That sounds great! We do have Netflix (at least until they figure out that the VPN masks the fact that we're outside the US) and can watch videos from Amazon as well--lots of documentaries on both. They aren't really age-appropriate right now, but they will be by the time I'm concerned about. So maybe an internet-linked encyclopedia, another encyclopedia (or books for topics I expect her to be interested in), plus documentaries and iPad apps ... she already operates her father's iPad much more easily than I do ... This is definitely something I can do, as long as we continue in countries with good internet access, which we should have for at least the next 4 years or so.

Quoting one post to reply to all :) We actually already have the Harper Collins treasury--it was included in SL's P3/4. My daughter LOVES that book. We finished the scheduled readings from it a little over a week ago, and I put it in her room with her "bedtime books." Since then, she's chosen a story from that book every single night for her bedtime reading. I was pretty relieved, actually, because the only times my husband had read her "school" books to her had ended up being days when the stories were from other books and a little too advanced for her. I think he was second-guessing whether P3/4 was a good investment. But he's the one who does the bedtime reading, and now he's definitely seeing that some of the stories are favorites! The SL preschool/PreK programs have been really good for giving me children's literature to work with. I think my more specific concern is with history and science books--SL goes heavy on fiction and light on nonfiction, from what I can tell, and for content subjects, I'd rather the reverse. That's one of the things that's drawing me to Tapestry of Grace, that they seem to have compiled a bunch of good, age-appropriate nonfiction. I'll probably continue to peruse the SL website for literature selections, though, even if they just get put in a basket for "free reading time." The other books/lists you linked look pretty good, too. If we put together our own science program--and maybe even if we don't--we'll definitely use encyclopedias. Maybe use an internet-linked one as the spine, since it'll have built-in "extra exploration," and have another one or two on similar topics for supplemental reading? If she really goes crazy for a subject, she may still be interested after waiting for another book or two to ship from the States ...

This is kind of what I'm thinking if I do it on my own, or even if I use Tapestry of Grace, since I may not want to order/use every single book they schedule (and since I hear that SOTW is a secondary resource, so I may want to use that instead of one or more of their primaries). Having things shipped to me isn't a problem; I have access to the APO/DPO mail system. It just can be slow, so I can't count on realizing today that "oh, she's unexpectedly interested in spiders; I'll have a book here in 2 days"--it'd be more like a week at the shortest, and depending on the post, maybe a month (or more, sometimes).

I saw on Facebook where they said they were releasing a K one this summer. I'm keeping an eye out for it, as I'll be doing the K planning much earlier than normal--we'll be moving next spring, so I want to do all my online research before the end of this year and have an idea of what I want to look at if I'm able to go to any conventions in the States next spring/summer before we move on to the next post. I currently have 2 K options that I'm considering, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what PHP comes out with.

There have been unmanned stations in the US for years. The ones I'm thinking of mostly are outside of Costcos. At every gas station, there's an emergency shutoff which a huge red sign identifying it. These signs are even bigger and harder to miss at the unmanned stations.

I read through the other thread when I woke up this morning (time differences; the conversation happend overnight for me). The other thread has not been deleted yet, BTW. OP, please get professional advice on this. And keep someone posted by PM or email so that that someone can keep the rest of us informed without divulging your identity.

Egypt and Cambodia both were full-service only. Here in Kosovo, we pump our own and go inside to pay (credit/debit card fraud is rampant here, so we use cash).

I don't think I've ever seen those stories! It looks adorable, though, and my daughter loves anything animals--her favorites are Curious George, Paddington Bear, Leapfrog, and (sometimes) Winnie the Pooh. It may be just up her alley, and she has a birthday in a couple of months ... Thanks!

I've looked at Calvert. I was a little turned off, though, when I realized that my 3yo was already--without me having deliberately taught her--doing their K work. I assume it gets more rigorous later on, but my initial impression was that it was too easy. And I don't think I want a truly all-in-one package. I want to be able to customize the math and the LA to her level--that's one of the problems I have with Sonlight; I'd have to buy their LA whether we used it or not--and I know my husband will be pretty picky about the science (and the math ... he's an engineer ... though I do think that he'd like TWTM science suggestions, if we decide that we can implement them effectively). I'm sure that whatever I use, I'll check out the Sonlight book lists, and the TOG ones if I don't use that, to see if there are additional books I want to make available to my daughter. I really like what I've seen of SL's fiction selections, and both the fiction and non-fiction that TOG uses.

