I was thinking the same thing. We're at the end of Week 6 of our curriculum for this year and I've never tried to figure out exactly how much time it's taking because we never start or finish at the same time of day, and we often break for other things or activities in between and so on. And of course the time we spend on school would vary from day to day at least somewhat anyway, because we do different subjects on different days, and what we do for, say, social studies on one day may take longer than what we do for social studies on another day... But today I decided to pay careful attention and write down the starting and ending times for each subject we did TODAY. And this was us! Today Alexa did: Vocabulary- She used each of this week's vocabulary words in a sentence. This week she only had 6 vocabulary words (sometimes she has up to 10 per week, it varies a little bit from week to week). 20 Minutes. Math- She did a Teaching Textbooks 5 lesson. This involved reading the lesson in the book, watching the lecture on the CD, doing the five practice problems on the CD, then answering each of the 22 problems first on paper and then checking her work on the computer. 35 Minutes. Spelling- She reviewed her ten spelling words by drawing a little picture or shape that related to the spelling word, and writing her spelling words inside those pictures. 10 Minutes. Reading- (Together) She read a chapter of "The Witch Of Blackbird Pond" aloud to me. When she came across a word that was unfamiliar, we'd discuss what it meant (and look it up if I couldn't give her a quick, easy definition). She jotted down a note or two about that chapter for future use in an upcoming report. 23 Minutes. Science- She read a few pages from her Environmental Science syllabus aloud to me, reading the section on Food Webs. She answered several questions pertaining to that reading (in writing) and answered a series of questions orally as well, pertaining to a picture of a food web depicted in the book. Then she listed 8 living things that she eats and drew a picture of a food web centered around those things. 50 Minutes. Reading- (Independently) She had silent reading time, reading two chapters of "I Am Regina" to herself. 21 Minutes. Grand Total: 159 minutes, or just about 2 hours and 40 minutes. Aside from those things, she spent an hour and a half or so at Grandma's house while my husband and I went to our weekly weight loss support group (and they spent at least some time discussing the rescued miners in Chile). She made lunch for her and her little brother. She watched my youngest nephew for a few minutes when my brother (who lives 3 houses away) went to pick up my older nephews from the bus stop and didn't want to bring the little one out in the rain. She had a doctor's appointment. She accompanied me to pick up her older sister from Special Olympics volleyball. She spent a little over an hour at Girl Scouts (they made beaded "candy corn" pins). And she watched some TV. ETA: Oh, and she also responded to a letter from her Pen Pal and got that off in the mail (although I did not pay attention to how much time she spent on that). Like Christy, we use the Oak Meadow curriculum. I do think it's a good curriculum and it allows for plenty of creativity and hands on activities and discussion. But it's NOT big on worksheets and a lot of textbookish stuff and busywork. I'll try to remember to keep careful track tomorrow, too, just out of curiosity, to see how our total time varies on another day. It'd be interesting to do that for at least a week to see if we're averaging about the same amount of time each day.

Well, tell us already, Woman!!! :P

I saw that on like Oct. 1st Deborah said that "lots of people have already received their copy of Issue 12" (of Secular Homeschooling Magazine) and that she's "still doggedly mailing away." I still haven't received mine. I want it, darn it! lol. Anyone else still waiting (not so) patiently?

Figured I'd give myself a little bump! And, Pam, I'm really sorry you went through that! :(

Maybe we are talking about two different things here. You are talking about teaching your son to read, that he had a hard time learning to do so, that it wasn't fun etc. The OP is talking about a child who DOES know how to read, but who is maybe a grade level behind, and who does not LIKE to read (but can do it and does understand the passages she reads, etc). She's not asking "should I teach this child to read." She's saying "should I take this child who knows how to read but doesn't like to and require X number of minutes per day of reading time anyway." And I'm saying if the kid already thinks reading isn't fun, saying "you have to do it anyway" is going to make it seem even less fun. But presenting it as a game, challenge, or whatever, might make it more appealing. It's about the attitude, and HOW it is presented, not whether it is presented at all. I'm not sure what's wrong with trying to make reading appealing to a child to the extent possible instead of a chore?

Cookies & Cream Lemon Luscious and Toffee Crunch sound the best to me. I have no idea what I would pay though! This thread is mean, diets stink. LOL.

