Mine's secular but I don't know that I'd call it WTM-oriented since I'm more of an eclectic/relaxed homeschooler using Oak Meadow this year, but here is the link anyway :) http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/

I'm glad I read this thread. I just ordered Times Tales based on these reviews (and others I subsequently looked up online after reading this thread). I'm going to do it with my 9 y/o this summer. We've only got less than four weeks left of our OM 4 curriculum, so in the summer between grades I'm going to give this a shot. I hope it works! Until now, we've tried flash cards, going very gradually- like only introducing one times table every two weeks...we'd do the two times tables in order one week, out of order the next. Then we'd go to the three times tables and do the same with that. And so on. It was my hope that if we did it very gradually like that, she'd retain it better. But nope, she still can't remember a lot of them or forgets ones I thought she already knew (even though we'd do a periodic review in between). She also plays games pretty often on multiplication.com. We also have a multiplication tables chart hanging on our wall. We've also occasionally made up our own multiplication games. But most of it just doesn't seem to really stick. And I will say that it never really did for me either- a lot of them I have memorized but there are quite a few I don't and like another poster said, I have to go to an easy one like 6X6 and then count up from there to figure out 6X7 quickly, for example. So I've got my fingers crossed that this will help it stick for both of us :D We'll see! P.S. I also downloaded the free version of timez attack after reading this thread and will encourage her to start playing that- she likes those kinds of things even though most people said it was boyish. So wish us luck that these things help :D I would really love for her to have the times tables down pat before we move on to fifth grade!

Oak Meadow. And I fully anticipate adding Teaching Textbooks (math) to that shortlist when we actually start it in the fall :D Edit: I do like SOTW too but we do that over the summer when we're NOT already busy with OM stuff.

You know what? I think you should print this whole thing out and give it to your mom. She should know that you are worried for her AND that she is affecting her family AND how important it is for her and for you and your kids that she try to do something about this. And then you should offer to take her to her doctor, OA, WW, or SOME sort of person or program who can help her begin to get this under control. If she would only take the first step in the right direction, she would be taking a step toward changing HER OWN life for the better- and doing something positive for her family, too! I know that may be easier said than done. But maybe she needs a wake up call and who knows, maybe it would help!

Would I be out of line in suggesting you try Weight Watchers instead? It's a much more realistic/healthy option, I think, being as it doesn't expect you to entirely cut out certain food groups. Just a thought! Feel free to ignore me if that was too presumptuous lol.

I definitely don't think it is a spanking offense (there's something a bit twisted about hitting a child to teach them not to hit, isn't there?) but I certainly don't think you should just expect your older kids to tolerate it either. You need to remove your younger son from the situation and the people he is hitting and tell him firmly "No hitting, Hitting hurts" and distract him onto something else.

Congrats on quitting smoking!! I had five years in January and it was the best thing I ever did for myself. You should check out quitnet.com :)

At their ages, they don't need formal art history or instruction in my opinion. I'd let them just have fun exploring with different art media. Maybe do a field trip to an art museum or gallery. Maybe sneak in some coloring pages by famous artists or coffee table type books to flip through if interested. Maybe encourage them to submit artwork to children's or homeschool magazines. Maybe look for a different TYPE of art class to sign them up for. We have a Council for the Arts society in our town that does summer art classes and camps each summer. Last year my 9 y/o daughter took a drawing and painting class, which she really loved. Your boys didn't, but they probably offer other types of art classes, too. Like here they will do theater, music, "art to eat," pottery, sculpture and so on.

And on the flip side, I think NOT charging interest of a relative (your own family!!) who is obviously in a tough spot is just respectful and shows you're not trying to take advantage of THEM and their troubles. Maybe some families are just more businesslike about these matters than others but I would never, ever do that to a relative and I would be offended if a relative did that to me.

These stories are hysterical (and the artwork is precious!). When my daughter (now 9) was about 3, she used to come up behind us and stick her head up under the backs of one of our shirts to hide. We'd reach behind to pat around joking "Hey, where did Alexa go, and what is this funny bump on my butt?!" She would crack up laughing. It was a favorite game until the day she got bored on the checkout line at the supermarket and said "Daddy, can we play the butt game?" I still wonder how many people were tempted to call the police or CPS on us.

