My only suggestion is to take the clear plastic bins and add similar scrapbook paper/contact paper to the outside or inside to make them look cohesive. I have done this with a lot of my cheapo plastic bins and put a label on the outside to tell what's in it. That way, the clutter inside the boxes can't be seen. Like this somewhat: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/d7/04/c1/d704c1d38ca1c56468a1fb52500b2862.jpg or here http://lwdesigns.blogspot.com/2012/04/workspace-wednesday-plastic-drawer.html Beth

Yes. From what I have seen, CC sells it to their directors as a "ministry to homeschool families" assuming that a ministry service will not pay very well if at all. Then, in the upper levels, it is a multi-million dollar for profit company. Beth

But what do you do for a foreign language? I am thinking of going back to Latin because honestly, it's something I can do to fulfill a foreign language requirement in our homeschool. I'd rather do Spanish because I see it has more application but I do not want to wait until my children's junior/senior year which is what most homeschoolers do around here - they take Spanish at the community college. I also do not want to pay for a tutor because fulfilling this requirement in our homeschool is not one of my larger priorities. I'm only doing the minimum two years of foreign language anyway. Beth

I have looked at this program and am really liking the looks of it. I found a more complete sample here : http://schoolhouseteachers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/North-Star-Geography-Lesson-21.pdf I think I will be using this with my 8th grader next year. It doesn't look too complicated and it seems like you can easily pick and choose what they have to complete. I think the textbook looks like a 7th grader could understand it. Beth

I was going to count FFL as a 1/2 credit, so in order to get the required 2 years, I would have him do 3 years of the "Form" Latin. That is an idea though to go through FFL and SFL and skip the co-op. I am hesitant about the co-op the most since it really doesn't fill any requirements on my part but it is a class with peers and those are few and far between in my neck of the woods. Henle looks overwhelming to me for some reason. I'll look at it again. Beth

I have the following for ds who will be 14 and is by most classes a 9th grader. Here's what I have so far: Saxon advanced math - 1/2 of the book Finish BJU online Physical science - start biology bju? Potter's school English 2 (mostly short stories and essay writing with light grammar) Potter's school Logic and apologetics (using Cannon press intermediate and introductory logic) Thinking of adding: Co-op class involving physical science labs only and a researched based/dialectic discussion history class with the middle ages (which he learned about last year well so it shouldn't be a whole lot of new ideas, just thinking about the ideas deeper) Latin with First Form Latin (he has done this already also, I am having him do it again so he can start working on foreign language credit) He is a good worker and can work quickly when he wants to. He will be participating in the junior high's soccer program also in the fall. I'm just wondering if this is too much of a load and he really won't learn anything well because there's too much of it. Considering some of the classes are review/rehashing learned material, is this too ambitious? Beth

I'm doing Preparing with my 4th grader and Beyond with my 1st grader who is age-wise a 2nd grader. I'm a little nervous about getting it all in. I guess I'll just have to dive in! Beth

LOL...I've seen episodes on some such show where cookies puppy was given more consideration than cookies new husband. cookies new puppy needed to look outside and see people walking by. Beth For some reason, every time I type t.h.e. I get "cookies" as t.h.e. auto correct. Why is this?

I've been on a "buying and selling" binge lately. It has given me ideas of how to stage a house in the eventuality that we sell our home. These are the people with two children who need "more space" because their huge house is just not big enough. PLEASE! One of them even had the husband who was going to go in for open heart surgery soon looking to expand their mortgage to get everything on their wish list. I would think having a life threatening surgery would really make a couple consider that taking on more debt would be a bad thing. Anyway, in my neighborhood a while back, there were people moving into these huge houses with two children because they outgrew their previous home. At the time, I was living with three children- one of whom was in a wheelchair- in a much smaller space and finding it spacious enough. If you want to move to a nicer home, just say that. Don't say it's because you outgrew your home. I do like HGTV, but I too find it unrealistic. Beth

I WISH my ds could work with his dad. Boys in their teens really need time with their dads and preferably working. I am of the mindset that it was never a good plan to have fathers separated from their children for most of the waking hours. Especially boys - especially teen boys. If it were my son and he really still needed to do school work, I would rather school suffer than time with his dad. Beth

My son without allergies has had that happen with cinnamon. He's eaten many things with cinnamon since. He just has sensitive skin. Try putting some cinnamon applesauce mix onto your cheek and let it sit for a while (I did this). You may get hives also. Beth

Tacos - pulled pork, hamburger meat, everyone can make their own taco (soft shell/ hard shell) and you don't have to worry about dietary restrictions. All you really need is a fry pan or crock pot. Beth

I just got my boy's standardized tests back and the thing they both did poorly in is punctuation. We use Rod and Staff and that has exercises in it, but I feel like I need a little more emphasis. Can I just teach it incidentally (8th grader's papers and 4th grader's dictation)? Or is there something more focused? Beth

To me, after 5b with ds, it seemed like 6 a/b was mostly review of former concepts only with a harder twist. My ds was forgetting some things too and really needed more review built into the program. We changed to Saxon Algebra 1/2 and it really helped cement those concepts he kept forgetting. I know a lot of people go straight to Algebra, but he had forgotten so many concepts he had "learned", we had to back up a bit. Singapore is great to get a good problem solving brain, but I feel it is lacking within the program with reviewing of previously learned concepts. We didn't go to AOPS, because while I have a child who is very good at math, he doesn't love math. Beth

Have you checked her Chromosomes? My ds has both hypotonia and hypertonia which they call CP without an MRI just because of how his muscles are behaving. Even a small chromosome issue can have a lot of weird side effects (like curly hair even...). Beth

