I think that is perfect for a third grader. That's about how much time I spent with my daughter last year when she was in fourth grade. This year she's in fifth and it's tending to be more like 3-4 hours.

Sometimes we work at the kitchen table. Sometimes we work flopped on the floor or couch. Sometimes we go outside and sit at the patio table. Sometimes we sit at the computer desk in the den. Sometimes we accomplish a few things in the car while traveling somewhere. Sometimes we just say "forget this" and go outside or to do something fun. :) We're flexible!

My younger daughter went through a brief phase as a toddler where, when she got frustrated, she would get down on her hands and knees and bang her head on the ground. The first time she did that, I nearly had a heart attack lol. After the first few times, I brought it up to her pediatrician. His advice was to entirely ignore it (unless she was on a really hard surface where she could really hurt herself). So the next time she did it (on the living room carpet), as soon as she started, I pretended I didn't even see her. I got up and walked out of the room without even glancing at her. When she got up to follow me into the other room so she could get my attention, I gave her that attention before she could start doing the head banging routine again, so the attention was not at all connected to her doing that. It only took a very few times of doing that before she stopped banging her head on the ground. :)

Yes and yes here, too.

Let me preface this by saying that I have NO interest in owning a dog. But if I HAD to get a dog... I would totally want to adopt a retired Greyhound. :) (I never will though, I've decided I'm just not cut out for owning animals that require so much care, attention, expense, training, planning for when we want to be out of the house for long periods, etc. Our fish, turtles and gecko are just my speed). :D

LOL well, I'm glad it was helpful! :) And of course you have the right to change your mind ten times. :D What *I* would probably do would be to give her the choice... "any interest in re-reading this one, or do you want to read one of these instead?" And here we always read the assigned books together. (If we do any of the optional/supplemental ones she usually reads those on her own). Not that you have to but it's a nice way to spend time together and helps me better keep on top of what she got out of it/how she does with the writing assignments etc.

Thanks, all. :)

In the syllabus itself toward the end of each lesson, it will often suggest optional/supplemental book titles. You could probably go with those instead. Or if you have, know of or can find a different book that fits in with the current lesson, there is no reason you can't go with that instead. Mainly you just want it to be a living type book that pertains to your social studies material.

My DD10 has been developing a br east b ud on one side for what seems like forever now and is finally just starting to develop on the other as well. She is frequently complaining that her chest hurts. Is it normal for it to feel tender or painful like that? I don't recall feeling that myself, but of course that was a long time ago.

Can't help with comparison or 7th grade but I do have a detailed review of TT (for the 5th grade level) on my blog if you want to take a peek. Click link in sig, then look at the sidebar to the left for the "My Reviews" section. Hope this helps!

Congrats!!! :grouphug:

We start with a read aloud at breakfast time.

To me, it sounds like the things you are already doing are fantastic for a first grader. Did you plan to continue with that type of curriculum? If so don't feel like you have to start second guessing yourself, I think it sounds great!

:grouphug:

You might want to look into Oak Meadow science.

Hi, I haven't made it quite that far yet, but we started Oak Meadow in 4th grade and really loved it, so we continued it this year with 5th, and we're moving on to Oak Meadow 6 for next year. Really, I don't see why you couldn't just go ahead and do it! If you're interested in getting an idea of what Oak Meadow 5 has been like for us so far, you can get an idea here: http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/126296.html (Or the main body of my blog is basically our day to day lives as relaxed homeschoolers using OM).

K and 1.

I have a pretty detailed review of it on my blog, if you click the link in my sig and then look at the sidebar on the left side of the page for the "My Reviews" section. There's a lot about it on Oak Meadow's site, too. I love Oak Meadow! We've used OM4, OM5 and are going to use OM6 and OMK in the fall.

That's wonderful. So glad to hear it! :)

Well, we're nearing the end of TT5 and they're asking things like: Phillip needs to memorize 288 words for his French test. If he wants to memorize all the words in 6 days, and he plans to memorize the same number of words each day, how many words should he memorize each day? The iron-jawed lizard has been helping to destroy the enemy's power supply for the last 3 weeks. He ate 42 fuse boxes in the first week, 39 in the second week, and 54 in the third week. What was the average number of fuse boxes eaten each week? By the time he reaches adulthood, a Chihuahua could weigh 8 pounds. How many ounces is that? Every day, Sven does 95 push-ups. How many push-ups will he do after 7 days? Hoss needs to cut a 53-inch strip of leather into 7-inch long pieces. How many pieces will he end up with? Write your answer as a mixed number. You might also want to take a look at my detailed review of/experience with TT on my blog: http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/124221.html I'm a huge fan, personally! :D

:)

Good for you :) TT5 was one of the very best things about this school year. Looking forward to moving on to TT6 in the fall!

My son, who is 5 1/2 years old, is finally no longer wearing pull-ups to bed at night!! This boy has been tough to potty train, but in the end, I just took a relaxed approach, figured it would happen eventually- and he basically trained himself. We were rapidly approaching his fourth birthday with me thinking he was going to turn four and still not be fully potty-trained when he woke up one morning, decided to put on underwear on his own, and told me he was wearing underwear from now on. And that was that, he was fully potty trained.... during the day. At night, though, we continued putting him in pull-ups. Until 8 nights ago when I went to tuck him in and found him in underwear instead of a pull-up. He told me he wanted to sleep in his underwear that night. I said, "Hmm... ok, but if you have an accident, you have to tell me, because we will have to wash all your blankets and sheets. He said, "If I have an accident, I will help you wash them." LOL. But he didn't. He stayed dry that night... and the next... and the next... and so on. It's now been over a week of wearing underwear to bed and staying dry every night. Hooray! :D

I'd put all the kids in one bedroom, myself in the second, and worry about it in a few more years or when circumstances changed.

I wish I could post truly witty things my kids have said that make them look all smart and stuff compared to public schoolers. But, alas, I get stuff like this: "I know what pubic means. It's right here." (DD, 8 at the time, proceeds to point to her PUPIL). or, at age 10: "I can't think of another word that has a suffix." Me: "Hm. Well, how about trying to think of a word that ends in ful?" She: "Oh, I know. Waffle." Or my 5 year old son wanted to tell us, "I'm a ninja. You can't see me." But instead told us, "I'm a inja. I can't see." :tongue_smilie: