That is about where my DD8 is. She might have spelled a few more words correctly, but would not have used capital letters and punctuation so well (even though we do a grammar program, and she can spot incorrect sentences very well on standardized tests!). I think this is to be expected, as she is only on step 10 of AAS2. We got a late start with spelling, and did not do it consistently last year -- hence the slow progress. She does not have a problem with her AAS words, but so far they have all been very simple. We are making spelling a priority this year, and do spelling absolutely every day. If we run out of time for a Mom-directed AAS lesson, she will do a chapter of Spelling Workout. She is an advanced reader, and an imaginative and prolific writer, so I am hoping that it will all come together for her this year. I don't feel she is bad at spelling. I just realize that she is working at a lower level than she should be, and will need to make some steady progress in the next few months to get back on grade level.

I am finding this discussion helpful, as I have had similar concerns about my DD8. She is not able to answer every question in BA3A, and I have had to give hints and coach her through some of them. I was wondering if perhaps it was too challenging for her and that maybe she was not "gifted" at math. I was also wondering if I might be getting in the way, and should just step back and let her struggle with it some more. She does enjoy BA, though, and will diligently try to work through the problems.

I wasn't familiar with the name, but I just looked it up and had to laugh to find out that that's where all of those "Ta-a's" and "Ti-ti-Ta's" came from! I remember that from elementary school music class, and my husband still jokes about that (he found the approach insulting and overly-simplistic in his elementary music classes, but that was probably because he already knew how to read music). I will look into that some more. Does anyone know where elementary school music teachers find music that they teach in class? I am trying to remember the types of songs we sang at those school assemblies, as I think they were fairly easy, and worked well for our voices.

Somehow I have found myself in charge of a small children's chorus in town, and would love some advice or resources on how to make it work. I can sing and read music, and have participated in choirs and orchestras throughout my life. I also have my own accompanist, as my husband is a talented pianist. I just have no experience as a conductor (I was looking up basic conducting techniques on YouTube) or in how to choose music for children's voices, or even where to find this music. I know I will need to do a great deal of self-education. Have any of you had experience with this? It is a town chorus, so we do not sing religious music. At our last performance, we did two pieces that were given to us: "Won't You Be My Neighbor," and "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing." They did very well, but the songs were very simple and they did not sing in parts. For our next performance, I will most likely be choosing the music, and I would eventually like them to be able to do some simple harmonies and parts singing.

Our small co-op is sort of free, as we meet in each other's homes on a rotating basis. We also rotate teaching responsibilities, provide snacks when we host, and provide the materials for the lessons we teach. This probably costs me $25-$75 per month in total, depending on how expensive my materials are. I have 3-5 kids in the co-op (3 who fully participate, and 2 who do some of the projects but certainly eat the snacks).

Some of the memory work is great. Some not so much. It would be a very easy thing to add in at home, and modify to taste. That is what I am planning to do as soon as I am done de-toxing from our time in a community. It was fun and educational, but very hectic and a lot of work (I was a tutor, and we had to drive a bit). I still have my CC bag sitting in the pantry from when we came home last spring, and I haven't felt like going through it yet. I agree with TheAttachedMama that the largest "con" is the push to convert others to CC. Some homeschooling moms in our social group (that includes some CC members) have expressed frustration that they cannot have a meaningful conversation about homeschooling challenges without having a CC member jump in and offer CC as the solution to all homeschooling ills. As a tutor, I felt that I could not offer authentic opinions and approaches that did not not line up with CC methods; and as I strongly believed that CC was not the answer for everyone, it got more difficult to talk with families at the open houses and recruiting events.

We love the CD over here, too. In fact, the children used to dim the lights, get out flashlights for spotlights, and dance around to the songs. They called it their "Latin dancing."

If you have the time and the money, and live close to a well-run community, I think CC Foundations can be a fun extra. I would not expect it to replace any of your regular curriculum, however. We did a three-year cycle in the early elementary years, and enjoyed our time there. It gave the children a nice big-picture overview of history, touched on some basic science concepts, gave them the opportunity to make weekly oral presentations, provided a few memorable art projects, and helped them learn English grammar definitions and skip counting songs. They liked going to a "class" and having lunch and recess with other kids. In fact, I think the packed lunch was the favorite (with little yogurt cups and small bags of junk food that I would never buy ordinarily). Our community also had fun parties and gatherings, science fairs, and a garden work day that they enjoyed. We are moving on now, and are now part of a more informal co-op based on SOTW, with additional art history, science, presentations and language work. I am enjoying that flexibility now, but still appreciate the "foundation" CC provided in those early years. I think some of the strong negative feelings come from the way in which CC can be marketed -- almost like a MLM scheme. Sometimes families can feel pressured and families new to classical education can be made to feel that they cannot do classical education without CC. Not all communities market this way, of course, but it can come across that way.

