I didn't like Jim Weiss with the SOTW audio either. Some of his other stuff I do like. No tomato throwing here. I can't remember the chemistry program that so many people seem to love, but whenever I download a sample, the homemade aspect of it with the hand drawn pictures makes me not even want to try it. I can't get past the pictures to actually even want to look at the rest of it. Also, anything that tries to make learning a fun game---I don't like playing games to try to teach concepts. It takes so much more time. I guess I'm just not a "fun" homeschool mom.

We moved a year ago for very similar reasons. The only difference is that my husband was unemployed. He too had been commuting 45 minutes (most days an hour) and thought in order to get a job that was a little further north, where most of the jobs were, we would have to move. We had lived in our little small town for 17 years and had some close friends. We decided that if had to move anyway, we may as well move someplace cool. We are now living in Colorado Springs. Yes, it's a lot drier here and I do miss the lush green I had in Minnesota, but, I get to look at mountains every day and the sun!!! It's sunny a lot and in the winter that is a great thing. I didn't get depressed last year because of overcast skies that lasted months. The weather is a lot milder - summer is not so hot and winter is not so cold. I think I used my air conditioner for 2 weeks this past summer. It gets warm, but there are some nice breezes - no humidity. The thing about Denver and Colorado Springs is that there seems to be quite the amount of people moving here which is making real estate and rentals skyrocket just due to housing shortages. Denver especially. I saw a news article about how the city was trying to encourage people to start renting out unused rooms in their homes to single people waiting for housing. Crazy! Our yard is small and there are more open parks within walking distance like a pp mentioned. Overall, we're glad we did it. We needed a change and needed an adventure. ETA: Another cool reason is that in less than 2 hours, you can be in the mountains skiing or taking a very cool mini vacation without having to travel a long distance to get there. Many people vacation here for good reason.

I tried ship2teach and it worked just for someone else's reference. Thanks all!

I need a couple of things and don't want to pay shipping. Any free shipping with $35 purchase coupons?

I have read Gone with the Wind 3-4 times. I absolutely love that book. I don't know if they are classics, but the James Herriot stories are great and I'm not much of an animal person.

That sounds like a plan in some ways. We'll have to see how this fall turns out. I like to sleep with my window open and last night, just as we were getting to bed the dogs started up. Our initial reaction was OH NO!!! because usually that meant a lot of barking for a while. They were brought in right away so maybe something has changed.

Scratch the 2 dobermans. Now, it looks like 3 unless one is just a visitor. It's a small yard. We all have small yards. No real place for a dog to get a good run. Sigh...They are most likely just barking for warning the owner that people are threatening their space. If one growls at me, I'm putting my foot down. My daughter is already yelling at them through her closed window because she hated them so much the last time they were here.

We have neighbors across the street who rented out their home for a year and are now back. Their backyard is a sidewalk width away from a common mailbox for two blocks worth of neighbors. They have two large dobermans who stand on a raised patio about 10 feet away from this mailbox and bark at everyone who comes to said mailbox. These dogs are intimidating and could easily jump from the patio out of the fence which is only 3 1/2 feet high. Their only exercise is running around a very small urban backyard. Whenever they are out, they bark constantly because there are people getting their mail or walking home from school, etc. I'm wondering what to do. I need a plan of how to keep our neighborhood to the low roar we've all enjoyed this past year. Let's just say the neighbor is also very intimidating and my only interaction with her was pretty negative. They moved soon after we moved in. I'm not sure they would do anything (really, what is there to do anyway?) and I don't want to make an enemy with these neighbors of whom I have to live across the street from.

Maybe the library has some classes? When I was thinking about an art credit for ds (we wound up not needing one), he was creating costumes out of cardboard using patterns he found online. They were pretty intricate and I would have given him partial credit for them. Then, I was going to add a "Great courses" video course that was rated interesting along with an artistic pursuits book on 3D art creations.

It also doesn't cover my special needs son at all (he has a chromosome problem) nor my adopted daughter with her cleft lip/palate issues. I hear you on this issue. I understand that the company could easily go bankrupt having to provide care for kids like these, but then again, the most vulnerable in our society are not covered by their company.

There is a 7 grain bread from canyon bake house at Costco. It's made in Colorado though and may be regional. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had friends whose kids the bus would pick up only 3-4 blocks away only because they didn't want the kids (all ages) having to cross a busy road where the speed limit was 50 mph. This road even had a 4 way stop they could cross at. The school/ bus system deemed just having to cross the road dangerous much less walk on it. Yes, the bus stop is totally unreasonable.

I don't know if money is an issue, but could you rent a camper and park it on your driveway? Then you could get a little space away from each other at least at night. We had a family stay with us when I was a teen. The other family came from a safe situation but needed to get a new start. Similar kid situation. My biggest issue was that my mom essentially became mom to 9 children (6 of us and 3 of them) because the other mom did not do anything - including giving her kids baths, making sure they ate, etc. We had a camper that they could go to for periods of time and sleep in so that our family could get a break from them.

Get the 16 year old to hide the tempting chocolate bar for you. Assuming he doesn't eat the thing. Either way, problem solved.