I've been playing this whole home education thing mostly by ear--my daughter is only 3, so I have time to figure this thing out before it starts to matter too much--but my assumption has been that I will buy pre-assembled curricula (maybe one package encompassing multiple subjects, maybe different packages from different companies for different subjects). I'm in the process now, though, of reading TWTM. I just finished the two chapters on history and science in the grammar stage. I absolutely LOVE what I'm reading, and I'm almost ready to jump in and put together my own curriculum using the methods and books cited. However ... Almost every paragraph contains a reference to "trip to the library" or "your librarian can help with this" or "plenty of books to choose from in the library." I don't have a local library, at least not one the carries books in my language. My husband is a diplomat, so we move to a new country every 2-3 years, and sometimes those countries will have library resources in English, but more often than not, they won't. I do have a Kindle, and I'm open to borrowing books via Kindle when the time comes if necessary, but for my daughter's early school years, I prefer to have a physical book in hand while I read to her (myriad of factors here: the Kindle's fragility, the illustrations being better in print, and my assumption that many children's history/science books won't be available on Kindle). The only way for me to get those books is to buy them, have them shipped to me, and hope she likes them (with this method, there is no "wait and see what piques her interest, then find books about it," because her interest will have waned while we wait for the books to arrive). It'll get easier as she gets older and I'm more comfortable using the Kindle for her school reading, but for now, I feel like this international, mobile lifestyle really limits my ability to put together my own package of books. Despite how amazing a do-it-yourself WTM education would be, I find myself shying away from making the attempt because of the logistics of doing it in my situation. Has anyone done this on your own without access to a library? If so, how? Did you just order all the books listed in TWTM--or how did you choose which books to order, without seeing them in person? Or, in the absence of library access, did you find a "big box" education company that works well within this framework? I've considered Sonlight, which we're using for preschool and PreK, but even before starting TWTM, I'd decided not to stick with it past K, partially because it doesn't follow the history cycle I want and partially for other reasons. I'm considering TOG, but I'm still hesitant for reasons that I'm finding difficult to articulate (despite having looked at the free samples on their website)--I think because I can't quite tell how well it will fit with my conservative but not fundamentalist Christian beliefs. I'm sorry for the long post. I'm just trying to figure out how to implement a plan that I believe would provide my daughter with the best possible education ... while also filling in the numerous gaps in my own education! Thank you for any words of wisdom, advice, or encouragement you can offer!

We fly internationally once a year, on average. We always secure our suitcases with TSA locks. I'm not sure if overseas security folks can open them or not, but they've never cut them off. We've never voluntarily used a wrapping service, but we have been in airports where the standard procedure was to wrap the suitcases after the security inspection, at no cost to us. It was nice to see that no one would have any expectation of being able to get in there undetected, but it was a pain when we collected our bags and had to tear off enough of the wrap to free up the wheels and handle before we could move the bag. If you choose not to lock your bag, I'd at least use a cable tie just to make sure the zipper doesn't accidentally open during transit. I used to use twist ties for that purpose, before I married and my husband insisted on cable ties so we could tell if they'd been opened. We also never put valuables in our checked baggage. We carry all electronics, jewelry, cash, etc in our carryons.

Would you be willing to have your kids wear UnderJams on the plane? Basically pull ups for big kids--the idea being that if they still wet the bed, they can wear them under their jammies. Have them go to the bathroom just before boarding, and change into UnderJams at that time (or just wear them that day). Hopefully going before they get on the plane will mean they don't need to use the bathroom on the plane, but if they do, then the UnderJams make it a little less panic-inducing--of course you'd still try to get them on the toilet, but if you don't make it or if they only have to pee, it's not too much of a big deal. My almost 4yo is pretty well daytime potty trained, but I still intend to put her in UnderJams on planes as long as she'll let me ... with my luck, she'd need to go potty while we're confined to our seats for security or turbulence reasons. I've flown alone with my daughter when she was an infant--twice, transatlantic, under extremely stressful circumstances (evacuation for security reasons when my husband was required to stay at post and dependents were required to leave, and then again three months later when we were allowed back). I've never flown alone with a preschooler, much less two. I'd think that would be more difficult, but if your older is ok and you're only concerned about the younger ... pack special treats that he doesn't usually get to do. My daughter loves to watch movies and play games on Daddy's iPad when we fly. We also allow her to pack a small backpack of toys--no balls, nothing so small it'll get lost, nothing noisy, but she fills it up with her Leap Pad, some books, some stuffed animals, crayons and paper ... if I had to fly alone with her now, I wouldn't like it but I wouldn't stress overmuch about it either. For the driving ... rent a GPS to go along with your rental car. Those things are lifesavers. I'm good with a map and with following written directions, but nothing is easier than following the voice prompts or glancing at the display to see that your turn is exactly 1.2 miles away--or to see that it's the first of those two roads that are really close to each other! And it's great that it lets you know immediately if you've taken a wrong turn.

