My family used to love the library. We had a "library day" and everyone looked forward to it. When it was warm out, we would have a picnic at the park down the street then walk over and fill our huge library bag with books. We knew the librarians by name. They left cookies on the counter for the kids. It was clean and made every book look like the best book ever written. We would spend hours reading, listening to music, playing games, exploring or researching there. Then we moved. Our new library is dirty. The librarians are unhelpful. (They are usually friendly, although today seemed to be an exception.) There is no access to the online catalog except through the internet-only computers (which are always full), so we have to look up what we want before we go. Their selection stinks (especially from a homeschooling standpoint). Their check-out and hold policies are illogical and actually make the library an inconvenient and unwelcoming place. The straw that broke the camel's back was that I had put some books on hold for my ds. I received an email Thursday afternoon that they were ready to pick up (no date of when they had to be picked-up by and previous attempts to ask "how long do you hold books?" were met with the answer "I don't know" on numerous occasions). I went in this morning (Saturday) to pick the books up. They weren't there. The librarian asked me when I received the notice to pick them up. I told him Thursday afternoon. His response, "Oh, we only hold them for two days." I said, "Really???" Then after a brief pause, "Well, if I got the notice late Thursday, then I'd have until late today to pick it up, right? That's two days." His response was, "No. It came in early Thursday, but it takes us time to send the emails and to call people. So Thursday is the first day and Friday would be the second day. We sent it back this morning." Am I crazy, or is this just unreasonable? All I want is to be able to have a library day. Most people plan in week-long time periods, right? So materials should be able to be checked out for at least 7 days so patrons don't have to come back more than once a week (our library has 3 week check out on books and 2 days on videos and DVDs). Holds are only two days (one of which you have to be a mind reader to know it's ready to be picked up), so you have to make a special trip in to pick those up then they end up being due on a day other than your normal library day. Have I just been really spoiled by the last four places we've lived that have all had excellent or at least good libraries? Am I being unreasonable in my expectations? I have already talked to my dh and have decided to talk to a woman at church who I know has done some work with the library and see if anyone else finds the library inconvenient or if it's just me. I am going to attend some board meetings and offer to help out. If no help is desired or my suggestions are met with antagonism (I am assuming this will not be the case, but I want to be prepared), I am going to start my own private library for homeschoolers. I've had it. In the meantime, I am going to ask friends if they have books I can borrow for my kids to read once they've cycled through all of ours. I'll have to find the money to buy the books they'll need for projects and research and such. (Not sure where that money will come from, though.) Thanks for letting me vent. Arg. (I can still feel the blood vessels pulsing.)

Thanks! I will definitely let you know!

Yup. We're an everything together and everything on cold family. (Except the occasional white load or some special treatment item... which we try not to own.) It all gets tossed in the drier or hung in the sunshine.

We just had it go through our church nursery, too. Let anyone your child may have had contact with know because he was only contagious before the rash appeared and isn't anymore. (IOW, he was contagious last Sunday but won't be this Sunday). We were glad we were told we were exposed because we meet regularly with a family with a pregnant mom and my youngest had cold symptoms. Since we had been exposed to FD we didn't take the chance and just stopped meeting with them for a few weeks until we were pretty certain he had the flu and not FD and the mom was comfortable with him around. (It can take 6-28 days from exposure to first symptoms if you do end up coming down with FD.) I hope that was more helpful/ informative than it was confusing.

This might not work-out timing wise for you, but I am in the process of writing a grammar-stage science curriculum. Book one is at the publisher and being edited right now and I should have the draft of book two done by the end of April. I am not sure what the time-table is right now, but I was hoping the books (at least the first one) would be ready by early summer. It is actually a 5 year-ish cycle. The layout is as follows: book 1 - Kingdom Animalia book 2 - Kingdom Plantae (with some Fungi and other thrown in) book 3 - earth science and astronomy book 4 - chemistry and physics book 5 - human anatomy and introduction to microbiology That's the plan for now anyway. It will be a very hands on approach, and I am including activities, experiments, and such so that it would be able to be used with children of multiple ages. I'll let you know when any previews or reviews are available. I may also ask some here to test some activities and experiments and pre-read some lessons for me to give me your feedback. Thanks for letting me promote myself. :)

Yup. Castor oil will definitely do the trick. I would have liked it better mixed with chocolate, though. I had some Coke concoction. Didn't taste so great, but contractions started with a vengeance within 10 minutes. (Warning: This can cause vomiting, so you need to remain well hydrated if using Castor oil.)

I was thinking the same thing. We need some sort of "board mommy exchange program". Hope they are feeling better soon.

