The publisher offers the e-book download for five dollars as opposed to $25 for the paper book. Is there any reason I would need the paper book? I'll be teaching two children, if that makes a difference.

Have any of you used the NEH produced "Picturing America" resource as an art curriculum? What did you think? Any resources you'd recommend besides those provided on the NEH website? A friend gave me all her posters from it and they're gorgeous. I'll be teaching a 7yo and an 8.5yo, if that helps. Thanks!

We are moving to PA September 1. I've already discovered the wonderful askPauline.com, and that has been hugely helpful in my planning. Is there a particular planner or organization system that you found particularly helpful with respect to putting together your end of year portfolio? For the past couple of years I've used the file crate system (combined with a Homeschooler's Journal for each child), which I think would work pretty well--just go through and cherry pick a few things from each week's folder at the end of the year--but I'm certainly open to any ideas you may have with respect to easing the administrative burden. (Oh, and my graphic design geek husband wants to know if any of you have submitted your portfolio electronically. I think he's itching to get creative with it.) Looking forward to your input. Thanks!

We are relocating from northern VA to the Philadelphia area and one of the communities we are considering is Phoenixville. Is there any kind of home schooling community or presence there? Are there other communities in the Philly area that are particularly home school friendly? Thanks!

Thanks! Our move is being paid for by the company, and it includes real estate help on both ends, so I'm also hoping a professional will have more ideas.

So my husband's employer is transferring him to the Wayne, PA office sometime within the next year. Initially I thought this would be a great opportunity to save on housing costs but it seems like the rents in Philly are just as high, if not higher. A few limiting factors: We bought our NoVA townhouse at the top of the market (January 2005) and put a significant down payment on it. Then the market bottomed out and still hasn't recovered. Our equity has evaporated and we are underwater. I don't foresee a problem with a short sale since we're dealing with a job relocation, but we'll be leaving with empty hands. 18 months of job searching and paying for things like health insurance out of pocket blew our savings. So there is no way we will be able to come up with a down payment on a house purchase. Renting is going to be our only option until we get our financial feet back under us. Hubs' office will be in Wayne, as well as the church we will probably attend. Hubs is SICK of having to drive half an hour to get anywhere here in northern VA, and REALLY wants to live in close proximity to office and church. Similarly, I'm sick of the suburban wasteland and highly interested in a walkable neighborhood, meaning relatively short distances to library, parks, grocery store, etc. Can anyone familiar with the area recommend a neighborhood that isn't horribly suburban, isn't too dangerous, and isn't hideously expensive? Is my dream of getting a non-disgusting 3 bedroom house (for our family of 6) under $1400/mo just ridiculous? It seems so from my real estate searches. :/ Help? Advice?

I need some encouragement/advice on teaching a very stubborn, perfectionist 6yo to read. He is clearly very smart, and he can decode letter sounds just fine. He can also sound out words, but it's like pulling teeth. At this point it's really a matter of practice, I think, but he won't practice because he is such a perfectionist that he's terrified of making a mistake. I've tried as many ways as I know how to communicate that it is okay to make mistakes--everyone makes them and that's how we learn. But he is really resisting it. We went through something similar with math, and what turned that around was ditching the curriculum that worked great for his older brother (Miquon) and allowing him to choose something entirely different (McRuffy). I think having ownership of the curriculum choice really helped, as well as the fact that it was not something he had seen his brilliant older brother use. So yesterday I pulled up a couple of choices of reading curricula and asked him which one he'd like to try. He selected 100 Easy Lessons (older brother used Ordinary Parents' Guide). I'm hoping that will be a turning point for him. But any other advice or words of wisdom? I'm sure I'm not the only parent who's been through this. Is it just going to be a matter of time? I'm already being as low pressure as I can; should I just stop trying to teach him to read altogether and wait for him to volunteer? If I do that, how do I handle standardized tests or evaluations (we live in VA and have to submit one or the other at the end of the year)? Thanks!

