My 5 year old can read the first level of beginner books on her own and some of the next level up. She's technically entering kindergarten this coming year even though she is working on 1st grade stuff. My oldest could barely get through the first set of Bob books when she was entering 1st grade. Now she is entering 2nd and can read fluently from simpler chapter books like Magic Tree House and Fairy Chronicles. Big progress was made during her first grade year.

We both do.:) If he is home I'll let him do it because I know he really enjoys it but if he isn't that doesn't stop us from having delicious kabobs and grilled veggies. I definitely grill veggies better than I do meat.

(I only read the OP. I might or might not go back and read everything else.) I have been a parent for 7 years. Do with that info what you want. We do not spank our children. Thing is I was not spanked as a child either. I also was not what we'll call an "easy" child. So there isn't that confusion of wondering if I needed to be spanked. I was not compliant or cooperative. I was high energy, highly opinionated and very bright. It would have been easier to try and spank all of that out of me but instead my parents worked with me to tune up all of those traits so that I could success as an adult. I'm shooting for the same thing with our children. It is exhausting! My parents admit that it was exhausting but they also agree that it was worth it to see who I am today.

I want to come back to this and read everyone's replies but for now I'll just introduce myself:) I'm SheWillFly or July. I'm in that late 20s early 30s age bracket. I'm married to Bart. We just had our 9th anniversary. We have 3 kids, Bear (7), Bird (5) and Pirate (4). We live in Pennsylvania. I've been homeschooling informally for about 4 years. This last year is the first one where I really had a plan. Next year I will be teaching all three. I'm excited and totally anxious about having my oldest home for school as well. We loosely follow a blend of WTM and CM.

Shelf by shelf: top shelf (1) -teacher's manuals, curriculum guides and workbooks for future use 2 - Literature organized by author's last name 3 - Currently in use books for lessons 4 - magazine boxes with children's independent work and current independent readers 5- Free reading 6 - Reference books, field guides and other science materials We have small bookcases in the kid's rooms. I don't make any attempt to organize them other than keeping the books neat in the space. Those are all books that the kids have free access too and are not part of our actual schooling.

Bear's last day is June 10th. Would have been the 8th but we had a couple of snow days.

I second the Burgess books. My Bird absolutely loves them.

Still common. My first grader was in a special reading group because she couldn't decode words. The special group was teaching phonics.:glare: Shouldn't that be the primary tool to decoding words?

I haven't read the other replies just yet. I married at 19 after finishing my second year at college. My husband was 21 at the time. We had our oldest when I was 21. I finished my BA with an 6 month old daughter and in the original time frame that I set out for myself when I entered college. I was finished having babies at 24. We have been happily committed to each other for almost 15 years. With that bit of background I don't have any problem with marrying young and having children at a young age. However, imo age has less to do with it than maturity level, knowing yourself, knowing your partner and not living with fairytale dreams.

I'm 28 for a few months yet.

I would be furious. We do not spank. My mom and dad also do not spank. My in-laws were spankers and have spanked and washed a mouth out with soap on my oldest when she was under 4 years old. I didn't know until about 2 years after the event. I was very angry even if at the time I wasn't firmly set against spanking. She is my child and no one has permission to strike her period end of story. My husband firmly stated to both my mil and fil that we do not spank and anyone else spanking our children will equal the last time we leave them unsupervised in that person's care. My sil spanked my oldest once for having a potty accident at 3 years old. That was the last time I left my daughter with her. I grew up in a non-punitive family so it never once crossed my mind that someone else would think it okay to spank a child who did not belong to them.

We haven't found anything we are comfortable with that doesn't need a great deal of editing on our part. As a result we are working our way through the Bible hitting on the big stories and openly discussing them from there.

Cooking from scratch really saves us money. Simple things like a snack of popcorn are a big savings since my kids love it. Microwave popcorn in a 6 pack box is around $2-3. A bag of kernels I pop on the stove is $1.25 and provides significantly more popcorn.

Cooking from scratch really saves us money. Simple things like a snack of popcorn are a big savings since my kids love it. Microwave popcorn in a 6 pack box is around $2-3. A bag of kernels I pop on the stove is $1.25 and provides significantly more popcorn.

That would be too much for me.

We also delay vax and have never been contacted by either our insurance or our doctors office.

My husband takes an active role in nature study and science. He also does read-a-louds when he is home. I make all the curriculum decisions but we implement together. It would not work for our family if he was not actively involved.

I went many times as a child. I am planning to take our children as a wrap up of our science next year.

I can't say I was ever bored. I was lonely at times but not bored. With littles there was always something to do whether I wanted to or not. There wasn't always another adult to talk to when I wanted.

I've always wondered how it isn't illegal to write out that I said or did something that I never did or said?:confused:

Oak Meadow is very Waldorf inspired without stating outright that it is Waldorf. One of the books they recommend shares key principles from the Waldorf method of schooling. That explains the very gentle approach. If you find you line up well with the principles of Waldorf then it would be a good fit but if you don't then you're likely better off using something else. I'm really considering this for my youngest because his needs are different than his sisters and the gentle play approach will work best for him.

It is part of our family life. We do have a few outside sports but at the core is our set up and habits at home. We ride bicycles. Do yoga (I know not everyone will do this.) Swim Play! - running jumping, throwing the ball kicking the ball hula hooping, jump rope etc. Outside organized activities are: basketball soccer gymnastics

Vacation for a week - Our family plus grandparents and aunt. Send Bear off to Florida with grandma, and aunt to see great grandparents Kid's day camp at local park Kid's Camp at church Swim, bicycle, hike, fish, canoe finish painting my bedroom tend the garden and care for our chicks build a new cage for our guinea pigs

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It isn't about forgiveness in our house. The current policies and theology of both BJU and PCC contradict what we teach our children. Whether that comes through overtly in their curriculum or not isn't the point. They will not even be supported in our home.