Ah okay! Good to know! Thanks :)

Really?? I didn't even know that! LOL

Let me preface this post by saying that I absolutely ADORE Oak Meadow and plan to use it at least through 8th grade (and possibly longer). My daughter is starting OM5 tomorrow (we loved OM4 last year) and my son is starting OMK tomorrow. With that said- I do not think it is necessary to purchase the OM Preschool curriculum. The books that come with it are not really a curriculum per se. The Heart of Learning kind of talks about things like children and their natural development and bonding with them and the cycles they go through and authority and discipline and bedtime rituals and so on and so forth. It's a parenting manual, more than anything. The process manual kind of shows you how to get a rhythm to your day, gives you guidelines for recorder playing, gives tips for crayon drawings, water color paintings, form drawings, knitting, working with clay, choosing age appropriate stories and songs, and that kind of thing. These manuals are both more for your info than to give you a specific curriculum for a preschooler. The other "materials" that come in the "curriculum" are crayons, paint, and a toddlers sing CD. OMK on the other hand...I think is a WONDERFUL curriculum and I can't wait to start it with my son (who is just about 5) tomorrow. That, too, comes with the "Heart of Learning" and the "Process Manual" so you'll get those if and when you buy OMK anyway! If I were you, I'd keep preschool really, really informal. You don't need to spend money on it, really. Nature walks, wee sing CD's, stories suitable for preschoolers, simple crafts, exercise, outside play, imaginative play, homemade and simple musical instruments, and so on. Next year, get OMK! Keep in mind though that OMK doesn't stress academics either, it's more slow paced and gentle and laid back and hands on in K which I LOVE about it (you mentioned teaching 4 y/o to read in the past- it won't do that. But I don't see the rush, myself).

Yes, and it's our first day of school :D

All I want to say is that it is BARROW. Wheel BARROW. Not barrel! You would be AMAZED how many people, including adults, think it is a wheel "barrel." (I'm referring to how often I've heard it said in real life, not on here). And there are some phrases that are always used wrong. It's one AND the same, not one IN the same. It's nip it in the BUD, not nip it in the BUTT. It's I couldn't care less, not I COULD care less. It's once IN a while, not once AND a while. Okay, thanks, I feel better now. haha.

conventional 1%, store brand.

It was supposed to be sent "in late summer or early fall." So I'm assuming it should show by this month. But no, I never got mine. And someone on a homeschool email list I belong to started a thread about this saying she never got hers, and a bunch of other people said they didn't get theirs either, and then someone said they contacted The History Channel and the person they spoke with supposedly had no idea what they were talking about... I hope they are going to honor this offer!

I voted other because I wasn't sure what you meant by "take care of." If you mean keeping track of the fact that the oil needs to be changed, the inspection is due and so on, I'm usually the one to track that stuff. If you mean "take care of" as in bringing it in to get the work done, then it's still "other" because sometimes I do it, and sometimes he does it.

I agree that one is better if she wants it to be more socialized to HER and to see HER as its "flock." If there is more than one bird in the cage, they'll socialize with each other and won't want anything to do with her, in all likelihood. However, this depends on your daughter, too. Do you think she'll be good about giving it attention after the novelty wears off? If not, better to get it a "friend" so it won't end up feeling isolated and lonely.

Hm. I don't know. You could try a variety of signs and see which one/s work. Maybe: "THE NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS NEED JESUS MORE THAN WE DO." Or "SHHHH...CULT WORSHIP GOING ON!" Or "IF YOU RING THE BELL, I'LL WRING YOUR NECK." No, okay, not really. More seriously, I like the idea of a "Do Not Disturb" sign. You might even want to say "Homeschool Classes Taking Place, Please Do Not Disturb Unless You Are Delivering A Package" or some such (so you don't scare off UPS, FedEx, the mailman or whatever). ETA: LOL at "We is busy"

Yeah I'd MUCH rather pay to go to a museum on a weekday than have to deal with a weekend crowd for free lol. But thanks for sharing! (And no, I don't mean that sarcastically lol). ETA: What are "district Pro-D days"....?

I don't remember exactly how old my daughter (now 18 1/2) was when she got her braces but I remember thinking she was pretty young when they were recommended. I'm thinking she was around 9. Maybe 10.

It sounds fine to me. I did about 2 1/2 to 3 hours a day with my 9 y/o last year. We did language arts and math most every day, we did social studies 3X a week, science 2X a week, and art 2-3 times a week, depending on what we were working on.