I'm schooling right now with a 5.5mo and it has been an education it what we can and can't do. I expected to take a few weeks off after he was born in early November, and had built those weeks into our anticipated schedule for the year. Then he was born with a posterior tongue tie which we had revised twice, with accompanying milk transfer and weight gain issues. He eventually refused to latch altogether and I have ended up exclusively pumping for him. In the beginning I was using the wrong flange size without knowing it so it took me an HOUR to get 3.5 oz of milk--which means that I was spending eight hours a day attached to the breast pump. It was literally a full time job. We did nothing beyond BrainPop, read alouds and audiobooks for four solid months. Then I adjusted my flange size, and cut my pumping time in half. But still, now I am attached to the breast pump for four hours a day (at least four of those sessions are before/after our school day). We are just now getting back into the groove of school. Fortunately we are in Virginia where we don't have to show progress, just do testing at the end of the year, and my kiddos were ahead of the game a bit when we started, so I don't think we'll have too much trouble with that. Anyway, all of this is to say that I've learned a few survival strategies. Heaven forfend your new wee one turn your lives upside down the way ours has, but in any case, here's what I learned: --balanced meals don't have to be in three chunks in the day. Frequently I will put out healthy nibbles (veggie sticks, whole grain crackers, cheese, fruit) in an all day spread where the older three can grab them as they need. --you can get a lot done in terms of read alouds, memorization, etc. sitting with a baby in your lap (or attached to a pump). It just takes a little planning in terms of having your materials within reach. --babywearing, babywearing, babywearing. Also, babywearing. When my little guy isn't eating, he's in a wrap or the Ergo. He can sleep there and I have my hands free to work with the other kiddos. --another poster mentioned cosleeping. Everybody's experience is different, but with my older three kids, we coslept and nursed side lying throughout the night, and I found it much more restful than this hauling myself out of bed to pump/give bottles business. I'm a big fan. --the most important thing I've been forced to accept is that nothing is the end of the world. There is no disruption in plans that must mean the end of everything. Just getting through the next five minutes is sometimes all I can do, but it always turns out to be enough.

It's different in feel from all the others, but definitely picks up.

I believe PBS will let you watch Downton online. I saw every episode of the first two seasons via the PBS app on my iPad. We got rid of our TVs about 6.5 years ago, when our oldest was 14 months, and I am SO GLAD we did. I only miss it during NBA finals and the summer Olympics. :001_smile: Increasingly I think even all that sort of premium content will be available online. It's just a matter of time. My kids do get some screen time thanks to the Netflix app on the iPad, but we officially limit it to Saturday & Sunday only. It's worked out so far. I've had a couple of exhausted third trimester weeks where I relaxed the rules during the week and almost always regretted it. Their behavior changes drastically after just a few days. I get all my weather alerts via Twitter on my iPhone. I'd be willing to bet Twitter is the first place to hear about earthquakes, etc. If you have an account I'm sure you've seen it blow up with breaking news. It's kind of amazing. (In case you can't tell, I'm a big Twitter fan!)

This. I got 2.5 books in and had to put it down. The "dead and abused children" quotient was just too high for me--and that's coming from an avid Cormac McCarthy fan. So I'm not in any hurry to see the series.

Agree on The Shack. It is the worst prose I have ever seen seriously tendered as a good book. "And finally his heart exploded like a flash flood, releasing his pent up anger and letting it rush down the rocky canyons of his emotions." Really? Really??? It was like the written equivalent of a Thomas Kinkade painting. I let the book club know it, too.

You might find Tom Wright's work very helpful, especially What St. Paul Really Said (self explanatory) and The Last Word, his book on what it actually means when we talk about "the authority of Scripture" (hint: not what most fundies think). Wright is the former Bishop of Durham, one of the most formidable living New Testament scholars, and a down-to-earth, kind, thoughtful person. I LOVE his books.

THIS. We moms so often fall into the trap of thinking that this is some kind of test of motherhood and we should be able to make it work on our own. I know I did with my first. But that's just not the way it works. Breastfeeding is a communal act, and needs communal support. Everyone here has given great advice. I *really* wish I had started going to LLL before my first was born; it would have saved me a nightmarish first couple of weeks. I'd also like to echo what several folks have said about making sure your lactation consultant is an IBCLC. I have heard the worst, most pernicious misinformation about nursing come from the mouths of hospital maternity nurses (fortunately that was with my third, and I knew better). Another great website for reference is drjen4kids.com. She explains a lot of the biology behind nursing in accessible terms. Finally, I've heard so many stories from poor mamas who had such hard times with their first attempts at nursing that they didn't even want to try with the next kid. You are amazing for giving this a go one more time.