My daughter seemed ready for school at age 3 as well. We started "doing school" just a couple months after her third birthday. We're just finishing up her "preschool" year--she'll turn 4 in July. We used two formal curricula: Heart of Dakota's Little Hands to Heaven and Sonlight's P3/4. We also used 2 workbooks from The Critical Thinking Co--Mathematical Reasoning Beginning 1 and Thinking Skills Beginning; we started those later on, but they would have been fine to start earlier, I think. If you want to read the full "what we liked/didn't like," I wrote a blog post about that last month, so you can read it at http://deborahreflections.blogspot.com/2014/04/our-homeschool-preschool.html Short version--we enjoyed the Bible stories and phonics activities from LHTH, but we skipped the art, drama, math, etc. Since you seem to be more of an activities person than I am, you may like those parts more than we did. It's very inexpensive and pretty comprehensive WRT phonics and Bible, but no literature. And the phonics were more review than learning for my daughter, who also knew most of her letter sounds already (though I didn't know that when I ordered it--I just realized as we went that she'd picked up more than I knew from Leapfrog!). Sonlight P3/4 sounds like an already-planned-for-you version of what you've been doing. The IG is a list of stories, with an activity to go with each. Some of the activities are really simple and IMO pointless; others are more relevant to the story, more fun, more educational, etc. You can buy just the IG and get the books from the library, or you can buy the whole set. Some of the stories were a little long, with too few pictures, for my daughter, but she has grown into almost all of them now. The book selections do include a couple of science books as well--one about animals and one about digestion, senses, and reproduction (very appropriate--the explanation begins *after* fertilization, so you can explain that part however you like). And I highly recommend the workbooks from The Critical Thinking Co. They're available at Amazon for around $30 each.

Yes, it's out. I forget exactly when I received mine, but I've had it for a few weeks now.

:iagree: :hurray: This. A million times this.

Thanks, I kind of like that one too. The problem with it, though, is that it isn't descriptive enough for a search engine. I'm not sure if the search engines would pick up on the other key words if that was the catchy title and the descriptive part was just a subheading on the webpage, kwim? But, yeah, if I were doing a project like Amira is talking about in an academic setting, with a paper to write, that would be my title, with a descriptive subtitle.

Yep, that's what was in my mind, just not what my fingers typed ... too much of a juxtaposition for them! :laugh:

My first thought was "Living Architecture," but a quick search showed that that's the name of a vacation rental place in the UK ... Other ideas ... The Architecture of Life (or of Our Lives) Shaped: How People and Buildings Mold Each Other At the Intersection of Life and Stone (or Architecture) People and Their Buildings The Silent Neighbor: How Buildings Shape Communities Hmm ... my past as a grad student who had to write lots of catchy but descriptive titles is catching up with me ... some of those would be better titles for academic papers than for a website! I'm interested to see what others can come up with :)

I can't speak to the prices, but when I have language lessons, it's usually twice a week for 1-2 hours each time. Technically, my lessons are never with a private tutor, but in a class--though the largest class I've had consisted of 4 students, and for most of the time, either I or I and my husband were the only students. I think twice a week is good because it allows time for study and homework between classes; any more than that and I wouldn't be able to put in the outside of class effort that is required.

