Really? That's too bad, OM has so many great projects! Is she more into reading/writing as opposed to the hands on/crafty stuff? Thanks for your feedback and letting me know about the pictures showing up okay with your browser!

I just posted a "What Do You Do Every Day?" post to my blog, with a bunch of pictures... http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/175611.html

I started using it at the very end of 3rd grade. Picked it up again the summer after 4th grade. And will pick it up again this summer, the summer after 5th. I don't want to do it over the school year while we're doing our main curriculum, so we do it more for fun on an as-we-have-time-for-it basis over the summer. I have found these ages to be a good time for it and couldn't even remotely see my 5 year old getting anything out of it, or a 6 y/o, but every family's different. Personally I think it seems great for ages 8 (maybe 7) to 11.

This is some good advice. Try to include her as much as you can. If all else fails, I've found that a stack of paper and a one hole punch can occupy a kid for quite some time :D (If you have to put on a video, at least you can have her watching something educational right? Leapfrog Letter Factory maybe?) :D Oh and Andrea? I LOVE YOUR PICTURE! :lol:

Thanks so much for the comments :) (here and there!)

No, I wouldn't.

No, because our school day isn't overly time consuming anyway so they still have plenty of time to play in the snow. And we take plenty of other days off that public schooled kids DON'T get, for vacations, field trips etc. And, as someone else said, we're more into the "sun days"- when spring rolls around, I'll be more likely to say "let's just go outside and enjoy the weather!" Winters feel pretty long here in PA. :)

Posted this on my blog today: http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/175611.html (Kind of an 'article' about what a homeschooler "does" every day). Would enjoy feedback... (and would also like to know if you guys can see all the pictures, as opposed to big blank spaces or blank white boxes, as I made it pretty picture intensive). Thanks! :)

A good poem for reinforcing similies is "The War God's Horse Song" which I used when I did a poetry workshop using the book "Teaching Poetry Yes You Can!" by Jacqueline Sweeney (which is for grades 4-8). I am the Turquoise Woman's son On top of Belted Mountain beautiful horses slim like a weasel My horse has a hoof like striped agate his fetlock is like fine eagle plume his legs are like quick lightening My horse's body is like an eagle-feathered arrow My horse has a tail like a trailing black cloud. I put flexible goods on my horse's back The Holy Wind blows through his mane his mane is made of rainbows My horse's ears are made of round corn My horse's eyes are made of stars My horse's head is made of mixed waters (from the holy waters) (he never knows thirst) My horse's teeth are made of white shell The long rainbow is in his mouth for a bridle with it I guide him When my horse neighs different-colored horses follow I am wealthy from my horse Before me peaceful Behind me peaceful Under me peaceful Over me peaceful Around me peaceful Peaceful voice when he neighs I am everlasting and peaceful I stand for my horse -Navajo; adapted from Dane and Mary Robers Coolidge

This is my fifth grade daugher's book log so far this year: http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/122233.html It's categorized according to books she read independently for fun, for optional/supplemental reading for our curriculum, and for book club. And then by books we read aloud together for fun, for SOTW, for our curriculum (either assigned or optional/supplemental), and then books used for texts, resources/reference, etc.

I don't keep or assign grades, and I don't do report cards. And I don't intend to do any of that stuff until high school. My daughter is currently in 5th grade and so far, I just have not found it necessary. I want her to learn for the sake of learning, not for some random number or letter or "score" or whatever.

:lol: That's funny! And he's adorable!

Last year when my daughter was in 4th grade (and at that point, if she'd been born even ONE day later, she'd have been in 3rd), she required a good amount of handholding for all writing assignments. This year in 5th she's doing it much more independently although sometimes still needs some help. She too is above age and grade level for reading (she took a few reading assessment tests online just last week and tested at an 8th grade level).

Yesterday we: Put 10 social studies vocab words in alphabetical order & defined them Wrote sentences depicting each of 11 punctuation rules for grammar Wrote ten spelling words 5X each Did a Teaching Textbooks math lesson (money word problems) Did a Sentence Composing for Elementary School lesson Read aloud (Journey To Monticello) Had silent reading time (Streams to the River, River to the Sea) Went to an indoor play place for an hour and a half or so Did the first 3 standardized Cat/5 tests (vocab, comprehension, spelling) Did some cleaning in the living room/den Played Wii bowling/Other free play time Continued to neglect writing a book report on Ben and Me which SHOULD have been finished last week but will get done SOMETIME this week.

:seeya: Hi! Me too. LOL

Ha, yeah, sorry, but I think you guys HAVE decided, but just haven't fully admitted it yet :P (And I think it's great!)

I read that book many years ago and loved it- it really stuck with me all this time. I should re-read it!! That's my favorite series ever :D

I read it cover to cover when I was 14 or 15 believe it or not (and I was raised Jewish)

I've never heard of being able to catch chicken pox from someone who is contagious simply from getting the shot, and I would imagine that if that is truly a possibility, the odds must be incredibly low unless you have problems with your immune system- but, still, I'd rather have them do it now than with a baby already in the house, if that were a concern of mine. So I'd schedule the appointment and get them done.

