My 4 1/2 year old came along with his 9 y/o sister and some other families in our homeschool group to do a park cleanup on Earth Day. He did great helping out. You could maybe do a Meals On Wheels type thing and take him along with you and chat to him about what you're doing. You could write a letter to your local nursing homes and ask if they have any residents who might be interested in having a mom and a 4 y/o come to visit and chat. You could visit a "Head Start" type preschool and volunteer to read books to the kids- your son would just be sitting in but he'd be seeing that you're volunteering and doing this. He could help you bake things or make things if you wanted to do some sort of charitable fundraiser. He could do a "trike-a-thon" type thing with some friends for a charitable fundraiser.

Absolutely. It sounds like a wonderful opportunity for kids (the "normal" ones) to learn to just accept and be around people who are different from them without it having to be a big deal. It will teach them acceptance and tolerance, I would think! That's great that there's a young adult who came up with this and is taking steps to put it together. It's a shame that none of the "normal" kids parents have signed up yet.

Without reading the other replies, I would not try to force her to eat anything she didn't want to eat, and i wouldn't punish her for not eating it. I would let her choose her own breakfast and lunch from what you have available. I'd let her select a couple of snacks to keep in the house that she enjoys. And I'd go about making whatever I was going to make for dinner, but I would attempt to make sure in planning my menus that it was going to be something she liked/could tolerate. If it truly got ridiculous, like she didn't want anything you were making for dinner, I'd tell her (calmly/casually) she could eat what you were making or she could prepare X, Y, or Z for herself, and I'd leave it at that.

We have a few maps and educational posters up, a couple of bookshelves filled with various school things and books and educational supplies, and projects the kids did on display, etc. So... probably? :)

Being able to use the world as our "classroom" to whatever extent we want to! We go on a LOT of outings and "field trips" and the kids spend a good amount of time outside, we do a lot of social things with our homeschool group, sign up for various activities and things like that- and we have time for those things, and the freedom to go do them. I love that. Also, being able to do things creatively and hands-on- I love how different our homeschooling can be from all the public school stuff... the emphasis on grades and tests and dry, boring textbooks and sitting at a desk for hours and worksheets and so on. I like our way better :D

I feel really lucky that my library still has its ILL program and doesn't charge for it! Especially since we order plenty of ILL books for SOTW! There had been some concern a while back when the library budget was at issue. There WERE some budget cuts but fortunately as of now ILL wasn't one of them. Our library at the time had a bulletin posted asking that its members write to their local representatives telling them how important the library is to them. My daughter and I both wrote letters (and in fact my daughter was invited to meet our senator because of her letter)! I would hope that when library budgets come up again that you would all do the same. Our representatives need to hear from a lot of us about how important library programs and services are!

If you don't mind older ones, then: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the original Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and I've always loved The Neverending Story :)

I haven't gotten my Issue 11 yet (but glad to hear it should be at least en route any day now!) I love that magazine. I've read every issue, and I've even had a few articles published in it! My daughter has had a couple of poems/short stories published in it, as well, in their kid's section. :)

I let my 9 year old wear nailpolish now and then, and lip gloss now and then when she asks for a special occasion. I think at 13 I'd let her wear lipgloss and a little light blush regularly if she wanted to. Eye make up? I don't know... 15 or 16, I guess!

My daughter went through a phase of being afraid to go to sleep in her room, and what helped for her was letting her leave a light on, and letting her listen to a CD as she tried to fall asleep. But hers was a relatively mild fear. I can remember being extremely afraid to go sleep by myself fairly often when I was young. I couldn't go to sleep unless someone stayed in the room with me, or I could sleep in a room with someone else. Most of the time I was accommodated, which made me feel much better- and I can assure you that I did eventually outgrow it and start going to sleep by myself again. I don't even know what it was I was afraid of. Something being under my bed, and dying, I think (I had had a great uncle die and suddenly became terrified that I was going to die, too). Anyway, do what you can to make him feel secure and help him through this. This is not a discipline issue, and contrary to how I'm sure it feels now, this will not last forever. :)

Yes, I did it very successfully while I was nursing my son. WW's program is great, including their nursing mom's program!

