Please help me come up with some packable, snack food ideas for a kid wearing braces and going on a long plane flight! Nuts used to be our go-to packable protein solution, but now that that's been eliminated, I'm feeling clueless. Help, Hive, please!

After some sleep and further thought, OP, I think what you really want is a smooth (as smooth as it can be) transition to life with another person in the house. I think what you are *really* after is that your DD has a heart that is willing to do what you ask and with a good attitude. Because if she's independently doing her work -- but doing it with a resentful or grumpy attitude -- then you'll be frustrated with your day. I think her independence is a symptom/outward appearance of a deeper heart attitude, which is really what you want to establish in your daughter. So, I'd encourage you to focus your vision on what you'd like from her .... then figure out how you can develop and make progress (not necessarily completion) towards that goal that in the weeks before baby comes. (If only we could snap our fingers & immediately our kids have a joyous, compliant spirit ....... hahahaha.........)

What about making your goal to have a "School Routine" in place before the baby arrives? So that when you say "It's time for school now." She knows to expect subject X. Then come Subject Y. and so on. If a mom can make the routine predictable, that's one less battle you have to fight. Sometimes the novelty of a personal timer from the dollar store might provide some incentive to focus ... but start with short, short time periods and work your way to longer duration. A memory binder is working magically for us this year. Of course some things need to be done together (the memory part ha!) but I started adding math worksheets or handwriting worksheets under a section. I think my DC likes that he has control and knows which tabs to go to. (Daily, Odd/even, day of the week, number of day in the month). And often, there will be a whole worksheet for that day, but then I just ask him to do half of the problems. It's a little motivating to know you only have to *half* a worksheet. Oh- and make these worksheets (that are really ,meant for training independence) below what she's learning; make it easy for her to succeed. As for copywork, assuming she has the letter formation mastered, perhaps start with just a small chunk to copy - but make sure it's DC's best, most beautiful handwriting. If it's sloppy then they have to do it again. .... And I'd start this with just one, short word, so that they get practice in "doing-it-right-the-first-time." Once the habit of careful, neat handwriting is mastered, then you can increase the required output. Could DC listen to classical music while doing copywork? or get to burn a scented candle nearby? or use a smencil? something peppermint to get DC to be alert & focus? But with all these suggestions, I'd be starting with 2 min or 5 min of independence ... in other words, short periods! ETA: you could start teaching her to use a check-list. "Ok, we did our 15 minutes of math. That's number 3 on our list, so let's cross that off our list!" Again, it's not really independence, but you're laying the groundwork and knowledgeable and habits for when it IS time.

Do you need the handwriting modeled or just the selections? If just the selections, Living Memory by Andrew Campbell is a nice collection of worthwhile tidbits.

Lands' End has Uniform/Khaki pants for "Young Men" that let you pick the waist and then have them hem it to whatever length you need. They may be more expensive than other pants (especially if they will be outgrown in a matte roof months), but if you factor in the hassle of trying a gazillion different stores with the size, it may be worth the extra expensive. I just ordered some Old navy *Men's* pants, too. No idea on the fit or quality, but they do start at a 26" waist and a 28" length option. OP, it was wise of you to try on the clothes before the program start. I did not, and just assumed pants that I bought in May with room to grow would fit in August. Poor assumption on my part. sigh.

Do you know WHY standing up helps? or why room temperature affects handwriting (or is it just affecting concentration for boys). And which Pudewa talk gave these suggestions?

If your child struggles with printing (letter formation), do you keep them using the larger-spaced handwriting paper or do you use the grade-"appropriate" handwriting? So for example, if you child is in 2nd grade, do you have them work on their handwriting with K/1 spaced paper or with 2nd grade spaced paper? Is writing large letters helpful as they age (assuming the fine motor skills are in place)? I mean it's difficult for *me* to print letters neatly on K/1 paper!

Playback Speed control is in the free version. The difference between the two might be the ads? We use the free version but not very heavily. Perhaps upgrading to the paid app would entice us to listen more. Hmmm

a BRIGHT headlamp knot tying book & rope learn to juggle set those metal brainteasers where you try to get them apart magic trick set lots of silly string

From their website, it's on sale until 8/19 with the code LEWIS. I think the price has increased within the last 2-3 years, so that might be why the final price doesn't match with your memory.

