I agree with the majority of the posters in this thread but one thing I haven't seen in this thread and is my standard go-to answer for those who question my homeschool practices....if I wanted my kids to have a public school education, I would send them to public school. ;)

It seems to me if she can figure out the answer with manipulatives, she understands the concept. Now she just needs to memorize the facts for quick recall. I don't picture quantities in my head every time I add but I can rattle off addition facts any time I need to and I understand the concept those facts represent. Maybe I'm missing something but it seems to be she's ready to memorize the facts.

We just replaced the numbered game dice with 10 sided dice.

Thank you very much for all the replies. I guess I've always kinda wondered in the back of my mind if she was gifted but refused to say it out loud. I'm used to working with learning disabilities, oldest had hearing problems that developed into language problems, second oldest is dyslexic/dysgraphic, third oldest is pretty normal academically but is oppositional/defiant. Dd #4 was speaking in full sentences with advanced vocabulary at 15 months...I just said she didn't have the same problems as my older kids had with hearing and ear infections and she hears us schooling all day which accounts for the vocabulary. She could write her first name by 3 and could read a bit. Now at 4, she can write her full name, could probably read anything if I took the time to teach her and loves doing math. I have her doing MEP year 1 as her school. I just attributed all her seemingly advanced skills on her environment. All her life she has seen us do school so I just figured that's where her interests came from. Sigh, but I guess you all are right, a typical 4 year old wouldn't have the memory or intense interest that she does. I've got the asynchronous development down too...it happens in kids with learning disabilities too. My dyslexic child is a super smart kid but struggles with writing and language arts subjects. So he's ahead in most every subject except language arts where he's behind and math where he's about average. I guess I know what to do with her...it's just at the opposite end of the spectrum to what I'm used to working with. I guess since I am around here quite a bit...I could post a siggy so you guys have a better idea what I'm dealing with. :) I will check out the Accelerated forum and the other websites and books suggested. Thank you so much.

I have homeschooled all my kids from the beginning but #4 is throwing me for a loop. This child can already write her first (6 letters) middle (6 letters) and last name (7 letters), neatly and legibly, just from her asking how to write it and showing her how a few times. Last night, I was writing out some lesson plans for the older kids and she wanted to be "just like mommy" so I gave her a sheet of paper and pencil and let her sit next to me. She sat there and copied words out of my teacher manual, neatly and meticulously, correcting herself if she formed a letter wrong and trying to sound out the words she was copying. She is doing mental math without any coaching from me (mommy, 3 grown up plates plus 5 kid plates, makes 8 plates altogether) She has fascinations with a variety of things that would probably be considered a bit odd for her age especially how she just soaks up the advanced information. Right now, it's clouds and storms. She can tell you things about weather that even my older kids can't. On our library trips she makes a list of topics she wants books about and I help her find a few elementary level books on the topic. Before her weather fascination, it was the moon and before that it was China. None of this sounds too peculiar for an early elementary school aged child, right? What if I told you she only recently turned 4? None of my older kids were ready for seat work or learning to read until right as they turned 6. They caught on quickly after that but at age 4 or 5 they were really only ready for pre-reading, pre-writing and pre-math activities....things like learning letter sounds, learning to hold a pencil and move it correctly and counting skills. Trying to push them beyond that only produced tears and frustration until they were close to 6. My current 4 year old is pretty much beyond all of that already but based on past experience I'm afraid to start "school" with her too soon. She's still so young in my mind, I don't want this love of learning she has to burn out but she really seems to crave more than what I'm giving her right now. I thought I had this homeschool thing figured out and it would be a breeze with these last two kids who haven't started yet but I really don't know what to do with this kid. Do I go ahead and slowly introduce first grade work to a 4 year old since that's pretty much where she is? Keep working with her informally as best I can until she's 5 or 6? Something else? TIA for any advice you can give.

I use all the above techniques mentioned. It takes time but it does work. My 11yo was much like your dd when he was her age. He's much more focused now that he realizes his dawdling is taking away from his time to do what he wants.

