We aren't churchgoers and don't really 'fit' with any of the local HS groups. Other suggestions?

:hurray::hurray::hurray:

Just made my reservation for the 7th! Woo hoo!

I'm usually pretty unflappable but 2 wks of rainy days with another 10 in the forcast is more than I can tolerate. I just looked at the Weather Channel and it says our next chance for a sunny day is June 7th. Well, thanks for that. Bleh!

I need to go wake the husband and talk about this! How exciting!

For just DD alone I read at least 60 mins/day. DS adds another 30-60 mins (readalouds for history, science, and literature) to that and DD generally listens in.

If it weren't for the fact that I remember how miserable we ALL were when DS was in PS (tantrums, having to be physically dragged out of bed in the a.m., crying during homework, 3-5 days of being called by the school, DS feigning sick at least 3 days/wk, etc.), his little butt would be going back there in the Fall. It is so unfair to DD that DS makes our school time miserable, and it's unfair to the rest of the family that some days he has managed to make me miserable too! Mondays are our best days and it goes down hill from there. I am thinking that next year I might try to accomplish all of our work for the week in 4 days so we can take Fridays off for field trips and outings. I hate Fridays. Of course then Thursday will be our Friday so it will probably become the day I hate.

I live less than a mile from Barnes and Noble and less than 1.5 miles from Borders. I tend to order from Amazon anyway because I know they have the book I want vs. going to the big box store to be disappointed.

Ellie, thanks for reminding me of that! You are so right! I don't have to provide any more than what the law requires! I'm a thrower and I live with 4 hoarders. It's a strange form of torture that mostly results in me keeping absolutely nothing to make room for their absolutely everything!

So you are saving every workbook? 10 per subject? I was thinking about just keeping the teachers guide and the tests/quizzes out of each LU.

People (using that term loosely) in my house seem to think that it is somehow helpful to move the pile of crap from their area of responsibility into my area of responsibility. For example, it is DSS's job to vacuum the living room. So he will pick crap up off the floor and place it on the kitchen counter. He 'cleaned' his area by junking up mine. It makes me so angry. These are the same 'people' who put the dirty dishes on the counter over the dishwasher but can't seem to put them in the dishwasher and place garbage on the washing machine which is right next to the trash can. Seriously... Some days I just don't want to live here anymore.

Another vote for real.

*bumpity bump*

I planned to keep all of DS's tests and quizzes from the CLE LU's we did (Math, LA's, a few science and social studies that fed into our WTM choices), the binder with his SOTW work (including photos of projects, narrations/dictations/copywork, coloring sheets, maps), the binder with his FLL and WWE work, and a word document with charts of time spent per subject per day, field trips and outings, and a list of books and other materials used. Is this enough? I live in WA and they don't require we keep anything in specific but I don't want to be short-handed if the government comes knocking.

Thanks for the input. DS8 is not much for art but this looks simple enough that it's worth a try. We have lots of rainy days here!

I ordered some from Rainbow Resource and also purchased this and this. I haven't received them yet but I hope it will be a fun introduction to use over the summer.

Thanks in advance. Michelle

That helped a lot!

Seriously! I'm afraid my children are going to grow webbed feet and start communicating with a series of quacks and tail-feather shakes. This is ridiculous, even for the Pacific NW!

Can someone please give me examples of the spelling words in these books? I am trying to figure out where to "place" DS for summer. I want to give him a challenge but not overwhelm him. Thank you.

In theory, we do a chapter/wk over 2-3 days. I read over the AG 2-3 wks in advance to determine what, if any, activites we will do, gather materials, and request any books or DVDs from the library that we will want. Day 1: Read chapter while kids do coloring pages. Go over the review questions. Do mapwork. Day 2: Use narration for copywork and review. Do project, read, or both. Day 3 (if needed): Finish project. Read more books. I try to get at least on IR for DS and one RA. In reality, lately it's looked a little more like this... Today: Read chapter while the kids eat breakfast. Go over review questions just as a matter of trying to make sure DS8 was listening even in the little bit. Do the mapwork and coloring page because DD4 spied the sheets I copied off and wants to color. Google an image of the modern flag of Israel because DS8 has to make it "perfect." End up making the dreidels because they started singing the Dreidel song the minute they saw them. Spend another 30 mins playing with the dreidels. Spend another 30 minutes building walls with the Pez candies we used to play dreidel. DS8 decides to read "Shabbat" to DD4 because it's in the pile of books for the week and he recognizes the word from our earlier discussion of Shabbat and Hannukah. Realize it's now lunchtime and they need to be fed again. This leaves us with narration/copywork and a few books for the rest of the week.

I've been excused because JD would result in a financial difficulty for our family. The $10/day stipend would in no way cover the cost of child care for my 2 kids, let alone the cost of paying someone to answer the phones and schedule the techs for our business.

Definitely a field trip! We count trips to the zoo, the animal park, the Children's Museum when there is a new exhibit, Cub Scout camping events (since they do nature walks, archery, BB guns, woodworking, leather work, etc), vacation days where we work in learning experiences (i.e. Wilmington, Jamestown, Philly, D.C., Charleston, Victoria, etc.) that we research beforehand...

Not counting field trips, memberships, outside clubs, etc... Just curriculum and related materials... $300 on the 3rd grader and another $100 on the pre-K. We have an awesome library so I don't really have to buy books.

I'm definitely not a local even though I've lived here for 12 years. I'll always be from WI. My husband will always be from NC. DSS is from GA. And our kids... well, they aren't Washingtonians either. That's fine with me. I find that all of my friends here aren't from here either. I've found that born and raised Washingtonian are less than than welcoming.