Water play- bring a tote or something of water outside, give them various size containers and cups and funnels and just sit there with a book and let them do their thing, emptying things from one container to another and so on. Chalk, outside on the sidewalk/patio, etc. K'nex, Lincoln Logs, Legos, Pattern blocks, building blocks and so on. Preschool/K/educational computer games. My son loves computer games. Board games. Play board games with them. Some of the Dr. Seuss ones are fun. At 4 and 5 my son likes the Dr. Seuss games, Perfection, Connect 4, the card game "War," Hungry Hungry Hippos, Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Hi-Ho Cherry-O and o on. TV- hey, sometimes you just need to put on a video or show and catch a break lol. Hole punching. My son doesn't necessarily want to cut with scissors but give him a pile of paper and a one hole punch and he's in heaven. Go for nature walks and let them each collect things, then put them into some sort of tank or display table or whatever. Put on some kid's music and do fingerplays, or make up dances, play dress up, etc. Let them help around the house- folding dishtowels, baking something, etc. Play conversational games with them- ones where they have to follow directions, or I spy, or ones where you talk about left and right, opposites, rhymes, etc. These are the kinds of things my son's "preschool" year is consisting of (he's 5 and also not usually into arts and crafts type stuff or coloring or painting or any of that, and it's also iffy as to whether he'll let me read to him).

I think I'm going to be trying to GET pregnant forever :( It didn't happen this month, again. (Okay, okay, I know I've only tried two cycles so far, but it feels like forever, all that trying and waiting to see if it happened, and then it didn't, and you have to start all over). Blah! :P But, still, I do know what you mean. When I was pregnant with my now 5 year old there was the constant non-stop day and night nausea for like the first 15-16 weeks, then things were okay for a while, but then there was all the rib pain and having a hard time breathing and never being comfortable at night and the leg cramps and so on... and then he was born and he was the grumpiest baby ever, and he never slept- I mean, EVER, for well over a year... (wait, remind me again WHY I want to do all that again? haha)

I would think it means he likes rap music. (My husband loves rap music). I would try not to judge him on something so silly as an email name, unless it was a truly offensive one, and if it seemed like the content of his email, resume, what have you was worth following up on with an interview, I'd follow up with an interview.

Both! If I'm having cookies, or a peanut butter sandwich, I like to have plain milk with it. But every now and then I'll get a craving for chocolate milk and have that for a snack.

We almost never make our beds. Once in a very blue moon if we have out of state relatives coming to visit and I think they might go upstairs (sometimes the kids like to bring them up to their rooms or something) we might make the bed. But otherwise it just seems so pointless lol. Like someone else said, a few hours later, you're just going to mess it up again!

I don't know, but my husband has, at one time or another, dyed my hair for me, painted my finger and toe nails for me, and given me a mini pedicure. :D

Yes, sometimes.

It's not working, but thank you anyway, (our names) :)

When my daughter sprained her wrist, there were a couple of weeks where we either did things orally, or I transcribed things for her (she dictated, I typed), and some things we just decided to let go of and not do.

No, they probably wouldn't attack you in the grocery store checkout line. But what's to say someone wouldn't follow you out to your car, catch you in the parking lot, and start intimidating or getting aggressive or even violent with you.... you just never know these days. I would teach my children to treat people with respect themselves, not to participate in or laugh at someone mistreating someone else who is disabled and so on. To get help if need be (you can always go discretely over to a manager, security guard, etc). But to confront a strange man who is already acting somewhat aggressive or unbalanced in manner? No. I wouldn't teach them to do that. LOL...we have baggers where I live.

Alexa and I are reading "Surviving The Applewhites."

They might enjoy making their own homemade pizza, or a taco bar, or grilled burgers and hot dogs, or spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread... I am so making myself hungry.

Beats me. I've also noticed typos with Oak Meadow (my older version) and with Teaching Textbooks 5. Truthfully, I haven't read/studied any public school text or workbooks (as an adult) enough to know whether they have those same errors. Maybe they do. If they don't, maybe it does have something to do with bigger companies over smaller companies or companies making more money over companies making less money. I don't know. I don't love when it happens but I also understand that things happen and if I like a curriculum enough for other reasons, I'm going to continue liking/using it (as is the case with the two I just mentioned). I don't think typo equals they-might-not-know-what-they're-talking-about when it comes to their subject. I'm sort of glad to see that my more off the beaten path (so to speak) choices aren't the only ones though and that you listed others that have the same issue lol.