Oh my kids love lunch box lunches. It started out as something I did on errand days to avoid eating out at fast food places and they liked it so much we started doing it at home too. When the weather is nice we take it outside and have a picnic. :D I don't even have to get fancy with it by packing creative leftovers, the novelty of the lunch box is enough. :lol: I've been doing this since my oldest was in 1st grade or so and the novelty still hasn't worn off. ;) I cook quesadillas one at a time in a skillet, burner set to medium high, when the skillet is hot (takes less than 5 minutes) drop the tortilla into the dry pan, quickly sprinkle with cheese, wait an minute or two just until the cheese starts to melt, fold in half, press with the turner and they are done. It doesn't take more than 1.5 - 2 minutes to cook one quesadilla. The skillet has to be hot and you have to be quick. They will burn if you aren't quick. They are lightly crisp on the outside and cheesy on the inside when they are done. We aren't fancy with ours. It's just cheese in a tortilla and we typically have it with leftover tortilla soup heated in the microwave while either oldest ds or I cook the quesadillas. Oh, don't pile on the cheese, a thin sprinkling is all we ever put on, just enough so that every bite is cheesy but it doesn't take forever to melt. ;)

I'm using WWE as well, volumes 1 and 2, I guess I just take more liberties with it. :lol: I just adjust it to make it work for me. If I tried to do separate narrations for every kid every time, I'd lose my mind. :lol: Alot of the narration passages I've come across so far just want them to narrate a summary and copy it or write it if they are able. We just narrate as a group and then they both copy the same narration that they worked together to build. Or sometimes I just deviate a little and instead of summarizing I have them narrate something else about the passage so they both have different narrations. It's all about making it work for you. ;)

Oh, and we are one of those families that can make, eat and clean up lunch in 30 minutes, give or take. Soup only takes about 5 minutes to heat. I usually throw it on as we are finishing up the lesson prior to lunch. Grilled cheese only takes about 10 minutes. Kids help butter bread and keep the sandwiches flipping. Quesadillas are even easier than grilled cheese. Mac n Cheese is easy to get started just prior to lunch time. Baked potatoes can be thrown in the oven during morning break and be ready at lunch time. Pizza or anything else that is baked can be thrown in the oven while we are switching lessons and timed to be ready at lunch time. But my favorite time saver is packed lunches. Each of my kids has a lunch box and 3 -4 times a week they get packed lunches. I pack them in the morning and they pull out their lunch boxes at lunch time. I keep it fairly simple; ham, turkey or PBJ sandwich, sliced veggies with ranch dressing to dip, fresh fruit, a treat of some kind (granola bar, cookie, snack cake, fruit roll up....) and a drink. After pizza, packed lunches are their favorite. :lol: Clean up is easy too since most everything is just thrown away. But it's great to start our school day knowing that lunch is already made and ready to eat. I slice up veggies in mass quanitities on the weekend so I just have to scoop a handful into a baggie for them. Fruits are generally packed whole. The only thing I have to "make" in the morning is the sandwiches. I normally do this before the kids are up but you could get older to kids to help with this if you wanted or needed to. ;)

Why do they have to be separated for narration? I have all my kids narrate together usually. Either we do it as a group discussion and come up with a group narration and they all copy the group narration or I point different narration questions at different kids for the same passage. One child will narrate to me on the plot, one on a character, one on setting, one on summarizing the story.....there are tons of different ways to narrate and you can customize the question to each child's ability but you only have to read one passage. Here's a list of different narration questions you can use.

I think I'm still struggling to understand your point. Yes, I struggled with domestic things, it was an obstacle to overcome but I did learn how to do these things, not as a child but as an adult but I still learned them. I can do them now as well as anyone else. I do struggle with falling into old habits sometimes but who doesn't? I guess what I'm asking is, what exactly is the point that I illustrated with my example?