I occasionally used the toddler backpack/harness, too, when my son was a little younger. I never got a negative comment or look that I've noticed (I did get quite a few positive ones, or friendly smiles, though). It was only on online message boards that I realized they were apparently so controversial. But whenever I "hear" someone making some sort of negative comment about how "leashes are for dogs" I just roll my eyes. To me it's the same thing as saying you shouldn't put your baby in a crib because it's too much like a cage/crate and those are for animals/dogs... silliness! Safety first, right? (Not to mention comfort- I know my kid preferred the monkey backpack to having to hold on to my hand or be confined to a stroller). So I agree, try that next time you go to the library :) And don't worry, he'll outgrow this stage!

That happened to me once too. I think my post had a link in it. Did yours?

This, exactly!

Take them for a ride in the car and let them take turns telling you when and where to turn so they can see if they can get you "lost." Kids love that :D Give them shaving cream (mixed with a few drops of food coloring even) and let them cover your patio tables in it and draw in it with their fingers. When it rinses off your tables will be clean, too :D Institute a family game night and each week let a different kid pick out the board game and sit down and play it with them. Ditto a family movie night, or family audiobook night, or family listening-to-music night, or whatever! When the weather isn't too hot or cool, go on a nature walk with them. Set up a "nature tank" and encourage everyone to find something cool to put into it. Let them examine that stuff with magnifying glasses. Let them switch the stuff out for other things when they need to. Go on more "field trips" to interesting places. Help them design and decorate a puppet theater, make paper bag or sock puppets, encourage them to put on a puppet show that you can watch. Play food tasting games with them, where someone closes their eyes and the other gives them bites of food and they have to guess what it is. Have a slumber party with them- set up a "tent" (blankets and sheets and stuff) in the living room. Tell stories, make indoor (microwave) s'mores. Look for pictures in the clouds together. Look for constellations. Have water balloon fights or water gun fights with them one day in the backyard. Do some sort of community service/volunteer project together. And...like you said... just say "yes" more :)

I am in PA, too. My daughter was in public school until toward the end of third grade so she took the PSSA's. She was so stressed out and worried about those things after all the emphasis they put on them in public school, she had stomach aches like every day. So when she takes a test next year for fifth grade, it will NOT be PSSA's :) And I will not do anything special to "prepare" her, no. I can't stand the emphasis public schools put on them to begin with, particularly in elementary school. I plan to be extremely casual about it and make it seem like something we are doing more for fun than anything else as I would not want her feeling stressed out/under pressure over it.

My daughter rode in one until her 8th birthday. Now she sits in the back seat with a seatbelt. I won't let her sit in the front seat til she's like 12.

18, 9, and 4! I actually like having my kids spread apart like that. Having one sleepless infant or troublesome toddler at a time is enough lol. By the time the next one came along, the previous ones were old enough to be helpful, entertain themselves, etc. (Of course I'm sure there's something to be said for having kids closer together in age so they could grow up being close and doing things together and all that, too)!

We just finished fourth grade over here. Our school day was anywhere from 2 1/2 to 4 hours a day with 2 1/2 - 3 being more of the norm. If it was longer it was because we were doing some really cool hands-on project. If she needed a break or seemed to be getting frustrated by something, we'd take a break or do something else for a while, or sometimes modify. If she had assigned reading, we always read it together- if she wanted me to read aloud to her, I would. If she wanted to read aloud to me, she could. Sometimes we'd take turns reading pages aloud to each other. She also had silent reading time where she could read anything she wanted. I never, ever gave her "tests" (other than spelling quizzes which she enjoyed) and if I had, they would not have been timed tests (unless required for standardized testing or something)... I mean, why? That's just stressful. You can see what your kids are learning by spending time with them every day, they don't need to be tested or graded at those young ages IMHO. I know that my opinion may not be the popular one but I DO believe that homeschooling SHOULD be fun. That's one of the things I absolutely love about it- that it can be more "fun" than public school. More hands on, more creative, more interesting, less stressful. I chose my curriculum based on these things and I'm pretty laid back about it. She's doing fine, she's learning, she's not spending the day crying, I'm not spending the day getting annoyed or frustrated- I would hate spending days like that. If it were me I wouldn't take on a "tough, deal with it" attitude; I'd work with my children to find something we could all live with and enjoy as much as possible. Homeschooling shouldn't be a miserable experience for the children or the parents. She shouldn't be spending her days crying ("almost hourly" no less), and you shouldn't be spending yours getting angry at a second grader (or a third grader). If that's what's happening on a regular basis, something needs to be rethought/re-examined and I don't think that "upping the requirements" is the answer right now. Timed tests, long blocks of time doing school, a mother/teacher who gets angry at you if you don't respond as she expects you to or if you get upset or if you "fail/flunk" a test (and man I hope you don't use that word with her) - who wants to grit her teeth and forge ahead no matter what you want or feel ready for- that's heavy for a young elementary school child. I'm not in your house and I don't really know the situation but if she is sensing that anger and frustration you feel (that *I* can feel in statements like "I HATE CRYING, IT MAKES ME ANGRY!!!!" and "WELL TOUGH!! NOT EVERYTHING IS FUN!!!"), I think that your situation is only going to get worse in the coming year, for you and for her. I really hope I didn't offend you, I just wanted to give you another viewpoint to think about. Anyway. One last thing. I found that by letting my daughter choose the order in which she did things and by sometimes giving her choices as to how she wanted to do those things, she was much more agreeable when it came to those things that couldn't necessarily be AS "fun" as other things. I also found that in the beginning of the year she was much more comfortable if I sat right with her while she did all of her work, whereas much later in the year I could give her some things to do independently while I moved back and forth doing other things and then checking on her- though of course there were still things we did together. I expect that next year, in fifth grade, she'll be more independent still. But at 7 and 8? No, not really.

