You know...... I have a 5.5 and a 4 year old. Our neighborhood is pretty close knit. I let my kids play in the front and back yards by themselves. I check out the window periodically, sometimes open a window and listen. My kids run back and forth between the house of the girl next door and play in her yard (and sometimes the yard of the house adjacent to THEIR house). None of these yards are fenced, so there is line of sight. They have to ask permission to go across the street. They can't cross the street without letting us know. And they have to ask permission before going inside any house other than next door. And to go in next door they have to let us know. But I let them have free reign in the yards.

We live in Roanoke, and we love it. They're starting a medical school here, and there is a children's hospital, though it's part of the adult hospital system. I love the weather, and it's beautiful. Gorgeous mountains. Easy access to lots of natural resources. It's four hours to DC. Roanoke has more of a hippie feel to it than a lot of the state, because there are so many colleges around. (Roanoke, Hollins, VA Tech and Radford up the road.) Plus there's a definite art/ music local scene, which is nice, but it is still definitely the South and the Bible Belt. I moved here from San Antonio and Denver before that, and I do miss some of my big city conveniences. I loved having a great zoo and children's museum in town. And it was hard to beat living five minutes from Sea World. But it is totally worth it! Just a very nice place to live.

I know when we lived in Texas, we had AWESOME early intervention program that gave really good sensory integration therapy to my daughter when she was two. I'd be tempted to call early intervention and have an occupational therapist come out and do an evaluation. Can't hurt, and you can get some valuable information from assessment.

I'm pondering using online resources to teach Catherine to read. Maybe start with Literactive (http://www.literactive.com) and then move to Reading Eggs. We're doing the trial now, and she likes it, but as it moves from letters to words, she is getting very frustrated and not really understanding. Or might do Study Dog. Not sure. Start Headsprout in the spring. I was planning on doing Singapore Early Bird, but the new version is so much more expensive. So I'm not sure. I'm pondering Saxon K now..... Definitely want to do Right Start A in the spring.

:lurk5: I had a dream the other night that it was the first day of public school kindergarten, and I was SO SAD, because even though I knew homeschooling was the best choice for our family, she would love it and it's such a milestone. Memories and all. And she *would* love it, possibly way more than homeschooling, and would do well. But, getting her up and out every morning, homework, and poor academics...... But I feel sad. She's so social, and we're having a hard time finding her a group of peers to interact with regularly. Lots of social opportunities, and lessons, but nothing like recess or playtime with the same kids day after day. No real close friends.

I think a year long program would be more worthwhile than seven weeks. Although, if I had a child who was horse crazy, I'd probably make a different choice.

If you're on the lowest dose, I think I would start cutting it in half. Alternate taking half dose and "full lowest dose" for a month. Then do a month on half of lowest dose. Then, if things are okay, cut it in half. (Quarter it. With a pill cutter). Alternate half and quarter dose for a month. Then a month at quarter dose. Then take a quarter dose every other day. Then stop. Are you on both wellbutrin and paxil?

I think at 12, I would let it go. Focus on typing skills. How often do most adults have to have other people read their handwriting? If you're going to do any handwriting instruction, I'd focus on manuscript. Filling out forms is the only thing that really comes to mind.

http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/little-hands-first-week.pdf

I think it depends on how verbal your kids are and if they have any familiarity with the alphabet. I did it with my 2.5 year old, and it was great! Perfect! The only thing we had problems with was she didn't do well at answering the devotional questions, but she was in speech therapy bc despite being verbal, she didn't ask or answer questions. But we loved everything else. She was speaking in sentences and accustomed to following moderately complex books. She knew the alphabet and loved Bible stories. She really liked the crafts, the finger rhymes, the stories, the gross motor stuff. It worked out well. Two year olds are sooooo different. It depends on your daughter. Look at the first week and decide. That first week is pretty representative.

Well said!

I'm pretty liberal. Socially, not as much theologically. But here are my thoughts on the matter. I hope my kiddos participate in martial arts. My husband has done it, and I was involved for several years in college, and it is so empowering. I think it's great for boys, and for girls. The focus is on skill and technique; brute strength is not really (usually) the dominant criteria. I would not be comfortable with my kids (boys or girls) doing full contact sparring as kids. Technique/ point/ or soft contact sparring is customary with kids. Once they are fifteen or so, then they can decide whether or not they want to be involved in full contact sparring. That is often split by gender. However, I would NOT be cool with my daughters doing wrestling. Wrestling is physically intimate in a way that makes me feel uncomfortable about in a coeducational environment.

Well, I was babysitting young kids for 8 hours a day, several days a week, from the age of 12. I really liked it, and quite frankly, even looking back on it, I did a superb job. I put a lot of thought and preparation into activities, etc. By 13 or 14, I was caring for a 4 month old (with severe colic and reflux), for 8 hours a day for most of the summer. It was a great experience for me. And I have used 14 year old babysitters for my own kids, when they were toddlers, and had great experiences! They were very mature kids who loved little kids. So, I would want to say yes. Assuming, of course, that your dd *wants* to. However, if she doesn't have much babysitting experience, that could be problematic. It's not at all ideal for a first babysitting gig, to be so far from home, with parents far away, for such a long time. I guess it depends on how much experience she has with young kids and being on her own with them. How comfortable is she with changing diapers? If she hasn't had much experience, then I think you are entirely reasonable in saying no. But, I would talk it over with your dd. Explain your concerns, but I'd be tempted to let her make the final decision. But, again, you know your dd best.