My 10 year old, Alexa, and I are doing this challenge together. This week, we are reading "The Gawgon and The Boy" by Lloyd Alexander. "Give me The Boy. These words have the ring of a death sentence to eleven-year-old David as elderly, tough-minded Aunt Annie says them. He's recovering from an illness so serious that he almost died. And now this? But arrangements are quickly made- the aged woman, who seems as frightening as a monstrous, snake-haired Gorgon, will become his tutor. But in no time David changes his mind about The Gawgon, his secret nickname for her. He has always been a dreamer, making up and losing himself in imaginary adventures. Soon she begins to co-star in his fantasies- The Gawgon and The Boy can do anything, go anywhere. Together they rescue King Tut's treasure, scale mountains, outwit master criminals, fool the gods... The Gawgon changes David forever. In a year, the old woman with the bright heart of a girl gives him a lifetime's worth of memories as well as the most important gift of all: belief in himself and the confidence to be whatever he wants to be." On my own, I'm also reading "Mary, Bloody Mary" after Imp's recommendation (I think that's who it was!) It's a young adult book by Carolyn Meyer and it's about Princess Mary (daughter of King Henry) and her childhood. It's the first in a series.

If I wanted to get one of these for my 10 y/o daughter who has had some typing instruction (using a free online program in the earlier part of last year's school year, but hasn't really used the skills she learned since and seems to have forgotten almost everything she learned and now needs to start a typing program all over again)... Would you get Typing Instructor, or Typing Instructor For Kids? Thanks!

Oh, as for ideas: You could also ask her to write new endings to the fairy tales, or to write modern day versions of the stories, if she likes writing. You could ask her to design a poster (or "book jacket" or "movie poster" or some such, or just draw her own illustrations, for the fairy tales, if she likes drawing. Or some other craft if she likes crafts but not drawing, maybe some sort of sculpture or something else that reminds her of the fairy tale. You could ask her to do a dramatic reading of the fairy tale and video tape it or to design a costume and do a skit/play from the fairy tale (with your 5th grader?), if she likes drama/theater. You could challenge her to memorize passages/portions of the fairy tale and recite it to you without looking. You could learn more about the origins or authors. You could read this article, called "The Science of Fairy Tales" http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/080211-fairytales-science.html You could check out these "Fairy Tales For Teens" http://www.epl.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=587:fairy-tales-retold-for-teens&catid=75:young-adult&Itemid=304 If she likes to knit there's a book called "Fairy Tale Knits" http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Fairy-Tale-Knits/A-Stewart-Guinee/e/9780470262689 (it's like kids clothes but maybe she could even sell them or something!) Is she into computers/Photoshop? This site tells how to "create your own fairytale scene" in photoshop: http://10steps.sg/tutorials/photoshop/creating-you-own-fairytale-scene/

How about a bearded dragon or a blue tongue skink? They make pretty good pets, and allergies/destruction of property won't be an issue at all. :) ETA: this site talks about good beginner reptiles (as well as unsuitable ones), care, needs, and so on, if you decide to consider going that route: http://www.anapsid.org/parent.html

My kids don't tend to go to sleep til somewhere between 10 and 11 PM every night (they're in bed before then but may read or play their DS's or watch TV for a while or some such). (They're teen, 10, and 5). They sleep til 9 AM-ish (with the exception of my teen who tends to wake up between 7 and 8 depending on whether she has to go to school that day).

I don't know which ones I can think of that "blew me away," but insofar as picture books go, I really loved: "Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus" by Mo Willems because it's so humorous. The kids liked it, but dh and I were laughing aloud, and that's saying something, right? :D "A brilliantly simple book that is absolutely true to life, as anyone who interacts with an obdurate three-year-old can attest. The bus driver has to leave for a while, and he makes one request of readers: "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus." It's the height of common sense, but the driver clearly knows this determined pigeon and readers do not-yet. "Hey, can I drive the bus?" asks the bird, at first all sweet reason, and then, having clearly been told no by readers, he begins his ever-escalating, increasingly silly bargaining. "I tell you what: I'll just steer," and "I never get to do anything," then "No fair! I bet your mom would let me." " *** There are others in the "Pigeon" series too, which are just as good: "Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late"- the star of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Hyperion, 2003) returns in another irresistible tale. Hurrying away to brush his teeth, the pajama-clad bus driver implores readers not to let his feathered friend stay up late. Youngsters are thrust into the role of caregiver as the puerile pigeon attempts to talk his way out of the inevitable, coming up with requests that range from manipulative (I hear there's a good show about birds on TV tonight. Should be very educational) to cajoling (Y'know, we never get to talk anymore. Tell me about your day) to classic (Can I have a glass of water?). *** Another one that is really cute is "Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox" by Erin Dealey. "Goldie locks has chicken pox; from head to toe were polka dots. "Where did you get them?" Father said. But Goldie only shook her head. Mrs. Locks phoned Mama Bear, (apologizing for the chair) but Baby Bear did not have spots for bears cannot get chicken pox." It goes on in that vein bringing in other characters from well known stories and nursery rhymes ("Leave them be," agreed Bo Peep, who happened by in search of sheep. "That's sound advice for chicken pox. It doesn't work for wayward flocks.") and some funny lines like: "Please don't scratch them," said her mother. "Let's connect them!" shouted Brother. I know chicken pox isn't quite so common these days anyway but it's still a fun story with rhyme that flows well and cute illustrations and well known characters kids (and moms) will love.