This is basically how my dh and I are as well. He does leave to go to class, and I lock myself away or head to the library to write, so we may interject work talk, but mostly we debate and discuss religion, politics, etc. Our biggest difficulty is the physical stuff (not the "physical stuff")... who does what chores, makes meals, etc. We like to talk so much that it can be hard to get outside and inside chores done simultaneously since we can't talk and work. LOL. If we need quiet time, we just say so and grab a book or go for a walk or offer to run to the store.

Our cell phones are our phones; we don't have a landline anymore. (Amy in Orlando understands our loathing for AT&T, and they were our only option here.) I turns out that to have two cell phones was cheaper than having a land line, long distance and a prepaid cell for emergencies. We aren't chit chatters. My dh and I get free calls to each other, and we get free weekends to talk to family (evenings, too, after 9pm, so it limits who we can call.) We don't have many "anytime" minutes. We use IM and email for most communication with extended family and friends.

The pros of renting first are an opportunity to hunt around and get to know the area before committing. The negative is that it is temporary, it will feel temporary, and you will have to move again. The pros of buying right away are that you'll only have one move, you don't have to worry about the large family factor, and housing prices are favoring buyers right now. The negative is that you won't be familiar with the area and may buy in an undesirable-for-you area. I prefer renting first (we moved 1000 this past summer and are renting right now) just so I can really get to know the area (like alternate routes to work, etc) and use that info in my search. It also gives us time to get to know people and find out about possible good deals we might not have heard of from a realtor. We have four kids and found our rental (and the rental at our last place) by contacting churches in the area and asking if anyone knew of houses for rent that would allow 6 people and a dog. We received quite a few tips and a great deal on a place. I also asked on the boards here and received some wonderful leads from these ladies (an gentlemen) as well. Happy house hunting!

Congratulations!

and PA requires you to keep a portfolio for evaluation at the end of the year. Our new state does not require us to keep anything, but we have decided to keep putting together a portfolio. During the year, we save everything into binders by subject. Each student has the following binders: English (divided into spelling, writing, reading, grammar) Math/Logic Foreign Language History/Science If we have anything else that doesn't seem to fit a category, I'll just stick it in the back pocket of one of the binders. The binders are all 2" binders except English which is a 3" binder. At the end of the year, I get a 1" binder, and label the spine with the child's name, years of term, and grade (if they were in gov't school). The child makes a cover to slip into the front. I then put copies of all legally relevant documents in the front... in this state, that would be a copy of the legally required card we filled out at the beginning of the year, the receipt for shipping, and the return receipt card with the school secretary's signature. Then I have dividers for each subject plus health and safety info (fire safety, stranger danger, hygiene etc) and place about a dozen samples spanning the entire year in each subject plus a list of primary texts used for each subject. (For art and music, I will place pictures of artwork I have taken throughout the year or copies of music pieces they've learned.) The health and safety section has a fire escape plan drawn by the child and any other info on health and safety we covered that year (PA required it, so we are going to maintain to those standards since they are the strictest, legislatively speaking). The kids will pick out some of their favorite pieces for each subject and include those. This provides a nice overview of everything done that year. I find the kids taking their portfolios out pretty regularly and reminiscing about field trips, difficult concepts they finally got or favorite books they read, so it is a nice family scrapbook as well. Everything that doesn't go into the portfolio goes into the trash. We also send grandparents school papers periodically.

As I guide of what to choose for kids to read aloud to/ with me, I use TWTM, Veritas Press, and library guides. These help me to choose books that are at the right reading level. I usually choose books equal or slightly above where their abilities are. For pleasure reading, I let them pick whatever they have an interest in reading. If I feel they are consistently choosing below their reading level (like my 11yo dd) or have a very narrow reading interest (like my 9yo dd who would happily read dinosaur encyclopedias and paleontology textbooks all day, every day), I will buy them a book that I think will interest them and ask them to read that before they choose another book themselves.

then plant yourself outside the bedroom door in the morning and supervise while they clean it (don't forget the timer... and plan some privilege to be taken away for every time you have to reset the timer). This way, you know they are working and you are there if they truly need help with something (like getting clothes on a hanger or arranging the clothes in the drawer properly so everything fits). When the room is done, plant yourself in front of the bathroom and supervise that. I've called a halt to school some days when the house reaches the unacceptable point. I will plant myself in a chair in the doorway when I suspect they are playing instead of working and need "encouragement" to stay on track. School starts up after a "good job" from me on the cleaning.

I'm supposed to pick up some signs from across the border late next week. It's a great idea, and I am glad other campaigns are doing it, too.

