I don't school during the whole summer, but we start our new school year in July. It's a mental thing with my oldest dd. Her b-day is the end of June, and in her mind, b-day = school promotion.

Does anyone know what going rates are for cosmetic dentistry? I was looking on a local dentist's website, and I saw someone with a similar problem to mine in the before/after photo gallery. They had porcelain veneers to correct the problem (large gap between front teeth). Any idea what something like that would cost? I don't want to look like this forever if I can help it. Tell your kids to wear their retainers forever after the braces come off. :glare:

My oldest refused the quick peek at her 6-year-old checkup. The NP respected her wishes, no problem.

As of today, these are our choices. dd, 2nd grade: SOTW1 with activity guide BFSU Apologia Botany Singapore 3 with Beast Academy R&S4 Grammar with MCT Island The Easy French Latina Christiana Cheerful Cursive Ambleside Online reading selections Atelier Art dd, almost-K HOD Little Hands to Heaven The Reading Lesson Singapore Earlybird B A Reason for Handwriting Atelier Art ds3 HOD LHTH with sister

I need a link to some fun computer games for drilling note-reading. I'd be willing to buy software if I found the right thing. Music Ace won't work because it's not compatible with my operating system.

Well, I *am* her piano teacher. The pieces are not difficult for her, they just require effort. I have to sit with her while she learns it and be ready to correct her ever-so-gently when she misreads the notes (because she refuses to do the drill work to learn her notes cold). If I can coax her through the piece about 3 times, then she knows it well enough to play it by herself. Then she's happy. Easy pieces would require just as much effort because of the note reading difficulty, which is due to her refusal to drill. We would be going through the same thing with math, except thankfully I found multiplication.com and she loves to play those games.

Update: For the moment, math drama has been fixed. I have started giving her the option of doing her math at bedtime. The deal is that if she does a lesson at bedtime, she doesn't have to do it the next morning. The strange thing is that even though she's yawning and so half-asleep she can barely say her answers, she still is quicker and more competent with the lesson than in the morning, because she is mellow and cooperative. Kids are weird, I tell you!

I told dd6, "You know, if you go to school next year, you're going to have to start over again with 2nd grade math." She said, "But I'm not going to school next year." I told her, "You are if you don't straighten up, because I can't keep on like this." If she DOES know the math answer, she acts insulted and doesn't want to say the answer. "Seriously? That's TOO easy!" (said in teen voice), and I have to get all mean mom and insist that she give me the answer. If she doesn't know it immediately, she freaks out and starts whining that it's too hard, and rolling around. So I try to lead her (gently!) through the steps to work the problem. Then I get, "QUIET! I'm trying to think!" which usually means that she's trying to get the answer by guessing or counting rather than using her mental math strategies. So I have to wait for her to get it wrong, go through her freakout, then finally she might let me help her through it. We go through the same with piano. Every time she gets a new piece, she acts like she's being put through medieval torture. Every wrong note is the end of the world. When she finally learns the piece (which takes maybe 15 minutes total), then she usually loves it and plays it over and over till even I'm sick of hearing it. But why the drama? And I don't have the fortitude to force her through anything else. Math, handwriting, and piano. Everything else is unschooled right now, I guess. She reads books and is working on a bird notebook on her own.

It seems like your dd would be awesome at chess. No age restrictions there!

FIAR. It made me want to run to the local school and sign my child up if that's what homeschooling was going to be like. Sonlight. A booklist. With really bizarre book selections completely inappropriate for the intended age. Classical Conversations. All of the annoyances of homeschooling with none of the freedoms, plus you pay a huge sum of money for it.

My 6-year-old is having a lot of fun with the games on http://www.multiplication.com . They're not timed games, so she doesn't feel any pressure. She has learned her 3s really well. She still is skip counting for 5s, and she uses an addition trick for her 4s (for 9x4 she'll think "9x2 is 18, 18+18 is 36"). I know she'll get it. The funny thing is that my 4-year-old, who can't count to 20 or add yet, has learned all the 0s and the 1s from playing the games with her sister. She told me today she's ready to learn the 2s. Silly baby.

not helpful after all, sorry

Last week was our first week of no TV except weekends. It worked really well. I didn't announce it, I just kept saying no and providing a distraction every time someone asked for it. It takes a lot of work, but my kids are already playing so much better! I also noticed that when they were allowed tv over the weekend, they didn't watch as much because they were already less dependent on it.

I use HOD, with Singapore math and R&S grammar. I finally forked out the money for Atelier Art because it is so easy. My mantra is "The best curriculum is the one that gets done."

I love it, but I can't get it done for the reasons previous posters have already stated. The science in HOD may be light, but at least I get it done.

My mom taught me when I was 2, using sight words Doman-style.

Mine will take awhile because I was too cheap and did economy shipping. Dd is very excited though. She just started Singapore 3A so this is good timing.

The 5-day forecast is showing highs between 79-82. I like 70s fine. I start fading when it's 80s and sunny unless I'm in water. Never could take the heat even as a little kid.

It is March 14 and 85 degrees. We've had no time to acclimate gradually to higher temperatures. The pool doesn't open for another 2 1/2 months. So, I brought the kids inside to the a/c. You can reach me at blowingraspberries@charlottemason.com.

I was a fairly good writer in high school and college, but it was by the seat of my pants, so to speak. I didn't really know what I was doing, I procrastinated a lot, and managed in the end to turn out papers that got As. Since then my skills have deteriorated to the point that I have to work hard at putting together a coherent message board post. I still remember a lot of grammar, but not the most complex parts. How should I re-educate myself in these areas?

How about BFSU for science?

There are 18 lessons in each level. I plan to go through level 1 twice so that we won't hit level 2 until my younger dd is 5.

I first heard about Atelier Art several months ago and have been wanting to try it. But it was so expensive, and I'm so non-artistic, and I didn't want something else to sit on my shelf, you know the drill. I finally decided to try it. After watching the first two lessons, I was amazed. The instructor really does all the work for you! It is the closest thing to having an art teacher in your house. The projects are lovely, age-appropriate, and allow the children to be creative within the framework of instructions. My girls both drew adorable caterpillars today, and they actually looked as good as the examples of children's work on the video. I nearly cried (okay, well, my hormones are out of whack). So, there's my opinion of Atelier Art after one day.

I see that you have just one child. If she's easy to get up and out in the mornings, I'd say go for it! Besides the curriculum issues, my dd is a poky little puppy in the mornings. So I'm grumpy because not only will she not cooperate, but I'm not all that excited about sending her either! And then I have to get the other two in the car also for pickup in the afternoons.

Only if you're happy enough with the tutorial's curriculum choices to be willing to give up what you're already doing. It has been stressful for me to run HOD Beyond only 4 days a week and try to finish by the end of the school year. I just received the re-enrollment forms for the tutorial and want to cry. For me, the school year would go much more smoothly without the tutorial, and yet it would be very bad emotionally for dd if I took it away from her.