Yes- this. I saw an adoption counselor give a speech on what happens to a baby when they are separated from the woman who gave them birth. He used a piece of paper with M on one side and B on the other. When B is born, the paper is folded because the baby still sees himself as an extension of the M who gave him birth. Gradually, through the baby years, the paper unfolds and through childhood, the paper rips as the child becomes independent of mom and knows they are a separate person. With adoption/ surrogacy, the paper is abruptly opened and ripped all at the same time. A traumatic event in the child's life. So, even though the baby may be in a completely loving home, their beginnings were a trauma in their life that they at some point will have to deal with. Beth

While I do really like TOG, it seems to really be a program that you work up to for high school--ie by the time you've gone through it a few times, it will make a good foundation for high school. You may want to ask yourself if what you really want is a good literature program and a well thought out book list that spans the grades you have. Would you use every part of it? The literature sheets, the map aids, the writing portion? Or are you just wanting history? Would you buy all the books for two levels or go to the library? The sheer amount of books needed can be overwhelming. Also, if your library doesn't have the same exact titles as TOG suggests, would you feel like you were wasting money on a program that you can't fully use? (TOG says you can easily substitute books on the list for general books about the same subject, and you can, but would that bother you?). For me, in the younger years, it's just a nice booklist. I don't use the writing portion because it didn't hold my hand enough and I didn't use the map aids because I just wanted my youngers to learn where everything was in the world first. I started using the dialectic when my son was in 6th and I felt that's where TOG makes the best sense. The first two levels are meant to lead up to the upper levels. There are others who would disagree with me, but if money is an issue, there are cheaper programs out there. Beth

I start spelling when the child is reading without having to sound out every word. That way, they're seeing all those beginning words regularly and have developed a visual memory with them. It's a lot to think about with spelling - sounding out the word, writing it down, trying to remember all those phonics rules...We use All About Spelling here and if they're reading well by the time they start, they tend to zip through it faster without too much frustration. Beth

That's another reason we were liking Colorado springs - the number of days of sunshine. I get really crabby around February due to lack of outside time and sunshine. My 7 year old dd is starting to show similar tendencies. We really need to be outside every day in the sun. SHE really needs to be outside every day. And no, bundling up in full winter gear where only your eyes are showing so your skin doesn't freeze is no way to enjoy the great outdoors. Beth

This city is a contender for our next place to live. We are currently in Minnesota and the winter has become a barrier for us in a way (we have a child in a wheelchair). We don't mind snow and cold temperatures, but we do mind snow and ice from October through April. When it snows, it sticks around for the long haul and never melts building up and up and up until the roads are a big slippery rutted mess. Will we like Colorado Springs in winter? Beth

Near our library, the two handicapped places to park are horrible. I've gotten the librarian on my side now so hopefully something should be done. The first one is near a small hill on the passenger side. So, I have to unload my child near the cut out, leave him there by himself, lift up the ramp and then drive to the handicapped spot close by. The same would have to be done for an elderly person because the hill is steep enough to be a hazard. The second closest spot at the bottom of a steep hill. There are places much better suited, but my guess is that they are going by the regulation of having to be a certain amount of feet from the door rather than using wisdom and seeing if the spot actually makes sense. I did park going the wrong way one time because I didn't want my son sitting by himself on the sidewalk while I parked. I got a ticket by "the new guy" for parking incorrectly. The policeman I talked to said they usually let vehicles with handicapped tags get a free pass near the library for creative parking, but the new guy was very zealous. The fee was less than the hassle it would have taken me to refute it. Beth

As a person who needs the extra space to get my son out of the car, it irks me to no end when handicapped spaces are filled with people who have no sign or license plate that allows them to be there. I would love to ticket them! Being close to the door is not so much my problem, it's the extra place next to me that's the big deal. If I can't find an appropriate handicap space, I will often do the annoying middle of two spaces thing which doesn't always work either because someone feels like it's their job to teach me a lesson and pull right next to me in my 1/2 spot. It's loads of fun trying to load a wheelchair in the middle of the car traffic area. Beth

https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/discovery-education-streaming-plus-free-trial/ Anyone know of good content to watch on this? Beth

My husband has been working at the same job for around 12 years now. At first, the commute was 45 minutes. Since then, housing has been being built up in the area of his commute and it's taking almost an hour on good days. If you put snow and construction into the mix, he's normally commuting over an hour. It has put a definite strain on him, his back, and our family. We are looking to move mostly so he can be closer to home and reduce his commute to under 30 minutes. In some areas like Chicago, an hour commute is almost a fact of life. I would never choose to have him do this on purpose again. If you have little kids, any home you are in is going to seem tight. As they get older and start doing their own thing, even a small house can seem more spacious because everyone is no longer hanging around mom 24/7. Also, we have boys and as boys get older into the teen years, they really need their dad to be the main person in their life. My dh needs to be home more and the over an hour commute it really affecting our family. Beth

I have a kid who does the work and that's about it. He really doesn't show much interest in anything he does. I tried a lot of different things and curriculums to try and spark his interest. I thought about unschooling and tried Charlotte Mason finally parking with classical. Still to this day, homeschooling 8 years later, he still has no passions for much more than his sport interests. I thought it was me. I admit I compared thinking I was doing something wrong otherwise my child would be interested in learning - interested in anything...Now, I have two other children coming up behind him. They are interested in what they are learning. They read something and want to know more. They get excited when I pull out the science materials. I'm still the same kind of teacher, but the child is different. You may just have a child that says, "Tell me what to do and I'll do it, but don't expect excitement." Beth