We spend less than $700 a month for a family of 6 with three boys and a high energy girl who all have incredibly high metabolisms (my 4 year old girl eats as much as I do). This amount includes paper products. I buy one bag of chips a week as the "fun" food and make everything else from scratch using whole grains I get from a local co-op. I shop at Aldi's for fruit and Costco for those things that are cheaper there. We buy meat in bulk from a local farmer who doesn't use anti-biotics or hormones unless needed. We don't live in a cheap area for groceries either. I'm shocked at what I've heard some pay for produce - it's only in my dreams. So, all that to say, I think you could cut out some - 30% may be a stretch, but I think you could cut down. Beth Beth

How about if you've ever fished poop out of the air vent:eek: Beth

I started a CC group in my town without ever having participated in a CC group. It's hard to be the first one "plowing the new field" so to say. It was a very hard year for my family - mostly the time involved each week. As a director (many tutors in the program also have this schedule), I started planning for the group and the day away Tuesday afternoon (also some weekend time), got to the church at 8 am to set up, didn't leave until 3:30 that day, and then spent Thursday trying to recoup from CC (my adopted daughter really just needs right now to not be gone from Mommy so long). I also had childcare issues with my oldest son. So, after really losing 2 1/2 days a week out of our homeschool to CC, I just couldn't sacrifice that anymore. We are not going back. The woman taking over is also very organized, but her youngest will be in 6th grade so no little people. Since it's been here a year already, it seems to be more smooth sailing for her which is great. I think it's very doable to start up a group, but just realize that your homeschool will have a 4 day work week and you will have much more to prepare unless you can delegate it. If you stick it out past the first year, it will be MUCH easier. I just couldn't due to my family situation. All that being said, I like CC in that they did get to work on speaking in front of people and I realized how much they were capable of memorizing. We will be continuing some of the memory work next year and adding to it - poems and more Bible verses. I will be co-ordinating it with Tapestry of Grace. Beth

CC is transitioning from the VP cards into their own history timeline published by CC with a timeline song. Just so you know. Beth

For example, she was reading r-a-m. She'd sound it out and say "am". Or, she was reading s-i-t, sound out all the right sounds and say "it". Over and over again. So, I used a white board and made the "r" orange and the "am" green. Same with the "sit". It was like magic. With the colors, I got "ram" and "sit" right away. Beth

I'm trying to teach my daughter to read this summer. Mostly because it's summer and I'm not teaching anyone else. She's getting it thankfully, but was having a bit of trouble with the first sound (we're using 100 easy lessons). So, I color coated the letter she was forgetting to sound out and whammo - she could read it no problem. According to Diane Craft, I may have a right brain learner. I am so excited to have seen this! Beth

I have three groups of acne looking/rash (cystic looking - not pimply) on my back that are spreading to my neck and spine. They feel more like a burn than an itch. On that side I also have painfully swollen lymph nodes and large muscle aches under the rash. There are no other symptoms. It appears to be spreading. What am I looking at here? Bug bites? Other? Beth

I TOTALLY hear you. I've been directing co-ops for 3 years now. 1 with a Classical Conversations group. Previous to that, I had a 3 year stint as a co-leader for a homeschool group. I am not starting or running anything next year and am looking forward to having things much more relaxed! Beth

The kindle fire is on amazon deals for $139 refurbished. I just ordered this. I was saving up for one and was about $50 short. So, I'm ahead of the game now by $10. Yay. Now we can e-read. I just thought this may be helpful for someone. Beth

When my friend's child had problems on the bus with a bully, she had him bring a large homemade cookie nicely wrapped to give to the bully. That solved the problem. Maybe you could offer a cookie? Beth

My oldest (13 year old) has the same thing. Good to know it's not unusual. Beth

After a year with CC, we are going to learn memory work in context. I'm taking TOG as my base and putting in the CC history sentences where they apply. It means a lot of jumping around in the CC cycles, but I'm OK with that. Same with science. It also means we'll learn less CC stuff but I can easily replace that with famous speeches, poetry, and Bible memorization. It seems richer this way. Beth