It's up to you and your evaluator. You could ask them what they want to see. Personally, I tend to bring everything to show to my evaluator, but I already know my evaluator is working for me. The district on the other hand, they are another story. For them, I supply much less (typically 3-5 samples from each required subject). I also do a "Summary"- something summing up the types of things we do in each of the required subjects, as I feel that helps fill out my portfolio a bit when I'm only submitting a few samples, and it shows what we do for subjects that you can't provide a "sample" of (like gym or music for example).

I don't know, but as to another issue brought up, I would NEVER charge a relative "interest" if I lent them money. Yuck. And I absolutely would not expect a family member of mine to ever charge me "interest" if they lent me money.

Any curriculum is going to have its good reviews and its bad reviews, I think. I've seen a few people also say they think TT is behind others. Then again I've seen a lot of really great reviews for it. It seems like some people worry that it is "too easy" but I'm just like...why does math have to be HARD to be considered learning? lol. If TT can make it easy for my daughter to learn math... fantastic! That's exactly what I want! For it to be demonstrated and explained in such a way that she gets it. And enjoys it. No battles, no tears, no struggles, no stress, no mindset that she's just not good at math on her part, no mindset that I'm never going to be able to teach math on my part. As she gets older if she wants/needs a little more reinforcement or needs to learn something that TT MIGHT not teach well (and I'm not saying they won't, I'm saying IF that happens) then she'll learn it if/when she needs it. But right now this seems like it is going to be perfect for us, and all I know is that neither one of us are dreading fifth grade math. And that is good enough for me :D

Have you looked at Teaching Textbooks yet for your fourth grader? Check out their website and the demos and samples and see if it seems like something he might enjoy as opposed to being upset by math. I'm going to be using it starting next year with my daughter for fifth grade and after seeing the demos and samples, she is actually excited about math and looking forward to doing it. And I am extremely relieved that such a program exists :D

I'd say go with TT. That's what I am doing with my daughter this coming year for fifth grade because she's not in love with math- if it's something she 'gets' easily, then she'll enjoy it well enough. But if she doesn't get it easily, forget it, she starts getting frustrated and upset and whining that it's too hard and that she's not good at math. I don't want her to feel like math is "too hard" or that she's "not good" at it, or she'll go her whole life feeling that way. I know, because that's where I'm at myself. So I was going to use Saxon next year til I started actually looking through it and thinking "This is going to make us both miserable and confused." I read about TT, fell in love with the idea, checked out their demos and samples and fell in love even more, showed it to her and SHE fell in love and she's actually EXCITED about doing math next year. She wants to start now. lol.

Yeah everything she said. We do half the age, too. And while I might suggest saving x amount I think the only way they will really learn to manage their money is to, well, manage their money. Not be told how to manage their money. And yes for a while it may seem pretty wasteful to an adult. But they aren't adults. So better they get that out of their system now when they are kids. As they get older they'll start realizing hey if I want something more than just candy or gum, I need to save for a few weeks, and not just spend it all on something small this week, or whatever.

I don't have set chores that my kids have to do every day. It's more of an attitude that when I ask for help with something, they will help me. So sometimes I'll unload the dishwasher by myself. Other times I'll ask my 9 y/o to come in and help. I'll ask them to pick up their own toys and put away their own laundry. Sometimes I'll ask one of them to take the garbage out. To help carry groceries in. To sweep the floor or run the vacuum. And sometimes I just do those things myself. They do help set and clear the table most nights for dinner. I just kind of have everyone pitch in as needed rather than coming up with charts and lists and having the extra task of enforcing whether this or that was done. I find the way I do it to be easy enough and not stressful. I see allowance as separate from chores, personally (I know everyone's different). That if my kids get an allowance, they get it because they are part of this household so they share in a small part of this household's income, mostly so they can learn to manage their money and because it's nice for a kid to have a little spending money and that's something I can provide for my kids. If they want to earn EXTRA money because say they are saving for something bigger, then they might come and say "Can I do extra chores to earn extra money" and then I might try to think of things to have them do that I wouldn't ordinarily make them do, like helping to clean out and wash the car or helping me clean out a closet or having them go dust all the banisters or get down on the kitchen floor with a damp rag and spot clean it or whatever I can think of.

