You can also go visit Thomas Jefferson's Home. http://www.monticello.org/ If you are willing to drive a little, there is a TON of history. Several battlefields: Gettysburg, PA is only a couple hours drive. Battle of Antietam in MD isn't far either. I LOVE that one. It had a really big impact on me a...

Thank you for sharing this! It actually almost made me cry. I am really struggling to decide what to do for next year. We are finishing up K this year. I'm still not totally sure what I want to do, but I think I've decided to stick with MFW for 1st. I think I'm feeling that "the grass is greener..."...

I have experience with this. :D My son has a mid-Oct b-day. I decided I would start him in the winter of the year he turned 5. Well...it didn't go well. He was very easily frustrated and distracted. He clearly was not ready. I was advised by some wonderful BTDT moms on here that I should put it away...

I had to giggle a little when I read your title. I have 5 kids who are 5 and under including 2 sets of twins. I am always saying, "it's like herding cats." People laugh, especially in public. I'll be back tomorrow to read everyone's advice. Looking forward to it.

I really wanted to send out a heartfelt thanks to those of you who encouraged me to "cease and desist" K with my young 5 year old. I tried to start him last Jan. He was just over 5 and I felt he "should" be able to go ahead with K. I also felt he was a little behind because he still didn't know all ...

Skip counting!! Why didn't I think of that?! Thanks! I'm really glad I asked. Now, I'm not dreading it like I was.

My oldest is just 5 and will be started (restarting) MFW K in the fall. So, take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I think there is a big part of being ready for K that is a maturity issue rather than an academic. Does that make sense? Even if academically, she is ready for 1st now, does she have th...

Thanks everyone for the wonderful ideas! I know this can be done. I just need to do it and allow it to take time to fall properly into place. I have realized over the last few months that I have higher expectations than what reality can be for our family. I have a lot of little kids. Things aren't g...

Oh look! I figured out how to multi-quote. :-) You probably won't like my answer, and I wouldn't have liked hearing it when my oldest was 5. I tried to start when my oldest was 5 (for 1 month) with 4 children 5 & under. I gave up, and wisely waited until he was six. Actually, that is great advice, b...

Thanks everyone. I have the CD of David's "Occupying Toddlers..." I have listened to most of it. But, not all. I need to finish it up. Your ideas sound great. I guess I'm struggling because my kids all want to do things together. My 5 year old will complain if I let the 3 year olds play with lacing ...

Yes, there are 2 pages per letter. I took all of mine out and put them in page protectors and then into a 1" Binder. I also cut out the front and back covers and put those in the View pockets on the front and back of the binder. (I also tore out the instructions and any other pages in the book. I pu...

My oldest has an Oct. b-day and my 3 year old twins have a Dec. b-day. So far, I have definitely found it to be an advantage to look at them in terms of the younger age. So, my twins turned 3 this past Dec, but for the purposes of the school year, I consider them to be on the 2 year old side of thin...

We are only doing the K program this fall. We do a memory verse to some extent already. I pick a verse and display it on our kids table. (It has Plexiglas covering it to protect the finish. I just slip things under it to display, like art projects and memory verses.) I have them say it everyday for ...

What I have found from this little sickness of mine is that so many of these great vendors use the same books, just in different ways or at different times. So please don't think you have to choose either the "doability" of My Father's World or the great literature of Sonlight. Most of the books So...

I was wondering if any of you out there have used the preK package with your younger kids in a large family? I was actually thinking about buying it for my almost 4 (that makes me weep a little) year old. He is extremely active and will be even more independent next year. I'm just not sure he'll si...

I use plastic container also. I have a black one from a restaurant. (Supposed to be "disposable," but easy to wash and reuse.) I used sugar. It works well because the container is black and the sugar is white. My son loves it.

Where do you get colored sand?

I have 5 who are 5 and under. We tried to start K this year with a young 5 and just turned 3 year old twins. (They weren't doing the K, but you know, they wouldn't exactly leave us alone either. ;) ) Plus, I have twins who were around 8 months at the time. (They will be a year in less than a month n...

I am planning on starting my (to be) 8 yo ds in ADV. I wondered about getting the PreK Package for the (soon to be) 4 yo ds and some of the Kind. package for the (soon to be) 6 yo ds who is not reading yet, but knows most of the alphabet sounds. It looks like the Kind. has such a lot of fun activit...

So, my son has the opportunity to take, Bible, Western Civilzations 1, and an English class at our local bible college in the fall. I know he can handle the work, that isn't the issue. My problem is that I LOVE MFW! I had planned on him doing WHL, in fact I already bought it! I know the teaching wo...

Thanks for all the tips!! I'm not too much a stickler for him holding it exactly correctly. I don't hold mine right. But, he is way off, with the pencil end tipped forward in his hand instead of back and his index finger...I don't even know how to describe it except to say it's way off, not just res...

Carissa, you are right. I have a good friend who has 3 children right around my kids age. She doesn't have any twins, but we like to remind each other that this is the hardest time. No matter how many kids we ultimately have, this will be the hardest stage because all of them are still young. It wil...

Thanks Ladies. It is good to know I'm not alone. I feel a little silly because I did read about this happening to many other moms who started about when I did. I was hoping I wasn't making the same "mistake." Ha, ha! That is okay. I did know we might have to wait. I'm okay with it. I think you are r...

Thanks everyone. I spoke to my husband. I was pleasantly surprised that he is totally fine with us waiting a little longer. He said, "if he isn't ready, he isn't ready." He also liked the idea of year round school. It seems as if he may be slowly coming out of the classroom mindset. So, we are going...

My son is definitely ahead in Bible. I don't know what being ahead in science would be. LOL. But, he is very interested in learning Bible and science type info. Right now, his big focus is on dinosaurs. Thanks for reminding me that reading isn't all it is about. I'll gently remind my husband of that...

Kathi, thank you so much!! I really needed to hear several of those things. I'm so glad you said not to give up my quiet time. I was feeling guilty for holding onto it so tightly. But, I do feel I need it. Thank you for validating that. I really can't do it very early in the AM. I actually really wa...