Oh my. That looks positively exhausting. For you... and when do the kids get to just, you know, PLAY? I don't know what WWE and FLL are. Are they BOTH things your kids REALLY need? Do your kids REALLY need to know Latin? Can't some of this stuff can be getting done simultaneously? For instance, when you say "spelling with 3rd and 4th grader" what are they doing? Do you mean spelling review? Like, "write sentences, 3X each, alphabetical order" or that kind of thing? If so, can't they do that independently while you're doing something else with an older kid, for instance? And if so, why does the 5th grader need spelling at a different time? Can't they all do their spelling at the same time? Isn't your 8th grader able to do some of those things independently while you do some things with the younger kids, instead of scheduling each kid/subject for a separate block of time? Like, can't your 8th grader be doing their writing composition earlier in the morning while you're doing math with the younger kids (or whatever the case may be), and he/she can just come ask you questions if needed? So that your day can be shortened when all is said and done? Your day just seems SO long and overscheduled to me.

I'm just so torn between wanting to protect my child, and not wanting to be so ridiculously OVER protective that she doesn't get to do things other kids her age normally get to do. I know the odds are slim that something might happen to her like a stranger abduction or molestation or some such, but, god, the papers are still full of such tragic things happening, and I would want to die if it happened to MY child. All the other kids on our block started being allowed to leave our street this summer, to go "around the block." We live in a relatively quiet, safe residential/suburban neighborhood and it's not that I've heard of any problems around here. But it still makes me nervous. Around the block means going down a few residential streets on which we don't know anyone, and then along this one stretch of road that is pretty isolated- railroad tracks, this one old run down looking apartment building, some sort of building supply outlet store that's usually pretty deserted, before finally coming up to a playground that is back behind our house (and across the creek and a small parking lot where the recycling center is), and then back around the corner to our street again. Sometimes they stop and play at the playground for a while before continuing on. She's going to be 10 in less than a month. And so far I have not let her go. The other kids on our block who are allowed to go range in age from 7 to 10. Needless to say, she's been pretty upset that she's the only one not allowed to go, especially when they're all playing out front together and then all her friends tell her they'll be back, that they're "going around the block" and she gets left behind. I want to feel comfortable with "letting go" a bit and letting her do these normal childhood things. But it is really scary!

Leave your street, to go walking or riding bikes around the neighboring blocks or to go "around the block" or whatever, with other kids/friends?

Laser tag is so much fun! I love playing it! The lights have never bothered my eyes. But I don't have particularly sensitive eyes or anything.

Throw it away!

Come to think of it, you know what else? I think it's really cruel of your doctor to make you wait til Monday to find out what's going on!! When I had some bleeding with my son in the first trimester, I had called the doctor, and they had told me because it was so early in, they couldn't "do anything" even if it WAS a m/c... but they also told me that if it would make me feel better, I could go to the hospital and get an ultrasound just to see what was going on. Which I did... and the u/s showed that the baby's heart was beating just fine and that everything looked normal and that I should just go take it easy for a few days until my follow up appt with the doctor. Maybe you can call your doctor and tell them this is really stressing you out and you do not want to wait til Monday and can you go to the hospital for an u/s today??? That would hopefully either make you relieved when you see all is well, or at least stop you from wondering what is going on and dealing with the stress of that, even if you don't get good news!

If putting it off would be easier for you (and worrying about whether you are miscarrying alone is a good reason to not need other stress, unless you think it would help keep your mind off things), then put it off. And don't feel guilty about it! It REALLY isn't a big deal if you start school later in the month. If it helps you feel any better, by the way, I had some bleeding/spotting with all three of my normal, healthy pregnancies! Twice in the first trimester and once in the second (which scared the heck out of me). I will be thinking of you, I hope all is well!

Oh. My. Word. I would NEVER allow grandma to go shopping with us again. Poor you, and your poor daughter! I'd rather her throw a hissy fit over my refusing to take her shopping with us than having something like this occur ever again. How psycho! Have a talk with your daughter. Let her know Grandma was having a bad day. Or it was the moon. Or whatever the case may be... but that it wasn't your daughter. And that your daughter is absolutely right that Grandma should have been honest etc.

Nope, we're loyal Oak Meadow people over here :D

Last year, we averaged 3 hours a day with my 4th grader. Sometimes we were able to finish in 2 1/2. Sometimes we were doing a particular hands on project and it took closer to 4. But I'd say 3 was average. This year I'll be starting a Kindergartener in the mix, and I expect to spend 1 to 1 1/2 hours doing school with him (nearly all stories, drawing, crafts, nature, music and movement and hands on kind of stuff, not worksheet type stuff), and I expect that we'll still be doing around 3 hours or so with my daughter who will be going into 5th, but I'll see how that plays out once we actually start (next week).

Nope but mine would probably say: Name Age Grade Height Weight What was your favorite school activity last year? What would you be most interested in learning about this year? What is your favorite subject? And then some other current "favorites" just to see how those things change over the years (food, song, TV show, game, color, hobby, whatever) I'd probably leave a spot for a recent picture of the child, and maybe a spot for their handprint done in paint.

Well, my daughter likes to hang upside down over the edge of the couch while I read. Don't ask me why. My son's not even 5 yet but sometimes he likes to play with toys while I read. Sometimes I think he's not listening but then there are the times he'll burst out with a totally relevant comment to something I just read, all while he's still playing.