[Wanna explain What color is this dress? To me?]

I liked

[Peanut allergies and a possible way to avoid them]

I don't think is is really news to the medical community.  Rather, it more robustly confirms what was suggested by a 2008 study.   Our allergist advised us to introduce peanut "early and often" when DS5 was an infant based on the 2008 isreally study.

[Rice Cookers any]

We love our Zohirushi.  We eat rice pretty much daily.   And the porridge setting makes a mean batch of steel cut oats.

 

 

[Snow Days?]

No.  Snow from Nov-Apr is just a fact of life here.  If anything, we get more school done on snow days because extracurriculars tend to get cancelled.

[plastic or glass??]

Glass.  Snap-lock style.  They stack.  They still take up significantly more room in the cupboard than plastic though.  I have a few plastic Rubbermaid containers for rough use - trips to the beach etc.

[Teaching Writing to Lefties]

Re scissors:

 

My leftie father manages righty scissors just fine.  For my kids though, lefty scissors with reversed blades have been indispensible.  So much less frustration!!  I keep a pair in our outings bag for use for crafts at Beaver Scouts and the Library.    DS7 can now handle righty scissors if he has to, but still much prefers lefty scissors reversed blades. 

[Teaching Writing to Lefties]

If you've never used a handwriting curriculum and been successful, I don't think you would need anything special to teach you leftie.

 

As a new homeshooler with no real teaching experience, I wanted a curriculum for handwriting.  Both my boys are lefties.  I chose Handwriting without Tears specifically because it is leftie friendly.  Examples are across the top or in the middle of the page rather than on the right where a lefite can't see them.  There are also a few pages in the TM that address teaching lefties:  direction to slant the paper, crossing t's and other horizontal  strokes right to left, hand position under the line rather than hooked posture.  All of this might have been obvious to somebody with experience teaching handwritng, but wasn't at all abvious to me!  We've had very good success.  The 5 yo has nice printing, and the 7 year old is working on cursive. 

[Canadians - where to buy curriculum materials?]

Thank you.  This is helpful!

 

Unfortunately, I'm nowhere near a border.  I've never ordered form a US site before.  I worry that customs and international shipping will be complicated.  Might be time to give it a try.

[Canadians - where to buy curriculum materials?]

Newbie here.

 

Where do you buy your curriculum materials? 

 

1)  I'm specifically looking to purchase the Singapore Process Skills book, level one.  I'm having trouble finding a Canadian source on-line.  I will willingly pay a reasonable shipping costs,  but i don't want to be gouged! 

 

2) Generally, what are your favourite places to purchase materials?

 

I'm in rural Ontario.  So far most of my books have come from Amazon.ca, but they don't carry everything I'd like. 

 

Thanks for your help.

 

[Plays to read as a family]

Mine do the same thing the same thing with the Elephant and Piggie books.  The reader's theatre idea is brilliant! 

[Questions about invented spelling - do I correct it?]

Thank you both.  This is helpful.

 

 

[Questions about invented spelling - do I correct it?]

Hi All,

 

I am very new here.  I hope I've posted in the right place.

 

My question:  When should I expect my child to transition from invented spelling to standard spelling?  Do I correct invented spelling?

 

My just-turned-seven year old son is a reluctant writer. Just in the past few weeks, he has become more enthusiastic and initiated a few little creative writing projects of his own.  His writing contains quite a bit of invented spelling.   Which is new for him because  other than copywork he's never done any real writing before. I understand that invented spelling is  a normal developmental stage.   How long do I expect it to last?  Do I correct it?  I want him to learn to spell properly, yet at the same time I really want to encourage this new enthusiasm for writing. 

 

Examples:  Today we did a "word race" from Peggy Kaye's Games for Writing.  The goal was to write down as many verbs as he could in ten minutes.  He was interested and fully engaged.  Here's his list:  run, walk, eet (eat), yon (yawn), sleep, control, biled (build), woch (watch), clime (climb), crime (not a verb, but spelled correctly), look, play, wreck, paddel (paddle), wake, jump, snore.

 

He also wrote a little poem for fun:  "Bees eat pees (peas) well (while) they wate (wait) to sneez (sneeze)." 

 

Background information: 

He's my oldest kiddo.  Has never had any formal schooling outside the home.

Fine motor:  His fine motor skills were slow to develop.  He's used Handwriting Without Tears.  Just in the last few months has his handwriting become fluid (legible, can copy a few sentences without fatigue, not painfully slow).   Success!

Reading:  Strong reader.  Reads for hours daily for fun.  Finished OPGTR more than a year ago.  Has read the entire Ramona series and every Boxcar Children book our library has.  My grade one reading "program" has been to give him stacks of books, and inevitably hear all about the plots the next day from his non-reading, very talkative little brother.

Writing:   WWE level 1.  He has just finished week 11.  We've just started Peggy Kaye's Games for Writing - taking advantage of his new interest in writing.

Spelling:  Spelling Workout A.   Very nearly finished the book.  Aces it.

 

Thanks very much for you insight!

[Introduction]

Hello all,

 

I'm a Canadian mom, newish to homeschooling.   I have boys aged 5 and 7, in Kindergarten and Grade 1 respectively.  I've found this board to be a fabulous resource.  I'm glad to be a new member, and I'm looking forward to joining the conversation.