You know, I have a four year old doing Pre-K in the fall..... I have no clue what to do. She really isn't ready for reading/ blending yet, I don't think. (We signed up for a trial of Reading Eggs. She LOVES it but is very frustrated as it moves from letters into words. And doesn't seem to be "getting it.") I was going to do mazes and dot to dot stuff for fine motor skills, and then start HWT Pre-K around January. Work on teaching phonograms. (She knows the primary sounds but not all of them. She says a says short a, but not the other sounds.) Maybe Singapore Early Bird 1 or Right Start A. (Again, starting around January.) But.....tell me about Weaver Interlock? I looked at the web page, but I can't see what it does or what it's like. What do you cover? How does it work? Hadn't considered Saxon or MFW. Could anyone tell me about them with a 4 yr old?

I've heard that Code Cracker followed by Hey Andrew, might be the way to go with young kids. Though once School Song comes out, that might change. Of course, then you might still want to keep Hey Andrew until they are ready for Greek Primer A. (3rd grade ish)

http://www.iseesam.com is the only other site I know of.

No advice, but I'm glad to see this thread. My 5.5 year old melts down a lot, though not in quite that way. She also gets angry and yells, etc. My 3 yr old freaks out over perfectionism stuff.

With my first delivery, they induced me because my water had broken but I hadn't had any contractions. Pitocin is evil. That's all I can say. I mean, I know it has it's medical uses. But, ow. Immediate projectile vomitting. I got the epidural as soon as the guy came by. I loved him. Fourth degree tear, but I didn't really feel it. They had to turn the epidural way up for the repair though. Second delivery, I didn't scream. Once again, I started throwing up during transition. Finally got the epidural, but I was at 9 cm at that point. If they'd told me that, I wouldn't have gotten it. But I thought I was still at 3cm. Didn't realize that was transition. Didn't scream during either. I was very, very quiet, because I needed to concentrate. Not exactly sure what I was concentrating on; it wasn't exactly breathing. I just needed to focus my energy inward. My husband kept patting me, and I (very calmly) told him that I needed to concentrate, and would appreciate if he didn't touch me right now. I'm pretty polite in labor. With the second, Mike was down getting suitcase from the car when I felt the urge to push. I buzzed the nurse and told them that I felt like pushing, and was that okay? They all came running. I was rather embarassed. :D But it was soooo much calmer than my first delivery. With Anna, she was in distress, so the whole NICU team was there, and residents and medical students. Then the surgeon to sew me up after the tear. There was blood all over the place. One medical student almost fainted. I was sorta out of it from loss of blood and realizing that the baby's apgar was a 2, that I didn't really notice, but in retrospect it was pretty hilarious. I needed to be quiet and very calm for mine. But who knows, about any future one? Every labor and every woman is different. I think there's something pretty empowering about the screams. I hope to have a homebirth, unmedicated delivery for my yet to be conceived child, although I admit to being scared since I wound up with epidurals for both. It's the throwing up more than the pain that I find the most difficult to endure. But this thread is making me want another baby, too!!!!!

At 8 and 6, I don't think I would trust them with free art or science experiments, no matter how seriously you speak to them. I'd suggest having them read for x minutes every day on their own. Books on tape/ CD. Educational tv/ dvds? Not sure how mature their tv tastes are, but my kids hve learned a lot from Diego :o and Magic School Bus. Cyberchase. Not sure how advanced the six year old is, but Leap Frog dvds, Reading Rainbow, and Between the Lions are always popular. And lots of Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, etc. Honestly, I think the bigger problem is keeping them occupied and out of your hair. Education has got to take a backburner for them right now. You have your hands more than full. A few computer programs, to work on times tables, perhaps. Maybe if you wrote Time4Learning, they might give you guys a summer scholarship? Couple cheap workbooks? Like the Complete series?

We use Montessori wooden maps. Going to use Galloping the Globe next year. And we play Great States Jr.

Pediatrician is a good idea. But call early intervention yourself. You want to get that ball rolling as soon as possible. It was sooooo good for my older daughter.

BTW, with Easy Grammar/ Daily Grams, you really don't need a teacher's edition, unless you have absolutely no background yourself. It doesn't really add much.

Yeah, I think most kids at that age are far more interested in big questions and content subjects (science, history, other countries) than they are in the mechanics of reading or math. Tho lots of math exceptions. They just don't want to perform or do anything that isn't THEIR idea! My daughter likes to say, "Mommy, I want to do what *I* want to do!" :glare: So we're trying to work on compliance in areas where it's really needed, behavior, character, etc. (I"m pretty AP, but I like to have structure and be in control. Otherwise things are a mess.) Reading or math on command just not that interesting to them or important (at this point) to me.

What about Learning Rx or Brain Skills?

I would not feel comfortable using the religious exemption, because, well, I'm not. :D However, I have some very close friends who do use it, and they have had no problems with it. Interestingly, a good friend of the family is the administrative assistant at the office where homeschool intent is filed. He says he tries to talk people into using the religious exemption. Makes a lot less wrok for him! :lol: Not sure what the ramifications are.