Metacloprimide (sp?) will make you practically explode with milk, I bet even a lazy nurser would take it. It's an anti-nausea medication that has the side-effect of increased milk production.

Yes, we have a lot of the Year 0 books. Thankfully I collected them back when my cash flow was a little better. I'm looking at FIAR books also. We got a few of those this week at our little local library. I can't tell you the last time I did a relaxed library trip with just my oldest. With 2 babies along, it's "get in, grab books, get out," thus the need for hyper-organization.

Stay out of the heat (not hard in the wintertime!), don't be on your feet more than absolutely necessary, drink lots of water, and watch your sodium intake. That's all I know of.

Sort of like homeschooling is always to blame, but I digress.

http://southforte.blogspot.com http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com

I think I phrased my question wrong, and gave off a whip-cracking, make-the-kid-sit-and-read-to-me-for-hours kind of vibe. Sorry about that. I'm just trying to figure out how many books I'll need next year, either for reading aloud to dd or having available for her quiet book time. Because I'll have to request most books from a library system that's 2 counties away, I need to have the reading lists planned out at least in 3 week intervals. If I were buying Sonlight K or WP or MFW, I'd have the whole list and reading plan and instructor's guide. But I'm not buying any of those because I don't want to spend the money. I'm trying to make for myself what I would have if I bought one of those programs, using various book lists that I have found online. Does that make more sense?

How much read-aloud time and assigned read-alone time should a fluently reading kindergartner have in a school day? I'm trying to figure out how many books I need to have lined up for next year, LOL! Edited: Please see my reply further down the page. I thought about it some more and changed the wording of my question a bit.

Congratulations! Now start loading up your freezer with meals before the morning sickness hits.

My problem has been that when I ask for a repetition, I get instead further explanation or a "clarification", which is frustrating because I still have no idea what was said in the first place!

It was about 1 1/2 years from the time my dd learned her letters and sounds till she was ready to learn to read. The most important skill she picked up in the interim was rhyming.

spinach quiche, my dd2's favorite, for her birthday.

Totally agree with this. It's not "fantasy" if I'm doing everything possible to convince my kids that it's reality. I would feel that I was taking advantage of their naivete and willingness to believe whatever I told them, so that *I* could have an "Awww, isn't that so cute and sweet" moment. My husband and I are taking a hands-off approach. If our kids pick up on the Santa thing and want to believe, we'll listen to them and keep quiet about it. But no way am I going to attempt to persuade them of something that's a complete fabrication.

Each of my girls have had that happen when they had a stomach bug, somewhere around age 1. It didn't last long, though. I'd never heard of it before, thought it was pretty strange.

My oldest child acted horribly, and yes of course it's because she's not around other kids enough in a group setting. :glare: My MIL kept randomly shouting "Mother's Day Out!" when the girls were fighting or having meltdowns. My bachelor BIL offered to buy my dh a vasectomy for Christmas. :angry:

If I sent my daughter to school, she would learn: Don't argue with the teacher when she says to put coats on before going outside. Don't put your hands over your ears when the teacher's talking to you. Don't let out ear-splitting screams when the teacher hands out a consequence for misbehavior. Don't throw a super-melodramatic fit right before lunch because you are "starving" and "have" to have something to eat right. this. second. If another child gets to the baby doll first, don't scream bloody murder and rip it out of her hands. :glare: It's been a rough morning with my 4-year-old. I don't know how to answer people who would say that she would behave better in school, because I know they're right. She wouldn't do this in a class. But since school is out of the question, how can *I* fix things and make her more civilized (or "socialized", as people usually call it)?

I practically memorized the Betsy-Tacy books when I was young. I can say with confidence that they had a significant NEGATIVE impact on my expectations for my teenage years. I expected a large clique of friends with whom to socialize and a string of boyfriends. If a kid can read these books and not process it as "this is how life is supposed to be", then I guess they're fine. I was not negatively affected by the Ouija board incident or the changing churches incident, by the way.