I am so sorry it was a disappointment, but would give it a chance and do a few more lessons. It is certainly not all-fun-all-monkeys-all-the-time, but the Simeon clips are very cute and enjoyable, and I found the instructors to be excellent and quite interesting. My children do not love the Derivative River Part, but I make them watch it anyway if they want to watch Simeon. They have actually picked up quite a bit from it in spite of themselves. We play our own games and make our own fun (animal charades for the Latin animal names, for example, or "Simeon says" for body parts), and I don't use the DVDs as a reward or promise that they will be as fun as watching a regular kid's program. They aren't THAT fun, but I find them to be a useful addition to our Latin study.

My 2 and 3-year-olds love magnet blocks, and build amazing things with them.

Speaking of freak accidents and art -- we have some art at home, including a large-format oil painting (no glass, of course). It was out on loan for a while, when the children were young, but recently came back. My husband thought it would be perfect in the dining room/homeschool room right above the sideboard. I was thinking "We eat here! We paint here! We raise frogs and butterflies! The children splatter their water colors! No, no, no, not in the dining room!" So it ended up above the piano in the living room. A nice, safe, high location way out of reach of everyone. Safe until my then four-year-old was still in the bath upstairs, but I had to run downstairs for just a minute to deal with the baby and the bathing child decided to add some water to make the bath really deep, not knowing that the hand shower was halfway on and sitting outside of the tub. I looked up to see sheets of water pouring down through the ceiling from the bathroom upstairs all over the living room, piano and large-format oil painting . . .

We haven't had a problem yet in an art museum -- even though I go frequently with a 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8-year-old. Generally the oil paintings are up a little bit higher than that one, and we are careful to stand back and not touch. I think it can be more complicated in a crowded group setting. I do remember being horrified in New York, though, where parties, benefits and corporate events with lots of alcohol were popular at museums like the Guggenheim and MoMA. The drinks were generally on one level, away from the paintings (usually in a sculpture gallery), but drunk party-goers were roaming all over the museum. I'm sure there were some casualties. My kids have only been spoken to about touching a sculpture outside the art museum in D.C. They weren't climbing on it, but just touched it. I think it is difficult to understand that something big and brightly colored in a big park-like setting is not to be touched and explored. Then, there is always this little guy: http://www.wjcl.com/news/local-news/young-boy-stuck-in-public-art-piece/44355006/story Not to mention the infamous "American exchange students" who was stuck in a rather unusual sculpture.

Oh my ... this IS a fear. I was just thinking of this the other day, as I love art museums and really enjoy sharing that love with my kids. They are quite young, though, and there are a lot of them. I worry especially about the two and three-year-old, who are so enthusiastic and active.

Yes, I put what I want on a private wishlist or my Amazon shopping list to cut down on impulse buying.

I am still stuck in Don Quixote as well! I have read many other books in the meantime, but am not often in the mood for Don Q. late at night when I finally have a chance to read.

I don't think I would get the Suzuki materials unless you will be using them next year (really, it's not THAT much fun to listen to "Lightly Row" -- you could get some much more interesting recordings for general exposure). It is a good bet that you will, though, as plenty of non-Suzuki teachers start their students out in Suzuki Book 1, even if they don't teach Suzuki all the way through.

I found that some personality types actually thrived with the pressure and hours of these positions. It was incredible, but some of my co-workers actually seemed to love it. I must admit that the work, the travel and perks could often be exciting, but there was too much of me that had to be suppressed and traded away for that position. When people find out what I used to do, they ask if I miss it. I say that I miss clean and I miss quiet, but apart from that, I don't miss it at all.

I think "investment banking" (Goldman Sachs and its kin), and the typical analyst track may not be the same thing as a position at a bank that one would take later in a career. My husband actually had a fairly reasonable and well-paying 9-5 job working in midtown in another industry, so they do exist. He also had a one-bedroom apartment in the west village for less than $2,000/month -- so he led a rather charmed life in NYC.