But just because you never learned doesn't mean you can't learn now. There are lots of college kids who can't write a coherent paragraph. That's why there are remedial classes and tutoring. If going to college was important to you and you couldn't write a paragraph then I would think it would be also important to you to learn these skills. I guess I'm not seeing how this would keep you from doing what you want to do. It's a hurdle for sure but nothing that can't be overcome. I've worked with many college kids in this exact situation. Those who wanted to succeed did succeed. Yes it is but people do it. Probably more than you realize. Many people, if they just cannot grasp basic math because of LD or other things come up with other ways of compensating. I was never taught how to do any of these things as a child. They were all done for me. I struggled tremendously as a new wife and mom. But I found friends willing to teach me, learned by trial and error, I still struggle sometimes, I may never be a perfect wife hence the reason I don't compare myself to people who do these things with ease. What would be the point? They don't have my circumstances and I don't have theirs. I'm doing the best I can and learning all the time but I don't feel as though I "can't keep up". Who am I suppose to be keeping up with anyways?

Keeping up with whom or what? In college and young adulthood, everyone is going in different directions, their own direction. What is your basis for comparison? Success is measured differently by different people. I'm surely not trying to keep up with anyone and I feel I'm doing just fine in life. I don't compare myself to anyone or anything because it's a flawed comparison, no one else has my circumstances or my strengths and weaknesses. I just assumed you were talking about public school because the quote referenced in the post I was replying to pertained to ps and the subject of the thread was "Is homeschool always better" and again since ps school is usually the other option I assumed you meant ps. I'm sorry if I misinterpreted your meaning and to answer your original question, no, homeschool is not inherently better just as ps is not inherently bad. There are horror stories and success stories on both sides of the fence. They are simply different ways of achieving the same end and the responsibility lies in the teacher and students to make the best of either situation. ;)

Not everyone finds the public schools to be something worthy of keeping up with. Yes, some homeschoolers would probably get more of an education in ps but there are also many who far exceed what the schools teach and could run circles around their ps peers. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses no matter how they are schooled. Lots of people need to brush up on or polish their basic skills before starting college level work. It has nothing to do with intelligence or what they were or were not taught in high school. We are learning all our lives, not just up to the age of 18 or 24 or whatever arbitrary age you graduate from school. I don't see remedial courses as a bad thing. Not everyone is ready to learn the same skills at the same age. If they were, a) the ps "one-size-fits-all" apporach would work for everyone and b) there would be no need for a-level classes, honors, AP and other such leveling systems of the same subject matter in high school. In this situation, I think I would have to step back and figure out why I was so stunned to find this out. Even though I don't try to compete with the ps, I do know what they are up to for the most part regarding the grades I'm currently teaching. I know if we are behind or ahead or just on a completely different track. If we are behind, I know why we are behind. Some areas are just weak spots that they would be preforming poorly no matter what schooling situation we are in. Some areas we are behind because I don't think we need 13 years of relearning the same thing and I'm waiting a little while to just teach it all in one shot using the power of one-on-one instruction. Some things we are proactively working on because we let that area slide while we worked on another skill so now we are trying to bring that area that we let slide up to par. Have you taken a hard look at why you were so stunned and done something about it? That would be my suggested first step. ;) Oh my goodness, thank you so much Tara, I now have my standard answer for the socialization questions about my very social dd. You have put into words what I have been trying to say about my little social butterfly for years. She would love the social atmosphere of ps school....too the point of her missing the whole point of school...the academics! By homeschooling, I'm able to separate the academics and the socialization so they both get the attention they need. ;)