I would stay. I and my kids were visiting my parents when my Dad's beloved Boston Terrier died last year. The grief and anguish were exacerbated by my dad's refusal to take Murphy to to be PTS. I think perhaps he was in denial about how ill the dog had become. The dog died in the middle of the living room floor, and as soon as it became clear what was happening my mom and I both began to pet him and speak to him while my dad sat nearby and watched (my littles were in another room, thank goodness). Since he was unsedated and dying of kidney failure, it was not an easy death to watch. I am sure he suffered. I am also very glad that we were at least able to offer him the comfort of our hands and voices in his last moments.

Here's what we're doing for our 2nd grader: Telling God's Story, year 2 (along with 1st grader) SOTW 2 (along with 1st grader) RSO Earth & Space (along with 1st grader) HWOT Printing Power Finishing Spelling Workout B and moving on to C WWE 2 FLL 2 Miquon: finish Red over the summer, move on to Blue & Green in the fall Song School Greek Latin for Children Primer A (we'll see about this one; he flew through SSL last year but I don't know if he's ready for this yet) Lots of library books Possibly Artistic Pursuits K-3, Book 2, if I can get over the heart stopping price tag. Swimming, dance, possibly gymnastics or taekwondo

We are tracking with the WTM four year history cycle, or at least trying. Any suggestions on medieval art curriculum for 2nd grade? TIA!

Oh, same here with the smell. That is a really important school smell. Mmmm.

We just had this salad tonight and were really pleased with it: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Avocado-and-Grapefruit-Salad-353815 My standby is the classic caprese: fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil. Drizzle liberally with olive oil & salt and pepper to taste. Easy and so, so good! Fresh mozz gets expensive, though. :(

Is he walking yet? Sometimes babies get weird about nursing around the time they hit major developmental milestones, then settle back down to nursing once they're through the transition. If you decide not to wean, I'd talk to an IBCLC or hit up my local LLL meeting about supply issues. They're a wealth of knowledge about this stuff. Kellymom.com is also a well-respected source of information, if you're an introvert like me and prefer not to have conversations with actual people. :001_smile:

I second the baby carrier! We've had many days where the only way anything got done was #3 bring wrapped up on mama's back (and we're using Miquon).

We used Elemental Science Biology for our 1st & K-er this year and enjoyed it. It's pretty well laid out for you, but easy to go more in-depth if you've got the time and inclination. This is true for me, too. My BA is in Philosophy and my Master's is in English, and my one college biology course is a distant memory, so I feel like I need a lot of help in this department. I was taught YEC growing up, so I'm having to self-educate on the nuts and bolts of evolution. It's been tons of fun (finally) getting to learn about this stuff.

The Lake of the Coheeries & New York City from Mark Helprin's "Winter's Tale." Yoknapatawpha County. Middle Earth.

Scissors: ours always seem to get lost, so this year I'm getting a TON of kid scissors when they go on sale. Erasers: both the pencil toppers and the pink bars. I'm stocking way up on those. I was thinking about investing in good electric pencil sharpener, so that's welcome advice about reserving the manual ones for colored pencils. We go through a ton of those, too.

We went to a lot of trouble last year to clean out our finished basement, get new shelves, etc so it would serve as the school room. We ended up in the kitchen. Part of it was that my kids are grazers and we were stopping for snacks every five minutes; when we're at the kitchen table it's easier for one kid to snack while I'm working with the other. Another problem was that the tiny half bath in the basement is where we keep the cat's food bowls & litter box, so it wasn't really pleasant for us to use. Also, the only windows in the basement are under our main level deck, so not a lot of sunlight. For the coming year I'm thinking about putting a lot of the stuff in the kitchen & adjacent living room (two shelves of books and a third of kids' toys & games, my fancy dishes that I never use, etc) in the basement and just moving the homeschool supply shelves up here, since it seems to be where we're destined to be. :tongue_smilie: