:hurray: Thank you so much!

That is so sad. That woman should never have been driving. It isn't just her age, she clearly didn't have a good understanding about the rules. I don't understand the charge either. That poor family. :(

It is a pretty nice planner but I couldn't use it. There is too much on it I wouldn't find useful and I'm used to making my own (especially since Edu-Track isn't working well for me these days). I like doing things online and making a spreadsheet allows me to make easy changes and print outs.

In a heartbeat! He is a sweet, caring husband and father. He is devoted to his family and a great provider. :001_tt1:

The LR couch. For writing the girls have folding desks they pull up to the couch. The couch gets a lot of use! :)

Looks like salmon, salad and cantalope.

Today was Language Arts, Science, Classical Writing, Computer Programming, and Math. Sept 1st we add Foreign Language and Technology classes at the science museum.

Apologia Chem is a good curriculum. A few of our coops offer the course but they don't charge anything close to $500. That is a lot! What exactly are you getting for that besides instruction? Supplies? Hopefully they are included.

I have something similar to this: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/189-5329430-0077707?ASIN=B000S12SII&AFID=Froogle&LNM=B000S12SII|Rolling_10Drawer_Craft_Organizer_Cart_Multicolor&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=B000S12SII&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001 Mine is wider, sitting 6 trays on each side. Each side is for one child. I have the trays labeled for the main subject areas. I keep the texts and supplies we are currently working on in the trays and each day they check the schedule and know where their work is. On top of the cart there is ample room for other materials that we'll use for that week. I try to keep the top of the cart from becoming cluttered. This cart system has worked great for us. Finished work is filed in notebooks. Each child has a row of notebooks on a shelf that I file their work into (hopefully daily).

We don't grade. We go for mastery with the bridge assignments.

Fantastic! We had taken two weeks off and I thought they would be all out of sorts but they did great. Maybe we need to take breaks more often! :D

:grouphug: I think that she might be one of those people that you need to avoid talking 'homeschool' to. I'd avoid the topic and if she brings it up it would qualify as a 'pass the beandip' moment. I wouldn't allow her to speak negatively about the children though. That sort of thing would qualify as a 'oh someone is at the door-gotta go' moment. Enough of those and she may get the message? If not, at least you aren't listening to it. :001_smile:

Awwww! The kids look so cute in their classroom! :001_smile:

I can't claim to be completely 'balanced'. :) What I do that helps me though is to get up an hour before the kids (about 6:30) and tidy the house and take care of the pets (food, potty breaks etc). Then I look at our schedule for the day (already planned out in advance) and get the supplies and books out. Then I get the kids up and they tidy their rooms and we do our together stuff and then break for breakfast. After breakfast I give a 'work alone' assignments and I get a bath or shower. Getting showered and dressed and knowing the house is tidy and the homework is getting done makes me feel really good. I try to limit phone calls to only dh or college son during school time. TV doesn't come on during school unless we are viewing school content material. One of the things that has worked best for us is that I schedule the work for a year and therefore each school day has a finite amount of work for that day. We have never scheduled by hours-only by assigned work. They learn to manage their own time that way and it discourages dawdling. Another thing I did that has helped me maintain balance is to limit our outside activities. I used to think I had to do a coop or this or that. Now I am very judicious about what I will sign up for and how our down time is spent. Hope this helps! :)

We don't do soda or milk and rarely have fruit juices so what I've found that helps provide a treat/break from plain water are those little individual packs of Crystal Light. They are artificially flavored so you'd have to be careful to limit the kids consumption. People can be sensitive to the artificial sweetners. However, for your father they are probably a lot better than sugary drinks. They come in lots of different flavors and Walmart has their own brand which is the same as Crystal Light, just cheaper.

When my son did Saxon 6/5 he did it in less than an hour. He is good in math and was good about staying on track.

That is just mind-boggling! I'm not sure that carrying that many to term is even possible. :eek:

We are a family of 5 and we've begun renting houses. If you go to the city tourism site, there are usually links to companies that specialize in short term home rentals. We've done it about 3 times and have always been very happy. Lots more room, washer & dryers and full kitchens.

We're doing 3 maths: ABeka, LOF and Dolciani Algebra. MWF: Abeka TuTh: LOF and Dolciani. We hs during the summer so we can do this schedule and still finish in the school year.

What they did to those boys was completely inappropriate and abusive. The physical abuse (forcing them to hold it when they were clearly desperate) is abuse and the jumping jacks in the hot sun and forced apologies was dangerous and humiliating. I can't understand why the chaperones didn't object???!! Isn't that what a chaperone does?! Honestly, if my son was handled in this manner I would be down there raising the roof and if there weren't apologies and sincere admissions of wrongdoing then I would consider filing a police report. That is outrageous.

Mine are in middle school and for our morning together time we have breakfast while watching a subject related Unitedstreaming video. Then we have aloud reading time. We're reading Tiner's History of Medicine and Sophie's World (a novel history of philosophy). We do science and computer programming together too. After that, they do their other subjects on their own.

We are! :D

We're doing a no-sugar, no-flour diet. The book "Sugar-Shock" does a really good job of explaining the differences between diabetic and sugar-sensitive conditions. This might be what you're describing.

Another :thumbup1: for Hake Grammar!

I think you need to go with your gut and not leave her alone with the children. The car incident alone would do it for me. She chose to disregard your wishes and took them in a car without the seats. IMO she may be angry for new limitations but she really chose that because of her own actions.