Oh yes, we are careful! We have never had any accidents with our rental violins, and would certainly not want to take advantage of the situation. Maybe I misunderstood what my friends had said, but I do know they have had several problems with a particular violinist in their family, and have had to go in for repairs or possibly a replacement. It could be that the repairs were minor. I can understand why Johnson would need to have that policy. I should also mention that rental places like Johnson allow you to apply some of your rental fees towards your purchase of a violin for that particular student once you decide to own.

I agree with this. I was an attorney at a high-profile NYC law firm, and then moved to a similarly ranked firm in Boston. It was a completely different lifestyle. In Boston (or other cities outside of New York, I would assume), it was expected that you may have a family and a life, and would prefer to be home on weekends and later in the evening if at all possible. Of course, sometimes attorneys had to come in on a weekend, or work all night, but it would be because of something pressing. In New York, it was the expectation that something was always pressing and you always had to work late nights and weekends. I can't imagine trying to have a family with those sorts of expectations. I was young and single at the time, and remember it was even difficult to date. I had to cancel a first date with someone three times before we were able to find a Sunday evening for two hours that I was free. In my experience with other investment banking, consulting, hedge fund or legal professionals, this was not at all unusual. As much as I worked, NYC was still a thrilling place to live for ten years or so, but as soon as my husband and I got married, we fled the city and have never looked back. Because of these extreme work expectations, I cannot imagine trying to have a family -- or even a marriage there.

I would definitely not do video lessons for violin. If he does not learn the technique properly (and I think it would be very difficult to learn technique from a video), it would be worse than doing nothing at all. The proper technique is essential, and it is so difficult to unlearn bad habits. Even though I am an intermediate/advanced player, I still have our teacher start the children and set up the proper positioning. This year, why don't you teach your child the parts of the violin and bow, the names of the strings, and maybe start on some music theory and note reading. You can also listen to some professional soloists, perhaps some recordings of the songs he will be learning (Suzuki Book 1, if doing Suzuki). Suzuki Book 1 has a good diagram of the parts of the violin and bow, or I'm sure you could find something online. I would suggest getting the book/CD combination.

We find that it makes sense to rent, and found a large New England shop (Johnson Strings) that will also send rentals by mail if we don't feel like driving there. I am sure they would send rentals outside of New England as well. There are probably other online rental shops, but this is one I could recommend. What I love about renting is that the insurance is included in the monthly rental fee -- so if a tiny violinist accidentally sits on her tiny violin, or has some other disaster, you can just send it back and get a replacement. This hasn't happened yet, by the way; but it could. I know a family who rents at the same place, and has had several replacements already. Violin repairs can be extremely expensive (a minimum of $500 just to remove the top, plus many more hundreds to repair cracking, as I was recently quoted on an instrument that I own), so I love the peace of mind of knowing I can allow the children to just practice in a relaxed manner without hovering over them every minute and making sure they do not drop the instrument.

This is all very helpful -- thanks. And oh yes, I did forget about TC. I haven't bought it yet, but it looks fabulous, and I would really like to use it as well. I just didn't mention it, as I didn't want to appear to be insane. Writing is my daughter's strength and passion, but I find that she still needs quite a bit of direction and refinement. We are actually still finishing FLL 2 and WWE 2 this year, as we got a late start with writing and language instruction. Handwriting and fine motor skills were a struggle in her K and 1st grade year, but are absolutely fine now, so we are making up for some lost time. I like the idea of finishing up our FLL 2/WWE 2, while diving into MCT Island, and hope that by the time we get to FLL 3, it will seem like a nice review.

I fell in love with the idea of MCT Island, and bought it for my creative and verbally precocious third grader. When I flipped through it, I felt that it spoke her language precisely, and would be a wonderful addition to our homeschool year. The problem is that I can't give up FLL and WWE, as she still needs that detailed and precise instruction. I also would like to add in CAP Fable. I think I can schedule all of this in together by omitting the MCT writing assignments and scheduling a bit out into the summer, but I am wondering if the MCT four-part analysis would be confusing to learn along with the traditional diagramming in FLL 3, in particular. Does anyone have experience in using these two programs together?

Amazon with 1 or 2-day shipping is also a good idea. Re-stringing is not difficult, and is routinely done by children (but probably not 1/10 violin-sized children).