We live in Nevada. I'm prepared for being stranded in the heat, even in town. I get dehydrated very easily. Make sure you have heaps of water. A gallon jug for everyone in the family, especially if you'll be driving through a long stretch of desert. I also make sure I have snacks that don't melt, hats for everyone, sunscreen, and at least one blanket. Sheets are good too. My husband always carries a pocket knife and I try to remember to put a flashlight in the car for longer trips. These are just safety things. When I was in PS here, they were part of the curriculum for Nevada history. I wouldn't worry too much though. Although the roads look isolated, as long as you're not going 4x4 through the desert (not recommended :) ) there's lots of traffic. Have a great trip and enjoy the desert! It definitely has its own beauty. We love it!

"Don't spit on me!" from Dog Show "Like I was really gonna!" from One Crazy Summer "Wink, wink, nudge, nudge" Monty Python "Get of it Napoleon and make yourself a ques-i-dilla!" Oh, so many more. This is a family passtime of ours, quoting movies, that is, not making ques-i-dillas. Quotes creep into our everyday speech. :001_smile:

When my now 5yo was 3 he would run around the house yelling, "Toe-lee liquid!" It took us forever to realize he was quoting the trike kid. :o) We now say toe-lee liquid all the time!

here's how things work at our house. I wake up before the kids for an hour of exercise. Breakfast is at 7. We follow that up with an hour and a half of free time (ie burning some energy). We live in the desert so during the hot months this is basically the only time to play outside. School is from 9 to 1 with half an hour for lunch. We then have a break in the afternoon until evening sports kick in around 4 or 5. Depending on the time of year, that's 2-5 times a week. We have light days on Fridays, spelling tests and tying up loose ends for the week. We have a 42 week school year with 6 being light unit studies and review. We take off a big chunk of time from Thanksgiving through New Year. This allows us to really enjoy the holidays and also that's when weather here is nicer! We also usually take birthday weeks off and 2 weeks in August. Then we start it all over again. :) As for homeschooling with a little one. When I had a toddler in the house I used special bins of toys that only came out during school, lots of play dough, and I used nap time for the more intense subjects. HTH Good luck!

I have pity for y'all! I live in the desert and it's only 97 today! Hang in there!

Well spoken Karen.

I love Stephen King books, for the most part. My favorite was the Stand. I put him under the catagory of "fluff" reading. It's like junk food or candy. Lately, I've had quite the sweet tooth! :o)

I'm not sure if I do anything specifically. I have 2 boys 8 and 5. The 5yo is particularly daring. I remember when they were much smaller being very hesitant about letting them explore. I feel that I've relaxed a bit. Firstly, I'm lucky to have married a man who has 4 brothers. This puts things in perspective for me. He tells me if this is typical behavior between brothers (I only have one brother). I turn to him for guidance often because, well, I've never been a little boy. I also let my boys take risks in a controlled environment. This may sound weird but honestly the only thing I worry about is head injuries. Broken bones I can deal with (I hope!). So helmets are a must on bikes, but go ahead and try the wheelie. KWIM? I think it's important for my boys to learn their limits although I step in when things start getting a bit crazy. My 8yo is cautious by nature so that makes it easy for me right now. We'll see what the future holds for my little one! I hope I've helped in answering your question. I, too, struggle with squashing dreams. Most of mine are that my 8yo wants to build X and I see no possible way to do it and I used to voice those opinions. I felt like a great big dream wrecker! Now, I encourage him to write it into an Inventions notebook and try it. I never know right? Oh, and for things like hiking, I just send them with their dad. We live near lots of mountains and that's his type of thing. So, either I lucked out or chickened out, depending on your perspective. :tongue_smilie: HTH

I don't usually discuss the morality of these issues with people because it opens a can of worms. I will say though that I don't think it would bother me that these women are teaching little ones because usually marriage isn't something kids think of. By this I mean, I don't think little kids would notice that Miss Somone isn't wearing a wedding ring. Something to think about.

Another vote for Singapore here.

LOL! That was my son for awhile too. We've hit a wall in math, so now he's begging for more cursive writing practice pages. "I want to do handwriting first!" "Please can I do just one more page?" This, from the boy who I had to beg just to write one word when he was 6! Gotta love it! Thanks for sharing your funny!

Yes.

I guess I'm just practical. My maiden name has 11 letters. It doesn't fit on most standardized forms. My dh's name has 6 letters. Just 6. I wound up with a sing-songy name but I like it. I didn't have to worry about my maiden name dying out as I have a brother and 8 male cousins!

I'm in Nevada. I'd be glad to help out.

Chicken nuggets burgers and dogs top the list but I also use it IN meatloaf and baked beans. I'm indifferent to ketchup myself Here's a spin off though....do you prefer ketchup or catsup?