We adopted a girl just because that was what we had felt all along that we were supposed to do. But, if you don't mind either way, there seems to be a preference for girls (who in my opinion after having 3 boys and a girl are harder to raise) so an adoption may go faster if you opt for a boy. Beth

Our first time through IEW, I had a friend who was teaching a co-op class. They went through 5-7 (I can't remember) units. It was too much for a first time writer and too much for me to understand. This was with me going through TWSS on my own. The second year, I watched TWSS again and did one unit at a time. We would go through unit 1 and I would do it until it was easy for ds. Same with dress ups. I wouldn't start a new unit until the current unit was easy for him to do. It worked wonderfully and progressed him farther faster. You can easily get paragraphs from their reading on Ancient Egypt or go with IEW's premade unit "helpers" found here or here. Beth

I tried Writing aids, but I too had no idea how to teach writing so I went with IEW. Now, having 3 years of IEW experience, I can use some of the assignments and use them in an IEW way. That being said, writing plays or other things like that are very confusing to me, so I will skip them. My plan with TOG year 1 is to have ds complete a theme book. It's not my ideal plan, but it gets done and I can teach it better.

TOG year 1 with Classical Conversations memory work. I'm really excited to go back to TOG after a year of "what was I thinking". Ds will be taking a TOG online course also and I really think it will help pull him to the next level of dialectic discussion. Beth

I had a rock they could climb onto when they became frogs. We had a couple that made it to frogdom. I recommend the lid because one day, little tadpole was a frog (on my counter), the next day, he disappeared. The best I can figure is that he jumped into the sink with the disposal unit and got "disposed". Beth

Wow---maybe the funding of college is more within our reach. I don't feel low income but if someone wants to qualify us as that in order to help our children with future college expenses, I'll take it. beth

My college plan for my youngest is the fact that she's asian - some college who wants to up their "multicultural" thing may consider that a deal worth funding even though she's grown up in a white family. Or maybe not... I hope by the time my 11 year old hits college, the bubble will have burst. There's no way colleges can even stay open if the majority of people can't afford it. It concerns me because I have a bright child who wants to be an engineer. We have a severely disabled child and any money we ever have will be going to his care. We don't want him at the mercy of the state and their whims. That leaves our other children with no financial aid whatsoever from us. We're not rich - very middle income. We live simply, try to pay off our mortgage because that's our safety net for ds #1. There are not a lot of places a wheelchair bound child can live. My ultimate plan? Trust God. He has a plan for my children and will have to figure out a way to fund said plan. Beth

Yup- I know about staying away from the sugar and cream...my friend says those frappes' are the gateway coffees. I'm thinking of buying a machine and going from there...any suggestions? Beth

It all started with the mocha frappe' at McDonalds. It graduated to a mocha at Starbucks. I just drank a Starbucks dark brew at a hotel Keurig machine. I liked it. Also, a side effect I've found is that I actually feel healthier and more awake. I'm in my early 40s, have 4 children, one with multiple disabilities, and another with ongoing medical needs...i don't have a lot of "luxuries". So, am I going down a dark road that I should just stay far far away from? Or should I go with my coffee lover friend's advice that states, "if it makes you feel more awake, I say go for it." Ultimately, is coffee bad for your health? Beth

Here is the homeschooling organization that works with everything homeschooling. =&distance[search_distance]=25&distance[search_units]=mile&province=&city"]Here are the state requirements to homeschool. I do not find it to be a big deal. For records, I keep what the kids did each year, a schedule of days completed, and their test scores. It's always a good idea to have that kind of stuff anyway. There are a ton of co-ops in the twin cities and surrounding. You do have to be a member of the homeschooling organization to access them, but I'm sure you could also google. Beth

IEW - If you buy the student intensive courses, you don't even have to teach and can learn along with your kids. Andrew Pudewa will even give them assignments. The sets have a fairly decent resale market also. Beth

I have been pondering this question also - not the LCC specifically, but the whole idea to get your grammar knowledge from writing and Latin - especially in those early years. That seems reasonable to me, but for some reason makes me nervous! To me, it feels like I'm dropping math and just hoping they get it somehow in their trip to the store... Beth