Yes, I would. When I was pregnant with my now 4 y/o, my now 9 y/o was 5 and she watched shows that had to do with the birth process with me all the time. We've also watched videos of animals giving birth.

This isn't the same thing, but as I am going through the process of trying to host a Fresh Air Fund child this summer and had to provide references, they had asked for "professional references" too. And some of the ones they suggested were a family doctor and a scout leader. If you go to a church or synagogue you could ask a pastor/minister/rabbi etc. If any of your friends or neighbors do or who have spouses who do something for a living that sounds professional, that might work (like one of my husband's clients/friends is a police officer). Someone at the library is a good idea. And the ones you listed like the mentor are definitely a good idea. Good luck!

I have a "china cabinet" that I took over for school stuff. It's got 3 shelves inside the glass doors, two of them are various supplies and one is this year's curriculum stuff. I keep extra notebooks and a box of small craft supplies and magazines we use for cutting pictures out of and some puzzles and things up on top of it. I have a couple of bookcases for different books for the kids that aren't quite curriculum stuff but poetry books and science experiment books and craft books and my homeschool books and atlases and reading books and various things like that. Then I took over the small closet in the computer room (which used to be the dining room before I made the kitchen an eat in kitchen instead) and I put a small rolling file cart in there, and that's where I keep various paperwork and finished art projects and extra construction paper and all sorts of things like that, as well as more craft supplies and board games and science kits etc. We also have a 'craft bin' that sits out that the kids can grab from whenever they want. When we finish a year's worth of school, I box it up, label it by grade, and store it in my bedroom closet (I suppose I could find room in the basement too if need be). Stuff that is for later grades that I'm not ready to use yet for this year also stays boxed up and labeled by grades and those boxes are currently in my bedroom closet. So when I'm done with this year, that'll go up and the next year's stuff will come down and take its place.

My 9 year old had a sprained wrist recently and for two weeks, we pretty much did everything orally. Things that were supposed to be "written" I let her dictate to me and I typed on her behalf. Of course, where I live, we have a required 180 days too but that just makes me roll my eyes, "required attendance" for homeschoolers is absurd. As far as I'm concerned, my kids do something educational every.single.day. and it doesn't have to be official "curriculum" to be educational. If you're watching Planet Earth, letting her be the banker in Monopoly Junior, reading a bedtime story to her, if she's helping you bake cookies or plant flowers or going for a nature walk or accompanying you on your errands or a multitude of other things, she's learning. So I'm sure you have way more than met that silly 180 day rule even if you haven't thought of it along those lines and that technically you very well could just take a break from school or at least drastically alter it, without stressing over it, especially with a six year old. How would they even know, anyway? I'm sure all you have to do is check off boxes on a calendar or provide a statement that you met the 180 days, and submit samples of work done, not 180 days worth of work, right? Relax :) Let the kid focus on healing and resting up and trying to have a bit of fun despite the cast and don't sweat the school stuff too much.

Oh gosh I loved so many of his books. The Talisman was one of my earliest favorites of his. I also loved Firestarter, Pet Semetary, The Shining, and the Gunslinger series. Yeah and The Stand, and Misery. Really, I love almost all of his books. :D

You should really check out kellymom.com, that is a fantastic resource for breastfeeding issues. Start here: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/index.html You should know that what you can pump is NOT an indication of what your baby can get by nursing. A baby nurses much more efficiently than a pump does. I breastfed my son for well past a year and in all that time if I ever tried to pump, I'd be lucky if I could get an ounce. Anyway, I think you might find a lot of useful and helpful info on that site :) Good luck!

You said it all, right there :) She IS so young. I am one of those people who believe that six year olds should be spending a large portion of their day playing and exploring outside, being immersed in nature and physical activity, being around friends, imagining, creating, listening to stories and music etc. Curriculum stuff for a six year old? I don't ever see a reason for it to need to take up a full day, or to take more than like two hours a day tops, really, or especially not to cause frustration and stress in your household- for her OR for you. I'd ease up some.

We have an eat in kitchen but none of us have ever sat down to make a sandwich! We take the stuff out of the fridge, put it right on the stovetop or counter, and stand there making the sandwiches, then bring the plates to the table and sit down and eat. Unless like others said it's a situation where we have company and we're just putting a platter on the table for people to make their own sandwiches while we all sit around the table eating together!