Definitely! I remember walking past a whole block of queuing people to enter the Vatican museum because I'd booked ahead. Use tripadvisor for places to go, etc... Also, the public transportation system is decent, so use trains, buses and subways when possible.

I've lately been noticing how my parenting style has shifted as my kids have gotten older. When they were younger (or when we've had young foster kids), I had a much more controlling parenting style. Not bullying, but always firm and consistent... focusing on how we behave in certain situations or how we follow directions. As they've gotten older, I'm learning that I can step back and let the kids make decisions and that I can let go of control and listen to reasonable arguments and negotiate some boundaries because they have in place already a healthy understanding of life and the ability to self-regulate. I'm really enjoying no longer being 100% in charge, but rather slowly shifting towards being a guide and an advisor to kids who have great common sense. I'm looking forward to continuing the gradual easing off of my authority as they enter adulthood. I think being a parental authority is essential for raising the kinds of kids I want, but also knowing when to loosen the reins and step back is equally important.

I love it here -- we lived a little while on the Olympic peninsula, Portland and now southern Oregon. My only complaint is smoke from wildfires in this area. I don't know whether the rest of the Pacific Northwest has this problem.

We like to stay in family friendly hostels or small budget hotels in convenient areas... In Rome we stayed at the beehive hotel, which was awesome -- http://www.the-beehive.com. In Florence, we stayed at Hotel Ester. In Pompeii, we stayed at Agora hostel deluxe. All were great.

I like to have two copies of math books so I can read through the lesson too. I bought a used (acceptable condition) 3rd edition on Amazon in June for 69$. The price went up over the summer and I couldn't bring myself to pay 80+ for one book. Waiting paid off and I got a copy in very good condition two weeks ago for $49. I have the solutions manual and the test bank. I'm quite happy with it.

We've used the US History version of this book and found it useful: http://www.amazon.com/Document-Based-Assessment-Global-History-Grade/dp/0825163374/ref=sr_1_fkmr3_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443217428&sr=8-1-fkmr3&keywords=World+history+Document+based+questions+middle+school#customerReviews There is background reading, various documents with questions to guide a student and finally the essay assignment itself.

I was 9 weeks and positive I was miscarrying. Bright red bleeding, terrible cramps, nausea... We were camping in the middle of nowhere so we drove 4 hours to the nearest ER concerned it was ectopic, but were told that was unlikely and I was probably miscarrying and should just go home. For two weeks I thought I had miscarried. I was waiting for insurance to come through to see a OB/gyn . When I finally did, it was so amazing to see that first ultrasound that I just cried. Although, in my defense, my appointment was the morning of 9/11/01 and so there was a lot of confusion and crying going on that day in general.

That sounds like fun! I made a weeping angel Christmas tree topper. Not exactly the same, I guess... Still... I'd probably take an old shirt as a pattern to get the right shape for the yoke at the top, then sew gathered fabric onto that, putting seams under the arms and a slit in the back to get into it or to attach wings. I used lots of fake stone spray paint... Will you dye the fabric gray? I heard my girls talking about being Jenny and Madame vastra for halloween. Not sure about a Silurian mask. Here's somebody's instructions. I'd probably start there. Lots of cosplay blogs should have ideas. http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2013/06/06/how-to-make-weeping-angel-costumes/

We liked EPS Rules of the game. I'd recommend book 2. http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product_slideshow?sku=22390&actual_sku=22390&slide=1

"Keys to algebra" series meets all of your requirements. It could be a great intro to algebra that she could do totally independently in the spring that will set her up well for a more rigorous program like Foersters next year.

My grandma died recently and was cremated and had no funeral or memorial service. In our family that's pretty typical. We don't really go in for funerals or weddings or christenings or big celebrations of anything. So for me, it wasn't hard to grieve because I knew she wouldn't have wanted to spend money on a funeral or grave. I can imagine if you are used to funerals you might struggle with having a sense of closure. Making up your own private ceremony might help? Perhaps with the help of clergy or a counselor?