Three, and the dr. told me after the most recent one that I was good for "several more". I don't know what she would consider the limit.

Punishing the group does NOT work and here's why. The kids who are causing the problems do not care. It's no big deal for them to be in trouble because they're going to be in trouble anyway. They get a sense of power from being able to drag everyone else down with them. As for positive peer pressure, that doesn't work because either 1.) these are the kids no one likes anyway, so they're used to negative attention from their peers, or 2) they're the top dogs of the pack, and no one is going to stand up to them. There's also the issue of kids being too cool to care about punishment. So it's better to goof off in class and take the punishment than to be a goody-goody. I have horrible memories of this from elementary school. I had knots in my stomach and anxiety attacks from dreading certain classes where the teacher would apply group punishment. The other kids in my class did not care if they had to miss recess, because to them it was worth it to be able to talk in class. I cared, but I was at the bottom rung of the social ladder, so I couldn't exactly convince them to do otherwise. Group punishment is the lazy teacher's way out. A class is not a team.

Yes, I love to have "me time". I think it could quickly become an addiction. If I sent my kids to school, I would probably become one of those moms who dreaded summer vacations. For now, my "me time" is in the evenings after they go to bed and during nap time (if they both nap at once), and occasionally when my parents come to visit. And I'm thankful for it!

I knew some kids who went through a bottle-drinking phase when they were WAY too old for it (like 7 & 5 or something). I was horrified at the time, but hey, they're adults now and perfectly fine.

I have an advanced 4-year-old too, and I wouldn't read those books to her yet. Neither would I ask for narrations from her yet. We did read a few chapters from "A Little Princess" and she listened, but she didn't get into it all that much. It sounds as though you're going through the same thing I am with an early reader. Conventional wisdom says that the read-alouds should be on a higher level than the child is reading for herself. But with an early fluent reader, the only way to go to a higher level is to go over her head! My daughter is at the point where she LOVES Winnie-the-Pooh stories. She is starting to get some of the humor, and it's a perfect read-aloud for her. However, she is perfectly capable of reading it herself too. So we do some of both. Same with Beatrix Potter's stories, which are terrific for introducing a higher level of language while still offering short stories with pictures. Anyway, I'm not pushing for chapter books yet. I'm saving that for whenever we start Ambleside Year 1 (at either 5 or 6, depending on her maturity).

I'm *already* getting the mini-lectures from my MIL about how I need to make sure I'm keeping up with my own social life and taking time for myself. Now take a look at my signature, factor in a husband who is gone 14-16 hours a day, and tell me what's wrong with that picture? :lol: Only one of my kids is even old enough for preschool! What am I supposed to do with the babies while I socialize? Anyway, slightly off-topic, but I'm sure that's going to be a major issue with her when we drop the homeschool bomb on her. She actually is one of those people who probably believes every single dumb reason that's listed on this thread, so I'm preparing myself to hear the list.

"Kids need to go to school so they can learn to stand in line."

In what context do you see this friend? If it's a purely social context, can you just brush it aside laughingly and say "Oh, I don't feel like talking curriculum today" and change the subject? What does she do to pin you down and make you feel as though you have to defend your curriculum choices? I'm not too great at "passing the bean dip", so if someone dared say that to me I would have to tell them that my child's academic progress is my responsibility, and if I'm messing her up, then that's a risk I'm willing to take!

I used it with dd between the ages of 9-13 months, I think. She learned to read fairly easily using 100 Easy Lessons at age 3. I have no idea whether there was any connection, so I guess that isn't of much help. For what it's worth, I'm not doing YBCR with my 1-year-old. Well, I pop in one of the videos occasionally to keep her entertained because she likes the songs and the babies. But I'm not following the program. My assessment is that if you're going to let your little one watch a video, those are really good ones to watch. The pace is slow, the children are real, and they help with vocabulary building. But I wouldn't recommend paying new price (you can get them used on half.com) in hopes that it's going to cause your child to read early.