I cringe when people suggest single payer healthcare or everyone should be on Medicaid/Medicare. It's only because we have dealt with Medicaid for years with my son as a secondary insurance and have been on a couple of state Medicaid plans. You get the brochure in the mail about how you can get dental care for yourself and your children now with this wonderful plan! Then, after calling ALL the dentists on the list they provide of available dentists within 30 miles of your house, you realize that because Medicaid doesn't pay enough, all the offices have limits on how many patients they will allow in their practice and you will not be able to make an appointment but will be allowed on their "waiting for services" list. My sister who is in the poor/poverty range has resorted to free dental clinics at her local school. It was similar for doctors when we moved to a new state and were still in the poor people range. Lots of doctors on the list, lots of doctors with limits on their Medicaid patient load, and long waiting lists for services. My friend is having trouble getting an appointment for an issue her mother-in-law is having (who is on Medicare) currently. The closest appointment she could get is 4 months out for a problem that will only get worse if it's not treated right away. Why? Because the doctor has limits on how many Medicare patients he will take. Also, my son needs incontinence products supposably paid for by Medicaid. Of all the companies that were nearby to ship the products to us, only one was able to do it. Why? Medicaid didn't even pay enough to cover the cost of the supplies. Yes, you could say all these doctors are greedy or the health care agencies are greedy, but a one payer system is not the answer. I agree that something needs to be done, but single payer will only make the problems we see MUCH MUCH worse. I've only seen a small portion of what would happen.

I had a boy who was 11 before he stopped. I just bought pull ups and overnights. Sleep was more important for all involved than trying to get him to stop. One child was 6 before she stopped and with her it was just being lazy. We figured that out when we were tucking her into bed saying goodnight and her pull up was already full. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had one of those ranges with the smaller oven on top. It was great overall. I rarely felt the need for two full sized ovens. When I had two ovens instead of one, it solved those multi-temperature meals where things needed to cook at different temps. I used the smaller oven more often- especially in the summer because it didn't hear up the house as much. I will agree with pp about getting things out of it. It was difficult to pull the rack out to get the thing cooked out. Even with that issue, if I was getting a new range, I would buy similar again. I have two full sized wall ovens currently in my new to us home and I don't find a big difference between them and the double oven range. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also, look at the size of the countries/ provinces they're looking at. The United States is so much larger with a more diverse population. Just because of the sheer size of our country, it's going to be very difficult to create real change and make it look like the other smaller fairly homogeneous countries. I agree though that if we implemented real school choice, our educational system would improve. Not right away, maybe not even in a generation, but eventually. Parents would demand better schools and the schools that perform badly would eventually disappear. At least in my utopian thinking, that would happen. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It takes me a good 1/2 hour to read more in depth books. I have to remember where I was in the story and pick up the pace again. Rarely do I get an uninterrupted 1/2 hour to read - much less on a regular basis which is what you would need to read a really meaty book. I go from kids kids kids all day to dh at night (who is this social guy who hasn't talked to anyone much all day). So, I tend to read stuff on the internet which is short and to the point and I don't become the wicked witch of the west when interrupted. I have checked SWB's book out of the library multiple times with the intent to start doing that program only to realize that I really have no time to actually learn anything or read anything of substance. It's sad really. I've become really picky though about what I read aloud to my kids. It has to be good quality so at least I'm engaging my brain somewhat.

That's what I'm doing. So, day two into the new plan using SOTW, Usborne encyclopedia, and some church history resources ( scheduled by Biblioplan) and I'm much more satisfied. I am also thinking of buying my daughter a subscription to reflxmath.com because she can practice math facts and have fun. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think what I may do is ditch the companion for Biblioplan and use the rest of their suggested spines. I already have them (well, I need to buy two books - not that big of deal). I wanted to challenge my 6th grader this year a bit more with deeper comprehension questions, and DH has said that perhaps his online writing class will be challenge enough for him and just let it go. He tends to find the easy road and take it if I let him. So, I guess I'm trying that route and hoping my daughter gets calmed down. I think I have to find some math fact practice apps to give her as a motivator for not arguing and yelling at me and see how that goes.

I have to keep my 11 year old and 9 year old together. I tend to go with the 11 year old since he would get lost in the shuffle if I didn't pay attention. I'm trying to up his work load a bit more thoughtfully this year since he is entering middle school age. So, the curriculum problem is mine - I just don't like reading it and I'm not so sure it would engage my 11 year old enough either. I tried out a Veritas Press online history thing for the 9 year old and she liked it well enough and her comprehension was good with it also. They still both want the mom on the couch snuggle time with reading and if I'm reading history for one, the other will want to be there also anyway.

It's so choppy isn't it? I feel like I'm reading little factoids and I do break it up enough, but it feels like an inch deep and a mile wide.

My daughter was a dramatic 2,3,4,5,6,7,8, and now 9. I just don't want the stress again of homeschooling her another year. Yes, the year is young, but I didn't want to start this homeschooling thing this year already because of what I was hoping to avoid.

I also figured with selling my old curriculum at a loss and buying used with the new curriculum (using books I already have), I'll break even.