Like many previous posters said, I would just leave when I told him I would, whether he's with me or not. However, I would sit down with him sometime before I did that, when we don't have anywhere to be, and have a chat. I'd tell him how disrespectful it is to others--including to you--to be late. I'd acknowledge that sometimes it happens due to unforeseen circumstances, and it's understandable once in a while, but that when it happens *constantly*, it's one of two options: Either he doesn't care enough about the disrespect to change it, or there are some skills he needs to learn so that he *can* change it. I'd let him tell me which he thinks is true of him. Help him with any skills (planning etc) that he thinks may be a problem. But in any case, make it clear in that conversation that you will not be late on his account again. You will leave when you are saying you will leave, period. If money was spent in order for him to participate in something he no longer will be participating in, he will be expected to reimburse that wasted money. Then I'd follow through--I'd help him with the plan to be ready a few times if needed, but no matter what, I'd be leaving when I said I would. Also, I would make it clear that I do see the difference between being late for appointments and being late for a casual party or hangout session with friends. The former is not to be tolerated. The latter is ok if it's customary in the social group, but--and this is important--when *you* make *your* plans to get him somewhere at a certain time and then he's late because it doesn't matter that he's late to that group, it's still disrespectful of *you* and wasteful of *your* time. So when he tells *you* what time he needs to be somewhere, he needs to be serious about that time--it's ok to say "The party starts at 7, so I should get there between 7:15 and 7:30," but it is NOT ok to say merely "The party starts at 7," and then dawdle getting ready so that he'll be there no earlier than 7:15.

Ok, thank you! I think I've got it now.

So--a question. I'm researching math programs for use in a couple of years. I had not heard of Math in Focus before a thread was started here asking about whether to use MiF or Saxon. I just did an internet search on MiF, and I'm a little confused. Is it affiliated with Singapore Math (the same thing as the Singapore Standards edition, maybe?), or is it a Singapore-style math program not affiliated with Singapore Math? What are the differences between it and Singapore Math? I'm so confused :confused1:

I haven't used TOG, though it's one I'm strongly considering for a couple of years from now. My understanding is that TOG doesn't include phonics or grammar at all, so whatever you're using should be fine there, and the writing is in an optional resource called Writing Aids, not necessarily included in the core curriculum. I would think that the curriculum itself would work with whatever writing you're doing, though of course I don't know about the co-op.

I'm currently reading TWTM ... Singapore Primary Math is one of the ones listed as a good option now. She says that it isn't as concrete and fact-oriented as some of the others, and some children do need a less abstract approach when they're very young. It requires logic stage thinking earlier than other programs do. You can and should supply your own manipulatives to use with the program. She also cautions that the high test scores of children in Singapore who are taught with this program are not entirely due to the curriculum--their culture is is more math-oriented, so they get more reinforcement. She also says that the coursebooks and workbooks alone do not provide enough practice (something I've heard from other sources as well). She recommends buying the supplementals like the Extra Practice books. Singapore is one of the programs I'll consider for my daughter when we get to K. I'm less impressed with what I've seen in reviews of Saxon. I have not heard of Math in Focus. Math-U-See is another one that I'll strongly consider, and that is listed in TWTM as a good program. (Saxon also is in there as a good program; I just don't think it's a good fit for me ... and therefore I won't use it with my daughter unless and until it becomes painfully apparent that it's the best fit for her :001_smile: )

If it's affordable for you to buy one for him ... I wouldn't. Instead I'd let him do extra chores around the house and pay him for those chores, allowing him to save up for it. Until he buys one, he's limited to the books you have, or the ones at the library, or if you have a laptop or desktop that you can put a Kindle reader on, he can use that when the computer is available. Of course, if you make him buy the replacement, then you get into the issue of whose kindle is it? The one he broke was yours, but you didn't use it and let him borrow it indefinitely from the sound of it, sort of making it a gift to him. So the one he buys--is it yours, to replace the one he broke, but on loan to him same as the other was? Or will you "forgive" him the one he broke and let him buy one of his own? In any case, I'd either tell him he had to save enough money for the Kindle plus a protective cover (if the new Kindle is his), or I'd provide the cover for my Kindle that I allowed him to use, or I'd provide the cover as a gift for him to use with his Kindle. And if you do choose to just buy another one, I'd make it very clear to him that he's on notice--if he breaks the next one, he's buying the replacement. He's 9. He's still a kid, but he's been warned about being careful with things. The best way to learn to take care of things is to experience the consequences when you don't. ETA: This is based on what you'd said, that he broke it. If you believe that it's normal wear and tear, or an issue with the Kindle, then my response would be different. I'd buy another one if I could afford it, but tell him not to read it while it's charging etc. In any case with what you've described, I'd put a case on it.