I don't know anything about CLE math but if you want more info on TT and how it works and how intensive it is and so on, I have a review of it here: http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/124221.html

I just wish this forum was available on tapatalk so that when I view it from my iphone, I don't have to stretch the screen to make the tiny little letters big enough to read every single time I click on something... :P

Well, I didn't read the whole thing cover to cover, I skimmed through it and then let my 10 y/o read it. And every kid (and parent) is different anyway, so I don't really want to say whether it's too old for this kid, too young for that kid... ...it's free, and it comes right to your email, so you may as well just subscribe and check it out and then you and your kids can decide how appropriate and/or interesting it is for YOU. :)

Heh. I'm sorry. I have to agree with starrbuck. I always joke that "the terrible twos" are just practice for having a three year old. My son was pretty hard to deal with at two and three. He got somewhat easier at 4, he's easier still at 5... but 2 and 3? Yeah, that's tough. And definitely disruptive. You just have to make the best of it lol. And mine did not nap any longer at 3 (other than once in a while falling asleep in the car or on the couch at dinner time and then being miserably cranky when he woke up).

This is a very touching video... and I have a special needs daughter, which makes it even more so for me. I have to be totally honest though- I don't KNOW how I would react. I would be upset and disgusted and mad if I saw someone treating someone else like that... I would want to go off on them for it. But would I actually speak up and say something to that person? I don't know. I would want to. But I would kind of be afraid to, also. If it were a woman like in the first scenario I might be likely to. I could hold my own against another woman I would think. But to older teenaged boys? A grown man? If they were the kind of person who would say things like that... might they not also be the kind of people who could potentially follow you out of the store and cause physical harm to you if you were to say something negative directly to them? Don't we have to be careful of that, as women, and especially as women with kids...? I mean, you just never know with people these days. If they're high, violent, nuts, aggressive... that is a very real concern. I'd be more likely to say something privately to a manager, or to say something kind to the disabled person after the fact, than I would be to directly confront a strange man or older teenaged boy, as a woman/mom.

Figured I'd give this a bump. My daughter has now read the two current issues and really enjoyed them. She kept calling over to me to tell me about whatever interesting thing she was reading at the moment. She really liked it. :)

Here are our 6th Grade plans: English/Social Studies (4X a week): Oak Meadow 6 "Ancient Civilizations and English" Ancient world civilizations provide the foundation for an integrated experience that weaves together the history, geography, literature, government, and art of ancient cultures. We encourage critical and independent thinking by challenging students to understand opposing viewpoints and to write from the perspective of different cultures and time periods. Grammar lessons and activities are woven into writing assignments and students expand their vocabulary and composition skills. Art explorations include sculpture, drawing, calligraphy, mosaics, marbling, costume making, and mask making. Required literature includes: An Indian Epic: Ramayana; The Rainbow People; D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths; Growing Up In Aztec Times; Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest; Tales of King Arthur. Science (3X a week): Oak Meadow 6 "Basic Life Science" Math (5X a week): Teaching Textbooks 6 4X a week Life of Fred Fractions 1X a week Health & Physiology (1X a week): We will be using parts of the FREE health curriculum at kidshealth.org, focusing on the "Personal Health" and "Human Body" series. Art (1X a week): Meet The Masters Physical Education: She will continue with her weekly Judo classes, among other things that come up here and there. Music: She will start acoustic guitar lessons. Misc: Continue with Girl Scouts, library book club, and remaining active in our homeschool group. P.S. We MIGHT also move on from "Sentence Composing For Elementary School" (which we're using now) to "Story Grammar For Elementary School" but I haven't decided for sure yet whether I want to continue with the series into next year. We also MIGHT add on some sort of Spanish program, because my daughter has expressed an interest in learning Spanish. Perhaps Getting Started With Spanish to start out with? Over the summer in between 5th and 6th grade we will continue with SOTW1 from where we left off last summer, and will also use the Typing Instructor For Kids program.

I have no words...

I wouldn't personally want to do it, but I wouldn't try to forbid an 18 year old from doing it. It sounds fun, if you're brave enough lol. (And I agree with the person who said the most dangerous part is probably the car ride there!)

Baked oatmeal muffins? (I do like the bagels and cream cheese idea, too).

We are using TT5 and my daughter GETS it, which is huge. She also LIKES it, which is also huge. It's way less teacher intensive for me, which is great- and I don't care who says what about it being "below grade level"- I recently had an opportunity to see another kid's 5th grade public school math homework and he wasn't doing anything that seemed any more "advanced" than what we are doing. A lot of people on these boards supplement a lot of things for their own reasons. It doesn't mean you have to or that your program isn't good enough or that your child isn't learning "enough" or any such thing. TT works for us! If it works for you too, keep doing what you're doing! ETA: If you would like to see my review of TT, you can read it here: http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/124221.html

Have you checked the list of evaluators on askpauline.com?