Thank you everyone, for your support and encouragement! Today was my 7th results weigh in. Status Report: 8/26/10, Week "0" Weight: 237 1/2 lbs BMI: 37.2 Height: 5'7" 9/2/10, Week 1 Weight: 235 1/2 lbs BMI: 36.9 Weekly Change: -2 lbs Total Loss: 2 lbs 9/9/10, Week 2 Weight: 234 1/2 lbs BMI: 36.8 Weekly Change: -1 lb Total Loss: 3 lbs 9/16/10, Week 3 Weight: 231 3/4 lbs BMI: 36.3 Weekly Change: -2 3/4 lbs Total Loss: 5 3/4 lbs 9/23/10, Week 4 Weight: 229 1/2 lbs BMI: 35.9 Weekly Change: -2 1/4 lbs Total Loss: 8 lbs 9/30/10, Week 5 Weight: 226 3/4 lbs BMI: 35.5 Weekly Change: -2 3/4 lbs Total Loss: 10 3/4 lbs 10/7/10, Week 6 Weight: 226 1/4 lbs BMI: 35.5 Weekly Change: -1/2 lb Total Loss: 11 1/4 lbs 10/14/10, Week 7 Weight: 224 1/2 lbs BMI: 35.2 Weekly Change: -1 3/4 lbs Total Loss: 13 lbs Goal: 58 lbs. 13 lbs down, 45 lbs to go. --- My husband has lost a total of 10 3/4 lbs so far. --- Please see my weight loss page on my livejournal site for fun weight loss picture updates: http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/139113.html

I'm not saying you won't develop skill by forcing a child to read. But I don't think it will help develop an enjoyment of reading, which to me, would be a shame. I'm not suggesting they don't have the child read at all. I'm suggesting they do it more in a fun way that might not turn them off even further, rather than a "I don't care if you don't like it, you have to do it" kind of thing.

I think that forcing a reluctant reader to read X amount each day is just going to make them hate reading even more (which as an avid reader, seems like such a shame)! Perhaps instead of "you must read" you can have the mom do more like "reading challenges"- make it quirky and fun and let her win a small prize (or points toward a prize or some such) at the end. The challenges can be things like 'sit under the kitchen table and read with a flashlight.' Or 'Read aloud to the goldfish.' Or 'Sit on the bottom step and move up one step for each page until you get to the top, and then move back down.' or 'lie upside down on the couch' or something just to make it seem silly and fun instead of dreary and forced.

Saxon Math. We never even used it. I just had to look at it to know.

I think you send them a note or email saying: "Listen... I understand that homeschooling is not for everybody and that it's not a choice you would make. Nevertheless, it is a choice that *I* have made, and even if you don't understand it or agree with it, I am asking that you respect it and to refrain from underhanded comments, eye rolls, sarcastic digs, etc every time the subject comes up in the interest of maintaining a good relationship between us. Thanks."

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I have never heard of Oceania until this thread. It's always been Australia to me!

Allow me! :) Birthdays are a big deal and it's fun to get to choose how you spend them. I would absolutely go ahead and try to get coverage for that class, and if I got the coverage, great! My kid would be thoroughly enjoying her birthday. With enough notice, and if I couldn't get coverage, I'd explain that it was my daughter's birthday and we had plans and I couldn't get there that day and so be it. If there was a way to have a make up day, great. If there was a way to have my class covered by someone else, great. But if all else failed, then sorry- I've got a life outside of co-op with my kids being my first priority (not someone else's kids) :D With all that said, I would not cancel on short notice, I'd be planning this a few weeks (at least) in advance. ETA: Just to throw this in though I've never belonged to any sort of academic or extremely structured "co-op" for what it's worth. My homeschool group mostly does field trips and educational tours and craft days and social get togethers and so on and so forth (which is exactly what I want and love about it). Every now and then we do "classes" but they're mostly for fun and there are no assignments and they're each isolated events, not like an ongoing thing, so maybe the tone is entirely different, but, regardless, I think even if I said "I'll teach a co op class for a year" there are absolutely going to be times I miss due to things that come up with my own family, and my kid's birthday would probably still be one of them.