Wonderful, Jean! Thank you so much. I'll pick some up tomorrow.

to make sure I have things like science supplies or copies made for the upcoming week, but that's it. If I don't do that, I find we don't move steadily through our work because when I stop to copy something, the kids scatter. LOL. I tried doing lesson plans, and I found that they just made me depressed because I would be "off schedule" and then get mad at myself. We weren't necessarily behind, we just had to spend more time on something, followed a short rabbit trail or blew through something much faster than I expected, and it would throw me off completely.

We were having dinner at a friend's house tonight, and my 7yo ds came to me crying that his leg hurt and the other was achy but not as bad as the one that hurt. He has been complaining periodically that his legs are "too wiggly" at night for him to get to sleep (I'd say once every two weeks or so). Our friends happen to be a general internist and RN couple so they both checked him out and diagnosed growing pains (probably mild shin splints just below the growth plates of his upper legs) given his current symptoms and the complaint of "wiggly legs" on previous occasions. They both recommended light massage, Tylenol, ice (if he was awake when we got home, he wasn't) and if it still bothers him in the morning, take him to the doctor to make sure he didn't pull something or if there was something they missed (no broken bones detected). The MD said if it was growing pains/ shin splints, it would come back occasionally at night but our ds would appear fine during the day although if shin splints it may flare up with a lot of physical activity. He also said that this level of pain would probably be what ds would feel each time it flared up. All this to say, has anyone BTDT? None of my other kids have had it to this extreme. They have all had some achiness, but that is all. He was out-and-out bawling from the pain (which the MD said was relatively common) and it just broke my heart. (My ds was also over-tired; he actually said that he was more tired than hurting.) Would you recommend massaging his legs every night before he went to bed whether he had pain or not? Any other tips from what helped your kids? I also just need to know that "this too shall pass" and that he'll grow out of it. (Assuming he wakes up feeling fine.) Thanks for listening and for any suggestions.

Well, poo! I missed your deadline. Sorry about that. Hope you enjoy your supper.

get a little stuffed something for your littlest then write up some clues for a scavenger hunt, print them out, cut them into little heart shapes, and hide them when you get home? Make the last thing he finds a little box of cookies or a favorite candy? My kids normally get a scavenger hunt on Valentine's Day (dh too), but this is the first Val. Day I'm working (see how hard I'm working) then we're going out later, so I didn't have a chance to set it all up. :( They were happy with my candy at breakfast bribe, though. :)

Since you said that your dining room and living room were one big room, would it be big enough to place the dining table in the center and put a long piece of plywood on it to make it longer? Since it already seats 8, you wouldn't need much more length to seat 12. My folks did this for ages when all they had was a glass-topped patio table as their dining table. It normally sat 6, but with the plywood (which I think my dad used TV tables to use as props on the ends) it sat at least 8 adults and 3 kids. Just make sure you put something under the plywood so you don't scratch your dining table. You can get a long table cloth to put on top. We live in a tiny house and have people over all the time. We don't have a long enough space to increase the table size with plywood, so we put picnic blankets on the floor for kids and just place groups of chairs and small tables around for adults. We bought a couple padded folding chairs and have lots of ottomans around to use as chairs in a pinch. We rearrange end tables, TV tables and nightstands so we have enough surface area. We even move chairs closer to windows so people can put their drinks down on the windowsills if they need to. We usually serve wine, so we have a lot of inexpensive wine glasses and some wedding crystal to fill that purpose, but we usually use nice paper plates and plastic silverware when we have more than 10 guests because we've found that guests are more comfortable putting paper plates on the floor if they need to than our china or everyday dishes. As DB in NJ pointed out, if you're comfortable, they'll be comfortable. Have fun and enjoy. What time is dinner? Oh, and where do you live? ;)

Do you know what this usually costs? Where do I get this done, any old copy store?

Redistribution of wealth. :(

Likes: 1. New CD and DVD are very useful. (My kids told me they like Dr. Perrin's teaching better than mine for Latin... I have some Latin experience; they also like seeing the other kids doing the chants on the DVD so they know they aren't the only kids in the world studying Latin.) 2. Self-contained curriculum with enough little extras (like the reader and the activity book) that it is not overwhelming but there are fun things to use when I need or want them. 3. Logical layout tied into English grammar. Dislikes: 1. Quizzes are in the bound student workbook which makes it very tempting for students to look back at the lesson for the answers. The quizzes are also printed with the beginning of the next lesson on the back so they can't be torn out. 2. I would prefer the student books to be loose pages that I can put into a binder because my kids say they find it difficult to write in the books. (Good binding combined with the book's thickness makes it nearly impossible to keep the books flat for writing... this drives my lefty especially crazy.)

I don't want to know what "direct deposit" stands for. :o