I'm very careful how I tell people. I've had mixed reactions. My in-laws think I'm severely and permanently damaging my boys. I laugh and pass the bean dip. Mostly, though, I find that people are accepting but ignorant. I get a lot of "Oh, I could never do that!" or "You must have the patience of a saint!" (I soooo don't!). Of course, the "s" word comes into play every time. But I'm used to that and have a quick response handy. I'm careful not to put others on the defensive. Like other push button issues, many think that if I say I homeschool, I expect them to school at home as well. Or, the fact that we do makes them feel inferior or inadequate. I'm very clear that homeschooling is a personal decision and not right for everyone, although it works great for us! I've helped a few other families decide whether or not to homeschool which is a nice feeling. Welcome to the club!

I was very worried about the friendship subject. The boys' best friends were found through a preschool my oldest attended. But they will be leaving (military) soon. I'm very crushed. And I was worried about trying to find a "fill in". I just don't want them to feel abandoned or lonely. I do realize that these feelings are part of life. But.... With that said, though, my boys find friends through tae kwon do and soccer. Soccer has been particularly helpful. When Huck is practicing, Tom plays with the younger siblings. My dh and I have made a conscious effort to make sure my older ds has things to talk about with other kids. We let him watch spongbob (gag!). He loves Pokemon and reads Captain Underpants books. All of these are not on my list of great passtimes but it certainly helps avoid those dull, blank stares when he starts talking about this cool thing he just learned in physics or points out the awesome sedimentary rock he just found. I think both of my boys are very social, although it is the one thing that I truly obsess about. They can pick up games at the playground or with neighborhood kids easily. For this, I am grateful.

Thanks, Mom! Well, it kept me away from the train tracks, right?! In college, I was driving down the road with my roommate. We saw a uhaul with the states on it. This one was from Hawaii. She said, "Hmmm, I wonder how that got here?!" Smile. Smirk. Devil horns sprouting. I said, "On the pontoon bridge, of course." She bought it. For a long time. I finally told her the truth when she mentioned a couple days later that we should all go on a road trip to Hawaii! :lol:

My husband was in management in the home building industry. Both of us were loosing sleep over the news reporting that this builder was shutting its doors and the market is supposed to be bad for X months, years. Add that to all the murders and mayhem living in a metropolis, well, we couldn't sleep and we were nervous wrecks all the time. So, here's our compromise. We use the weather channel to make sure we're dressing correctly for the day. I read Newsweek (and a few others) to keep on top of politics because this is an election year. I carefully avoid any stories pertaining to murders, etc. If something really important happens, my dh will let me know or I'll hear it at soccer practice or taekwondo. I haven't missed it ONE BIT. I'm more relaxed and less sad. I've noticed my boys aren't thinking about some topics they used to see on the morning news anymore either. I don't know if I'll ever go back to watching the news. I don't think I live in a bubble. I've just weeded out the "junk" that affects me but that I have no control over, like babies drowning, and the like. Just my 2 pennies worth.

That's what my momma calls me. I'll stick with it. I kinda like it! :)

We still have 12 weeks or so, only 5 at full course load. We're desert folk so schooling in the summer works well for us. Huck was very successful with Latin for Children A. He loved it! I liked learning it too. Cursive was a hit too, which surprised me. Writing is getting a bit easier for him now. Math was our major speed bump. I think what happened was that he was so into learning new stuff that we didn't keep up with review enough. Plus he hit a wall. So we're going back to Singapore 5A (from 6A) and doing the IP's for some review. That's taken the stress out of it. He's a much happier kid. And of course, he loves physics. Now, Tom, on the other hand.....he just turned 5 and I was planning on continuing him on the path to 1st grade in the fall. Well, his math is zooming along and he'll be ready for Singapore 1A in a month or so. But, all else has fizzled to a painful halt. So, I've stopped with handwriting and phonics for now and we'll do kindy in the fall again. He'll learn it when he wants, right? Right!?! :001_smile: We're looking forward to starting SOTW1 in the fall and Spanish too. Our other great success has been a smooth routine and finding an awesome tae kwon do class! Oh, and personally, I've found lots of time to read which I've soooo missed!

My ds will be 8 in 2 days! He loves Legos, bionicles and k'nex. His favorite books are trivia type and joke books (e'gad!). He loves Harry Potter and Clue Finder computer games. He loves science and we do a lot of experiments around here usually taken from Janice VanCleave's books. He partipates in soccer and tae kwon do. He does much better in TKD (IMO, maybe not his!). I'm interested in the Young Scientist's Club. If purplemama could share more about this I'd be much obliged. Great thread. Thanks!

See, my oldest was the puzzle, reading, patterns kind of boy. Not typical at all but right up my alley. Then along comes Tom with his all-boyness. Our playmobil dudes have open craniums here. Drives me crazy! And we have a lot of those Imaginext guys who are always dying horrific deaths. Not to mention what the poor animals are put through. I look to my husband, one of 5 boys, and he assures me that this is, indeed, how little boys play. He told our boys the other day of the year he got a BB Gun. He shot all the birds in the back yard. Gack! But it gets so much worse! He didn't pick them up and his dad hit tons of them with the lawn mower. Blah! Since that story, I have encouraged him to censor what he says! We don't need Pete and Repete living at our house!

Another vote for LWW first. We just finished reading the entire series and didn't start with Magician's Nephew. Although we really did enjoy it.

We're are not religious and homeschool for academic reasons.