I'm specifically asking about all the books for one module. So I think you answered my question. Today, I bundled it exactly like you described - and I physically put a rubber band around each bundle. I think it will help me get used to the system - but I still predict shuffling when DC and I both have the books spread across the table working on a challenging problem. I'm contemplating putting it into a 3-ring binder or spiral binding it into one volume, but it seems drastic here in the beginning of our journey with VT.

Do any veterans of Videotext have any tips for organizing all the books for a day? I feel like I'm always picking up the wrong book and then have to shuffle through all of them to find what I need. Will it just get better with time, or is there a hack that works for you? Thanks in advance.

I'd say they are trusted by the wtm community. We've taken classes there and are satisfied. It's often recommended by other members here. A search for the phrase "homeschool Spanish academy" results in 310 results, and I'd guess that most of them are positive (rather than negative or neutral) towards HSA.

No, I don't have a recommendation. It's what got me thinking about the topic because I can't remember which ones I didn't like. haha. I did see that Walmart had Heavyweight Index Cards, though!

Not electric but the pencil sharpener at https://classroomfriendlysupplies.com/ is pretty awesome. It’s quiet and doesn’t need a lot of rotations to get an awesome point. We actually had a Better Binder break this year 😞. So now I’m less confident in their product.

Are there brands of school supplies that you have been disappointed with? If so, why? For example, I was disappointed in Index cards from storeXYZ because they were much thinner than what I was expecting.

I've used pdfmerge.com with success; it's web based. And on another thread, people were recommending smallpdf.com as a resource.

We did both CE books with iBooks, but I recently got the next level in physical form. The Teacher's manual has all the answers written in it - so you'd be doing a lot of post-it note coverups, if you went that direction. I'd check the samples online to get a better feeling if you want to just do TM.

Kumon has a book of mazes/tracing .... here's one. Maybe if you contact the owner of krazydad.com, he could make some for you?

That's tough! You're right that I was imagining something more serene than you experience! But it sounds like a tough environment to get schooling in, too. Perhaps googling Car Games to get some ideas to avoid the boredom/whining? (I Spy, Car Bingo, etc. My mom played a Spelling game with us on car trips .... Player A spells a word, then Player B must spell a word that begins with the last letter than Player A said, and so on.). An electronic device with logic/strategy games on it? (Rush hour, chess, etc.) You could make "Cootie Catchers" at home with review concepts under the flaps. Then play with them on the commute. ...and then from my lazy side .... just give up on schooling for those 40 minutes each day and do a few hours of school on Saturday --- you might be more productive in that uninterrupted Saturday block of time than your daily, stop-n-go commute.

UPS stores would also likely do it for you. Maybe your library has the right copier/scanner? .... and before you start, are you positive you can email these documents? I think due to HIPPA, doctors have to have communicate via a secure email (can their system receive so much data?) or via fax. I’d hate for you to spend all the time scanning it in when it needs to be faxed or whatever.

OP- have you considered swapping “time slots”? What I mean is let the commute be his free time to do as he wishes, but then when he’s home and would typically be on his own, you do school for 40 minutes. Doing school on the go can have the best intentions and expectations, but in reality it can be so unpredictable ... DC’s mindset, environmental distractions (temperature, noise, visual), etc. or do a blend of both ideas ... first 10 minutes of the commute is school on the go. Second half is free time. Then you’re incentivizing the free time too.

I got the Boba and the straws at an Asian market and an International market. Then I followed This YouTube tutorial. It was easy to make, but my family wasn’t a fan of it. Shrug.

Keep a list of the audiobooks you’ve completed so that you can use it as encouragement on those days when you are discouraged about the drive. Maybe your DD could knit/crochet on the commute. Again, it’d be something visible/tangible that resulted from the time in the car. And throw in some podcasts for variety too! Maybe you could have a special snack/drink for the commute to reward yourself for making the drive, too. Can you carpool with the other person from your area?