Super easy. Especially if you register with an umbrella school. We use Homelife Academy. Everything is done online....enrollment, attendance twice a year, and grades twice a year. That's it. No interference at all. There is a huge homeschool community here....tons of options for tutorials, co-ops, support groups, etc. Good luck:)

First::grouphug: Sorry your Aunt doesn't seem to have any clue about your situation! Secondly, I did have my special needs daughter in PS....from pre-school through 4th grade. She received all of their therapies and services. But, guess what, she is flourishing more at home than she ever did in ps! I really felt that as dd was getting older and making SLOW progress, that the schools sort of gave up on her. The last year she was in PS I thought she was making huge improvements in math. She was bringing home math worksheets full of double digit adding...and getting A's! Come to find out, they had given the class calculators....in 4th grade!!! These were kids that couldn't even add 5+5 (including my dd, come to find out once we started hsing!). So, we had to go back to square one once I brought her home. 3 years later and she is just now "getting" how to add and subtract. But, the point is, I didn't give up and she was able to eventually learn it! I don't know why people think that ps is the "place to be" for special needs kids. I truly believe I can provide all the "special services" for her at home. OT was a joke (I used to have to go with her and watched through the window as they would work on fine motor skills by cutting paper, playing with play dough and large motor skills by setting up obstacle courses and pushing her on a swing. Really?!?!? Ummmm...I can do all that!). They never worked on social skills training, despite my pleading. We now use Model Me at home and I have seen a lot of progress. I don't know, sorry for rambling. I just really think that we, as parents, are FAR better equipped to deal with our kids LD's by working at their level, giving them one on one attention, and giving extra attention to the skills they really need to work on. It just frustrates me so much when people infer the schools can do a better job. BTDT....and not just within one school district (3 in one state and 2 in another...it was all the same). You are doing such a great thing for your kids!!!

Someone on this board a few years ago recommended Stairway to Reading to me. It is a free curriculum from Canada, I think. Anyway, it worked wonders for my HFA dd. I liked that there was a lot of hands on word building games and made up words to get them to read phonetically as opposed to guessing at the word. I will say, it is quite teacher intensive. My dd really needed this though. I needed to hear her saying the words, especially blends which were difficult for her. It is a great program and worked so well for her. In fact, we didn't have to even complete the whole program before she was reading well enough to go to a more traditional "workbook" type phonics program. Here is the link if you want to take a look (there is A LOT to print out though!): http://www.teachyourchildtoread.ca/

No recommendations on where to stay, but I can advise you where not to stay! We stayed art the Ashley Quarters hotel (which is the first one that comes up on the Creation Museum website). In the three nights we were there we had three different rooms! The first flooded (it was obvious by the looks of the ceiling that this was an ongoing problem in the bathroom). There was about an inch of water on the floor and they were unable to get us in another room (with three kids) until almost 11 at night. The next room only had one bed...obviously too small. And in the third room we found worms all over the carpet in the morning. So gross!

I agree with what many others have said....my recovery from my second was so much better! I don't know whether it was because I knew what to expect and was prepared or what! One thing that helped me was to buy a back support brace (the kind that wraps around your mid-section and velcroes). It sort of held my flabby tummy up off my incision site and gave a lot of support. Also, holding a pillow on my abdomen for those first few BM's helped ease the pain. On a funny note, when I had my c/section, they wouldn't let me leave the hospital until I went "ca-ca".....no joke, that is what the nurse called it:lol:

I agree with cheesecake. I make Mini cheesecakes in cupcake holders with a Nilla wafer on bottom for the crust. You could freeze them and when ready to serve just thaw and add some fresh strawberries onto or a scoop of the canned cherry pie filling. Sorry if this has already been suggested....I only read through a few of the replies:)

Okay, so I'm finalizing plans for next year. I was confident I had all of the LA areas covered....we use CLE(except the spelling), Sequential Spelling, and WWE. This is for my second grader. I realized I don't have anything for vocabulary, but am not sure I even need anything this early. So, when do you start a formal vocabulary curriculum, if at all? Nothing like last minute anxiety about "getting it all in"! Thanks:)

Just wanted to add that the Sunrise editions are nothing like Lifepacs! We switched from Lifepacs to CLE two years ago....we really disliked AO. CLEhas been awesome. Helearned moreon a few months than almost an entire year with AO.