I like onion, garlic, kernels of frozen corn, diced tomatos, a bit of the "tops" of the peppers chopped up, rice, cheese, and ground beef in mine :D (either American cheese torn into shredded pieces or a bag of shredded cheese of whatever kind you like, or whatever). A little salt and pepper. And I also top it with a bit of tomato paste or sauce before baking. Also I boil my peppers for a few minutes and then leave them turned upside down draining while I get the other stuff together. Then I stuff and bake them. I don't know why, I guess because it's in a recipe I found and used years back, and I thought they came out really good.

Right around the time when I was thinking 'wow, okay, he's going to turn 4 and not be potty trained- my son was finally ready to potty train. I had tried stickers and smiley faces and small bribes, I had tried letting him pick out underwear, I had tried setting a timer and bringing him in every X amount of time leading up to that, I had tried leaving a little potty seat in the living room, I had tried conversations and reminders and reasoning with him, I had tried a kid's book about potty training and a kid's video about potty training and everything else I could think of. And it all "sort of" worked- but in the meanwhile he'd keep having accidents, too, and he couldn't care less if his underwear got wet or whatever. I ended up going back to pullups because I got tired of the laundry, and then one day not very long before he turned 4, I woke up and saw him in his bedroom putting a pair of underwear on by himself, and he was pretty much fully potty trained from that point on.

I wouldn't buy a preschool curriculum. There are so many easy, simple things you can do with a preschooler without having to buy a curriculum. I'd do simple crafts, read books, go on nature walks, provide educational toys, puzzles, shows, board games and so on, work on fine motor skills (cutting, pasting, gluing, tracing), plenty of outdoor play and exercise, plenty of free time for imaginative play, let them help as much as possible with chores, errands etc (a preschooler can help cook, fold laundry and so on), go on field trips and outings, talk about the weather, the seasons, hygiene, the days of the week, rhymes, opposites, make sure they know their birthdays, work on teaching their addresses and so on and so forth.

:lol: Yes, I will. Unless they're hiding with that one sock- you know, the one that leaves the pair, never to be seen again? In that case, I just won't be able to help you. I would hope that your keys have more respect for you than that, though!

I'll always recommend the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon! :D

LOL I love how she just had to get the last word with an "I told you so!" even right after throwing up.

It was standard. They didn't want the kids to talk at lunch because it might distract them from eating their lunches. They had to just be quiet, so they could eat quickly and on schedule, so they could hurry out for that lousy fifteen minutes of recess, so they could hurry back to their classrooms for more seatwork... ...It sure wasn't like the Kindergarten *I* knew and loved. It's a shame, really! P.S. Just google "silent lunches" and look at what comes up! Apparently it often IS punishment in some schools. In ours it was just a standard rule.

Teach her typing? LOL, sorry. That probably didn't help. All I can say is that I got notes/comments every report card period for as far back as I can remember saying that I had sloppy handwriting. Every year, without fail. And it never did improve. I still have horrible handwriting, which I can't read myself a few days later. Thank goodness for typing- it hurts my hands less, it's always legible, and it's much quicker!

LOL. So where did THEY find it?

I know, it makes me laugh because when my daughter WAS in public school, there was really no "socialization". And I'm talking Kindergarten through most of third grade. The all day desk work started right in Kindergarten and my daughter at 5 was CONSTANTLY losing some or all of her recess for "talking too much." So they were not allowed to talk in the classroom. Okay, you might say, "Well, a 5 year old can wait until lunch." Except that they weren't allowed to talk at lunch. They had "silent lunches" and got in trouble if they talked. They had to wait until recess. Except that "recess" only lasted fifteen minutes tops. And by the time it came around, my daughter had already lost some or all of it. Socialization, my foot! She gets WAY more socialization and social opportunities now that she's homeschooled than she ever did in public school! Maybe by middle school there would have been more "socialization" in public school- but something tells me I'd have wanted nothing to do with socialization of THAT sort!

LOL good for you! I have heard my husband yell from the first floor to the third floor for one of the kids to come down and hand him the remote control if he forgets to grab it before he sits in his recliner. Seriously, I'm not even kidding. Fortunately, not often. But it has been known to happen lol.

OK the refrigerator is pretty bad- the toilet is way worse- thank goodness for bookcases, I suppose! lol