books that they get out with colored pencils and crayong and draw away. Often I will play music or books on cd while they do this. I find they do it longer if there's something to listen to while they work. Outside play: nature object collections, scootering, bike riding, sidewalk chalk (mostly younger son) sandbox play, dirt play, mud play, wash the car, spray each other with water, etc. Generally get extremely dirty, but have a lot of fun doing it. If I think of more, I'll come back! Heather I wanted to add that the Defender of the Faith book looks like a wonderful resource for boys. Also, my boys work on their belt loops for Cub Scouts a lot during their free time. Your boys may not be quite old enough for that, though. Definitely when they get older they should have their own tool box and access to scrap lumber to build stuff!

http://www.prekinders.com/patternblocks.htm I've printed a ton of the black and white ones of this site and laminated them for durability. My son loves them!

Brand-new, happy HOD user here!:seeya: We are only one week in, mind you, but so far we are absolutely loving Heart of Dakota. I am using Bigger Hearts for His Glory with my 2nd and 3rd graders (extension with the older). With my pre-Ker we're enjoying Little Hands to Heaven together. What do I love so far about HOD curriculum: 1. Consistent, evenly-scheduled lessons each day. What I mean is that each day is well-spread out between subjects, skills and time demands. That was one of my biggest frustrations with MFW Adventures last year. 2. Solid language arts: the spelling/dictation, copywork, poetry memorization, Rod and Staff english feels really solid. 3. Bible is beautifully, authentically blended into history, NOT forced in an un-natural, sing-song type way. 4. The manual is so simple to use, my husband was off for a morning this week and totally taught EVERYTHING by himself. It's open and use, but not in an overly-simplistic way. 5. The manual IS my plan book and my log book! I am simply recording the hours in it. I don't have to re-write lesson plans this year! I simply add anything additional I do with the boys in the correct day, so I have it recorded. What a time break this is for me! These are just a few of the aspects I love about HOD. It is our first year, and I am so thankful the Lord led me to the HOD booth at the KC convention this past year. :lol: Heather

I know what you mean about the boy/girl mentality. I try not to worry about it. My son is 8 and really enjoys making things with his hands. He loves sewing every bit as much as legos. He enjoys weaving. We bought him a loom for Christmas and he really enjoys it. He loves woodworking, painting, working with clay, etc. Have you looked at the Keepers of the Faith handbook? It is not very expensive and has a ton of skills and projects for boys to work on independently. http://www.keepersofthefaith.com/Catalog/ContendersHandbook_319.asp HTH, Heather

We are too! DS (3rd grade)- Bigger with extensions DS (2nd grade)- Bigger DS (pre-K)- Little Hands I can't wait! :thumbup1: Heather

That's it! Thank you, Stacia.

I'm hoping one of you can help me. A month of two ago there was discussion about a website that has a huge index of children's books. Kids can read a book then go to the site and answer comprehension questions on their own for that particular book. I've been searching for it for a few days, but to no avail. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Thanks, Heather

:thumbup: That must be the absolute best feeling in the world! I admit I'm a little nervous about teaching my youngest phonics as he gets a bit older. If you can do it, I can do it! Heather

Ok, this may seem absolutely crazy, but I am thinking about combining these two complete programs for next year. I love My Father's World and had a great time with the Adventures program this year with my boys (7 and 8). I have already bought and mentally planned on doing Exploring Countries and Cultures next year. That is already a definite thing. :) This past week at our homeschool convention, I had time to look through Heart of Dakota and loved it! I purchased Drawn into the Heart of Reading, which we will use next year to beef up MFW's book basket. I loved meeting Carrie and her sister Julie and really getting a feel for their heart for the program. I am tempted to purchase Preparing Hearts for His Glory and use in addition to ECC. I have a couple reasons to consider doing this. We really sailed through Adventures in only a couple hours a day. My boys want more meat! My oldest, particularly is a budding historian and was disappointed that we would not be starting the history cycle next year. "You mean we have to wait a whole year before we get to study the Ancients?!" I love that HOD's Preparing is an overview of world history told in a narrative format. It uses primarly CHOW and Grandpa's box, which I KNOW my boys would love. I'm wondering if doing an overview of geography and an overview of world history at the same time might work pretty well. My boys are both very bright (I know, I'm probably not very biased) and LOVE to learn. If I used both this year, I would have a better feel of which to chose when we do start our 4 year history cycle the following year. (that's what I'm telling myself at least :) Do you think I'm absolutely crazy for considering this? Or is it possible to pull this off? We are looking to spend 5 solid hours on lessons a day. This was our first year homeschooling, and I really supplemented A LOT to MFW's Adventures. My boys like free time to pursue hobbies, ala CM, but too many hours of free time drove our family batty.:tongue_smilie: Thanks for reading and I would LOVE to hear from you! Thanks, Heather

It's quite extraordinary, isn't it?

Dawn, Thank you so much for your encouraging report. My middle son will be 7 soon and soaks his pull-up every night. Our pediatrician has assured us that it is a developmental issue and we just have to get it time. He continually has a rash on his upper thigh from the wetness. :( He also is such a deep sleeper that he often has wet his pull-up an hour or two after falling asleep. That's after limiting liquids for hours before bed and going to the bathroom the minute before crawling into bed. We have just ordered the alarm that wakes the child up when it senses wetness. I'm not sure when we will try to start using it, but I have heard very positive stories about using it. Hurray for your Nathan! Heather