When I pulled my dd from ps a few years ago, I registered with Homelufe in October. I don't think there is a deadline. They were awesome about it too....requested all her transcripts for me. Like everyone else has mentioned, it's super easy to hs here in TN, especially when using an umbrella:)

We use CLE LA and Sonlight readers. I tried the first grade CLE reading program, but my kids thought the stories were boring. In fact, I didn't find the reader all that great either. But, we love CLE LA:)

Oh yeah, definitely! I think the thing I notice the most is my short term memory loss. No joke. I can be talking and forget mid-sentence what I was going to say. DH thinks it's amusing...me, not so much. If it is any indication of what I will be like in old age then I seriously feel bad for my kids.

I had migraines as a child...starting at 2 yrs. old! Fortunately I have outgrown them...well, I only get maybe one a year. It's funny though, I know most people recommend ice for your head, but for me that made it worse! I remember the school nurses used to put ice packs on my head and it was torture! My mom used to put HOT rags on my head (over my eyes and forehead). I would just lay in a dark room with loose clothing....and, of course, a bowl nearby:) No OTC meds worked for me as I was usually throwing up too much. Anyway, just thought i'd throw that out there about the hot rags. It is still the only thing that provides any relief for me when I have a migraine. You may want to give it a try if ice packs aren't helping.

I have never done any lesson planning...more just "do the next thing". This works fine for the basics....LA, Math...anything we use a workbook for. However, I did find that I was unprepared a lot of the time. We didn't read as many books as I would have like because I just didn't plan ahead. I would also have to skip some of the "fun" stuff in Science and even History simply because I didn't read ahead to know enough to buy certain supplies. So, this year I am "mini" lesson planning:) I have scheduled out all of the kids readers and read alouds, set aside certain days for electives such as music and art (so that I know what supplies we need!). But, i'm still keeping it day by day with the workbooks. Doing a lesson per day has always resulted in finishing up by the end of the year!

Try Coromega! We got it at The local vitamin store, but Amazon carries it as well. The orange flavor is really good....kinda tastes like a creamsicle. I had no complaints.....even from my super picky ds!

Craigslist here too. Bought four for $20:). They were from a public school and cleaned up nicely.

I send my second grader off for silent reading and then follow up with comprehension questions to be sure that he has, in fact, done the reading;)

Thank you!! Did you purchase the teachers manual as well?

I am considering purchasing Visualizing/Verbalizing for my dd. Looking through the catalog, though, there is a lot to choose from. If you have used this, what do you feel is necessary? I definitely don't want to buy the $400 kit!! DD is 13, but has special needs and read on about a second grade level. Thanks!

My dd is on the spectrum...she has a select few toys she will play with. Mostly dolls and Barbies. My other two rarely play with their toys. That's probably why they are always complaining about how bored they are! It drives me crazy though because they always find these toys that they just HAVE to have. But once they have them, they just sit in their closets collecting dust.

When all of the kids are out playing together they tend to roam from yard to yard...which is fine with me. I'll admit, though, it took me a while to get used to no fences. Where we lived before, everyone had a privacy fence. Here, everyone lives on 1+ acre lots with no fences. Now that I am accustomed to it, I find it SO nice that the kids can all play in the backyards without running through the house. That said, I do not want kids over here using the playset when we aren't around. Weird and, as many others have said, a liability. I don't mind however, if they are playing ball or something and use a bit of our land.....the yard is big enough that it's not like they are in close proximity to our house or windows.

:iagree: Definitely the iphone. Okay, well, I would actually prefer an iPad since I don't use the phone aspect and would like it to be a little bigger for reading purposes. But, you get everything in one...music, downloaded movies, games, internet, books. Love it!

Hahaha.....those are all too cute! My favorite was my oldest used to call the Internet the nenernet ( like knee-ner-net):)

My 13 yr. old doesn't have one. There are a lot of kids in my extended family with an account. I actually don't "friend" them. I don't think it's appropriate for my little nieces/cousins/etc. to see some of my personal stuff. Not that I write anything bad, there are just some things I choose to share with the adults in my life and not the kids in the family.

Well, being that I grew up watching Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, etc., I thought I WAS being strict by limiting to the Disney channel and Nick:tongue_smilie:

YES!!! I usually LOVE summer, but this year I am already over it. We have been going non-stop for the past 5 weeks. Between playdates, camps, vacations, more camps, etc....I am exhausted. I just want to stay home! I thought summer was supposed to be my break?!?!? Plus, the heat and humidity have drained all my energy. I can't wait to start school again next month and get into a less stressful routine.