I run cold water over them while very gently wiggling them a bit til they slide loose.

I've used Secret Invisible Solid, Spring Breeze Scent, for like the past 18 years :D I love it!

If I had a kid who generally didn't like to read, I would think that the best bet would be to take them to the library regularly and let them pick out whatever they wanted to read. I wouldn't even care what it was, I'd just be happy they were reading. And I'd hope that by doing so, they'd get more interested in reading in general so that maybe a little further down the road they'd be more into reading what I considered "good" books. For now though? ANY book is a "good" book. Another thing you might want to implement is "reading challenges." I came across this somewhere (a magazine? online? I forget!). A mother said she noticed her kids read less in the summer and so to encourage them to do a little more reading, she'd give them "reading challenges" which were basically coming up with silly places for the kid to read. I tried this with my daughter who does like to read but who also is less interested in reading over the summer (I bribed her by telling her if she completed the reading challenge she could have a stick of gum). So for instance she might be told to read under the kitchen table for X number of pages or X number of minutes. Or by sitting on the steps and moving up one step for every page read and then back down again. Or by reading aloud to the parakeet (or turtles or goldfish) etc. Of course, there's always reading aloud together, too! Or audiobooks if all else fails.

If you are definitely against him playing, I'd just keep him home. I don't think those kids will want to move away from the video game if that's their big plan for tonight, and your son is just going to miserable and lonely like others have said. I like the idea of doing something else with him tonight to make up for him having to miss out on the party. I'd also plan a sleepover with a couple of kids at YOUR house with more age appropriate activities for another night soon.

I, too, am against the "cry it out" method, and particularly for a baby as young as yours. Two months old...that's still newborn as far as I am concerned! (Even with much older babies, I could handle a little bit of winding down fussing, but never any distressed crying). This is where your baby learns that you will be there when needed, no matter what time it is. Where your baby learns that his one and only way of communicating with you at the moment is actually effective. Where you learn to trust your instincts (which surely tell you to respond to your baby's needs, even if they are emotional rather than physical). Where you strengthen your bond with your baby. Where your baby learns to be more secure and independent rather than less, because he never has to be afraid that he's going to cry alone and Mommy isn't going to come because of what the numbers on the clock say, etc. You say this is your third. So even though this baby's sleeping patterns are a little bit different than the others, you still know that this stage of development is fleeting. Eventually your baby will sleep through the night without needing you. Until then, I'd absolutely respond to their cries, for whatever reason.

Well, we just finished our Oak Meadow fourth grade curriculum up and it had its own built in art program as part of the curriculum, so we followed that. But we also get various "how-to-draw" type books from the library, and she sometimes likes to sit down and do those on her own time. I also signed her up for a summer art camp last year through our local Council for the Arts, and she took a two week drawing and painting class. She's going back this summer to do theater and pottery. And of course like other people said there are instructional DVD's, and you may be able to find instructional 'video clips' online, you can just provide them with plenty of arts and crafts materials and let them do their own thing, etc.