It sounds like she and your husband think it's a good school that is worth trying and you're feeling reluctant to let go of the control you used to have? I know that feeling! It's hard to let someone else be in charge of your child's education... but it is pretty much inevitable that all of our kids at some point will have other teachers besides us -- some providing an awesome experience, and others not. If you're like me, it's difficult to let that be okay when I have a hundred amazing ideas that will challenge and enrich my child's education. However, letting her have these classroom experiences is important. I have to work very hard to step back and let my younger daughter at middle school form her own relationships with teachers, communicate with staff about buses and lunches and such, make her own decisions and her own friendships and form her own opinions about various subjects. It doesn't come easily to me! And next year when my older daughter starts public high school, it'll be even harder because I feel even more invested after 6 years of being her only teacher. That said, I'm determined to remember that her education, despite my investment, is not about me. And that I need to take myself out of the equation and hand over the control to her and her new school and remind myself it's okay to have classes that are not especially interesting or not challenging or teachers that are cranky or classmates that are annoying or whatever.

I think age probably matters a lot - what's normal at 3, is not at 10, but also it matters whether the event was mutual anatomical exploration or whether it was coercive and bullying. When we have foster kids identified as 'sexually reactive', I do let my own girls know and I keep an extra eye on their play. We take mostly preschoolers and young school age kids. In honesty, I think in the three kids who came with that label, none of them were really pathological. Two, I suspect, were experimenting and just not well supervised and one 4 yr old girl was so into playing "house" and wanting to be "the baby" that it got a little out of hand when she started undressing to be diapered. To me, that's a little weird, but not a situation that should be labeled as abuse.

Horrible history videos, history for music lovers (on youtube), Crash course videos

Neil gaiman's "Stardust" is very questy... Actually many of his books are.

My 13 yr old daughter has a slight underbite. It got worse after palate expanding that probably should have been done at a younger age. She had two impacted canines and had surgery and chains to bring them down. She has had braces for a year now. The dentist mentioned surgery but said it probably wasn't worth it because the underbite was so mild.

Have you looked at History Portfolio? http://www.homeschooljourney.com/all-history-portfolio-products/

I love his books - I've mainly listened to them as audiobooks and I love how he reads them himself. His voice is so pretty to listen to... Half American and half British.

I spend about an hour for math reviewing and explaining and checking. And maybe an hour or so for other subjects? It's hard to say because often I'll watch the same documentary or I'll be reading her essay while she's working on science. Or I'll be reading a book I assigned her while she's finishing up on math.

If he did well in MM5a and b, I'd start him on MM6a and b, not jump ahead to pre-algebra. Many of the topics will come up again, and he can review them then.

Once your child is reading at a 2nd or 3rd grade level or so, you could try Galore Park junior English 1. The format of the book is pretty similar to Singapore primary math. https://www.galorepark.co.uk/Product?Product=9781902984827 You can order from bookdepository.com.

We were just there - we stayed at the Americana hotel which was very inexpensive (85$/night and 7th night free). It's not fancy and it needs some work, but the price and location were great and the beds were fine and the room clean and the area was safe. With a teenaged daughter, we had a Capitol tour and lecture on the Supreme Court, visited fords theatre and the archives and basically all the museums. The Newseum, national gallery and air and space were favorites for us, and we didn't care for the natural history museum (because of all the screamy loud kids). But... If I had a toddler, we'd have a different itinerary. We got a metro pass and took it everywhere with no problems.

I'm on an Amtrak train right now (from NYC -DC) and posting from their wifi - it's a little laggy, but not terrible. Definitely bring a sweatshirt to wear - the ac is cold. The tickets were much cheaper bought several months in advance. NonRefundable but cheaper. The cafe car is pretty uninteresting and overpriced. We packed lunch.

I do 75% of my cooking with a 12.5" nonstick skillet (scanpan) and a 3.5 qt saucepan (all clad). The other 25% involves a 1.5 qt saucepan (le creuset), a 10.5" Cast iron Dutch oven with frying pan lid (lodge), a small non-stick frying pan (scanpan) and a medium sized stock pot (all clad).

Dolciani is probably closest to Foerster in format, but I'd consider math mammoth pre-algebra if the kids are working on their own a lot (like if you meet once each week and they do assignments in between). I like how accessible and non-threatening it is. I remember my daughter going between Singapore math with the cute small books to a giant pre-algebra book and how overwhelmed she felt.