What was the main thing that attracted your husband to homeschooling? What is his favorite thing about homeschooling? My dh tolerates homeschooling, sees now that good things can come from it, but if something were to happen to me and I could no longer school them myself, he would have them in ps in a heartbeat. Were the two of you in equal agreement from the start, or was one of you more "pro-homeschooling" than the other? I've always been more pro homeschooling than him. He allows me to homeschool our children because it's important to me and is the bright spot in my day. ;) Has he ever had doubts, and if so, what helped him? Yes, he had doubts and he still has doubts but he also sees children who are happy, can think for themselves, stand up for what is right and can speak intelligently on a variety of subjects. I'm happy, the kids are happy and doing well....he doesn't see a need to fix it if it's isn't broken I guess. Was there ever something that made him have a definite shift in his perspective about homeschooling? If so, what was it? No, not really....well, he did insist that oldest ds go to school first and see how it went. The schools in that area weren't that good and dh decided to let me give the homeschool thing a try on a year-by-year basis since we tried it his way and it didn't go exactly as planned. How often does he look at the kids' work? When he does, does he usually give feedback about what he likes, or what he thinks they should be doing differently? The kids show dad their work all the time or sometimes we are still working when he gets home if they have been dawdling. :glare: He looks it over, asks them questions, praises them if they did well (like if they got 100% and they are showing him excitedly that they got 100 on the first try) if they missed something and I let the mistake stand or we haven't corrected it yet, sometimes he will go over it with them. But these are things he would do regardless of how they are schooled. ;) If I'm having a bad day or just running behind and I ask him to look over some work with one of the kids or supervise "homework" (that dawdling thing again :lol: ), he will do it no different than if it were work from a ps that he would need to help them with. He doesn't really want to teach them like I do unless it's a topic of interest for him and then he's more than happy to explore with them. But he does seem to enjoy if I leave some kind of "homework" now and then for him to help with just like regular ps kids have. Not everyday but just a couple of times a week so he kinda gets a glimpse into their schooling that way. ;) What does he consider to be "proof" of your family's homeschool success? Is he waiting for that proof? Well, like I said, he sees everyone is happy and healthy and learning so that is proof enough for him. In regards to your other thread, my dh doesn't see testing as the be all, end all. He knows that tests can be flawed and that we aren't teaching the test like many schools do but we also far exceed the schools in some areas so traditional testing wouldn't tell us much that we don't already know. I do want to reiterate since it was only mentioned once in the other thread. DORA and DOMA are not homeschool tests. In the school district we lived in before we moved here, the ps used these tests to monitor student achievement. We were able to use them through the schools. We just contacted the school for a user name and password and we were able to administer as often as we wanted. Yes it is endorsed by homeschooling activists but that's only because it's an easy and cost effective way to assess homeschool children who don't have the luxury of a school district who allows them to participate in the program. Having read most of your threads on this board and other boards, I'm not sure your dh will ever be fully on board. Some dh's are like that. I don't ever expect my dh to be fully on board but I am grateful that he gives me the oppportunity to homeschool. He asks that I be open to ps should it become neccessary and I am fine with that. We even did a public charter school for a few years that allowed us to homeschool but provided oversight and a certified teacher helped us put together our game plan and was always available for questions and help. There are some national charter schools like this that would allow you to enroll no matter what state you live in, it would be pricey but your children would be both ps and hs, perhaps a "best of both worlds" scenario for your situation that might calm your dh's fears since a certified teacher would be working with you and he could express his concerns to the teacher if need be. Bottom line, what I see from my computer screen, is that you are trying very hard to win dh over and make him see that homeschooling is the absolute best thing for his children but sadly, he may never see it that way. He may never jump on the bandwagon and say "Gee, homeschooling is great and absolutely the best way to educate our children! I'm so glad I let you do this." Some dh's won't even consider homeschooling, won't even give it a shot. Your dh is giving you the chance so I would take the ball and run with it and do everything in my power to make it a good experience for all involved, including dh. ;) Good luck. :grouphug:

I've never seen recipe boxes at the dollar stores around me but Michael's has them in their dollar bins. Just wanted to throw that out there in case your dollar stores don't have them either. We've also used them for flash card holders ;)

We wrap iceberg lettuce up tightly in plastic wrap and it has kept for up to two weeks for us. Other types of lettuce never last long enough around here to need storage. :lol: I usually keep fresh spinach leaves in the bag they came in with a clip on it because again, they get eaten so fast they don't need to be stored for long. ;)

If it's rude to consider Christian stories myth, why is acceptable to consider Greek, Roman, Chinese, Indian and other stories myths? Is it because most of the people who believed these stories to be true are dead? I'm really curious now...if calling someone's stories myths is rude, is this true in all cases? Or just Christian stories? :bigear:

So does that mean that my MIL, who is British, and uses the word queer quite often to describe something strange or unusual or gay to describe something happy or joyous, is in the wrong? I even use these words, particularly around my dh's British relatives but because I use them often with them, they also slip into my everyday vocabulary from time to time. No one has had a problem understanding that I'm using the word in the traditional sense and not the pop culture sense. Many words have multiple definitions, why would it be inappropriate to use a definition other than the first one listed in the dictionary as long as it is used in the proper context? I am an atheist and I do put Bible stories in the same category as Greek and Indian myths. I believe all the stories are worth hearing and learning to be well learned and relevant. For instance I want my kids to know what "food of the gods" is and what it means to be "facing Goliath" but I don't teach any of the stories as truths. I find it funny actually that I could anger someone with that information. Why would it make someone else anger that I don't believe what they believe? I don't get it. Sue me. :tongue_smilie: I agree with this has been blown way out of proportion. I tell my kids daily that no one can make you mad. You can choose to be mad but they cannot make you mad because you are in control of your own emotions. I also find it amusing that some Christians will beat down every other religion in the world as untrue but if you even hint that the stories in the Bible may well be just stories, you will be dragged over the coals. :tongue_smilie: OP: Even though we are atheist, I have a Bible and a Children's story Bible. I just discuss with the kids as we read the stories what we believe just as anyone else would. So far, it's not caused any problems or confusion in our house. ;)

Yes it can be complete, or you can use it as a supplement or alongside another program. It really depends on if you want to use a full blown living math program or just do living math along side another traditional program. Here's a great review from a mom who uses it as a complete math program: http://blogshewrote.blogspot.com/2009/11/math-on-level.html We used MOTL along side ALEKS for a long time. ALEKS and MOTL was a great combo for us but ALEKS is so expensive when you have multiple children, I'm not sure we can continue to use it year after year.

We use it and like it. We had a lot of trouble with traditional math texts because it would move on before my kids were ready and never provided enough practice. I was constantly coming up with my own stuff to teach them to the point that I wished someone would come up with something like MOTL so I could just teach them from the support of a pre-planned backbone. MOTL has been perfect for us. We skip around in all the books to keep things interesting. We will work a couple of days in the Operations manual and a couple of days in Fractions and a day in the money one and so on. Every six weeks or so I check the main list and check off anything that has been mastered and generate a new list of topics to cover for each child. When I decide what we are going to do for the day in math, I just pull an idea or two from my list. They might be two ideas from the same book or two ideas for different books. I make up 5-a-days ten at a time per child on the weekend. I leave one or two blank problems for adding current review topics and I just fill in the extra problem slot in the morning before they receive their 5-a-day. I have 3 children currently receiving 5-a-days but I only do one child per weekend so I'm not doing 30 5-a-days at a time and I'm not overwhelmed by trying to do them all on different levels. On that note, sometimes I teach MOTL as a group and direct different questions to different children. For instance, I would ask the youngest child to identify fractions we are working with, I would ask the next child to add them for us and the oldest to reduce the answer to lowest terms. The oldest is getting a review of prior concepts as I teach the youngers and the youngers are getting exposure to more advanced concepts by watching their older siblings work through the problem. I love this aspect of MOTL. They do work separately on some lessons as well, it just all depends on what I decide to do that day. ;) I'm currently teaching kids ages 11, 9, 8 and 3.5yo with MOTL. It took a while to find my groove with it but we like it a lot. I would also say it's not for everyone. If you are doing fine with traditional textbooks or if you want to just open the book and do the next lesson, you should probably pass on MOTL. It does require more of the teacher than traditional math texts and some people would not enjoy that but I do so it works for us. ;) If you have anymore questions just let me know. ;)

I just go to their website, upload the files I want printed and submit any special instructions, click send and pick up my printed and bound files the next day. You can just burn them to cd and hand carry to them if you want though, they can do it that way too. ;)

MEP and plenty of living math ;)

ITA! I'm so glad someone with the power to make changes saw how unreasonable that other sw was being. :grouphug:

I read while I dust or vacuum, I read a little before I fall asleep at night, I always have a book with me in my purse in case I have to wait a few minutes somewhere. I can't wait to get a Kindle so I can carry multiple books with me :D When my kids were young enough to nurse, I read lots of books. Some aloud to the kids, some quietly to myself. I listen to books in the car and while doing dishes. Reading is just something I've always enjoyed so I've always found or made time to do it. ;)