I have been inspired by all the running threads, and I am seriously considering the Couch to 5K program. I read that I can download music and prompts onto my ipod, and some of the downloads are actually free. Is that true? If so, can someone hold my hand as to how to find these downloads? I can find some podcasts, but I can't get them to work for me. I am obviously ITunes illiterate. Maybe I should ask my 7yo to figure it out. :D Thank you from a mostly-lurker.

:grouphug: We have a similar situation. We live near a town of 1500. We have to drive an hour to find a town as large as yours! Anyway, even though my kids are young, I already know they will have to participate in public school activities. Well, they already do. :001_smile: ALL activities (other than 4-H) run through the school. We don't have little league, girl scouts, rec sports, or any other typical kid activities.

My kids are taking PE at our local elementary school. Last year they participated in a homeschool PE class. The homeschool class was great, but I really, really like PE at the public school - more kids, more equipment and a trained teacher do make a difference for us with PE.

We are collecting state quarters. I found a collector's map on Amazon for about $10. It's an informal process (and perhaps lengthy), but we are having fun at it.

I'm mostly a lurker, but I just have to ask how others define "mathy." I see a lot of descriptions of dc either being mathy or not mathy, and I'm wondering how do you define a mathy dc? My 7yo dd (2nd grade) is about 75% done with RightStart level B, and she is really understanding her math. She loves her math lessons and asks to do math first every day. In fact, she is disappointed if she doesn't have a math lesson. :blink: So, how do I know if she is "mathy" or if RightStart is just the perfect fit for us? I know it doesn't really matter either way, but my curiousity has been piqued.

Just popping in to :seeya: We're on the SD/MN border due west of the Cities.

MN law allows homeschooled children the ability to participate in all extracurriculars, music, and PE. It also allows school districts to provide shared time programs for other academics, but shared time programs are not required. My kids are in 2nd and K, and they are attending our public school for one class period every day. They go for the specials rotation - art, music, PE. Our elementary school is wonderful, and my kids will be participating in school parties, fieldtrips, and other special events too. We are the only young homeschooling family in our TinyTown, so my kids' friends have to be public schooled kids.

I have enjoyed reading all the healthcare thread, and I delurked to ask this question. Our government (us, the taxpayers) have a finite amount of money to fund our obligations. Obviously, our obligations includes healthcare. It seems to me that someone somewhere (I don't want to be that person) has to put parameters on healthcare options since we are running out of money as a country. How do you wonderful ladies propose balancing the value of life and right to life against our finite financial resources? Jennifer 7yo dd, 5yo ds, almost 3yo ds, 15mo dd